Nate looked directly at Agent X.
"Alright, let's deal with you first."
He rushed forward, sword already drawn.
Agent X's expression remained calm.
"Direct approach."
Nate swung.
CLANG!
Agent X narrowly blocked the blade with his weapon, the impact forcing him backward.
Nate's eyes widened slightly.
'He's stronger than he looks.'
Before Nate could follow up, several DG Troopers raised their weapons.
"Target acquired."
Nate's instincts screamed.
He immediately jumped sideways.
PEW! PEW! PEW!
Energy shots tore through the space where he had been standing.
Nate twisted in midair, landing on one foot before another volley came toward him.
"Seriously?!"
He dashed forward, weaving between the incoming fire.
One shot passed inches from his face.
Another struck the ground behind him, sending debris flying.
Nate ducked underneath another blast.
'They're covering each other.'
The DG Troopers weren't simply firing randomly.
They were coordinating their attacks, forcing Nate to move in predictable directions while Agent X waited for an opening.
Nate grinned.
"Okay."
He tightened his grip on his sword.
"That's actually pretty smart."
Agent X adjusted his stance.
"You noticed."
"Yeah."
Nate suddenly changed direction.
Instead of charging Agent X, he rushed toward the nearest DG Trooper.
The machine-like soldier raised its weapon.
Nate disappeared.
A golden blur flashed past.
SLASH!
The DG Trooper's weapon was sliced cleanly in half.
Nate landed behind it.
"One down."
The other DG Troopers immediately turned toward him.
Nate looked around.
"...Oh, come on."
All of them aimed at once.
Agent X smiled.
"Now."
The DG Troopers opened fire.
Nate's eyes widened.
"Okay, that's a lot of bullets!"
He sprinted.
Energy blasts ripped across the battlefield as Nate weaved between them, jumping over one shot and sliding underneath another.
A blast grazed his shoulder.
"Ow!"
Nate looked at the torn fabric.
"You shot my jacket."
Agent X blinked.
"...Your jacket?"
"Yeah!"
Nate pointed his sword at him.
"I liked this jacket."
Agent X stared at him for a moment.
"You're an unusual king."
"You have no idea."
Nate's golden aura suddenly expanded.
Spirit Bond.
The energy spread across the battlefield, briefly connecting Nate to the surrounding Yokai.
The nearby guards suddenly felt their strength surge.
The DG Troopers hesitated.
Nate smiled.
"Now let's see how you handle a team."
The Yokai guards rushed forward alongside him.
Agent X's expression finally became serious.
"So that's Spirit Bond."
Nate charged.
"Yep."
He raised his sword.
"And you're about to learn why everyone keeps telling me it's annoying."
Meanwhile, the rest of the battlefield had erupted into chaos.
The majority of the Khaos Brigade members were being pushed back. The combined strength of the Three Factions, the Yokai forces, Rias's peerage, HERO, and the other fighters present was simply too much for most of them.
But the DG Troopers were proving to be a completely different problem.
Nobody here had ever encountered anything like them before.
Their laser weapons weren't using demonic power, holy power, or any recognizable form of magic. That made them difficult to predict, especially when the Troopers coordinated their fire.
Issei ducked as a bright beam tore over his head.
"What the hell?!"
He slid across the ground, another laser striking the floor behind him.
"WHY ARE THERE LASER GUNS?!"
Kiba jumped over a blast.
"I don't know!"
Xenovia blocked another attack with her sword, only to realize the laser had scorched the blade.
"These weapons aren't magical!"
Irina looked at the Troopers.
"Then what are they?!"
Koneko dodged behind a stone pillar.
"Annoying."
Another volley came flying toward them.
The group scattered.
Even Vali, who was normally more than happy to stand in front of an attack, had to move when three DG Troopers focused their weapons on him simultaneously.
He looked at the glowing weapons.
"...Those are interesting."
Issei stared at him.
"That's what you're thinking about?!"
Vali grinned.
"Of course."
Across the battlefield, Azazel was having considerably more fun.
He stood in the air, surrounded by several Khaos Brigade members.
"Come on!"
He raised his hand.
Golden light erupted around him.
"Let's see what you've got!"
A massive artificial Sacred Gear appeared.
The Down Fall Dragon Spear manifested in his hand, its power linked to Fafnir.
Azazel grinned.
"Down Fall Dragon Another Armor!"
Golden armor formed around his body.
Several Khaos Brigade members froze.
One of them whispered, "That's an Artificial Sacred Gear..."
Azazel spun the spear.
"Yep."
He vanished.
BOOM!
The shockwave sent several attackers flying.
Issei stared from below.
"Azazel is showing off again."
Rias sighed.
"Of course he is."
Serafall, meanwhile, had already engaged Katerea.
The two Leviathans clashed high above Kyoto, demonic energy colliding with ice magic.
Katerea snarled.
"You think you can stand against me, Serafall?!"
Serafall's playful expression was gone.
"I don't think I can."
Ice spread across the sky around her.
"I know."
Katerea unleashed a massive wave of demonic energy.
Serafall raised her hand.
A wall of ice appeared.
BOOM!
The explosion lit up the sky.
Below them, Issei rolled underneath another laser blast.
"WHY DOES NOBODY KNOW WHAT THESE THINGS ARE?!"
Azazel landed nearby.
"Because they're not Sacred Gears."
Issei looked at him.
"Then what are they?!"
Azazel glanced toward the DG Troopers.
"...That's what I'd like to know."
Another laser flew past them.
Azazel casually raised his artificial Sacred Gear and deflected it.
"Whatever they are, they're technologically advanced."
Issei blinked.
"You're saying that like you're impressed."
Azazel smiled.
"I am."
He looked toward the battlefield.
"And I want one."
Issei stared at him.
"Of course you do."
Azazel's eyes remained fixed on the DG Troopers.
"After this is over, I'm taking one apart."
Issei immediately pointed at him.
"That sounds extremely suspicious when you say it like that!"
Azazel laughed.
"It's research."
"That's exactly what a mad scientist would say!"
A few meters away, one of the DG Troopers turned toward them.
Its weapon began charging.
Azazel's smile disappeared.
"...Incoming."
Issei looked up.
"Oh, come on."
The Trooper fired.
Azazel grabbed Issei by the collar and pulled him aside as the laser blasted past them.
BOOM!
Azazel looked toward the Trooper.
"Okay."
His artificial Sacred Gear began glowing again.
"Now I'm definitely taking one apart."
Issei sighed.
"I knew you were going to say that."
Meanwhile, the battle continued to spread across the grounds.
Raynare watched Azazel fight from a short distance away, his artificial Sacred Gear blazing as he tore through the Khaos Brigade.
Raynare stared for a moment before looking toward Tobio.
"Is he always like this?"
Tobio glanced at her.
"You used to work for him. You should know."
Raynare immediately shook her head.
"Correction. I used to work for him. That was before he gave me to Rias."
Tobio paused.
"Fair correction."
Raynare raised both hands as several DG Troopers turned their weapons toward her.
A golden-white barrier appeared in front of her.
BOOM!
The laser blasts slammed into the shield, making it ripple violently.
Raynare gritted her teeth.
"Those things are seriously annoying."
Tobio looked toward the Troopers.
"Agreed."
Another group of Khaos Brigade members charged.
Tobio immediately moved.
"Then let's focus on the actual enemies."
Raynare nodded.
"Right."
She dropped her barrier and released a barrage of holy light.
Across the battlefield, Nate continued his fight with Agent X.
The Yo-kai moved with the same strange, unpredictable combat style Nate remembered from the Yokai watch Game.
Nate blocked another attack.
"You're really making me remember a lot of things I'd rather have forgotten."
Agent X smiled.
"Perhaps that's the point."
Nate's eyes narrowed.
Then Agent X suddenly stopped.
He jumped backward and floated higher into the air.
Nate looked up.
"What are you doing?"
Agent X reached into his coat.
He pulled out three small glass containers.
Nate immediately felt something was wrong.
His Spirit Bond reacted before he even understood why.
'Bad feeling.'
Agent X held the containers between his fingers.
Nate's eyes widened.
"Don't."
Agent X smiled.
Then he crushed all three.
CRACK!
The contents dispersed into the air.
For one second, nothing happened.
Then—
BOOM!
A wave of strange energy swept across the battlefield.
Michael suddenly grabbed his chest.
His eyes widened.
"Ugh!"
Several Angels collapsed.
"Michael!"
Sirzechs turned toward him.
At the same time, Vali suddenly staggered.
"Ddraig?!"
Issei dropped to one knee.
"Gah!"
Inside his Sacred Gear, Ddraig's presence roared in pain.
The Heavenly Dragons were being affected.
Then the Angels began screaming.
"AAAH!"
Their wings flickered violently as they struggled to remain standing.
Azazel suddenly lost his balance.
"What... is this?"
His body crackled with energy.
He fell from the air and crashed into the ground.
BOOM!
Sirzechs immediately rushed toward him.
"Azazel!"
The Devils weren't doing much better.
Several collapsed as their bodies began weakening.
But something was different.
Nate looked around.
The pure humans weren't affected.
Issei was struggling because of Ddraig, but the human part of him remained conscious.
Cao Cao was still standing.
Tobio was still standing.
The other pure humans were still fighting.
Nate's eyes narrowed.
'Three containers.'
'Three different targets.'
Agent X slowly looked around at the fallen supernatural beings.
"One of these contained a poison capable of affecting divine beings."
He lifted one finger.
"The second contained holy water."
A second finger.
"And the third contained something specifically designed to affect angelic entities."
Michael struggled to raise his head.
"You..."
Agent X smiled.
"You supernatural beings have spent centuries building defenses against each other's powers."
He looked toward the remaining humans.
"But you weren't prepared for something completely outside your system."
Nate's expression became cold.
He looked at the fallen Angels.
Then at Azazel.
Then at Issei and Vali.
His hand tightened around his sword.
'This wasn't just an attack.'
'They came prepared with weapons specifically designed for the people attending this meeting.'
Nate slowly looked back toward Agent X.
"...Who gave you those?"
Agent X smiled.
"Now that's the interesting question, isn't it?"
Nate's Spirit Bond flared violently around him.
"Yeah."
His eyes narrowed.
"I'm starting to get really tired of mysterious people refusing to answer that question."
Tobio looked across the battlefield at the Khaos Brigade members. His eyes narrowed as he noticed something that didn't make sense.
'Why aren't they affected?'
His gaze moved from one attacker to another. None of them seemed to be suffering from the poison, holy water, or whatever substance had been released from those containers.
'Are they wearing something that protects them? Or is there a range limit?'
Tobio tightened his grip, carefully watching their movements.
The attackers weren't even pretending to be affected.
That meant they either had prior protection, were outside the effective range, or the substances had been specifically designed to spare them.
Tobio's expression hardened.
'Either way, that's not something they should have been able to prepare for by themselves.'
Beside him, Azazel was still struggling against the poison coursing through his body, while Michael and the other supernatural beings were similarly weakened.
Tobio glanced toward Nate.
Nate was still standing.
And judging by the look on his face, he had noticed the same thing.
Nate slowly looked toward the Khaos Brigade members.
"Yeah..." he muttered. "Something about this is definitely wrong."
Tobio's eyes narrowed further.
'This attack isn't just planned.'
He looked at the strange attackers again.
'They knew exactly what they were bringing.'
Tobio's thoughts were interrupted when one of the Khaos Brigade members suddenly rushed forward.
He immediately raised his arm.
"Move!"
The attacker swung a weapon toward him, forcing Tobio backward. The impact cracked the ground beneath his feet.
Tobio gritted his teeth as he blocked the next strike.
'They're still fighting normally.'
His eyes briefly shifted toward Azazel, Michael, Sirzechs, and the other weakened supernatural beings.
'If this were simply an area-of-effect weapon, the attackers should have been affected too.'
Tobio pushed his opponent away and glanced toward Agent X.
The strange Yo-kai was standing calmly among the chaos.
Tobio's eyes narrowed.
'Unless...'
His gaze moved toward the broken containers scattered across the floor.
'The containers weren't designed to affect everyone.'
A sudden realization hit him.
'They were designed to affect specific supernatural races.'
"That means they knew who would be here," Tobio muttered.
Azazel, despite struggling to remain standing, heard him.
"You noticed it too?"
Tobio nodded. "Yeah. The attacker's side isn't affected."
Azazel's expression became unusually serious.
"Which means someone supplied them with countermeasures."
Tobio looked at the Khaos Brigade again.
"And someone knew exactly what the conference attendees would be."
A blast suddenly tore through the building.
Everyone turned.
Nate had slammed Agent X through a wall.
"Okay!" Nate shouted as he landed. "I've officially reached the part where I really want answers!"
Agent X climbed out of the rubble, casually brushing dust from his suit.
Nate pointed at him.
"You know something."
Agent X's grin widened.
"And you're not telling me."
Agent X simply laughed.
Nate's eye twitched.
"Yep. I hate this guy."
Behind them, one of the DG Troopers raised its laser weapon.
Tobio immediately noticed it.
'They're protecting Agent X.'
He clenched his fist.
'So they're not random reinforcements either.'
The DG Trooper fired.
Tobio dodged the beam as it passed beside his head and scorched the wall behind him.
"What the hell are those weapons?" Tobio exclaimed.
Azazel, still weakened, looked at the smoking wall.
"...I want one."
Tobio stared at him.
"Seriously?"
Azazel gave him a tired grin.
"Science doesn't stop just because I'm being poisoned."
Tobio sighed.
'Of course it doesn't.'
Then something else caught his attention.
A black feather drifted through the damaged hall.
Tobio looked up.
The feather slowly descended between the combatants.
Then, before anyone could reach it, it vanished.
Tobio's expression hardened.
'What was that?'
Nate noticed it too.
For just a moment, his eyes followed the place where the feather had disappeared.
He didn't recognize the organization behind it.
But he knew one thing.
'That wasn't part of the plan.'
Nate tightened his grip on his Yokai Watch.
"Okay..."
His expression became serious.
"Now I'm really curious who's pulling the strings."
Nate's attention suddenly snapped toward the battlefield.
His eyes widened.
Serafall was being held by the throat.
Katerea had one hand wrapped around her neck, lifting her off the ground while a spear of water formed in her other hand.
"Well, I guess today the mighty Serafall finally falls," Katerea said with a cruel smile.
Serafall, despite being restrained, simply stared at her.
"Really?" she said, her voice strained but strangely confident. "Couldn't defeat me in my strongest form?"
Katerea's expression twitched.
"You're still talking?"
She swung Serafall aside and prepared to drive the water spear through her.
But before she could move, a hand grabbed her face.
Katerea's eyes widened.
Nate stood directly in front of her.
"Don't."
His voice was quiet.
Far too quiet.
Katerea barely had time to react before Nate slammed her into the ground.
BOOM!
The floor shattered beneath her.
Nate grabbed her again and hurled her across the battlefield.
Katerea smashed through a stone pillar.
Before she could recover, Nate was already there.
He seized her by the back and ragdolled her across the ground before throwing her down again.
Katerea coughed as she tried to push herself up.
Then she felt something beneath her.
A foot.
Nate was standing on the back of her head, pinning her to the ground.
His eyes were cold.
Not angry.
Not shouting.
Just completely devoid of hesitation.
The kind of expression that made even experienced fighters realize they had crossed a line.
Katerea looked up at him.
"You..."
Nate didn't answer.
Instead, his eyes caught something attached to her back.
A small device.
It looked almost like a metallic chip embedded into her clothing.
Nate crouched down and carefully removed it.
The moment the device came free, Katerea's body suddenly convulsed.
"Gah!"
Her strength vanished.
She collapsed against the floor, breathing heavily.
Nate's eyes widened slightly.
"Wait..."
He looked toward the other weakened Devils.
Then back at the device.
"So that's why."
The device had been suppressing the effects of the substance.
Nate immediately turned toward Serafall.
"Serafall!"
He rushed over and caught her before she could fall.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," Serafall assured him, though she was clearly still exhausted.
Nate placed the device into her hand.
The moment it touched her palm, the chip activated.
A faint glow spread across her body.
Serafall blinked.
Her breathing steadied.
The weakness that had been weighing down her body disappeared.
"Weird..." She flexed her fingers. "I don't feel weak anymore."
Nate stared at the device.
"Yep."
He looked back toward Katerea, who was still struggling to stand.
"That confirms it."
Tobio, who had been watching from nearby, immediately understood.
"The devices are protecting them from the substances."
Azazel's eyes narrowed.
"So they were equipped with countermeasures before the attack even began."
Michael slowly raised his head.
"Meaning whoever supplied those devices knew exactly what weapons would be used."
Sirzechs looked toward the battlefield.
"And knew who would be affected."
Nate's expression darkened.
"Which means this wasn't just a Khaos Brigade operation."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Even the fighting seemed to become secondary.
Nate looked at the strange device in Serafall's hand.
"Someone gave them these."
His eyes shifted toward Agent X.
Agent X's grin remained unchanged.
Nate's eyes narrowed.
"Now I really want to know who."
To be continue
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