High School DxD Volume 16 Chapter 4.1

The Tepes’s castle town where Rizevim already left and the assault of the Vampires that turned into Evil Dragons ended—.
Gasper’s darkness is also gone……but the aftermath on this town is horrible.
Everything including the roads and the buildings have been completely demolished to a state where you can’t even distinguish them.
The agents that survived from the Tepes side and the Carmilla side are working hard in guiding the civilians to the shelter. At the underground shelter located further past the east-gate, the emergency squad that has it's work mainly done by Asia are working hard at healing the injured civilians.
I have returned to the castle to tag along with Gasper who has returned to his original state. ……The castle is in a poor state due to the attacks from the mass-produced Evil Dragons.
Then the girl that is sitting down on the floor exhausted appears in my sight. —It’s Elmenhilde.
“……No……I can’t believe there are traitors……and they turned into Evil Dragons......and now our homeland is…… ……Then what am I supposed to do……?”
She is muttering such things as if she lost all hope.
……She must have been informed about the Carmilla’s castle town that had been attacked by the Evil Dragons from the female agent supporting her body. From what I was told from Sensei just before, apparently the Brave Saints from the Heaven’s side forced themselves there and took down the Evil Dragons.
I hear that the condition of the town over there is much worse than here. Sensei has the opinion that both the Tepes side and the Carmilla side will need quite some time to recover from this.
There are those in the Carmilla’s side that lost against the Holy Grail’s temptation, and they ended up turning into the Evil Dragons that then attacked their own town.
The reason why Marius started the ritual to extract the Holy Grail was due to Carmilla’s actions being leaked to them. And I think she found out about it from the agent’s report.
While not knowing what to say to her, Gasper returns from the basement of the castle. He is carrying Valerie on his back. We did teleport to the tower of the castle by Rizevim’s power from that basement, but Valerie didn’t come with us.
So Gasper went to bring her back alone.
It happens when I try to help out Gasper. There is someone who is standing in front of him.
—It’s Gasper’s dad.
“…………”
The Head of the House of Vladi looks at Gasper silently.
Gasper declares it to him without stepping back.
“I am the servant Devil of Rias Gremory-sama! The [Bishop], Gasper!”
Gasper bows his head down.
“Thank you very much till now. But I won’t be coming back here ever again. And I will also take Valerie with me.”
When Gasper walks past his father, he tells him this.
“—Our house is in Japan.”
The Head of the House of Vladi shuts his eyes and doesn’t say anything—.
Even I am shaking with happiness at how manly my junior has become.
However, that became the last conversation between the son and the father.
Three hours have passed since the assault. It’s about time for the sun to rise.
It will be the time for the Vampires to sleep. The majority of the civilians will probably spend their time at the underground shelter till night.
The Occult Research Club along with Bennia and Rugal-san gathers at the main plaza at that time.
It appears that Bennia and Rugal-san came up to the ground to take down the Evil Dragons after the battle in the basement ended. They sure do finish their job thoroughly! To be expected from the Sitri group!
Vali……disappeared off to somewhere. I wonder where he went…… Vali’s expression where he looked really frustrated at the very end left a strong impression in me. Sensei said he will call him back afterwards.
Sensei says it after he looks at Valerie once again.
“As I thought, we need to retrieve the Holy Grail that was stolen from Rizevim in order to bring back Valerie’s consciousness. It was a sub-species Holy Grail that came with a three in one deal to begin with. It seems like she was just able to keep her consciousness even after Rizevim stole one of them……but her consciousness must have stopped completely after having the second one taken out. In order to fix this, we need to have her in her original state.”
Like I thought, we need to defeat Rizevim—in other words the new Khaos Brigade that calls themselves the “Qlippoth”.
I question him with my doubt.
“But why did he only take one Holy Grail when there were three of them?”
Unlike Marius, Rizevim knew that Valerie possessed a sub-species Holy Grail. So why didn’t he crave to take more than one? That’s what I feel suspicious about.
“……I can only come up with the conclusion that he did that in order to make the Vampires take action or for political reasons, but maybe having just one of them was enough for him—. No, he must have determined that using more than one of them will be hard to control. Judging from their words, even having just one of them will be capable of making it reach the Balance Breaker. Most likely during the time when Marius made Valerie use her power, only one Holy Grail was functioning. Valerie’s body won’t be able to endure using more than two of them, so Valerie must have unconsciously kept down her powers. Well, we will be finding out the truth from now on.”
I see, so having just one of them is enough. So he must have determined that he won’t be able to control more than that. Well, they were able to enhance the Vampires simply with one of them—and they even managed to turn them into Evil Dragons, so it must have enough power.
And my other doubt. It’s about my new ability.
“Sensei, about my ability……”
I never thought Hakuryuukou’s power would appear in that way. At the same time, I lost the power to activate Dividing Gear. It changed to the small Dragons that reflect attacks after all.
Sensei tilts his head.
“……I should assume that it’s Ddraig’s new awakening rather than your evolution. Well, there is a high chance that the conversation between the Two Heavenly Dragons became the key factor. I should probably search more specifically about it. —And also regarding Vali as well.”
So he will need to resume his research for that as well huh. ……Like I thought, the Two Heavenly Dragons felt down because of me and they reconciled because of me.
Hmm, hmm, it sure is a weird thing. I don’t even know how to react to it! Well, I’ll end this here and be happy that Ddraig is doing well again!
Sensei says it while breathing out.
“Also about the replica Boosted Gear that Ise mentioned……I can assume that they were able to pull it off by doing many reckless things such as using the Artificial Sacred Gear, the clone techniques, the power of the Holy Grail, and other kinds of techniques. As long as Ddraig resides in Ise, it won’t be possible for two Boosted Gears to exist. So it really must be a replica. No, it’s more like an inferior copy of it. Except, I can come to the conclusion that it will give out the power more than its specs show if the user is powerful. The Replica Sacred Gear’s basic potential won’t be able to surpass the original Boosted Gear even if the world was to turn upside down.”
Sensei says so…… If that’s the case, it means the interior factor, which is me, is greatly inferior to Euclid. ……Well, I certainly can’t do anything without this Boosted Gear.
……I’m frustrated. I need to train more and close the gap between us much as I can! Despite my appearance, I did receive Great Red’s and Ophis’s power! So I want to pull out that strength as much as possible!
Leaving me in thought aside, Gasper pats Valerie’s cheek gently.
“Thank you very much for looking after Valerie, Azazel-sensei.”
After Gasper gives his gratitude to Sensei, he stands up and looks around at everyone.
“……Rias-buchou, Ise-senpai. I have decided.”
Gasper declares it while showing strong and straight-forward eyes.
“—I will retrieve the Holy Grail.”
—! While being lit by the sunrise, our Vampire that happens to be a day-walker looks the most manly and dignified among all of us right now.
“I will become stronger than anyone and take the Holy Grail back……I will definitely save Valerie……and I want to start everything with Valerie from the beginning…… I will definitely save Valerie……I definitely will……!”
Even though his words get stuck in his throat as he tries to keep himself from not crying, he shouts.
“I will save Valerie!”
……This guy matured so quickly. He sure is putting on a manly face and saying a manly declaration.
I say it while I put my arms around his shoulder.
“Gasper, we will definitely retrieve the Holy Grail!”
“Yes! I will also defeat those people!”
That’s a nice face. That’s the face of a man.
To live for the woman who is his saviour. That sure is a manly aim!
This guy will surely get stronger.
That’s because—he is also a male of the Gremory just like Kiba and I.
It is decided that Valerie, who still hasn’t woken up, will be taken to the Grigori’s research institute, and we head towards the path back to Japan—.