The Player is a Part-Timer

Chapter 17: Dark Storm Brewing (part 2)

"That's good news, I guess."

"Yes..." Wobbly, Xenovia stood up, looking at her sword, Excalibur Destruction. A black sword full of lustre, divinity and the power of destruction.

"..."

Wordless, she reached towards the sword, only to pull her hand back. She did not feel the same connection like back then, almost like the weapon shunned her. Doing so because she forced it to go against its true master.

"Xenovia, look, we..."

"I am fine, really." She waved away her comrade's worry, annoyed. "We need to find a way to take her in! There must be a loophole we can use!"

"Are you still thinking she was the one?"

"We have no other suspect, Irina. She must be the one." No matter how she tried to look, the exorcist with blue hair was convinced it was her. They found no other trace ever since coming here, and they looked everywhere in the city!

"Shouldn't we simply convince her to come with us? Like simply asking? I am sure, if we ask nicely, she will..."

"Asking a blasphemer to confess?" Xenovia almost scoffed! "Besides, we already tried that, and see where it led!"

Well, Irina wouldn't call it a nice invitation. Should they just ask nicely before demanding, maybe?

"Then, what do you propose? As you can see, we couldn't defeat her, even with Excalibur."

"I don't know! Dammit!" Xenovia clenched her fist, looking down at her hardened hands helplessly.

"We can always call for reinforcements. Or wait until Cesare-san finishes his investigation. If we..."

"Do you propose to admit our failure? To ask the help of that man? What God and the Seraph would think? What would our master do to us?"

"Ugh!?"

Punishment and repentance ordered by God? She had no problem with that. She would take any burden the holy maiden deemed necessary. But to face their master's wrath? That's something neither of them would risk.

"We need to kidnap her it seems, while she is sleeping."

"But... that's shady! That's not honorable!" Irina squirmed uneasily at the idea. "Only devils would do such a villainous thing!"

"Yet, that's our only choice now. If she is truly innocent, we can apologise and repent later. If not, well, we fulfilled our mission."

Though Irina didn't like the idea at all, it was a lot better than the alternative.

"I still don't like it, but very well. Though, we still need to explain the thing that happened with Excalibur."

"We will do that later; but first, we need to complete our task."

"I guess, you are right."

Nodding, the two girls geared up, on to set out for their mission. Like zealots, even discarding the warning, they were given. Not even suspecting, someone already watched their every step from the far.

"Well, well, well... the two stray exorcists set out, and with what interesting toys! Our sources were correct, after all."

Adjusting his glasses, the shady figure grinned, standing on a rooftop not far from the abandoned church. The cold breeze of night air brushed against his curly hair and thin trimmed moustache.

"Ah, finally!"

In the next moment, he heard the soft landing, akin to someone arriving at his location.

"Have you captured our blackmail material? It is important to have something in our hands against that person. I heard she can be quite volatile when not kept on leash."

"The collection of the first target finished. The rest is in progress." Reported the fallen man behind him.

"Mmmm! Good."

He right away heard the struggle, voice muffled by something in their mouth, tightly bound.

"And will it be effective?"

"According to our information, the target is quite close to them." Reported one of his assistant exorcists, standing not far from him. "Analysing her pattern of behaviour, our sources reported; statistically, it is improbable our target will not bend to our request once we provide what she can lose."

"Good! Splendid! In that case, let's start the operation. The first step, collect the two fragments. Bring back the dears to the one who truly understands their struggle." Rubbing his strangely smooth hands together, the bespectacled man grinned in anticipation.

He need not wait any longer, and his cherished pieces will help bolster his research further!

"What should we do with the exorcists?"

"Ah! Those girls? They are of no importance. Kill them? Spare them? I entrust it to you. Alas, more subjects for my research never hurts. So, capturing them alive is preferable..." For a moment, he started to ponder. One dared not to question what kind of twisted ideas circulated in his mind. "I wonder how my new serum works on exorcists — Especially two young promising ones like them. Young people are so much more malleable than the old. Easy to shape...."

As such twisted ideas appeared in his mind, his staff behind him shuddered, seeing firsthand what kind of monstrosities this man had grown in his lab.

The endgame for this long-awaited confrontation started; one can only wonder where it will lead.

What fate awaits the Exorcist duo?

Can they escape? Or is their fate already sealed?

Who was the mysterious blackmail material?

Will Dominus and his group gain mercy? Or forever join the long list of dead the dark lord left?

What is Kokabiel's real plan to subjugate his opponents?

Will the Original Dark Lord be dragged into this mess? Will her secret finally be revealed?

Many and more questions still need to be answered!

To find them, read further and find out!