So yeah, the meeting was pretty tame, at least by my standards. After all, the ones I have been to were those that had knives, poison and a few explosions as appetizers, followed shortly by decapitations, skewing and occasional property damage.
...
"Well then, it is nice hearing the words from the leaders of the groups and the two dragon emperors…" My thoughts were interrupted by Azazel who was now looking at me with a steady eye. "Perhaps it is time for the other participants to join in. How about the one who fought with Kokabiel? What do you say, Steel Mage?"
"Why do you keep calling me that?" I started off my words with that question. "Ever since that time at the bar, that nickname keeps getting used."
"Well, considering what Vali has told me" Azazel used his thumb to reference the youth next to him. "You are someone who has a taste for some old weaponry and the old school of fighting arts, not to mention what I hear of you materializing weaponry of divine nature, the nickname will suit you nicely."
"I am curious myself." The Archangel Michael turned to me with a gentle smile and curiosity evident in his eyes. "I was told a great deal from the report by Lady Griselda, and I find myself rather intrigued about you supposedly having a number of weapons contracted to you. Not to mention the shards being attracted to you."
"Perhaps a demonstration is in order?" Griselda spoke as she turned to me. "Would you be so kind as to show them the Excalibur Shards?"
"..." I turned my head briefly to glance at the devils by my side, noting their expressions of slight apprehension before letting out a tired sigh. I stood up and made my way to an empty spot, feeling their eyes on my back as I took a moment to gather my thoughts and find the dimensional portal I stored the Excalibur Shards in. With a light nod, I gestured with my hand to open the portal, and with a bit of dramatic flair, stuck my arm into it and made a show of trying to grab the handle before pulling the sword out of the portal slowly.
"Oh my." The female angel spoke for the first time in the entire meeting while Michael looked on with solemn eyes and Azazel seemed to straighten his back in the presence of the sword. I ignored them for the time being and focused on drawing the weapon out carefully. Once that was done, I placed the blade portion on my palm and presented to the Archangel.
"This is the form the shards have taken…" Michael seemed to have temporarily stopped breathing as he gently took the sword from my hands. His eyes widen as he momentarily fumbled with the sword. "It is a lot heavier than I thought."
"That might be due to the restrictions on it that came about during the creation." I spoke as I looked at the sword that glowed under my watch. "The weapons that form the infrastructure for the sword have their roots in Arthurian Mythology and are often associated with tests of worthiness. Those traits got past over to this, so now the only way to wield it properly is to fulfill certain conditions."
That was the truth, I just did not need to tell them that said weapons happened to be that of King Arthur of my world.
"Hmm…" The angel hummed as he tried to examine the runes on the guard. "Strange, these symbols are that of the Faes, yet there is something else mixed in it."
"A hidden message, huh?" Azazel peered from his side, his analytic eye scrutinizing every aspect of the sword. "Interesting, it seems you created weapons based on concepts that can be compatible with the shards. How intriguing…"
"Well, since those two are preoccupied, we will start asking instead." Sirzechs remarked while looking at them with a raised eyebrow. "What do you feel about this situation with the Three Factions? Do you desire peace as well?"
"Honestly speaking, I am fine as long as the secrets of the Moonlit World is kept under wraps from the normal folk. But I can also say that as much as I would like peace, it is something that would not come without a heavy price-tag."
"So you feel that peace is impossible?" Sirzechs tilted his head.
"What I feel is that the peace that the people in this room desire is likely to be very different from what I desire." I spoke that part out with definite certainty, the tone finally breaking the concentration of Michael and Azazel from their observations of Excalibur.
"Oh? What do you mean?" Azazel asked with that ever-present smirk.
"You want to have peace, but does that peace extend to the humans for that matter?" I asked as I looked at the Fallen Angel in the eye. "Can you honestly say that you will not involve any innocent humans during this transition? Normal humans who cannot defend themselves?"
"Well…" The fallen angel gave a shrug with that irritating smirk as an answer, knowing full well the impossibility of having proper peace among the different groups. That was when someone decided to make his opinion known to me.
"Why bother worrying about those weak humans?" All of us turned to Vali who was looking at me with a keen eye. "You should not concern yourself with them. They will only hold you back."
"You do realize that I am one of those 'weak' humans?" I narrowed my eyes while feeling both [Hell's Trident] and the Excalibur pulsing with supposed anger at the fellow. Michael on his part looked at the Excalibur with a slight hint of trepidation as it glowed brightly with a bit of heat.
"You are different." Vali gestured with his hand. "You have the strength to prove yourself, and no offense, the parts on 'normal' or 'weak' don't quite extend to you. You should not stick to saving, you should be using your strength in more… 'Recreational' ways." His eyes seemed to turn to slits as he maintained his gaze on me. "For that matter, I doubt the bit on 'human' would also apply to you."
"Vali." Azazel interrupted the tense moment with a single word, a notable tone present as he spoke and the distinct frown on his face. The person in question merely shrugged and leaned back into his chair, but his eyes were still trained on me, seemingly waiting for a reaction from that comment.
"Sorry about that." Azazel gave an apologetic smile at me. "What do you feel about our topic?"
"As I have said, I am convinced that the peace is not something that can be agreed on so easily. Considering your factions have been going at it for all these years, be it on or off the battlefield, it won't be simple to just tell your groups to put down arms." I spoke while maintaining an eye on Vali. "Kokabiel would be the primary example."
"True." Azazel nodded with a sheepish smile.
"That said, my words may not matter much to any of your kind…" I noted the slight shiftiness of the leaders and some of the devils by my side but soldered on. "But my part still stands. I am willingly to give this a shot as long as the normal folk don't get dragged along to our side of the world. No one is ready for this scale of the supernatural."
"Were you?" Sirzechs asked, likely using this opportunity to probe me.
"My teachings were… unorthodox. I knew about the supernatural when I was young, but it was a few years later I got a taste of what I was getting myself into." I replied while thinking back to the Holy Grail War. "Then again, no matter what type of preparation you have, one can never be truly ready, unless you are an entity that had no emotions at all or tortured from birth to do so."
"So…" Serafall put a finger to her chin as she looked at all of us. "Does that mean you are okay with the idea we have or not?"
"… For now I will follow." I paused before looking at them hard. "But make no mistake. If any of your kind were to attack the humans in any way, I will take them down. That is the role given to me and I will enforce it."
"Oh…" Azazel gave that ever so irritating smirk. "And how will you enforce it?" To that I gave a smirk of my own that seemed to scare my fellow classmates slightly given the manner they were backing from me.
"I was hoping you would ask that."
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A/N : The Story Needs More Power Stones ;)
PS : if we can reach 400 Stones by the end of the week, I will throw you an extra chapter
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