[3rd POV] [Earlier]
Sitting behind the desk of Morgans office was Valiana. Surrounding her were large stacks of papers, hundreds of them surrounding her on all sides. She looked completely and utterly exhausted as she read the paper in front of her, grumbles echoing from her as Grayfia, who was also in the room, watched her.
"Are you alright, Valiana?" Grayfia asked, genuinely concerned as the girl looked awful at the moment. Like she was going to pass out within a few minutes.
"F-Fine. This damn paperwork is starting to get to me" Valiana responded with a loud yawn, rubbing her eyes as she took another drink of her black coffee, strong coffee that was made to keep her up so she could finish the damn work in front of her.
"Are you certain? I can take over if you need it, Valiana. I've done paperwork with Sirzechs, and while it certainly is not as...detailed as Morgan's, I'm certain that I can do it just fine" Grayfia responded, as Valiana waved her off.
"Nah, not needed. How's the reports on the influx of orphans going?" Valiana asked, waving off her concerns and moving onto something that she deemed as more important.
"They are...strange, very strange. From what we have found, they are all coming from three different territories, and are all coming from the same groups of orphanages. But we haven't found any sort of signs of foul play, beyond the fact that the orphanages that they lived in have recently shut down, so they were directed here" Grayfia responded, as Valiana nodded in understanding.
"Because we have the best orphanages in the underworld. Yeah, it makes sense. Any idea where these territories are?" Valiana asked, sipping on her coffee and filling out another paper, as Grayfia hummed.
Bringing up her paper, she looked it over, before stopping, her eyes widening in alarm as Valiana noticed her look.
"What? What's wrong?"
"...The territories, they all border the same place" Grayfia responded, growing increasingly worried as she began to contemplate what this information could mean.
"Where?" Valiana asked, a sinking feeling settling in as Grayfia breathed out.
"...The territory of the Bael clan" Grayfia responded, as Valiana breathed in a sharp breath, realizing that this was definitely not good. That something was happening, and they weren't even realizing. That Zekram Bael was up to something.
And before Valiana could utter a word, an earth shattering explosion radiated from the distance, as more and more explosions began to rattle the building that was only just outside the nearest city, a momentary home as it was close to the forest.
"Shit! Alert the rest peerage! And send word to the Four Satans, tell them that Zekram Bael is attacking!" Valiana yelled, as all forms of exhaustion was obliterated as she sprinted from the room.
"What the fuck is happening!?" Tiamat yelled as she began to follow Valiana.
"Zekram Bael is! The damn bastard had some sort of plan involving sending orphans into our territory!" Valiana yelled, as Tiamat's eyes widened.
"Orphans? That man used orphans to attack us!? What sort of monster does that!?" Tiamat yelled, as more of the peerage that was home began to join them, as they took to the skies, their hearts dropping as they looked at the city.
Smoke and flames rose from the city, as buildings were collapsed and screams echoed.
"...Morgan...you need to wake up"
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In another city, the groans of a woman echoed through a street. This was the groans of Issei, who grit her teeth in pain, thanking Satan that Morgan made sure they all wore specialized gear that was made to absorb and protect against explosions.
'Partner, are you okay?!'
"Yeah yeah, I'm fine! But what the fuck was that Ddraig!?"
'No idea, but whatever it was, that kid was under control from some sort of mind control magic. But that doesn't matter! You need to get up partner!' Ddraig said, as Issei reached into her special bag, and gulped down a phoenix tear, her wounds healing instantly as she got to her feet and began to look around, only to stop as she looked forward.
Her face went dark as she saw the half burnt corpse of the little girl that had offered her the toy that had exploded.
"...Zekram did this" Issei said darkly, understanding that this was undoubtedly the work of Zekram Bael. That he had finally decided to attack Morgan and her territories.
"No, we did" A voice echoed, as Issei dodged a blast of light energy that nearly slammed into her, before turning to the voice, her eyes widening as she recognized who it was.
Morgan had given them photos and pictures of individuals that they needed to be wary of, or avoid outright. The man before her was one of the people that she was told to be incredibly careful around, due to the sacred gear he wielded.
The man who used the strongest sacred gear, the True Longinus. A member of the Khaos Brigade...
Cao Cao.
Glancing around, Issei noticed more and more people beginning to show up. Ranging from Middle class all the way to ultimate class.
"Man, all this for little ole me? I feel honored!" Issei said with a grin, the boosted gear glimmering on her hand as crimson red energy began to swirl around her.
"Please, we do not need this much to kill devil scum like you. No, we need this for that master of yours, Morgan. Where is she? Or is she a coward who will not come out even after we kill her people? I suppose that is to be expected by devils" Cao Cao said arrogantly, a scowl on his face.
"If she's a coward, what does that make the bastard that used a little girl to try and kill me?" Issei replied with a scowl, as Cao Cao snorted.
"Please, that was no little girl. That was a devil. Death was a gift to something like her" Cao Cao responded, as Issei growled.
"So you're a piece of shit racist who hates all devils because you don't like how humans are treated, is that right? You do realize that my master is one of the kindest devils in the entire Underworld when it comes to humans, right? Are you an idiot?" Issei said, scowling at the man who just ignored her.
"Kill her. Better for the devils to not keep the boosted gear" Cao Cao ordered, as the surrounding Khaos Brigade members began to launch attacks towards Issei, who masterfully blocked and dodged them.
Seeing that his subordinates weren't doing anything, Cao Cao decided to just do it himself, as the true Longinus glowed in his hands, as the purest and strongest holy energy began to invade the surroundings, causing Issei to grunt.
As while she had grown resistant to holy energy, she was NOT immune to it. Beyond that, the holy energy of the True Longinus was from God himself, and was well beyond any other. Making it far far far stronger than other holy artifacts, and thus, was able to kill her easier than any other holy artifact would be able to.
*BOOST*
"Hmm? You are more resistant to my spear than most, but...it's not enough" Cao Cao said, as a light blast tore through the space in between them, causing her to barely dodge as the blast hit her arm, causing her to groan in pain, as she brought out another phoenix tear and downed it.
But it didn't do much against the holy energy of the true Longinus, as she realized...this wasn't good.
'...Well shit partner, looks like we need to go all out' Issei said to Ddraig inwardly, as she realized that she would likely die if she didn't.
'Let's do this partner' Ddraig responded, as they both opened their mouths and began to speak.
"I...Who shall awaken"
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Coughs echoed through the destroyed surroundings of a city, more than half the city obliterated, as in the middle was...Issei. Laying on her back, blood and sweat caking her form, as above her stood a bleeding Cao Cao, who was missing his left arm, but besides that, was better off than the half dead Issei.
"Y-You were a good battle, for a devil. But not even you, can defeat the wielder of the True Longinus" Cao Cao said coldly, as he lifted the spear, as Issei could only look up, no tears spilling, as she had one last thought on her mind, as everything soon went dark.
'I'm sorry...master'
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That's the end of the chapter!
So is Issei dead? Will Cao Cao survive this? You'll see!
So yeah, Zekram's got even more connections than you'd think, and has called in some pretty strong backup, the perfect counter to the girls, if you will.
Anyways, have a good day!