Me? Human? : Chapter 40 : Mad Lad Azazel & Michael's HOPE! (Patreon)

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters appearing in High School DXD or the Anime or the manga whatsoever.

–Motohama Kenji–

“I take it you don’t like Kokabiel all that much?”

He fired off with a question of his own: “Does anyone?”

Azazel was silent for a moment, likely intentionally letting the tension ratchet up before he snorted, “Touche.”

Then, there was silence between them for a bit before he dove back into the good, replacing the awkward silence with awkward noises of him biting into meat and devouring stuff within a few bites, refilling the empty tank of his, though for some reason, it felt so much deeper than before.

The difference couldn't have been that big, could it?

Of course, the difference was huge! What was he thinking?! He had just witnessed himself punching Kokabiel in the nose and from Azazel’s own words, become capable of triggering an emergency that necessitated the participation of all Cadre, and the only thing higher than that would be calling upon Azazel directly, who would undoubtedly arrive with his version of War Crime Arsenal, built specifically to damage multiple races, with individual weapons built for each and every single power level.

While Azazel did not strike him a MAD Genius! on the same level as Ajuka himself, the man must have something up his sleeve to be able to grow a faction like Grigori while being in lockstep with Heaven and Underworld. What Azazel might have lacked in pure scientific chops, he must make up for in cunning when it came to dealing with the human mind and psyche.

With that thought in mind, he resolved to be careful in any of his dealings with Azazel, and continued to absolutely demolish the food in the place, as Azazel continued to refill the food in front of him with a snap of his fingers, until eventually, he felt like he had enough and stopped Azazel from snapping his fingers once more.

“Had your fill, I assume?” Azazel asked, and he just nodded, holding onto the table with both his hands as he suddenly felt nauseous, as if he had ingested something he should not have. Almost immediately, his thoughts went to Azazel with the suspicion that the Fallen Angel might have mixed something with his food, but then why would he need to do so? The Fallen must  have dozens of other ways he could—

Azazel raised his hands in surrender. “If you are wondering if I have poisoned you, then I am afraid you are wrong. I can take a few informed guesses as to what might be wrong with you. Care to listen?”

Azazel waited for him to nod before continuing, his face brightening at the confirmation. “Well, can I assume that you eat copious amounts of food to fuel your rather prodigious abilities? Healing, strengthening, and so on?”

He nodded, wary of someone like Azazel figuring out the mechanics of his power, but not seeing a way out of this without going through Azazel, and that was not happening anytime soon, so he might as well be as honest as he could be without giving away too much.

Azazel nodded. “I see. So, what happens if you suddenly gain access to an alternate source of energy? One just as potent as, if not more potent than, food, capable of so much more without requiring you to eat enough food to feed a few dozen people?”

He opened his mouth at the question, things suddenly kicking into place. While he did have the Light as an alternative source to fall back on, just in case he had no food nearby, from his limited testing, it was only good enough to put him back into good enough shape, not even perfect healing shape.

But that was then, and now, he was so much more powerful than before, with a well of energy very much deeper than before, which meant he now had access to Light that was far more potent than before.

So, now, he had access to all this energy from an alternate source, and on top of that, he had eaten a ton of food, somehow ignoring the fact that his body’s situation was different than before, resulting in…

“Do you need a moment with a bucket alone?” Azazel very much unhelpfully asked him, to which he glared at the Fallen Angel before closing his eyes, focusing more on his power, urging it to act against this mistake of his, only to find that it was already acting upon it in some manner.

As time passed, he felt more and more light, the urge to hurl all over the table in front of him reducing until it flat out disappeared, making him sigh in relief, his body straightening up from the awkward hunched out position from before.

Opening his eyes, he found himself looking straight into Azazel’s gleaming eyes, which could only be called MAD SCIENTIST eyes, as the man whispered creepily, “Interesting. Can you do it again?”

The man then had the gall to offer him a burger, making him recall that feeling and throw the food away from him. 

“No, thank you. I think I am done with food for quite some time now.”

Azazel did not react to his action, which could be taken as disrespectful by some of the more zealous underlings of the Leader of the Grigori, instead leaning back in his seat, becoming silent all of a sudden.

He remained mum for a moment too before saying, “So, when do I start classes?”

Azazel looked at him before flinging his hand, sending a familiar looking card at him, the magic in it now easily felt by his senses. He noticed his magical senses evolving from a mere buzzing sound that he could use to roughly pinpoint magical stuff to an always active 360 degree sensory field that spread out a bit beyond the cafeteria, which is why he knew that there were no other Fallen inside the cafeteria.

The entire thing had truly been emptied out just so he and Azazel could have a face to face meeting.

While he was inspecting the black card given to him, which was likely a way to access the School as well as a portal and a tracker, Azazel spoke up, this time with naked appreciation in his voice.

“You truly have no idea what you have become or what you just did, do you?”

He looked at the amazed Azazel with a raised eyebrow of confusion. “Hmm?”

Sure, growing so strong that he managed to hit a weakened Kokabiel in the face and break his nose was amazing, but then again, the impressiveness of the act was taken away by the sheer exhaustion Kokabiel must be experiencing because not only did he have to attack him with such frequency that he had to dodge and exhaust himself instead of just finishing him off with a single move, he also had to do so constantly for almost a month, with the only break being a small food break, that his opponent used to completely rejuvenate themselves, while Kokabiel had to continue with the same energy levels as before.

If he had managed to break Kokabiel’s nose when the Fallen Angel was not holding back and they were both duking it out with the intention to kill each other, then it would have been quite the feat.

A feat so daring that he would have looked Azazel in the eye and talked like they were peers, instead of him becoming a student in the Institute the man owned and founded.

“What of it? I managed to hit him, yes, but Kokabiel was not in the right state to fight me anyway. It was all rigged in my favour, if you think about it.”

___xx__

Seventh Heaven

–Michael–

He waited in the meeting room reserved for any meetings he wanted with the Twelve Winged brothers of his, waiting for all of them to arrive, the recent notification from the System still in his mind.

Awakened LIGHT Human - Approach for Sainthood.

Two parts of a phrase that sent chills down his spine, as they were words he did not know at all. It had taken him the better part of the day to hunt down what the words meant and then just sit back and process the fact that yes, it was real, that yes, the same person who he had marked with Heaven’s curse to denote the fact that he had eaten a body part of a Fallen Angel, had somehow grown to not just become extremely strong for his age, but also in a way that the System itself designated him as an Awakened LIGHT Human, a state that not even Cardinal Strada, the human he considered the closest to being an Angel, had reached.

Then, there was the other part.

He didn't even know how Sainthood could be granted without Father himself being present to do so.

All of these questions swirled in his mind as he waited for his siblings to arrive, his mind warring with itself on the best possible approach to break the news. There had been no new saint or Angel or Saintess, at least one anointed personally by the System, since Father left them. It was a complete Anathema to what they believed the System to be capable of.

It also raised some uncomfortable questions about his leadership role here. All this time, he believed that it was impossible for new Saints or Angels to come into being without their Father present to do it. 

He believed that the number of Angels they had when Father left them was the permanent number, he believed that it would be impossible to add numbers to their forces, putting Heaven in a passive position when it came to the Church, leading to unsanctioned activities that they were still too afraid to quash too strongly, because at this time, they needed Church more than the Church seemed to need them.

It was a blasphemous thought, and yet he believed it to be true; he believed that to make sure that whatever Father had built was not destroyed in a blaze of fire, he had to do things that Father would disapprove of, that he was doing the right thing.

But what if he was wrong?

What if he didn’t have to stand by and watch and ignore the plight of many humans, simply because he was afraid that their standing would be further weakened if they tried to push the other factions too much, and when the time came to back their words, they could not field the forces necessary to prove that Heaven was not a relic of a bygone era?

What if his very act of trying to preserve the status quo and not lose more of his brothers and sisters had actually led to the downfall of Heaven itself? What if he was responsible for the current laughing state of Heaven and their forces?

He knew that his siblings would instantly march to their deaths if he told them that it was necessary to preserve whatever values Father espoused and his ideals, even after his death. But he could not bear to see that happening. He was the one who made everyone stay inside Heaven, letting the Church and Humanity fall to the state it is currently in.

What if I am the reason why Father’s legacy will be destroyed?!

He felt a jolt in his mind, a shiver running through him as he felt the ever familiar golden glow around him, of his wings dimming a bit, making him instantly banish all the thoughts and practice his meditation, just like Father once taught him and…

Banishing those painful thoughts once more, he made sure to cycle his breathing and that his wings were pristine and bright, just as they should be, because everyone depended on him, and if he began to show signs of weakness, then it would have a huge effect on everyone’s morale, and they could ill afford that.

Opening his eyes, he found himself calm and serene, feeling his siblings approach the Meeting Hall. As they came nearby, he catalogued all the actions he had taken regarding the first ever Awakened Human under his tenure.

Thankfully, and while it was somewhat shameful, since it worked out for them, he wasn’t too upset about that; the Church hadn’t taken a single action against the boy, even when he was the one to personally send the task.

He had tried to remove the curse mark on the boy, but as it turns out, the curse was no longer present, and there was no data in the System’s logs about how or who removed it.

Either way, it had worked out for them, as they now had to figure out a way to approach the boy, because this, this, could finally be the thing that would give them something they had long since been afraid of even contemplating.

Hope.

Hope that not all was lost when their Father left them. Hope that they did not have to remain intentionally ignorant of many things just to reduce the risk of Falling. Hope that once more, the Banners of Heaven can unfurl and show the supernatural world why they were once known as the most feared force in the world.

Hope that they have not failed Father’s legacy.