Chapter 214 — Uneasy Allies

Yuki

The next day, we gathered in one of the spacious rooms in the Hydouou house’s basement.

I was sitting with Koneko on my lap on one of the sofas in the room.

Irina and Gasper-kun were sitting on either side of me.

We had gathered to discuss what could be done to deal with Loki.

On our side were our peerage, Irina, Azazel-sensei, Baraqiel, Sona-Kaichou, and Saji-san.

Rias had contacted Sona-Kaichou after Azazel-sensei had requested her peerage’s presence today.

On the other side were Vali and his team.

Vali, Bikou, Arthur, and Kuroka were present despite our reluctance to accept a meeting with them.

Odin-sama and Rossweisse-san were in a separate room contacting Valhalla while we met with Vali and his team.

Rias had voiced her concerns about allowing known terrorists into our home, but Azazel-sensei and Sirzechs-sama both approved of the meeting with Vali and his team. 

Issei questioned whether it was because Vali had saved Asia previously. 

He seemed suspicious of Vali’s true intentions.

Most of us were.

Vali was a battle maniac and wanted to fight strong people whenever he could, but there had to be another reason for him to come to help us.

I doubt that Sirzechs-sama and Azazel-sensei didn’t have their own reasons for agreeing to work with Vali.

We needed the help, with the Three Great Faction alliance spread thin dealing with the Khaos Brigade, but Vali and his team weren’t trustworthy enough to rely on.

The simplest reason was that Sirzechs-sama wanted us to observe Vali’s team and keep tabs on them. 

The meeting with Vali and his team about our plan to work together to face Loki had already started.

Azazel-sensei had already informed Vali and us that Sirzechs-sama had verified that we would not be receiving reinforcements.

We were ordered to defend Odin-sama from Loki by ourselves.

If it were only Loki, we would likely be able to deal with it on our own.

The real issue was Fenrir.

Facing both a god and a legendary god-killing monster was beyond what we could handle.

Fenrir is a beast whose power was equal to the Two Heavenly Dragons before they were sealed.

We would have to work with Vali if we wanted to stand a chance against Fenrir and Loki.

But unless we come up with a good enough plan, this will be a fight with losses on our side.

Juggernaut Drive was an option that would allow us to defeat Fenrir, but Issei couldn’t use it without burning through the rest of his lifespan.

And Vali would use up all of his demonic energy and become exhausted after defeating Fenrir.

That would leave him a liability while we fought Loki.

And Loki would surely have something else up his sleeve on the night of the meeting.

There was no way the god of mischief wouldn’t have something planned after announcing when he would strike.

“Now that we’ve covered the basic information. Vali. What is your reason for trying to cooperate with us?” Azazel-sensei asked as he stood next to the whiteboard at the front of the room.

The room's attention shifted to Vali.

“I’m only interested in fighting Loki and Fenrir,” Vali said with a smirk. “Bikou and the rest of my team have already agreed to fight them. Is my reason to help not enough to satisfy you?”

Azazel-sensei gave him a skeptical look.

“Of course I’m not satisfied with just that. But at the moment I don’t know if we can refuse your aid. Right now, each faction is unable to send aid due to the threat posed by the Hero faction. You are part of the Khaos Brigade, which means there is a connection between you and the Hero faction, but I don’t believe you are cooperating with them. Due to your personality, I can’t see you working with them.”

Vali nodded.

“You’re right. We try not to get involved with each other as much as possible. I’m planning on fighting Loki and Fenrir with or without your cooperation. Though, if you do not cooperate with us, we will have to treat you as our opponents when we engage Loki and Fenrir.”

I raised an eyebrow at that statement.

Vali was pushing hard for cooperation with our side.

He was willing to threaten us to interfere in our fight against Loki if we didn’t work together.

I wasn't certain he would truly do it, as that would only help Loki.

“It seemed like Sirzechs also thought hard about this, but he was quick to agree to your offer. He can be naïve for a Maou sometimes, but I also think that cooperating with you is better than letting you roam free.” Azazel-sensei said.

“Though there are still more issues that we haven’t come to an agreement with each other on,” Rias added.

Rias understandably had issues with this arrangement, but was unable to openly push back against the decision as it came from her brother, a Maou.

Sona-Kaichou also seemed dissatisfied with the idea of working with Vali and his team.

Her expression clearly showed that she was very displeased.

Azazel-sensei’s comment about keeping tabs on Vali’s team seemed to have pacified Rias and Sona-Kaichou slightly.

The rest of us would follow Rias’s lead, but no one on our side was happy with our orders.

Azazel-sensei stared at Vali, who stared back calmly

“You’re definitely plotting something.”

Vali shrugged.

“Who knows?”

Azazel-sensei’s eyes narrowed before he shook his head. 

“You’re right, we can’t know. But we can ensure it’s not a problem by restricting any suspicious movements of your group.”

“I didn’t have any intention of moving about suspiciously,” Vali said lazily.

Then he grinned.

“But if you decide to come at me, I won’t be going down easily.”

“…That’s enough about Vali and his team's intentions for now. We will make all plans considering them as allies until we are given a reason to think otherwise,” Azazel-sensei said as he looked around the room. “Now, let’s move on to countermeasures for dealing with Loki. I am planning on asking for information on countermeasures from someone who should be very familiar with both of them.”

Vali frowned slightly. “You’re going to ask for information about Loki and Fenrir before making any real plans?”

Azazel-sensei gave a so-so gesture with his hand. 

“We can still come up with plans, but we will likely be much better prepared if we gather more information.

Issei raised his hand.

“Are you going to ask Odin?”

Azazel-sensei shook his head.

“I’m going to ask one of the Five Dragon Kings. The Sleeping Dragon Midgardsormr.”

I sat up slightly at what Azazel-sensei had said.

I had read about him before.

Midgardsormr was also known as the Dragon of the end, or Jörmungandr. 

He is a truly massive Dragon who was cast out into the ocean by the Norse gods and now sleeps at the bottom of the sea.

When he fully awakes, it is supposed to signal the end of the world.

More importantly, he is Fenrir's younger brother and owes no loyalty to his siblings or creator, Loki.

“Well, that’s an obvious choice, but will Midgardsormr respond to our call?” Vali asked

“We will open the Dragon gate with the Two Heavenly Dragons, and the powers of three Dragon Kings, Fafnir, Vitra, and Tannin,” Azazel-sensei answered. “We’ll only summon Midgardsormr’s consciousness. His actual body is in the depths of the ocean near Northern Europe and is far too massive to bring here easily.”

“So that’s why I’m here? I didn’t really want to come because everyone else here is a monster…” Saji-san muttered timidly.

He quickly shut his mouth and straightened up when Sona-Kaichou shot him a look.

“Well, I will still have you come with us as one of the wielders of a Dragon King’s powers. Leave the majority of the work to the Two Heavenly Dragons and me,” Azazel-sensei said to Saji-san. 

Then he turned to the rest of the room.

“Hold tight until I get into contact with Tannin. I will also be contacting Shemhaza about countermeasures as well. You guys stay here on standby until I get back. Baraqiel, follow me.”

Baraqiel-san pushed off the wall he had been leaning on and followed Azazel-sensei out of the room.

The room was silent for a moment before Bikou raised his hand with a shout.

“Sekiryuutei!”

Issei jumped at being suddenly addressed.

“W-What?”

“Can I use the indoor pool on the floor below this one?” Billy asked with a mischievous smile.

Issei looked like he didn’t know how to reply.

Rias stepped forward and pointed at Bikou.

“This house belongs to the Sekiryuutei Hyoudou Issei and me. You are our guests, but I will not allow you to do as you please in our home.”

Rias had apparently decided that this was her and Issei’s home.

Though to be fair, the Hyoudou home was renovated to its current size because of her.

Bikou waved her off.

“Now, now, it’s not a big deal. Let me use it, Switch Princess—”

Bikou was cut off as Rias smacked him on the head.

Bikou clutched his head with teary eyes.

“Owww! What was that for, Switch Princess?!”

Rias’s face began to turn red as she glared at Bikou.

“You! It’s because of you that… that I am being called weird names. Children will come up to me and try… try to poke my breasts! It’s all your fault!”

Bikou stopped pretending to cry and shrugged.

“Who cares? You’re more famous now because of your character in the Oppai Dragon show. I came up with the name, so you should be thanking me.”

Bikou laughed loudly to himself as Rias’s face turned redder.

I could see a vein standing out on her forehead.

A dark red aura of demonic energy surrounded her as she trembled with rage.

“Nggggh! What should I do with you…”

I glanced down at Koneko.

“Do you think we should stop Buchou before she destroys the room?”

Koneko thought for a second before shaking her head.

“…It should be fine. Buchou will calm down after getting it out of her system.”

I glanced at Rias and Bikou again. 

Rias was gritting her teeth as Bikou laughed at something else he had said.

The aura around her was only getting more dense.

I wasn’t sure the meeting room would survive much longer.

I then noticed that Irina had moved away from the seat next to me. 

“S-So this is the last fragment of Excalibur! Amazing!” I heard Irina say.

I turned and saw her sitting with Aruther, Yuuto, and Xenovia.

Arthur was showing them Excalibur Ruler.

“Yes. Vali got information about it from some of his personal connections, and when we compared that info to a scroll that my family possessed, we were able to find it,” Aruther explained. “Though the exact location it was hidden in is a secret.”

Yuuto and Xenovia listened to the two of them speak with interest.

The swordsmen in the room had gathered together on one of the other sofas to talk, and Irina had broken the ice between our group and Aurher. 

She was a warm and open person.

It wasn’t surprising that Irina managed to create a comfortable atmosphere so quickly.

I looked around the room and saw that Issei and Asia were walking over to Vali.

Knowing Asia, she likely wanted to thank him for saving her.

On the other side of the room, Akeno and Sona-Kaichou were talking while Saji awkwardly stood beside them.

And though Akeno was smiling when she spoke to Kaichou, I could see the strain she was hiding beneath her usual mask.

The moment Kaichou stopped talking to her, she would likely move away to be on her own because of her poor mood.

With Gasper-kun being shy and sitting beside me still and Koneko sitting on my lap, the only person not accounted for was Kuroka.

As I thought that, Koneko stiffened on my lap.

I turned to where she was facing and saw Kuroka approaching us.

She stopped a few steps away with a sly grin on her face.

Koneko pressed herself closer against me, and one of her hands clutched the arm I had draped over her waist.

Gasper-kun shifted close to me and peeked out from around my shoulder at Kuroka.

“Hello, Shirone. It’s nice to see you again,” Kuroka said. “And you too, Fox-chan.”

Gasper-kun relaxed slightly, seeing that he was being ignored.

“K-Koneko-chan’s sister is beautiful, but really s-scary…” he muttered beside me.

“…That is not my name, Nee-sama. I told you that the last time we met,” Koneko said in a steely tone.

“Nyan~ My bad, Koneko. No need to be so cold to your poor Onee-sama.”

“Why did you approach Koneko-chan?” I asked.

“I just wanted to check on my little sister. I didn’t realize that I would get such a standoffish reception from my sister and her little protector,” Kuroka said as she looked between Koneko and me. “I thought we were supposed to be putting aside our differences to work together.”

“…That doesn’t mean that I’ve forgiven you or forgot that you tried to take me away from my friends and then attacked us,” Koneko said. “You hurt Yuki-senpai.”

“That was ages ago, nyan. And Fox-chan was able to hold her own just fine. Though our fun did get cut short, didn’t it?” Kuroka said, looking at me with a grin.

“I think that things had gone on long enough,” I replied. “And if you try to take Koneko-chan away again, it will not end well for you.”

Some of the tension in Koneko’s shoulders released at my declaration. 

Kuroka’s grin widened. 

“Nyan? And you’re going to stop me again?” Kuroka asked as she looked me over again. 

Then she paused.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“You’ve grown another tail since we fought? That’s impressive growth for a young Kitsune.”

“Y-Yuki-senpai already has seven tails! She’s really strong!” Gasper-kun proudly explained from slightly behind me. “S-She just doesn’t have them because of her old [Kings] being jerks!”

After he finished, Gasper-kun realized that we were all looking at me and leaned back to hide himself again.

Kuroka looked at me again, and for a brief moment her smile dropped as she looked at me with curiosity and something else.

She fixed her expression before I could identify what it was.

“Seven tails? If that’s true, that’s extremely impressive for a Kitsune your age, Yuki-chan,” Kuroka said.

“Yuki-senpai is amazing, but she doesn’t need you to tell her that,” Koneko said as she watched her sister with apprehension.

Kuroka tilted her head slightly and looked between Koneko and me.

She moved forward and sat next to me on the empty seat where Irina had sat before.

Koneko shifted away from her and pressed herself tighter against me.

I stiffened and moved my tails to cover Koneko in case Kuroka tried anything.

“Oh, relax. I said I wouldn’t do anything. And I don’t bite. Unless you ask nicely. Nyan~,” she said as she leaned on the armrest. “I wanted to ask a favor of you, Fox-chan.”

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“I can’t imagine there is anything that I would be willing to do for you. Unless you’re willing to stay away from Koneko-chan permanently.”

“Ara. No need to be so cold, Fox-chan. You haven’t even heard what I was going to ask yet.”

I stared at her for a moment.

I figured she would leave quicker if I just listened to whatever she wanted 

“Alright. What do you want?” I asked.

“Would you try making a baby with me?” Kuroka asked as she leaned closer to me.

I blinked.

I stared at her in stunned silence for a moment as I tried to understand what she had just asked me.

“What?” “…What?” Koneko and I asked at the same time.

Koneko’s voice sounded colder and less nervous now.

“Well, I want to have a powerful child. I’d like to have the child of an especially strong Dragon, but Vali wasn’t interested when I asked him. I plan on asking the Sekiryuutei too, but after hearing more about you, I’m interested in having one with you too, nyan~,” Kuroka said as she reached out and traced a line down my arm. “I want to leave a child behind, and finding a strong mate is important. I thought something about you was interesting before, but after hearing that you’re already a seven-tailed Kitsune at your age, I am very interested, nyan~. Normally I would only be interested in a man, but since you’re a Kitsune, you can still give me what I want.”

I let out a sigh.

It turned out that Kuroka had the same mentality about having a child as Xenovia. 

Though with her I didn’t know if that was all she was aiming for.

Koneko smacked away Kuroka's hand that was still against my arm.

“Don’t touch Senpai, Nee-sama,” Koneko said in a steely tone. “And what are you doing asking her for a child? You don’t even know her. The only time you’ve met was when you attacked her.”

“Why not ask? Fighting someone is one of the best ways to learn more about them. Plus the two of you are rather close, right? I trust that someone my little sister is so attached to would be a good choice,” Kuroka said with a mischievous grin. 

“Stay away from my Senpai, Nee-sama. She isn’t interested,” Koneko replied harshly.

“Well, that’s up to her, isn’t it? And I can think of a few ways to convince her if she isn't open to the idea yet.”

Kuroka turned away from her sister and looked at me with an alluring gaze. 

“So, Yuki-chan. What do you say? Will you make me a mother?”