Eighth Chapter...

Astaroth.

The heir to the Astaroth clan was there when we got off after the train ride back to the Human world. He stood a few paces away from the edge with his eyes closed and a sweet smile, something that hid a major secret. One that I already knew about back from my time as an exorcist. The only devil weird or stupid enough to hang around church hotspots though his visits always seemed to be fleeting ones.

When he started to speak I could feel my blood start to spoil as each word was just so typical for a disgusting devil like him. What made it worse was that he confessed his fake love, what he had was not love but a creepy fetish for virgin nuns of the church. As he got down on one knee to show Asia how 'sincere' he was I felt my body move as did the Sekiryuutei who took a firm hold of Asia's hand.

I stepped infront of the whole peerage and ultimately him, I brought my left foot up and kicked him square in the chest not bothering to hold anything back sending his body through numerous concrete pillars.

His persistance, while noteworthy was creepy, too much so for me.

"My, I don't see the need for that just now Gaius-denka."

Opening my leather jacket slightly, I took out my silver dagger and placed it right on top of his jugular allowing the cold blade to cool his temperature before tapping the pommel once causing my holy magic to cover the blade and start to burn his skin, making it spread and his body start to sweat.

"Leave. Leave Asia and the Gremory group alone."

His smile faltered briefly as he opened his eyes. I saw the look of resignation and I took the blade away and resheathed it back in my coat. As I watched him silently teleport away, I took out my phone and sent one message to Jesse. 'Keep an eye on Diadora Astaroth.'

…

The residence that I was forced into living in was currently being swarmed by presents that were sent by Diadora. Now if the presents were so pricy I would have complained because as the guardian to the Gremory group I check over everything that comes and goes, more to the point of simple checks using magic to see if anything dangerous is there as I don't really wanna go through shit for opening their stuff. For this case though the things that were sent never made their way to Asia and in turn, the Gremory group never learned of the fact that presents were being sent as everything came straight to me thanks to Sora.

I was rather happy with how it was all currently going, all of the jewelry he had sent was good. I needed some high-grade minerals for my gear magic. Forcing them into their simple base I coud manipulate it to be just iron or steel, depending on what I was dealing with. The higher grade stuff I received, the less stress it puts on my body as everything runs so much smoother for me. I may have created this magic 5 years ago and I may be considered a prodigy but the magic is still new and with no-one to help me there are still many kinks till it'll be perfected and considered battle-worthy.

This is the job I had my team do along with their training, go around the world and find me minerals for my gear magic. Of course this meant them getting dirty and digging around plus it was entirely optional thing, it was also how Sora became a Fallen Angel so quickly. He was pretty adamant with digging around finding what he could, although it did take nearly 7 months of constant digging to become a Fallen. The kid doesnt even really have much training in combat and relies on the instincts he gains from the Animal he chooses to become but despite that he has 4 wings at his young age. He is gonna get seriously strong in the future.

For once I was happy though, I had very little really to do for once. All I had was some financial paperwork and some lessons to prepare for based on the students' results from the tests that I gave them. Something that I could finish all in one day. I got to create easy going lessons with interesting information while decreasing the budget of the science department or more specifically the department that centres around Sacred Gears to annoy father and make him put his own money into the budget.

…

The end of the first school day back couldn't have come quicker, the annoying thing was though that the clubroom was louder than normal thanks to the new arrival and multiple other guests, including Sona and her peerage. Shidou Irina, an exorcist turned Angel through the new Brave Saints system. I couldn't help but look at her inquisitively, it made me think bak to when I was originally told about the rumour of the Brave Saints. I was supposedly going to be Gabriel's Joker instead of her Ace, supposedly they had seen I was much more powerful than I had let on. That Joker card is with me right now too, the Joker of Hearts.

Until I come to a decision on whether I want to take up the offer or not I can test the card itself to see if I can utilize it a bit for my own variation that my team wears. Just to make it a bit more effective anyway. Honestly it leads too many problems back to me, especially to the fact that if I agreed Grigori would be technically under Gabriel's orders. Even if I was to make an offer with her, the Fallen wouldn't see it the same way. Not the male ones anyway. Although would I still be a Fallen Angel? The process would probably change me from Fallen to strictly Angel leaving me part Human.

Really, there is no chance that i'd agree to it. I would only agree to it in an alternate dimension where I betrayed Grigori to stay with the church, having been allowed into heaven and my 12 wings turning white. That's it. I can't accept it, accepting it would be wrong.

It is certainly intriguing though, how Michael-san was able to make a flat card able to reincarnate someone. He must have spent years creating these anyway.

Ring Ring

I was brought out of my reverie by the sound of the phone on my desk ringing, coincedently it stopped everyone in both my half of the room and the half that was starting the party for the little Angel's introduction. I breathed out a small sigh as I picked up the phone and answered it while just looking at everyone who was looking at me.

"Yes. This is the Governor."

"You have settled in already then. That's good."

It was my father, probably taking time out of his day to mess around and this time he was probably wanting to mess with me.

"Are you free Kiddo?"

"I am not free Otou-san. Even if I was, I would not join you on whatever you want to do tonight."

"Come on! I was gonna go drinking and pick up some chicks."

"That's all you ever do. Drinking and picking up some women from some seedy bar somewhere in the world. When are you going to do something decent?"

I let out a tired sigh as I talk to my father, the devils and single angel keep their full attention on me.

"Ok ok, ill tell you the real reason why i'm asking. I was the one who had originally invited Odin as we share some interests and having the Norse faction join in would be good for us all. I will be meeting him for drinks later, he has asked for you to come too as he hasn't spoken to you properly yet. Also Rossweisse, his bodyguard, is coming."

Hmm … you know how to drive a hard bargain father. She may be the first girl i've found myself being attracted to in a long time but I really don't have the time.

"No. I'm too busy as I am already. If Odin really wants to see me that much then he can schedule a meeting, not just bring up a meeting at the pub without any notice. I'm not you Otou-san."

I hung up the call and threw the phone back down on the desk before sitting back in my chair with a deep sigh. I'm probably gonna regret shooting down Odin sometime in the future but oh well. I'm not gonna just go along with my father's whims up from my chair and desk, I deposited the documents on the table into my pocket dimension before taking a seat on the sofa underneath the lone window in my section and promptly fell asleep.

…

[You ready for more Kiddo?]

"Lay it on me Vritra."

[Alright then, watch what you say.]

That's my first lesson? Watching what I say?

[You have absolutely no tact Kiddo. If they aren't a part of your team then you treat them like a stranger. You cannot do that with a woman.]

"That's obvious."

[But it doesn't stop a guy from doing so. My point is that you have to watch every little thing, the problem with this is that a woman will also get paranoid quickly, some more so than others. If you take too long to think about what you want to say they'll get suspicious and you don't want that. Still even just informing you of this, it won't help that much. Women are very fickle creatures. They are the scariest existence to date. Ddraig knows it all too well.]

"What do you mean it won't help much? Ddraig? What did he do?"

[You can't gauge a woman's thought process until you have made a mistake. Once you've made that mistake you can then combat it but that also brings into play the fact that the woman will be pretty miffed that you even got it wrong. All women expect a guy to understand something that he doesn't and never will. Ddraig on the other hand is just an idiot who likes to fight. The full story differs from who says it, i've heard different from multiple dragons but the thing that's definitely true is that Ddraig is the reason why Tiamat is stuck in the Devil's Familiar Forest and not in her actual home.]

Aaah I see, Ddraig is just a very stupid dragon. Maybe his current possessor is his karma although if Tiamat hears about it she may add her Chaos to that Karma.

"Tiamat … Would she join us? I'm sure Otou-sama would be happy to make an artificial Sacred Gear to place her in or even a jewel like Fafnir is right now."

[Well … I do know that she is unhappy about being in the Familiar Forest. With me and Fafnir here she may just join but be sceptical. Tell her we are training the Sekiryuutei and she will join so you can use her to beat his ass or just allow her to do so. There may be a severe case of bad blood between them but she won't kill him, put him to close death definitely but she won't kill him. Actually, she'd be happy to join. That nun girl can heal the Sekiryuutei meaning she can beat him senseless more often too.]

Vritra's tone is a hard one to place. It's definitely a happy one but I can't really see a reason behind why he would be happy. Could it be the fact that he is technically an Evil Dragon? Perhaps though I'm not gonna doubt that Ddraig pissed off a lot of powerful beings.

"So Vritra, how do you know about these things anyway?"

[My body was split into multiple Sacred Gears so I've had a whole lot of hosts. Even though they could never speak to me as you need at least two of the gears to have enough of me, I could still hear and see everything my possessors did so I picked up a lot from them. Especially the previous possessor of Delete Field, he was a weird one. I think you'd call him an Otaku, he was trying to delete specific portions of himself. Mainly his shyness but of course, that's not possible as my power was never intended for such a novel use. It wasn't long after that that Azazel took the Gear.]

"About that. He branded that machine a failure because it killed the possessor so how did he have three of your gears? He would have stopped after getting the first."

[Blaze Black Flare was secured by Azazel before it could go onto the next host. It lingers around after the host dies, it becomes a black wisp of sorts. Azazel picked it up at that time securing it in an artificial body. Delete Field and Shadow Prison were both taken by the machine. It seemed like he had multiple machines, the one he used himself had a higher probability of keeping the human alive but it was pretty miniscule. I think it was a 4-wing which put the human in to get Shadow Prison out, that girl got punished by Azazel it would seem.]

"I see. You don't sound that caring honestly. Did you ever get attached to anyone?"

[Only you Kiddo for allowing me to have four pieces together. I would have to say my first possessor of Blaze Black Flare was the best outside of you, he was a nut. Once he realised he could use the gear he started to burn anything and everything, of course he was killed for heresy pretty quickly but nevertheless it was pretty fun. I got to burn stuff without being chopped into pieces again.]

"Pretty nonchalant about the whole thing aren't ya?"

[What can I say? I don't exactly remember what I did to be killed in the first place and that's probably due to being chopped into pieces. Honestly, I couldn't care less really. I retain my position as a Dragon King and someone can only take over by beating you in a fight, I doubt that'll happen ever. This means we can run havoc whenever, plus I get this chance to sleep without being intruded on. I can wake up whenever and do what I want in here, thanks by the way. That pocket dimension you linked to the gears for me is sweet.]

"I'm glad you are happy."

Vritra seriously is a weird one, shame Fafnir isn't as social. Fafnir just seems to chill in that pocket dimension, he does have a severe mental problem though. I find my magic being sapped whenever I entered clothing stores, more precisely go near the female sections. I don't really wanna know what he is taking from there.

Good job I haven't sacrificed a part of me to Vritra or else i'd probably be insane right now. Well, I also wouldn't be the Fallen Angel Governor and my blessings would be reduced again. Actually, if I chose to become Gabriel's joker I would have the reducing of my blessings too, that's another reason not to accept the offer. It's weird that the offer still stands though.

"Vritra, what's your take on the Khaos Brigade? Do you think that Diadora kid could be a part of it? The only reason I can see him beating Seekvaira Agares so easily is with one of Ophis' snakes."

[I agree with you, even that Astaroth's peerage was pretty poor. The Khaos Brigade itself though … it's worse than we've seen so far. Ophis is just a figurehead, Ophis hasn't got the patience to be a leader in this aspect. I'd say someone more sinister is the actual leader. I've spoken to Fafnir about it myself, he said he get's a strange shiver whenever he thinks about it. Honestly I feel the same way. That can only mean more dragons, as the only thing we fear are ourselves.]

"Other dragons? That means the Evil Dragons right?"

[Yes and they are as evil as they are crazy. Crom Cruach, the strongest Evil Dragon is on par with Ddraig and Albion. Apophis and Azi Dahaka next, they'd be tentatively in between those two and us Dragon Kings although Tiamat could probably fight on par if Ddraig had spurred her ire. The rest of them would be at the same strength as me, while I could fight on terms with them their ruthlessness was insane. They are the types who would never falter, if anything they'd get worse to fight against. The stronger you are the better they feel. Grendel is a prime example of that.]

"Grendel? Isn't he dead?"

[Resurrected and probably a part of this group still. Despite being insane, they are all pretty loyal to each other until the final hour. Grendel … You could destroy half of his face and he'd still survive but he'd also be happier. He is a strange creature, more so than most.]

"I take it you two have fought before?"

[Not so much fought as test each other. He had insisted that a Technique-style dragon is not a dragon, Power is foremost for all dragons so he set out to prove it. I was injured in the fight but not as badly as he was although his regeneration ability is kinda weird. Despite what looked like my victory came a stalemate, when I fought him he was the weakest of the Evil Dragons. That was when I left and became a Dragon King.]

"Weak ending there. Surprised you remembered that much."

[You will forget things over time but you will always remember the points that make you. That was one of them.]

A rather information filled transition into the 6th volume.
While it's rather lacklustre for the most part, to me anyway.
The ending makes it all worth while really. Juggernaut Drive.

I also thought i should give more details on Vritra, even if it is just my own thoughts.
He has been portrayed as wise and polite. So i decided to play on that a bit more so than his polite personality.
He is a lot of Gaius' knowledge and power. Without Vritra, Gaius would only be at 8-wings for a Fallen.
Vritra brings him up to 10-wings while his array of techniques make him look 12-wings.

I have said before that Gaius trained a lot, most of that isn't really physical.
A lot of it was theory work with Gear magic and seeing how he could utilize his own magic.
He has more knowledge than he does power, and that's why his power seems more than it actually is.

I'm gonna leave you guys to your lives now :P
Ciao.