True Magician

Chapter 193

The Emiya Residence.

While I hummed to myself and sipped the coffee Rea-chan had given me, Azazel, sitting opposite me, glared at me irritably, because we hadn't started discussing the situation.

- "What are we waiting for?" he finally asked.

- "Relax, we won't miss anything important," I waved my hand. "Well, what are we waiting for? Them, of course."

In the next moment, Sirzechs, Grayfia, and two others whom Azazel did not expect to see here arrived in a scarlet flash of a magic circle.

- "I understand the presence of Sirzechs and Grayfia, since they kidnapped Rias and her entourage, but what are Seraphim and her sister doing here?" he raised an eyebrow.

- "Hello, Azazel," Sirzechs greeted him and sat down on the sofa, Grayfia stood behind him, and Sona bowed and took a seat to the side, like her sister.

- "Oh, you're not happy to see me? Bad Azazel-kun, bad!" Serafall pouted indignantly and winked at me. "Ro-tan called Sona and me here. Why, by the way?"

- "You could say I'm giving you a chance, but more on that later," I smiled, causing Serafall and Sona to pause for a moment, but judging by their surprised looks, they began to guess what I meant. "You see, Issei's house, along with Rias and the others inside, has been kidnapped by the Chaos Brigade. Also among the kidnapped are Vali's team and one small infinity dragon. Nothing important, in short."

- "Rias-chan was kidnapped?!" Serafall exclaimed along with Sona, then she glanced at the suspiciously calm Sirzechs. "So this was your idea, wasn't it, Azazel-kun?"

- "Yeah, otherwise he wouldn't have put Ophis in Issei's house with Vali. If it were my house, they wouldn't have had the balls to pull a stunt like that," I nodded for them as I began cleaning my ear with my pinky, which they took calmly, even considering the mention of Vali, about whom the Fallen One had not said a word. "But here's the question, why did you, Azazel, turn to me for help, huh?"

- "I found out that there's a split brewing in the Chaos Brigade," Azazel began after a short silence. "They want to use the poison of Samael, who was freed from Cocytus, to steal Ophis's power."

- "Azazel and I saw this as an opportunity to get rid of, if not all, then at least half of the Chaos Brigade," continued Sirzechs. "And you are right, Romani-san. If this were your home, they would not have dared to act, and that is why a decoy was necessary."

Of course, these words resonated, because they were spoken by Sirzechs himself, who was a defeated sis-con. Even I was surprised, not to mention Sonya, Serafall, and Rea-chan.

- "Oya? You used your sister as bait? Are you really Sirzechs?" I chuckled. "And I still haven't heard an answer to my question. Although, wait a minute, I think I'm starting to understand where I fit into this equation. A backup, isn't it?"

- "You're right again, Romani-san," Sirzechs nodded. "And it was Rias's wish."

- "Can you elaborate?" I asked with interest.

- "Rias volunteered to be the bait herself," Azazel began. "She somehow managed to overhear our conversation with Sirzechs, and after discussing it with Issei and the others, she came to us and declared her desire to participate in all of this."

- "At first, I was categorically against it, but Rias-chan kept insisting, no matter how many times she was refused, saying that she wanted to experience the fruits of her training in real combat, and... I gave in," Sirzechs sighed, and Grayfia shook her head. "In the end, we agreed that you would be our backup if anything got out of hand, Romani-san."