Flesh is Weak

The clash of kings and an old face appears.

The ORC room had not changed since the last time I was here. As the portal from the train station to here closed, I saw the same desks, couches, and tables. Rias explained her club in the school to Ravel who listened with a half ear to Rias. I was next to a still nervous Xenovia. The blue-haired woman looked at the room, and she had been a little put off by how dreary the place was. I agree this place needs more light fixtures and a complete redo of the building. Xenovia eyed me again watching my feet.

"I don't recognize the stance you have there."

I shrugged at that.

"It's from a place called Aesirnera."

She froze for a second before watching me with a new intensity in her eyes. She was about to say something when a second portal opened in the room.

Out of that came Akeno. She smiled teasingly at me before she caught sight of Xenovia. My cousin and the holy sword-wielding rook had a ten-second glare off before Akeno smiled teasingly at me again.

"A new piece already, Lex."

I snark at my cousin in amusement.

"Not mine, lightning bat. This is your new peer. I'm just here to look pretty for Rias to show off to the student council president."

Xenovia snickers there, showing she has a sense of humor underneath her ice queen persona. Akeno joins in, too, while Rias pouts adorable. Ravel is the serious one, and she snarks at me in amusement.

"Oh, poor you having to play the house husband. Whatever shall you do."

That gets more snickers from Akeno and giggling from Rias. Xenovia cracked a small smile before Akeno engaged her in a conversation while Rias practically dragged me out of the building with a very amused Ravel. I noticed before we left that Xenovia watched me with a new desperate manic look.

The school grounds were empty of people, and Ravel watched everything in fascination. Rias just skipped getting ready to feed her sin well here. This happy Rias is better than the depressed one. I was dragged into the building by Rias, and as we continued down the hallway, Ravel took notes of everything, and I asked her out of curiosity.

"Your magician guild. Do you have a name for it yet?"

That stopped Rias's skipping as she listened to us. Ravel shook her head.

"I don't. I wish I had a good name for the guild. I have tried many different fire-based names, and none have ever seemed right. I'd consider others, but I'm unsure what my guild will specialize in. Everyone has their share of the current magic fields covered, and I don't know where we could fit in."

Ravel was a little down, and I tried to cheer her up with a nudge on her right shoulder.

"Like I said, I'm not a magic man, and the most powerful thing I can do via magic is break wards. I leave real magic to the experts. Maybe I can help with that."

Ravel looked interested in my admission.

"You're a ward breaker?"

I nodded, and Rias piped in with a pleased smile.

"He has a large amount of potential for it, too. He is not a natural ward genius, but he understands enough to quickly grasp the basics in a single night. I can help with this, too. I can teach wards as a maker, but the red one is above me in that field. Isn't the current guild for wards Rosenkreuzer?"

Ravel was surprised she would get help from Rias. Her blue eyes focused on Rias's sea green ones. The two held a silent discussion before Rias said in a slight huff.

"We are equals here, and I will help you as he would."

Ravel finally sighed.

"You are correct that Rosenkreuzer is the wards guild. However, they have stagnated and become so secretive about teaching wards that it's next to impossible for you to get training in the field. I am just surprised, given everything, that you would be willing to help me."

Rias hmphs cutely.

"You can be the official Lady Astaroth while I can be the Lady of Iron. What I want is to be the public one up here!"

Ravel shot back at once while being jealous.

"I want to be co-head of the running club if that is what you want."

Rias and Ravel stared each other down at that moment before Rias humphed again. Glance at the two as we passed by another room near our destination.

"Ravel, you most definitely can have that. I also have a project that I would like both of your help with. I'm sure Ravel can get a hint of it when I say Industrial Revolution."

Ravel went wide-eyed at that and then grinned shark-like at the possibilities. Rias again showed her brain here getting it.

"You mean what the reincarnated in our territory have been slowly pushing my dad to accept, yes? Big factories and new ways of making and doing things?"

I squeezed Rias's hand in confirmation, and Ravel grew eager because she looked into my red eyes. I nodded yes.

"It's time the underworld caught up to humans. I have selected a village to become my test bed, and I would like you both to help me there. I will turn it into what I call a forge city, and it will make machines that will make Astaroth commoners richer than other commoners. I want to include Heiress Sitri and Heiress Agares in this new idea and a movement I want to start."

Ravel finally showed me her sin at that moment. Lust for power and influence. She was feeding it heavily here, and even Rias was sort of there with the blonde. Ravel quickly came down from the high and smile she had shown me, a woman on a mission.

At the door to the room, Rias was practically ready to blow open the door and stomp through it to show me off to Sona. I gently whacked Rias when she started to power up, getting an oof. I knocked on the wooden door twice, and Rias pouted at not getting her flashy entrance. We didn't have to wait long as the door was answered.

It was opened by my archrival in smile smirking. The one and only Tsubaki Shinra dressed in the school uniform. Upon seeing me, she adopted our shared smile, and she immediately said in a voice amused at how defensive Rias became.

"Heir Astaroth, it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person, and not from random encounters. I'll let my king know you are here. Don't worry, Rias. I'm not out to steal your prize or yours, Lady Phenex."

Rias didn't believe that for a second and got her tic mark popping out. Tsubaki just chuckled, seeing that, and stepped out of the doorway to let us in. I watched Tsubaki carefully, and she swiped her hair over her shoulder. Rias immediately clutches me tighter and Tsubaki continues to smile smirk there before she raised her voice.

"Madam president, you have visitors."

Sona responds with a tired-sounding voice.

"I'll be right there. Please tell me it's not Ruruko returning without my pens."

Tsubaki chuckled there and led us through the office-like room of cubicles towards the back of the room. Two heads poked out of cubicles. It was Tomoe and Tsubasa, as seen by the red brown, and blue hair. Tomoe went back to work on something while Tsubasa watched on. Out of the black door on the back wall comes Sona with her bishops. Sona, Momo, and Reya were all dressed in the school uniform. Sona blinked rapidly upon seeing us, while Momo and Reya each did something different. Momo hyper-focused on me and smiled seductively. Her eyes were tracing me up and down in glee while Reya frowned and pinched her fellow bishop in annoyance. That got an eep from Momo before a blushing face appeared. Thankfully, Sona didn't see that and was bombarded with Rias's smug superiority smile. Rias immediately went on the attack and started bragging her knucklehead happiness.

"He is mine, Sona. Take that! Plain boring me beats the second Onee-sama of the school in getting a boyfriend and future husband first! He is better than anything you can get from the other Heirs or minor nobilty!"

Ravel and I shake our heads at the boasts that keep coming from Rias towards Sona. Tsubaki was ultra amused at the display with a smile that had her pearly white teeth on display. Sona has a deer in the headlight expression as Rias rants on and on about her total victory over her friend. Reya was shaking her brown head while Momo had fire in her eyes at Rias for the plain knucklehead nature of this. The ranting finally ended when I pinched Rias's elbow, getting the rant to stop and a cacophony of giggling to start. That makes Sona sweat drop before Sona recomposed herself from shocked to her normal stick-up-her-ass self.

"Yes, Rias, you have won the perfect husband. Whatever shall I do as the great Onee-sama of the school? I have lost to you."

Rias missed the complete and utter sarcasm now having massive stars in her eyes. Momo got pissed at Rias for missing that too, and for being next to me while Reya and Tsubaki snickered together. Ravel is silently amused, and I let Rias enjoy her knucklehead self. My eyes meet Sona's, and the black-haired woman smiles slightly.

"Congratulations on your victory, Heir Astaroth. It was an impressive game, and given the terrain disadvantage, you did incredibly well. I, however, am most intrigued by several things I saw in the game and the unanswered questions that arose afterward."

Sona and my eyes sent lightning between each other, and I smiled secretly.

"I don't give answers easily, Heiress Sitri."

That made Sona smile slightly, and we enjoyed our possible rival moment together before I returned to boring.

"I have several things I would like to discuss or ask you about. I would like to know if I can form a club for my peerage to operate behind. I understand that the school has no true running club yet and would like to use that."

Sona tilted her head yes.

"I will have the club approved immediately. I just need to know who your Vice President is and have you both sign some paperwork. Will potential people be recruited from the club, and will everyone in the peerage be in it?"

I shake my head before pointing to Ravel who preens.

"Like I said before, I probably won't be recruiting from the school. This is my Vice President here. Of my peerage, all but three will be in the school. The three have all expressed zero interest in being here. How often does Heiress Gremory have you all do stray cleanings, and how hard would it be for me to get a meeting with your sister?"

The last part of that makes Sona freeze for a few seconds before she robotically takes Reya's paperwork and hands it over for Ravel and me to sign. As we signed, Sona answered my questions with a cautious look.

"We are given three cleanings a week. I would rather do fewer cleanings as I'm busy learning everything I can to achieve my future goal. As for meeting my sister, I'm sure your issue isn't that bad that you need to talk to her."

Ravel and I handed the papers back to Sona.

"If you want, I can try to convince Lady Gremory to give us the cleanings. The issue that I need to discuss with your sister is important, sadly. Rias told me you want to open a school that doesn't teach garbage, such as the earth is flat, to its students."

Sona takes the papers while looking at Rias especially hard getting the redhead to blush brightly.

"I'm learning."

Sona gives her best friend an I don't believe you look before she returns her violet eyes to me.

"If you want them, feel free to make the case. I will try to contact my sister, but it will take a little while as she is busy most of the time. As for the school, yes, I am planning to form one. However, my school would also include commoners and reincarnated in two separate divisions. The commoner division is my attempt to return something lost in the Civil War. The division for reincarnated devils is for those participating in the ratings games. They don't understand even a third of the game's rules, as those are hidden and only taught to purebloods. It has been stifling possible reincarnated the chance of becoming kings. The ten reincarnated kings we have made it there because they either had sympathetic masters or were like Hafter who is smart and cunning."

My patron told me that the event that canceled the then slowly being established schools for commoners was Sirzches saving the school of children from the OSF. The GKF used the fear of other children being hurt after the war to have the institution closed temporarily and then permanently. That angered me greatly, and I resolved to make the offer for Sona.

"I can wait for the meeting. I currently live at this place here in the city, but please keep it vague for the records. I believe that I can give you a place to start your school. I have learned of a village in Astaroth territory that I plan to transform into a new thing for the underworld. I will let you run the school however you want as long as we destroy the GKF and their shit noble schools. I'd even be willing to fully fund the school out of my own pocket."

I wrote down the address and passed it to Sona, who had gone still before her mouth went to the floor. Momo now has full hearts in her eyes while Reya gives a more approving look at me. Tsubaki, however, acted differently. She watched me like I was about to betray Sona right then. Her two eye colors focused in on my red eyes, and she promised extreme pain to me now should I do that. Rias didn't like that hostility and glared at Tsubaki. Ravel simply watched with a keen interest in her blue eyes. Sona finally got over her shock.

"You mean that?"

I watched Tsubaki's hostile face and answered with no hesitation or lie.

"On my honor as Heir to the Astaroths, we both see what is wrong with the underworld, and I don't see the GKF stepping up to fix anything. This school has my full support."

I finally got the first non-hard-ass thing that wasn't simple happiness for her friend. Sona looks at me with genuine and utter respect. Rias beams ultra proud and enjoys feeling Momo's jealous look at her and Ravel. Tsubaki still watches me with suspicion. Sona, however, takes the pledge.

"I will hold you to that and you are right. Rias might think the nobility has perfectly accepted me, given I'm an Heiress, but I'm not. I'm considered crazy by even many of the NKF houses. The only other person who has even attempted to contribute to this is Seekvaria Agares, and that was only so she could have her mechs eventually. You want nothing else from this?"

I shrugged.

"I want nothing other than a new golden age for all. I will fully back this school if it starts that future for children or reincarnated."

Sona smiled a real smile, and she made that promise.

"Then it will happen. I have not thought of a name for the school, and since you're my biggest backer so far, take that as my appreciation for the commitment."

I know just the name for this place.

"I would like it to be called The Arkhan Lan Academy."

Sona had Reya get a pen, then asked me to spell it. I did slowly, and I felt Koriel tell me that the asshat would appreciate me there. When Reya has finished writing down the name, Sona throws the paper in a pocket spell and then nods her head.

"The Arkhan Lan Academy. It's vastly better than my other potential name that Seekvaria provided."

The look on Sona's face showed how bad that name must have been while Rias snickers.

"She wanted the Gundam Academy."

Thats expected from everything I have learned about Seekvaria. Sona groans, and I ask in somewhat amusement.

"How did Heiress Agares learn of Gundam?"

Sona groaned again while Rias answered the question.

"The Agares control a town in the south of Japan like Kuoh. Seek had her first experience with the topside there with her dad during a Gundam parade the town was hosting, and both fell in love with it. I never got ninety percent of her references to it till I came up here and embraced the superiority of Japan!"

I snickered at that while Tsubaki sighed. Momo with star-filled eyes, thought I liked Gundam, and she seemed to be taking mental notes. Sona sighed again, and her eyes took on a hopeless look.

"Seek always goes on about how she will be the first to make mechs a reality and that her peerage will drive them in the ratings games. I don't want to believe what will happen when she achieves her dream."

Oh, I want to see Knights in the ratings games. Seekvaria has a best friend in me now. My evil smile makes Sona sweat drop. I say this with that wicked smile growing, imagining the Knights going ham on each other during the games.

"I would like to meet Heiress Agares sometime. She sounds like she's fun."

Tsubaki huffed in a very unimpressed way.

"She won't shut up long enough for you to get much in. Gundam this Gundam that its trying and very frustrating."

Sona looked at her queen in disapproval at her openly saying that even though her eyes said she agreed. Rias, however, had a completely different opinion.

"She's cultured! I have no idea how you find those cowboy movies so entertaining, Sona!"

Sona blushed, horrified and pissed that knucklehead Rias had revealed a dark secret to me. I don't snicker even tho that is funny. Instead, I pinched Rias on her elbow again, getting giggling from my redhead while I said it with a tiny bit of amusement.

"You are a weeb, Ria, and wouldn't know a good movie that isn't from that genre. There are several good Western movies, and Heiress Sitri probably knows the best ones. I'm a big fan of the Good the Bad and the Ugly myself."

Sona sent me a big thank you from behind her glasses for the defense, and she recovered from her horrified expression to her normal one.

"That movie is respectable, and while not accurate in its depiction of the setting it has several good qualities."

My defense of Sona from the knucklehead weeb gets me some of the friendliness back from Tsubaki. She, too likes westerns it seems. Rias just smiled brightly and was extremely pleased with how her day was going. Momo was writing down something extremely quickly while Reya looked at her fellow bishop with a face that said she couldn't believe this. Ravel coughed gently before she whispered something in my ear, and I tilted my head to her yes. We do need to clean up that base today.

"Thank you for helping with my club request, Heiress Sitri. I appreciate it and will ensure we stay out of your hair here at the school. I hope your sister will meet with me, as I have a feeling that I could help her job. Unfortunately, I do have other things to do today."

Sona understood the responsibilities of being an heir, so she turned back to Tsubaki and started her own business. Rias pulled me and, by extension, Ravel with an extremely strong pull towards the door and to the clubhouse.

In the clubhouse, Akeno and Xenovia were together enjoying some tea, and I was relieved to see that Xenovia was mostly done with her manic state and was back to being an ice queen. The only hint of that manic state left was her eyes focusing on me again. Rias was enjoying her 'victory' over Sona and Ravel lets her fellow have this high. She pulled me to a couch along with a still-high Rias, where she put me in the middle with herself on the right and Rias on the left. Akeno smiles her teaser smile and is about to say something there, but Ravel interrupts her.

"We need to plan out how we hit these bases. You said you have confirmed seven?"

Rias came down from the high, and she immediately looked at me with a puppy face to go on a mission with me. I rolled my eyes there and smiled at Ravel.

"We can do several this week. I have narrowed down the list to a single place for today, and I believe we can easily clean it up. It's in an old school building in one of the city's suburbs. Rias, we can hit that today and get you ready for future stuff."

That made Rias extra happy, and Akeno chimed in, showing a little of her sadistic side and her wrath.

"I'd be happy to help there, Lex. How many at this base?"

I answered with a slight frown.

"Fifteen at most, but I want to send in what I call a servo skull to make sure. My source didn't say what this place was for other than it exists."

This way, Rias gets her teeth wet on something that wouldn't be so bad if Heniya or others learned of it. Rias surprised everyone with something.

"Heniya is going to start giving me stray cleanings. I had to promise her several tea time sessions she loves for it. She knows you have been giving me sword lessons and desperately wants to banish the Hunters Guild from her territory. She had to wipe fifty people's heads on Saturday for the veil to stay up because of them. I don't think she will say no to you taking Sona's cleanings. I want to do this to show her I won't fail on my first clean."

The certainty that she would fail was clear, and I wrapped my arm around her. Ravel was not sure how to respond, and Xenovia was the one to speak there.

"I would be happy to help clean up strays. They are a plague on people."

Her brown eyes were masking something. Ravel took the support, and then she looked at me.

"We five should be enough for this base. You can make us all equipment, yes?"

I mentally calculated the cost for this and answered with a small nod.

"I can make the four of you carapace, which is the basic armor we use. Power armor, which is what we were using in the game, is more taxing to make. Do you still want a sword, Ria?"

Rias looked me dead in the eyes, and she said it without hesitation.

"I want to be like you and become stronger. I will shed my weakness to become Iron Within and Iron Without."

Xenovia focused on those words and looked at me as if something was falling into place. Ravel understood a little bit, given what I explained to here, but Akeno was the happiest out of everyone but Rias.

"You will, Rias. You are not the old weak you."

With that said, we began the plan.

Gear was made for everyone in the station. Rias looked at her chainsword and I noted she was still completely nervous despite the previous words. Akeno was licking her lips as she looked at her cog-topped staff, imagining the electric shocks she would apply with this. Ravel looked at her armor with a deep frown. It was Xenovia, who was weird because she was mumbling something under her breath. I only caught a few words.

"Is this the path to you both?"

That is weird, and I moved towards Ravel, who was looking at the helmet in her hand. She looked up from the helm to me with her face set in a deep frown, and she asked me as I approached in my power armor.

"If you're worried about me don't be. Ruval made sure I was prepared for this. He has taken me on stray hunts in our territory before."

My face looked at Ravel.

"I wasn't worried I have full confidence in you like I do, Rias."

Ravel saw the truth in my eyes.

"I'm just used to everyone but Ruval not understanding that I'm capable too. Ruval might be a sis-con, but he is the only one who ever believed in me."

I see the same thing in Ravel that I saw with Rias. They both were desperate to prove to the world they were capable people.

"Well, you have two people now. I believe in you, too."

That was met by a half-grin from Ravel, who could tell I meant that. She then looked at the helm again, and she was considering something. I know I have to share with her and Rias Koriel soon. I wait for everyone to be ready, and then Ravel and I gather magic to make a portal to this school.

The school was on the outer edge of one of the suburbs surrounding Kuoh, next to a creek that ran through most of the suburban town and behind the property. This used to be an old middle school that had been abandoned during the financial crisis in 2008 by the town as a cost-cutting measure. We emerged from our portal on the back side of the creek in a glade of woods. The school was surrounded by a rusting fence that had several man size holes in it. Rias and I feel for wards and find them after two minutes of searching. The stone was hidden in a tree trunk near the creek, and I felt for cracks and found multiple. Two pinpoint pricks break a section of wards on the back half of the building before three servo skulls controlled by Tsuda began scans.

From the skulls, I immediately saw that my information from the fallen captain was wrong. Inside the building were more than fifteen people. There were thirty. Three fallen and twenty-seven exorcists. No prisoners here and nothing else to note on the first light scan. The second deep scan found something worrisome. There were several armories inside the building giving off holy energy signs consistent with bullets and swords. Ravel looked at the scan, and she started formulating the plan. Rias was worried about this, and she showed that by coating the chainsword in the power of destruction to release the nerves.

Five minutes later, a steely Ravel laid out the plan. We would do a hammer and anvil for the enemy and then make our way to the center of the building. There was a minor spat over who would go with me from Rias and Ravel before an amused Akeno broke that up.

"I will go with Lex. You three can be the anvil. We will be extra brutal with them and make them run towards you. No mask for me, Lex. My kohai told me about it and I want to remember this."

The wrath was there in full force.

"That's fine with me I'm using a plasma gun today. Get away from me if it overheats."

Ravel looked at the gun I was carrying with a bit of wonder. Xenovia was spacing off right now and thinking of something else profoundly. Rias and Ravel argued for five seconds on who would be in command of the anvil and then decided to do it together. Akeno put an invisibility spell on us, and we moved to the front of the school to start the plan. I was testing a new system on the mechadendrites that could be a breaching tool for future Skitarii. A small portable lance cannon hums while I prep two grenade launcher arms with krak grenades just in case it fails. We arrived at the front courtyard, and I saw behind us a road with more light woods on the other side. The doors for the entrance were barred shut with chains. I move my cannon mechadendrite and make my HUD lock onto the door. A red light flew and hit the front doors of the building.

The light blows the doors off their hinges and onto the floor of the front entrance room. Akeno and I entered the building. Akeno powers up her staff, and as lightning flows up the staff as my gun whines up. The hums and whines from it echo in the hallway where running towards us, are five humans in the priest robes of exorcists. Kokabiel's emblem above their hearts. They immediately showed they were well-trained by drawing light submachine guns and started a barrage of well-timed bursts that would have sent a regular foe into cover. Bullets ping off armor, flopping to the ground. I fired my gun and claimed the first kill. A man on the right takes the green ball head-on and screams for a second before his body becomes green sludge. His comrades were in pure shock, and that's when Akeno struck. She fired a lightning bolt from the top of her cog staff to blow off a head, and that body tumbled to the ground next to the now green goo of their comrade. The three remaining exorcists looked at their comrades' bodies in horror, and they backed away quickly for us. I scared them further by extending my chainsword arms and making them all roar simultaneously.

The exorcists pissed themselves before starting to run screaming. They ran back up the hallway and past five more of their comrades coming to help them. Akeno summoned a thunderstorm with lightning start flying, making two of the exorcists do the jerky dance. At the same time, I lobbed a frag grenade that landed in the middle of the enemy and exploded two seconds later.

Body parts and blood paint the walls red. We moved forward with Akeno feeding her sadistic side well here while I was making a mental plan for a new model of mechadenrites. We moved past the dead bodies to the next room.

We entered a big cafeteria, and this is where we ran into the first fallen: a grim-faced man with a light sword the color of green. Around him were ten humans who had thrown up lunch tables, forming a line of barricades. I hear a chirp from the vox from Ravel as we prepare for this fight.

"We killed three exorcists as they ran across the stream."

That was good, and I started this fight by firing two plasma shots and a lance shot that immediately crashed into lunch tables, melting or destroying them. Exorcists who had been using them gasped in horror at that before two jerked, being hit by lightning from Akeno. Those bodies dropped to the floor, and the fallen made a move. They extended two black wings and flew straight towards me. I smirked under the helm and extended my sword arms. The fallen prepared a thrust for my head, and I made the swords roar to life. The sudden noise makes the fallen flinch, and I take both of his arms at the elbow. I stopped Akeno from killing him while firing a shot from my plasma gun at a very brave exorcist who had moved to help the fallen.

"No killing that one I want to start practicing something for the Bastard of the Stars. Put him in stasis."

My shot killed that exorcist while Akeno threw the spell on the screaming fallen, which shut him up. I made a pocket spell for him and then stuffed him into it. The presence of devil magic makes a group of exorcists grow extremely pissed.

"These are devil bastards death to abominations!"

Five charged me, and these were the most zealous ones in the room. The three other exorcists were eyeing their comrades like they were mad seeing the chainswords. They fire their guns in support of their comrades despite that. Akeno and I claim two kills on the chargers and their bodies jerked or become green goo. The three survivors made it to us, and light swords slashed at heads. I caught a blade and then sliced the man in half with a second roaring chainsword. The halves paint the floor red with blood. Akeno uses the blood as a lightning conductor, making the two charging exorcists dance from the shock. They dropped to the floor dead.

The three remaining exorcists backed away from us extremely fast and ran screaming. I claimed the last of the trio before he escaped the room with a plasma shot. He melts, and I am not impressed with the bodies Kokabeil is getting. The slashing had been extremely bad and untrained. I looked at the chargers again, and they looked like they were northern European. I asked Xenovia over the vox.

"Which of the three branches of the churches exorcists desert or get excommunicated the most before heading to Grigori?"

The response was bitter.

"Catholics we have multiple reasons for that."

I could tell that was a sore issue, so I didn't press her more despite the curiosity. As we moved towards the next part of the building, Akeno asked me the question.

"What will you be doing to that fallen?"

I poked my head out of the door and saw no foes. I answered her while looking at the HUD to see where the next concentration of foes was.

"I plan to make him into an example. The Bastard of the Stars will get the same treatment as a servitor."

Akeno was silent before she started fufufuing in sadistic glee as our deity filled her in.

"Enough is there, Lex. Maybe you can do that to my worthless father, too."

We were entering a hallway, and I was shot at by a man who was in cover behind a group of lockers. The bullet pings off my chest plate where my heart was. I fired my plasma gun and clipped the man's arm, melting it off. He started screaming, and Akeno blew his head off with a lightning bolt. I get a poke from Shuri to do something, and I shake my head at Akeno.

"Your dad doesn't deserve that, Keno. I remember a few things about him, and he seemed like he loved you a lot."

Akeno growled under the helm, and she blasted a locker door off its hinges and impaled an exorcist who had tried to jump us. The woman is impaled at the end of the hallway t section. My cousin turned her red helmed eyes on me, and I could feel the hate on her.

"He left momma and me to die! He is the same as Kokabeil!"

Shuri pokes me again to do something to stop that, and I make my first slap on that bratty attitude.

"Your father voted against Kokabeil in Grigori's most recent council meeting. You can ask my spymaster if you don't believe me. I also remember the time he held you when you had sprained your ankle. He didn't let go of you for ten minutes, and he sang a song that made you stop crying."

We had moved down the left hallway past the impaled exorcist, who was still gurgling slightly. Shuri had supplied that example to me, and Akeno stopped moving when she heard that. She gripped her staff tightly and slammed it hard into the nearby locker. The clanging of metal was loud but didn't drown out a ping from Rias.

"Ravel and I took care of two more exorcists. What is on these helms?"

I answered her, a listening Ravel and Xenovia.

"It's called a war mask. It is made by our patron upstairs and was inspired by something in my gear. I'll explain it to you both tonight."

That settled that, and Akeno turned her wrath on me now.

"You weren't there, Lex! Our bastard grandfather told me as he was ready to gut me with a naginata that he helped them find us! That he sold out his worthless human wife and hybrid daughter!"

I poked there again.

"You would believe him that has always been against us and not your father who took you further away from them? Why would you trust our lying degenerate grandfather and not the man who loves you?"

Damn universe logic at play, and Akeno went silent, thinking that over. I poked her again.

"They have always been out to cause us suffering. This is just another more insidious version of it. At the very least, you should hear his side before you try to kill him. Do it for her sake."

Akeno growled and shot back at me as we passed by a gym.

"Fine! I'll hear his side. You will teach me how to make him into one if it's not to my liking. I'll have him clean the temple I want to make for her!"

That was better than nothing, and Shuri thanked me for this much but begged me not to help Akeno there. I promised her I wouldn't do that and that I would do my best to fix this. That got me a quick thank you from her.

"If you see him again, hit him with several truth spells, Keno. Don't play pretend while having already made up your mind. That would be a disservice to you and might lead to something that you could regret."

Akeno was about to snarl at me again, but a light spear, along with a barrage of bullets, came flying down the hallway at us. The light spear slammed into my right shoulder, bounced off, and clipped off a sword arm. I took cover behind a locker grouping and fired blindly around the corner. The scream of someone means I got something with the shot. Akeno had also taken cover on the opposite side of the hallway behind another group of lockers. She powers up, and I peek around the cover to see what we are facing.

The rest of the remaining exorcists and a four-winged fallen woman in next to no armor were facing us at the end of the hallway. The fallen was in what was basically evil Raynare's armor, but it was red instead of black. She was next to a face I do know. It was Freed Sellzen just not the Freed I recognized. Instead of a raving madman, there was a blank-faced man wearing a suit of plate armor that was silver-grey with a single green line running down the center.

The fallen woman had her wings out and threw an extremely fast feather toward my helm eyes. I dodged the shot by getting back into cover. The feather flew past me down the hall, and I blindly fired my plasma gun again. That was followed up by Akeno throwing a lightning bolt. Neither shot made a kill, and the exorcists let out a battle cry as they charged towards us.

"For Siegfried Reborn!"

They must be talking about Freed, but that was a war cry of love. Who the hell would love that madman? I lobed a frag grenade around the corner of my cover, and it was immediately hit by a feather that went off right next to me. Shrapnel rained down on my side of the hall. I had taken two bits of shrapnel, with one in my left leg knee cap. The other in my left foot.

I hear light swords swooshing as they approach. I holster my gun, draw my axe, and rev every single melee weapon at once.

Four swords and the axe roar to life. I sliced around the corner of the lockers and immediately claimed a kill. A head rolled past my cover, and a body dropped to the ground. I then break cover and begin the melee. Tsuda claims a kill on a male exorcist by slicing him in half horizontally. A sword takes an arm from a female exorcist who was too busy watching her comrade fall over in half. That exorcist then gets a sword in the guts, roaring, and the momentum of the charge breaks as the remaining exorcists look at the fast kills in fear. Akeno cooked three of them with lightning, and I claimed another kill with the axe by disemboweling another exorcist. His body dropped, and I faced the fallen and Freed as the other exorcists now looked ready to retreat. They start it running past the fallen commander and Freed.

Freed looked at me with interest while the fallen watched horrified by the display. She prepared something and immediately froze, hearing another scream from behind them. The fallen and Freed turned and gave me a look down the hallway where the scream came from.

It was Rias, Ravel, and Xenovia all prepared to move. I heard Rias say over the vox.

"Iron Within Iron Without. I shed my weakness and shall be the Lady of Iron now and forever more."

Rias revved her sword, and the roar plus another feeling made the fallen squeak in fear. A holy sword entered the hallway with Xenovia holding Durandal. Before she joined Rias in a charge. Ravel was behind them and fired off a wind spell that was quickly followed by a fire spell, making a tornado of heat. The fallen was now turning to face Rias, and Freed faced me. His eyes were still blank, and he pulled out from a sheath on his back, a weapon that evened the odds stacked against him. Another holy sword, and I don't recognize this one. Freed then shows he is extremely fast as he charged down the hallway toward me at a speed that shouldn't be possible for someone with plate armor and a great sword.

The blade came down towards my helmet, and I blocked it with a sword. The teeth on the sword whined, meeting metal, and I slashed with my axe at Freed's right arm, his main sword arm. The teeth from the axe started digging into the plate, trying to get through. It was not going through, and Freed moved again fast and punched me straight in the head.

That gets me a concussion, forcing me back from Freed. The move cost me as the holy sword swiped at my head for a decapitation. Freed shows zero emotion as the blade fails to kill me, screeching as it hits the power armor.

Akeno tried to help me with a lightning bolt that somehow deflected off Freed's left shoulder plate. He didn't take any electrical damage and didn't shake. Instead, Freed shows his tactical ability here and makes a hard push for Akeno. Slicing towards her legs to get the mage down fast. Xenovia makes a call out that the holy sword is Galatine over the vox.

I moved my left leg into the slice, and metal screeched again as the blade contacted. Before, three chainswords came down across the plate armor, roaring in anger. The teeth again whined and scraped on this plate, and I had no idea what the hell type of armor this was. Freed continued his push and showed he was a power-type fighter. While there is skill in his flurry of slashing and swiping, he is mostly using Galatine as his trump card.

Three swipes, two slashes, and a stab all rained down on my body, and I noted that he was only three seconds slower than me in reaction time. I swore to get the next upgrade on my body done soon because this was just a minor villain, and he was almost at where I am now. Every blow fails to make it through, and I see the first sign of emotion from Freed. A hint of frustration from him that he is not winning. That quickly disappears as Freed begins his next attempt to end a life.

Freed brings Galatine in a downward chop, trying to cut me in half. I caught the sword with one of my own and asked Tsuda to power up the axe. She does, and I swing back at Freed, and we finally pierce the chest plate of this weird armor by two inches. I was in pure disbelief, as was Tsuda because that was us at nearly full strength from body and weapon. That pierce, however, scared Freed.

"Scheibe!"

A punch followed that, and a grenade was thrown suddenly. I dodged the punch allowing the grenade to explode. The light was nothing as I heard a crash of wood and the breaking of glass. Freed was suddenly gone, and a trail of destruction showed he had broken a wood door leading into a classroom. I saw a broken window that led out towards a courtyard in the middle of the school. I wanted to chase after him but didn't because I was worried about Rias.

Something came flying towards me, and I caught the object. It was a head. The head of the fallen woman who was looking straight forward in pure fear. I turned to see the body of the fallen disintegrating from the power of destruction. Rias stood triumphantly over that body, and I noted that she had two dents in her armor near her right leg and left arm. I dropped the head, letting it clunk on the ground, and slowly moved towards Rias and the others.

Xenovia and Ravel were cleaning up the last of the exorcists in the hallway as Durandal sliced the last two still alive in half. Ravel was starting to burn the bodies of the dead to start the cleanup. Rias was holding her roaring chainsword and looking at the body of the fallen, slowly leaving this plain of existence. I stopped in front of Rias, and that was when she deactivated her sword. I was about to ask her if she was ok but Ravel cut me off from that.

"We came to help as soon as we saw them congregate here. We also stopped the last fallen from escaping."

I took the report there, and I kept my eyes on Rias. She was still standing, and Ravel said something interesting.

"She's good with a sword. I might have to ask you to train me in that, too. The kills were nearly all her."

Xenovia also commented on that as she was putting Durandal away.

"I would love to spar with you and my king at some point."

That finally broke Rias out of her stupor. She looked at her sword with awe and was practically ready to start dancing in excitement. To beat a fallen with four wings after being called weak for so long broke something that had been with her for so long. Akeno saw her sister and king ready to dance, and she started fufufuing, and our earlier spat was gone.

"I'll ask my Kohai to teach me swords. That fighter showed me I needed to fix that. I didn't want to hit you, Lex, while you were fighting him. Congratulations Rias."

Rias was ready to dance more than ever, but she only started doing that when we were done cleaning up bodies and blood.

There were significant amounts of guns, bullets, and light swords here for Kokabeil's disposable army. However, the weapons were all sabotaged by someone before we found them. Those weapons were disposed over yet I also found something that made me extremely pleased. A new place for my interrogation and eventual servitor pit in a well-hidden spacious cellar under the principal's office with the entrance behind a bookcase. I kept that to myself, and we will turn this into a new base for the Legio. The place we found the master ward stone was also cunningly hidden in an old statute to a Shinto deity in the center courtyard of the school. At Rias's direction, with Ravel watching, I had broken a crack that allowed a manual reset of the wards, and we quickly claimed the building. This was an exciting win for us. I, along with Ravel, would inform Conner of this place. After making a new teleporter for this place plus power for it, we stepped through to the train station.

At the station, Rias continued to let loose at her victory over multiple fallen and exorcists. Akeno smiled teasingly and said she was going home to think about what I had said during the mission. She was followed by Xenovia, who had stayed silent for the rest of the mission. Her eyes had thrown at me that look of desperation once more for a second before it disappeared again.

I was amused and proud of my wife-to-be while Ravel stood next to me. She, too, had a small smile on her face, showing me she didn't hate Rias. She just was getting used to the fact that the redhead was here. Rias was so lost in her day of pure joy that she wasn't paying attention to us.

I was about to compliment Ravel on her perfect plan when we were interrupted by someone flying into the station down the stairs. It was Alex, and he floated over towards me. For a skull, he seemed incredibly pleased with himself. He floated to my right shoulder.

"The weak baby man is dead! Fuck yeah flesh is weak because that fuck was about to try it again with another one! I poked him, and he immediately went into shock! The nice chick he tried it with was a girl with ultra-long twin tails and thigh-highs in the school uniform! He immediately started convulsing and screaming. That got the girl's attention and she looked sick because he had his pants down then she called the police!"

Oh, come on, he went after Ruruko. Alex continued his happy flying dancing, and he said the size scouter would never go after his second favorite thing, which was what Ruruko had in spades. That made me sigh because I had known what that was. Ravel was watching the dancing skull in shock while Rias stopped dancing. It looked like she wanted to join in again, having only understood that the size scouter was dead. I did ask Alex in binary.

"Where did you find him?"

Alex kept happy dancing.

"In the woods near the old house on an isolated jogging path. I managed to get stuff off his phone when it tumbled into the bushes. Lots of porn on it, but there was also something you might want to see."

I made a tablet quickly, allowing Alex to download the data to me on the phone. Seeing it made me blanch at the amount of porn and the big thing. There was my old address and a note to look out for a person with green hair. I didn't like that at all and was glad I sold the house. Alex floated over to Rias and warbled something out in binary to her.

That got the dance party going between the two as Rias joined the happy jig for her rook. They do a Japanese formal dance that has me sweat dropping there as Alex and Rias celebrate the removal of a small problem. Ravel looked at Alex and then at me before she shrugged. I finally turned away from them and was about to say something, but a voice came from close to the teleporter.

"Dinner is ready for you, young master and mistresses."

That was Maeva, I collected a still-dancing Rias and tossed away the servo skull Alex was using. The other me goes into a new machine, and I sweat drop when he is still dancing, saying that he will be the harbinger of doom to monsters with Tsuda. The two bloodthirsty machine spirits immediately promise pain to the next person they want dead in Euclid. I ignored that, herding Rias and Ravel towards the teleporter for dinner. I tell Rias and Ravel.

"I have something to share with you both after dinner. I learned about it during our training week and have shared it with everyone in my peerage. I am ready to share this with you now."

Freed sat on a rough bed in this new base he had escaped to considering this foe he fought. They were ultra-fast and used extremely brutal weapons. The fact that the foe used guns made him discount his first suspicion of the attackers being devils as they actively shunned guns, calling them human garbage. Very few groups in the supernatural world besides the exorcists of the churches or the Principal clans used guns, and that had long been their strength. Freed had a hunch that the attackers might have been the ones responsible for the other base attacked in Japan he had heard rumors about in the cadre. This foe might be moving against the Angel of the Stars, and Freed didn't know if he would have survived the encounter with this foe if not for his plate armor. Freed watched the armor slowly repair itself, and he started to prepare himself for round two. With Galatine and this armor, he will defeat this unknown enemy who seems to be attempting to stop the war long overdue for the three factions. Freed wanted that war just as much as his boss. It would be an endless slaughter that would feed his sociopathic self well. He and the boss were so close to this, and nothing would stop them. Not even this stranger.