rure
patreon
Overlord of biblical proportions: Return of the Biblical God (3)
🕑 Added 2024-11-09 15:52:29 +0000 UTCFortunately for Momonga’s paranoia, Pandora's Actor had assured him that the ordinary exorcists would be unable to detect his Undead nature through his human disguise. So, this time in his infiltration, Momonga decided to try going without his ring that completely blocks any effect or ability that would, as his friends put it, detect his ‘power levels’.
After all, as Momonga himself had discovered, sometimes the fact that an opponent could not get any information about him, would be even more dangerous than an opponent who was still able to learn a couple a small bit. A complete unknown is dangerous, someone having a lot of secrets if just par for the norm.
Of course, this did not mean that Momonga was going to go and proclaim his true nature to all and sundries. But, given that his infiltration of the church would only put him into contact with several agents, agents who are not above level fifteen, his secret would be safe… He still made sure to cast some illusions over himself, just in case.
To everyone else, the Eight-ranked illusion spells were something incredible, to Momonga, it felt as if he was not wearing anything at all. He feels exposed just defending himself with such weak spells, no matter if he did not specialize in such spells, he has the equipment for it… Equipment that he could not wear if he wants to remain low-key.
Still, he felt practically naked going to his own church, and if it were not for the need he felt to understand the religion whose god he was supposed to be usurping, he would not be doing so. In fact, he would prefer not to touch such a thing with a mile-long pole. But needs must… He needed to do this, so he would do it to the best of his capability. But there’s no need to overthink things.
Therefore, Momonga's plan was simple in essence, he did not even plan to spend all the allocated few weeks he had given to Nazarick in going undercover. After all, he only needed the most minimal of understanding, something like ‘this is the good god of hunting and children’, to understand the ‘portfolio’, their domains, so to speak of the god that he was supposed to be.
And, if later, he’s called out for acting ‘out of character’, he could simply get away from the accusation by blaming the passage of time for his changed personality… Or power sets… Or even looking entirely different from how he was depicted in the ‘past’.
To do so, Momonga needed at least the barest of understanding of how the Christian God acted, something that he was planning to spend at most three to four days doing. During such a short period of time, he was unlikely to meet any extremely dangerous opponent who could look past his disguise. Or, worse, force him to reveal himself.
Of course, having learned his mistake in his infiltration efforts as Suzuki Satoru, having to deal with his ‘father’ and ‘brother’, the less said about Miki the better, Momonga would make sure to study his infiltration spot. Who to talk to and who not to, and where the various groups’ territories started and ended.
In general, everything that Pandora's Actor could transmit and had studied. Maybe not to the point where he would memorize the information – but this time, Momonga was absolutely serious about not getting into any trouble.
Though, then again, maybe it was just his paranoia talking – he was not expecting to meet any serious dangers.
After all, he was going to a pre-scouted location, and the only possible variable relatively close to him, the Fallen Angels', had already been destroyed. And he was going under someone else's disguise, one that was already prepared for him by Pandora’s Actor – and despite his eccentricities, Pandora’s Actor is very well versed in infiltrations.
In general, Momonga had prepared as much as he possibly could. The only problem was that unlike Pandora's Actor, who could freely change his bodies and forms, Momonga could not. Even with the spell he had acquired in this world, [Create Body], which had allowed him to disguise himself as Satoru, he could not take the form of a woman like Pandora's Actor could as a [Greater Doppelgänger]. Therefore, should any issue or emergency arise, where he needs to change form, he could not easily change his body.
But of course, that was only in the worst case possible – his lack of ability in changing forms easily, an absolute trifle that absolutely, definitely, could not affect his infiltration in any way.
Hopefully…
Taking a deep breath to steel his resolve, he glanced towards Miki, who came to see Momonga off on his short three-day business trip – it would be like a wife seeing off their husband on a business trip… If the train station, in question, is actually just the foyer of the house and Momonga’s relationship with Miki isn’t so complicated.
Momonga nodded to himself, as if asserting to the world that his infiltration into the church on the other side of the world, absolutely, definitely could not go wrong in any way, With a flex of his will, he cast [Gate], and crossed thousands of kilometers in one step as he went in the dark portal, appearing in a dark alley, that is already pre-scouted of course, near his target location.
Momonga's eyes, being Undead, were not at all constrained by darkness, and therefore he had no trouble seeing the unnatural shadow on the wall, darker than even the darkest spot in the alley. The moment he stepped out of the portal, the shadow started rumbling, before it suddenly turned from a two-dimensional shape into a facsimile of a three-dimensional being.
Kneeling on one knee, quite the strange thing to see from the Shadow Demon, with a warbling voice that is characteristic to their species, the Demon greeted Momonga.
"Lord Momonga!"
"Shadow Demon," Momonga patronizingly nodded to the level thirty creature specializing in stealth and reconnaissance, like he had practiced many times in front of the mirror, it would not do for a boss to be too courteous to their subordinate after all. Nodding to himself, in his mind at least, a thought struck him.
Shadow Demon was the name of the race, or, more precisely, a mob in Yggdrasil. Naturally, Yggdrasil mobs did not have their own personal names, as Players absolutely did not care about them, being the automatically created MOB. The developers themselves considered it a meaningless effort to create specific names for creatures that would not live past a couple of minutes after their spawn.
Level 30 is really no better than decoration, not even strong enough to function as meat shields against level 100 Players – even if now their varied skills and skills have found some use.
However, here in the real world, even weak mobs like Shadow Demons were their own beings, that is, they could quite well have names. Interesting, did the Shadow Demon have its own name? Something that it refers to itself as? Or was its name also just Shadow Demon?
And more importantly, did it have its own unique personality, different from other shadow demons? That would make it unique – a catnip to a Collector like Momonga.
Momonga pondered for a moment more, before shaking his head. This is not the time to indulge in his hobby, he was, after all, in the middle of a job, something that he should put his whole focus in… Maybe in the future, it’s not like the Shadow Demon is going anywhere, after all.
"The reconnaissance results?"
"As Lord Pandora’s Actor had reported, all the surveillance subjects are where they are expected to be, and are continuing with their routine. Specifically speaking – subject A-1, Mother Superior Rosa Fonshtein is..." Speaking simultaneously with zeal yet with military precision, and managing to do all this using a wavering voice resembling the splash of distant well water, the demon began speaking their report. However, Momonga was well aware of exactly how long it would take just to list all the people in this city, after all he had seen the encyclopedia-thick report provided by Pandora’s Actor. He hurried to interrupt his subordinate before he could list out all the people in the city.,
"No need to list them, I believe that you and your brethren have handled the assigned task perfectly."
Despite the Shadow Demon normally being a two-dimensional being, taking the form of a shadow spread across surfaces, Momonga could almost see how his ‘praise’ had made the Demon’s chest swell with pride. It was in fact quite scary, seeing the flat figure, looking as if it would burst apart, or the fanatical zeal he could see in the gleaming yellow eyes.
"I am happy to serve, Lord Momonga! Please allow me to serve you with even greater dedication in the future!"
"Ahem, um, I will allow it," Momonga, not entirely sure how exactly he should reply to someone that is happily asking for more work, to be more exploited, coughed awkwardly into his hand before changing the subject. "Ahem, what about the infiltration site? Does anyone suspect Pandora's Actor disappearance – that is, his identity?"
"Lord Pandora's Actor infiltration has remained undetected, his absence has been explained away as Lord Pandora being away on an assignment. Of course, every department of the Holy See believed that Lord Pandora was on an assignment from another department of their own." The Shadow Demon nodded before raising its head up to Momonga, at least he thought the Demon was doing so. Even with his almost perfect Night Vision, it was hard to make out the sickly yellow eyes of the Demon among the shadows.
And yet, Momonga could still feel the weight of expectations expressed in the Demon’s eyes.
Literally begging Momonga for another order from him.
"Yes, ahem, excellent work. I will expect similar efforts from you going forward," Momonga nodded seriously, then before the Shadow Demon could start showering him with compliments and assurances of eternal loyalty, Momonga quickly steered the conversation in a more or less productive direction.
"Now, could you point me towards the church?"
"Of course, Lord Momonga!" The Shadow Demon immediately flowed down the wall like liquid to Momonga's feet and merged into his shadow, which Momonga could distinguish even in such darkness. With a wave, his shadow pointed to the path forward, Momonga, nodding in response, left the dark alley, trying to find the path he needed with his gaze, which the shadow demon instantly began wordlessly indicating.
Momonga's gaze swept across the surrounding streets just as he left the alley, it was both for his safety and because he wanted to take a look at the foreign city. After all, he had only properly been in one Japanese city, and he had enjoyed the chance to look at a world that hadn’t been destroyed yet. So, it was perhaps to be expected that he was somewhat giddy to look at yet another one, and not just any city, one that is in another country, on the other side of the globe.
He could at least allow himself that much, right? After all, in his time there was no Germany anymore, only the European Arcologies – what he’s seeing now is something that not even the most powerful and richest of Tycoons in his time could enjoy. It was very much a unique experience…
Though, the thought of unique things again led Momonga to think of the Fallen Angels he had lost and made him sigh irritably. This city after all, was relatively close to the territory of the Fallen, maybe he could…
‘No… What was he expecting to find there? Even if he ran at his full speed, is he hoping to find a couple of survivors? Leaving my duty, self-ascribed as they are, just to try to find who knows what?’’
This idea was so stupid that even Momonga could easily call it absolute foolishness.
Of course, there was still the possibility that instead of Momonga himself rushing to collect any surviving Fallen, they could find him instead. But could that really happen?
This thought, however, instead of an amused, or expectant chuckle at getting such a windfall, unexpectedly made Momonga feel a slow knot twisting in his stomach…
***
Vali Lucifer is running. Blindly, torn between rage and spite, consumed by madness either way, he was running. His mind simply wouldn't respond to Vali's attempts to regain control, and even Albion's mighty roar, emanating from within his soul and into his consciousness, couldn't pierce through the veil of insanity. It had left Vali bereft of thought as he ran and ran.
Various, conflicting thoughts clashed in his head, with none being the winner, that he could focus his hatred. For Sirzechs, hatred for Michael, fear for Azazel, fear for Tobio, and in all cases – blind, directionless fury.
And the single deepest regret – could he have done something different? Could he have stopped the tragedy that had befallen his new family?
It was a maddening spiral, one could spend eternity pondering whether anything could've changed if Vali, or Azazel, or Tobio, or anyone else in the whole wide Earth and all its possible worlds had done something differently. But what use is it thinking on what ifs? What had happened, happened as it did.
Vali had lost another family – and so Vali ran away.
He couldn't even die honorably in battle, fighting against the Angels and protecting his friends and family. He was too weak, too wounded, his death would achieve nothing – even as he begged, pleaded so that he could fight against just one Angel, Azazel had…
Or perhaps he just panicked and rationalized his panic this way, and that's why he was running away now. Just an immature boy who, when faced with an actual danger, an actual war and not just his preferred one-on-one fight, he had fled.
And he hated himself for it – more than the rest of the world combined would if they were to know that in his veins runs the blood of the Prince of Lies.
He didn't even know where exactly he was running to at the moment. Perhaps in the last moments when his conscious thoughts were still controlling his body, Vali thought of Tobio and was now running somewhere towards Japan… Even when he was doing so on foot.
Or, more likely, he was running without a place in mind, just running from the remains of his family, as far as his feet could carry him. It was not a concrete goal, moving his feet was just the way his mind was trying to distance his mind from the pain. Or perhaps he was actually running away from the people that were chasing him, at this point in time, Vali wouldn’t care if his feet would carry him to the front of the Gates of Heaven itself.
"Catch him!" The voice, a familiar one, did not concern Vali, it didn’t even enter into his ears and register in his mind, but Albion certainly did, and it had made the Dragon roar in joy. Of course, to admit that a Dragon needed help would be a mark against their pride – but at this point, Albion would even accept Ddraig’s help.
Say what you will, but Albion had grown quite attached to his newest host, and anything that would help his host, is all good for the Dragon.
"Bind him, Le Fay!"
The spell was enough to even bind a Cadre for a moment, strong enough to tear a normal person to shreds, Vali took it without a pause in his steps. His blinded mind registered the attack, his body now moving towards attacking the threat… Before he stopped. Not because he had recognized the speaker or the one attacking him, but simply because it was at that moment, stopping in his steps, that his body recognized that Vali had reached his limits.
In fact, he had hit that limit a long time ago, Vali having not truly recovered after his momentary clash with Sirzechs.
All he could do, before Le Fay's magic bound him, was to snap with an elbow strike. It was still a perfectly executed attack, before it was blocked by a blade, appearing as if from nowhere. The young man, emerging from behind Le Fay, caused Vali to freeze, this was a genuine threat.
But of course, Arthur Pendragon is a threat to Vali, even if he was in perfect condition, moreso now, in his weakened state, guided only by his instincts.
"Well… Finally! We caught up with him! Why the hell was he running across half of Europe?! And he didn't even stop no matter how hard we called out to him, the bastard!" The two rather similar looking blondes, one wearing a blue witch’s hat another wearing a formal, butler. The witch, Le Fay, was the one who had loudly complained, while the man in the suit, nudged his glasses as he sheathed his holy Blade.
Soon, the two were joined by a third, a short, brown-haired, athletic looking man carrying a staff, dressed in light leather armor with a golden circlet on his head. "Phew, if it wasn't for Le Fay – we would have lost him completely."
"Bikou, have you decided to test how many secret details you can mention per unit of time?" Another, a fourth person, joined in on the conversation as she stared at the still wriggling Vali on the ground, still trying to break out of Le Fay’s spell. The girl, a short, rather scantily dressed woman with anthracite-black hair, pridefully displayed her assets. And she does have a lot to show off – her two prominent cat ears, two equally prominent black cat tails, and two extremely prominent breasts, advantageously emphasized by her clothing, something between a yukata and an evening dress,
"If so, you forgot to add that we're from the Khaos Brigade."
"Both of you, shut up," The tall, male blonde sighed before turning his gaze to Vali, who was currently incapable of any dialogue but still desperately trying to break free from Le Fay's magic.
"Le Fay, are you certain he won't escape?"
"I've rarely tried my spells with Devils, or even half-Devils, especially ones as powerful as Vali, but he's extremely weakened right now. According to my calculations, everything should work," Le Fay sighed, looking at Vali before noticeably becoming dejected. "But it saddens me that we have to restrain him like we're some kind of kidnappers or Vali's enemies."
"You can clearly see we don't have a choice in this matter, Vali is not in his right mind right now." The young man nodded, then sighed while looking at the girl with two cat tails – the nekomata, or more precisely, a nekoshou, a remarkably rare, nearly extinct species of Japanese youkai.
"Kuroka, help Le Fay put Vali to sleep."
"Of course, darling!" Kuroka’s face instantly adopted a bright smile before the young man's face, to which he only scoffed contemptuously and turned away. Kuroka, in Arthur's view, was solely interested in her partner's strength and the minimal chance that he might reciprocate her feelings, all in order to make strong babies. Is Kuroka’s affections real? Who knows.
Therefore, Arthur, being the strongest among her acquaintances, was currently the target of all her advances. Appearance, personality, musical taste, life plans, Kuroka cared little about these since she primarily viewed her partner exclusively as a gene provider for her future offspring. Arthur wasn't quick to accuse Kuroka of infidelity – serious accusations required serious evidence, and Kuroka physically couldn't provide any yet, not being in a relationship with anyone.
However, even if she wouldn't run off to someone stronger than her partner at the first opportunity, Kuroka didn't care about her partner. She was primarily interested in personal strength and good genes, and could only respond to any desire for intimacy or romance with large breasts and erotic behavior. Sounds great for casual sex, but Arthur found it completely unsuitable for a relationship. After all, Kuroka chose Arthur simply because he was strong, not because she valued tea as much as he did, or something similar.
Even with Bikou, she was only bickering with him now because she was stronger than him. If he had been stronger, and Arthur still showed no desire to enter a relationship with her, she would have long since been hanging onto Bikou's neck.
Even now, Vali was likely going to be her next target, when he would come to his senses and fully restore his powers. The moment he returns to his usual form, Kuroka would immediately start hanging onto him, and if he doesn't agree, she'll go looking for the next relationship candidate.
Perhaps some people liked this type of girl – but definitely not Arthur. Besides, he already has someone that he’s interested in. Arthur is not the kind of bastard to be two-timing his beloved.
Arthur watched as Kuroka examined Vali's body from all angles, sealed by Le Fay's magic, as she made incomprehensible hand gestures. Or at least that’s how it looked from his point of view. But, Arthur was a rather mediocre mage, so he could barely distinguish the meaning of her actions anyway. Though, as an experienced combatant, he could understand how Kuroka looked at Vali, and could only wince in sympathy.-
Kuroka wasn't examining Vali's body with hungry eyes, which would at least indicate physical attraction, but rather like an experienced chef might examine a butchered carcass at a farmer's market, with purely professional interest. However, this certainly wouldn't stop her from purring and throwing herself at Vali's neck later. Kuroka had developed similar relationships with Vali in the past… Vali at least had the good sense not to feel any attraction to the cat girl.
Arthur sighed before looking around the location, it wouldn’t do if they were to be ambushed at this point after all. Especially for someone that is playing double agent like Arthur… Or was it as a triple agent? He had lost count by this point.
His ‘job’ as it were, after getting exiled from the Pendragon Family, was to spy on the Khaos Brigade for the Fallen Angel, and then to spy on the Fallen for the Khaos Brigade, or at least a faction in it.
For his ‘infiltration’ of the Fallen he would play along with his current image of being a criminal – hanging around with Kuroka only sold that image even more. After all, Kuroka is a Stray Devil being hunted by the Devils. Not that Azazel would be fooled by that of course, it is hard to hide any secrets against the Governor of the Fallen, but then that is just fine too.
He was, after all, then hired by Azazel to spy on the Khaos Brigade; it is how he had become a triple agent.
It was not like he held any true fealty for either, his only true loyalty was to himself, his paramour, and his sister… And perhaps the small group that had unknowingly started to follow. So, if his job entails him earning resources and payments from both Azazel and Khaos Brigade, all the better for him. He could simply pick the winner by the end.
He would either betray Azazel and join the Khaos Brigade, or betray the Khaos Brigade and join with Azazel. Perhaps not the most noble proposition Arthur Pendragon could imagine – but the times of chivalrous valor had passed into history, now self-interest ruled the world.
So imagine Arthur’s surprise when, being called into the Governor’s office, to negotiate their contract for ‘joining’ the Fallen that he met Vali Lucifer. A half-blood, heir to the most noble of Devil Houses, now under the Fallen Angels' care, with a [Longinus] at his disposal! The [Divine Dividing] itself!
Of course, Arthur didn't suddenly burst with unexpected loyalty and love for Vali, but he did take note of the young Devil. The young man has a charisma to himself that had, slowly, drawn Arthur under his wings. Arthur was, for once, happy with the arrangement, under all the cold persona he had to adopt, to survive after being exiled, Arthur has always been a knight. And of course, it would always help to ensure Le Fay’s safety by adding another strong combatant to the small group that Arthur has.
However, Kokabiel's actions scrambled all these plans.
If not for Le Fay’s quick thinking, Arthur wouldn’t even know where the Fallen had relocated after they had lost their home after the Devil’s, no, Sirzechs’ attack, for it only took one Devil to destroy the Fallen. Of course, at this point Arthur was not going to go under the Fallen’s employ, but he at least felt some attachment to Vali.
Perhaps he could talk with Azazel for some arrangement, surely the Governor knows that his Faction is finished already. It was after all hard to pass up a heavy hitter like Vali.
The decision was made quickly, especially when Arthur and the group learned that Vali had survived, and was in fact cutting through Europe in a beeline East. At first, the group thought that Vali was accomplishing some kind of task, a last order from Azazel of some kind. It didn’t take much for them to learn that Vali had simply been running in a maddened state, the shock of recent events too much for him.
After that the plan was simple – grab Vali, transport him to a quiet secluded place, and give him a few days to recuperate, hoping that it would be sufficient. Of course, it was much easier said than done – they have been chasing Vali down for a long while now.
One could, of course, call it broad daylight kidnapping, but Arthur preferred to term it ‘involuntary hospitalization’.
Now, if only the White Dragon Emperor would cooperate for once!
"It's not working!" Kuroka's voice pulled Arthur from his thoughts and made him shift his gaze to the frowning girl who, nevertheless, looked almost pleased.
Looking at his sister for an answer, Arthur watched as his sister was trying to mentally calculate something before shaking her head.
"He's too strong, plus something inside him is clearly supporting. Can't knock him unconscious… Well, more precisely, it can be done, but not under the current conditions. We need at least a somewhat prepared location with minimally suitable Mana for me to tap into. I have too little reserve to try overpowering him with raw might!" Le Fay sighed explosively and Arthur could only shrug at his sister’s explanation.
As he had admitted to himself, he wasn't a good magician, so he trusted his sister in all, well most, magical judgments. "We need to find some place nearby that could..."
"Okay, what kind of place do you need?" Bikou, who sometimes did allow the shameful miscalculation of letting some right thoughts escape, once again asked the right question. But upon facing a Kuroka snorting out her nose lightly, immediately lost his problem-solving mood!
"Hey! What now?! I'm trying to help here!"
Arthur, once again ignoring the squabble between his two teammates, shifted his gaze to his sister, who just sighed while looking at Vali still trying to break free from the magical bonds that bound him. Seeing the two still bickering, Le Fay finally just spoke the requirements she needed to Arthur.
"Nothing special, just a quiet place with some Mana level, above the average, that should be enough."
"Hmm..." - Arthur pondered for a moment, his familiarity with the magical geography of the surrounding region was as superficial as it can be, but at least he couldn't be denied simple logical wit.
"The nearest town must have a couple of mana sources, if not some mage's hideout, then at least a church. It should do."
Le Fay winced at Arthur’s words. To choose either a mage’s personal atelier, or the church, neither is a good idea. At the minimum, it meant barging in on someone else’s territory, and either by using bribes or threats to be able to use their personal space. Now, while strong handing a lone mage might be possible, trying to do that with the Church is a Bad Idea. Especially if the Church discovers that they’re trying to heal a descendant of Lucifer…
But then again, they’re already part of the biggest and worst terrorist and criminal faction in the world – it’s not like their standing could get any worse.
Besides, finding a place with higher Mana concentration than the background levels that is not already occupied by someone is almost impossible. They might not be that rare, but every single practitioner of magic wants one for their own use.
"We'll just use their place and then disappear, you won't need much time, right?" After getting an uncertain nod from Le Fey, Arthur tried to give her an approving smile.
"See, that's all, so there's no reason to worry. We won't even need to get rough… We'll just ask for help and then leave, simple as that. Kuroka will hide us with her magic, we'll say Vali is delirious from some kind of curse, and while they're gathering exorcists, we'll be long gone. Yes, Vali might find it unpleasant being in a Biblical church, but he's a big boy, he'll deal with it."
After finishing his pep-talk with a bit of an insult towards their troublesome teammate, Arthur smiled at Le Fey, though the encouragement was both for his sister and himself. He personally detested killing peaceful people just living their life, especially if it's something as mundane as trying to use their shelter for ten minutes, so he understood Le Fey's discomfort.
Besides, it was simply the safer option to use peaceful means. Suspicious travelers caused far less investigation from the Holy See than apostates destroying churches, the Angels had completely destroyed the Fallen for similar behavior. So another act of ‘provocation’ of this kind so soon would be ill-advised to say the least.
So, hoisting up the still angrily squirming Vali in his arms, Arthur made himself comfortable under the cloak of pure magic that had fallen on his shoulders, disguising his features. A cheap and rather shoddy disguise, as creating silk from pure mana was an extremely wasteful task even for Le Fey, so this would have to suffice.
Without even having to speak, Arthur’s small group followed his lead as he made his way to the small city, located in the boonies of Germany. His teammates, especially Kuroka and Bikou, needed to disguise their features to pass as humans.
Something that Le Fey was used to doing, a Le Fey that could easily disguise herself just by taking off her Witch’s hat and cloak. Bikou's armor was transformed into normal clothes, a t-shirt and pants combo, just an illusion of course, but enough for the job. While Kuroka herself drew in her tails, and cat ears, and her provocative outfit was also concealed by Le Fey's illusion.
Indeed, they just needed to find a small church and deal with Vali’s mental troubles there, then quickly leave without leaving any traces of their presence. In and out, a five-minute endeavor at most.
What could possibly go wrong?
***
Yasaka-no-Kyubi, the nine-tailed kitsune of Kyoto and one of the leaders of all of Japan's Youkai population, well most of them, made a barely visible sign with her left hand. With that signal, the small agile crow Tengu, instantly jumped to her orders immediately, grabbing Galilei's bloated body; she doesn’t want to entertain the dead man anymore.
The Tengu moved so fast that the Bishop couldn’t even comprehend what was happening, dragging him to his final resting place.
Yasaka, of course, was one of those who preferred to keep her finger on the pulse of the world and preferred to play with marked cards. After all, she was a ruler, and of one of the world's most fragmented factions at that, she could only ‘gamble’ when she already knew of the result.
Japan's youkai population, to call it fractured and free spirited would be putting it mildly, so she periodically had to step over law or morality to achieve her goals and the goals of her entire faction. But, she still has her limits.
So, even if Valper Galilei, captured by her agents as soon as he had stepped a foot in Japan, could still provide some benefit while alive, then Yasaka was quite prepared to sacrifice this benefit to carry out justice.
Yasaka generally tried to approach other religions and mythologies with an open mind, diplomacy was built on understanding after all. And understanding was impossible if your moral or logical principles dictated a certain attitude toward things before you even came into contact with them. However, such moral duality and acceptance had its limits, and for Yasaka, a mother and simply a living being not devoid of empathy, the killing of children went beyond these limits.
So Yasaka would even do a good deed even if it would actually cost her some benefit.
Valper wasn't a fighter, so the Tengu didn't need to do much work to get rid of him. Leading him a bit further into the courtyard, the Tengu would deal with him, after which she would even return his body through official channels to the Christian church. After all, the dead can't tell anything about her questions and methods, and hiding information about him being in Japan at all...
Yasaka would present it as if he was accidentally killed during a skirmish, maybe even write it off as the result of ordinary human crime. After all he was a gaijin with a decent amount of money on him, the Bishop dressed in finery and no small amount of jewelry. Plus with him being unfamiliar with the local customs, without any ability as a fighter, it wouldn’t be very out of place for some criminal to take him as an easy mark…
If the church doesn't believe her explanations… Well, it was no loss for Yasaka, she was already doing this out of good will, something ephemeral like her sense of morality. After he had informed the church of the Heretic’s death, she could simply wash the whole affairs off of her hands, simply being satisfied for doing a good deed.
Besides the works Valper did on the [Holy Swords] and [Holy Element], happily supplied by Valper himself in the documents he had brought with him, is already being studied by her own people. The Church can’t exactly complain when it was their own sloppiness that had allowed the bishop to escape, they could hardly demand his research back.
But even so, rather than his research, Yasaka was more interested in the news the Bishop had brought with him. Information about a certain vampire that had been plaguing the streets of Kyoto.
Since that ill-fated night, Yasaka and her subordinates had failed to catch even a hair of the notorious vampire. The being seemingly vanished into thin air along with all the notable criminals of Kyoto, with only those who hadn't shown up at their ‘workplace’ that day surviving this sudden disappearance.
Interestingly enough, and the reason why Yasaka hadn’t put out a public bounty for the Vampire, the being had exclusively targeted criminals, sometimes finishing them off on the spot. They however didn't take any valuables or documents. Given that the number of bodies and destruction left by the vampire throughout Kyoto was relatively insignificant, one could only assume that the vampire was interested in the criminals themselves for some reason.
Attempting to send her agents to the Vampire Faction, all the way over in Europe, brought her the expected information. That no vampires, strong or weak, had been dispatched to Japan for years, but then of course, even if they did, they would never admit to it.
Yasaka had simply let the matter die down when no further sightings or any dead bodies popped up.
That is of course, until Valper brought news about the Fallen, and their suicidal clash with the Devils before being finished off by the Angels. What could have brought the Fallen to such suicidal madness escape Yasaka – to target the Crimson Devil himself… Yasaka had only met the man Sirzechs Lucifer, once, when his sister Rias Gremory was going to take up residence and leadership and Kuoh. And that single meeting was enough for Yasaka to swear to not even grumble about the loss of Kuoh City to the Devil’s strong arming years ago. Something that the Youkai was still smarting over.
And as expected, the Fallen were beaten black and blue, their population cut down, after killing the Crimson Devil’s father of all things. Of course, not all the Fallen had died in the attack, choosing to escape and try to seek shelter under the umbrella of the Vampires. An umbrella that was cut down to size after the Fallen’s holy counterpart, the Angels, to rain down on them their Final Judgment. According to Valper, the attack was led by the Archangel Michael himself.
In the attack that had finished off the Fallen for good, some Vampires had even the misfortune to be caught in the crossfire.
In general, the situation was so confusing and yet so tightly intertwined that Yasaka simply couldn't shake the feeling that one event pulled too neatly after another. It was as if someone had deliberately built the series of events like a domino, then, after pushing one, watched as one after another all the subsequent ones fell.
The Vampires were supposed to be blamed for everything, as according to Valper it was due to the Vampire’s attacks on churches that the Angels were provoked. But the vampires were involved with the Fallen, but the Fallen were killed by Angels who were simply taking advantage of a weakened Fallen due to the Devils…
Yasaka was sure that if she dug deeper into this situation head-first, she would continue to find more and more layers to the situation, the crumb pieces that might lead her to the truth. And so, she had made the only right decision from her point of view.
To stop looking and contact the Devils directly to get their point of view. If all else fails, she could use the information obtained from Valper's research as bargaining chips, her specialists had long since copied it anyway, and Yasaka wasn't afraid of the Devils getting stronger from this research.
It was not like the Youkai had any chance if they chose to make the Devils their enemy anyway.
However, reaching out directly to the Devils would prove difficult, especially after they had pulled back from the Human World to shore up their defenses in the Underworld after the Fallen’s attack. Usually that is.
There is a certain city smack-dab in the middle of her territory that would definitely have some Devils that she could contact after all. The Devil's humiliating unilateral decision to forcibly annex a piece of Yasaka's domain in the past had now shown a small positive side.
Though, if she wanted to go with the Kuoh route, Yasaka needed to send an envoy. Someone important and strong so as not to provoke the Devil to attempt something like ‘the messenger had gotten lost’ and simply take the information from them, or even not allow them to ‘enter their territory’...
Bastards who took a piece of Yasaka's territory and now considered it ‘rightfully theirs’, ha.
Yasaka pondered about her choice for a moment, before rising from her seat, her ear twitching slightly as she heard a muffled whimper and a thud near the inner courtyard of her residence. It seemed Valper had finally met his pathetic end. All where the spies from the other Youkai could see it.
After all, Yasaka had to show all the other worried youkai that she kept her finger on the pulse and personally dealt with emerging problems, not allowing even a hint of concern about her management.
Which meant Yasaka planned to use an old wise saying.
“If you want something done right — do it yourself.”
