LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 23: Decisive Action
'I should learn Teleportation Magic...' thought Vahn, not questioning whether it was possible as Rias teleported him and the members of the ORC to an abandoned villa-turned-gallery in the forested hills encircling Kuoh.
"Alright, everyone, be on your guards," said Rias. "Koneko, Kiba, you two will take point. Vahn, Issei, stay close to me and Akeno."
Following Rias's orders, everyone got into a formation similar to the one they used within the Corridor before advancing upon the three-story villa. An Isolation Barrier had been erected in advance, effectively isolating the villa in a kind of faux reality that ordinary people could pass through in the middle of a fight without noticing anything odd or risking injury, so even if they went all out, unleashing beams or producing cataclysmic explosions, the inhabitants of Kuoh wouldn't notice or report anything amiss.
"It's here..." said Koneko, raising her fists in a ready stance shortly after the group entered the lobby section of the villa, marked by large support columns, old picture frames, and a massive amount of garbage from teens who had treated the area like a secret hideout.
Following Koneko's words, an overtly sensual, slightly husky voice of a woman echoed through the area, humming, "I smell something foul and something...intoxicating..."
Accompanying the words, a much larger-than-average woman with long, raven-black hair, an attractive face set with sharp blue eyes, and a naked, incredibly voluptuous upper body appeared from hiding. Issei's eyes lit up, his nostrils flaring at the sight of what his brain initially interpreted as a naked beauty, but while it was true she was naked, her lower body was an amalgamation of flesh with a human torso, a lower body resembling a bipedal goat's, and a thick orange tail that ended in the head of a serpent.
Drawing the Stray's attention, Rias spoke loudly, ordering, "Stray Devil, Viser. You have perpetrated unspeakable acts in the pursuit of your lust and desire. Surrender and agree to be returned to your Master or perish here in the name of the Ducal House, Gremory."
"Gremory..." repeated Viser, a glimmer of hesitation passing over her blue eyes before she adopted a too-broad smile, enthusiastically kneading her breasts as she tittered and asserted, "Insolent girl riding the coattails of her family. Allow me to show you what a real woman can do."
Punctuating her words, Viser's nipples illuminated with Crimson Magic Circles, her nipples elongating like the nozzles of a pressure cutter before she unleashed a scattered volley of glowing yellow energy. Issei was too engrossed in the sight of a mature woman fondling her breasts to react in time, but Akeno was able to prevent him from taking a shot directly to the face by grabbing his collar and pulling him out of the way.
fssssssssssh
Upon contact with a surface, the yellow energy spattered like a viscous liquid, melting whatever it struck and even eating through a wall, exposing its sizzling rebar support structure.
"Issei, you need to remain focused...!" scolded Rias. Meanwhile, Koneko took the initiative to draw the Stray's, charging at it despite the disparity in their sizes. Viser was easily six meters tall with her chimeresque lower body, so Koneko looked inconsequentially diminutive in comparison.
"Oh, goodie! A snack...!" exclaimed Viser, the front of the lower half of her body, covered in thick black fur and set with a giant purple gem, opening to reveal a maw of large, fluid-dripping fangs. The usually impassive look on Koneko's face soured at this, primarily due to the smell, but she didn't panic and simply raised her guard as the maw lunged forward and closed around her, the viscous liquids within causing her clothes to begin melting but doing no damage to her body.
"Koneko...!" shouted Issei, panic in his voice as he extended his left hand as if trying to grasp and pull her to safety from afar. Vahn, on the other hand, couldn't just stand idle and watch as the taciturn girl who enjoyed sitting on his lap and cuddling with him was consumed, his eyes exuding a faint golden glow from their depths as he charged forward in coordination with Kiba's flanking movements despite Rias shouting, "Vahn, wait...!"
Though his brain registered Rias's voice, Vahn's mind was already set as he leaped through the air, planning to impale his spear into the center of Viser's chest.
"That's right! Come to mommy, little boy...!" exclaimed Viser, spreading her arms wide as if preparing to accept Vahn into her embrace.
Taking advantage of the opening Vahn had created, Kiba sliced Viser's lower lower back, startling and causing her to become distracted as she exhaled a feral, guttural scream. At that exact moment, Vahn drove the tip of his spear into the center of her chest, parting her breasts with a look of grim determination as he mode-changed it to the Luminal Spear, Exellion.
As Devils were inherently weak to the Elements of Light and Holy, having her perforated heart and chest cavity filled with scorching hot Holy Light was game over for Viser. Her humanoid upper body immediately burst into motes of black energy while her monstrous lower half collapsed, causing Koneko to be ejected from the toothy, fluid-filled maw, the slipperiness of the liquid coating her body causing her to slide several meters across the ground.
Seeing his kouhai be spit out by the maw, Vahn breathed a sigh of relief, returning his spear to his Inventory before leaping over with the intent of helping her up. Instead, the moment his feet hit the ground, they slipped out from under him, nearly resulting in the back of his head colliding with the hard marble flooring before a crimson Magic Circle cushioned his fall.
"That was very reckless, Vahn..." remarked Rias, exhaling an exasperated sigh but smiling as she made her way over to help Vahn to his feet, taking care not to slip herself. Kiba helped Koneko, but instead of expressing her gratitude to the blonde-haired Knight, her gaze was focused on Vahn. She had, in actuality, been moments away from tearing Viser to pieces, but his willingness to come to her rescue hadn't escaped her notice...
Approaching with Akeno trailing behind him, Issei sported a broad smile as he remarked, "That was pretty badass, Vahn. I didn't know you could jump that high or that—holy flat plains!?"
Noticing the state of Koneko's uniform, Issei reacted like the fool from a slap-stick comedy routine. Viser's fluids had caused most of her blouse and bra to dissolve, so both her modest breasts were exposed, causing Issei's eyes to shimmer like gems and a slight frown to mar Koneko's face as she remarked, "It's not polite to stare..." without attempting to conceal them from view.
"Oh, right! My bad...hahaha..." responded Issei, rubbing the back of his head but sporting a shit-eating grin as he promptly preserved the image as a long-term memory.
"Akeno, if you would," said Rias.
"Of course~" responded Akeno.
In response to Rias's words, Akeno approached Koneko and extended her hands as if warming them over a fire. Doing so caused two crimson Magic Circles to appear, one on the floor and one above Koneko's head, before they rapidly converged and swapped places, restoring her underwear and uniform to their original conditions.
"Nn...thank you..." said Koneko, nodding before directing a half-lidded, judgmental stare at Issei. Then, causing the brown-haired youth's smile to cramp, she made her way over and stood behind Vahn, grasping his right sleeve with the fingers of her left hand.
"Alright, everyone! Things might not have gone exactly as planned, but we completed our objective without incident. Gather around so we can return and get everyone home before it gets too late," instructed Rias, prompting everyone to group around her as she created a large crimson Magic Circle to return them to the club room.
"Man, teleportation is crazy convenient..." remarked Issei, having already recovered from the shock of seeing Koneko conceal herself behind Vahn.
"Form enough contracts and practice diligently, and you'll be able to use it before you know it," stated Rias, preempting Issei's response by crossing her arms and adding, "Right. Good work today, everyone. And remember to be extra cautious and alert as you return home. There has been a lot of Fallen Angel activity lately, and we're still investigating the reason."
"Come, I'll accompany you partway," said Kiba, sporting a friendly smile as he placed his right hand on Issei's shoulder.
"I would rather walk home with a cute girl..." grumbled Issei, yet, despite this, he promptly turned to leave with Kiba accompanying him, having learned from the previous day's experience that it was better to travel in a group.
Waiting until the duo or, more accurately, Issei was gone, Koneko caused Rias to raise her brows as she asked, "Can I have Vahn tonight? I want to sleep together."
"Vahn isn't a possession I can just hand out," responded Rias, exhaling a faint sigh and shaking her head before looking to the person in question, asking, "How about it, Vahn? Want to spend the night at Koneko's? It's not a bad idea to get experience sleeping in other beds, and if the two of you are feeling adventurous, you can enter the Corridor."
Though he felt a distinct sense of incongruousness hearing Rias's words, Vahn didn't immediately reject the idea as he looked between her, Akeno, and Koneko, the first two sporting supportive smiles and the latter staring at him with an intense look that gave the impression she would be blue or disappointed if he refused.
"I guess it's okay...?" responded Vahn, the way he voiced it as a question making his incertitude apparent.
"It'll be fine," assured Rias, approaching and wrapping her arms around Vahn's body as she added, "Though, you're not going anywhere before I get my goodnight kiss..."
With Rias punctuating her words by kissing him, Vahn habitually placed his hands on her waist and reciprocated for nearly a full minute. A slight pout had tinted Koneko's expression by the time they finished, but only briefly as she readied a teleportation circle connecting to her apartment, Rias and Akeno smiling and waving as they vanished in a flash of crimson light...
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"Wait here..." said Koneko, guiding Vahn to sit on the edge of her bed before hurrying to the bathroom. He noticed that she had cleaned up since he was last over, but instead of carefully folding and placing things away in drawers, all the clothes that had previously littered her floor now formed a small mountain in the corner.
'This isn't the precursor to her asking to have sex, is it?' Vahn questioned, prompting Sis to respond, (I estimate there is a 34.28% likelihood of that being the case. She has demonstrated a clear fondness for you, so even if that isn't the case, there is a 99.93% chance she brought you here to bond further.)
'What's the other 0.07%...?' asked Vahn, curious.
(Margin for errors.) responded Sis, her voice sounding almost amused as she appended, (Don't forget that you can always refuse whatever she suggests, Vahn. You do not need to sacrifice your comfort to facilitate the comfort of others.)
'Well...let's see how things go...' responded Vahn. He knew Sis was right, as she almost always was, but since he would presumably be spending the next several thousand years with Koneko near Rias's side, he believed they should at least try to get along.
Emerging from her bathroom with nothing but a towel in hand, dabbing her still shower-moist hair, Koneko carefully gauged Vahn's reaction to her nakedness. He didn't avert his eyes or avoid looking, but after a cursory glance at her body, he raised his gaze and held hers with an expression reminiscent of her impassive mask, clearly waiting to hear her speak and explain what she had in mind.
Flipping things around, Koneko asked, "Are you planning to sleep like that, or did you want to enter the Corridor?"
Nodding, Vahn responded, "If you're okay with it, I would like to enter the Corridor. I'm currently trying to get as strong as possible as quickly—"
Interrupting Vahn, Koneko offered a curt "Alright" before making her way over the pile of clothes and digging through them in search of a cosplay outfit reminiscent of something a middle schooler would wear in anime. The top was white with red trim and had Class and name written across the chest, while the bottoms were form-fitting red buruma with two white stripes on each side. All things considered, it was a more practical outfit than her comparably restrictive Kuoh Academy girls' uniform, so once she completed it with a pair of red fingerless gloves and crawled onto his lap, Vahn transported them to the Corridor for a full night, approximating two and a half days of training with just the two of them...
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