Chapter 17 -:17 Rias exclaimed
"I honestly couldn't say." Kiba replied, grimacing even as he glared defiantly into Xenovia's eyes "I'd already been cut by the Holy Sword by that point. If whoever it was hadn't jumped in, Freed would've cut my head off." He ignored Rias' look of alarm "All I know is that he fought with twin Chinese swords that took the shape of angel wings when he destroyed the Excalibur."
"Angel Wings...a Sacred Gear user?" Irina wondered even as Xenovia scowled "Whoever he is, he can't be affiliated with the Vatican or Protestants if he uses Eastern Blades...did you notice anything else about him?"
"Nothing," Kiba countered "as I said, I'd already been cut by Freed's Holy Sword, so just keeping my eyes open was tough enough. Last I saw he was gathering the Excalibur shards after Freed ran away."
"So there's a third party involved in all this." Xenovia muttered, her expression dark as she released her grip on Kiba's collar, glaring down at the Knight as he glared up at her "I thank you for the information, Sempai, but from now on kindly see to it that you don't involve yourself any further in our affairs. Let's go, Irina."
"Ah, right!" Irina stammered, pausing only to offer Issei a farewell and a promise to 'judge him' later before hurrying to follow her partner wherever it was they were going, leaving the Devils of the Gremory group to tend to their own.
"Are you okay, Issei-san?" Asia asked, the shy Bishop placing her small palms on the Pawn's stomach, her Sacred Gear, Twilight Healing, slowly healing the narrow cut Irina's Excalibur Mimic had left with a soothing light.
"Damn it..." The lecherous Pawn muttered, utterly shamed at having embarrassed himself in front of not only Asia, but the rest of the Gremory Peerage after shooting his mouth off like he did "Sorry to worry you like this, Asia."
"I'm just glad that the wound was minimal despite it coming from a Holy Sword." Asia admitted with a sigh of relief, her shoulders trembling slightly "I honestly thought you were going to die back there, Issei-san."
"Hey, I'm the one who should apologise." Issei stammered, waving off the former nun's admittedly well-placed concerns before she broke into tears "I'm the one who messed up and ended up blowing your clothes away!"
"That's alright." Asia assured him with a saintly smile that, were she not a devil now, would've surely been accompanied by a halo & choir "I'm sure you were planning something completely different, right Issei-san? I'm just glad you're okay."
'Are we sure Rias brought you back as a Devil and not an Angel?' Issei wondered, bathing in that radiant smile despite knowing all too well the only thing on his mind at the time had been seeing Irina au natural, the pervy Pawn flinching as Koneko proceeded to massage his shoulders.
"...You might have won if you'd boosted one more time." The taciturn Rook opined, completely heedless of Issei's grunts of pain as she dug her fingers into his soft, tender flesh with all her enhanced Rook strength.
'I'd have definitely won if you hadn't given away my secret technique!' Issei wanted to retort, but thought better of angering the little Rook, especially given she already had a grip on him. One set of injuries was enough, thank you very much.
"So tell me, Yuuto." Rias demanded, the group looking up to see their King sitting across from her Knight, arms folded beneath her breasts, the frown on her face belying the concern in her eyes "How long were you planning to wait before telling me you had a run-in with Freed and an Excalibur?"
"I was actually planning to tell you the minute I arrived at the Clubroom." Yuuto admitted, his tone honest, implying no falsehood, as he gazed at his clenched fists "I'm sorry I let my anger at the Holy Swords put you on the spot like that."
"It's nothing." Rias assured him with a sigh "I'm just glad you and Issei came out of it without permanent injury." Her eyes narrowed "Still, this third party you mentioned concerns me...can you truly recall nothing about them that might determine their allegiance?"
"I only said that to those two so they wouldn't go running after him before we had a chance to ask him ourselves." Yuuto countered, a wry smirk adorning his lips "Well, that and the fact that after he destroyed the Excalibur, he stuck around to check if I was alright before leaving with the shards, so I figured I owed him that much. Either way, I definitely got more than a 'Good Look' at him."
"Nice one, Kiba!" Issei cheered, pumping his fist in appreciation of the handsome Knight's cunning, only to grimace as the cut on his abdomen stung in protest of his sudden actions.
"Indeed," Akeno noted, the Thunder Priestess' sultry smile sending shivers of trepidation down the spines of everyone exposed to it, even Rias "How particularly devilish of you, Kiba-kun, lying to your cute kohai like that, and for a complete stranger too!"
"I wouldn't say he's a stranger," Kiba countered, smiling wanly as Akeno blinked in confusion "In fact, if memory serves, he's been an object of interest for both you and Sona-Kaichou for some time now, Buchou."
"Emiya-kun?" Rias exclaimed, Akeno's eyes widening in surprise even as Issei grimaced at the mention of the Brownie of Kuoh, still nursing a grudge from the time the bastard broke his nose and got off scot-free"Are you absolutely certain, Yuuto?"