"Issei... I'm fine now... you're too strong..."
Holding the two of them in his arms and refusing to let go, Issei only released Raynare after she complained of the pain.
"But when did even your wounds...?"
It was a relief that she hadn't died, but Raynare was shocked to see that even her injuries had been completely healed. Issei was about to tell the truth, but thinking about what might happen if he overused this power, he decided to keep it secret. Then—
"I healed you. Does anything still hurt?"
"N-no...!"
After speaking, Issei gazed at Raynare for a moment, then before she could even finish her reply, he suddenly attacked her lips. Raynare jumped in surprise, but as if she didn't dislike it, she simply surrendered herself to Issei. When he had nearly lost Raynare this time, it felt as though his chest was being torn apart. It wasn't the death of some mere acquaintance, but the death of someone closest to him. Issei himself had finally realized that. And perhaps because of that, the emotions he had never been able to express were now bursting out all at once.
"Waaah, that's unfair! I want to kiss Issei too!"
And Asia, who had completely come to favor Issei because of this incident, began to sulk with jealousy, but—
"Sorry... Asia... From now on, I'll never let you go through something like that again... Please forgive me..."
"Eh? Th-that's not... Issei-san, you're not wro—mmph!"
He stole Asia's lips as well, while her face was still flushed red. Asia, looking even happier now, brought both arms to her chest and leaned into Issei.
"I'm not letting go again... not ever..."
He pulled away from Asia's lips, a thread of moisture stretching between them, then gathered the two girls into his arms. Raynare and Asia were both blushing fiercely now that Issei had become so openly affectionate, and they could only remain nestled in his embrace with shy, maiden-like eyes.
"Idiot. You should've said that sooner..."
"Issei-san... I'm so happy."
Asia had already fallen for Issei long ago, after being saved by him twice, and now that he was being this direct, she was overjoyed. Raynare tried to hide her embarrassment by thumping his chest, but—
"Mm... from now on, I'll treasure you both properly..."
When Issei pulled her even closer, she felt a rush of happiness and stayed warm in his arms for a while. After the three of them held each other for a long time, they finally separated, and Issei said,
"All right, then. I guess it's about time to wrap this up."
"What about Kokabiel?"
"I've got him restrained."
"I see. Thank goodness."
As expected of Issei, Raynare relaxed at once. Then Raynare and Asia went with Issei to where Kokabiel was being held, and when Kokabiel saw them—
"!!! Mmmph! Mmmph mmph!!!"
He desperately tried to say something, but nothing came through. Without a word, Issei walked up to him.
"Sorry, but I have no intention of letting you live. Anyone who hurts someone precious to me will be killed. That's how I'll do things from now on."
Then Issei drew out something that looked like a soul from Kokabiel's head. It was the ability of the Human Path of the Six Paths: a technique that ripped out the opponent's soul and extracted the information they possessed. Originally, he had intended to kill Kokabiel as painfully as possible, but since Asia was right there—and because he judged Kokabiel not even worth the effort—he decided to strip out all the information at once so he could wipe out everyone cooperating with him.
"..."
Once his soul was torn out, Kokabiel became a cold corpse. Raynare felt nothing at all. If anything, it served him right. Asia, too, had no desire to ask for mercy from someone who had tried to kill her. In an instant, Issei had erased one Fallen Angel executive, and then he formed hand seals and moved to the Church together with Raynare and Asia.
Not long after they disappeared, someone approached Kokabiel's corpse.
"My, my. So this is how it ended after all."
A man with six pairs of black wings, someone above Kokabiel in rank.
"Hyoudou Issei, huh. What an interesting human."
The man, already aware of everything that had happened here, left Kokabiel's body where it lay and walked away with an intrigued expression, as though he had just found something entertaining after a long time.
.
.
.
.
.
After safely returning to the Church with Raynare and Asia, Issei found the three Fallen Angels who had already been healed by his clone pacing back and forth anxiously as they waited.
""Issei-sama!""
The three of them rushed over the moment they saw him, like puppies waiting for their master.
"You all worked hard too. This kind of thing won't happen again."
He did feel sorry toward the three of them. Even if he had used genjutsu to make them like this, he had still worked them to the bone without paying them anything, then nearly tossed them aside like disposable pieces. If he had any conscience at all, he had no choice but to feel bad. And the three of them, just like Raynare and Asia, had also learned something important from this incident, where they had nearly lost Raynare and Asia.
To gain one thing, you had to give up another. Now that he had something he truly wanted to protect, he couldn't keep acting like a child. He needed a proper structure, a more complete system. Only then could he protect himself and the people precious to him. That was the task Issei now had to solve. But until recently, he had been nothing more than an ordinary high school student. Right now he was maintaining [Akatsuki] through sheer power and acting skill, but building and sustaining an entire system by himself was a completely different matter.
"So... someone..."
He needed someone's advice or cooperation. So first, after consulting the people involved—Raynare and the others—
"I-I see... to protect me..."
Raynare had no real opinion, only a red face and an embarrassed expression.
"Th-that's... embarrassing, Issei-san..."
Asia was the same, touching her cheeks with both hands in embarrassment.
"Issei-sama cares about us that much!!"
"Waaahhh, Issei-sama!"
"We'll follow you to the grave."
From the moment Kokabiel was defeated, the three Fallen Angels were overflowing with admiration for Issei, completely separate from any genjutsu.
"I'm the idiot for asking these guys..."
He thought he should've phrased it more indirectly instead of saying it so bluntly. Still, because he had managed to convey his sincerity properly, he felt lighter, and it wasn't a bad feeling.
"You used to be one of the Fallen Angels too, right? Don't you have any opinion on this?"
"Sorry... I was basically just a low-ranking nobody too, so not really. But just that feeling alone is enough for me, Issei~"
Trying to steer the conversation back to the main point, he only ended up with Raynare practically confessing to him, and she immediately pressed herself against his side. Then—
"Ah! That's unfair, Raynare-san! I want to link arms too!"
Asia claimed the other side. The three Fallen Angels across from them looked on enviously as well. (Huh? There's a spy in here?)
"Ah! Take this seriously already~! Your lives are on the line here!"
"Even if you say that, Kokabiel's gone now, so there's no way we'll be in danger anymore, right?"
"...Are you seriously saying that?"
Once again dragged away from the main topic, Issei shouted while ruffling his own hair, but Raynare answered with complete nonchalance.
"There's more?"
"You used to belong to the Fallen Angels, so I figured you'd understand this better than anyone. We took out an executive-level guy—do you really think the others will just sit still? And what about the other factions?! A former nun, a human who's beyond human, and a group this eye-catching?! I'm worried they'll expose you and attack you! That's what I'm worried about!"
"Issei... you care about me that much..."
"Issei-san..."
""Issei-sama!""
"Ah... this is hopeless..."
No matter how many times he said it, they kept going in circles, and in the end he gave up on the discussion. More than that, having two beauties clinging to him on both sides was seriously messing with his concentration.
"But this is kind of..."
With the watermelons and melons pressing against him from both sides, he started grinning like an idiot.
"!! No, no. Focus. Focus now."
He had just resolved to become more mature, but once again lust tried to overpower reason, and he shook his head hard to keep himself from losing control. Compared to the old Issei, this was an unbelievable change...
"We'll do it at night!"
...No, correction. He hadn't changed at all. His head was still full of nothing but ero.
And just as the topic veered off into the weeds,
"Draig, sweets, sweets, sweets, sweets, sweets."
the one he had forgotten for a moment reappeared. It was Ophis, whom Issei had brought to the Church and then left unattended. Apparently unable to forget the taste of chocolate, she showed up sucking on the leftover foil wrapper with her mouth.
"! Stop that, you can't eat that!"
He snatched the foil out of Ophis's mouth as if handling a little niece.
"Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. Draig, give me chocolate."
Ophis desperately searched for the only thing on her mind, and Issei used [Flying Thunder God Technique] through his clone to fetch enough chocolate to keep her quiet for a while. Then—
"But Issei-san, who is this child?"
Only now, after finally noticing how naturally she had blended in, Asia asked the question. Since Ophis had come to the Church while Asia was being dragged away by Kokabiel, it was only natural that this was her first time seeing her. And given that she was a little girl who seemed to follow Issei closely, everyone had their own thoughts.
"A little sister?"
"Or maybe a daughter...?"
"No way... a lover!?"
That was the impression of the three Fallen Angels. As for Issei, after looking at Ophis as she happily inhaled chocolate, he said,
"Heh-heh, ah... let's say she's Ophis, and I'm going to start raising her from today."
"!!!"
"!!!"
"!!!"
"!!!"
The Fallen Angels were horrified at the name Ophis. And that made sense, because she was the Second Dragon God, known as the Infinite Dragon God, a being said to be unmatched in the current world. He was going to raise that kind of existence? More than that, they were shocked that the person standing so casually in front of them was Ophis herself.
"If this kid hadn't opened the gate for us, it would've been hard to come save you all. Besides, she's cute."
He explained Ophis's contribution in a one-sided way, and while Issei was grinning like a fool, that only made them feel jealous and wary. It was strange that he could act so casually in front of someone who could erase them from existence without even trying. Meanwhile, the clueless Asia said,
"Are you Ophis-san? You're so cute. I'm Asia. Nice to meet you, and please take care of me from now on."
"...."
Whether she was naturally sociable or just innocent, Asia smiled and greeted Ophis, and the Fallen Angels were stunned by Asia's boldness. Since she knew nothing, of course...
"Chocolate, chocolate."
Even while Asia smiled at her, Ophis remained absorbed in chocolate, and though she was being ignored, Asia still seemed charmed by Ophis's adorable appearance. To Asia, it was simply the joy of having a little sister-like being to care for.
"I-Issei, you're going to raise something that dangerous?! What are you saying?!"
"...What part of her looks dangerous? She's just cute!"
"Huh?!"
It was only natural that they were dumbfounded. A man who had just been talking about protecting Raynare and the others had now brought home what was basically a nuclear bomb with the safety code removed, and the reason was that it was cute.
"Besides! Ophis is one of the Second Dragon Gods, right?! She's a living legend! And you're saying you're going to raise her? Are you out of your mind?!"
Raynare voiced common sense, and the three Fallen Angels nodded hard in agreement, but—
"Second Dragon God or whatever, if she's cute, isn't that enough? She's not hurting anyone, and she's completely harmless."
It had become like a family asking permission to keep a puppy at home, but Ophis herself wasn't particularly interested in the conversation. After a long back-and-forth with Raynare, Issei finally—
"If that's what Issei says..."
won them over with love power in the end. He had intended to raise her no matter what, even if Raynare and the others had absolutely opposed it, but for appearances' sake, he had successfully persuaded them.
"Ophis, from now on you can call me Onii-chan instead of Draig, okay?"
"If I call you Onii-chan, you'll give me lots of sweets?"
"Of course! I'll let you taste every sweet thing that exists in the world!"
"Onii-chan."
"!!"
"...."
Issei froze completely under Ophis's moe destruction power, and the Fallen Angels watching from behind froze for a different reason. Since Issei was the jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails, wielding power equal to the Sage of Six Paths, he could afford to stage this kind of farce against the Second Dragon God. But to Raynare and the others, it looked like nothing short of madness.
.
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.
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A castle somewhere deep in a remote corner of the human world.
In front of the castle that served as the base of the newly rising divine faction [Akatsuki], dozens of people stood in black cloaks embroidered with red clouds—the [Akatsuki] uniform. Every single one of them was a cruel criminal who had committed atrocities worthy of their notorious reputation. And before them stood a man with orange hair and [Rinnegan].
"This mission is the extermination of the underworld's Fallen Angels."
Looking down from the platform as he spoke, Pain was met with sparkling eyes from the members below. This was the first mission since [Akatsuki] had been founded, and they were proud to have been chosen for its very first operation.
"That is the supreme order now given to [Akatsuki]. The first step toward world conquest."
""UOOOOOOO!!""
""Long live Madara-sama!""
""Long live [Akatsuki]!!""
"Let's wipe out those Fallen Angels!"
"Finally, war! My body's been itching for this!"
"Kukukukuku, today I'll stain my whole body with Fallen Angel blood! This is going to feel great!"
"I'll take Azazel's head."
For any one of them alone, it would have been impossible. But under the name of [Akatsuki], the morale of the members assigned to crush one of the three factions—the destination of the path of evil—had risen high enough to pierce the heavens. And with Pain's final words,
"Pain to the world."
the invasion of the underworld began, taking its first step toward a great history.