Reincarnated into a Multiverse, but High School DxD

Before this, Rias and her group had only been involved in minor scuffles. It was not until Kokabiel appeared that the enemy's combat strength began to skyrocket, leaving everyone except the Oppai Dragon Emperor completely unable to keep up.

What was hard to judge was that, after nearly being wiped out by Kokabiel in one fell swoop, Rias and the others still had no intention of training to improve themselves.

Of course, Ren had already changed the plot, allowing Akeno Himejima and Koneko, who would not change their mindsets until more than ten volumes later, to accept the power of their bloodlines in advance.

"Because the holy swords bore special markings, we tracked the stray exorcists to Sardinia. But when we arrived, the holy swords were no longer there. Only a few stray exorcists had remained behind, and we learned everything from them."

It was obvious.

Kokabiel's goal was to let the Church know where the holy swords had gone, which was why he had his subordinates leave behind such conspicuous traces.

Thus, after Xenovia and the others captured them, the stray exorcists offered up everything without much resistance.

At that point, half of Kokabiel's plan had already succeeded.

"Although we do not know what Kokabiel intends to do, one thing is certain: the holy swords must never fall into the hands of the fallen angels."

"I have already reported this to my superiors. Your foremost mission is to retrieve the holy swords. If you cannot accomplish that, then you must destroy them."

"Yes!"

Xenovia and Irina Shidou snapped to attention.

However, strange expressions soon appeared on their faces.

"Lady Griselda, will we have any other support? The two of us may not be able to handle Kokabiel. After all, he is an executive."

The two girls were confident in their own strength, but their opponent had even fought gods before. The gap in power was too great to bridge, even with holy swords.

"Unfortunately, there will be no other support."

Griselda spread her hands helplessly.

"Huh? It really is just the two of us?"

Irina Shidou's eyes widened in surprise.

How was this any different from sending them to their deaths?

Of course, she did not fear death. She would even gladly die fighting for the Church and for God's glory. But this was obviously a trap.

"Yes. That is what the higher-ups have decided as well. Of course, considering the distance, I applied for additional travel expenses for you."

Hearing that, the two girls fell silent, but they quickly straightened their chests again.

This was a mission valued by the Seraphs of Heaven.

They absolutely could not fail.

Even if they died!

"Ren, what about you?"

Griselda looked toward the young man.

If this had merely been a simple search mission, she would not have interfered with Ren's decision. But knowing that their opponent was Kokabiel, she did not want Ren to walk into danger either.

Naturally, she was also reluctant to let Xenovia and Irina Shidou face such a powerful enemy alone.

But she could not refuse the orders from above.

And she did not understand them either.

As for Ren—

He was a mercenary and had every legitimate reason to refuse.

This was, after all, a power struggle between Heaven and the fallen angels.

If possible, she did not want unrelated people to get involved.

Ren said, "Don't worry. I understand everything now."

Griselda breathed a sigh of relief. "It is good that you understand."

Then she watched Ren pull out two Desert Eagles and say expressionlessly, "So my mission now is not only to recover the holy swords, but also to take down the evil fallen angel Kokabiel, right?"

Griselda: "..."

No.

What exactly had he understood?

But Ren's attitude was resolute, and she could not persuade him otherwise.

Meanwhile, Xenovia and Irina Shidou's favorability toward Ren rose sharply.

They had not been confident either. Now that they finally had reinforcements, they did not know whether the three of them could defeat Kokabiel, but at least their chances were no longer infinitely close to zero.

After leaving the office.

"Thank you, Ren."

"I thought you were just a lazy, lecherous, money-grubbing mercenary. I had no idea what Sister Griselda saw in you. But I have changed my mind about you now. You are still lazy, lecherous, and money-grubbing, but you are brave."

Xenovia smiled.

"After we come back from this battle, you are treating us to a meal!"

"Mm-hmm! And from now on, I will not mind that you secretly peeked at Xenovia's and my chests before! Amen."

Irina Shidou agreed wholeheartedly as well.

Ren found it hard to keep a straight face after hearing that.

So that was how the two of them had always seen him.

And what was wrong with sneaking a peek?

If a beautiful girl wearing a skintight outfit stood beside him and he did not look, Ren would respect him as a real man!

About the Same as the Goddess of Water

Chapter 74

After Ren left.

The troubled Griselda contacted her superior, the Seraph Gabriel.

Normally, she would not contact a Seraph without permission. After all, the Seraphs needed to remain in the Seventh Heaven to maintain the system's normal operation.

The system governed the Church's normal operations throughout Heaven.

After God disappeared, the system had become increasingly unstable.

Yet maintaining its operation alone had already exhausted the Seraphs' full strength.

Gabriel answered Griselda's call. Accompanied by a golden holy light, she appeared before her.

After the female six-winged angel in white robes looked at her, she spoke gently.

"Griselda, what is the matter?"

"Lady Gabriel, it is still about the holy swords. I do not understand. Since we have confirmed that the culprit is the fallen angel executive Kokabiel, why was my request for additional reinforcements denied? Xenovia and Irina Shidou's chances of defeating Kokabiel on their own are practically zero."

"They... might die there."

Hearing this, Gabriel let out a soft sigh.

"I regret it, but Michael and I both know Kokabiel very well. Do you know why he went to such lengths to move the holy swords to Japan?"

"I do not..."

Griselda shook her head slightly.

"It is said that the younger sister of the Lucifer Demon King has a territory in Japan. Kokabiel intends to use the holy swords and the Demon King's younger sister as leverage, deliberately drawing our two factions into sending powerful figures capable of rivaling him."

"If Michael, I, or any other Seraph goes there, we will fall into his trap."

"The Underworld is the same. If the Lucifer Demon King emerges from the Underworld to confront him, the consequences will be irreversible."

"...A three-way war?"

Griselda quickly understood Gabriel's implication.

In truth, the ancient war had never truly ended. The three factions had merely declared an indefinite ceasefire.

If Kokabiel truly lured out both a Seraph and a Demon King, the unfinished flames of war from that era might reignite.

And now, neither Heaven nor the Underworld had any interest in war.

Thus, if Kokabiel succeeded, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Once war began, it would no longer stop because of any one person's will.

"But with only those two... this is sending them to their deaths..."

Even so, Griselda remained worried.

"Indeed, they will never be Kokabiel's match. But if they can destroy the holy swords, that will be enough. If they die in battle, I will personally guide their souls to Heaven."

At that, Gabriel gave a soft laugh.

"However, are they not accompanied by an outside helper? If he can find the holy swords first, there is still room to salvage the situation."

"..."

After leaving Heaven, Ren teleported back to Kuoh Town.

By coincidence, he ran into Akeno Himejima and Koneko, who had come to visit after school.

Because time was short, they did not head to the outskirts. Instead, they trained in the manor's courtyard.

After several days, Akeno Himejima could already draw out the light energy within her body and form it into spears of light. But compared to Raynare, a fallen angel who could do so effortlessly, she still had a long way to go.

Koneko had also learned to control the flow of qi and was studying basic senjutsu under Kuroka's guidance.

Seeing Ren suddenly appear in the courtyard, the girls stopped what they were doing and looked at him in surprise.

"Do not mind me. Just keep going."

After saying that, Ren walked over to a reclining chair and lay down.

He opened the system map.

The target marked by the mission was slowly approaching Kuoh Town.

Since Japan was not very large, the process might not even take half a day.

Seeing that, Ren dismissed the thought of making a move immediately.

Their destination was Kuoh Town anyway. Sooner or later, they would appear nearby. When that happened, all he had to do was seize every holy sword before Xenovia and the others arrived.

Having decided what to do next, Ren lay comfortably in the chair to rest.

Lavinia sat quietly nearby, sometimes watching Akeno and Koneko train as well.

Who knew how much time passed.

As night fell, Akeno Himejima and Koneko temporarily ended their training.

Before dinner, Akeno Himejima came over to Ren, who had already put on an eye mask and was sleeping soundly.

"Today at school, I told Rias about your suggestion."

"Why did you only tell her now? Do you not know that time is money?"

Akeno Himejima felt rather helpless upon hearing that.

Could he really blame her?

Were not the things he said simply too explosive?

And Rias was very sensitive, while her emotions were also unstable because of her family matters.

If Akeno repeated Ren's sharp criticism word for word, Rias might have broken down on the spot.

To take care of her best friend's feelings, she had spent several days putting together a gentler way to say it.

But even so.

After Rias recognized the truth of the situation, she still broke down emotionally.

As the eldest daughter of the Gremory family, what she hated most was having others see her as some pampered young lady. So, in order to change that impression, she did everything herself whenever she could.