Gacha Harem King DXD Remastered Chapter 6 The Night Continues (Patreon)

The town of Kuoh during the dead of the night possessed a deceptive, fragile stillness. 

Convenience stores casted harsh glows onto the empty asphalt, their vending machines buzzing and blinking lazily in the humid darkness. Deep within the narrow strips of trees threading between concrete apartment blocks, cicadas rasped in erratic, suffocating waves. It would have been peaceful, had it not been for the death squad stalking down the sidewalk.

Over thirty men marched in a loose, predatory formation. They were excommunicated exorcists, rogue priests, and disgraced men of the cloth, their dark coats rustling heavy with hidden steel. High-caliber pistols clacked against leather holsters; unpolished swords scraped within the worn scabbards. At the front of the mob, a few fanatics clutched crude iron crosses welded directly to the tips of their spears, their faces twisted in hollow, zealous devotion.

“Mm-mmm~” Freed Sellzen sauntered at the head of the pack, casually twirling an Exorcist-grade light-pistol by its trigger guard. The weapon spun in a terrifying blur, as if he were daring the hair-trigger mechanism to discharge straight into his own chest. “Ahhh… smell that night air, boys?” Freed sang out, drawing in a long, shuddering breath of air. “Smells like the sweat of a sinner who has no idea he’s on tonight's dinner menu. Heh. Oh, man… tonight is a glorious night for a murder!”

“Focus, Sellzen,” Dohnaseek’s deep voice drifted down from the canopy of stars. High above the streetlights, three distinct silhouettes shadowed the ground force. Dohnaseek, flanked by Kalawarna and Mittelt, glided through the air, their midnight-black feathered wings slicing through the drafts in silent, rhythmic beats. “Your orders are to soften the target’s perimeter and draw out his defenses,” Dohnaseek reminded him coldly. “You are not being deployed to put on a circus performance.”

“Aw, come on!” Freed sang back without looking up, tilting his head at a sickening angle so his stark white bangs split across mad, bloodshot eyes. “What’s a little showboating between dear friends and eternal damnation? Live a little! Or better yet, let me make them die a little!”

Kalawarna maintained her altitude with an effortless, majestic sweep of her wings, her sharp eyes scanning the quiet rooftops below. “Let us ensure we do not draw the attention of the local devils.” She muttered toward Mittelt. “If the Gremory or Sitri heiresses detect us, this clean sweep becomes an international incident.”

Mittelt offered a lazy, mocking two-finger salute. “Way ahead of you, sister.” With a subtle flick of her wrist, a pale, iridescent shimmer of illusion magic rippled outward from Mittelt’s palm. The arcane wave wrapped around the entire strike team, bending the surrounding light and muffling the metallic clatter of their weapons, rendering the marching group virtually invisible to standard humans or magical detection. 

As the invisible parade of murderers passed through a narrow intersection, a shadow tucked behind a brick wall shifted.

Reya Kusaka stood frozen, pressing her back against the cold wall. She held her breath, exhaling slowly through her nose as she fought to keep her heart rate down. The atmosphere around her skin thinned, her own defensive magic folding the ambient light over her body to maintain her concealment.

Underneath her right palm, pressed firmly in the direction of the passing crowd, an intricate, glowing blue devil crest spun silently. The magic circle acted as a microphone and camera, capturing the chatter of the exorcists and recording the three shapes hovering overhead.

They passed her by. Neither the hard-eyed, bloodthirsty men on the pavement nor the three Fallen Angels in the sky noticed her presence.

The moment the rear guard turned a corner, Reya slid out from an alleyway, ghosting along the opposite sidewalk. She kept low, using residential hedges and recycling bins as cover, her eyes fixed firmly on the invading force.

Using her other hand she raised it to her ear, initializing a secondary demonic circle. A miniature blue magic circle flared silently against her cheek.

“Report,” Sona Sitri’s voice echoed softly through the spell. There was a faint, barely audible hitch in her tone, the subtle sign that she had been forcefully awakened from her sleep and was currently forcing her sharp mind into high gear.

“President,” Reya whispered, her eyes never leaving the moving figures in dark coats. “A heavy hostile force has breached our territory boundaries. I am counting thirty-plus armed excommunicated exorcists operating on foot, accompanied by three Fallen Angels flying overhead.” She then paused for a fraction of a second, calculating the direction of where they were going. “Their direct trajectory matches the residential address of Hyoudou Issei.”

Across the magical circle, the silence was absolute. Sona didn't waste a single breath. “Is this confirmed?”

“Affirmative, President. I am currently tailing them now.”

On the other end of the line, the rustle of a uniform being quickly donned echoed through the spell. “Reya, maintain your distance and continue tracking, but do not engage under any circumstances. I will gather the rest and mobilize immediately.”

“Understood, President,” Reya breathed. Then, bound by political protocol, she added, “Should we notify Rias Gremory?”

Sona’s lashes lowered, her brilliant violet eyes narrowing behind her glasses as her mind calculated the geopolitical fallout. “No,” Sona commanded sharply. “For now, we observe. If the Fallen Angel faction initiates direct, lethal force within a civilian zone…” Her voice dropped into a freezing tone. “…we will intervene and enforce the law of this town ourselves.”

“Understood.” Reya severed the audio channel, kept her posture low, and ducked behind a row of stacked recycling crates outside a local convenience store, watching the street like a hawk.

Above the street, Mittelt’s sweeping detection magic pulsed over a park, its faint magical hum hissing just inches above Reya’s hidden shoulder.

Reya stilled completely. She pulled her demonic aura inward until her lungs felt tight, sliding her fingers together to compress her concealment field to its absolute limit.

The pink pulse passed harmlessly over her head and faded into the night air.

“The perimeter is quiet,” Mittelt reported, tossing a lock of blonde hair over her shoulder. “No devil signatures within a two-block radius.”

“Good,” Dohnaseek replied, his wings flaring as he began his descent. “Keep the shroud active until we are done.”

Below, Freed lifted his gloved hand, spreading his fingers wide as if physically measuring the silhouette of a modest, two-story suburban house sitting in the middle of the neighborhood. “Hyoudou Hyoudou Hyoudou~” Freed purred, singing the name like a dark grace before a feast. “What a sweet, helpless, rabbit-sounding name. Man, I really hope he squeals when I start peeling the skin off his fingers!”

“Try acting like a professional for once in your miserable life, Sellzen,” Kalawarna snapped flatly as her heels touched down on the pavement.

“Ehh? Professional?” Freed cackled, tapping the flat of his light-gun against his temple. “Sweetheart, I was never ordained to be professional! I was ordained to do God's dirty work, and God loves a violent show!”

The troop ground to a halt at the edge of the property line. The house before them was quiet, dark, and utterly serene, a standard Japanese suburban home wrapped in the peaceful silence of the night.

Freed raised his hand, halting his platoon with a lazy, theatrical chop of his palm. A wide, unhinged, predatory grin stretched across his face, his bloodshot eyes reflecting the faint, amber glow of the streetlights.

“Here we are, boys and girls,” Freed whispered, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. “Home sweet home.”

Down the block, the Hyoudou family gate waited under the flickering amber glow of the streetlamp, quiet and unsuspecting. Overhead, the three Fallen Angels raised their hands, the air humming violently as jagged spears of condensed light began to materialize in their palms. On the pavement, the platoon of excommunicated exorcists fanned out into a shallow, lethal arc, their boots scraping against the asphalt.

Hidden behind another hedge on the opposite side of the street, Reya’s heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. She eased back into the dark foliage, her trembling hand pressing flat against the earth as she initialized her communications array.

“On location,” She whispered into the blue devil crest, her breath hitching. “Hostiles have formed a strike perimeter at Hyoudou’s gate. No civilians are in sight at the moment.”

Sona Sitri’s answer was instant, cutting through the static with absolute clarity. “Hold your position. Do not reveal yourself.”

Reya wet her dry lips, forcing her lungs to draw in slow, measured gulps of air. She leaned forward just far enough to keep the street in view, her eyes locked on the mad priest stepping up to the property line.

Freed sauntered up to the iron gate with theatrical delicacy and was about to knock on the door as he raised a gloved hand.

THWACK!

It is then that an invisible force slammed into Freed’s face. A brilliant, hexagonal grid of blood-red and icy-blue runes flashed into existence above the roofline, shimmering violently through the night air before fading back into the shadows.

Reya was full of surprise as she saw the wards. ‘Whoever laid them knew how to make traps.’

Meanwhile, Freed stumbled backward, clutching his broken, bleeding nose as his head snapped back. “Aghhh! Fuck!” He howled in pain. He wiped the blood on his sleeve, his eyes watering, before a deranged, giddy grin split his face wide open. “How unrefined! Any brilliant ideas, ladies?”

“Boundary wards,” Kalawarna snapped from above, her wings flaring in annoyance. “It seems our target wasn't completely clueless. He warded the property.”

“A minor inconvenience with a simple answer.” Dohnaseek replied coldly. A massive, radiant spear of light bloomed in his right palm, hissing loudly as he drew his arm back to hurl it. “A brutal strike will shatter the barrier instantly.”

Reya’s stomach plummeted into her shoes. “They’re initiating an attack." She breathed frantically into the communication circle. “Repeat, they’re about to—!”

Click.

Her warning froze in her throat as the front door of the house swung wide open.

Issei Hyoudou stepped out onto the porch, his posture rigid, his eyes narrowing as he absorbed the sheer scale of the army occupying his front lawn.

Over thirty armed exorcists stood beneath the streetlamps, their blessed steel and crude swords glinting menacingly. Overhead, six massive, black wings blotted out the stars.

The sheer number of the hostile forces made Issei’s chest tighten, his breath catching in his throat, but he didn't back down. Instead he took a slow, deliberate step forward, his jaw set like stone. “I’m only going to say this once,” Issei declared, his voice coming out sharper than he expected. “This is your one and only warning. Pack up your stuff and clear out, or else  you’re going to end up the same as Raynare.”

A ripple of surprise shot through the exorcist ranks. The lower-tier grunts had clearly not been briefed on Raynare's defeat as they shifted uncomfortably with hushed, panicked whispers passing down the line as they glanced nervously at their commanders.

Hovering in the air, Mittelt’s lips curved into a cruel, mocking sneer. She threw her head back and let out a sharp, piercing laugh that echoed off the surrounding houses. “Ohhh~ so you were the one who took down Raynare?” Mittelt cackled, clutching her stomach. “How cute! But haven’t you noticed yet, little boy? Look around you! You’re completely surrounded... and totally alone!”

Issei’s glare didn’t waver for a single second. ‘Alone, huh? Man, you people have no idea how horribly wrong you are.’

Dohnaseek adjusted the brim of his fedora, staring down at the teenager with disdain. “So Raynare fell to a teenage human... how pathetic,” His deep voice rumbled like thunder. “She must have let her guard down and allowed you a lucky strike.” His eyes narrowed, utterly unimpressed. “A fluke like that won't save you twice.”

Kalawarna exhaled heavily through her nose, her tone dripping with boredom. “Tch. Can we please just butcher him already? Listening to this human monologue is far more painful than the actual execution.”

“Oh-ho-hooo, FINALLY!” Freed squealed in pure ecstasy. The mad priest’s grin stretched so wide it looked as though it might split his face in half. He spun his light-gun by the trigger guard, the silver barrel flashing madly under the streetlamp. “All this foreplay was making my skin crawl! Now we get to cut, shoot, carve, and scream! Oh, tonight is going to be a masterpiece!” He licked his lips, letting out a wheezing, psychotic laugh that sent a cold shudder down the spine of the exorcists standing behind him. 

Issei let out a heavy, exhausted sigh. ‘Yeah. Should’ve known they wouldn't take the easy way out.’

With a sharp, fluid snap of his wrist, Issei willed his Sacred Gear to flare. In a burst of red, Twice Critical, erupted around his left hand as the segmented red glove materialized.

Seeing the manifestation of such a notoriously low-tier Sacred Gear, the Fallen Angels overhead let out open, condescending scoffs, while the exorcists sneered in renewed confidence.

Issei ignored them entirely. He dropped into a low, steady combat stance, feeling the surge of power flow through his veins. “Alright then... guess we’re doing this the hard way.” He didn't even get to take a step.

CRACK!! CRASH!!

A deafening, thunderous explosion of splintering wood and shattering glass detonated from the second floor of the Hyoudou residence!

Issei’s head snapped upward, his eyes bulging in horror as his entire bedroom wall, window frame, and a massive chunk of the roof vanished in a cloud of plaster dust.

A colossal, white blur burst through the structural wreckage like a wrecking ball.

BOOOOOOM!

The ground shook violently enough to set off car alarms two blocks away as Priscilla slammed onto the front lawn, her long white hair whipping wildly in the night wind. Her yellowish-green eyes glowed with power as her massive, incredibly fluffy white tail thrashing behind her like a siege weapon.

And clinging desperately to her massive frame were three very distinct passengers:

Nyaruko was wrapped tightly around Priscilla’s left arm like a cat clinging to a tree trunk, her ahoge twirling furiously. Kaguya was seen seated on the dragon-hybrid’s shoulder with an expression of annoyance, her red eyes burning with indignation. And perched casually atop the fluff of Priscilla’s tail was Evangeline, sitting cross-legged as if resting in an armchair, casually brushing plaster dust off her black dress with an unbothered cold smirk.

The entire street froze into a dead, absolute silence.

The exorcists stood with their mouths hanging wide open. The three Fallen Angels faltered midair, their black wings flapping erratically in sheer shock. Even Reya, crouched behind the hedge, stared at the massive dragon-woman and her hitchhikers, completely forgetting to draw breath into her lungs.

Issei went deathly pale, his gaze sliding from the gaping, destroyed hole on the second floor down to the splintered wood and shattered glass scattered across the grass.

“…My house, my room.” Issei croaked out, his voice cracking into a panicked, high-pitched squeak. He grabbed his hair with both hands, staring at the horror in utter disbelief. “Are you guys freaking kidding me?! My parents are going to kill me!!”

Nyaruko popped up from where she had tumbled, rubbing a minor bump on her head with a sheepish, adorable grin. “Ehehe… sorry, Darling! Priscilla saw the giant crowd of bad guys surrounding the yard and really, really wanted to help you, so…”

Priscilla, entirely unbothered by the property damage, inclined her head with composure. “I could not ignore the malice approaching your sanctuary, Issei. A guardian should not wait for doors when her lord is threatened.”

Evangeline continued brushing off her dress, flicking a sharp splinter of pine away with icy precision. “Don’t look at me. Kaguya and I tried to hold her back. Turns out a dragon's raw strength outclasses ours.”

“Indeed,” Kaguya huffed, her arms folded tightly in front of her chest as she perched atop Priscilla’s shoulder. “So, husband, cease your unseemly wailing and calm yourself. Once these lowborn invaders are dealt with, I shall simply reverse the damage so it appears as though nothing ever occurred.”

Issei froze mid-panic, his mind catching up to her words. “…Oh. Right. Eternity and Instant Manipulation. You can… literally just rewind the house.” His shoulders sagged with a massive sigh of relief, though his left eye still twitched violently at the sight of his exposed bedsheets fluttering in the night breeze. He shook his head, forcing his focus back to the immediate threat.

On the pavement, the invading force was still utterly paralyzed. The exorcist mercenaries were trapped in a state of sheer stupefaction, their willpower crumbling, while the three Fallen Angels overhead hadn't even begun to process the visual anomaly of a giant dragon-woman in front of them

And that was when Priscilla straightened to her full, towering height and released her aura.

BOOOOOOM!

It didn't shatter the pavement; it crushed the atmosphere itself. A tidal wave of pure, draconic pressure rolled over the neighborhood like an invisible gravitational collapse. The weight was suffocating, and thick with the primal majesty of a dragon.

The exorcists staggered en masse. Weapons clattered uselessly against the asphalt as several men dropped straight to their knees, gasp-choking for air as cold sweat drenched their collars.

Overhead, Dohnaseek’s stoic composure cracked completely. His pair of wings twitched erratically, unable to maintain flight against the dragon's pressure. Kalawarna’s usual detached, arrogant irritation instantly sharpened into dread. And Mittelt, for all her mocking bravado just moments prior, paled to the color of chalk. Her lower lip trembled as her eyes locked onto Priscilla’s glowing golden-green irises, suddenly realizing she was standing in front of an entity far deadlier than anything she had ever been taught to fight.

Issei exhaled slowly, a smirk tugging at his lips despite the chaos. “I told you guys. You should've just ran away.”

“M-Maybe…” Mittelt stammered, forcing a weak, pathetic grin that didn't even reach her terrified eyes. “Maybe… maybe we don’t have to do this? Right? I mean, hey! It’s a nice night! This doesn’t have to come to blows!”

“Yes,” Dohnaseek added instantly. His deep voice was steady, but lacked the arrogance from before. He slowly hovered backward a few paces. “We shall take our leave. Quietly. We will cause no further disturbance to you.” He cast a desperate glance at his sisters before looking down at Issei. “You will never hear from Grigori again.”

Kalawarna raised both hands in a swift, pacifying gesture, her tone suddenly far more diplomatic than it had ever been before. “Exactly. No need to escalate! We’ll take our men, turn right around, and forget this ever happened!”

The exorcists, crushed under Priscilla's suffocating aura, latched onto the Fallen Angels' retreat like drowning men grabbing a lifeline. A desperate mutter of agreement swept through the broken ranks as the blades were lowered.

Issei blinked, his red-gloved hand lowering a fraction. For the first time since stepping outside, he felt his chest unbind. His racing pulse slowing down. “…Really? You’re just gonna pack up and leave?” A massive part of Issei desperately wanted to accept it. ‘Finally no blood, no fighting, no light spears blowing up my neighborhood, and no trying to explain to Mom why the house is scorched!’ He opened his mouth, ready to take the lifeline and let them walk. “Alright, then—”

“Absolutely not.” The voice cut through the humid night air like a guillotine blade.

Issei snapped his head around, his stomach plummeting directly into his slippers.

Kaguya gracefully stepped off Priscilla’s shoulder, floating down to the grass. Her crimson eyes gleamed in the dark with terrifying authority. She looked down her nose at the trembling Fallen Angels as if they were filthy parasites that had dared to crawl across her garden. “They marched upon our land with the explicit intent to murder my husband,” Kaguya declared, her voice ringing out like a death sentence. “They dared to trespass upon my domain, disturbed my rest, and dared to threaten the honor of this household. Do you truly believe a Princess such as I would show clemency to such lowborn filth? No. Their execution is absolute.”

“K-Kaguya, wait a second! Let’s calm down and talk about—!” Issei started, but the pressure shifted violently.

Beside him, Evangeline’s pale lips curled into a small, terrifyingly cruel smile.

CRACKLE!

A jagged whisper of absolute-zero frost burst from beneath her feet, spreading across the lawn in a blinding flash. The asphalt glittered under the moonlight as a thick sheet of pure ice crawled outward, violently freezing the boots of the nearest exorcists to the pavement. The men shrieked in alarm, their panicked breaths instantly turning into thick, frantic clouds of steam.

“It has been far too long,” Evangeline murmured, her voice low, dangerous, and almost sweetly wistful. “Far too long since I’ve had any fun and been able to cut loose.” Her piercing blue eyes bled into a crimson, predatory red, glinting like fresh rubies in the dark. “...And far too long since I’ve acquired any fresh, interesting puppets to play with.”

The local temperature plummeted by thirty degrees in a fraction of a second. The exorcists clutched their frozen weapons, their knees knocking together, not merely from the biting sub-zero air, but from pure terror.

Then, Nyaruko took a stomping step forward, letting out a dark, guttural growl. “Grrrr~!”

It was an absurdly cute sound in isolation, but the way her silver hair flared violently and her eyes burned with an unhinged madness erased any illusion of innocence. With a lethal flourish, she spun her blood-red iron crowbar, the heavy metal slicing through the air like a deafening CRACK!

“They thought they could threaten my sweet, innocent Darling?!” Nyaruko screamed, her voice cracking with pure, manic fury, though her smile was wider and wilder than ever. She leveled the crowbar directly at Dohnaseek's face. “None of you feathered freaks are leaving this driveway alive until I personally break every single bone in your bodies!”

The sheer weight of four distinct, overwhelming killing intents collided in midair.

Kaguya’s imperial presence pressed down like a cosmic decree. Evangeline’s freezing dark magic coiled like a predator preparing to strike. While Nyaruko’s chaotic, eldritch aura sparked and flared, unpredictable, maddening, and suffocating.

The exorcist line broke completely. Weapons clattered against the road. Men collapsed, weeping and muttering frantic, desperate prayers under their breath, their eyes rolling back as they looked for any shadow to crawl into.

All of them broke except one.

Freed Sellzen’s grin stretched so far across his face that his cheeks bled. His bloodshot eyes gleamed with a brilliant, psychotic ecstasy. He began to shiver, his shoulders shaking in pure, unfiltered delight.

“Ohhhhh, YESSSSS!” Freed squealed, his voice pitching into a lunatic shriek. “That’s the stuff! That is the blood-lust I’ve been praying for!” He raised his light-pistol in his left hand and swept his sword wide in his right, letting out a feral, screeching laugh that echoed down the entire block. “You’re all magnificent, beautiful little nightmares! I can’t wait to carve every single one of you open and see what color your guts are!”

Issei swallowed hard, cold sweat prickling down the back of his neck as he braced himself. ‘Why is he enjoying this?! Why do I feel like this just got a thousand times worse?!’

Kaguya’s delicate, silk-clad shoes lightly stepped forward as she extended a pointed hand outward like an Empress, her crimson eyes blazing with absolute judgment. “Rejoice, worms,” Kaguya whispered softly into the night. “For your execution begins now.”

The girls didn’t hesitate as Priscilla and Nyaruko attacked first.

Priscilla’s massive form surged forward, the asphalt groaning and forming spiderwebs as deep craters were created under her steps. With a single, fluid whip of her long, snow-white tail, half a dozen exorcists were swept into the air, the sickening sound of shattered ribs and fractured spines echoing across the block.

But before the men could even hit the ground, Priscilla’s claws raked outward in a lethal, blinding arc. Reinforced coats tore like wet parchment, spraying crimson arcs of blood across the driveway.

Issei flinched violently, his red-gloved hand flying to his mouth as his stomach turned inside out. He forced his eyes to stay open, swallowing back the bile rising in his throat as he had to watch to stay alert just in case Priscilla needed backup, even as his mind reeled from the carnage.

The surviving exorcists broke into a frantic, shrieking panic. “FIRE! SHOOT IT! SHOOT THE MONSTER!”

A desperate storm of blessed lead erupted across the neighborhood, muzzle flashes strobing against the darkness like a chaotic light show. The air filled with the deafening whine of high-caliber rounds peppered across Priscilla’s towering form.

It was utterly useless as the blessed bullets flattened and ricocheted harmlessly off her pale skin, sparking like cheap fireworks. Not a single drop of blood was drawn and it only served to thoroughly infuriate her.

Priscilla’s lips curled into a terrifying snarl, her golden-green eyes narrowing into slits. The weight of her aura doubled instantly, pressing down with the force of a falling sky. “Pitiful, noisy insects,” She growled, her voice rumbling like deep thunder.

With absolute fury, she brought her sweeping tail down onto the street like a siege hammer. BOOM! Three exorcists vanished beneath the weight, crushed instantly into the asphalt as blood and debris splattered across the curb.

Issei’s stomach lurched again, but across the street, an entirely different kind of madness was unfolding.

“Come on, you darling little freakshow!” Freed howled, his eyes bulging as he locked blades with Nyaruko’s crowbar. His lightsword hissed and spat volatile sparks as it ground against her blood-red crowbar, the blinding light illuminating their faces in rapid flashes.

“Grrr—DON’T CALL ME A FREAK!” Nyaruko roared, her long silver hair flaring violently as she swung with unrestrained, cosmic fury. She moved in impossible, physics-defying angles, almost dancing through the air as she twisted her heavy crowbar through deadly arcs. Every strike carrying crushing weight.

Freed cackled like a lunatic, every near-miss and razor-thin dodge driving him higher into a state of pure ecstasy. He fired his light-pistol mid-swing, but Nyaruko flicked her head back just in time. The light bullet whistled past her cheek and slammed straight into the chest of an unfortunate exorcist standing a meter behind her. The man collapsed in a breathless, bloody heap.

“Oh-ho! Friendly fire!” Freed shrieked, twirling his pistol by the guard. “Oopsie-daisy~! My bad!”

“STOP LAUGHING!” Nyaruko screamed, swinging her crowbar with so much raw velocity that the sonic boom cracked the surrounding windows!

Freed caught the blow at the very last microsecond, his holy blade vibrating violently as the impact forced his knees to buckle and the pavement beneath his boots to shatter.

“NEVER!” Freed wheezed, blood dripping from his nose as his smile stretched past sanity. “THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE!”

Meanwhile, high above the gruesome slaughter on the ground, Evangeline hovered with absolute, terrifying poise. Ribbons of whipped wind magic danced around her bare feet, suspending her effortlessly against the dark sky. Her ruby-red eyes gleamed with malicious delight as her small, pale hands wove intricate circles through the air.

The ambient temperature plummeted into a freezing abyss as a thousand jagged, razor-sharp spears of solid ice materialized out of thin air around her, glowing with a faint, deadly luminescence under the moonlight.

“Let’s see you dance, little birds,” Evangeline whispered sweetly. She snapped her palms forward. The sky roared as a relentless blizzard of ice spears rained upon the Fallen Angels!

Dohnaseek, Kalawarna, and Mittelt reacted on sheer survival instinct, weaving through the sky in desperate, frantic arcs. Their black wings beat furiously against the freezing updrafts as they conjured defensive shields of solid light, shouting warnings to one another in a rare, unified display of desperation.

Even with overlapping barriers, the assault was merciless. The ice smashed through their light shields with deafening, glass-shattering cracks. Frozen shards tore through their wings, shearing black feathers into the wind like falling leaves. Jagged spikes punched clean through Kalawarna’s shoulder and Mittelt’s thigh, spraying streaks of freezing crimson into the air.

The three Fallen Angels were forced back-to-back into a tight, desperate triangle, straining every drop of their energy just to survive the endless storm.

Kalawarna gasped in pain as an ice spear grazed her face, leaving a thin, dripping line of red across her cheekbone. Mittelt hissed, clutching her bleeding side as her flight became erratic. Dohnaseek’s jaw tightened into a rigid line, his left wing sagging heavily from a jagged spike embedded straight through the joint.

From high above, Evangeline clapped her small hands together, letting out a musical, mocking laugh as if watching a parlor trick. “Oh? Still breathing? How delightfully resilient!” Her cruel voice rose, echoing over the screaming men on the street. “I wonder how long can you keep your wings before I turn you into frozen statues for my garden?”

Bleeding, cut, and impaled, the three Fallen Angels trembled in midair under her crimson gaze, barely able to keep themselves aloft.

The battle raged on with deafening violence, screams of panic filling the once-quiet suburban street.

Priscilla crushed through waves of exorcists with devastating, dragon-like grace; Nyaruko’s blood-red crowbar whistled through the night air in crazed, physics-defying arcs; and high above the rooftops, Evangeline rained down ice and mocking laughter upon the sky.

And Issei… just stood there on the lawn. He felt his throat tighten as he watched the absolute carnage, a heavy lump settling in his stomach. He was completely outclassed by the sheer power bouncing around his yard. ‘If I jump in there, am I just going to get in their way?’

“Husband.” The word cut through the clatter of steel like a whip-crack.

Issei flinched, snapping out of his daze. Kaguya stood balanced atop a chunk of shattered cement, her arms folded tightly in front of her chest, her crimson eyes glaring down at him with disdain.

“What precisely are you doing?” Kaguya demanded, her sharp voice echoing over the screaming. “Standing there gawking like a peasant at a festival?”

Issei winced. “I—I mean, you guys have this completely covered—!”

“Get out there and fight!” Kaguya commanded, pointing a finger toward the ongoing melee. “You are the master of this household and my husband! Act like it!”

Issei’s shoulders sagged. He let out a long, heavy sigh, muttering under his breath as he raised his red-gloved fist. “…Can’t even catch a break in my own home.” He didn't argue further. Gritting his teeth, Issei lunged into the fray.

The nearest excommunicated exorcist didn't even see him coming. Issei drove a heavy right hook directly into the man’s jaw with a brutal, satisfying CRACK! The exorcist’s eyes rolled back as he dropped onto the asphalt like a sack of lead.

[DING!] [Enemy Neutralized!] [Reward Granted: +1 Gacha Pull Available!] The System’s bright, cheerful chime rang out inside Issei’s head. His eyes instantly lit up, his jaw dropping in shock.

“…A pull?!” Issei whispered, a wide, unstoppable grin breaking across his face despite the violent chaos around him. His pulse pounded from excitement. ‘I got a pull just for clocking a guy?! Oh man, oh man! Maybe this time I’ll summon another Onee-san like Priscilla! A super-busty, elegant queen! This is the greatest combat system ever created!’

WHIZZZ!

A high-caliber bullet whistled an inch past his ear, snapping him violently back to reality. “Right! Focus on surviving the night first, gacha pulls later!”

Dropping low, Issei charged into a tight cluster of three exorcists. One swung an arming sword in a clumsy, desperate arc, but Issei ducked underneath the steel and tackled him around the waist, driving a boosted knee straight into the man's gut hard enough to knock the wind out of his lungs. Another priest lunged with a spear, but Issei rolled across the pavement and caught the attacker with a brutal uppercut, sending the man sprawling onto the street.

He scrambled back to his feet and caught sight of Priscilla in the thick of the fight.

The towering dragon-woman was an absolute force of nature. Her snow-white tail whipped exorcists through the air like ragdolls, while her razor claws caught a broadsword mid-strike and snapping the tempered steel. Her white dress, somehow still immaculate despite the blood splatter, flowed around her like a battle-shroud.

Then Issei’s stomach plummeted.

A rogue exorcist had slunk around Priscilla’s flank, pulling back a heavy, iron-tipped spear and aiming it directly at the blind spot between her shoulder blades while she was occupied.

“PRISCILLA!” Issei didn't think, he just sprinted. He leaped through the air, twisting his body mid-flight, and delivered a heavy kick straight into the exorcist’s chest a split-second before the spear could strike! The man flew backward, crashing hard against the brick wall of a neighbor's house before collapsing into the bushes.

Issei landed on shaky legs, his lungs burning as he stood over the downed man, punching him once more until he stopped twitching.

Priscilla glanced over her shoulder, her glowing golden-green eyes widening in subtle surprise. “…That was entirely unnecessary, Issei,” She murmured softly, turning her massive frame toward him. The faintest smile touched her pale lips. “But… thank you.”

Issei wiped a smudge of dirt from his cheek, trying his absolute best not to look overly pleased with himself. “Of course. I can’t just stand by and let any of my girls get hurt.”

The words slipped out of his mouth without a second thought, but the demaged behind them caused a critical hit.

Priscilla’s eyes softened, a faint, lovely pink flush creeping across her cheeks as a strange, deep warmth bloomed within her chest. To her, his words were a public, unabashed declaration as he had openly claimed her as one of his mates.

“…I see,” Priscilla whispered, her voice dropping into a tender tone. “Then I shall fight with twice the intensity for I will not bring dishonor to my place at your side.”

Issei blinked, his smirk instantly melting into confusion. ‘Wait... why does that mean she has to fight harder?!’

High above, the sky had devolved into an absolute nightmare.

Evangeline had grown thoroughly bored of unleashing long-distance blizzard storms. With a wicked gleam in her ruby eyes, the true vampire dropped into close-quarters combat. Her tiny frame blurred with blinding speed, darting between the three Fallen Angels like an impossible ghost.

A heavy, magic-infused kick slammed straight into Kalawarna’s ribs, sending her spinning through the air. A violent burst of wind magic caught Dohnaseek off-guard, followed immediately by an ice shard slicing across his cheekbone.

“Too slow, little birds!” Evangeline taunted, her sweet voice dripping with malicious venom.

The three Fallen Angels fought back frantically, their black wings beating erratically as they tried to construct overlapping spears of light. But Evangeline was entirely untouchable, her small fists and feet shattering their defensive arrays and attacks as easily as if they were made of thin glass.

Mittelt’s eyes darted around in pure, unadulterated terror. She saw Kalawarna’s wing shredded and bleeding. She saw Dohnaseek covered in half a dozen deep, freezing gashes; and she saw the terrifying vampire child laughing merrily with every bloody strike. Raw, primal panic seized her heart. ‘I’m going to die here... I’m actually going to die!’

A decision was made. While Evangeline pressed her assault against Dohnaseek, Mittelt suddenly spun on her heel, her black wings flapping frantically as she bolted toward the open horizon. She abandoned her squad, abandoned the mission, her only thought was escape.

“Nope~!” Evangeline sang out, her eyes flicking toward the fleeing Fallen Angel.

But before the vampire could even raise her hand to throw an ice spear—

THWACK!

A blinding, razor-sharp spear of pure, radiant light whistled through the night sky.

Mittelt froze midair. Her wide, pale eyes stared down in absolute disbelief as the purple weapon punched clean through her chest, erupting out of her sternum in a spray of blood. A voiceless gasp escaped her lips as her heart was destroyed in a single, precise stroke.

For one suspended moment, she hung motionless against the stars. Then, her light faded, her black wings folded limply around her, and she plummeted straight down, crashing onto the asphalt below with a sickening thud.

Suffocating silence fell over the street as Dohnaseek’s head whipped around in sheer horror. 

“MITTELT!” Kalawarna’s ear-splitting shriek tore through the night sky.

Evangeline tilted her head, her lips curling into a deeply amused, cruel smirk. “Well, well,” she purred softly. “Points for the initiative.”

Every single eye on the battlefield tracked the trajectory of the light-spear back to its source. Standing regally atop the ridge of the Hyoudou family roof was Raynare.

The pale moonlight washed over her crisp, spotless maid uniform. Her long, midnight-black hair drifted gracefully in the night breeze, her expression cold, composed, and distant. Her white apron was entirely unblemished, worn like a mark of pride.

Dohnaseek’s jaw dropped, his voice cracking into a disbelieving gasp. “Raynare?! You’re alive?!”

Kalawarna’s face twisted into a grotesque mask of rage and betrayal. “Why are you dressed like a servant?! Why are you standing with the enemy?!” Her voice pitched into a shrill scream. “Do you have any idea what Lord Azazel and the Cadre will do to you when they find out you betrayed Grigori?!”

Raynare didn't offer them a single glance. Instead, she turned her head toward Evangeline, who floated nearby with her hands resting on her hips, looking moderately intrigued. She then bowed deeply from the waist, her posture immaculate. “I observed an enemy attempting to flee, Mistress Evangeline. I deemed it necessary to eliminate the annoyance before it caused trouble later.”

Evangeline regarded her for a quiet moment, then let out a soft, delighted hum. “Pragmatic. I like an obedient pet that anticipates orders.” Her crimson eyes gleamed. “Now... forget the trash on the ground. Finish off your former comrades.”

Raynare straightened her spine, her expression utterly unreadable. “As you command.” With a single fluid motion, Raynare stepped off the roof tiles, taking flight. Gasps of surprise rippled across the surviving Fallen Angels.

“Raynare... what... what are those?!” Kalawarna stammered, backing away in midair.

Behind Raynare’s back, where her pitch-black Fallen wings had once resided... now unfolded a magnificent, brilliant pair of pure, snow-white wings. They shimmered under the moonlight, casting faint, shimmering glimmers of holy light across the battleground.

Dohnaseek staggered backward in the air, clutching his bleeding chest. “That’s... impossible! You are a Fallen Angel! We were all cast out by the Father! You cannot possess the Holy Light!”

Kalawarna’s eyes burned with insane disbelief. “How can your wings be white?! How are you pure?!”

Raynare tilted her head slightly, her lips curling into a sharp, arrogant sneer that dripped with total reverence. “This miracle was only made possible... because of my new masters,” Raynare declared, her voice ringing out across the street without a trace of shame or hesitation.

“TRAITOROUS SLUT!” Dohnaseek bellowed, summoning a massive spear of light with all his remaining strength.

Raynare answered instantly. With practiced, lethal grace, a spear of blazing white, purified purple light materialized in her gloved hand. She launched herself forward, her white wings beating violently, leaving a trail of holy radiance in her wake.

BOOOOM!

The night sky erupted in a brilliant starburst as her purple spear smashed into Dohnaseek’s weapon, shattering his light weapon instantly. Kalawarna joined in, firing a desperate volley of spears, but Raynare moved with a terrifying ferocity that completely overwhelmed them. Every strike forced them backward; every swing left them scrambling just to keep their limbs attached.

Down on the grass, Issei stared up at the aerial duel, his jaw hanging completely slack. ‘What in the world...? White wings?! Did Kaguya and Evangeline literally cleanse her Fallen corruption?!’

Evangeline’s cold, melodic laughter echoed over the sound of clashing light. “Yes... dance for me! Tear your old family apart! Let us see just how bright your white wings burn when you wash them in the blood of your past!”

Above, Raynare’s spear swept through the sky in vicious, lethal arcs. Bleeding, battered, and utterly exhausted from Evangeline's prior torture, Dohnaseek and Kalawarna gritted their teeth, their black wings faltering as they sank deeper into defeat.

Meanwhile, Nyaruko’s crimson crowbar slammed against Freed’s blade in a violent, rapid-fire succession of strikes, blinding white and red sparks spraying across the dark pavement with every brutal clash. Her teeth were gritted so tightly they creaked, her long silver hair flaring out in wild, chaotic strands as her swings grew increasingly frantic and unpredictable.

“Gyaaaah! You’re so ridiculously slippery!” Nyaruko shrieked, her voice pitching into a shrill, furious roar. “Why won’t you just sit still and get beaten into paste like a good little cockroach?!”

Freed only threw his head back and howled, his manic, blood-stained grin splitting wider until his cheeks bled. “Slippery?! Baby, I’ve been dodging responsibility, the Church, and my own sanity since the day I was born!” Freed cackled, dropping into an impossible backbend to slip cleanly under a lethal horizontal sweep of her crowbar. “Why in the world would I stop now?!”

In the same fluid, gravity-defying movement, Freed snapped his wrist, firing a light-bullet blind from his hip. The high-density projectile missed Nyaruko’s ear by a hair’s breadth, detonating against the brick foundation of a neighboring home in a shower of sparks. “Bang bang! Ahaha, oh, man! The look on your face is absolute gold!”

Nyaruko’s eye twitched violently. Her growl this time lost all of its usual playful charm reverting instantly into a deep, guttural, hum that vibrated the very air around her. “That’s it,” she whispered, her silver eyes glowing with unhinged fury. “You want to play dirty, you psycho priest?! Fine! Let’s play dirty!”

A few meters away, Issei, who was currently wrestling a pair of lingering exorcists into submissive headlocks, froze completely as he saw Nyaruko reach her hand deep into a swirling, pitch-black dimension behind her back.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

One by one, she began yanking out spherical, cartoonish black bombs, each already lit, their thick cotton fuses sputtering violently with bright orange sparks. Without a single second of hesitation or restraint, Nyaruko began hurling the explosives around the residential street like candy at a parade.

Freed blinked, his mad eyes widening before he erupted into a delighted, hysterical cackle. “Oh-ho-ho! She brought the heavy fireworks! Don’t hold back on my account, sweetheart!”

Issei’s blood ran completely ice-cold. He looked down toward the pavement just in time to see a heavy black sphere roll to a gentle stop directly between his slippers, its fuse sputtering down to its last half-inch. “NYARUKO! STOP THROWING BOMBS!” Issei shrieked, his voice cracking into an agonizing, high-pitched scream as he scrambled backward on all fours. “YOU’RE GOING TO BLOW UP THE ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD!”

She wasn't listening. Lost in the intoxicating fog of pure rage as she was already priming three more.

Priscilla, however, caught the danger instantly. Her ears twitched as her glowing golden-green eyes tracked the burning fuses littering the street. Without missing a single beat, the towering dragon-woman surged forward. Her massive, silk-draped arm swept down, scooping Issei off his feet like a fragile porcelain doll and tucking him protectively against the soft, warm curve of her chest before leaping thirty feet into the air!

“Wha—Priscilla?!” Issei yelped, his legs kicking uselessly in midair as she carried him away from the kill zone.

A heartbeat later, the street went up in flames.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

A blinding wall of orange fire and heavy black smoke swallowed the entire street. The sheer force of the shockwave rattled the foundations of every house on the block, blowing out suburban windows, tearing heavy tiles off rooftops, and instantly vaporizing the remaining exorcist mercenaries caught in the open. Their frantic shrieks were instantly swallowed by the deafening, gut-rattling roar of the detonation.

When the thick smoke finally cleared, not a single hostile human remained standing on the pavement, leaving behind only scorched asphalt, rising ash, and lingering embers. The sky-high pressure wave had even caught Dohnaseek off-balance mid-flight. His damaged black wings faltered for a fraction of a second, leaving his sternum completely wide open.

Raynare didn't miss the opening. Darting through the rising plume of smoke like a white streak of vengeance, her purple spear punched straight through Dohnaseek’s chest, destroying his heart in a single, merciless thrust. The Fallen Angel’s eyes widened in profound, silent disbelief as blood welled over his lips. His wings folded uselessly around his torso as he plummeted from the sky like a broken toy, crashing heavily onto the scorched street below.

Issei, still cradled tightly against Priscilla’s chest, peeked over her shoulder with a severe grimace. His face paled even further as he processed the sheer scale of the carnage. “Oh Kami…” Issei whimpered, pressing a gloved hand tightly over his mouth to keep his dinner inside. Bits of burnt exorcist littered the road, the stench of charred flesh turning his stomach. “My parents are going to literally skin me alive when they see the street.”

And right in the absolute center of the smoking crater stood Nyaruko. She was covered from head to toe in black soot and ash. Her long silver hair was wild and frazzled, her dress singed around the hemline, but as the smoke drifted past her, she let out a loud, breathless snicker that quickly devolved into fitful giggles.

“Pffft—whoopsie-daisy~!” Nyaruko wheezed, clutching her sides as she shook with manic amusement. “Guess I got a teeny-tiny bit carried away!”

Priscilla landed with a heavy thud, her glowing eyes flashing with genuine anger as she rounded on the alien girl. “A little?! You nearly incinerated Issei in your reckless display!”

“Eheheh—sorry, sorry!” Nyaruko chirped, puffing out her soot-covered cheeks, looking completely unrepentant.

Issei let out an exhausted, soul-deep groan. “Why do I even bother trying to talk reason into you guys…” Suddenly, a flash of motion in the upper air caught his eye. Kalawarna.

Unlike Dohnaseek, she was still barely alive, desperately backpedaling through the night sky as Raynare pressed her with a relentless, barrage of light-spears. Kalawarna’s defensive barriers were fracturing with every passing second. It was only a matter of moments before she was skewered and dropped into the ashes with the rest of her squad.

Issei’s jaw set into a firm, rigid line. ‘Not this time. I’m not letting another one get slaughtered.’ He turned his head toward Priscilla, surprising even himself with the sheer authority vibrating in his voice. “Priscilla! Throw me at her!” Issei ordered, pointing a gloved finger straight toward the aerial duel.

The dragon-woman blinked her large eyes, tilting her head in confusion. “…Throw you, Issei?”

“Yes! Throw me right now! Fast!”

Priscilla evaluated his request for a split-second, then gave a firm nod. With an effortless shift of her weight and a powerful, whip-like snap of her arm, she launched Issei through the sky like a human javelin!

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaa—!” Issei screamed as the wind battered his face, his body hurtling like a bullet speeding through the air. Bracing himself mid-flight, Issei slammed shoulder-first straight into Kalawarna’s midsection, his red-gloved fist driving across her jaw with a heavy, concussive CRACK! The Fallen Angel’s eyes instantly rolled into the back of her head as her black wings went completely limp.

“Gotcha!” Issei gasped, wrapping both arms securely around her waist as momentum carried them into a steep, terrifying nose-dive.

[DING!] [Enemy Neutralized!] [Reward Granted: +1 Gacha Pull Available!]

The System’s cheerful chime chimed brightly inside his mind, but Issei was far too busy panicking to care, because he was now plummeting toward the concrete at terminal velocity with zero plan for impact.

“Aw, crap—THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA—!”

Flap!

Before he could become a pancake onto the road, a pair of strong arms caught him cleanly out of the air. Issei blinked his eyes open to find Raynare holding him in a bridal carry, her maid apron slightly dusted with soot and blood, her violet eyes staring down at him with a stern, reprimanding frown.

“Master,” Raynare stated firmly, her voice calm but dripping with sharp reproach as her white wings beat once to stabilize them. “That was extraordinarily reckless.”

Issei, dizzy and breathless, let out a weak, sheepish laugh. “Y-Yeah... guess I got a little carried away, too.”

Raynare touched down with silent grace, her maid skirt fluttering gently as she set Issei down on the cracked asphalt. Issei immediately shifted his weight, propping up Kalawarna’s limp, unconscious body against his knee. “Thanks, Raynare,” Issei muttered, catching his breath while rubbing his sore shoulder. “I definitely would’ve eaten the ground just now...”

Priscilla was the first to close the distance, her towering form casting a protective shadow over him as her golden-green eyes carefully scanned his arms and legs for any hidden injuries.

Kaguya and Evangeline drifted down moments later, their small frames landing effortlessly beside the smoldering crater. Both of them looked down at the unconscious Fallen Angel resting against Issei's leg, their expressions instantly hardening.

“Why,” Kaguya asked flatly, crossing her arms as her crimson eyes narrowed. “are you cradling the enemy?”

Evangeline’s ruby eyes glinted with cold, bored cruelty. “Better question: why bother wasting energy saving her at all? She would have made a lovely corpse alongside the male. One less pest.”

Issei winced under the intense, judgmental glares of his summons. He scratched the back of his neck nervously. “I just... I don't know, okay?! I’d feel sick to my stomach if we just executed every single one of them in cold blood! So... I saved her.”

A heavy, lingering silence fell over the lawn. Then, both Kaguya and Evangeline let out a simultaneous, exasperated sigh.

“Always the soft-hearted, simple-minded fool,” Kaguya huffed, though the coldness in her crimson eyes thawed just a fraction.

Evangeline offered a dismissive wave of her small, pale hand. “Tch. Showing mercy on a battlefield is a pathetic foolishness, Boy. But...” She tilted her head, a wicked smirk playing on her lips. “Foolishness can occasionally yield amusing results.”

Before Issei could even formulate an argument, Raynare stepped forward, folding her hands neatly over her maid apron in a posture of servitude. “If the Master desires it...” Raynare offered smoothly, her expression cool and serene, “...we could subject her to the binding thrall ritual, as was done to me. It would be beneficial to have additional staff to handle the domestic upkeep of the home. And her abilities are not entirely useless.”

Issei grimaced violently, waving his hands in panic. “No! Absolutely not! I am not doing another one of those creepy brainwashing rituals! Not after what you went through, Raynare!” His protest, however, fell on completely deaf ears.

Kaguya and Evangeline exchanged a swift, silent glance, a momentary spark of absolute alignment passing between the Lunarian Princess and the Vampire Witch as they offered each other a single, subtle nod. The matter was already decided.

Issei let out a miserable sigh, his shoulders slumping into defeat. ‘Why do I even bother talking? They just run this house however they want anyway...’

Shaking his head to clear the fatigue, he turned his attention toward Nyaruko, who was currently attempting to dust soot out of her frazzled silver hair. Her clothes were singed, and her face streaked with black ash, but she was grinning from ear to ear.

“You doing okay over there, Nyaruko?” Issei asked softly.

The alien girl froze mid-pat, her large silver eyes going wide with delight. In a fraction of a second, she bridged the gap between them, throwing her body against his side and clinging to his free arm with frantic, childlike ecstasy.

“Awwwww~! Darling, were you actually worried about little old me?!” Nyaruko squealed, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. “Of course I’m fine! Explosions are just like aggressive tickles to me!”

“...That is definitely not something you should be proud of,” Issei muttered under his breath, though he couldn't completely stop the small, warm smile from tugging at the corner of his mouth.

For a brief moment, the chaos on the street died down into a smoldering quiet. But elsewhere, unseen eyes were still watching every movement from the shadows. Behind the hedge on the opposite side of a house, Reya’s breath came in shallow, uneven gasps.

Her hands trembled violently, her fingers digging into the damp soil as the blue devil circle hovering over her wrist flickered erratically before vanishing altogether. The sickening stench of charred flesh, ozone, and scorched stone drifted heavily across the street into her hiding spot.

The scene before her, the blood-stained asphalt, dismembered exorcist remains, and smoking craters where a residential street used to be, was far more than any skirmish she had ever witnessed.

Reya swallowed a lump of terror as her heart hammered against her ribs. ‘How… how can a single group unleash this level of destruction… just like that?!’ Then, a sudden, subtle shift in the air made her blood run completely cold. 

Priscilla’s towering form shifted. Her massive dragon head tilted ever so slightly, her glowing, golden-green irises sliding away from Issei… and locking directly onto the hedge. Directly onto her.

Reya’s stomach plummeted into a bottomless pit. ‘No, no, no… my magic is still working, she can’t see me… she can't—!’

“Well now,” Evangeline drawled softly, her voice light and melodic, yet carrying a razor-sharp blade of ancient cruelty. The vampire witch casually brushed a speck of frost from her sleeve, her crimson eyes gleaming as they cut straight through the drifting smoke. “This battlefield is already unsightly enough. But before we begin tidying up the debris…” Her lips curled into a predatory smirk. “…we really ought to address the little bat cowering behind the bushes like a rat.”

Every single head in the yard snapped toward the hedge with the exception of Issei

The weight of five distinct, overwhelming gazes pressed down on Reya with the force of Priscilla’s dragon aura all over again.

She froze, holding her breath, praying it was a bluff. But it was useless. The illusion was completely blown. Swallowing her fear, Reya slowly stepped out from behind the foliage. Her Kuoh Academy uniform blazer was slightly ruffled, her brown hair sticking to her sweat-sheened forehead, but she forced her posture upright. She held both hands high above her head, palms open in a clear, universal gesture of surrender.

Her face was pale as chalk, but her professional composure hadn't entirely shattered. “I—I am not here to fight!” Reya called out quickly, her voice firm despite the unmistakable quiver vibrating through it. “I was strictly tailing the Grigori as they were operating illegally within this territory! That is all!”

The air around her remained suffocatingly thick.

Nyaruko tilted her head, her crowbar still resting on her shoulder, her silver eyes narrowed in deep skepticism. Evangeline offered a look of detached amusement. Priscilla’s heavy, white-furred tail swayed slowly behind her, like a predator evaluating whether the target was worth the effort of a strike.

Suddenly, Issei blinked, a flash of immediate recognition washing over his face. “Wait a second… I know you.” Issei stepped forward, lowering his red-gloved arm. “You’re from my school, right? You’re on the Student Council!”

Reya let out a faint, shaky exhale, a flicker of genuine relief touching her eyes. “Yes. Precisely. I am not an enemy.”

A few raised eyebrows passed between the harem, though none of them relaxed their combat stances.

Gathering her courage, Reya pressed on, her voice regaining its official, sharp cadence. “In truth, I serve as a retainer within the peerage of one of the two rulers of Kuoh.”

Issei blinked, his mind coming to a screeching halt. “…The what of the what now?” The statement stunned him. The absurd notion that his sleepy, boring suburban town actually had secret overlords completely blindsided him.

Before he could even process the words, Kaguya stepped forward, her silk robes flowing as crimson fury flared brightly in her eyes. “This territory—” Kaguya declared, her voice ringing out with disdain, “—belongs exclusively to myself and my husband! How dare lowborn scavengers presume to lay claim to the ground beneath our feet!” She stamped her delicate shoe down, sending a sharp ripple of shockwave magic splintering across the cracked pavement.

Reya instinctively flinched, but kept her hands raised, choosing her words with extreme caution. “I do not make the rules.” she explained calmly. “I merely serve my King.”

“Your… King?” Issei repeated, running a hand through his hair as he tried to untangle the sheer absurdity of the night.

“Yes,” Reya stated, her posture straightening with confidence now that the diplomatic protocol was engaged. “My master is Sona Sitri. Heiress of the noble Sitri Clan, and one of the designated rulers of this sector.”

Issei tilted his head, completely lost in the jargon. “…Sona Sitri? Who the hell is that supposed to be? Why does some random foreign name matter?”

Reya blinked at him in disbelief before remembering that her mistress's true name wasn’t known. “That is the true name of our Student Council President, Souna Shitori. She is not human. She is a high-tier Devil from one of the Seventy-Two Pillars of the Underworld.”

Issei nearly choked on his own tongue. “WAIT, WHAT?! THE PRESIDENT IS A DEVIL PRINCESS?!” His brain short-circuited. He mentally flashed back to every terrifyingly boring lecture Sona had given him about dress codes, every sharp glare she had aimed at him for causing a disturbance because of his perverted nature… and now he was being told she was an actual demon royalty from Hell?! “…There are literal Devils running my high school?!”

“Yes,” Reya replied flatly, as if stating the weather. “This town is a shared domain between my Master Sona and Rias Gremory, heiress of the Gremory Clan. But my King has taken direct, personal responsibility for maintaining public balance in this district.” She clasped her hands neatly in front of her waist, bowing her head slightly. “If you grant us a few moments, my master is currently en route. She will explain the geopolitical structure of this town personally. And…” Reya’s eyes darted cautiously across the terrifying array of women standing on the lawn, “…she will undoubtedly demand to know the origins of this unlisted force operating within her borders.”

Evangeline scoffed, crossing her small arms with a cold, mocking laugh. “Borders? Hah! I don't bow to bratty devil children or their pathetic little servants.”

Kaguya turned her head away, her chest heaving with lingering indignity. “Indeed. If anything, these local devils should be offering tribute and kneeling before our estate, not demanding explanations.”

Nyaruko lazily twirled her crowbar as she muttered under her breath, “Ugh, another rival girl group showing up? This town is getting way too crowded for a romantic comedy, Darling~.”

Hostility immediately sparked back to life, the air growing dangerously charged between the summons and the solitary student council member.

“Hold on a second!” Issei barked, raising a hand to cut through the rising tension. Every head turned to look at him. Issei scratched his cheek nervously, but his expression was grounded, thoughtful, and surprisingly steady. “…Maybe we should actually sit down and hear what she has to say,” Issei said slowly. “I mean… I’ve lived in Kuoh my entire life. If there are like… hidden rules or whatever, I think I need to know about them. I really don't feel like getting assassinated by some other faction just because I didn't read the local handbook.”

Reya exhaled softly, a surge of genuine gratitude softening her eyes. “Thank you, Issei-san. That is all my master requests.”

Priscilla inclined her head toward Issei, her deep voice resonant and calm. “If that is your decision, Issei, then I shall stay my hand. But should these 'rulers' threaten your safety in any manner, they will not survive long enough to regret it.”

Kaguya and Evangeline looked deeply displeased with the compromise—but Issei’s word carried far more weight than any of them were willing to admit out loud.

As the tension settled into a guarded truce, Reya glanced back toward the end of the street. Deep within the air of the night, she could already feel the cool, sharp demonic pressure of her King rapidly drawing near.

Done. Tell me what you think and if there’s any mistakes.

—-------------------------------------------

SYSTEM STATUS

Host: Issei Hyoudou 

Title: Aspiring Harem King / The Dragon’s Vessel / "Darling" (Nyaruko) / “Husband” (Kaguya) / “Boy” (Evangeline)

Current "Luck" Modifier: D-Rank (Slightly improved due to surviving the resonance scan)

—-----------------------------------------

Host Statistics

Vitality: 60/100 (Physically uninjured, but severely drained and psychological stress over his destroyed neighborhood.) 

Mana/Energy: STIRRING (Sacred Gear: Boosted Gear discovered. While active, it remains in its base state due to the Host's abysmal stamina reserves).

Aura: Perverted, highly stressed, and leaking a localized signature of emerald heat from his left arm. 

—-----------------------------------

The Summoned Harem (Current Roster)

1. NYARUKO (The Crawling Chaos)

Origin: Haiyore! Nyaruko-san

Class: Eldritch Alien Cop

Love Meter: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ (110% - Maximum Fixation / OBSESSIVE)

Specialty: Space-time manipulation, Close combat, Extreme physical affection, Pocket-Dimension Storage.

Current Status: Covered in soot and ash; clinging tightly to Issei’s arm in absolute bliss because he checked if she was okay after she nearly nuked the neighborhood. 

Note: Extremely durable ; currently eyeing the incoming Student Council with intense suspicion as they might become love rivals. 

2. KAGUYA HOURAISAN (The Eternal Princess)

Origin: Touhou Project

Class: Immortal Lunarian Aristocrat 

Love Meter: ❤️❤️🖤🖤🖤 (33% - BEGRUDGING ACCEPTANCE ) 

Specialty: Manipulation of the "Eternity and the Instant," High-tier Barrier Magic.

Current Status: Highly offended that two local "devil princesses" claim sovereign ownership of the town Issei lives in. 

Note: Firmly believes any local nobility should be kneeling before the Hyoudou household rather than demanding explanations.

3. EVANGELINE A.K. McDOWELL (The Calamity Witch)

Origin: Mahou Sensei Negima! / UQ Holder!

Class: Shinso Vampire / Witch / Master of Ice & Darkness

Love Meter: ❤️🖤🖤🖤🖤 (25% - INTERESTED TOLERANCE)  

Specialty: High-tier Ice Magic, High-tier Dark Magic, Puppet-mastery, Centuries of combat experience.

Current Status: Thoroughly entertained by the aerial slaughter; casually watching Issei soft-heartedly spare enemies while plotting how to mess with the incoming Sitri Peerage. 

Note: Considers compassion in battle a weakness, but finds Issei's foolish soft-heartedness oddly charming. 

4. PRISCILLA (The Dragon Crossbreed) 

Origin: Dark Souls 

Class: Draconic Hybrid Deity 

Love Meter: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 (85% - DEEP DEVOTION AND GRATITUDE) 

Specialty: Life-Hunting Curse, Occult Sorcery, Sub-zero Temperature Control. 

Current Status: Deeply moved and blushing; Issei openly claimed her as "one of his girls" in front of the enemy, unlocking her total combat dedication.

Note: Willing to defend and attack whenever Issei is in danger; fiercely protective of his life. 

5. RAYNARE (THRALL / DOMESTIC MAID OF LIGHT )

Origin: Highschool DXD

Class: Low-Rank Angel (Purified / Re-bound) 

Love Meter: ❤️🖤🖤🖤🖤 (05% - ABSOLUTE DEVOTION & REVERENCE) 

Specialty: Low Light manipulation, Transformation Magic, High-tier Housekeeping, Laundry Management. 

Current Status: Wearing a slightly bloody, soot-dusted maid uniform; her Fallen wings have been cleansed into pure white wings due to the dual contract with Kaguya and Evangeline. (Secretly happy that Issei chose to spare Kalawarna.)

Note: Personally executed her former comrades (Mittelt & Dohnaseek) to prove her absolute loyalty to Issei and her new mistresses; currently advocating to turn Kalawarna into Maid #2. 

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Subjugated Captives / Prisoners

KALAWARNA (The Fallen Angel)

Origin: High School DxD

Status: UNCONSCIOUS / CAPTURED BY ISSEI

Current Condition: Knocked out cold by Issei's mid-air tackle; currently being held in Issei's arms.

Note: The second survivor of the Grigori vanguard. Pending a decision on whether she will undergo the Thrall Maid ritual.

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System Notification

Gacha Harem System: 7 Summon Rolls available (Roll 4 Completed).