Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena Pov.
"Very well, the barrier is in place over the school. With this, unless something disastrous happens, there won't be any damage to the outside." Sona said analytically before looking at me. "Thank you for your help in putting up the barrier, Lady Prince. It's much stronger and more stable than the one we could have put up ourselves," she said as I nodded.
"Don't worry, it was simple," I said. And I was telling the truth; what Sona and the others wanted to put up was a basic magic barrier that would try to contain all the damage inside. I almost found it offensive that they called it a barrier, so I stepped in and wove some magic over Kuoh.
"Even so, this is better than I expected. If Kokabiel were to fight seriously, not only the academy, but the entire region would be annihilated. at least now we are prepared to contain all the damage... or well, what we can." Sona said, sounding grateful.
"Thank you, Sona, we'll do the rest from now on." Rias said with a tired smile. Sona sighed.
"Don't worry. My servants and I will protect the school grounds while we continue to maintain the barrier. I want to minimize as much damage as possible... even though it's nearly impossible against a Cadre." Sona sighed. "How long until reinforcements arrive?" Sona asked in Akeno's direction.
"Sirzechs-sama's reinforcements will be here in an hour," Akeno said with a weak smile. I clicked my tongue. I always found that strange. An hour? For Sirzechs to mobilize, would he need an hour? His sister was being threatened by a cadre, a leader of Gregori, a 10-winged Fallen Angel, and it would take Sirzechs an hour to arrive.
Yes, if Sirzechs were to come straight to Kuoh and unleash his power, it might cause trouble, and that was precisely what Kokabiel wanted, but Sirzechs's Peerage? Grayfia alone might not be enough to defeat Kokabiel, at least not quickly enough to prevent widespread destruction. But that would have been better than telling them to wait an hour until they arrived.
"...so one hour. Now my servants-" I ignored Rias's pep talk as I rolled my eyes and stepped into the barrier. I could see Sona smiling slightly as she looked at me.
The moment I entered the barrier, I became invisible and concealed my presence beneath my copper cloud. My gaze immediately shifted to the field. In the center of the field were the four fragments of Excalibur, gushing out sacred energy. UBW scanned them with relative ease; now I had five fragments of Excalibur inside my Reality Marble.
There was a magic circle spread across the school grounds, and Valper Galilei stood at its center. I continued scanning the scene. My gaze almost immediately fell on Kokabiel, who sat on his throne floating in the air, with a somewhat bored expression as he waited.
My gaze finally fell on something I'd been searching for. The succubi. They were hanging from Kokabiel's throne. Thick chains fell off and were tied to the succubi's arms. The succubi were a mess, blood everywhere, open wounds everywhere. The worst part was that one of them was missing a leg, and the other had a bleeding wound under her stomach, right where her uterus should be.
I could feel the rage begin to build in the back of my head. The stars on my skin flashed as it became harder to control my demonic power.
I was going to kill them. All of them. I was going to make them suffer, like they'd never suffered before.
"Valper, how long does it take for the Excalibur to fuse?" Kokabiel asked.
"This won't even take 5 minutes, Kokabiel." Valper said happily.
"Kokabiel." Rias's voice alerted me that she had finally arrived. Her eyes darted around worriedly, searching for me, yet I kept myself hidden.
"Is Sirzechs coming? Or is it Serafall? " Kokabiel asked boredly, though there was a hint of expectation in his voice. He really wanted to fight a Satan.
"It's us instead of Onii-sama and Leviatan-sama-"
"Boring." Kokabiel said, interrupting Rias. "And Lady Prince? I saw you finally joined the party at the end, and I even made you a gift." Kokabiel mocked with a sadistic smile. He sent a small burst of holy power through the chains on his throne, and the succubi screamed in pain.
My eyes blazed brightly, and I could feel my teeth growing as they sank into my lips as I suppressed the hatred. Calm down, just a few more seconds.
"Release the succubi, monster!" Rias shouted in panic. Kokabiel laughed mockingly.
"Maybe, only if they amuse me." Kokabiel laughed before casually throwing a spear of light that covered the entire gym, completely destroying it. The explosion shook Rias and her group, and it took them a few seconds to recover. Kokabiel just smiled. "Though for now, you're going to have to fight my pet that I brought out of hell." Kokabiel snapped his fingers.
A huge roar was heard from the ground as if it came from hell itself, and perhaps it was, after all, he had just summoned two Cerberus to the human world.
"Cerberus!" Rias growled in disgust. I guess it's time to move. I looked at Kokabiel, who watched amusedly as Rias and her Peerage began to fight the Cerberus.
I stepped away momentarily, entered the building while hiding, and easily created a portal that enveloped the succubi and teleported them to my side.
The succubi emerged from the portal, and I used magic to gently place them on the ground. I undid Aria's invisibility and quickly began casting spells to steady them.
"l-lady P-Prince-" one of the succubi moaned as she woke up while looking at me glassily.
"Don't talk. I'll send you to Enid to heal you," I said without hesitation. The succubus smiled slightly.
"We-we didn't t-tell him…anything." The succubus said proudly as I smiled weakly. I smiled weakly as I shook my head.
"You shouldn't have done that. You should have taken care of yourselves. I can take care of myself." I chided gently as I continued working.
"W-wanted information, a-about n-our city, a-about you... about the succubi... we didn't tell them... anything." the succubus said firmly. I smiled weakly. I guess I couldn't get them out of my head, could I?
"Well done, I'm proud of you. Now, rest, dear. I'll take care of everything. I'll make them pay for touching anything of mine." I promised, my eyes twinkling. The succubus smiled a little more before finally fainting once more. I sighed.
"Enid." I said in my mind.
"Send them whenever you want! I have everything ready! Maria and the succubus bosses are waiting with me! They came when they heard about the blockade in Wallachia! I haven't told them anything yet! " Enid quickly relayed.
"Very well, I'll open a portal. You can answer any questions they have, or ask Lucius if it's okay to mention it. I'll be a little busy from now on." I told Enid, receiving a mental confirmation. I opened a portal and sent both succubi through it.
"I got them! I'll heal them right away! " Enid said, I could feel her activate her Sacred Gear "Make him suffer!" Enid growled furiously. I snorted in amusement before walking out of the building completely invisible once again. I looked at the slightly destroyed battlefield, looking at the results.
Both Cerberuses were utterly destroyed. Akeno had finally arrived and had Excalibur Destruction in her hand. Rias had tried to attack Kokabiel with Issei's enhanced power, but she easily failed.
"It's complete," Valper said jubilantly. The Excaliburs began to emit a tremendous amount of light that spread throughout the field. Once the light began to fade, a sacred sword appeared in the center of the field, emanating holy power in torrents.
UBW I analyze it anxiously.
"Because of the light created by the Excalibur when it became one, the spell on the ground is also complete. This city will collapse in 20 minutes," Valper chirped. I looked at the circle on the ground that had grown to encompass almost the entire academy.
"Freed." Kokabiel's voice caught my attention.
"What's up, boss?" Sellzen asked as he emerged from the darkness with a cocky grin. My eyes flashed at my target.
"Use the fused Excalibur. This will be your last training." Kokabiel said with amusement.
"Yes, yes, the boss uses people recklessly, but I am very honored to use the Excalibur that has become super wonderful! Hyaajajaja. I will limit myself to cutting some devils now." Sellzen said with a crazy smile as he approached the Excalibur. "Then, who will be the fir-"
"I've got you," I exclaimed in ecstasy. I had created a portal behind Sellzen, and I didn't hesitate to step through it. Half of my body emerged from the portal, completely visible, and I placed my hands on Sellzen's. I could feel Sellzen tense; he was about to turn around.
At that very moment, I created a time bubble that enveloped Sellzen and me as tightly as I could. Even if someone outside could react, they'd have days until they could do something in a split second. Days of being alone with Sellzen.
I smiled sadistically.
"Crucio."
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Sellzen screamed softly. The sight was fantastic. Sellzen fell to the ground, and I fell on top of him, the Torturing Curse still active, then he began to writhe. He thrashed so hard that his back arched as far as it would go with me on top of him, and his head hit the ground hard. I could hear the satisfying crunch of his skull.
"Aahh! Music to my ears." I said happily as he finished bruising. I finally released him from the curse. "Petrificus totalus." Sellzen froze stiffly and stared at me with wide eyes. His eyes finally settled on me, and a flash of understanding finally filled his eyes.
"Y-you-" Sellzen tried to growl, but he could barely move his mouth. I smiled widely.
"You hurt what was mine, Sellzen, and you will pay for every drop of blood dearly. How long can you hold out? We are in a time bubble. We have days until Kokabiel can react and free you. Tell me... can you maintain your sanity for days? " I asked with sadistic joy as I let out my bloodlust.
Sellzen's eyes widened, and I could see a hint of terror in his eyes. He tried to fight against my full-body binding curse, but it was useless. He barely moved a few inches.
I smiled sadistically, pulled out a stake, or rather, a stake-shaped harmonium cube, and without hesitation drove it into Sellzen's sternum. The harmonium cube immediately activated and began to take effect.
The harmonium cube was rigged to run on feruchemical gold, capable of healing anyone touching the Allomantic cube. Right now, I didn't have to worry about Sellzen dying quickly. I stood up and flexed my fingers.
"You know, it's been a while since I've used curses on a living target. I had some pretty interesting ones to try out, and you're an excellent target. Don't break so quickly, it'll be disappointing," I said with a wide grin. Sellzen glared at me with hatred and a glimmer of terror at being completely trapped.
My smile grew even wider.
"Sanguinem Exuro." Sellzen's usually pale body began to redden rapidly, and small bubbles formed as Sellzen's blood instantly began to boil. Sellzen gasped as he writhed, or at least tried to, the curse holding him in place.
Sellzen's veins finally reached their limit and began to burst as boiling blood was expelled from his wounds, burning everything in its path.
The feruchemical gold in the harmonium cube took effect immediately, beginning to close the wounds and generating new blood instantly, only for the curse to still be active and repeat itself again.
My smile grew. Yes, I would have fun here.
------
Nine hours. I'd been torturing Sellzen for nine hours. I looked around. There was a sea of blood, almost literally. Everything around us was covered in blood, and not just blood. There were severed limbs, more than one, and none of them were in good condition, none with clean cuts; they were all ripped and completely destroyed.
There were guts and organs everywhere. I could count at least three of Sellzen's hearts lying around. One looked like it had been melted by acid, another looked like it had exploded, and the last was covered in cuts and looked half-decomposed.
There were some eyes around, lungs, a stomach, strips of skin—there were more Sellzen around than in Sellzen itself. And they were all completely destroyed in their own way. I had saved curses I'd been meaning to try; when I ran out, I started using my poisons.
It was really lovely to have a live target to test out some of the poisons I'd recently created. Even his mind was destroyed, nothing more than a bit of legilemancy to get inside his head and destroy everything in its path thanks to his nonexistent mental shields.
Sellzen stood in the middle of a massive pool of his own blood, completely intact, completely regenerated by the feruchemical gold, yet he was completely out of his mind. His mind was in shambles; he barely seemed able to form words now. He was drooling as he convulsed every few seconds from the phantom pain.
My smile was extremely feral, wide, and painful. I guessed it was time to finish. I approached Sellzen, removed the harmonium cube from his chest to cancel his regeneration, placed The Company's seal on him, and forced him to drink one last potion. It wasn't lethal by any means, but for the next three days, he would be in agonizing pain.
I stepped back and took out another harmonium cube. The good thing about my time bubbles was that I could create other bubbles inside. I certainly couldn't do it myself, at least not the same kind. After all, eating more Bendalloy would only lengthen the time of the bubble already in place.
But with a harmonium cube, I could create a time bubble within the bubble, and the time manipulation within would multiply. But it's not like I cared. I just threw the cube at Sellzen, and it activated.
The cube engulfed Sellzen. The great thing about the seal was that it took three days to pass relative to the target's sense of time, not mine. So when three days passed inside Sellzen's bubble, it only took a few seconds for me. The cube was programmed to shut down after three days inside.
Freed Sellzen(T5) from High School DxD --SOLD +16[31]
I smiled as I sold Sellzen to the company. They could fix it if they wanted; it's no longer my problem. I was already satisfied with the reward I'd gotten. I grabbed the harmonium cube and finally broke the time bubble.
"Ah, Lady Prin- eh?" Kokabiel said in confusion as he looked at me over the bloody mess.
"And… Sellzen?" Rias asked tensely. I smiled widely.
"A little over here." I pointed at Sellzen's organs. "A little over there." I pointed at the scattered limbs. "I had so much fun with him inside my time bubble," I said cheerfully. I could see Rias's Peerage looking at the scene in disgust and horror. In fact, Issei started vomiting, and Asia wasn't far behind, almost looking like she was about to faint.
"I didn't expect that from you, Lady Prince," Kokabiel chirped, barely perturbed by Sellzen's death and mutilation. I looked at him boredly.
"Ah, Kokabiel, I have a score to settle with you as well. But first-" I used my portals to appear behind Valper. "-it's his turn." I said sadistically before sealing us in a time bubble.
"W-what are you going to do to me?!" Valper squealed in terror. I rolled my eyes and easily knocked him out. Valper Galilei hadn't really done anything to me; he was just a target for free credits. But first… I searched Valper's pockets and found the container of Yuuto's friends' sacred power. I'd return it to him later.
With that secured, I placed the seal on Valper, made sure he wouldn't wake up for the next three days, and threw the Harmonium cube at him, creating another time bubble. A few seconds later, the next notification finally arrived.
Valper Galilei(T5) from High School DxD --SOLD +16[47]
I grabbed the harmonium cube, dropped the time bubble again, and looked at Kokabiel. It's time to end this.