All That Is Holy

by SniperJ324

Summary:

What if DxD was focused more on the Church's side of things, as opposed to Devils and Dragons? This is the story of an exorcist and his comrades, and all of the trouble that comes with their daily lives.

Notes:

Yo.

So, this is a story idea that has been bugging me nonstop for over a month.

This is gonna be a DxD story, but it will contain characters and elements from other series.

I will also inform you that, since Issei is not the protagonist in this story, he won't be getting constant power ups like in canon. For instance, the Boosted Gear is supposed to have a ten second interval between boosts, yet Issei pretty much never has to wait. In this story, something like that will have consequences, with the severity depending on how much he boosted himself.

I'm really looking forward to writing this story, so I hope you all will enjoy it. I'm not sure how frequently I'm gonna update it for now though, since I want to finish at least one of my other stories by the end of this year.

If you guys have any questions, tips, concerns, or suggestions for this story, feel free to let me know.

Hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 1: Introductions

Chapter 1: Introductions

"Hey" - Speaking

'Huh?' - Mental

[ ] - Scene/POV Change

{ } - Techinques

_______________________________

It was a beautiful day in Italy. The birds were chirping, and there was barely a cloud to be seen in the sky.

Located in one of the most beautiful forests that Italy has to offer, there was a small, cozy looking house. The house was a mix of gray (predominantly), red, and white, and was built with bricks that were bigger than average. In front of the house, various types of flowers could be seen, while behind the house, there was a pond with stones around it that had koi fish in it. There was also a river not too far from the house.

Inside of this house, a man could be found just waking up, letting out a yawn as he stretched his arms above his head.

The man had rich, caramel skin, along with golden-brown eyes, which currently held a tired look in them. On his head, he had a bushy mop of hair, that was very long and very curly. He also had a beard that was bushy, yet well groomed. He was shirtless at the moment, showing that he had multiple scars across his torso and arms. As he slowly got up out of bed, it could also be seen that he was very tall, standing at a towering height of 6'10" (208cm).

A little over half an hour later, the man could be seen walking out of the bathroom, having just finished showering and brushing his teeth, yet still not looking any less tired. As he lifted his leg to walk downstairs, he was interrupted by two things happening.

One: He let out a yawn as he unconsciously stretched his arms back.

Two: He realized his leg was asleep.

These two things resulted in him losing his balance and falling down the stairs, only coming to a stop when he hit a wall on the lower floor.

"Ow." The man said blandly as he looked up at the ceiling from his position on the floor. Hearing footsteps, he looked behind him as best as he could, and saw a very familiar blonde haired woman.

"Fell down the stairs again, Jeremiah?" The woman asked in Italian once she reached him, crouching as she did so.

The woman had long, blonde hair, along with blue eyes, and a heart shaped face. She stood at an above average height of 5'9", and looked to be in her early to mid twenties. She was dressed in nun robes.

This beautiful woman's name was Griselda Quarta.

"My leg fell asleep, Zelda." Jeremiah replied as he continued laying on the floor, also speaking in Italian.

Sighing fondly at the antics of her closest friend since childhood, Griselda shook her head and stood up.

"Come on. Breakfast is ready." Griselda said with a smile as she turned around and walked to the dining room. While she didn't live with Jeremiah, she often came over in the mornings to wake him up, and/or make breakfast for him.

Standing up with a sigh, Jeremiah walked to the dining room and joined Griselda at the table. After saying grace, the two dug into their meals.

Once they were done, the two left the house and headed to work.

[ One Hour Later ]

Inside of a large church, multiple clanging sounds could be heard as two swords repeatedly clashed against each other. Off to the side, Jeremiah could be seen sitting on the floor with a blanket covering his body, and a fluffy pillow behind his head as he watched Griselda train her ward, a young girl by the name of Xenovia.

"Alright. Give me 100 pushups, 100 sit ups, and 3 laps around the room." Griselda said as she sheathed her sword.

Having changed clothes, Griselda was now wearing the battle outfit for female exorcists. The outfit consisted of a black, skin-tight, short sleeved leotard with small pauldrons on the shoulders, matching fingerless gloves that extend to her biceps, and thigh-high boots, all of which are adorned with straps. The outfit did well in showing just how curvaceous and fit her body was.

"I still have a lot of energy!" Xenovia exclaimed between pants as sweat poured down her body, while Griselda barely had a drop on her. Since she wasn't an official exorcist yet, Xenovia was dressed in simpler, but still effective training gear.

"Is that right? In that case, make it 10 laps." Griselda said with a sweet smile, getting a nod from Xenovia as she dropped to the floor and began doing her pushups.

Walking over to Jeremiah, Griselda couldn't help but to smile and shake her head when she saw him dozing off.

"Do you think I'm pushing her too hard, too soon? She did just start officially training a little over a week ago." Griselda asked her closest friend as she sat down next to him and gently pulled his head onto her lap, before she began running her hand through his soft hair.

"She's still alive, right?" Jeremiah responded through a yawn, looking up at Griselda with half lidded eyes.

"You're a sadist." Griselda said with a chuckle.

"I won't deny that." Jeremiah replied as he turned and buried his head further into Griselda's lap, making her gain a faint blush.

"By the way, there's a mission for you." Griselda said, breaking the comfortable silence they had fallen into, getting Jeremiah to glance up at her with tired eyes.

"You've gotta head out to the countryside to investigate a village that's been reporting mysterious disappearances." Griselda explained to the man laying on her lap, holding back a smile when she heard him let out a long sigh.

After about a minute of silence, Jeremiah finally stood up and stretched, letting out a satisfied sigh when his bones popped.

Looking up at Jeremiah, Griselda couldn't stop herself from running her eyes across his body. The male version of their exorcist battle outfits were just as tight as the female versions, and was nearly identical in appearance. His outfit was a little different though, with it having a turtleneck, and his actually had pants, as opposed to most people having theirs cut off at the thighs. The tightness of the outfit showed just how ripped Jeremiah was. (His body is built like Gon's older form from Hunter x Hunter, just taller.)

Many people would probably assume that Jeremiah was a lazy person. While that wasn't completely untrue, it was mostly due to his sleeping disorder. Not only did he have insomnia, but he was also narcoleptic, which often left him with a lack of energy. Despite that, he always trained very hard and diligently, which could be seen in the way his body was sculpted to near perfection.

Leaning down, Jeremiah picked his blanket up off of the floor and put it over Griselda.

"I'll be back soon." Jeremiah said as he turned and walked away. The sooner he left, the sooner he could return home to get some sleep.

If anyone happened to look at Griselda at that moment, they would see her watching Jeremiah leave with a look of love in her eyes.

[ A Few Days Later ]

It hadn't taken Jeremiah long at all to finish his latest mission, and he now had a few days off, much to his silent joy. We could now find him walking down the streets of Japan, having come here to get some new manga. He didn't come to Japan often, but there was a special edition of one of his favorite series that was only available here.

As he was walking down the street, Jeremiah suddenly stopped when he walked past a family of three. Looking behind him, he focused on the small, brown haired girl, smiling happily as she walked between her parents while holding their hands. More specifically, he focused on what he could feel coming from her. He briefly considered just ignoring it and going on his way, but that thought went out the window when his senses picked up something else.

'I just wanted to have a relaxing day.' Jeremiah thought to himself with a tired sigh as he looked up at the sky.

His manga would have to wait.

[ With The Family Of Three ]

Entering their house, the family of three could all be seen with smiles on their faces, with little girl having the biggest smile of them all. They had been out for a day of family fun, having gone to an aquarium and the local park, before finally going to get some ice cream.

"Did you have fun today, Hana?" The mother asked her daughter as she crouched down to get eye level with her.

The mother of the family was a very pretty woman, having long, wavy brown hair that reached to her shoulders, chocolate brown eyes, C-cup breasts, a slim waist, and wide hips. She stood at 5'4". This woman's name was Chiho.

"Yup! I've never seen so many different kinds of fish!" The little girl, Hana, replied happily with a nod.

Much like her mother, it was easy to see that Hana would be very pretty when she got older. She had shoulder length brown hair that was tied up into a pony tail, a cute button nose, and she also had brown eyes, but hers were a little lighter than her mother's. She stood just a little shorter than the average height for a 7 year old girl.

Hanging up the light jacket he'd been wearing, the man of the house smiled kindly as he walked over to his daughter and ruffled her hair, getting her to look up at him with a pout.

Hana's father was what would many would probably consider ruggedly handsome. He had short brown hair that was parted to the left, along with brown eyes that were the same shade as his daughter's, and a mustache. He had a somewhat buff body, and stood at 5'10". His name was Takashi.

"Hana, why don't you go up and take a bath? I'll be starting dinner soon." Chiho suggested as she tapped Hana's nose with her finger and stood up.

Nodding, Hana walked away and began going upstairs. However, just as she was about to enter the bathroom, she was brought to a screeching halt when she heard a loud boom from downstairs, accompanied by the entire house shaking as if there was an earthquake.

"Where is it?! WHERE IS IT?!" Hana heard an unfamiliar voice yell from downstairs, terrifying her at the sound of it.

"What... Are you... Talking about?" Hana heard her dad ask, making her quickly run to the stairs, and her eyes widened when she saw him being held up in the air by what could only be considered a monster. While the top half of the body looked mostly human, the bottom half looked to be a disguting, nightmarish mix of a spider, a scorpion, and a centipede.

"DADDY!" Hana yelled as she ran down the stairs, with her eyes widening even further when she saw her mom unconscious on the floor.

The moment Hana began running downstairs, the creature's eyes locked onto her, with a sick smile growing on its face, making it look even more monstrous.

"A filthy little human girl... With such a delicious scent..." The monster trailed off as it stared at Hana with wide, insane eyes, making the little girl shiver in fright.

"L- let go of my daddy!" Hana yelled with false bravado, with the monster only laughing loudly in response, showing off its sharp teeth.

"R- run... Away... H- Hana!" Takashi gritted out through the hold the monster had around his throat.

"So, little human girl... How would you like to see the inside of a human body?" The monster asked as it took one of its long claws and dragged it down Takashi's face, drawing a bit of blood.

"Stop..." Hana whispered with her eyes growing watery.

"It's a truly glorious sight to see, witnessing someone be eaten alive." The monster said with its long to snaking out of its mouth and licking Takashi's face, making the man shudder in disgust at the feel and smell of it.

"Stop... Please...." Hana whispered again as she trembled. Unbeknownst to her, there was something slowly awakening inside of her.

"Hahahahahaha! No point wasting anymore time right?! Let's dig in!" The monster yelled as it opened its mouth far wider than any human possibly could, preparing to take a bite out of his victim.

"I SAID STOP!" Hana yelled with her pupils becoming slits as the house began shaking, making the monster's head snap to her.

"YES! YOU WILL TRULY BE A DELICIOUS-" The monster abruptly stopped its speech when it felt something pierce its chest from behind. Looking down, the monster saw a sword(?) made of light sticking out of its chest, making it growl at the sight, before it let out a loud screech of pain as it dropped Takashi, who began taking in as much air as he could.

Turning around, the monster was greeted to the sight of a human man holding up a bow that looked to be made of light. Before it could even make an attempt to do anything, another 'sword' was shot through its head, permanently silencing it.

"Don't go around ruining innocent people's houses." Jeremiah muttered as he watched the monster's body disintegrate from the light weapons in its body, while his light bow seemed to get absorbed into a silver pentagram he had hanging from a bracelet on his right wrist.

Over with Hana and Takashi, the father and daughter pair were struggling to comprehend the scene that had just unfolded before their very eyes. First, some monster breaks into their house, claiming that it was looking for some pleasant scent, and then some stranger shows up and casually slays said monster, as if it were an everyday occurrence.

As Hana and Takashi were thinking to themselves about their recent brush with death, they simultaneously flinched when the stranger turned and began staring at them. However, they couldn't help but sweatdrop when, after about ten seconds of just staring silently, the stranger suddenly let out a yawn while stretching his arms back.

"What a troublesome day, am I right?" Jeremiah asked in Japanese as he stuck his hands in his pockets, deciding to go for the casual route.

"What.... Just what was that?" Takashi asked as he ran a hand over his face, gagging when he felt the saliva of the monster still there.

"Ah... It'd be best to wait until- *yawn*... Until your wife is awake." Jeremiah said as he walked over to where Chino was unconscious on the ground, closely followed by Takashi and Hana.

"Is- Is Mommy alright?" Hana asked timidly as she hid behind her father's leg.

"She's fine." Jeremiah said as he placed two of his fingers on Chiho's forehead. Just as Takashi was about to interject and ask what he was doing, he watched as his wife's eyes snapped open.

"Ugh... What the.... Hana! Are you okay?!" Chiho shouted as she bolted upright with a panicked expression.

"Mommy!" Hana yelled as she ran over to her mom and hugged her with tears running down her face, with Takashi doing the same, as he tightly wrapped his arms around his wife and daughter.

Deciding to not just stand around awkwardly while the family hugged and cried, Jeremiah walked over to the destroyed wall and began using magic to fix it, which took about five minutes. When he turned around, he saw the three of them staring at him with wide eyes, especially Chiho.

Time for explanations.

[ A Little While Later ]

"So... J- Just to be clear, you're saying that all of it is real? Gods, angels, vampires, werewolves... All of that is real?" Chiho asked as she shakily took a sip of her coffee.

"Yes. All of it is real." Jeremiah said as he observed the reactions of the three across from him.

"And you said you're an exorcist, right? What exactly do you do?" Takashi asked as he ran a hand through his hair, still having trouble digesting all of this. He had no choice but to believe it though, considering what he'd just witnessed.

"Hmm... The simple way to explain it is that we protect humanity from supernatural threats, such as the creature that attacked you all." Jeremiah said, fighting to not put his head down and doze off. He'd only gotten about an hour and a half of sleep since yesterday.

"Just what was that thing? Why did it attack us?" Takashi asked with a confused frown, with Hana trembling at the memory of it.

"That was a stray devil, and it was here for your daughter." Jeremiah answered as he rested his chin on his palm, letting out a light yawn.

"What?! What do you mean?!" Chiho yelled with a worried/panicked expression as she quickly stood up, nearly spilling the drinks that were on the table. As for Hana herself, she had a horrified look on her face at hearing that she was the reason for her mom and dad being hurt.

"Your daughter has a... gift inside of her. A long time ago, God created certain items that he bestowed upon humans. These items are known as sacred gears, and, from what I can sense, I'd say that your daughter has a powerful one. Unfortunately, this means many supernatural beings will be drawn to her, including creatures similar to the stray devil from earlier." Jeremiah explained, with Takashi and Chiho looking like they were about to have heart attacks.

Hearing sniffles, Takashi and Hana both turned to their daughter, and their hearts broke when they saw her crying, before they both wrapped her up in a hug, whispering soothing words to her.

"How can we protect her?" Takashi asked with a fierceness in his eyes that only a parent could posess.

"Ah... Well, I can think of one way, but I doubt either of you will like it." Was the response from Jeremiah.

"What is it?" Chiho asked as they all turned to Jeremiah.

"I can take her with me. I could help her learn to control her power and defend herself. She wouldn't need to stay there permanently, so you all would still be able to see each other." Jeremiah suggested as he leaned back in his seat, waiting for their response.

After a few minutes of silence, Jeremiah stood up with a sigh, getting the attention of the family.

"I'll give you some time to decide." As he said this, a pen and small piece of paper appeared in Jeremiah's hands, which he used to write something down.

"You can find me at this location when you've come to a decision. I'll only be there for a few days, since I need to get back to Italy soon." Jeremiah said as he placed the piece of paper on the table, before he finally left the house.

He still had to get his manga.

[ Three Days Later ]

Now standing in the airport, Jeremiah watched as the family shared yet another tearful embrace. They'd come to him yesterday and told him that, although they didn't like it, this was the best way for Hana to be safe.

Uncharacteristically, Jeremiah had a small frown on his face as he thought about his past few days in Japan. As if it wasn't bad enough that he'd barely gotten any sleep, literally every store he'd gone to was sold out of the manga he'd come for, and he couldn't help being disappointed. That was the whole reason he'd even bothered coming to Japan after all. Still, at least it wasn't a total waste of time.

As the little girl walked over to him, Jeremiah crouched down to look into her eyes.

"Are you ready to go, Murayama-San?" Jeremiah asked with the best smile he could muster, which was really just a tiny, tired looking attempt at a smile.

"Y- yes." Hana replied timidly with a nod.

Standing up, Jeremiah took Hana's hand into his own, and she and her parents gave each other one last wave, before they finally left and boarded their plane.

[ Some Time Later ]

"So you just... Told them all about the supernatural world?" Griselda asked with a deadpan.

"*Yawn*... You know I'm not good at magic that messes with people's memories." Jeremiah responded with his head resting on a pillow that was on Griselda's desk.

"Still..." Griselda trailed off as she leaned back in her seat and let out a sigh.

"Would it be better if I'd just knocked them out and kidnapped her?" Jeremiah asked rhetorically as he turned his head to glance at Griselda, making her release another sigh.

"No, of course not. Anyway, when are you gonna start training her?" Griselda asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Tomorrow... For now... Just let me try to sleep..." Jeremiah trailed off as he slowly drifted into unconsciousness, getting some sleep for the first time in a few days.

With a soft smile gracing her face, Griselda began gently running her hand through Jeremiah's hair.

"Sweet dreams." Griselda whispered as she leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Jeremiah's forehead.

He deserved the rest.

Chapter 2: The Tower

Notes:

Yo.

Here's chapter 2, guys.

So, I forgot to mention something in the first chapter AN. In this story, exorcists will have abilities and equipment like Quincies from Bleach. I will also be doing something holy swords and a few other things, but I'll let those be revealed as the story progresses.

Also, I guess I should go ahead and let people know ahead of time, so that no-one is disappointed later on. Jeremiah will eventually become an angel.

With that said, hope you guys enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 2: The Tower

"Hey" - Speaking

'Oh' - Mental

[ ] - Scene/ POV Change

_

Standing in the shower, Jeremiah let out a quiet sigh as he let the water cascade over his body. It was around 6:00 A.M., and he had just woken up a little while ago. Unsurprisingly, he only managed to get about three hours of sleep in total, having woken up multiple times throughout the night.

After taking care of his hygiene, Jeremiah walked out of his bedroom in only a towel, before he walked to a room that was down the hall from his.

"Time to get up, Hana." He said, yawning as he knocked on the door, before he walked back to his room to put some clothes on.

A little while later, Jeremiah could be found in the kitchen, preparing a light breakfast for him and the young girl that was now living with him. Having gotten dressed, he was now wearing a tight, long-sleeved, black and red shirt, along with black shorts, and black compression pants.

"Good morning, Sensei." Hana said, smiling as she came downstairs, dressed similarly to Jeremiah, except her shirt was pink and white.

"M- *Yaaaawnn..* Morning." Jeremiah responded with a nod. Seeing as it had only been a little over three weeks since he started training her, Hana wasn't fluent in Italian yet, so they were still speaking to each other in Japanese.

The little girl had surprised Jeremiah a bit. He had expexcted her to be quite depressed at having to leave her parents for an unspecified amount of time. While she had indeed been quite mopey for nearly the entire first week, she had soon begun to warm up to him. It helped that she often got to talk with her parents on the phone.

Once the food was ready, the two ate breakfast while making small talk, before they began warming up to begin their morning exercise.

"You ready?" Jeremiah asked, pulling on his running shoes.

"Yup." Hana responded with a nod, smiling as they exited the house. She really liked her sensei's house. The area was incredibly peaceful.

"Well, let's go. Remember to pace yourself." Jeremiah said, giving her a pat on the shoulder, before the two began their morning run, starting off with a light jog.

After they had run one mile, Jeremiah asked, "Tired yet?"

"N- No. I can still... go!" Hana replied, wiping some sweat from her forehead as she ran behind her sensei. "I have to get stronger to protect my parents!"

'Passionate kid.' Jeremiah thought, letting out a yawn. 'She'll be powerful.'

When they finally finished their 3 mile run, the two could be found resting in a clearing, both laying on the grass, with Hana panting and sweating heavily. Jeremiah usually started his mornings off with a 10 mile (16km) run, but Hana wasn't able to handle anything like that just yet.

"Come on. That's enough rest." Jeremiah said, pushing himself up to his feet. Truthfully, he would like nothing more than to go to sleep right here, but he had a responsibility to Hana. As her sensei, he'd be setting a pretty bad example if he slacked off.

Shakily, the little girl managed to stand up, but had to take a few seconds to steady herself.

"Activate your sacred gear."

Doing as instructed, Hana closed her eyes to concentrate, and about ten seconds later, a silver helmet formed on her head, leaving her face completely exposed. If one looked closely, they would see a scaly pattern on the helmet.

'Still just the first level, huh?' Jeremiah thought with a sigh. While Hana's sacred gear had been awakened when that stray devil attacked her family, she had not yet been able to go beyond the first stage. Of course, he did expect this, seeing as she'd only had it unlocked for three weeks.

Well, she was still only 7 years old, so it was impressive that she had even awakened it in the first place. Still, in his line of work, there was a pretty high risk of death, so he wanted to teach her as much as he could, while he could. It would help if her sacred gear evolved sooner rather than later, especially since he was about 80% sure he knew which one it was.

"Come at me."

"Yes!" And with that, Hana charged at Jeremiah.

[ A Few Hours Later ]

Letting out a yawn, Jeremiah walked into the Vatican with a blanket wrapped around him, nodding at a few exorcists he passed on his way in.

As he was walking, he casually dodged multiple sword attacks, and tiredly glanced at his attacker once they finally stopped.

Said attacker was a woman with long, light gray hair that was tied into a low ponytail, and sharp, gray eyes. She stood at 5'8, and had a very toned, yet curvy body. She was wearing the usual femal exorcist battle outfit, and had a gray haori pulled over her shoulders.

"Karasuba... Don't you get tired of this?" He asked with another yawn.

"I've gotta keep you on your toes." Karasuba replied, sporting a small smirk as she sheathed her sword. "And to answer your question, no. I never get tired of this."

"Your hobby isn't good for my health." Jeremiah said, now walking beside the woman.

"Then, I guess you'd better keep dodging." She replied, her smirk growing when she heard him let out a long, tired sigh. "After all, it'd be a shame if I accidentally killed my future husband."

"You're still on about that?" He asked with an exasperated tone. "You've- *yaaaawn*... You've been saying that same joke since you were, what, 14?"

"Again, you think I'm joking." Karasuba said with a sigh, shaking her head. Indeed, she had been telling him this for almost ten years now. However, she wasn't joking in the slightest. For multiple reasons, he was the only man she would accept as her significant other, and she wouldn't give up until she had him.

"Anyway, I have to get going. I've got a mission." The fierce swordswoman suddenly said.

"What is it?"

"One of our spies came across a group of ghouls in Brazil, with some of them supposedly being High Class, C Rank in power. I'm headed there to take care of them." Karasuba said, gaining a shark-like smile as she began walking away.

"Hm. Well, good luck. Don't die." Jeremiah said, watching her retreating form.

"As if." Karasuba said, waving over her shoulder as she left the church.

Continuing on his way, Jeremiah finally reached his original destination, which was Griselda's office.

"Jeremiah? Is something wrong?" She asked, watching as hewalked in her office, and sat down across from her at her desk. She had just been doing some paperwork from her recent mission, so she was thankful for the distraction.

"The magicians." That was enough to get Griselda's full attention.

"You've found something out?" She asked, sitting up with a serious expression, resting her chin on her interlocked fingers.

"*Yaaawn...* Yeah. It seems that they've got a private island." Jeremiah informed her, nodding in thanks when she poured him a cup of hot tea.

"A private island... Do you have any idea what they're doing there?"

"I don't have all the details yet, but I do know that they're trying to resurrect someone. Apparently, it requires human sacrifices."

The room fell silent, but Jeremiah had known Griselda long enough to know how she was feeling after hearing that, despite her only outward reaction being a slight trembling of her hands.

"When will you be leaving?"

"Within the hour."

"Are you going alone?"

Yawning, Jeremiah stood up and scratched his head, using one hand to keep his blanket wrapped around him.

"I've got two people in mind. If they don't want to go, or aren't available, then I guess I'll just go alone." He said with a shrug.

"Alright. Good luck." Griselda said with a nod. They couldn't afford to fail this mission.

With a mock salute, Jeremiah stood up and left the office, before he started walking towards the living area of the church.

While Jeremiah had his own house, many exorcists chose to simply live at the church, seeing as it was more convenient. Not only was it right where they worked (well, where they got their missions), but they didn't even have to pay rent, or any type of bills. All they had to pay for was clothes, food, etc.

Naturally, the living area was separated for men and women, and Jeremiah was currently headed towards the latter. While neither sex was allowed to go into the other's living areas, he held certain privileges as one of the senior, higher ranking exorcists.

Reaching his destination, Jeremiah knocked on a door, and tiredly dragged a hand down his face as he waited. A little while later, he heard the sound of footsteps coming from the room, with the door being yanked open shortly after.

"Alright, who's the shitty bastard interrupting my-!" The occupant of the room abruptly cut herself off when she finally looked up, and saw who it was.

The most eye-catching thing about the owner of the room would have to be her height, standing at only 4'4, despite being 19 years old. Aside from that, she had pale blonde hair, which was styled into two spiky ponytails, along with light brown eyes, and three freckles on each of her cheeks. As one would expect from her short stature, her body wasn't exactly what many would call 'womanly'.

"J- J- Jeremiah?!" The young woman exclaimed, dropping the flip flop that she'd been holding.

"Hiyori... Sorry. Today is your day off, right?" Jeremiah said, looking at her loose tank top and gym shorts.

"I- It's fine! Come in." Hiyori said quickly, stepping aside so that he could walk in. "What's up?"

"Well, I wanted you to help me on a mission, but I guess I forgot today was your day off." Jeremiah said with a sigh, having to stop himself from dozing off when he sat on the comfortable couch.

"What's the mission?" Hiyori asked, sitting down next to him.

Jeremiah then proceeded to give her the basic rundown of the mission, and she balled her fists at what she heard.

"I'm in."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I would've been bored just sitting around here, anyway." She said, waving her hand dismissively, before her cheeks suddenly turned a light shade of pink. "B- Besides... it's not often that I get to go on a mission with you."

"*Yaaawn*... In that case, meet me downstairs when you're ready." Jeremiah said, getting a nod from Hiyori, before he stood up and left the room, ignoring the happy squeal he heard after closing the door.

Walking further down the hall, Jeremiah knocked on another door, and didn't have to wait long for it to be opened.

"Oh? Jeremiah? Are you finally coming to have some fun?" The beautiful woman inside asked, her expression suddenly turning sultry.

She had dark skin, short, purple hair, golden irises, and a slim, yet well endowed and athletic figure. She was wearing a silk, black robe, and had no shoes or socks on, showing off her long, beautiful legs.

Completely ignoring the question, Jeremiah said, "I need your help, Yoruichi."

"With?" Yoruichi inquired, pouting a bit at not getting a reaction out of Jeremiah. Since the day she'd met him, she'd never seen him blush or get flustered even once, and she was determined to make it happen.

As he had done with Hiyori, Jeremiah explained what the mission was, making her playful expression switch to a serious one.

"I see. I'll get ready." She said, getting a nod from Jeremiah, before he went back down to the main area of the church, plopping himself down on a couch that was near the entrance.

It was around ten minutes later that Yoruichi and Hiyori finally made their way downstairs, and Jeremiah yawned as he stood up, storing his blanket in a pocket dimension.

"Are you both ready?" He asked the two young women when they approached him, getting nods from both of them. He was glad that they weren't bickering as they usually did.

"So, how are we getting there?" Yoruichi asked as they exited the church. She was now wearing her combat suit, with hers being sleeveless.

"Flight. It would be too noticeable if we took a boat."

"How far is it?" Hiyori asked. Although she had a pretty high amount of magic, her control wasn't exactly great, so she wasn't really good for a long flight.

"Pretty far. If you're worried about your magic, then just ride with me." Jeremiah said with a light yawn, and Hiyori smirked when Yoruichi shot her a jealous look.

After reaching a secluded area, Jeremiah and Yoruichi both had a flat, disc shaped platform of yellow energy form beneath their feet, with Hiyori quickly joining Jeremiah on his, before the platforms floated them up to the sky, and they began flying towards their destination.

Even flying at a fairly fast pace, it took them around 25 minutes of flight, but they eventually made it to their destination.

"So, how do we get in?" Yoruichi asked, looking at the tall building on the private island.

"Hmm... If Tier was here, we could probably try to go underwater." Jeremiah began with a sigh. "And since this place is full of magicians, there's most likely magical alarms set up... Yoruichi, how many can you sense?" He asked, seeing as her senses were better than his.

A few seconds later, she responded, "Over 200."

"We can take 'em." Hiyori said confidently.

"Well, let's go." Jeremiah said with a sigh.

[ On The Island - Inside The Tower ]

'I can't let them keep me in here. I need to help get back to the others, so that we can all escape.' A little girl thought, a blank expression on her face as she sat locked in a cell. 'If only I was stronger...'

The little girl had medium-length, scarlet red hair. The girl had a very roughed up appearance, with dirt, cuts, and bruises marring her body and clothes. Her right eye was covered by a white eye patch, but her left eye showed that she had dark brown eyes.

This girl's name was Erza, and she was one of the many slaves/human sacrifices in this horrible place, which was known as the Tower of Heaven.

'More like, Tower of Hell.' She often found herself thinking.

As Erza was sitting there with her back against the cold wall, her stomach growled loudly, making her place a hand over it, with her lone eye watering up a bit. She hadn't had anything to eat in days, and when she did it had only been scraps. It didn't help that she was practically freezing, due to how cold her cell was.

"Get up, brat." A guard said, walking up to her cell.

Erza just glared defiantly at him with her one eye. All they were gonna do is punish her again for trying to escape, so why would she willingly go?

Scowling, the guard opened the cell and walked up to her, before he backhanded her across the face, which stung even more because of how cold it was.

'I won't cry!' Erza thought fiercely. Even as her eye watered up, she refused to let a single tear fall. 'If only I was stronger....'

The guard then grabbed one of Erza's arms, and roughly pulled her up to her feet, before he began taking her to a different area of the tower, not for a lack of defiance on her part.

The guard dragged her into a room, and Erza could see at least twelve people in there, all of them dressed in magician's robes.

"Oh... There's the little red haired shit." One of them said, the disgust evident in her tone.

"Looks like she still hasn't learned her lesson." Another magician said, spotting the new bruise on the right side of Erza's face. "Strap her up."

'If only I was stronger...' Erza thought yet again, this same thought having crossed her mind hundreds of times by now.

She was too weak to resist as the guard dragged her over to a table, put her on top of it, and strapped her down.

"Now, Erza, why don't you apologize for giving us all such a hard time? Why can't you be grateful for this opportunity we've given you? You all will be sacrifices for the greatest dark magician of all time, and you all act like that's a bad thing. You should be honored to die for our lord." Another female magician said, walking over to Erza.

Defiantly, Erza spat on the woman's face.

SLAP!

"You foul child. You really haven't learned anything from our disciplinary sessions, have you?" The female magician asked with a heated glare, a red mark left on Erza's face from the slap. "Maybe I should just take your other eye, too. Maybe leaving you completely blind will finally teach you not to defy us."

Hearing this, Erza felt her heart begin to beat like crazy, especially when the woman reached inside her robe, and pulled out a dagger.

'If only I was stronger...' The dagger was held over her left eye.

'If only...' The dagger got closer.

'Stronger...' It was now just a few centimeters away, and a fire like never before burned in Erza's heart.

'I NEED POWER!' Time seemed to slow down for Erza, and, as if in response to her will, over a dozen swords suddenly appeared in the air around her, before they went flying at all of the magicians, managing to get the ones that were surprised enough to let their guards down, with some of them getting stabbed through fatal areas.

"Wh- A sacred gear?!" One of the few remaining magicians yelled in shock, before he clenched his teeth in pain at the swords sticking out of both of his legs.

'W... What is this? What happened?' Erza thought with morbid fascination, watching as the woman that had been about to destroy her eye, was now left with a sword through her chest, before she fell backwards, clearly dead.

Before anyone could do or say anything else, the entire building suddenly shook, and the sound of screaming could be heard from the lower levels of the building, along with the magic alarms being set off.

"What now?!" One of the few unharmed magicians exclaimed, running over to the door and opening it, intending to go see what was going on.

The moment he opened the door, an arrow was shot clean through his head. It didn't stop there, as it also pierced through the head of another magician, before it was embedded in a wall.

"What the... Looks like my job is already mostly done." A tired sounding male voice said, before said male fully walked into the room, and Erza and the magicians watched in silence for a bit as the tall man just looked around the room, before his gaze settled on Erza, and she gulped as he walked up to her.

"Did you do this?" He asked, gesturing to the injured or dead magicians. He was speaking in English at the moment, since that's the language many of the magicians had been using, despite them all clearly coming from a number of different nationalities, evidenced by their thick, foreign accents.

"I.. I don't know. I think so." She didn't know why she answered honestly, but that's what she did.

"Hm. Well, good work, I guess." The man said, before he began undoing the straps holding her down, surprising her. Was someone actually here to help them? "I'm Jeremiah, by the way."

"E- Erza..."

It was at this point that the magicians seemed to finally break out of their stupor, and they (the few that could, at least) quickly began readying attacks.

"Step away from her. She's meant to be a sacrifice for our lord, and some wannabe hero isn't gonna get in the way of that." A female magician demanded, a fireball coming to life over her staff.

"Nah." Jeremiah said casually, yawning as he finshed undoing Erza's straps.

"'Nah?' What do you mean, 'Nah'?" The woman asked with a scowl.

"'Nah', as in, that's not gonna happen." Jeremiah clarified calmly. He didn't show it outwardly, but he was quite upset seeing Erza's condition.

Fed up, the woman sent the fireball flying towards Jeremiah, and Erza shouted in concern as she saw it get near him. However, the red haired girl then watched as he simply held up a hand, caught the fireball, and then crushed it, making multiple sets of eyes widen in shock and disbelief.

"You should probably close your eye, Erza." She heard Jeremiah say, and she found herself doing just that. Over the course of the next few seconds, she heard multiple cries of pain, followed by the thumping of bodies hitting the floor.

When the sounds came to a stop, she was tempted to open her eye, but kept it firmly closed instead, and jumped a bit when she felt a hand gently rest on her shoulder.

"Let's go." Jeremiah said, before he led the girl out of the room. "You can open your eye now."

Doing as he said, Erza saw that they were now out of the room, and the door was closed before she could take a peak inside.

If she had been able to look inside, she would have seen all of the magicians with broken necks, twisted around almost 180°.

"T- Thank you for-"

"Don't thank me. This should have never happened in the first place." Although he said this with a yawn, Erza noticed the way he balled his fists.

"What about the others? We have to help them, too!" Erza declared, determined to not leave anyone behind in this hellhole.

"They are being helped. *Yaaawn*... Actually, most of them should be free by now." He said, getting a surprised look from the red haired girl. Before she could say anything, however, Jeremiah suddenly pulled her into his arms, before rolling out of the way of a blast of ice needles.

"Why have you broken into our Lord's tower?" A cold, male voice asked. As she and Jeremiah got up, Erza saw that it was a man with fair skin, short, white hair with light blue bangs, dark blue eyes, and stood at just about 5'10. He was wearing the usual magicians robe, but had his hood down.

"And you are...?" Jeremiah trailed off, moving Erza behind him.

"You can just call me Olin, not that it will matter in a few moments." The man called Olin declared, before he gave Jeremiah a once-over. "Judging by your attire, I'm guessing you're an exorcist?"

'Exorcist?' Erza thought, a curious frown on her face as she looked up at the man protecting her.

"Yup." Jeremiah said, annoying Olin when he yawned.

"Tell me, Exorcist, why are you trying to stop the revival of our master?" Olin said, getting Jeremiah to tilt his head and blink.

"Hmm... Well, leaving aside the fact that the dead should be left to rest, I don't think I would be a very good exorcist if I just allowed you guys-" Here, he had to pause to yawn again. "allowed you guys to sacrifice people."

"Shame. If you hadn't come here, you may have lived another day." Olin said, closing his eyes and letting out an almost pitying sigh, before two magic circles appeared in front of him, with one shooting out a barrage of large shards of ice, while the other repeatedly shot out purple lightning blasts.

All too late, he realized Jeremiah was no longer standing in front of him.

"Let's see if you're a glass cannon, like most magicians." Eyes widening, Olin tried to quickly turn around, only for a devastating punch to send him flying, a silent scream leaving his mouth as he felt his spine snap in two, before his body crashed into a steel wall, actually denting it with the force of the impact.

"Well... Let's go, Erza." Jeremiah said to the wide eyed girl, getting a slow nod from her, before the two continued running to the lower levels.

"Can I become strong like you?" Erza asked while they were running, getting Jeremiah to give her a sideways glance.

"I've never really considered myself to be especially strong."

"But you are. How can I get that strong? How can I get strong enough to protect people, so that they don't ever have to go through something like this?!"

Jeremiah was silent for a bit, before he let out a tired sigh.

"Let's get you and the others out of here first. Then we can talk about you getting stronger. Alright?"

Erza just nodded in response, before she suddenly stumbled, and would have fallen if Jeremiah didn't catch her.

"What's-" He cut himself off when he heard her stomach growl loudly. No doubt, her hunger, combined with her injuries, were finally catching up to her. She had probably just been going off adrenaline up until now.

"I- I can still go!" She said with determination, but her body was clearly not having it. Still, she kept trying to stand on her own two feet, even as her stomach kept growling at her, as if to tell her to stop.

Reaching into his storage space/pocket dimension, Jeremiah pulled out a granola bar.

"Here. Eat this." He said, handing it to the girl, who looked at it with clear hunger in her eye. "I made this myself, for whenever I have missions where I have to sleep outside. Despite its small size, it packs a lot of calories. More than enough to fill you up."

Gulping, Erza reached out and gently grabbed the granola bar with shaking hands, almost afraid it would crumble from her touch.

"Th-"

"Again, don't thank me. This is basic human decency." Jeremiah said, before he picked the girl up in a princess carry, getting a sound of surprise from her. "Even if that fills you up, it's still gonna take a while for you to regain your energy. Plus, you're still injured."

As he began running again, Erza opened the granola bar and took a bite of it.

'He's warm.' She thought, resting her head against Jeremiah's chest. It was then that, unbidden, she felt her eye water up again, and this time, she didn't fight it, allowing herself to finally cry.

Glancing down at the girl in his arms, Jeremiah tightened his hold on her. 'I'm so sorry that this happened to you.'

When they reached the lower levels, Jeremiah saw that Hiyori and Yoruichi had done their part. They had freed all of the slaves, along with taking out the hundreds of magicians throughout the tower.

"Erza!" Some of the former slaves shouted, running up to check on the girl.

"This is everyone, right?" Jeremiah asked, walking over to Yoruichi.

"Yeah. There's some outside, too. I'd imagine it's been a while since most of them have actually gotten any fresh air." She replied with a frown.

"I'm sure." Jeremiah said with a sigh, running a hand through his wild hair. "Anyway, let's get going. These people need to be healed and fed before we send them to their homes."

As they all went outside, Jeremiah and Yoruichi created platforms of energy beneath them again. This time, however, Hiyori created one as well, with all of it combining into one large platform, big enough to fit all of the former slaves.

Before they flew away, Jeremiah glanced over at Yoruichi, and she gave him a nod.

"Alright. Let's go." He said, and with that, they flew away from the area, with only Jeremiah, Yoruichi, and Hiyori aware of the large magic circle that appeared over the Tower of Heaven. However, the former slaves certainly noticed when a giant lightning bolt shot out of the sky, with the loud sound of it making them have to cover their ears, along with having to close their eyes from how bright it was.

When the blinding light cleared, there was no tower, or even island left, making everyone there, save for the three exorcists, gape in shock.

And like that, the hellhole known as the Tower of Heaven was wiped off the map.

"Show off." Hiyori muttered, folding her arms.

"Oh? Jealous that he asked me to do it, instead of you?" Yoruichi asked with a smirk.

As the two started another round of their usual bickering, Jeremiah sat down and sighed. Turning his head, he spotted Erza talking to some of the other former slaves. It was nice to see her with a smile, however small it may be.

It was how kids should be.

[ Elsewhere - Same Time ]

"Say that again." A cold, male voice said, his figure shadowed by the darkness of the room.

"T- The entire is- island has been d- d- destroyed, Sir." The servant stuttered nervously, kneeling with his head bowed.

"What of the magicians that we left there?" Another male voice said, this one sounding higher than the first, but still carrying a cold tone.

"A- All dead. Killed by exorcists."

The temperature in the room dropped, making the servant shiver, both from the cold and fear enveloping him.

"And the sacrifices?" Another voice asked, this one sounding like a female.

Gulping nervously, the servant stuttered, "A- All t- t- taken by the e- exorcists."

It was then that a magic circle appeared over the servant, before he was burnt alive, leaving nothing behind but ashes.

"The church has decided to make an enemy of us." The first male voice growled.

"We will show them no mercy."

Notes:

Done.

I'll be honest. I'm kinda iffy on this one. I just feel like this chapter was really missing something. Maybe a good fight? I don't know.

As you all can see, some new characters were introduced. We've got Karasuba from Sekirei, Yoruichi and Hiyori from Bleach, and Erza from Fairy Tail. There was also someone by the name of Tier mentioned in the chapter. Pretty sure you guys can guess who that is.

Before anyone asks, I'll say it now. Hiyori and Jeremiah have a relationship like siblings, with him being like a big brother that she greatly admires. I don't plan on ever having them be more than that, but I'll consider it if enough people want it.

Also, if anyone is curious about the timeline, we're currently ten years before canon of DxD.

Hmm... I think that's all for now. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. If you've got any questions, tips, concerns, etc., feel free to let me know.

Til next time, guys.