Chapter 179— Deeper Into The Shrine

Xenovia

On Buchou’s orders, we moved deeper into the shrine.

We left behind the defeated and restrained [Pawns] and [Rooks]. 

I was ready to fight whoever it was that we found for the next battle. 

I was upset at being held back from fighting in the first match.

I was furious at having Asia taken from us.

She was one of my closest friends, and despite the cruel things I had said to her when we first met, she had never treated me poorly.

And I had failed to reach her when she was first taken.

Hearing her call out to me before being taken was horrible.

I understood that Rias was trying to be tactical and make the right moves, but I wanted to fight.

I needed to vent this anger and frustration out on top of an opponent so that I could think clearly when we reached Asia.

We still had multiple enemies to face, including Diodora’s [Knights], and I would likely end up going against one or both of them.

I calmed myself, thinking that I would be able to cross blades and defeat another swordsman soon.

It helped, though only a little.

From the recording we saw of the Astaroth, Agares match, his [Knights] were lacking in talent and power.

We continued through the passageway and quickly reached another spacious room within the shrine. 

This room was also large, and the only feature within it was rows of columns.

The inside of the shrine was strange.

So far, it was only a series of rooms that were similar to the temple outside of it.

There were three robed individuals waiting for us, and the one standing in front of the others had her hood removed.

 I recognized her as the enemy’s [Queen].

She was a mature blonde woman with piercing blue eyes.

From the recordings we had seen, Diodora’s [Queen] was rather powerful. 

She managed to defeat Seekvaira’s [Queen] handily in a one-on-one fight using impressive fire-related demonic power.

“…I believe that the two standing behind the [Queen] are both [Bishops]. From the recording we watched, they both have impressive levels of demonic power and focus on support abilities,” Yuuto said as we watched them.

I tilted my head as I tried to see how she could tell that they were Diodora’s [Bishops].

I recalled that one of his [Bishops] was male and the other was female, but other than that, I couldn’t recall what they had looked like.

I believe that the one [Bishop] was the only male in Diodora’s peerage. 

I remembered that because of Issei complaining that he practically had a full harem peerage, or something along those lines.

Issei had seemed both annoyed and jealous of him somehow.

But I really couldn’t tell how Yuuto had identified the two [Bishops].

I was drawn from my wondering by our opponent's movement.

“We’ve been waiting for you, Rias Gremory-sama. We will defeat you here in our master's name,” the [Queen] said, stepping forward. 

Before Rias could give an order, Akeno stepped forward from our side.

“Ara, if their [Queen] wants to fight, then I’ll have no choice but to fight here,” she said with a casual smile.

Buchou stepped forward as well.

“My [Knights] will be more than enough to defeat Diodora’s own. I will fight here as well.”

“Ara, Buchou. There is no need for that. I alone will be enough to handle this.”

“That’s unnecessary, Akeno. Even if you’ve begun to properly use your holy lightning, we would be more assured of victory if we work together, right? Yuuto and Xenovia are each more than a match for both of the remaining [Knights]. There is no need for you to push yourself and risk injury. I don’t need you trying to show off,” Rias said, shaking her head.

Rias spoke reasonably, but I could tell she didn’t want to sit back and watch as we all fought.

She was just as upset as the rest of us and wanted to fight to relieve some of that anger.

Though even with both of them, it wouldn’t be a fight without injury.

They would certainly win, and easily at that, but the enemy [Queen] had two [Bishops] supporting her. 

She would put up a struggle before going down.

Rias and Akeno began to argue more when I noticed Koneko move to Issei’s side.

She poked his side, and he flinched away from her on reflex before realizing that she wanted to tell him something.

She gestured for him to bend down so that she could whisper into his ear. 

She spoke for a moment before he turned to her with a confused look.

“Are you sure? That would really work?” He asked, sounding uncertain.

Koneko nodded. 

“…I’m sure. If you promise that, Akeno-senpai will power up for sure.”

Issei still didn’t look convinced, but he turned to Akeno anyway. 

“Uh, Akeno-san!” He called out.

Rias and Akeno stopped arguing, and Akeno turned to him.

“Umm, if you’re able to defeat your opponents with ease, then I will- uh, we can go on a date next Sunday!” He quickly turned back to Koneko. “I don’t think this will really work, Koneko-chan. I mean, why would going on a date with me make—“

Issei was cut off by the sparking of electricity.

I jumped slightly as strands of electricity began to arc off of Akeno as she was enveloped by an aura of holy lightning.

“…Ufu…Ufufufuf…Ufufufufufu! I get to have a date with Ise-kun!” She shouted while chuckling to herself.

I looked at Koneko.

She noticed and shrugged.

“…Extra motivation. We need to hurry to Asia-senpai,” she said plainly.

I glanced back at our enemies.

“Is there a way to motivate Akeno or Buchou more?” I asked.

Koneko thought for a moment while looking at the ground and then frowned to herself.

I turned back to the others as I heard Rias shout at Issei.

“Ise! How could you! You have me, and you still ask Akeno out instead!” Rias shouted at him with tears forming in her eyes.

Issei looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“Ufufu, Rias. It seems that Ise-kun has finally shown us who he really prefers. Maybe this is a sign that you should give up. Be mature and accept your loss,” Akeno said smugly.

“What?! I don’t want to hear you talking about being mature when you lit up from being asked out on a single d-d-date! It’s sad!”

Akeno scoffed.

“What did you just say? I don’t want to hear anything like that from someone who won’t be receiving any attention from him.”

“Th-that’s not true! J-Just the other day, he…” Rias paused as her face began to turn pink. “…he touched my breasts when we were in bed.”

Akeno narrowed her eyes at Rias.

“…Isn’t that just because he moves a lot in his sleep and accidentally touched them?”

“It still matters!” Rias quickly retorted.

I noticed Koneko moving again then.

This time she stopped next to Yuki. 

Yuki turned to her, and Koneko began whispering to her. 

Yuki’s face went from confusion to annoyed understanding.

“No. Absolutely not. Why would I get myself involved in this? And why would that work as it did with Issei-san?” She asked.

“…Do it for Asia-senpai,” Koneko replied.

Yuki closed her eyes and sighed.

“Fine.”

She turned to Rias and Akeno.

“Akeno-san,” Yuki called out.

Rias and Akeno didn’t seem to notice.

“Well, I kissed him twice!” Rias said proudly.

“Then I’ll kiss him three times. And I’ll do it in front of you, Rias. So that you can see everything.” Akeno responded with a smirk.

“No! Don’t you dare, Akeno! His mouth belongs to me!”

Yuki sighed again.

“Ara, Rias. You’re being rather posses—“

“Akeno-san!” Yuki called out, cutting Akeno off.

Rias and Akeno stopped.

“…Yes?”

“…If you win here quickly… you can sleep in my room for a night.” Yuki said hesitantly.

The shrine went silent for a moment.

Our opponents had seemed like they didn’t know how to respond to Rias’s and Akeno’s arguing before, but now they looked completely lost as to what was happening. 

Rias looked back and forth between Yuki and Akeno.

Gasper looked lost.

Koneko frowned like she regretted suggesting Yuki say it in the first place. 

Yuuto was cautiously watching Akeno and took a small step back.

I realized she was probably being smart, and I copied her. 

Then the lighting around Akeno surged again. 

She chuckled to herself darkly as the pressure coming off of her grew and caused our opponents to stumble back slightly. 

“Ufufufufu… Ara, a date with Ise-kun and a bonus from Yuki-chan too? It seems that I am very popular tonight,” Akeno said with a wide smile.

She turned back to Rias.

“Ufufufu, it seems I’m clearly the winner tonight, Rias.”

“Well, how about you focus on Yuki instead of trying to take my Ise from me!” Rias replied.

Akeno’s smile only widened.

“Ara. And why would I do that? I'll get a date with Ise-kun and a steamy night with Yuki-chan too.”

“…That is not what’s happening,” Koneko replied, shooting a glare at Akeno.

Akeno ignored her.

“I feel like I’m going to be intruding on Yuki-chan’s and Koneko-chan’s love nest. It’s rather thrilling. Yuki-chan, don’t worry. I’ll show up to your room nude so that we can get straight into things. And I’ll let you be the big spoon afterwards. You are taller after all.”

“There is no love nest, and if you show up naked, I won’t let you into my room,” Yuki said with a light glare. “I’m already contemplating taking back my offer.”

“It’s too late for that, Yuki-chan. You’ve already offered it in front of everyone, so you can't take it back that easily. But I promise I’ll be on my best behavior,” Akeno said with a grin.

She turned back to Rias with a smug look.

“But as I was saying, Rias, I think that I’ve won.”

Before Rias could reply, the [Queen] finally lost her patience.

“Enough!” She shouted as her demonic power flared and fire formed around her.

Akeno and Rias blinked at her as if they had forgotten that she was there.

I heard Yuuto sigh from beside me. 

“You should be fighting us, not bickering like children!” She continued, the fire flaring more around her. “First you ignore us by fighting over a man, and now you’re arguing about the fox bitch!”

I grabbed Gasper’s arm and pulled him a few steps back with me after hearing that.

I knew that interrupting Rias and Akeno while they were arguing was a bad idea, but also insulting Yuki while doing so was just stupid.

The [Queen] took another step forward.

“I can’t beli—“

She was cut off by Rias’s and Akeno’s auras flaring violently before they each reached out a hand and fired large attacks.

A massive blast of demonic power containing the power of destruction and a torrent of holy lightning were launched at our enemies. 

“Shut up!” They both shouted.

After their attack cleared, we were able to see the destruction it had caused.

The floor in front of Akeno and Rias was destroyed, and some of the columns hit had collapsed as well.

The destruction continued up to the far wall, where two holes had been created next to the doorway.

The [Queen] and [Bishops] were lying on the broken ground with smoke rising from their bodies. 

If they survived, they wouldn’t be in any state to fight us any time soon.

Rias turned back to Akeno.

“We will continue our discussion regarding you trying to steal Issei later. We need to move on and save Asia.”

“Of course. Asia comes first. We should hurry,” Akeno replied.

It seems their fight is over for now.

We quickly started moving. 

We ran through the Ramona of the room and headed toward our next fight. 

As we ran, I moved next to Koneko. 

“I am surprised you had Yuki offer to let Akeno sleep in her room. It seems like she will be encroaching on your space.”

“Akeno-senpai was able to draw out more strength, and we need to defeat our enemies quickly before anything happens to Asia-senpai. So if Akeno gets to spend the night in Yuki’s room, it’s worth it. It’s only one night,” Koneko replied.

She sounded like she was trying to convince herself at the end. 

“Wasn’t that how you sleeping in her room started?” I asked.

She shot me an annoyed look.

I tilted my head.

“It will only be one night,” she repeated.

“Alright,” I agreed with a nod.

We continued in silence for a short while until we reached the next room of the shrine.

This should be the place we would face one or both of the [Knights], and then we would be able to reach Diodora.

When we entered, however, there weren’t any robed figures waiting for us. 

Instead, there was a white-haired man with a crazed smile.

“Yo! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” He said while waving energetically.

“Freed!” Issei shouted. 

The mad exorcist who had been excommunicated from the church for his violent actions against innocents and other members of the Church stood alone in the shrine. 

His smile widened as he pointed at Issei. 

“Yep! And I bet you were thinking, “Wait, this guy's alive?” weren’t you, Ise-kun? Well, I am! And as you can see, I’m very much alive. I'm persistent like that,” Freed said with a cackle. 

“How do you keep doing that?! Stop reading my mind!” Issei shouted at him. 

I glanced around the shrine but didn’t see any signs of the [Knights].

There were some faint signs of a fight and some blood on the ground, but not enough for Freed to have killed the [Knights] in the way he usually would have. 

“Are you all wondering where those [Knights] are?” Freed asked with a sickening smile.

He chuckled to himself before reaching into his mouth and pulling something out.

It was a severed finger. 

“Well, you see, I ate them.”

“You…what?” Issei asked. 

Koneko covered her nose while staring at Freed.

“…He’s not human anymore. He’s become something else,” Koneko said with disgust. 

“She’s right,” Yuki added, as her eyes faintly glowed. “His energy is all tangled and wrong.”

Fred’s grin spread wider until his mouth was stretched farther than a human should have been able to. 

He let out an inhuman sound as he began to laugh.

“Hyhahahahahaha! After you guys cut me down, I was taken by that piece of shit, Vali! And then that Azazel guy decided that I should be imprisoned! That bastard was going to lock me away!”

There were multiple loud snapping and popping sounds from Fred’s body as his body began to swell and grow.

His clothes began to rip as he became larger.

Spikes and horns began to grow from his body as well.

One of his hands grew large, brutal-looking claws while the other turned more club-like as his fingers fused together.

“But I escaped! I made a break for it and was eventually found by the Khaos Brigade guys! They promised me power! They said I would be able to get revenge on you shits and Azazel! But instead they did this to me! Kuhahahahaha! They turned me into a monster! A damned Chimera! Ahahahahaha!”

A tail formed behind Freed next.

His body enlarged further, and his legs bent the wrong way as he became digitigrade.

A large misshapen arm sprouted from his back, and then a single leathery wing sprouted from his back as well. 

His face elongated and became more monstrous as sharp teeth filled his mouth. 

His head grotesquely looked like a Dragons.

He grew to a huge size, easily four meters tall.

But his body was misshapen and uneven.

He looked strange with all of the different growths and limbs from different beasts and monsters.

I had seen plenty of abominations as an agent of the Church, but this was rather disgusting.

It takes someone truly mad to do something like this to another person.

If Freed had been sane before this had been done to him, then he surely would have been driven insane by it.

Freed began to laugh in his now distorted voice after he finished changing. 

“Hyahahaha! But did you know? About Diodora Astaroth's hobby, that is. It’s something amazing that makes your heart beat faster just listening to it!” Freed said as he flexed one of his misshapen arms. “You see, Diodora's got an interesting taste in women. It’s pretty funny, actually. It seems that the rich boy had a fetish for pure Church girls. Nuns in particular!” And the ones he likes to prey on are the most passionate believers and those with the deepest faith! All of the Devils you defeated to arrive here were all former members of the Church! It’s the same with all of the servants in his home! He’s been collecting famous nuns and holy maidens from across the world. It’s quite something, right? It’s quite on brand for him as a Devil, though, you have to commend him for that! He likes to seduce and corrupt women from the Church and then turn them into his playthings. He whispers sweet things and promises them whatever they want until they fall for him! Then once he’s turned them into a Devil, he can do whatever he wants with them!”

I had heard about some holy maidens and nuns going missing within the Church while I was still with them, but we were told they were attacked or fell during a mission.

It was never told to us that they had become Devils or that they were tempted by a Devil in that way.

It made my stomach turn as I realized how many women of the Church had been unaware and tricked by Diodora. 

“Wait. That means that Asia didn’t meet and heal him by chance…” Issei said with wide eyes.

Freed chuckled loudly at his words.

“That’s right! He came up with a plan to get Asia-chan kicked out of the Church. And it worked!”