Ise-kun’s parents frantically waved their hands with exaggerated motions towards sensei’s behaviour which was different from what it had been in the past. “H-Hold on, sensei! Please don’t be like this! I don’t mind this at all! Because, I wouldn’t have been able to become stronger if not for sensei!”
“But, Ise. It was my fault that those you loved the most were taken away.”
“Even so, that was something that couldn’t be helped. …Although that dealt a heavy, and serious blow to me. Although it was very serious…”
Ise-kun looked around at everyone, and smiled. “Thanks to this, we are all alive. Precisely because I had sensei’s guidance, I was able to obtain the power to save everyone. I also agree that I’ve overworked myself in such a short amount of time, but, if I didn’t achieve the growth that I have now, I would have lost any one of the people here. So that I don’t lose anyone, I think — it’s worth it even if I lose an arm or a leg.”
After hearing Ise-kun’s assertion, Ise-kun’s parents responded to Azazel-sensei. Ise-kun’s otou-san spoke first. “Sensei, please raise your head. My son has already grown to be able to say something so respectable. That’s already enough for me. You’ve raised Ise into a man, sensei. As a father, I’m very grateful to you.”
Ise’s okaa-san then said
“…Seeing my son’s body, I was also shocked. I didn’t even know when he began to have such muscles…I already understand just how much effort Ise has expended for everyone here. As a mother, I don’t want him to be involved in any more troubles…but, my son, who has he saved? As parents, we are very proud. I’m also grateful to Azazel-sensei who was able to guide Ise into this.”
Azazel-sensei lifted his head, and sincerely looked at Ise-kun’s parents. “The son of you two is a valuable asset of the Underworld. Because of this, I won’t allow Ise to become endangered again.”
Azazel-sensei brushed Ise-kun’s head. “Leave the rest to us. I also…we of the higher-ups will be going out to the frontlines as well this time. So, you should rest well right now. …Even if I say this, you’ll still charge out…. But, you need to promise me something.”
Sensei looked seriously at Ise-kun as he said
“The power of Dragon Deification, you are not allowed to use it again. …I’ll allow you to use the BxB and CxC that I just spoke about…but you can’t endanger yourself, do you understand?”
Ise-kun carefully nodded. He then asked a question. “…Sensei, would it be possible for me to have growth like AxA or ExE?”
“This I do not know. If you are determined to seek such a pathway to enhance your strength, it may be possible in the future…in short, I’ll allow you to use Balance Breaker and Cardinal Crimson, but definitely not Dragon Deification.”
After sensei said that, Ise-kun was left to the attending doctor, nurse and his parents. Azazel-sensei said
“I have something to do, so I’ll say goodbye first.”
He bowed his head to Ise-kun’s parents again, and then planned to leave—. “Rias, Akeno, Kiba, Gasper, Rossweisse, come with me for a little bit.”
He called me, Rias-zenbuchou, Akeno-san, Gasper-kun, and Rossweisse-san over, while the others stayed behind to talk with Ise-kun. We followed sensei to leave the patient room, and arrived at the rest area which was on the same level. And over there — a man wearing a black jacket, Ikuse Tobio-san, as well as several other people that we had never met before stood there. Ikuse-san said to Azazel-sensei
“Everyone is present now.”
“I know, Tobio. Calling you all over so urgently, I’m sorry.”
“No, we also want head out to the frontlines together with [DxD]. Although it’s only a modest amount of strength, let us also do our best to help.”
Ikuse-san replied. Sensei then turned to us and said
“Rias, and all of you. My Slash Dog team will also be coming out to the frontlines from behind the scenes this time. Afterwards, we will discuss the things about our joint force.”
What exciting news! The major people of the Grigori were finally going to have an official debut on the stage! This was an unprecedented large-scale battle, so it was also imperative that they would also be joining the fight. It was currently a situation where we wouldn’t mind having too many people if another strong person joined. —At that time, Akeno-san noticed a certain person and became surprised. Following where Akeno-san was looking, there stood a beauty who was around twenty years old and looked rather similar to Akeno-san. She also had beautiful, black, flowing long hair. The beauty smiled at Akeno-san. “—Akeno.”
Tears quickly began to stream down Akeno-san’s face, and she then jumped over to hug her. “—Uh! Suzaku-anesama!”
The woman who was called Suzaku lovingly stroked Akeno-san’s head. “I didn’t see you for some time and was worried about you, it’s good that you’re healthy more than anything else.”
“Me too, I’m sorry for not getting in touch with you.”
“Now, there’s no need to apologise. Considering your position, this is something that can’t be helped.”
—Suzaku. I was familiar with this name. It was the name of the Himejima Clan’s — current head of the family. She was related by blood to Akeno-san, Akeno-san’s okaa-san ‘Shuri’-san and the head of the family’s mother were sisters, and hence these two people were cousins. Upon seeing the current head of the Himejima family here, Rias-zenbuchou smiled as she greeted her. “Long time no see, Suzaku.”
“Yes, Rias-san. I just had to silence the fussy people in my family a bit. This time I will also work together with Tobio, you and the others.”
As the head of the Himejima family, she had a reason for being acquainted with Ikuse-san. Ikuse-san’s family also belonged to the Himejima family, and had the same bloodline as the Himejima family. Like Akeno-san, he was a second cousin of the current family head. Due to Akeno-san’s circumstances, the Himejima family and the Grigori had a grudge against each other, but most recently…after the head of the family changed, there were significant changes internally, and lately, both sides had softened against each other. Now that both of these cousins could embrace each other, it was the best evidence of that softening. Hearing those words from Suzaku-san as the current head of the family, Rias-zenbuchou continued to ask
“So?”
“As the current head of the Himejima family, I would naturally participate in this battle. The other four families will also send specialists to this battle, joining me on the frontlines.”
The other four families — since ancient times, Japan had a group which guarded those with supernatural abilities, they were the — Nakiri clan, Himejima clan, Shinra clan, Kushihashi clan, and Doumon clan. These five clans — were known as the Five Great Families. The Five Great Families which evaded the supernatural until now, were entering the war this time…. This was also thanks to Suzaku-san’s persuasion, and they had also witnessed the destruction of Trihexa and recognised the threat that it posed.