Sirzechs, who had been contemplating, finally turned to face us.
"Clearly, we can't issue a verdict right away. We'll conduct a covert analysis of the old ranking match footage, then decide whether to grant the amnesty."
"Then," I added, "as a condition: if the amnesty is not granted, can you swear to let this meeting forget Kuroka's name entirely?"
Better to have insurance, just in case.
"Very well," Sirzechs nodded. "Let's do that. Serafall, are you okay with this?"
"Absolutely!" she replied cheerfully.
But someone couldn't resist interrupting.
"Hold on, Arima Ikki. That Kuroka, no matter the circumstances, she's still a criminal now, right? If you push this, a covert task force might be assembled to hunt her down."
I knew he was being provocative, smirking like that, seriously, some people enjoy this.
"We've already sealed a peace agreement. If we break a reward condition for one of the faction leaders, we'd give angels and fallen angels the perfect excuse. And if that happened, I'd go on the run with Kuroka and loudly denounce the tri-faction as untrustworthy across all mythologies. Other factions can't ignore peace, we're not going to sabotage it over this. It'd be too much trouble."
Saying it out loud, I expected to see Azazel snap back, but instead, he looked… a little disappointed. He probably wanted me flustered.
"What a boring guy you are."
Sharp comment, right in the face. Fine, I'll go off-road a bit.
"Oh, Sona President, when we inevitably flee, I'll be taking Issei's familiar, Rinko, with me."
"Big sister! Please make sure the amnesty succeeds!"
Sona adjusted her glasses and narrowed her eyes. "You, Issei, planning to kidnap my Rinko and hold Sona's chest hostage?"
"Terrible, Issei! Sona has finally stopped glaring at my… chest. If you kidnap Rinko, her chest's rebound effect will break her spirit!"
"Ladies, please, let's de-escalate this later."
"Sona-chan," Serafall purred, "no matter her size, big or small, big sister loves your chest too."
"Sister, that's too much, giant-breast talk, please stop!"
I glanced at Azazel, he was bursting out laughing. Classic DxD silliness.
"Don't worry, including Serafall, we're Maous. Combined with the suspicious Nabelius family circumstances and your achievements, we'll manage this."
"Thank you."
Just then, Michael spoke up: "But he's earned it. Perhaps another reward is in order?"
Azazel rolled his eyes, visibly repelled. "Michael, your kindness hasn't changed even without a god around. Spare me, please, your kindness freaks me out!"
Yet, adding a reward hadn't been part of the plan. Typical, post-peace Azazel being called "angelically supportive" by Michael.
I scanned the room and my eyes fell on someone, why not throw it out there?
"Azazel, how about Freed Sellzen? What's his status now?"
"Freed? Why do you care? He's being held by a Grigori who watches the daughter of my divine servant. He's not unrelated to this summit. We were going to dump him afterward, if peace holds, but why do you ask?"
Good, he's still in custody.
"Freed has three Holy Sword elements extracted from Yuuto's comrades. Work with Heaven to return them to him."
Yuuto gasped.
"If that's the plan, I'll gladly coordinate. Azazel, you okay with that?"
"Fine, but I'm just handing Freed over."
"Thank you, Issei."
"Don't mention it, it was just an idea."
At that moment, I felt artifact power surge again.
====================
Time-stopping engulfed not just this room but the entire academy.
I thought Koneko's presence would prevent Gaspar's artifact from being misused, but now, what's happening?
Everyone, Akeno, Asia, Sona, Tsubaki, moved fine except the guards. Outside, they, too, were frozen.
"History teaches that at age of change, rebellions erupt. This is one such moment. For those without artifact suppression, the Holy Sword's power, Issei touched it as the Red Dragon Emperor, Rias at the moment of stoppage, shields us."
"Few hold time-stopping power. Gaspar could easily be converted to the enemy."
"But Koneko was there! He can't be that easy to exploit!"
"The Red Dragon Emperor's question is answered, look outside."
Azazel, by the window, spoke while I looked.
A faint mist lay across the academy.
"A troublesome artifact's been turned on us. That's the fog from the 'Absolute Mist Dimension-Lost,' one of the Dragon Slayer's Nemesis Tools. It teleports anything it touches, keeping that vampire separate from his guard was easy. And as I speak, we've got another problem."
Up above, a massive teleport magic circle appeared.
Unsure of the details, but no sooner did it open than the mist cleared.
So the artifact was tied to that vampire, once captured, the fog lifted. The enemy wasn't unified after all.
But instantly, rogue spellcasters poured in from the sky.
Because Koneko was present, I thought Gaspar was safe, but still, we'd prepared contingency yesterday.
"Izuna!"
My aura shielded Izuna as she launched out. She split into clones, and her main form synchronized with my aura, crucially, she aligned to my aura, not the other way around.
This granted Izuna temporary "Divinity."
Every clone did the same.
Then they flew under the frozen bodies and possessed the guards, without resistance from time-stop, even stronger opponents could be possessed.
Now empowered by "Divinity," the guards were revived.
They and the spellcasters were startled, and fell into a chaotic battle.
"That's our best bet," I told them. "Explain the situation to the confused guards."
"We did three-way comms already," one answered. "We prepped everyone."
"Same here."
"Got it. So if friends freeze, we unfreeze them."
I smiled, swift coordination.
=====================
We then received a comm via Rias' link:
Koneko:"Senpai? Are you okay? I'm at the gym, fighting a group of spellcasters. They teleported fog into the clubroom, but once it cleared, comms returned. I'm reporting in!"
"Gym? Does she need backup?"
Koneko:"They're many, but nothing too serious. But Gaspar's the priority!"
"Understood, we'll handle Gaspar. Koneko, rejoin us at the new building."
Koneko:"Yes, I'll leave Gaspar to you."
Comm ended.
"Is Koneko okay?" someone asked.
"She fought while communicating, that's fine. But Gaspar is our priority. His power keeps rising. If forced, it could stop us too, or worse, hurt him."
"Then we need to rescue him now!"
"Rias, Gaspar's probably in the Occult Clubroom, Koneko was pulled away, and there's a layered barrier there. We can't detect him, but it's definitely sealed. But forcing it open could kill him."
"If only we knew his location, we could target outside."
"We have a solution, the clubroom holds my unused 'Rook' chess piece."
"The 'Castling', I see. It lets a king and rook swap places. That can break into a barrier, you two can teleport inside, though sending only Rias is risky. I'll channel my magic, maybe I can send one more person with her."
Castling: In chess, drag the king and rook in one move to swap positions.
Normal teleportation is sealed by their barrier, but a demon piece like Evil Piece, with a soul bond to the owner, can bypass even that.
"Lord Sirzechs! Then let me go! I'll protect the President!"
Issei jumped at it first.
"Understood. Protect Rias, Issei."
=====================
"A new order has been set," Azazel said. "Issei and Rias are focused on the vampire. But someone needs to hold back the remaining foes, there's too many for just guards."
"So, Vali, you must've been bored, right? Go make some trouble outside. If the White Dragon Emperor gets involved, it might shift momentum our way."
"...Hah. Understood."
Balance Breaker activated, Vali stomped out dozens of spellcasters in seconds. He's still in Khaos Brigade, no mercy.
=====================
"Sirzechs, the teleport circle is ready."
Grayfia had finished drawing it.
"Hyoudou Issei, take this. This ring will suppress the artifact's power on that vampire kid."
He handed the ring to Issei and Rias stepped onto the teleport circle.
"You're going to jump into battle the moment you're inside. Be careful."
"Understood!" they said.
And they teleported, wait, what about Issei's ring?
=============
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