Chapter 79: Volume 5 – Chapter 5 – Part 1 – Áine, Twilight Saint’s Affection, and Moving forward

Ireland

Land of Heaven Falls

Jin Skyward

"Well here we ar—"

Gyu ~

"…Hello Danu."

"Hello…"

I knew she was going to be waiting for us, but I didn't think she would immediately find me and do this. Asia and Raynare were staring at the woman with curiosity.

"This is Danu. A Primordial Goddess."

"A-A P-P-P-P-Primordial G-G-Goddess…?!"

"Nice to meet you, Danu-sama! I'm Asia Argento!"

Danu stops hugging me and turns to the two women I was with.

"…Yes, to you too Asia. As Jin said, I'm a Primordial Goddess. It's nice to meet the both of you."

After saying that, Danu stares at Raynare making the girl nervous. After staring at her for a few seconds she turns back to me.

"You two had a troubled past with her?"

"…"

"Yeah we did, but we're okay now. Well Asia and I are okay, she's still a bit hung up about it."

I answer her while Asia looks at her with awe. Raynare sheepishly looked away and awkwardly started to fidget.

"I see… You are here for Áine, correct?"

"Yeah. Do you know where she is?"

"She's with Cana…"

"Cana?"

"Cana Cludhmor or sometimes called Canola. She is the original inventor of the harp, and the Irish Goddess of music, inspiration and dreams. She has been looking forward to seeing you."

Cana Cludhmor? Can't say I've heard of her before. So this is something new…

[Were you a mythology nut?]

Just because I was and am, doesn't mean I know everything, Ddraig. Also, this is a different world, so what I know doesn't mean it's reality here. Again, like I mentioned before, Zeus is a good example…

[Fair enough.]

"Never heard of her, what kind of Goddess is she? Like I mean, is she like Áine? You? Another type?"

"…She's energetic."

"Energetic, huh?"

Danu nodded and finally let me go, and I started to look around the place. Not much has changed but it seems a bit livelier than when I first came here. Maybe it's because Danu is a frequent visitor?

"She also wishes to play the harp for you."

"I see, so where is Áine and this Cana person?"

She nods again before walking away. I guess she wants us to follow her, and so we did. However, glancing at my companions they were certainly curious about the place. Along with Danu, I was greeted by the locals as we walked through the town with Asia and Raynare.

"Oya, oya?! If it isn't Sir Jin!"

A familiar voice shouts and I look over to find Padraig there. The owner of that small bakery and an elf. Danu grabs my hand and we take a small detour and approach him.

"Hey, Padraig. How is business doing for you?"

"Huhuhu, even better than before! There were a lot of people who noticed that Goddess Danu and you came to my shop before, and my sales increased! I can only thank the both of you! How about you? I haven't seen these two before. Are they your ladies?"

I nod.

"Yeah, well, Asia is, Raynare isn't."

Asia stands beside me and waves to Padraig while Raynare looks to the side looking a little annoyed and hurt while mumbling something to herself. Padraig notices this and shakes his head.

Pat ~ Pat ~

"Be kind to the future lover of yours, Jin!"

"…You sure are lively."

"I am always lively! Do you want to buy some of my bread? I've got a few new ones after all. Goddess Danu can vouch for their taste!"

Padraig walks to his shop, opens the door and gestures for us to come in. We weren't in a rush, so we walked in. I'll buy a few and we can go meet up with Áine and Cana. Once we were inside—

"Smells wonderful…!"

Asia says and trots over to some of the bread on the counter. Padraig nodded proudly to himself.

"…Like before, I'll take two of everything, Padraig."

"I knew I could count on you, Jin! Thanks for your patronage!"

He then got to work, and started to bag two of everything. Even though we had lunch made by Asia, she wasn't too bothered by this, hell, she looked very interested in tasting them. It didn't take long for Padraig to get them all and I paid for them.

"Actually, why are you here, Jin? Did our Gods send a request for you?"

"Yeah, Áine sent a request in for me, and I'm apparently meeting a new Goddess today…"

"Ah, yeah Cana, she's a sweet thing, a bit energetic for me, but she's got a good heart."

Padraig said that like he was complimenting their grandkids or something… How old is he actually? I would rather not ask. I store the bags of food in my [Inventory] before turning around.

"We'll get moving then, Padraig. It's nice to see you again."

"Of course, of course! Try to come again before you leave our realm!"

"Your food is delicious, so I'll definitely try too."

We finally left as he whistled in approval. I do have one more place to visit before meeting up with Áine. Danu starts to pull me away but I stop her. She looks at me confused, as did Asia and Raynare.

"Danu, I'm gonna have to speak with Nuada first before we go to Áine. Do you mind taking these two around for a little bit?"

"Yes, of course, Jin. But I require some payment first…"

I looked at her strangely. Payment? Uh, what kind of payment…? Before I could ask about it, she stretched out her arms and silently asked for a hug. Raynare was dumbfounded by this and Asia just giggled.

"That's easy enough…"

I step forward and embrace her making her yelp a little. However, we both tighten our embrace but we eventually parted. She seemed very satisfied with herself. My image of the mysterious and mystical Primordial Goddess is slowly disappearing, Danu…

"Take care…"

"Yeah, you three too. It won't be too long though."

I watch them go as Danu leads them around the small town. Asia immediately started to speak with her while Raynare mostly kept quiet. Eventually, I turned around and walked towards the castle. The guards welcomed me when I reached them.

"Mister Jin, welcome back. Please go ahead."

"Thanks."

Walking past them, I snap my fingers and hear some thank yous behind me. Walking up these stairs is still quite weird as they just appear in front of you out of thin air. It looks cool, but if you have a fear of heights…

I reached the doors and pushed them open. Once inside I saw Nessa, the woman who guided me around this place when I first came here.

"Mi— Jin, greetings. Are you here to meet with Nuada?"

"Was I that obvious?"

She nods before turning around and walking away. I catch up with her and walk beside her.

"Any new developments here?"

"…No. Well, apart from Goddess Danu, Áine and Cana frequently visiting more, there hasn't been much development that I know of. Perhaps you can ask Nuada about that?"

"Yeah, I might as well. Well, how about you?"

"Me?"

She had a look of confusion on her face while pointing at herself.

"Yeah, anything interesting happening?"

She nods and then blushes.

"I… Not many knows, so please keep it a secret but… I'm pregnant."

"…"

Pregnant, huh? I looked her over and she didn't seem like it, but—

"It's only been three months, so my belly isn't that big yet."

"…I see, congratulations, Nessa. But I wasn't expecting that at all. How long have you been with your… Husband? Or is it boyfriend/fiancé?"

"Husband… We've been together for a couple of years already. We made the decision at the start of the year to start a family. We wanted to move on to a new stage in our lives."

Our conversation ended there, Nessa looked quite content with herself, but… 'Move on to a new stage in our lives', huh? That'll be me in a few more months, graduating, starting the business, and whatever else this world has in store for me. I also need to go to the world of Tensura….

Actually, do you have a place you want to go to when I get there, Rudra?

'Hmm? I need to think about that, Jin. I suppose my kingdom would be one, and maybe we could talk to Guy one last time? I would be fine with that.'

I see, how about you, Vel?

'…'

However, she didn't answer me.

'She needs to think about it for a little longer, Jin.'

Sure thing…

Nessa and I eventually arrived at the door and stepped through. There were only a few gods inside. Nuada, Brigid and Dagda. They heard the door open and turned to us.

"Jin? How can we help you?"

Nuada was the first one to speak and I walked over to him. Nessa left the room soon after.

"Hey. I have some business here, Áine asked me to come for a personal request, but I'm here to talk to you about her."

I glance back at the door, scan the castle and then put a barrier around us. They seemed a little surprised by this.

"A barrier? Is it sensitive information?"

"Yeah. So… Áine might be collaborating with Khaos Brigade, but I don't think she's part of their organization."

All their Gods closed their eyes after I told them that. All of them seemed to be thinking about it as they didn't answer me for a full minute. Finally, they opened their eyes.

"…How did you come across this information?"

Nuada, looking a lot more serious now asks me in a tone that's more fitting for a leader. It held authority and weight.

"I can read anyone's memories, and after reading through one of their high-ranking members I mind controlled and I'm using as a double-agent, I saw Áine in them. Now, she is definitely being used, but she's still working with them."

"Reading memories? Another interesting ability there, Jin… But I see. I did not think Áine would— Is there a reason for this?"

"She hates me for some reason and wants to expose me, also, doesn't she have a hatred towards men? And finally, in those memories, one of her previous husbands has been resurrected by Khaos Brigade, and I'm 100% sure that these two will meet."

"Which one?!"

After explaining that, Brigid immediately asked. She's quite close with Áine, so she's obviously worried.

"Ailill Aulom."

Brigid frowned upon hearing that name.

"…Tch, him of all people… So, what do you plan on doing, Jin?"

"…It's not up to me, but she will have to face some consequences of her actions since she's betraying the alliance. I'll bring her in myself, but I'll let it play out to wipe out more of the Khaos Brigade. Once that's done, we can proceed from there."

"You won't hurt her?"

Brigid asked worriedly. Well, I'm not against beating the living daylights out of anyone, regardless of what's between their legs, so…

"If she comes quietly and doesn't fight, then I won't need to be rough with her, but I can always just force her to sleep."

"I see… Áine— She— She's hurting, so please don't be too harsh on her. I-I know this is asking a lot since she's betraying us and has probably been leaking information, but…. But grief can make people do strange and extreme things you know?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but Nuada beat me to it.

"We all know of her past, but it's as Jin says, she betrayed the alliance and will have to face the consequences of her actions. Jin, you said you'd bring her back. Do you have some sort of plan?"

I nod, tell them about the other person I brought with me— Raynare, and what I did to her.

"So, if they accept, I can have her confined here, with her powers sealed and I can ask Danu, Cana and hopefully the rest of you to help her deal with her problems. I believe she became a wanderer to run away from them. Of course, if the rest accept this proposal."

"…And if they don't?"

Nuada asks grimly. I shrug, I wouldn't know. But hopefully I can convince them. For that I will have to bring Raynare along and have Azazel vouch for me, maybe even Penemue with Kalawarna and Dohnaseek.

"Then we can't do anything about it. We'll leave her fate up to whatever punishment they decide to enact upon her."

"I see. Will we need to prepare here?"

"Probably not. Áine just wants to target me, and not all of you. Khaos Brigade might have other plans, but I can send some of my subordinates here. So don't worry about it."

I finally turn around, and start walking away.

"That should be all of it. I'll see you in a few hours once this is all done."

However, I didn't get an answer and only silence. They're probably still trying to process it all. Once I left, I removed the barrier and started to walk out of the place. I quickly reached the hallway entrance and met Nessa again.

"Congratulations again, Nessa and stay safe alright? I'll try to send a gift when your baby is born."

"…You don't need to, but thank you, Jin."

I wave at her as I leave. Quickly finding those three's auras I jump towards the area; I move through the area and land not too far from them. They were a little surprised by the sudden entrance and I walked over to them.

It looked like they were checking out some flowers. Even here she still looks after them, huh?

"Hey, I'm back, let's get going. Hmm?"

"Jin-san!"

Asia runs over to me and hugs me. I notice that she has some kind of flower on her head and so does Raynare who was looking away while blushing. Danu also had one on her. I'm guessing it was her idea? They look cute.

"You certainly don't stop with the flower thing, huh, Goddess of Nature?"

But after calling Danu that she frowned. I didn't expect that. I look down as Asia was squeezing me quite tightly, and Raynare rolled her eyes at me… Uh, what?

"Jin-san."

Asia said that in a tone that indicated I should apologize, even though I don't know what I did…

"…Sorry, Danu?"

"No, it's okay."

[Maybe she doesn't like being referred to as that? I mean, by you specifically, since she's quite obvious with her feelings towards you.]

Sure…

"Let's get going then, where is she?"

Danu pointed behind me and I turned around. Áine stood there, hands on her hips looking at me with fake anger. Beside her was a woman.

She has hip-length light-blonde hair that is tied in the back by a white bow with bangs hanging over her forehead, blue eyes and a pretty well-endowed figure.

She is wearing a white sleeveless sweater with a white shirt underneath paired with a pink ribbon. Her pleat skirt is crimson colored and she wears black knee-high socks with black shoes.

"You've got some nerve in keeping me waiting, Mister Dual Dragon Emperor!"

"We were about to—"

Fwosh ~ Grab! Shake! Shake! Shake!

"Oh my god it's really you! I'm Cana! You probably already heard from Danu, right?! Can I have an autograph? Please hug me! Can we take a shelfie?"

"It's a selfie, Cana."

Áine corrected her, and the woman started to nod furiously.

"Yeah that!"

Goddess Cana appeared in front of me, grabbed my hands and started to shake them quite violently and started saying a bunch of things. She's, well, certainly energetic as Danu said…

"Sure thing."

She quickly takes out a smartphone, pulls me to her height and takes a selfie. She looks over it and squeals.

[Heh, looks like we have—]

"Thank you, Breast Dragon Emperor!"

[—Fan… Ugh… Never mind…]

As she walks away, she twirls and during that time she pulls out a harp.

"Please sit down and let me play you a melody!"

"Oohh!"

"…She's eccentric…"

Asia was excited for it and Raynare seemed skeptical. I look at her strangely and she averts her eyes while mumbling a 'It's just my opinion'. Danu pulled me back and had me sit down. Áine also joins us and we all wait for Cana to do her thing. A small crowd also started to gather.

She closed her eyes, and then Cana then started to play.

The entire area around us became deathly quiet. With her eyes closed, her fingers delicately pluck the strings on the harp. A beautiful melody started to be heard all around. Everyone who had stopped to listened were all captivated by the music they heard.

Asia had her hands in a prayer with her eyes closed. Raynare, who was skeptical about it, listened intently to the melody. Both Goddesses with us were enjoying it. They are probably used to this type of thing from her but still enjoyed it.

However…

This… This song she was playing, it sounded nostalgic. Have I heard of it before? Cana opens her eyes and looks over at us, and started to sing…

…

"Let me sing a lullaby"

"As you close your eyes"

"And as you're drifting off to sleep"

"How I hope that the dreams that you find"

"Are bright"

…

"Love, can we meet again soon in the bluest of skies?"

"Where a tomorrow waits for you and I"

"So hold me tight one more time, but don't kiss me goodbye"

"'Cause I know that I'll see you on the other side"

…

"I will think of our song when the nights are too long"

"I'll dream of you for that's where I belong"

"Love, can we meet again soon in the bluest of skies"

"Only, in my dreams, do we meet again"

…

The final pluck of her string is done, and her harp disappears. However, the area remained silent after she was done. Until—

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

The crowd who had come to listen erupted into a frenzy of clapping, whistling and praises. This also included Asia and Raynare… But those lyrics, they were… 'Isabella's lullaby' from 'The Promised Neverland'. Is it like Ingvild? She somehow made it into her own original song while in this world…?

The crowd started to surround her since they wanted to talk to her. She looked a bit troubled but didn't have the heart to tell them no.

"Well, what do you think, Skyward-sama?"

Aine asked me.

"I—"

"Amazing! Cana-sama is amazing! As expected of a Goddess of Music!"

Asia blurted out. She looked at Raynare who flinched and looked a bit uncomfortable, but she ignored it and started to quickly talk about the music and performance to her. Raynare silently nodded along.

"Yeah, what Asia said. That was certainly a performance…"

"It's not a piece I've heard before. It may have been a new one from Cana."

Áine said a little amused. A new one, huh…?

"Yes, I had not heard of that melody before. Perhaps she was saving it for when she met you?"

Danu says to me, but I just shrug. It could be for a number of reasons, but whatever it was… It's up to Cana to tell us.

"…Who knows, maybe?"

The crowd eventually started to disperse and Cana let out a sigh of relief before trotting over back to us. She was looking at me expectantly.

"It was wonderful, Cana. I'd like to hear more from you in the future."

"Thank you very much! I had slowly crafted that over the years I was gone. It took a lot you know!"

She puts her hands on her hips and puffs her chest out proudly. Áine walks over to me and sits on my lap then wraps her arms around my neck.

"Now then, shall we start our date? ~"

She says in a croon.

"…Sure thing. Where did you pick for the picnic?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. That's a secret, and we have Asia and Raynare accompanying us! But ~ I'll say that it's in a picturesque spot with a gorgeous view and no one will see us ~"

…No one will see us, huh? ...…Atahez, go into Raynare's shadow. Twenty— No, forty Shadow Knights remain in this realm. Two of you go into Danu and Cana's shadows. After giving out those orders, those shadows quickly left mine and departed to their respective ones.

Quite a few of the Shadow Knights spread themselves across the realm just in case an attack happens in a specific place.

Áine finally gets off me and stands to the side. I look at Danu and Cana.

"We'll get going then. Let's talk more next time, Cana. Asia, Raynare, come here."

"Yes, have a safe trip, Jin…"

"Will do, Breast Dragon!"

[...….It doesn't hurt as much, but it's still a punch in the gut…]

{I am at least safe for the time being…}

You two should really just get over it… Only a few adults use it, and mostly the kids refer to me as that…

I join Áine's side along with Asia and Raynare. We finally left for whatever spot she picked…

…

????

"Tada ~ welcome to ~~~ Mag Cíuin, or also known as 'The Gentle Plain'! Not many know about this place anymore!"

Áine, who was in front of us spread her arms out and smiled. Behind Áine was a large tree with some clouds circling it, around us were a lot of greenery, and below us was a river. I turn around and saw a small settlement here, and even a totem. Beyond the large tree were mountains and some waterfalls.

"The Gentle Plain? Never heard of it. Why is it abandoned, Áine?"

"Mmm. After the Tuatha Dé Danann moved to the newly created realm that Danu made, a lot of the supernatural of Ireland moved there. So this place just got abandoned. As far as I know, there is no one here!

No one is here, huh? Why do I feel a lot of auras around us then? Áine…

"Let's go to the base of the tree. The view there is amazing, and… Everything else is just great! Trust me!"

She grabs my hand and hurries to the edge but stops and sheepishly turns back to me.

"Ahahaha… I can't fly, please carry me!"

Before I could even say anything, she jumps towards me and I catch her.

"I'll guide you ~ Asia, Raynare just follow us ~"

"Y-Yes!"

"…Right."

I sigh and floated up, I wait for the other two and Áine pointed towards specific spot. I start to fly towards it, and Áine starts to blabber on about something that went in one ear and out the other. Instead, I simply stare at her.

What parts have you shown to us— To me, has been the 'real' you? And which parts have been fake? I really can't tell at certain times. Even when reading your emotions, you do a good job at masking your own feelings.

Áine, what the hell happened to you?

She sees me staring at me and cutely tilts her head.

"Have you fallen for me, Jin?"

"…You have some snot fallli—"

"Ahhh!!"

She quickly wipes her nose while screaming. Asia, who was beside me giggles at her. Both Asia and Raynare know that Áine betrayed the alliance, so they're ready for whatever is going to happen.

We finally arrived at the spot and I let Áine down. We followed her to a flat area and she waved us over. Certainly, this spot is a lot better than the town or village we left behind. The sound of the river in the background, a tranquil feeling, and a decent amount of shade makes this a near idyllic spot.

We joined her and once we arrived, Asia summoned a large blanket on the ground from her ring, and after that a bag of food. I also brought out the bread we bought from Padraig.

"That smells delicious ~ did you cook it, Asia?"

"Yes, I had some help though."

We sat down and started to eat our lunch. Raynare who had been a bit awkward throughout the day so far was acting casually as she consumed her fill. She notices me watching her and looks away and starts to eat normally.

"Who made this?"

I picked up another food item. It looked like—

"Inaie-san made that, she really wanted to try the recipe out, oh that one is made by Grayfia-san, and that one is by Raiko-san."

Asia starts to point out other foods, and I take small pieces from them to taste test them. They were quite tasty, I could probably add these to my menu too…

We had a relatively peaceful rest of lunch. Asia and Áine were the ones who talked the most. Raynare and I kept quiet and just listened in to them.

…

"Are you sure, Jin-san?"

"Yeah go ahead. I want to rest up a little before checking the place out."

Asia was curious about the giant tree and asked if they could explore it. Yes, 'they' because she was going to drag Raynare with her. So that would leave Áine and I alone. Raynare tried to protest but Asia was relentless, so she gave up in the end.

Knowing Asia, she was probably going to have a private chat with Raynare… Finally, the two of them set off. They opted to walk there instead of flying since Asia wanted to enjoy the scenery. Now it was only Áine and I left. The blanket that was put out was still there since… We might be spending the night here, who knows?

—Suddenly, Áine pounced on me. I didn't feel any ill intent so I didn't avoid her. There's no doubt she's keeping up the act. She had a sly yet seductive smile on her face. Áine begins to rub herself against me. Her breasts were rubbing against my chest and I felt her hand slowly moving down south.

"We're alone now, Skyward-sama ~ what would you like to do?"

"…I'd like to know more about this place. Care to share your knowledge?"

I felt multiple auras slowly approaching my location, as well as Asia and Raynare's. Áine stopped and looked a bit dumbstruck at me. She quickly composed herself and nodded her head. Her other hands come back up and she wraps her arms around my neck.

"Huhu, then go ahead, ask me anything! I can definitely answer them!"

"Okay, so why—"

…

Asia Argento

I, along with Raynare-san were slowly making our way to the giant tree we had spotted earlier when we arrived here. This is the biggest tree I have seen since I have been heavily involved in the supernatural world. But…

I glanced at Raynare-san who was also curious about our surroundings. I wanted to use this opportunity to get close to her and have a proper conversation. All the other times that I have tried have ended in failure.

It wasn't due to my own incompetence, I think. I consulted Jin-san and my friends. When I told them about the circumstances, they gave me the same responses. It was Raynare's own guilt that prevented her from being near me or speaking properly with me.

But… I have long since forgiven her, and I do not care about that event in my life. The memories have been replaced by many more fun times. I wish she would also come to that conclusion. I do not wish for her to suffer anymore.

"Raynare-san!"

"W-What?!— I-I mean, yes?!"

"Are you also curious about the tree? I am! I wonder if there is anything interesting in there… I don't feel any life energy though…"

She looked confused.

"I'm also curious, but… Life energy? Can you use touki?"

"Yes I can!"

I covered my body with some touki and she looked surprised. I trained hard to use this, and with the help of Shirone-san and Kuroka-san I was able to achieve it. I also helped others along the way, even Gabriel-sama! I also became good friends with her… But she did share some of her troubles with me.

They concerned Jin-san…

"Incredible, to think the usele— Er…"

"It's okay, Raynare-san. I was definitely weak and useless back then. But I've become stronger and it's thanks to Jin-san. I'm thankful to him."

"…"

Raynare-san looked away awkwardly. It seems like it will take a bit longer to break the ice with her! During our short exchange, however, we finally found ourselves by the massive tree.

"There's an entrance…"

"Yes. There also appears to be a small village or town there. Shall we take a look?"

Raynare-san nodded and I stepped in first. I noticed that Jin-san put a shadow in her earlier, so she should be safe… But I want to help protect her too!

We found the inside of the tree to be in disrepair when we entered it. The houses that were made out of wood were already destroyed or on the verge of collapse. The path was also covered in a lot of grass. Above us was some kind of large gem that was no longer shining.

When I looked at the totem in the village earlier, it had a gem that was glowing blue, so I believe the gem above should also be glowing.

"Ray— ...…"

"Huh? Is something wrong?"

Fwosh ~

"E-Eh?! What the… A-A shadow? Why did it come out of mine…? Did Jin put one in there…?"

Raynare-san was startled when a shadow soldier came out of her shadow. It looked like Beru-san, but I think this is the new one Jin-san made. I think his name was Atahez-san?

"Raynare-san, please stay close to us. I feel a lot of life energy coming our way."

"…So it's started—"

Boooom!!!!!!! Rumble! Rumble!

"Yes…"

…

Jin Skyward

"Why are you doing this?"

"Huh?"

Áine seemed confused, so I continued.

"Why are you pretending? Why do you hate me? When are you planning to expose me?"

Her body stiffens, and she slowly got off me. She jumps away and was looking at the ground. I also got up and dusted myself off. I put the blanket into my [Inventory] and Áine's entire demeanor changed.

She finally looked up at me with cold dead eyes. Her bright and happy personality was absent, and she was staring at me with a lot of animosity, and then she chuckled… It quickly turned into full-blown laughter.

"You knew? You knew and played along? See? There's no doubt you're proving my point, Jin. How many more lies have you told everyone? Peace? Harem? Are you insane? Peace can never be achieved, especially not from such an immature child like you."

Áine scoffs.

"I can see it in poor Asia's eyes. You brainwashed her, didn't you? You also definitely did something to Danu! For someone like her to just appear out of seclusion and start acting like that… It's strange! No, it's unnatural! You're despicable! Who would have thought—"

"That the Dual Dragon Emperor gets his harem through lies, deception, manipulation and mind control? What would the public think and feel about it? Perhaps you're just using the alliance as an excuse to mind control all of the women instead? Hah! My, I didn't think of that!"

She points at me.

"Nothing has changed. The only thing men do is lie, cheat, and deceive people. In all the years I have existed, I've only met three disgusting creatures that are on par with each other. Manannán mac Lir, Gearóid FitzGerald, Ailill Aulom and finally I can add you!"

"It's a never-ending cycle of sexual assaulters isn't it, Jin?! How far will you keep going?! You're nothing but a scam! A wanna-be hero! You're nothing! You're shallow! Everything you've done has been meaningless! …That's why—"

Boooom!!!!!!! Rumble! Rumble!

Loud explosions occurred, and the entire realm started to shake. Áine had a grin on her face, but—

Fwosh ~

"…Capture."

Suddenly a woman appears behind Áine surprising even her.

It is a woman with long light magenta hair and a blindfold resembling a magenta visor over her eyes as well as a red mark on her forehead. She wears a short black dress modified from Greek mythology and a magenta collar-like choker along with bands and handcuffs and cutoff black leggings with magenta armor on the legs.

"Who are—"

Without saying another word, she grabbed Áine and teleported away, but they didn't leave the realm. I still felt Áine so I followed it. But… What surprised me was that person. It was Medusa… But I couldn't feel her aura.

As I was quickly approaching the spot where Áine was, I also felt Asia and Raynare there. Once I arrived there, another person was there. A male.

He was tall, young and slender with golden hair and purple eyes. He wears orange, gold or bronze armor with a matching crown underneath a large, gold-trimmed, white shoulder cape that in and of itself features exaggerated, pointed shoulders. The cape features a golden emblem on its left side; the outfit is finished with matching white and gold boots.

Áine was staring at him with pure fear in her eyes and she was shaking violently out of fear. He floats beside her and strokes her cheek.

"Ah… My Áine, my dear and precious Áine… How I've missed you… Let us spend many of our nights together again, shall we?"

He said in a sickeningly sweet voice, however, Áine did not respond but shook even more. Words wouldn't come out of her mouth as she was just too shocked. I quickly used [Observe] on him and it was definitely Ailill Aulom, his former husband, and the one I saw in that kangaroo's memories.

"...H-H-H-How…"

"I came back to life because my love for you transcends all. Let us depart, shall we?"

He snapped his fingers and hundreds— No, thousands of magic circles appeared and cryptids and divine beasts started to come out of them.

Let's see…Rescue Áine, get back Medusa, capture and use Ailill Aulom, and kill the creatures he brought. Easy enough. I put my han—

"Jin-san. Please let me take care of him."

Asia stops me and I look at her. She had a very serious and determined expression on her face… The last time I trusted— No, they're all stronger now, and I also said I'd trust them all more. I can't go against what I said…

"Alright…"

Don!

"…??!"

When I appeared beside Medusa and punched her on the side, I also brought the rest of the Cryptids and Divine Beasts with me. Whatever plans Asia has, I'll let her deal with them. I'll put my trust in her.

[Partner.]

{Jin.}

Keep an eye on her for me, you two. I'll be fine with the rest.

{[Got it!]}

Two small balls of light left me and I felt them fly back to where Asia and Raynare were. I finally launched Medusa away and floated on the spot. Medusa, Cúntóir mentioned her briefly when we were in the Greek Gods' realm.

So she was with Khaos Brigade all along… Though I should have suspected that since we couldn't locate her aura anywhere. She corrected herself and stared back at me. Those eyes of hers won't affect me… She was also High-tier God-class. That blood definitely did wonders for her…

…Should I? It would be convenient. I cover this realm with a barrier that prevents any kind of teleportation for the Khaos Brigade members. Even though she had a blindfold around her, she frowned after seeing me do that.

"…Eliminate."

She brings up her dagger and appears beside me. She swipes the dagger towards me, but…

"…?!"

My [True Infinity] stops it and prevents it from going any further. I've rarely used this thing but I might as well. Alarmed by this, Medusa backs away and stares at me with caution. She appears to be thinking about her next move.

She makes a small gesture with her dagger, and hundreds of blood red magic circles start to appear behind her. From them shoot out spears made out of blood! Their speed is quite fast as they quickly approached and hit me.

However, the assault didn't end there as Medusa was behind me again. She tries to slash me with her dagger, only for it to hit my [Wall of Infinity], the same thing happened to her earlier attack. Because I'm curious about what she's going to do, I haven't retaliated. I intend to bring her back to the Greek realm afterwards and remove any brainwashing she had suffered.

She backs away again and starts to speak.

"…I see. That barrier around you is constantly on and doesn't just activate when you desire. It can also block physical and magical attacks. But that leaves the question: how much can it take? Let us find out, shall we?"

I felt my mouth twitch. Well done on the analysis, but it's going to last forever, sorry to say. Doing the same thing again, but on a much larger scale, Medusa summoned hundreds of thousands of magic circles with spears coming out of them.

"Might as well… I've ended my fights a bit too fast lately. I'll humor this one for a little longer… Balance Break."

{Vanishing Dragon Balance Breaker!!!!}

The announcement was made even without Albion, and I donned my white armor.

"…So you're using your own [Divine Dividing], how troublesome."

"Yeah."

{Divide!}

After using [Divide] once Medusa frowned at the loss of her strength. Even with the loss of strength, she sent the attacks she had already manifested toward me. I ready myself and swiped my right hand horizontally.

"{Half Dimension}!"

The attacks and slowly started to shrink and become half their original size! The same could be said for their power. I never tried it before, and since I have infinite stamina…

"{Half Dimension! Half Dimension! Half Dimension! Half Dimension!}"

Again, the attacks started to get smaller and smaller until they became so small that when they hit my [Wall of Infinity] it didn't do anything.

'Wouldn't it be easier to go into that overdrive form and use [Compression Divider]?'

…I thought about it, but I thought I barely used this form so…

'Quit being stupid and use it!'

Fine, Velgrynd-sama! I started to chant.

"I, who am about to awaken—"

"Am the White Dragon Emperor who will dominate the law to seize the darkness—"

"I walk the road of domination with infinite destruction and by piercing through the imaginary dream—"

"I shall become a God Emperor of Pure White Dragon—"

""""And I shall have you obey the silvery-white illusions and the perfect evil ways!""""

{Juggernaut Over Drive!!!!!!!!!!}

I donned the new silvery-white armor and Medusa, again looked shocked.

You are reading story Winds of Change (DxD) at novel35.com

"…Lapis-sama mentioned that before… It's dangerous. I must retreat."

She tries to summon a teleportation circle but it doesn't work, and again she looks shocked before turning back to me.

"…So, that was the reason for the barrier? To prevent escape?"

I shrug in response and she sighs.

"I did not want to do this, but you left me no choice."

She takes off her blindfold and reveals her eyes. They looked pretty.

'Eye fetish…'

'Eye fetish dragon emperor…'

............You know, Ddraig and Albion would have strokes if they heard the both of you. Now… How will those eyes work? Like the one in DXD? Or like the one in the Nasuverse? Or a strange mix of both…?

Shing! Shkrkrkrkkr!

"…Um, both then?"

My [Wall of Infinity] was petrified, and so was the forest below me. The trees, rocks, and even the flowing river were petrified. It has a large range too. I put one hand behind me and undo the petrification behind me and destroy the ones on my infinity.

Dwosh! Don!

"…?! Ugh!?"

Having removed the petrification, I appeared beside Medusa and punched her.

"{Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide!}"

Don! Don! Don! Don! Don!

As she was launched away, I used [Divide] four times and quickly caught up with her and threw a barrage of punches at her. Each one connected, and her body was pummeled.

'No delicacy at all. You'll hit wom—'

These hands are for all ages, and all sexes! She's also an enemy, so who cares! And I'll even beat up a child that's a terrorist! I stop Velgrynd and tell her my own feelings.

'…'

'Well, to be fair he—'

'Rudra, be quiet.'

'—Beat up Leonardo whose still a young teenager, so…'

'...…'

'Back to reading I go.'

"…[Snatch]."

Using another ability, I completely depleted the rest of her mana and stamina. Medusa weakly looked up at me with a smirk.

"…Who truly is the real monster here? Me or you, Dual Dragon Emperor?"

I believe she had more abilities and skills. However, due to the things I did and her own analysis of the situation, she probably came to the conclusion of it being utterly useless, so in a way, she knew she was fighting a losing fight from the beginning.

I de-summoned my [Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive] and caught Medusa as she had fallen unconscious. Now then, Cúntóir, if you may.

Cúntóir: Answer: Analyzing Medusa...… Detecting anomalies...… Removing mind control, and blood of Azrael...… Processing... Complete.

A small soft yellow glow surrounded Medusa's body and she was finally free. But I wonder how the alliance will look at her? The Greeks' will surely try to side with her and point out the mind control.

"Let's read her memories first…"

...…

...…

...…

I see. It was slow, but it happened at the same time as… Athena. Both of them were influenced by the dark cloud Nyarlathotep produced. While Athena's was instantaneous, and she even changed her appearance…

Medusa's was slow and didn't 'activate' until 12 years ago. That was when she killed her sisters, Stheno and Euryale. But before that, and even while she was being tortured by them, she still loved them. But I guess whatever influenced both Medusa and Athena drew out their more 'darker' desires.

After that, she was mostly kept low, until she was captured by Khaos Brigade and tortured even more. I won't go into detail, but she was part of some sort of experiment with regeneration of limbs and other body parts. She was also part of other experiments, and was sexually assaulted on a regular basis as she was tied up.

As for Athena, even though their interactions were few and far between, she's definitely being mind controlled. Her appearance was the biggest shock for me. Since Medusa didn't change that much… Perhaps it was due to being close to the blast radius of the dark fog…?

Regardless of how it works, she was working with Khaos Brigade, and I saw small glimpses of Ares with some kind of animal. Perhaps another generation of Divine Beasts?

Cúntóir: Answer: Aaron.

Hmm? What's up?

Cúntóir: Answer: What will you do with the Cryptids and Divine Beasts?

Oh… I forgot about them. Wait, where are they? I look around but couldn't see them.

Cúntóir: Answer: The use of [Half Dimension] reduced them to a size that cannot be seen by the normal eye. Please look closer.

Doing as told, I focused more and… Holy crap they're tiny… Well, they're useless so… No, wait. I can kill them and add them to my shadow army. How many are there in total though?

Cúntóir: Answer: 5000, 2500 Cryptids and 2500 Divine Beasts.

I nodded, returned them to their original size and killed them immediately. After that I made them into my new shadows.

"Great… I now have an extra 5000 Shadows… Hold on, Cúntóir, can you change their ranks?"

Cúntóir: Answer: I have done that when you made them into your shadow soldiers.

I see thank yo—

Shiiiiiing!! Dwooshh!!!!!!!!!!!

Suddenly a large golden pillar of light erupted all around the realm… This feeling…

"Heh… So you reached it, Asia…."

She finally achieved her Balance Breaker.

…

Earlier

Asia Argento

"You? Take care of me? Little girl, I don't need to hear your jo— Ugh?!"

Bam!

I covered my body in touki and kicked the man on the side of his body. This pushes him away a substantial distance and I grabbed Áine-san. I brought her back to where Raynare-san and Atahez were.

"Please look after them."

"Yes, of course, Asia-sama."

Unfolding my devil wings again, I took flight. The man I had hit earlier had already come back and was glaring at me and Áine-san. Jin-san said that Áine-san's former husband might appear, is this the man? It has to be, from what he said earlier, it only makes sense…

"What did you do to Áine-san that made her scared of you?"

The blonde man called Ailill Aulom, gained a thoughtful expression before laughing. He sounded very cruel while he laughed. However, he eventually stopped and looked at me with one hand on his face.

"…I am her former husband you know? And you should keep in mind that back when I was alive, husbands could do whatever they want with their wives! She was quite disobedient! Even after revealing the supernatural was real to me, I did not falter and loved her even more!"

"A Goddess chose me? Surely it meant I would end up doing great things, correct? And I surely did! I became the King of Munster! On the night of our marriage, we made sweet love as we wanted to produce an heir as soon as possible! So, we tried for the coming days and weeks, until finally!—"

"Lies!!!!!!"

Ailill Aulom was interrupted by Áine-san who screamed. I look back at her and she was breathing heavily, with a look of distress. Raynare-san recoiled back in surprise as she wasn't expecting the previously unresponsive Áine-san to shout like that.

"I was blinded by love when I first met you. I thought you were a kind, gentle and caring man who carried himself with dignity and respect, but immediately after our marriage you showed me your true colors. I was disgusted and tried to run away! A-And then you… You…!"

"We made love, as how husbands and wives are meant to do. How is that a difficult thing to sa—"

"You r—ped me! Make love?! Are you insane?! You hit me, tied me up and sexually assaulted me! You even kept hitting me the entire time! I was too shocked by it all to retaliate! You did that for the next few weeks until I got pregnant…"

"When you didn't raise your hand against me during those months, that was the only relief I had. I thought we were making progress, but then you…!!!"

What…? I didn't know how to feel about all of this. Áine-san suffered a lot, and he… Why? I thought when you love someone you shouldn't hurt them… Diodora-san's love was twisted. That was the first instance I saw, but I thought it was because he was a devil. It's in our nature.

While many can hold off those traits, some just embrace them and act upon them. Rias-onee-sama told me so, Grayfia-san also said something similar in the past… But… No, I would have thought so in the past but I've made many friends and they've given me different perspectives and opinions and…

I would have said something like only beings born with 'evil' nature in them could enact such horrible acts, but… After hearing from Kiba-san and other things from the church, I started to question things. However, I still didn't lose my faith… It's just been with me for the longest time.

But I'm not that naïve anymore… Five years and then fifteen years. I've spoken with many people. Evil exists everywhere, it can come from anyone, and not just from certain groups of people, be they devils, fallen angels, humans or even angels. Gabriel-sama said that there were traitors in their ranks.

"You killed him! Why?! He was just an innocent child!"

Áine-san shouts at Ailill Aulom who had an indifferent look on him.

"…He had no future, he had defects. Anyone with defects cannot lead my kingdom into the future. It also showed me that you were and still are defected. If you cannot birth a child without a single defect, then I had no use for you. As far as I can see, you have not changed at all, no… You've become worse."

He smirks.

"It seems like you're even 'defected' down there. You really are a failure, Áine. What kind of Goddess fails this miserably? You failed to protect yourself, and failed to protect your child. You could say, it's all your fault."

"I have also learned of what had happened to you during my long absence. Pitiful, you're supposed to learn from your first mistake, but you didn't. The same things kept repeating, didn't they? And you paid the ultimate price with your last husband, and the funny thing is, he's still alive. A fellow God might I add."

"Shut up…"

Tears streamed down Áine-san's face as she said that. She had a furious look on her face.

"Why don't you ki—"

"Shut up!!!"

Don!

"Khh…!"

I didn't want to hear anymore, so I punched him again, but he blocked it on time and minimized the damage. He stands far away from me and glares at me again.

"Hmm. I heard from Medusa that you compared me to the current Red Dragon Emperor? No, he's called the Dual Dragon Emperor is he not? Is he not the same as me? World Peace? Harem? What kind of foolish child has a dream like that? You should already know what kind of world we live in. It's impossible."

"I agree with what Áine said though. Nun, you are being mind controlled by the Dual Dragon into being in love with him. Break free of that and as do the rest of his women. Escape and be free, no, join me instead."

He says so like he had reached some sort of enlightenment. He offers me his hand and had a look of sadness on his face.

Mind control…?

"No… We all love Jin-san! He doesn't use that kind of thing. Don't make him into something he's not!"

"I see. You are too far gone into this. I will beat it out of you!"

Ailill Aulom's body started to morph and change into a large humanoid yellow dragon. He had thick scales and a menacing aura. He crossed his arms and smirked.

"Behold, my new and magnificent power! I am the new generation of Divine Beasts! I am not the first nor last. My power is beyond that of Gods!"

He claps his hand and multiple magic circles appear behind him, and out of them came more creatures! Once they came out, they started to attack everything around them. I quickly dodge their assault but—

Zing! Zing! Slash! Slice!

Atahez defended Áine-san and Raynare-san! I will leave it to him. I flew towards Ailill Aulom and fired multiple bullets of fire and wind! However, Ailill Aulom released a large breath of fire towards my attack and they collided.

Boom!

He flew up higher as the smoke cleared and fired his own elemental attacks at me. I countered with my own and they collided again. I covered my body with touki again and clashed with him….

I don't like fighting… If I can avoid it I will, if I can find a more civil way of resolving the conflict, I will. But…

Don! Don! Don!

…But if it's for the sake of protecting those dear to me…

Don! Don! Don! Don!

I will fight and protect them without hesitation.

Don!!!!!!

We clashed at multiple points. Each time our fists met, Ailill Aulom cringed as I had much more power than him, but he did not back down. No, he was even more intrigued by me. His fists were bleeding, but his smirk was even wider than before.

"Incredible! I did not think a small girl like you could match me! State your name, human!"

"…Asia Argento."

He laughs and opens his arms confusing me. During our short exchange of blows we had somehow arrived back at our original spot. We were close to Raynare-san and Áine-san who had been behind Atahez.

"Asia Argento… Perfect! Our names will fit! Be my wife! Along with Áine, you will be called Asia Aulom after today! Fuahaha! Triple A! Áine Aulom, Asia Aulom and me! Ailill Aulom! It's perfect, don't you think?"

The thought of marrying anyone other than Jin-san makes me sick. I felt my stomach churn… He seemed offended; my face must have given me away.

"Is such a thought unpleasant to you? Someone of your power and status won't end up like Áine, we will be equals! Now come to me! I am a much better candidate for you than the Dual Dragon Emperor!"

"…No. I love Jin-san. He's the only one for me. I love him! He's shown me so much, done so much for me, I want to slowly repay him for all of it! A home, friends, a new family, never ending happiness… I can list so many more things, I love him! Akeno-san phrased it perfectly: If fate exited, we— I surely was meant to meet him!"

Ailill Aulom made an unpleasant face.

"What kind of—"

"What bullshit is that?!!?"

He was interrupted by Áine-san who had screamed. We look back at her and Atahez was finished killing all the cryptids, but Raynare-san seemed to be bleeding from her right arm as she was clutching it.

I put my hands together and healed her from where I was. She seemed a bit surprised but gave me a small but thankful smile in return.

"Love? Fate?! Why do I keep hearing such nonsense being spouted?! First Danu and now you?! If 'fate' existed then all those things that were done to me should have never happened!! If love existed, then those past monsters wouldn't have…"

Áine-san touched just above her private area and belly. She started to shake but looked up.

"Lies… All of it are lies… It doesn't matter who it is. Be it Ailill Aulom, or Jin Skyward. All their words are lies. All men are cruel, disgusting creatures. They only exist to inflict pain onto others, and enjoy every single bit of it…"

"Ha…"

I turn back to Ailill Aulom who had clutched his stomach and covered his mouth. Once he saw us looking at him, he started to openly laugh. It was definitely targeted at Áine, no… The both of us…?

"Hahahahahaha! I've never heard such a childish thing! Love? True love? Fate? Are you insane?! There is no such thing! Whether that person is pursuing one-on-one love, or a harem. We as creatures will LIE, CHEAT, and DO ANYTHING to get our way, to get our own 'happy ending'!"

"Isn't cheating, infidelity and divorce rampant in the human realm?! Love does not exist in this age, no, it never existed at all! It's all smoke and mirrors. Love, what a childish concept."

"However, this is mine, and it's realistic. Yours is clouded in hope and fairy tales, and neither exists. The relationships that the Dual Dragon Emperor pursues will eventually come crumbling down and it will end terribly for him! That is why I offer you to join me, Asia Argento!"

I shake my head. He showed me— He showed us.

"It exists! If anyone can do it, Jin-san can!"

"Then what proof does he have right now?! Love, redemption, fate, give me proof!"

Ailill Aulom asks me. Proof…? I turn to Raynare-san who flinched, but I smiled at her. They see this and are confused.

"Raynare-san, is a fallen angel, who took advantage of me, and planned to kill me for my Sacred Gear. However, Jin-san gave her a chance, and she has been working for months in order to receive some kind of redemption and forgiveness."

"I have long since forgiven her, and so has Jin-san. He has seen her progress, and not just her. Raynare-san had her own subordinates. Three of them are slowly redeeming themselves while the last one has a long road ahead of her! I want to convey that to you, Raynare-san! Please learn to forgive yourself!"

"...…"

"The same for Grayfia-san! According to Akeno-san, she was suspicious of Jin-san from the start and thought he was using mind control to make her and Kuroka-san to fall in love with him, but he proved her wrong over time, and she came to love him too!"

"It's the same for the factions and pantheons around the world! He proved his worth and he can be trusted! He worked hard for it! It took him many months to achieve it! He's not perfect because I saw him struggle and fall, and move forward."

"That's the kind of person he is! He may come off as perfect to everyone else, but to anyone who's close to him… He's full of imperfections… He makes mistakes…"

Like with Kuroka-san, and Rias-onee-sama… They miscommunicated, but he made up with Kuroka-san. With Rias-onee-sama, their friendship started out as fake, but they made up and started again. Now look at where they are! They're in love!

I felt a pleasant warmth burning in my chest.

"He's not just the labels you people put on him… He's as normal as the rest of us… Don't mislabel him other than those things! All you spout are lies! Áine-san! Jin-san is a great person… Please try to see it like that…!"

I felt a warm sensation welling up within me... A brilliant golden light emanated from my body and started to expand rapidly.

"W-Wha the— What's happening?!"

Ailill Aulom says in surprise and flies away.

Fwsoh!

Ddraig-san and Albion-san arrived by Áine-san and Atahez.

[She reached it, that's—]

{Her Balance Breaker…}

The light started to the shape of a dragon and swallowed the entire realm…

…

Jin Skyward

When I arrived at the area while carrying Medusa, I began to see the light slowly disappear. From the center of it was Asia and she was covered in…

"…That's different from her Canon Balance Breaker. It's supposed to be Golden Dragon Armor with red jewels, right? So why is it Gold+Black and blue jewels…?"

Cúntóir: Answer: Because you influenced it.

Excuse me? How?

Cúntóir: Answer: Did it occur to you why your [Queen] form looked different to Issei Hyoudou's?

Well, yeah it did… But I chalked it up to my own powers plus Ddraig's. It's my X side, right?

Cúntóir: Answer: Yes, you are partially correct. However, both your [Queen] form and Asia's are both very irregular Balance Breakers. Your [Queen] form is a result of both X side and Abyss side combining.

Cúntóir: Answer: If you followed the same path as Issei Hyoudou, then it would have only made small changes, and would have been a regular X side Balance Breaker. However, you also wished to improve yourself… You came to that conclusion in your match against Sairaorg.

Cúntóir: Answer: So, in turn, both the Abyss side, and the X side merged. To create that unique armor of yours. An irregular and improving yourself. Sacred Gears respond to their wielders' desires and will after all. Your [Boosted Gear] had already reached its X side when you upgraded both of your Sacred Gears. All you needed to do was enter it…

Cúntóir: Answer: But as I previously said, you improved over time, and perfect the use of your Sacred Gears, and in turn giving the ability to reach an Abyss side [Balance Break]. The same can be said for Asia Argento.

Cúntóir: Answer: She has been working hard to achieve her [Balance Break], and over those many years she was slowly arriving there, however, she needed one last push. You were her biggest influence. You should know that.

Cúntóir: Answer: She also 'absorbed' some of your 'essence' over time and in turn influenced her [Balance Break]. The essence of an Outer God, her own desire to improve, her desire to protect those dear to her, and her love for you gave birth to this new Balance Breaker.

Jesus Christ, Cúntóir… So, what the hell do we call this new form of hers?

Cúntóir: Answer: It has not changed. While it may look different, she's only much more powerful in it and has the same abilities as her Canon counterpart's Balance Breaker. It is still called [Twilight Saint's Affection].

"So what if you achieved a Balance Breaker?! It doesn't matter!!"

Ailill Aulom screamed and summoned more magic circles behind him. He also had turned into some kind of humanoid yellow dragon. He fired a good deal of elemental magic from those magic circles. He even added his own breath attack!

But Asia's [Twilight Saint's Affection] grants a wide field of absolute defense… Although she needed Fenrir, the Golden Dragon King in Canon to achieve this… It's…

A large golden field covers the realm and provides continuous healing to her allies, and negates any damage from all sources.

"Wha?!—"

I wanted to assist her a little so I froze him on the spot. A look of panic crossed his face and he began to move frantically. But he couldn't. From this distance, I also read his memories.

...…

...…

...…

He doesn't have much. It only started on the day he woke up after being created. It showed Avezza, and a person called Promestein and no one else. However, they could be heard from different magic circles. In total, there are twelve of them, if I base it on the number of communication circles I saw.

Apart from that, Ares, Athena and Ptah were definitely in his memories. Also, that creature I saw with Ares seems to be some kind of artificially created Sacred Gear, that's also an independent type… But nothing else. He himself acknowledges that he's just a pawn to everything, so he wasn't told much…

So this was just some kind of experiment for the new generations, huh?

Asia sees him struggling and sees me. She smiles and prepares to attack.

"You have plagued Áine-san for too long. While it's unrealistic to expect her to heal instantly, she just needs friends and comrades to help her through it, and she has to actively do so this time…"

Asia cocks her arm back and a large golden light starts to gather around her fist. It quickly starts to get bigger and bigger until it covered most of the realm behind her.

"That means we have to get rid of you first! ...Be gone, so that Áine-san can move forward with her life…!"

Asia sent the large attack towards Ailill Aulom. The attack was a large golden draconic aura punch. The 'One Punch Woman' is making her come back here...

Fwsh! Boooooom!!!!!!!!

Ailill Aulom had a look of disbelief and horror on his face as he was quickly obliterated out of existence. I, however, contained her attack so it wouldn't go wild and destroy the rest of the realm. The realm was already in disrepair, so I reversed time and repaired everything.

Once that was done, I joined the others as they had landed beside Raynare, Atahez and Áine.

"Good job, Ddraig, Albion."

[We didn't do anything, Partner, we simply watched from afar and would have interfered if it got too dangerous, but Asia did a good job.]

{Yes, I agree with Ddraig. She has come a long way.}

After saying their bits, they went back into their respective Sacred Gears. Atahez bowed to me and returned to my shadow. Finally, Asia landed in front of Áine who had been staring at her in disbelief.

"Áine-san. I may be younger than you and have a lot less life experience, but… I want you to give Jin-san a chance…! Not all men are cruel and heartless. Please, even if it doesn't mean much coming from me. I want you to take a step back and give them all a chance…"

Asia looks at me and I nod. I walk over to Áine, carry Medusa in one arm and touch Áine's shoulder making her flinch. Cúntóir…

Cúntóir: Answer: Healing any injuries and removing anomalies from Áine... Processing......… Complete.

A short bright yellow light covered Áine, and it healed anything that was wrong with her. She had a look of disbelief and touched her body, and finally touched 'down there'. She looks at me speechless.

Asia dismisses her Balance Breaker and kneels in front of Áine.

"I understood what you meant earlier, Áine-san… This is a gift, please accept it. But…"

"You betrayed the alliance and you will be punished accordingly, well, whatever they decide that is. But… I will try to advocate for you, Asia, Raynare and I would assume some of your friends will do the same."

I finish her sentence and Asia nods before hugging Áine.

"Please use this time to truly heal and move forward in your life, Áine-san! If you want you can have my number and we can speak as much as you like! I want to be your friend!"

"Asia…"

Tears welled up in Áine's eyes again and she hugged Asia back and started to silently cry. As she hugged her, she started to whisper 'I'm sorry' to herself.

I turn to Raynare who had been watching the scene unfold. I go over to her and put a hand on her head. She stiffened at the action.

"You heard Asia, didn't you? We're past that."

"…Mmm."

I patted her head as she leaned into it and closed her eyes. Today should mark the day for these two to truly move on with their lives. But Áine isn't out of the woods yet since I need to try to get the alliance to agree with my plan for her…

I'm hoping that I have a good enough reputation with all of them that they will let me get away with it. Rescuing Medusa should give me more points with the Zeus and all the other Gods there.

'My King?'

'What's up?'

'The land of Heaven Falls is being attacked. We can—'

'I'll come, just try to wipe out as much as you can.'

"Let's get going."

I look back at everyone else and they looked confused.

"The Land of Heaven Falls is being attacked."

"Eh? B-But…"

"While you used them, they also used you, Áine. There's no point now, we're just going back to get rid of them. But keep in mind that—"

"I know… I'll accept any punishment…"

I nodded and they gathered around me and we teleported back to the Land of Heaven Falls.

…

A few hours later

Land of Heaven Falls

When we arrived there, most of the action was already taken care of, and many of the Gods there were also helping defend the place. However, Áine became a bit sheepish once Danu and Cana saw her.

But once I gave her a thumbs up, Danu also hugged Áine, and a few more tears were shed between long-time friends. While that happened, I cleaned up the rest of the attackers. They were part of Nilrem, some from Monkai Association and some cryptids.

[Now the next part is convincing the alliance, huh?]

Yeah, that's the next hurdle, but I'm hopeful.

[Where will you hold it?]

Dunno, maybe in my home? I mean it's kind of neutral ground, you know? For the ones who won't be able to make it, I'll just have them come through as communication circles, or holographic circles.

[I see. Will you do it now?]

No… I have a short detour to do first.

[Huh? Where?]

Greece. I forgot to check up on a certain Goddess we came across while in the Shinto Realm.

[Oh you mean…]

…

A few hours later

Japan, Kuoh

Skyward Household

We were in the newly constructed part of my home that I created before the Gods arrived here. It was a floor or room just below the top of my home, but above the entertainment room. It was mostly plain, but had chairs, couches, some vendors that would give out snacks, refreshments and other items.

We all sat around a rectangular table, and I was at the top. The ones who could make it to my home were: Sirzechs, Serafall, Azazel, Michael, Altaria, Nuada, Danu, Zeus, Hera, Odin, Brynhildr, Amaterasu, Yasaka, and through the holographic circles, and even though they weren't part of the alliance yet… Were Ra and Perun.

Raynare and Asia were also here. Grayfia, Sharon and Celestin were there to serve some snacks and refreshments. I had Lianne, God Serena and Selene on standby in my home, even though nothing could get in. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Of course, the one who was going to be discussed was Áine, and she was here too. As for Medusa? She was in one of my spare rooms since she was still asleep.

"As you know we've been called here by the Middleman Jin. The topic we're going to discuss is the betrayal by a certain person in our alliance."

Sirzechs starts it off. Even though I was at the top of the table, I had zero experience of doing things like this. He looks around the room and receives a round of nods.

"Our suspect is Áine of Knockaine. It has been confirmed by Jin that she has not allied with Khaos Brigade. However, she did collaborate in attacking him, but not the attack on the Land of Heaven Falls, correct?"

He turns to Áine and she meekly nods. It's obvious she didn't like all the attention right now, but she had to get through it.

"Now then—"

Sirzechs carries on to tell everyone else what had happened. Earlier, Raynare, Asia and I had to file reports since I asked Azazel about it and he said we should do something like that. I mean, Rias and all of them did it during the Peace Conference.

By the end of it, Sirzechs sat back down and let the entire situation and information they had learned sink in. And yes, he read all three accounts. Áine, was standing there as she was rather nervous. However, the first one to speak up was Zeus.

"Jin, may I know what happened to Medusa?"

I nod.

"She's still sleeping. I had to be a bit rough with her since she was being mind controlled, but she's peacefully resting right now in one of my spare bedrooms."

"I see. Thank you."

He nods approvingly, and so does Hera. But everyone then turns to me…

"Um…"

"You were the one who stopped the attack and captured Áine, we assume you have some kind of punishment in mind, Jin?"

Nuada asks with a grin. A few of them also grin at me. My God, am I that obvious?

'{['Yes.']}'

Thanks guys, very helpful, very supportive…

"What makes you think—"

"Stop there right Jin-boy! We aren't stupid, we know for a fact that you'll try to help her in some way, so out with it!"

Odin stops me and points at me. The other participants agreed with him. Azazel snickers at me and I just sighed. Áine had a look of bewilderment. Sighing again, I scratched my cheek and looked to the side.

"Okay, so… I want to give her the 'Raynare' treatment."

They look at me strangely. I glance at Raynare as she had turned red and was glaring at me. Asia quietly giggled beside her.

"So, basically… We'll put Áine in the Land of Heaven Falls. I'll make it so she can't leave that realm, in any form. I'll also seal up her powers, and only unseal it once she's deemed to be safe again. I'll also keep one of my shadows in her to have another way of keeping an eye on her."

"Of course, the other gods will help keep an eye on her. I'll visit every now and again to check up on her progress. I did this for Raynare and her group. I can have Azazel, and other Fallen Angels vouch for me…. Right?"

I look at Azazel and he nods.

"Right, I've kept an eye on Raynare's group. All but one of them have made significant improvements, and they hold many responsibilities and have moved up in our organization. The other was part of Azrael's group. You're familiar with Ajamu, right? Anyway, he's part of another team in my organization. I can have Slash Dog vouch for that too."

"Slash Dog, huh?"

A few of them mutter. Oh, right I forgot Tobio is referred to that at times too… Sirzechs gets up and looks at everyone else.

"Jin, can you leave for a moment? We wish to discuss that proposal then. Oh, and take Áine, Asia and Raynare with you for the time being."

I nod, and Áine follows behind me. We left the room through a door and headed down the hallway. I sensed some of the girls there and called them out.

"You can come out now… Geez what the hell are you guys doing?"

"We were curious, so what's the verdict?"

A few of them come out, but Lavinia approaches me first and was the one to ask the question. I shake my head at her question.

"Nothing yet, they're deliberating it now, but it should be soon."

I glance at Áine and she looked like she wanted to ask me something but in the end she didn't. She just turned away and looked back at the door while leaning on the wall. Asia walks up to her and they have a private conversation.

Tug ~

"W-What the hell… W-Why would you call it the 'Raynare' treatment…?!"

Raynare tugs on my arm as I was chatting with the other girls. She was lightly glaring at me but still felt embarrassed. I snorted at her and shrugged.

"It would be easier to call it that, right? I didn't mean anything bad by it, Ray."

"…Ugh…"

After that, to my surprise, Akeno trots over to Raynare with Inaie and drags her a little bit away. She was a bit surprised by it, so she let it happen. Lavinia hugs my arm and looks up at me—

"So, what happens after this, Jin…? Do you have to leave again soon?"

"…I have some things to go through, so… I'm not entirely sure. I do have to bring Medusa back to Greece once she wakes up and heals up a little. Also, Azazel told me all the factions want me for requests, so I'll be busy the coming month."

"But don't worry, I'll bring anyone with me… So, just say so…"

Lavinia hugs me tighter and doesn't say anything else.

They had been squinting at me but I reassured them. But I do have a few that are already set to join me… Raiko, Rose for some, Inaie, and the Church trio. After a few minutes of waiting out in the hall we were eventually called back.

Áine walked back to her spot, and so did the rest of us. Sirzechs fixes some documents he was holding and looks at everyone once again before nodding.

"After careful deliberation, we would like to proceed with Jin-kun's proposal. If you would?"

He gestures for me to seal her powers and I nod. I got up and walked over to Áine. She looked at me with a bit of apprehension, but when I touched her, I calmed her down and also sealed her powers. Once that was done, I walked back to my seat.

After that, we spoke about more details that pertained to her fate, but everyone was more or less okay with the punishment. Even Ra and Perun who weren't part of the alliance yet since I had yet to go back to their realms and have them sign the treaty.

But I guess they were invited by someone; I would guess Azazel since that guy somehow has connections everywhere. The meeting soon ended and everyone started to teleport away. However, a few of them stayed since they seemed to want to talk to me.

"Jin-kun."

Both Michael and Altaria approached me.

"Hey, need something? Oh actually, I wanted to talk to you too, Michael."

"Hmm? What do you wish to discuss?"

I nod and tell him my concerns with Gabriel, and my plan on making another subordinate like Altaria, and making them a Pure Angel. After hearing this Michael seemed a bit troubled by it.

"Please let me think about it for a while, Jin-kun. No, I wish to speak to Uriel and Raphael about it, and possibly Gabriel in the near future. However, you did answer the question I had for you without me needing to ask, huhu."

"Sure thing?"

I was confused as Michael walked away towards Azazel and Sirzechs while chuckling to himself. Altaria didn't say anything and simply stood by my side. Odin, Zeus, Hera and Brynhildr approached me next.

"Jin-boy it's been a while; I take it you're well?"

"Yeah, it's been some time and yeah, I'm good. I'll assume the same for you, Odin."

"Hohoho ~ I am, I am. Be prepared, Jin-boy. I'm sending it two requests, one from my sons and another from the Queen of the Dark Elves ~"

He starts walking away followed by Zelma. We nod to each other as she followed after Odin. Zeus immediately shakes my hand surprising me a little, this causes Hera to smack him.

"I want to thank you again, Jin. We wish to deal with Medusa in our own realm. We discussed it earlier, and we came to the same conclusion. She wasn't in control of herself; however, she will still be punished to a certain degree. So, that's what our request will be about."

Zeus explains. I see, so that's why Medusa wasn't brought up when I returned. I was expecting them to deal with her after Áine, but I guess they spoke about it without me.

"I also want to tell you something… When you return to our realm… A certain Goddess has also come back. It's… Freyja."

"Freyja? But I thought…"

"For her own reasons, she came to our realm. We, the Gods know about it, and I have spoken to Odin about it in detail after we joined the alliance. Anyway, I'm telling you this because… You may have differences in 'beliefs' on certain subjects."

"…I see, thank you for the heads-up, Zeus."

"Hmm. Thank you again, Jin."

He pats me on the shoulder before leaving with Hera who also did the same thing to me. But Freyja, huh? But… Differences in beliefs, huh? She's… The Goddess of Sex, so our outlook on that topic will certainly be different.

But I'm not one to judge how people want to go about their lives. What they do about their sex life or romantic life has nothing to do with me… But if Zeus is telling me that, she may want to speak to me more about it or something.

Well, I'll see in the future… Nuada and Danu app— Nuada suddenly bearhugged me when they got close enough to me. Even Danu was surprised by this.

"Uhm…"

"That's my thank you to you, Jin. Even though Áine lost her way many years ago… We really did try to help her, please trust my word for it. But she eventually became a wanderer and made it harder to reach her. So, thank you for doing this. We'll all make sure to keep a closer eye on her this time."

"…It wasn't really me; you should thank Asia for that, but yes, I do hope she really heals this time around. Good luck."

He nods at me and at Asia, who smiles back. Danu gives me a quick hug and follows Nuada. Amaterasu was accompanied by Yasaka and Serafall.

"Jin…"

"Yo Amaterasu, we have a meeting coming up. Are you ready?"

"…Yes, I am. But I didn't think you would get involved with something big so quickly again."

I chuckle and look to the side.

"Trouble tends to find me, I guess?"

"We can only hope that it doesn't follow you on our visit to the Himejima clan. Although I am expecting something to happen…"

She says this while staring directly at me. Geez, that's not exactly encouraging, Ama… She smiles at me before leaving. Alright, that should be everyone…

"Jin! I'm moving in today! I have everything I need in my ring!"

"That's fine, Sera. You can ask the girls or even Grayfia to help you search for a room."

She salutes me and goes to Grayfia about it. The two nod before leaving. Yask—

Gyu ~

"Even though you said you would visit us more often… You made Kunou and I sad for lying you know ~"

"…I didn't lie, it's just that a lot of things happened and I couldn't—"

"Ufufu, I'm joking, Dear ~"

Tug ~

I felt someone else hug me from behind and pull me away. I used a bird's eye view and saw it was Altaria. She and Yasaka were lightly glaring at each other.

"Ara? Who might this be, Dear?"

"Jin-sama, is this the famous Youkai leader?"

I could feel sparks flying as they were staring at each other. Ahhh… Help me… I could see that Áine was chatting with Asia and Raynare as Nuada and Danu were near them. After chatting Áine joins the Irish Gods and they finally leave.

"Sorry for the interruption, ladies. May we speak with Jin-kun for a little bit?"

Altaria and Yasaka stopped their short tug of war with my body and stood beside me instead. I fix myself and face the three leaders.

"What's up?"

"Oh, it's nothing too serious Jin-kun. I was wondering when you'll propose to Ria-tan."

"I also want to know when you'll drag that old ha— Penemue out from our organization."

"…You need to be kinder to your subordinates, Brother. Also, even though they're third years, Sirzechs. Isn't it a bit too early to think about marriage?"

Michael, the voice of reason between the three of them tells them off. However, Azazel just brushes him off and Sirzechs gives him an awkward smile.

"W-Well, you may be right… I do hope you propose to her though, Jin-kun!"

"I do plan on doing so in the future, so rest assured."

Sirzechs, like a child pumps his fist. I don't know if Asteri not being here was a blessing or curse… I wonder what he told her to make her not attend…

"You'll lose someone powerful, Azazel. Are you sure you want me to do that?"

He waves me off.

"At the rate we're progressing with our research, she won't be needed too much. But I guess you're right. Alright, fine. Add her to your harem and get her to stay in my faction!"

"…Right."

Michael and I shake our heads at Azazel. He's a genius and an idiot at the same time. Though I can somewhat relate. We chatted for a little longer before they left. Altaria also left for Heaven. However, Yasaka decided to stay for a little longer.

"Aren't you going back, Yasaka?"

"I—"

"Yasaka-sama, we must go back and not leave Kunou-hime alone for too long."

Sharon comes over and stops her from saying anything else. Yasaka's lip twitched, but she relented to the maid's 'smile'. She hugs me one last time before she leaves.

"Hmm? Why are you still here, Raynare?"

"A-Am I not allowed to speak to Asia?"

"…Well, you are. I was just curious."

She still stutters a bit while speaking with me, but it's not that severe compared to before. Asia looks at Raynare before giggling and pushing her from behind towards me. She makes an 'eep' sound and I catch her. The Fallen Angel immediately turns crimson.

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I… I'll get going!!"

She pushes herself off me and teleports away. Asia kept on giggling and I sighed at her.

"That was a bit too early for her, Asia…"

"Fufu, maybe it was, Jin-san. But… At least we helped three people today, right?"

Three? Oh, yeah… Three… Medusa, Áine and Raynare.

"Yeah, you're right…"

Bzt ~

My phone buzzed and I took it out, it was a message from Danu…

…

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