Me? Human? : Chapter 50 : Trouble on the Horizon.... (Patreon)

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

Nephilim Institute

–Azazel–

He watched as the boy was teleported inside the room, the superheated air around him now absent, and a cheerful smile present on his face. He’d teleported the boy into the room, and the boy had not resisted at all, likely now having an even bigger head than before. After all, even if Motohama survived and won because he supplied the final boost necessary, the end result remained the same. 

Technically, the match was forced to end before a winner could be declared, and Lavinia forfeited because this was a useless match with no stakes whatsoever, but he could tell that the next time Lavinia engaged him, she was not going to have an easy fight by any means whatsoever. At minimum, she was going to take him seriously from the beginning of the fight itself. Sure, invoking her Balanced Breaker would end the fight instantly, even if the boy had gained a bit more power. 

Overall, he would call this fight a massive success, in terms of data collection. More than the fight itself, he was sure that he had figured out the true power of Motohama Kenji, a mere human who had grown from being barely Mid Class in terms of power to now comfortably Ultimate Class in power, putting him in the upper echelons in terms of power in most factions, let alone in human terms.

Hell, as he was, Motohama could start a small faction of his own, and he would likely dominate that space and grow his personal power and thus, his faction’s power in a very short period of time.

His smile widened as he realised the implications of what could have happened if he had let Motohama be. Either he would have constantly gotten tangled in supernatural situations and gained power, or died early on. But now? Unless he acted in tandem with all the powerful people under his command and maybe some of the Devils for insurance, it was unlikely that he would be able to take care of Motohama anytime soon.

Sure, he had the boy’s mother as leverage, but it was useless. Killing her would only lead to an even more aggressive response, and it just massively increased the risks. Plus, as time went on, the boy was only going to become stronger.

The best time to kill the boy was a month ago. The second best was now. If he waited even a few more months, the boy might just surpass him in power, and at that point, only Sierzechs and Ajuka would be a match for the boy. His light meant that should Motohama reach his level, Devils like Serafall would find themselves overwhelmed in the face of his power.

With the Three Factions locked in a stalemate, with only the respective leaders even thinking of peace, let alone working towards it, it would be a huge betrayal towards the other two sides by not informing them about something that could threaten the potential Peace treaty. The boy had a slight dislike of the Devils, but even that small dislike could be disastrous if the feelings came from an adaptive, regenerative, walking disaster that was only going to become even more powerful.

Shaking his head, he was brought out of his thoughts as he watched the boy walk to Lavinia and extended his hand for a shake. “That was a great fight. I thought I was a goner for a second. The way your Gear just shut down my primary fuel source was nice. I would have to think of that before getting into any more fights. Plus, I am sure you had more that you didn't use, right?”

Lavinia hesitantly shook it before she beamed at the boy as well, her guard somehow lowering. “No! You were great! I was nothing compared to you when I first came here. You are in your first year and already fought the Cadre. I am sure you will soon surpass me.”

The man smiled brightly, the last of the light cloak around his skin dissipating. “That’s the plan!”

He clapped his hands, drawing everybody’s attention to him, “Alright, that was a good match. Great, even! Now, I have all this delicious data to process. Also, you, my boy, have a very worried mother waiting for you. So…” his words trailed off as the boy was gone, slamming the door open, not even noticing when he broke the lock when he did so, not to mention the multi layer locking enchantments built to withstand extreme force, and even rebound some of the extra kinetic energy if someone continues to force their way in or out.

Apparently, the boy didn't even notice when he broke the magic keeping the door locked. It was….alarming. After all, even Kokabiel would need to exert some effort to actually break the thing down.

Lavinia, no doubt noticing and understanding the implications, spoke up, “He has grown quite powerful, Azazel-sama. Are you sure you wish to keep him here, especially since he is so young and does not have any attachments to this place?”

He gave her a look before scoffing and ruffling her hair, drawing a pout from the girl who flexed her magic and returned her hair to its previous pristine condition. “That’s where you are wrong, kiddo. It is because of his progression rate that we have to do everything to keep him here. Hell, if he was a girl, I would not have hesitated to sell Tobio to him. Not even a moment, I tell you.”

“Hey!” Tobio squawked in protest, as he laughed at the boy’s reaction. Then, a shiver ran through his body as he looked down at Lavinia. Sweet, Little Lavinia, who was still smiling at him, still beaming at him, but the entire vibe had changed. The room itself had darkened a bit as she took a step forward towards him, as he did the same backwards. “What did you say, Azazel-sama? You would have pawned Tobio off if he was a girl? Then, what will you do now that he is a boy? Will you pawn off someone else? Penemue? Any other girl or me?”

He waved his hands to ward off the misunderstanding. It was just something he said. Why would he use Lavinia for that, when he had dozens of other, far more beautiful, experienced, and more importantly, obedient and loyal Fallen to do the same job for—

A squeak escaped his lips as Lavinia’s hand touched his chest, a deep chill emanating from it, as he instantly flew back, through the walls this time, with Lavinia’s handprint still on his chest, as the deep chill had shattered his clothes.

“Remember that the next time you think of something like that,” Lavinia’s voice faded in the distance as he fled from the scene.

__-xx___

The moment he reached his office, his demeanour changed entirely. The blue mark on his chest disappeared with a slight flex of his magic, as the clothes came back in their pristine form, the easygoing smile and look on his face disappearing as he sat down on the table, waiting for the reports to arrive.

He was excited to read through them all, yes, but he was not impatient enough to process all that data personally. He had mooks for that. Ah, yes. Speaking of mooks…

The door to his office opened up, revealing Penemue’s worried face as she got in and sat down in front of him with a sigh. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow as Penemue shot a look at his desk drawer. He nodded understandingly before opening the drawer and retrieving two glasses and a bottle of his strongest alcohol, kept handy in case he had to deal with yet another episode from one of his fellow Fallen Angels, and he couldn't solve it with some regular old fashion violence. Or rather, didn’t want to.

He was about to pour her some, only for her to snatch the bottle from his hands and begin chugging it down.

That bad, huh?

Well, he knew that it was going to be a nightmare for Penemue, what with her having the highest level of clearance when it came to sensitive information inside the Grigori, after him ofcourse, and having to make the arrangements to make sure that boy never even thought of leaving Grigori, not even casually. She was the one responsible for the current assets they had cultivated through the academy, despite never using an ounce of mind control magic on them. 

To this day, the academy and all its lectures were open for everyone to witness. Be it Devils, Angels, Gods, Youkai, and more. He literally had nothing to hide, and regularly sent out feelers to get teachers from different races to make sure that no one could point a finger at the institute and say that it is a front for the Grigori. He took great pride in truly having no ulterior motive in teaching and creating at the institute.

No, that job fell to Penemue, whose work spoke for itself. Lavinia. Tobio. Vali(though he wouldn't consider Vali a sure shot). And many more. Not all of them went on to become powerhouses because of their Sacred Gear, but even a mid tier position in some other faction was useful at the right time.

Now, Penemue had to deal with figuring out a way to do the same to a human boy who was now stronger than Kokabiel, had grown to that level in a matter of months, had no incentive to actually attend the lectures and remain inside the academy for years, and could not be forced in any manner.

That was the crux of the matter. Motohama Kenji was an anomaly, likely the only one with such a power, considering that his power grew exponentially, even at such a high level. It was very likely that the entire academy wouldn’t have anything to teach him by the end of the year. 

All of Penemue’s previous tactics relied on the people spending a long time inside the academy, and more importantly, around Fallen Angel, who knew how to act, what to speak, when to listen, when to speak, and, more importantly, when to take a step back, making sure that it remained a step behind, looking like outright propaganda.

Her usual tactics were going to fail, which meant some extreme measures were needed. Unfortunately, the only extreme measure they had at hand was killing the boy. Anything else, he was going to adapt to it within minutes. If they used the highest level of magic, it might take weeks or months, but the end result was going to be the same.

If they wanted the boy for his power, then they were going to have to feed him, and giving him any fuel was only going to weaken their hold over him. The boy’s power worked relentlessly, seemingly without a ceiling, but they had a ceiling on the potency of any Mind Magic. 

It grated on him to even contemplate using mind magic on a student at his academy, but drastic students called for drastic measures, and it frustrated him even more when he realised that even when he was willing to take that extreme step, he knew it wasn’t going to work for a long period of time.

Argh.

Opening the other drawer, he retrieved another bottle and chugged it all down. 

The worst part was that he had the other option available, just tempting him with all the huge pros and no cons, and yet he couldn’t take that option. Not just because of the risk of Motohama somehow surviving, but also because of what that power represented. They were going to need all the power they could get in the next few years. 

The Old Satan Faction. Khaos Brigade. Rizevim Lucifer. Ragnarok. The Greek. And many more. All threats on the horizon, not just to overall peace but to entire factions, and they needed all the power they could amass, which is why Michael had somewhat turned a blind eye to the Fallen and the Devils taking in many talents and training them in combat.

Danger was on the horizon, and Motohama could somehow be the key to coming out of that storm alive or dead. Either way, it was far better than just preparing and pretending that it was going to be enough, when every one of them knew that it was not going to be enough.