Bonus chapter since we reached 120 power stones!
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Adrien looked at the Vanishing Dragon and carefully studied him, his eyes moving over the white armor covering his body.
The Vanishing Dragon slowly looked over everyone present. His gaze passed over the Gremory and Sitri girls, then stopped for a moment on the red gauntlet on Issei's arm before finally shifting to Adrien.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds.
"Who are you?" the dragon asked.
Adrien raised a brow. "Rude. Didn't your parents teach you any manners? You should introduce yourself before asking that."
"My name is Albion."
Adrien gave him a flat look. "That's the White Dragon's name, not yours."
"There is no reason for me to tell you my own name. Azazel ordered me to bring Kokabiel back and return."
"And what if I refuse?" Adrien asked. "He attacked Rias and Sona and nearly started another war between the three factions. That deserves execution."
"Azazel asked me to bring him back, not kill hi—"
Adrien casually pointed his hand at Kokabiel and released a Dismantle. Kokabiel's head was severed in an instant, blood exploded from his neck.
The Vanishing Dragon fell silent. He had not expected this devil to be so bold. For a few moments, he simply looked at Adrien.
Adrien looked back at him with his head slightly tilted and a faint smirk on his face.
"You killed him without hesitation... Interesting."
Adrien did not answer. He just kept staring at him, calm and amused. Everyone watching had gone completely stiff.
The Vanishing Dragon's gaze shifted across the area until it landed on Freed's corpse.
"He is dead too. There were a few questions he needed to answer, but it no longer matters..." He looked back at Adrien. "I'll remember you."
Just as he was about to leave, a voice suddenly echoed from Issei's gauntlet.
"Are you just going to ignore me, White One?"
"So, you're awake, Red One?"
"I never expected our reunion to happen like this."
"Neither did I. Even so, it seems fate still intends for us to meet in battle. Until that day comes, our paths may cross a few more times."
"And yet, White One, I do not sense much hostility from you."
"You do not seem as aggressive as you once were either, Red One."
"Maybe we have both found things more interesting than fighting?"
"That is good. Let us enjoy ourselves for now. There is nothing wrong with having a little fun on our own, is there? Until we meet again, Ddraig."
"I look forward to it. Until then, Albion."
Just before he left both Adrien and The vessel of the Vanishing Dragon stared at each other one last time, then The Vanishing dragon disappeared in a flash of light.
Adrien looked at Mary and Xenovia, they were both sitting on the ground staring into nothing, he suddenly patted both of their heads. They both flashed him a surprised look but they didn't protest.
He then felt something wrap around his back from behind, he glanced behind him and saw Celia hugging him, she flashed him a smirked, "so you're mister cool now?"
"I've always been cool, girl."
Mahiru ran up to them, she was pouting again.
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Everyone who had taken part in the fight against Kokabiel was gathered inside the student council room. The old school building had been completely destroyed, and even though the new school grounds had also suffered heavy damage, the student council room itself had somehow remained untouched.
Adrien, Rias, Sona, their Queens, and the two exorcists—Irina was still at Issei's house receiving treatment—were seated around a long desk. Everyone else stood in different corners of the room.
Adrien let out a yawn. A KitKat bar appeared in his hand through a small swirling vortex.
"Do you seriously keep snacks on you all the time?" Rias asked.
Adrien lifted the bar slightly. "Want one? I've got twelve tons of them."
"Twelve tons? Wait... don't tell me that KitKat robbery was you," Sona said, covering her face.
Adrien shrugged. "Maybe."
Then a crimson magic circle flashed in the middle of the room, a tall handsome man with fiery crimson hair and blue eyes walked out of the magic circle followed by a woman in a French maid outfit. It was Serzechs Lucifer and Grayfia Lucifuge, his queen and wife.
Silence fell on the room again, it was Serzechs Lucifer after all. The Demon King looked at everyone in the room with a smile on his face.
"Greeting Lord Sirzechs," Sona stood up and bowed.
Rias followed her, "Hello, brother dear."
Everyone followed suite, greeting him, beside Adrien who was munching on his snack as he scrolled through his phone.
"First of all, I would like to thank all of you. You chose to stand and fight even while knowing that this was a battle in which you could truly lose your lives, and yet none of you backed down."
Sirzechs lowered his head in sincere respect, and everyone present looked on in surprise at the sight of the Demon King bowing to them.
Then his gaze shifted to Adrien.
"And you as well, Adrien. You came to our aid even though this matter did not fall within your territory. More importantly, you saved my little sister. For that, I offer you my gratitude not as a Demon King, but simply as an elder brother."
Adrien simply nodded as he kept scrolling through his phone. He had never liked official gatherings like this and found them extremely boring, so he almost never attended them. He had not planned on coming to this one either—he would have rather stayed back and continued watching the anime he had started—but his servants had dragged him here anyway.
Everyone glanced at him as he sat there, casually scrolling through his phone. Sirzechs, however, only smiled and continued.
"As you all know, Kokabiel's goal was to either kill Rias or Sona and destroy Kuoh. He stole the Excaliburs to provoke the Archangel Michael. When that failed, he turned his attention to this town. His plan was to fuse the Excaliburs and use their combined power to destroy Kuoh. And even if that had failed, he still possessed enough power to lay waste to the town on his own. Ultimately, his objective was to force both us and the angels to act."
"He's an idiot," Adrien said while still scrolling through his phone. "He's absurdly good at hiding his presence. Even I couldn't sense him until I was standing right in front of him. If he had really wanted to, he could have just assassinated Sona with one of the Excaliburs and his plan would've succeeded far more easily."
"H-Huh?! Why me?!" Sona exclaimed, abruptly turning toward him.
Adrien finally glanced up from his phone. "You're seriously asking that? Your sister is a champion-ranked siscon. The moment she got the news, she would've marched straight on Heaven."
"Let's just be grateful he didn't do that..." Sirzechs said with a weak smile. "Rias, Sona, we'll be working through the night to repair the damage done to both the new and old school buildings, so the two of you should get some rest for tonight. As for the remaining Cerberus, which is still unconscious, it will be taken back—"
"I want it," Adrien said suddenly.
"The Cerberus?" Sirzechs asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"Yeah, I was thinking of getting a dog."
"That's a three-headed monster!" Celia snapped. "Where are you even going to keep it?!"
"Same shit," Adrien said plainly. "Just send it to Agreas Island. I'll tell Seekvaira to put it in the field next to Michael-Angelo."
"Who's Michael-Angelo?" Issei asked, a question mark practically floating over his head.
"A Kraken Adrien captured last year and stuck in a giant aquarium," Celia said, glaring at him. As usual, he would dump the job of taking care of it on her.
"How did you even capture it? Aren't those things supposed to be huge?" Issei asked, completely dumbfounded. He honestly thought they were fucking with him.
"How else? I beat it up, then bound it in demonic chains, just like I did with the puppy outside."
Everyone stared at Adrien in dead silence, including his own peerage. They already knew he was eccentric, but even for him, this was on another level. Sirzechs, however, was already used to the shit Adrien did, so he did not look very surprised and simply continued.
"We do owe you a great deal, so I believe that can be arranged."
"Alright."
"Since we'll be going through the trouble of helping you with this, I'm sure you won't mind staying in Kuoh for a day or two," Sirzechs said, as though the matter was already decided.
"Huh? Why would I do that?"
"I would feel far more at ease if you remained here for a few days, at least until the Three Faction Meeting."
"Brother, we can protect oursel—" Rias tried to cut in, but Serzechs interrupted her.
"I know you can, Rias. But what if something like that happens again? Adrien may be an Ultimate-class devil, but he has already proven that he can fight and defeat individuals on the level of the Satan-class. I have already spoken with the Agares family, and Father has agreed with my proposal."
Rias fell silent.
The chances of something on Kokabiel's level happening again so soon were extremely small, but she could not say it was impossible. More than that, she knew she was still too weak to protect the people she cared about from opponents on that level.
Kokabiel's words echoed in her mind.
What a foolish little girl. Did you really think taking me on was a good idea? Your precious little servants died because of you. You are a failure of a master.
If Adrien had not arrived at that moment and saved everyone, Yuuto Kiba really would have died. So would many of the people she cared about. It was the second time he had helped her like this. The first time was during the situation with Riser. Back then, he had been the main reason her engagement was broken off, and now he had saved her once again.
Rias's eyes slowly drifted toward Adrien. He was already back to scrolling through his phone again, looking completely unbothered. He most likely would not even mind staying here for a while.
She suddenly stood up and walked over until she was right in front of him.
The person before her had saved her, her servants, and her friends. It was something she would never forget. Even though she had already thanked him once, she lowered her head and bowed again.
"Adrien... thank you. Again. I owe you my life, and the lives of my servants."
Adrien glanced up at her, then lightly flicked her forehead while it was still lowered from the bow.
"Yeah, yeah. Just invite me to dinner sometime," he said before looking back at his phone.
A small smile appeared on Rias's face. And soon, everyone else watching the scene smiled as well.
Everyone continued chatting, except for the two exorcist girls.
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Characters that appeared this chapter:
Adrien Agares
Vanishing Dragon
Celia Agares
Mahiru Shiina
Saeko Busujima
Rias Gremory
Sona Sitri
Sirzechs Lucifer and Grayfia Lucifuge.