Chapter 116 - Paying a visit to the hospital.

Though Raynare had a cheerful smile on her face and was completely sincere, there was something that bothered Drako.

Since that incident six months ago, Raynare had been acting strange. She was no longer the arrogant bitch that Drako had encountered upon his arrival at Grigori, but she had become more submissive. In some ways, this was not a bad thing, as she was supposed to have changed for the better.

But this was not so.

Raynare... she seemed to be repressing herself.

Her real personality was still there, a clear example of which was the confrontation she had with Samejima, but she seemed to be hiding from the rest of the world. When she was with Drako's group, Kuroka, etc., she would let go a little more and feel more at ease. But other than that, she even seemed afraid of the world.

What Drako thought was that she was afraid of herself. Kuroka had told him about what happened that day while he was fighting the devil, and he could more or less reconstruct the scene from Raynare's past.

Her uncle abused the powers Raynare had inherited, most likely behind everyone's back, and one day forced her into some kind of frenzy. The result had her accidentally kill her parents.

That's what Drako assumed had happened. The only people who knew what really happened that day were Raynare and her uncle, and now only Raynare knew since the latter was more than dead.

Drako had already asked Raynare about what happened a few months earlier, but the answer had been a...

"I'm not ready to talk about this, Drako. I promise I'll tell you about it in the future, but please don't ask me about it right now. When I feel up to it, I'll let you know."

Therefore, Drako had let this problem go for these six months. But now he was starting to worry.

Although Raynare had greatly improved her strength, successfully "evolving" into a four-winged fallen angel, Drako still hadn't received a [Fate Point] from her. This meant that Raynare would still be dying in four years when Azazel sent her to deal with Issei.

More than worried about that [Fate Point], which he obviously wanted to get, Drako was worried about Raynare. She was indeed a multi-faced bitch, who had an incorrigible temper, was arrogant with the weak and respectful of the strong. She indeed had many faults and few virtues. Yet, even so, Drako was unable to let her die so easily.

Raynare had become an important person to Drako. A close friend with whom he interacted virtually every day. She had entered the small group of people "loved" by Drako.

..............

A few days earlier, when Drako escalated to numerous levels after killing a horde from Utsusemi, a voice he had not heard in a long time resounded in his head.

"Kiddo, you seem to have improved a lot."

He was the old, "omnipotent" God, indirectly responsible for the reason Drako was in this parallel world.

"Yes..."

"You seem to be hesitating, are you not satisfied?"

"No, it's not that. It's just that..."

"What?"

"It's just not enough. Even after killing so much, I'm still far from my goal."

"Of course you're far from the target. Your ultimate enemy is the second most powerful being in the whole multiverse, it is normal to feel doubts when you are just starting your journey. But above all you have to be clear about something, that ultimate enemy does not work alone. That's why you can't do everything yourself, you need allies."

Drako knew that. Of course, he knew.

Why was there a choice to get Servants in the system the old man gave him? Wasn't it to get allies who could fight by his side?

Drako had to get his own minions to fight the enemy's minions. Drako had to face the final boss while the [Servants] faced the minor bosses.

Drako then took an oath, an oath he was to keep until the end of his days.

"I cannot protect everything. However, I will absolutely protect those loved ones within reach of my hands. If it is for the sake of that, I will kill everything."

...........

Raynare had entered that select group of people "loved" by Drako, and he was going to end it all. Even if it was the same will of the world, Ayala, that wanted Raynare to die so that someone else would grow more powerful. Even if it was the all-consuming [Chaos].

While thinking about what he could do with Raynare to change that future, Drako arrived at Grigori's hospital. The young dragon entered the building, and the first thing he saw was the receptionists.

This hospital didn't seem to be much different than the average hospital in the human world. Two middle-aged ladies were gossiping at the reception desk, which you usually find when you arrive at a hospital.

"Hello, good morning."

Drako approached the counter with the best smile he thought he could muster.

"Good morning, do you need anything?" One of the receptionists responded professionally.

As expected from experienced receptionists, they know how to act professionally when someone arrives at the counter.

Drako was slightly surprised to discover that both receptionists were human. He knew that many humans had joined the organization, but there were even human receptionists. Thinking about it from another angle, it would be a waste to have two fallen angels acting as receptionists.

"Yes, could you tell me which is Tobio Ikuse's room?"

"Sure." The receptionist nodded her head and started looking at the computer.

She looked up again when she found the information she was looking for.

"The room is number XXX on the third floor, but..."

Drako was already about to thank the lady when she spoke again.

"The Governor-General is also there at the moment, as he just arrived a few minutes ago. My advice is to come back later, as being near the Governor-General may be uncomfortable for you. And if you happen to offend him or something..."

The lady was worried about Drako. She was a human woman who had fallen in love with a low-level fallen angel and ended up living in Grigori. She had never met Azazel personally, but stories from the Bible and other things seemed to have given her a dark image of Azazel.

"I know Azazel is there, you don't have to worry. Still, thank you for your good intentions."

Drako said goodbye to the lady and made his way to Tobio's room.

When he arrived at the scene, he heard Azazel's voice.

"The true nature of <Jin>, it is one of the Sacred Gears we call Longinus {God-Slaying tools}. Its official name is Canis Lycaon {Dog God of the Black Blade}."

"Longinus..."

"There are only thirteen varieties, those for which it has been determined to have the ability capable of slaying God. That is what you possess, something that is theoretically capable of slaughtering even God."

The other voice belonged to Tobio, who had already woken up after the incidents of the previous day.

"Natsume��s and Samejima's Sacred Gears...are different?"

"Aah, they may look similar, but they are different. However, one of the abilities of 'Canis Lycaon' is that it calls together Sacred Gears of the same wavelength."

"...Then, the abilities of those two, Jin...no, I had unknowingly caused those abilities to be expressed?"

Drako assumed that Azazel had already been alerted to his arrival, so he decided to go straight in.

"You could say it was like that, Tobio. But don't get it wrong, they were born with that Sacred Gear. That they turned out to be students from your own school, that's probably your Sacred Gear's fault.

"Drako..."

Drako entered the room answering the question Azazel had asked Tobio. He nodded to Azazel in greeting mode, then turned his attention back to the newly awakened Tobio.

"It's like Drako says, it seems they were brought together by your ability. However, those who abused that, that was the group from the Utsusemi Agency."

"Since I possessed the blood of the Himejima from the beginning though… "

To Tobio who speaking as such with his head bowed, Azazel sighed while merely scratching the back of his head.

"Your ability, it's one of the powers capable of breaking the balance of the world. Naturally, you were a subject of strict monitoring. In such cases, to seal you and your ability, it would be a must to eliminate you. That's the extent of your ability. Moreover, since you had been born that way, that ability to break the balance of the world was strengthening. It would have been a natural result if you had been erased in infancy."

Azazel spoke while looking at the scenery visible through the window.

"...However, both of your parents and your grandmother, they chose to let you live. An act of this extent can be said to be quite immense. However, at that time, I happened to come to lay eyes upon you when you were very young. ...Ageha Ikuse it seems had, out of love for you, placed a seal upon the dog's power. I must say it was nothing if not magnificent."

"...As expected, you are...from that time?"

Before the eyes of Tobio who had inquired; thus, the man grew twelve black wings from his back.

When Tobio was a little boy, he was on a field trip with his grandmother and his neighbours, Sae and her parents. On that excursion, he encountered a fallen angel, although it was only for a few moments. That memory remained in Tobio's mind for a long time, and it was not until today that he had finally discovered the identity of that man.

The black angel——Azazel brushed Tobio's head with smiling bitterly.

"Yeah, in actuality, it was a major thing, boy of the dog. As for myself, I am what is called a fallen angel. A being that was exiled from heaven for embracing wickedness. ...It seems you're not gushing with emotion after hearing about angels."

Tobio shook his head from side to side.

"No, having seen Utsusemi, demons, magicians, and even a dragon, it wasn't surprising that there'd be angels.... It would be stranger if there weren't."

"There are numerous miraculous things in this world beyond your belief."

Azazel spoke completely straightforwardly.

"Our organization, we study Sacred Gears and also observe their owners. If we discover someone in possession of a powerful Sacred Gear, they become a target of observation. The reason we met when you were a young child, that was because there was a possibility that you were a Longinus possessor. Supposing, if one was the kind of person to abuse the Sacred Gear, even considering a case of just ability without your special characteristic, they would often be eliminated. All for the sake of preserving the balance of the world. Since for things such as wars, I must apologize twice."

Tobio as well enquired of his upfront honesty.

"It would appear that I must have been a target for extermination, right?"

Azazel abruptly laughed.

"Originally, that was the case. However, for two main reasons that decision faltered."

He raised two fingers.

"One was your individual ability. The case of one being naturally born with the prohibited condition to break the balance, to my knowledge, there are only a small number of such examples over the past thousand years. All of them, except for you had perished before we had become aware of them.... You had been raised in tranquillity for all these years despite such an ability. Though that does seem to be due to the protection of your relatives...it certainly was fascinating."

Azazel now held up one finger having already explained one of the reasons. While smiling bitterly...

"As for the other reason...well, Longinus possessors other than you entreated to us their desire to cease such methods of management. One of them was a student of mine. The other one was a magical girl sent by an old acquaintance of mine. To refuse those guys' request would have been something I'd regret for the rest of my life."

Azazel spoke while letting out a sigh.

"At the moment, we are observing the situation of all of the 'Four Fiends'. Well, currently, it's a good way for my underling to become accustomed to his power. To start with, we must assemble the remainder of the 'Four Fiends'."

The other Longinus that Azazel was talking about were obviously Lavinia and Valina.

At that moment, Tobio began to overflow with tears.

"...I...Sae...!! I wasn't able to rescue her...!!"

Of the events that had transpired in that outlook room, he recalled what had happened right before he chanted that spell. It had been seared into the back of his eyelids. Sae had embraced Jin who had a blade growing from his head. That blade of Jin's had pierced through her chest.

Tobio had been unable to rescue that cherished individual.

Tobio, who had woken up when Azazel was already inside his room, had not yet been informed of the current situation. He did not know the condition of any of his companions, so he was unaware of Kouki's serious condition and Sae's recovery.

With Tobio shedding nothing but tears, Azazel continued while scratching his cheek.

"Well, we gradually came to this conversation. Well, this is good enough."

Prompted by that voice, the door to the sickroom opened. Appearing from there was the figure of Sae sitting in a wheelchair.

Being at a loss for words at this incredible spectacle, Tobio was only able to mumble a single word.

"...Sae?"

Hearing Tobio's voice, Sae held her hands to her mouth.

"Tobio..."

Azazel informed Tobio who thought he must still be dreaming.

"When we managed to calm you down yesterday, Drako healed Sae's wound to the point of keeping it stable. We at Grigori only had to give her a slightly special treatment so that she would finish recovering and that no scars would remain on her body."

Azazel spoke up.

"...Regarding the care for the students of Ryoukou High School, they are presently undergoing treatment. After the Utsusemi have been removed, they are scheduled to be released along with their relatives. However, their memories of this current affair have been fabricated to a certain extent. Memories regarding them, regarding us...and regarding those fellows, it's all been taken care of. We will be strictly monitoring everyone from the agency, to the point that they would feel it would be better to just die."

Indeed, the relatives of their fellow classmates had been rescued from that hideout. Their fellow classmates...they were being hidden by the Grigori. It was good that they would lose their memories. With all the misfortune involved in these unfathomable events, it was better for ordinary people not to be aware of it. With only a little monitoring, they could continue living...that was always a good thing.

Azazel again added one more thing.

"...However, this child's memory was left as is. Since this child personally refused."

Tobio was speechless. Sae's memory of all that had happened in this incident, about Tobio being a supernatural power user, about she being utilized by the 'Utsusemi Agency', they had been left behind without being erased.

"Well then, see you later. Drako, can you follow me?"

Drako nodded and followed Azazel out of the room. Now it was time to leave Tobio and his childhood friend alone.

Once outside the room, Azazel led Drako through the building and up to the top floor. They remained silent the entire way, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence.

On the top floor, there was only one room, which was the office of the head of the hospital. According to Azazel, he had already reported that he was going to use this room for a confidential meeting, so the head of the hospital, an eight-winged fallen angel, had left it at his disposal.

Once inside the office, Azazel sat down on top of the desk and confronted Drako.

"I want to thank you for your help with the whole conflict regarding the Utsusemi Agency."

"I owed you a favour, you don't have to thank me. Besides, I doubt very much you called me just to thank me."

Azazel smiled slightly at Drako's response.

"Of course, I'm here to deal with more serious issues. In fact, I'm here to make you a proposal."

Azazel's smile changed, becoming even more mysterious.

"Continue."

"Have you ever thought of forming your own organization?"

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