'Are you crazy?' was what she wanted to ask, but she decided to keep quiet.
"...How will you find him?" she finally asked.
"We'll need your help with that, little Raynare" Kuroka said, appearing beside Raynare and putting an arm over her shoulder as if they were friends.
"Li... What do you need?" Raynare swallowed her emotions again and acted helpful with a forced smile.
"You definitely don't know where he is, and you don't have the ability to call him either. Even if you told him what happened here, he would only send his subordinates instead of coming himself, right?"
"Y-yes" Raynare admitted reluctantly.
"Then tell him that we have something to do with the high school here. Since the Gremory and Sitri families rule this place, he'll have to come himself to investigate. Besides, he'll love finding an excuse to meddle with them anyway" Kuroka said with a mocking smile as she thought about Kokabiel.
"You have something to do with it?" Raynare asked in confusion.
"Who knows? Just tell him and convince him somehow" Kuroka replied, pretending to be ignorant.
"A-alright" Raynare nodded again.
"Also, this helpful attitude doesn't suit you. Stick with the arrogant one"
"A-alright"
"Tsk, you don't even follow my advice. Fine, do whatever you want" Kuroka said as she moved toward Asia and smiled. "Now then..."
"P-please don't hurt me" Asia said when she saw Kuroka appear in front of her in an instant.
When she saw her raise her hand, she closed her eyes in fear and tried unsuccessfully to move backward, but the blow never came. Instead, Kuroka simply patted her on the head as if she were a little girl.
"We won't hurt you. We just want you to join our side"
"Eh? But I'm already..."
"Raynare, tell Asia your plans!" Kuroka interrupted her by shouting at Raynare.
"Tsk" Raynare, believing they were finally going to leave her alone, clicked her tongue in annoyance as soon as they addressed her again. "We were going to remove your Sacred Gear. After that, we were going to hand you over to a perverted devil who likes nuns so that you could be reincarnated as one of his peerage"
"Eh? Really?"
"What's with that reaction? Can you stop being so incredulous for one second? You're annoying" Raynare complained. "Besides, that devil was also the reason you were expelled from the church. The whole thing was his plan"
"...I understand" Asia said after a moment, lowering her head. "But before I leave, can I try to heal them?" she asked, pointing at Kalawarner and Dohnaseek.
"Are you stupid?"
"B-but even if that was their plan, they haven't done it yet, right? I think judging them for something they haven't done yet is wrong.
Supernatural beings should be able to withstand a little even without their hearts, right?"
"You know, that's why they tricked you so easily. Besides, that's only possible for high ranks. Simple low-level beings like them are already dead"
"I-I see. That's a shame" Asia murmured disappointedly.
"Alright, if you're done with that, let's go" Kuroka said, taking Asia and bringing her over to the rest of the group.
"M-my name is Asia Argento. Please take care of me from now on" Asia introduced herself with a bow.
"Take care of you? Aren't you afraid that we'll treat you even worse than the fallen angels and just use you as a tool?" Kaito asked.
"But you don't seem like bad people" Asia replied innocently.
"She's so cuuute!" Chika said excitedly as she hugged her.
"Ughhh... so much social interaction is killing me" Bocchi's mutter could be heard from behind as she watched the interaction between the two.
"Then we're leaving, bye bye" Kuroka said goodbye.
Fwooshhh!
In the blink of an eye, everyone disappeared from the place, leaving an eerie silence in the previously overcrowded church.
"They're gone" Raynare sighed in relief.
Fwooshhh!
But that only lasted a few seconds before Kaito reappeared in the place.
"He came back?!"
"Eh? Why did you come back?!"
"So you can talk. I thought you were going to keep pretending you didn't exist forever" Kaito said, looking at the blonde girl with twin tails who hadn't spoken before, trying her hardest not to get involved, and smiled.
"I'm sorry!" The fallen angel immediately knelt down in apology, but Kaito merely waved his hand dismissively.
"It doesn't matter. I came to talk to someone else, and it has nothing to do with you" Kaito said as he headed toward a bench.
"But there isn't..."
Raynare, who was certain there was no one else there, stopped halfway through her sentence when she noticed that there actually was someone else in the church.
On one of the benches, there was a small girl with long black hair looking at them with complete indifference.
'H-how is this possible? How long has she been here? I didn't sense anyone' Raynare wondered in shock.
Meanwhile.
"Motion" the girl said without changing expression when Kaito sat beside her.
"Infinity" Kaito greeted her in return.
"Ophis" the girl corrected him.
"Kaito" He did the same.
"You didn't say that last time" Ophis said.
"Have we met before?" Kaito raised an eyebrow in confusion at her words. "When?"
"Yesterday? Or was it a little longer? I only remember that it was before today" Ophis replied, unsure.
"I guess time doesn't make much sense to Infinity, huh?" Kaito muttered helplessly. "Do you remember anything important that was happening in the world at that time?"
"Everyone was fighting. Someone who was a little stronger died"
'Someone who was a little stronger from Infinity's point of view' Kaito thought. 'God? The Great War? That would also explain why everyone was fighting'
"And what was I doing there?"
"I don't know. You were fighting someone. You were very angry with him and you made a lot of noise, so I got annoyed. You gave me cookies to apologize, so I forgave you" Ophis explained.
"I see. And was he strong?"
"No" Ophis immediately denied.
Kaito had to rephrase his question.
"Was he strong compared to everyone else on Earth?"
"Mmm." Ophis thought for a few seconds. "I think so. I don't think anyone here could defeat him, at least"
"I see" Kaito nodded.
'Then at least stronger than the entire DxD verse in the present. That's at least planetary level. Around peak Issei, Vali, or Shiva'
"By the way, what are you doing here? Do you want to join my group?"
"No" Ophis refused. "That would be annoying. I just sensed you and came to ask for more cookies"
"Although if I don't lose at my objective, there will be a lot of noise, you know?"
"Mmm" Ophis frowned, realizing that he was right. She reached into space and pulled out a small piece of paper with a snake tattoo on it. "Take this. Put it in one of your Empty Towers"
"You know quite a lot, don't you?" Kaito raised an eyebrow as he took the paper.
"No, you told me" Ophis explained before extending her now empty hands.
"I see. I don't have any cookies right now, but I do have some snacks I prepared earlier" Kaito said, pulling out several trays of food he had prepared earlier for the club, from desserts to cakes, brownies, and other things, along with some bentos he had prepared for the future in case something happened.
"Ah" Ophis exclaimed, her eyes shining with desire as she quickly stored everything in her own separate personal space, as if she were afraid someone might steal something from her.
"Goodbye"
After that, she simply disappeared out of nowhere.
"W-who was she?" Raynare asked fearfully.
"Ophis"
"Ophis?! The Dragon of Infinity?! One of the two most powerful entities in the universe?"
"The same one" Kaito nodded.
"You talk to an entity like that as an equal?"
"Of course not" Kaito laughed. "She could make me disappear with a single breath if she wanted to"
After saying that, Kaito also left the place, leaving Raynare and Mittelt staring fearfully at the destroyed door.
"S-should we really tell Lord Kokabiel? He won't...?"
"And what if they kill him?" Raynare interrupted her disdainfully. "How dare he pretend to have orders from Lord Azazel and even plan a rebellion? He deserves it"
"I... I suppose you're right?" Unlike Raynare, Mittelt wasn't particularly loyal to Azazel. She simply followed the strong to survive, like most others.
A few minutes later, Raynare had already contacted Kokabiel and recounted the events that had occurred, with the necessary changes, of course.
"You say it was an unknown faction?" Kokabiel's voice sounded through the communicator.
"Y-yes. They didn't seem to be members of any existing faction. Although Kuroka was among them" Raynare nodded.
"The S-rank fugitive devil Kuroka, huh?" Kokabiel murmured with interest. "Any clue about her origins?"
"T-there was a pink-haired girl who I think I had seen at Kuoh High School before" Raynare said, beginning to steer the conversation before planting the seed of suspicion.
However, that wasn't necessary.
"Pink-haired girl. Recently, a new member of the peerage of the second daughter of the Sitri family was stolen by an unknown person. Now Kuroka is also in that group? Even the nun who met a new member of the Gremory girl's peerage today was kidnapped?
It's too much of a coincidence. Whoever this new faction is, they clearly have some connection to Kuoh High School.
It seems I'll have to go and see these devil heiresses myself to find out what's going on"
Kokabiel said only that and immediately cut the communication, leaving Raynare and Mittelt speechless.
"There wasn't even any need to convince him. He forced connections that don't even exist just to cause trouble for the devils"
"He's really obsessed" Mittelt agreed. "He even has the Sitri girl under surveillance. Doesn't he realize how dangerous that could be if it gets discovered?"
"Thank God someone that dangerous to the fallen angels will die soon" Raynare said happily.
______________________________________
I have a new fic about Syndrome in Marvel. Go check it out if you're interested.
Name: Marvel: Creating a World Where Everyone Is Super.
(Don't worry, this message will only be here for one month and then disappear.)
+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)