Chapter 234: Questioning ; Decision

Upon exiting the Arena, I gesture to Nyx to give me a moment before muttering, "Michael, I have captured a troublesome bunch."

[Understood Father. I will be waiting in the sixth heaven.]

Hearing his acute response, I glance at the unconscious members of the Hero Faction before shifting my attention to Nyx and saying, "I will be right back."

"Alright," she responds with a smile, "I believe that I should get going now."

I take a moment to deliberate on something before nodding my head and saying, "That's fine. I have nothing to discuss with you, for now. If you have information that you believe is worth sharing, do so."

Instead of giving me an audible response, Nyx just lifts the hem of her skirt while bowing before her body gets covered in darkness as it begins to seemingly melt and blend into the shadows on the ground.

---

Fortunately, Heaven did indeed have a location similar to a jail, well, not all that similar but Michael said that it would work.

The location chosen is the second heaven where angels who have sinned are usually confined. It has several functions to prevent escape such as disabling inherent powers within individuals such as the Phenex Clan's immortality.

Aside from that, all pieces of equipment, including Sacred Gears are rendered useless.

Out of sheer curiosity, I attempted to make use of my abilities, only to find out that apart from my Code Effects, everything else was rendered useless.

Leaving that aside, I had been wondering why a group of self-proclaimed heroes wish to fight against God, so I asked their leader, nicely.

After spuing a few mouthfuls of blood, he finally relented and told me the reason for their animosity, which as I slightly suspected, was due to me being a 'Phantom'.

As it stands, Phantoms pose the greatest threat to all beings. Most if not all records about them show that they're rather antagonistic apart from a select few.

At least, that's what Cao Cao claims to be the case. Thus, his excuse for battling against me.

While I was at it, I asked him a few questions regarding the other members of the Hero Faction.

Apparently, due to the lack of necessity, or, so they thought, the other members are currently in their base.

Apart from that, there was another matter related to the blonde-haired girl with a tall hat.

Surprisingly, not long before, an internal feud had occurred, resulting in two of their members to ditch the faction - the blonde-haired girl, Le Fay Pendragon, and her brother, Arthur Pendragon.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get any more information out of him even after I had him cough up a few more mouthfuls of blood.

Not being in the mood to torture anyone, I left Heaven and returned to the mansion, which leads to my current situation…

"Why?" I ask Krul who is sitting beside Yuno on a sofa opposite to the one I am sitting on.

Currently, we are in the living room. Rossweisse and Ravel sitting on another sofa with an intrigued look on their faces. Beside me are Sora and Misa who are both curiously observing Krul.

The younger ones are not present, as they seem to be busy playing.

"You heard what she said, right?" Krul responds while pointing at Ravel, "There is a vampire faction going by the name Tepes. You expect me to not take any interest in that?"

"Even so," I say, a little dazed, "Why does it matter if they have the same 'family' name as you?"

"Of course, it means a lot!" she responds in a lively manner, unlike her usual cool demeanor, "Besides, wouldn't it benefit you if I took over?"

Hearing her words, I let out an exasperated sigh.

After I had returned, Ravel began sharing all the information she had over the devil clans and her opinion over their course of action in this upcoming war.

Once she reached the matter concerning vampires, Krul took a great interest in her words and got all the more interested when she discovered that there is a Tepes Faction.

Soon after, she immediately told me, "I want to go to the underworld and take over the faction."

Naturally, I am worried about her safety, so I can't just accept her request.

As if sensing my thoughts, Krul furrows her brows slightly and says, "Although I appreciate your care for me, I am not a weak and fragile girl. Remember that I was previously a queen. Not to mention that I am much stronger than I was before."

"Even so," I respond with a complicated expression, "I am still not sure about the other sides' capabilities and personnel. So, I can't risk your life just like that. Besides, how are you even going to take over the faction? Where are you going to even start?"

At this moment, Yuno interjects and says, "I will go with her. It won't be a problem if I am with her, right?"

Huh? Yuno? Why would she want to go with her? Could it be that they are much closer than I thought they were?

Setting that aside, I would indeed be less concerned if Yuno is going to go with her, after all, Yuno is smart and knows what needs to be done. Also, her Code is a maximized one, which speaks leagues about her proficiency in battle and her abilities.

"Fine," I respond after a few seconds, "However, as soon as you notice that there are signs of trouble, you are to contact me through any means possible."

"Agreed," Krul responds while Yuno just nods her head.

"I can't believe you are fine with this," Misa suddenly says, "You seemed like the overprotective type."

"Me, overprotective?" I respond to her comment with a smile, "Well, you do have a point, after all, I will stop at nothing to annihilate the underworld if something happens to them."

Hearing this, Misa rolls her eyes and says, "Coming from you, that doesn't sound like a joke."

"Because it's not supposed to be," I respond before I feel a stinging sensation on my right arm.

Looking over, I find Sora, who has a smile on her lips, pinching me.

Not minding the other girls' stares, I lean forth and kiss her cheek, earning me a genuine smile from her.

"Hold on, so, she is really going to head over to the underworld and attempt to take over the Tepes Faction?" a bewildered voice reaches my ears.

Looking over at the speaker, I am met with the sight of a flabbergasted Ravel pointing at Krul.

"Naturally," Krul responds before I can say anything, "Weren't you listening just now?"

"But, how? Do you think that's an easy feat to pull of?" Ravel continues.

"Don't underestimate me, kid," Krul responds while squinting her eyes, "Victor knows better than anyone about my capabilities, so if he is fine with me heading over, then there is no problem."

A strange sensation spreads within me upon hearing Krul's words. Looks like she wholeheartedly believes in me and my decision.

I can't possibly let her down now…

---

"Hello, did you miss me?" I say while rubbing the tip of my finger against Eri's head.

The little fairy is presently sitting atop my palm with a broad smile covering her tiny face.

"Brother Yu, Ayu wants to play with Eri too!" an excited Ayumi runs over to the bed and says while gazing at Eri.

Seemingly responding to her words, Eri flaps her wings and floats over to my shoulder before staring at Ayumi warily.

"She always runs away from Ayu…" Ayumi utters in a saddened tone.

Soon enough Gula appears behind Ayumi and says in a soft voice, "Me too."

Oh… she spoke. That's rare. I guess she truly wants to play with Eri. Usually, when I inspect them, Ayumi and Gula are playing with Koneko while Ophis watches from the side. A little distance away from them, Eri watches them while smiling.

I didn't expect that Ayumi and Gula have tried to play with Eri. Now that I think about it, how are they planning to play with her anyway?

"Eri," I say while raising my left hand pointing at my palm, "Come here."

Seemingly understanding what I'm getting at, Eri flies over and obediently sits atop my palm.

Then, I proceed to grab Ayumi's hand before slowly guiding it toward Eri.

Seeing that I'm the one guiding her hand, Eri remains calm even after I hold Ayumi's finger and gently rub her head with it.

After a few seconds, I let go of her hand so that Ayumi is patting Eri by herself.

"Gula, you too?" I say after a short while glimpsing at Gula who is keenly staring at Ayumi's finger.

She doesn't respond to my words for a few seconds before she moves over and grabs my hand before guiding it to her head.

Once I begin rubbing her head, Gula looks over at Ayumi who is also looking back at her with a smug-like expression.