[IC] Highschool DxD: The Devils' Due [ENDED]

[PaulHaynek]

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..."

----------

A rather famous cafe, Dantalion Delights, stood in Northern Japan. Visited by many, it has held for years thanks to its friendly, ever-smiling waiters and waitresses and its amazing efficiency. However, only a few know that this establishment was but a front and a base to a peerage of Devils.

Delilah Dantalion, the leader of this peerage and the owner of the cafe, was also a waitress that served the cafe's customers. Her grace and elegance attracted those who like regal and refined women. Her looks are nothing to balk at either and that coupled with her personality have earned her many regular customers who are always eager to be served by such a beauty of both appearance and manners. Right now, she served a couple who also asked to take pictures with her since it was quite rare to be served by the refined owner of the cafe.

When a group of four men entered the cafe, Asia Argento immediately spoke up. "I'm handling those people, everyone." She said from the kitchen. Assuming her best waitress look, she went out into the dining area. If Delilah was the elegant and graceful lady of the cafe, Asia was the cute and clumsy girl. Her young appearance and tiny but caring voice appealed to customers who like the more innocent kind of waitresses.

It was a normal day for Delilah's peerage and it appeared to be like that for the rest of the day. Until, an unexpected figure entered the cafe. A white-haired man dressed in a Christian priest's robes and fabric stood just in front of the entrance, likely waiting to be serviced. Delilah and Asia were both stunned and could only stare at the holy customer along with the rest of the cafe.

The priest coughed as a subtle call to the staff and continued waiting for one of them to come to him.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Suzue Yamazaki~

Ah, she had never imagined she'd be in the position that she was in. Not that she was complaining mind you, quite the opposite. She rather enjoyed the act of serving others as well as simply working in the cafe. Delilah had been quite accommodating all these years, and as for a devil...well, she wasn't exactly very 'devilish' as far as the spider was concerned. At least, not usually. Most of the time, she worked as a waitress or cook, depending on what was needed. She was quite skilled at both, and took great pride in all of her work. At the moment, she was currently serving and taking orders from others. It was a normal, calm day really - her favorite kind.

That is, until a man of the cloth showed up right on their doorstep.

"Oh my," The spider held a hand to the side of her face, smiling softly to herself. It seemed there was a bit of apprehension among both Asia and Delilah on how to handle this sudden appearance. If Delilah and Asia were the cute and elegant, she'd be the mature and...well, slightly flirty one. Well, at least, that's what she played herself up as. "I'll handle this one, okay?" Just because he was a priest didn't mean she'd be perturbed by his appearance. It'd be best to appear as normal as possible after all. Besides, if there was too be trouble - she wouldn't let any harm befall her family. With a bright smile and her usual elegant seeming manner, she walked over to the man.

"Welcome to Dantalion Delights." Suzue replied softly in her usual manner, giving him a small, friendly smile. Her closed eyed gaze probably wasn't exactly the most comforting to look at though. "My, we don't usually get people of the cloth here." She said in a friendly manner, indicating some empty seats with a hand. "I suppose we should consider ourselves blessed, now? Today might be a good day for business." She giggled softly. "Ah...silly me, I'm getting a little too chatty aren't I? Care for a window seat, sir?"

[Polaris North]

Daithi Akasuki

Daithi tapped his pen on the side of the table as he looked over the ledger. This was yesterday's profit and then the status of the current inventory. For some odd reason, there should still be some leftover shortcakes from yesterday but there wasn't. He was pretty sure that none of his co-workers had taken any. Had someone already disposed of them by accident? He had planned on at least giving them those shortcakes as some sort of reward, with permission from Delilah of course. It was unfortunate that it had magically disappeared, but there was little he could do now. Perhaps he should bake some. Fat chance.

With a sigh, he stood up from his seat and closed the ledger. He placed the pen clipped to the pocket of his uniform and took the notepad where he took orders and slid it into his pocket. He bounded outside before seeing that everyone was already being served. There was no particular need for him to be there so he remained beside the cash register and the ledger was then placed beside it. Hopefully, this would be another slow and normal day. While he didn't hate having some action every now and then, he had enough of that thanks to being part of a Devil's Peerage.

He honestly thought he would never be part of one. Especially with his loyalty to Heaven from a time long past, there was no way that would happen. But it did, thanks to some unfortunate circumstances, and he has come to appreciate being in one. The Devils weren't like the ones before, when God of the Bible was still alive. There were kinder, and less bloodthirsty. In fact, they handle their own strays now. Daithi guessed it was because they also partially needed to keep Earth safe. Humans were fragile creatures after all, but they still needed them.

That was when a priest had entered. His eyes narrowed at the priest but let out a sigh. There was no need to act hostile. They were a cafe, there was bound to be an odd guest every now and then. Suzue had also taken point and then entertained the priest. Daithi continued to stay at his post, eyes wandering between the priest and then the other customers, but with little caution.

[Lord of Evil]

Sato was doing what he usually did during operational hours; washing dishes. An important job in any kind of food establishment, particularly in a cafe where the number of people coming for a day would be impossible until they actually came. Not only did he have to make sure to clean dishes as they arrived, but it was important to do it properly in order to keep the cafe as hygienic as possible. An important, if inglorious, job, but it was also a tedious job, and it was fairly boring to boot. Still, it gave Sato some time to think, and god knew he needed some of that these days.

Sato lifted a plate out of the frothy mass and inspected it, pausing to wipe away a stain the hot soapy water had somehow missed, before placing it on a rack by the dishwasher. Washing dishes was practically second nature for him, almost comforting in its routine. As he loaded more plates into the frothing sink, Sato began to sift through the thoughts swimming in his head. Working in a cafe was nothing new, but with a devil as the proprietress it was a different story.

As he worked he glanced outside the kitchen to where she worked in the cafe proper. She looked young, much younger than people who usually owned eateries. And she'd told him some pretty weird stuff about devils fighting each other and something she'd called 'the rating game', but he hadn't been doing much of that in the past few weeks. Well, he wasn't really complaining about that. So long as he got payed, anyway. He briefly wondered what exactly a devil was doing running a cafe. From what he'd been told it seemed there were plenty of other devils here and there with their own peerages, whatever that meant, but he couldn't figure out why one would want to run a cafe. Maybe she was planning some great evil on the human race. Or maybe she just really wanted to make some money. Why exactly had she done something like this?
Oh wait. Sato suddenly thought. I don't care.

Well, maybe he did care a little. But even if she was planning on destroying human kind or whatever, it wasn't like he would do much about it. He owed her a serious debt, after all. And besides, a good relationship was based on trust. He was pretty sure she knew what she was doing and he was content to leave it at that. Still, from what she'd said it sounded like he'd fight someone or other some day, and while that day hadn't come, he wasn't looking forward to it. But he would handle that when it came.

It took a little while to notice but Sato realised that he couldn't hear the voice of Delilah, nor that of Asia in the cafe, which was odd considering their popularity. He glanced over and spotted a rather conspicuous man, outfitted in clothing that marked him out as a priest of some sort. Sato narrowed his eyes as he scrubbed the dishes. According to Delilah her peerage were all devils, and as such should be careful around holy symbols like crosses and holy water. Sato never went to church so he didn't think it would be a big deal. And maybe this wouldn't turn out to be anything either - priests went to cafes, surely. He was pretty sure that they didn't come dressed up like that but he couldn't rule out the possibility of some oddball priests. But at the same time, he couldn't rule out the possibility that the priest was here for a less savory reason.

Sato sighed and went back to the dishes. Stacking the plates on the rack he soon put the lot into the dishwasher. He got back to his work at a different pace. He slowed down a little, taking his time with each plate, never taking more than what could be finished fast. If the priest was here for a meal then he was a customer. But if he came here for some other reason then Sato was primed and ready to go. A shame that the priest was here before Sato's lunch break, but there was no helping that. If the holy guy tried anything funny then Sato wanted to be ready to intervene at any time.

[TheHangedMan]

The doors the cafe burst open, followed by thunderous peels of laughter, and in walked in a ball of energy that could outlast the sun.

"I'm home~!" she announced cheerfully, her arrival turning heads for a variety of reasons. Of course, foremost was just how loud she was in the otherwise silent cafe, but there was also the factor that she was beauty on par with Delilah; a beauty of a different taste, but a beauty nonetheless. Whereas Delilah was like a lily, blossoming gracefully under the moonlight, Mia was like a summer sunflower beaming up at the sky.

While she didn't work here, she did live in the cafe, so she was a common sight for many regulars. It was fair to say that plenty of them were here for her as much as they were for its elusive owner.

"Hi Suzu~!" she said, passing by the Jorogumo, before pausing to stare at the priest she was serving. The pause lasted for only a second before the devil shrugged and bounded towards her King, closing the distance between them in seconds and enveloping her in a smothering hug.

"I'm back Dells~! Didja miss me?" she asked routinely.

[Lord of Evil]

A young boy sat on a bench on the sidewalk, nibbling at a piece of taiyaki in his hand, glancing every so often at the doorway of a nearby cafe. He had a furrowed brow and a worried expression, an expression that would normally garner some sympathy from a passerby had it not been covered by a sporty red cap the boy had on his head. As it was the passersby barely gave the boy a second thought, which was exactly the way he wanted it.

Kael had been sitting on the bench, sans mask, for some time, trapped by none other than a dilemma. On the one hand, he wanted to go into the cafe. on the other hand was the fact that there were a lot of people in there. In reality there was probably no reason not to go in, since it was highly unlikely any of them had the intention of harming the young boy. But at the same time, it was impossible to rule out the risk. What if one of the customers was a demon serial killer in disguise who wanted nothing more than to murder unsuspecting young devils like Kael? Or what if it was one of his relatives instead, here to drag him to one of his dreaded family reunions? Among the countless reasons not to go inside, one was that he didn't really need to be there. His shift wasn't until later that day, in trough hours of the cafe. But he did want to be in there, and why he wanted in had nothing to do with seeing his master in a uniform serving customers. No really.

He continued to chew thoughtfully on the fish-shaped delight in his hand. When he came into the human world was amazed that humans could come up with something so interesting. He'd bought some to share with the rest in an effort to perhaps foster friendly relations among his master's peerage. He'd hardly talked to any of them ever since he joined, and that was making him worried. Teamwork was crucial for the rating game, after all, and Kael didn't want to hold his master back. Hence, he'd devised a plan to garner a positive image by providing his new teammates with gifts. But the big flaw with the plan was that Kael didn't know what to do afterwards, with a more minor flaw being his inability to enter the premises. It was simple enough in theory; use the food as bait to start the conversation, carry it into other topics. But the number of topics he could actually talk about with his colleagues was close to 0, unless one of them had secret assassin training (he was pretty sure they hadn't but the possibility was always there), and even if he had something to talk about it would only go well if he didn't stutter through the whole thing. And that was a pretty big if.

Kael was broken out of his musings as he spied a priest out of the corner of his eye. He immediately froze and tried to make himself even smaller as he walked by. He stared at the priest from under his hat as the clergyman walked by, watching him enter the cafe. Any demon knew about the danger of crosses and holy water and the like, but the most dangerous people for any demon were always the source of those: priests. He had heard they were all crazed demon hunting fanatics with no other purpose in life than exterminating demons. Although maybe things had changed recently, but the man doubtlessly had foul intentions for the cafe and its inhabitants.

Kael pulled his mask back up and began to rise from his seat when a sudden blur entered his vision. He hastily stepped back as a familiar brown-haired blur streaked past his seat. He watched, bewildered as she crashed into the cafe, apparently unaware of the holy power gracing the cafe. Kael was once again conflicted. The priest demanded immediate action and considering the person who just blundered into the cafe was a teammate it looked like the situation would be favorable. But this was the one teammate he really couldn't deal with. It wasn't about him talking to her it was her communicating with him. His brief attempt at conversation had sapped his energy rapidly as he tried to keep up with her apparently endless joyful energy. He was afraid she would one day drag him off to who knew where and do all kinds of things to him, like take his picture, or forcing him to sing a funny song, or something. Every single carefully laid plan had crumbled under the seemingly insurmountable girl and he wasn't ready to face her again just yet. Still, the situation was potentially dire and his master could have need of his assistance.

Kael sighed heavily before getting off the bench. This wasn't something he could avoid forever and social contact with someone he couldn't understand would be a small price to pay. Steeling himself, Kael slowly approached the door to enter into the cafe. As he opened the door, however, he was suddenly met with the scene inside the cafe, with the maelstrom of a girl wrapped around his master, and he lost all of his courage. Kael slowly let the door close before taking refuge under one of the front windows, face beet red, with his mind awhirl. He hadn't been expecting that particular scene. He felt incredibly awkward as he thought about trying to walk into that scene. Maybe he should stay outside a little longer...

[PaulHaynek]

@Rune_Alchemist @Polaris North @Lord of Evil @TheHangedMan

-------

"Ah...silly me, I'm getting a little too chatty aren't I? Care for a window seat, sir?"

Suzue Yamazaki

"Yes. I'd love that." The priest replied with a smile.

Once the priest was seated, his eyes was locked on the customers that Asia was serving and they returned the sentiment. Asia noticed this and slowly moved away from the brewing confrontation. She was still watching though, waiting to see what happens next in this tense situation.

By this point, Mia was on top of Delilah. "Ah, Mia!" She said, startled from the unexpected glomp. "Please, Mia. Get off at once. Something's happening here." Delilah ordered the Devil. Once that happened, the Dantalion King got up only for the scene to truly unfold.

The four men got up from their table and brandished wavy, ornate daggers. They appeared to be sacrificial knives of sort. Something one would see in a stereotypical occult gatherings. One of them rushed the couple Delilah was serving, dragged the girl by the hair and held her hostage. The priest got up in return and brandished his weapon: A revolver-looking gun with an elongated, more complex barrel. The weapon was aimed at the hostage-taker who hid further behind his hostage.

"No need to involve them. We can take this outside, you know?" The priest told the hostage-taker.

"Damn you, priest!" The man hissed. "Go away and don't follow us!"

"We both know I can't do that."

The situation has unexpectedly escalated. Asia took cover while Delilah began to glow with power though she allowed her pieces to go first. Though, only the peerage saw that one of the men was muttering something silently, only moving his mouth. He appeared to be chanting or channelling a spell of some sort.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Suzue Yamazaki~

Suzue smiled softly at the priest, leading him to a seat, stopping only a moment to give Mia a friendly wave. He seemed harmless enough, and since he didn't seem to be too hostile it didn't look like there was going to be trouble. Very good, then. She would hate to have to ruin such a beautiful day with violence. Of course, she wasn't going to let her guard down so easily. When it came to family, any of them, putting them in any sort of danger...well, she wouldn't let something happen on her watch, even if it caused harm to herself.

It seemed though, the momentary lull in danger lasted only a moment.

Before she could act, a group that had come in earlier acted in quite a rude and disruptive manner. One of them brandished a knife, some sort of occult looking thing. They dashed over to the group Delilah was serving, taking a young girl by the hair and holding a knife to her throat. It was a nasty sight, and one she seemed to be somewhat familiar with. It made an unpleasant feeling well up in the pit of her stomach. Unpleasant anger. The priest that brandished a holy weapon of some sort...was not helping in the slightest. Delilah gathering power herself was the only permission the spider needed to take action.

Before the man chanting could continue to do so - a glob of sticky, fine web about the size of a baseball blasted him right in the face.

"Oh my, oh my..." Both of her eyes opened as she spoke, amber eyes fixing the four men with a gaze. "Playing with knives is dangerous, you know? Maybe you should put it down before you get hurt?" As she spoke an oppressive, aura fell over the group of men as her eyes opened. Fear ate away at their minds as the eyes began haunting them. Hopefully they would be scared enough to either flee entirely or

Even if it didn't do anything by itself, the momentary surprise would give the others time to act.

[Lord of Evil]

As soon as he heard the sound of chairs scraping across the floor, Sato moved to react. He immediately dropped what he was doing into the sink and stalked towards the cafe interior. He peeked out of the kitchen and saw that things were somewhat different to what he'd imagined. He had most certainly expected the priest to be standing up but he hadn't expected the 4 other men, and he definitely wasn't expecting all of them to be armed. The priest even had an honest-to-god revolver; apparently he was more progressive than normal priests, although how he got a gun in these parts was something he was worried about.

Sato quickly scanned the cafe to take in the rest of the situation. 5 members of the peerage were in the cafe interior vs 5 aggressors, although judging by the general air and the hostage held by one of the 4 men, the priest might actually be on their side. Still, the opposition had a hostage, so things could go downhill very quickly. So, the question was, what would he do about it.

To be perfectly honest, he himself couldn't do very little. He wasn't fast enough to free the hostage, he didn't have any ranged attacks, and he wasn't very good at sneaking. So that left the distraction route. Sato clicked his tongue and slowly sauntered forward.
"Hey Boss, we're running low on plates back here. Are these guys eating out here or what?" Sato said nonchalantly as he entered the room.
He acted surprised at the men in the room, hopefully it was a believable enough act to distract the men.
"...Yamazaki? I don't think throwing webs at people is an appropriate greeting." He asked, a note of concern in his voice.
Hopefully that would do something to distract the knife-wielding thugs. His colleagues were starting to suppress the insurgents but if he could distract at least one of them then maybe someone could take a pot shot.

---

It was short moment before Kael glanced inside the cafe once again, but the situation had changed drastically. Men with knives and priests with guns, and a hostage taken right before his eyes. A new situation, but Kael wasn't afraid. His gaze sharpened when the men had brought out their knives. He studied each man, noting their stance, how they held their weapons, especially noting how one of them seemed to be muttering under their breath.

As the priest pulled out his gun, Kael surmised that he didn't know enough about the situation to take decisive action on his own. He knew that the 4 men were up to no good, considering they took a cafe patron as a hostage, but besides that he didn't know why they were doing what they were doing. Most importantly he didn't know what Delilah wanted to do, whether she would help one side, or take neither side. Whether she wanted to simply pacify or suppress the trespassers was another matter to take into account. In the end, Kael decided there was no better way to find out than to ask her.

Kael carefully set the bag of taiyaki down and made towards the door. When no one was looking he quietly opened it, but his aim wasn't enter the cafe, he only needed to set his foot onto the the shadow of the wall. As soon as he made contact with it, he disappeared into the shadow. It was dark in the shadows, as usual, but he didn't need to see. He remembered the layout of the cafe, along with everyone in it, and he could feel their shadows. Kael moved his body through the darkness. It was a strange feeling, like he was swimming in a pool of water. He couldn't move very quickly but it would be fast enough for his purposes.

I think it was here... Kael thought to himself.
The aim was the man who had the hostage. In terms of targets it was probably the highest priority. It was highly likely that the muttering man was casting a spell of some sort but neutralizing him could cause the other man to freak out and kill the hostage, and Delilah definitely wouldn't allow her patrons to come under harm.

Kael emerged from the shadows just behind the hostage-man pair, summoning a double-edged dagger as he did. It was fortunate that Suzue had opened the conflict; she was always good at distracting others. Kael crept up on the man slowly in order to not be noticed. The man was much taller than he was but there was a convenient chair just behind him. In a sudden burst of action Kael jumped up onto the chair and slid his dagger under the man's throat.
"Don't move." Kael whispered to the man, with a calmness belying his age in this situation.

It was entirely possible for the man to use his superior strength to break free, or kick the chair out from under him to get an advantage, but Kael was prepared for that. He looked closer at the knife the men had brought. It looked strangely ornate, more for a ritual than combat. He was sure that the man wasn't as skilled at knife combat as Kael was, or, at the very least, Kael was pretty sure that he was fatser than the man. He summoned another dagger in full view of the man before addressing his master.
"Master Delilah, what are my orders?" He asked.

[Polaris North]

Daithi Akasuki

Seeing as the priest kindly replied to his co-worker, Daithi seemed to ease up. He opened the cash register for a moment to look at the funds that they garnered for today. It was a steady income, at the very least. He then closed it back when he noticed the increasing tension between the priest and the customers Asia was serving. Mia had burst inside and glomped their master - the act all too familiar with the previous Fallen Angel. It was, however, responded with a not too kind expression from Delilah as she, herself, was glued to the scene that was happening before them.

The moment the priests brandished knives was the moment the air around them started to smell like ozone - lightning pouring out of Daithi and crackling around him. His serious expression quickly replaced by a furious one. One might easily say that he was always among the first to react violently to situations like these, and among those who take it far too seriously, finding little time for jokes - though that isn't to say that stalling isn't part of some of his strategies. However, the scene unfolded to be much, much worst as one of the customers grabbed a woman that Delilah had been serving earlier, holding her at knife point. It seemed that Daithi was now absolutely furious for more reasons than one.

The priest had taken out a revolver, one that Daithi does not recognize among the treasures and weaponry of the Catholic or Christian churches; though that may have changed over the years that he wasn't part of Heaven anymore. He turned back to the previous customers, now enemies. He let out a ragged breath, meant to calm himself. He saw Asia take cover and Delilah started to store power, perhaps to unleash hell upon these people for disturbing the peace of her cafe.

Suzue had taken the first shot, shooting a web at the man who was chanting something. They then continued on to distract by speaking. Sato came in and then acted surprised, as if bewildered by what was happening. He assumed this was another distracted. From behind the enemies of theirs, Kael had emerged. The Shadow Demon proved useful in cases like these, as sneaking was a great asset. He then managed to take the hostage taker at the tip of his own dagger which meant that there was momentary relief as the group would be surprised.

The time to act had come. A dark sphere formed into a spear now crackled with lightning and he sent one hurtling towards one of their enemies, aiming to incapacitate him in one shot. Though they may prove to be resilient, but he wanted to test the waters first. Unlike the first three, he stayed silent and the attack that he made was harmful to the others. This may already escalate to a battle and Daithi was more than glad to get the first strike in. Simultaneously, a bolt of lightning was released and sent towards another one (not the chanter or the hostage taker) in hopes to see if he can also take the shot.

[Shadow Daedalus]

James Ashe-Hartnet

James wasn't exactly sure what he had walked into, but it didn't take him long to extrapolate the most important facts. He'd left early that morning, taking a day off to check up on his family but close at hand via magical communication should he need be. Just as he was returning to the Cafe, however, he crossed paths with an unusual priest and taken a detour to avoid him. Imagine his surprise as he entered the cafe to see the same priest locked into a stand-off with 4 men wielding ornamental daggers, sacrificial in purpose. Cultists, Most likely.

Suddenly, Action filled the Cafe. James used the sudden movements to his advantage, tapping into the speed of his Knight Piece to strike at the best target of opportunity. Deciding the spell-caster was the most prominent threat, he darted towards the man as he tried desperately to claw the sticky thread from his face. As he ran, he kicked one of the other men and sent him stumbling directly into the path of the Lightning Bolt that Daithi had cast at him, near enough assuring that it would strike him. When he reached the blinded man, he quickly grappled the man, ramming his knee into the man's stomach to wind him before he could free himself from the Jorōgumo's web, causing him to bend over as he gasped for air. Retracting his leg, he quickly transitioned into an Axe kick, the heel of his boot ramming into the man's spine just below the neck and slamming him into the ground before he could recover. Taking advantage of this, James stomped on the tip of the man's dagger, sending it flying, and plucking the blade from the air before grabbing the knife-wielder's arm and twisting it far enough to almost give him a spiral fracture and placing the tip of the stolen dagger to the man's Carotid Artery.

Without looking up, he called out to any of the other Peerage members that could do as he suggested. "Someone secure the priest!"

[TheHangedMan]

Mia Raum

---

Truth be told, Mia was aware of the tension brewing in the cafe the moment she entered; she just didn't care. If things were going to happen then let them happen already. She never understood the point of just waiting and watching when it was obvious something was wrong - seriously, was it so hard to just ask "Hey, you're acting really suspicious, you mind screwing off?" It was better than just waiting, anyway.

So when things went to hell and the the situation devolved into a three-way Mexican standoff, Mia wasn't as surprised as her peerage probably imagined she was. In fact, she was practically impatient for it to begin.

The moment everyone began scrambling, Mia's eyes crackled with energy as her magic found its release.

The others had already made their move, going after their respective targets. Though she had to wonder about the intelligence of their choices - she'd comment on that later - and, point being, they left the priest alone, the person who was arguably the biggest threat to the peerage.

Well, looks like that left her. Best not to trouble Delilah with something so trivial.

With a wide smile, heat radiated off her as numerous orbs of lightning crackled into life around her, floating menacingly around their assailants as a thinly veiled threat: "Move, and you'll get hurt," they said.

That being done, she resumed hugging Delilah, albeit in a more subdued manner, and directed a snicker at Kael and Daithi. "Really, I know he has a hostage n' everything, but it's a bit much for the two of you to go after one man. There're a lot of other playmates here ya know?"

[PaulHaynek]

@Rune_Alchemist @Lord of Evil @Polaris North @Shadow Daedalus @TheHangedMan

---

Suzue managed to silence the chanter with a shot of web to his mouth. Her intimidation tactic appeared to be working but the initiation of combat gave all of the enemies newfound courage. Nevertheless, the chanter was taken down with a martial combo by James. His dark knife now held against him and preventing him from moving. At least, for now.

Meanwhile, Daithi's bolts targeted two of the hostiles. One of whom evaded the bolt and letting it destroy part of the cafe's furniture. The other had little choice in the matter as he was kicked into the bolt by James. The attack sent him flying into a table. He did not move afterwards so he was either dead or just unconscious. However, the display of supernatural abilities made the rest of the cafe patrons flee for their lives, rushing to the exit and past the priest who had to brace himself from the terrified crowd and momentarily detach himself from the fight.

Kael made the hostage-taker his hostage. The quick karmic payback was offset by the enemy's actions. "You leave me no choice..." He whispered back and slid his occult dagger across the girl's neck. Or at least he would have had the priest not fired his revolver unto his head. The shot rang throughout the cafe and the hostage-taker's head exploded, his blood splattering all over Kael's face. The girl ran off the moment she was released.

The rush of the panicked crowd out of the cafe allowed the remaining active enemy to charge James and tackle him off the chanter. He then proceeded to use his own ritual knife on the Knight in a desperate attempt to gain some form of advantage. Unfortunately for him, he was blasted off by a purple ball of destructive magic courtesy of Delilah.

But the chanter was freed again and he resumed his dark spell to completion. Darkness engulfed his hand and he threw a tendril of it to the cafe floor. A pool of pitch black darkness appeared and whatever furniture on it sunk and probably never to be seen again. A dog-like creature rose from the darkness and quickly leapt into battle. More particularly, Suzue.

Delilah immediately prepared another ball of magic to deal with the nightmarish creature but then she noticed a fireball heading her way, casted by the one who was hit by Daithi's lightning earlier. She was too late to react to it but not the priest who placed himself in the fireball's way and took the damage meant for the King. The fiery attack sent the holy man toward Delilah and both of them into the floor.

[Lord of Evil]

Kael

Kael had been surprised by the man's fervor - not many would risk their own life to take one that would likely be completely arbitrary. He had been ready to die for his cause, apparently, but Kael was even more surprised by the priest's shot, a well aimed, deadly shot. Kael payed no mind to the blood nor the shocked hostage collapsed under him, and instead focused full attention on the priest. Had he aimed for Kael and missed? Or was there something else at play he'd missed. Still, there was no time to think on it. From behind the white haired boy's head a fireball sailed on a straight line course towards his master. He reached out with his daggers but it was too late to stop it. Once again Kael was surprised by the priest's actions as he took a blow meant for Delilah. Kael's mind turned from shock to relief to cold anger in a second. He turned his head and looked around, viewing the scene as if in slow motion.

He had to make the most optimal move here. Ultimately few threats remained but if the muttering man was indeed a summoner then that number could easily grow. The beast commanded attention, certainly, but it was biting off far more than it could chew if it was targeting the team's queen. And while the fireball man was also a priority for more personal reasons, he would still be less dangerous than the summoner. At least, that was what he thought.

Thinking quickly Kael tossed his daggers into his shadow, withdrawing 2 throwing knives from instead. He threw them towards the man who'd summoned the beast, disappearing into their shadows as soon as they left his hand. He didn't need them to hit the man precisely, what he was aiming for was the man's shadow. They soon hit the floor where he'd aimed - right on the summoner's shadow. Thankfully for Kael the man's shadow was prominently shown. As soon as they hit he emerged from the man's shadow, activating his binding magic. He felt the tug in the shadow and he knew it was done. The knives weren't exactly strategically placed but it should stop him moving somewhat, or at least surprise him. They wouldn't cause pain and would likely only pin him for a moment, but a moment was all he needed. Not after what Kael would do, at least. Taking his daggers from his shadow, Kael stabbed the man in the foot, pinning it to the floor. In one smooth move he used the man's knee as a foot stool for his left leg to push his body upwards, pivoting his right leg to upwards to connect with the man's chin. It connected with a solid thud, sending the man's head rocking backwards. The knife in his foot kept his body in place, however, and sent the poor man's head into the floor.

Kael took his remaining dagger to the fallen man and slashed at the ligaments in his arms. He could probably have just tied him up but this was the probably the fastest and safest way to prevent movement. Finally, Kael stood on the man's torso and held his dagger to the man's throat, just in case the man tried anything funny.
"Target has been secured." Kael called out, hoping that the others would be doing their job.
He didn't want to kill the guy - if Delilah wanted them alive then he'd deliver them alive. And if she didn't, then he'd just need to clean up and that would be that.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Suzue Yamazaki~

Oh dear.

Everything was escalating quite a bit wasn't it? As soon as she had silenced the chanting one, the other members of the peerage took action. Kael and Sato were the first to make a move, with Sato staying on the sidelines for now. Well, at least he wouldn't get hurt there. Kael took a more direct approach, taking the hostage taker hostage himself - not that it did much good. As soon as the cultist was apprehended he made a move to slice the girls neck. Suzue made a move to bind his hand but before she could the priest moved faster, firing a bullet right into his head. The Jorogumo couldn't help but to cringe slightly - she hated guns. Loud, and served no purpose other than to harm others.

But then, the Jorogumo disliked death and injury no matter its source, and once a bullet was fired from a gun towards a target, someone was going to be injured. A blade at least, could be used for defense without seriously injuring another if they were used well. Perhaps that was just the manner of her death speaking, however.

James was next to act as the panicked crowd rushed out of the cafe. Ah...they'd have some explaining to do, then. Well, she was sure Delilah and them could come up with a plan - but first of all...These...troublemakers were behaving like children. Cultists, were they? No, they were children causing a stir for some silly reason. So, it was her job to discipline them, yes? That was it. Their king would be fine - even without the priest having taken the blow for her.

As the dog like creature was summoned, Suzue frowned in seeming disappointment. Well she didn't like playing with her food, so to speak, so she would end this quickly. Six spider legs began growing from her back, reaching full length in a matter of seconds. It was a little difficult to move around completely in the cafe, but she wouldn't need to move from this spot hopefully. As the dog leapt at her in order to attack, one of her spider legs slammed right into its face, eliciting a pained growl from the eldritch creature in question as it was literally flung aside like some pest right towards the man who had flung the fireball as Kael had seemingly dealt with the summoner.

Ah, having multiple appendages was so nice! She could do so many things at once, hehe...tsk, if only she had opposable thumbs on all of them.

"Goodness," She replied with a sigh. "Such troublesome children you are. Perhaps you need a little time out?" In the next instant a strong, thin strand of web was launched from two of her legs, right towards the fireball wielder as he was likely either recovering from being smacked by the hound, or avoiding it. The thread would hopefully connect with the mans ankles, wrapping around them tightly before she pulled on them, stringing him up by his boots and hanging him from the ceiling and wrapping his midsection in a tough coating of pliable webbing to prevent his arms from moving, as well as making sure he could no longer speak.

Of course, her other legs were poised to deal with the hound had it not been finished off by the force of being hit by her.

[Lord of Evil]

Sato

Sato began running forward to block the shot. He was sure he wouldn't make it in time but if he could at least reach Delilah he could pull her out of the way. As he did, though, he knew he wouldn't make it in time. But for some reason, the priest did the job for him. Sato dove forward to catch the falling priest-boss combo, managing to catch them in time to prevent them hitting the floor. Delilah seemed fine enough; perhaps a little ruffled, but nothing serious. The priest, on the other hand...
"Asia, help me out over here!" Sato said.
The small girl hadn't moved since the start of the incident, and the priest would likely need her skills now. At the very least, he was sure it wouldn't hurt.

Sato glanced at the ensuing chaos from under the body pile. Suzue had begun handling the situation but she seemed more preoccupied with the fireball thrower than the demon dog. Looks like he'd have to deal with that. It wouldn't do to have it wreck up the place; he could get a pay cut. He carefully lay the boss and the priest down separately before getting up. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of candy. It wasn't anything that could even charitably be called a square meal, but it was better than nothing. Sato unwrapped it and swallowed it quickly before getting to work.

Sato ran towards the dog. It had been thrown by Suzue rather hard but Sato didn't want to take any chances. He wanted to hit it hard before it could recover. He got where there fast enough, grabbing the dog by its horn. He could feel strength welling up in his limbs, perks of being a rook of a peerage. Sato briefly wondered whether this would be the norm, but he payed it no mind. Sato lifted the beast's head up, positioning his knee below its chin, and brought its head down as he raised his knee. He felt the impact go through his leg, but surprisingly it wasn't as strong as he thought it would've been.
"...Maybe I didn't put enough strength into it." Sato muttered.
Once again, he lifted the beast by the horn and brought it down onto his knee.
"Hm... Nevermind." Sato said.
Maybe it was his newfound durability. He noticed that heavy lifting had become easier, and he didn't get as tired as he used to. In any case he had better things to do than figure out his power.

Still holding it by the horn Sato pulled back the beast's head, exposing its neck.
"James, Daithi, Mia, anyone - come finish this guy, would you?" He called out to the team.
One lethal blow should do the trick but he didn't have the strength to pull it off. But his colleagues did, and while one probably would've done, he wasn't about to take any chances.

@TheHangedMan@Polaris North@Shadow Daedalus

[Polaris North]

Daithi Akasuki

Daithi sighed. Seeing as James had assured that one of the cultists would hit the course of his lightning, he ruled off that one. However, the other one had dodged and then promptly attacked James, but was subdued thanks to Delilah's destructive power. He cringed at the sound of the revolver going off. While he worked with guns, courtesy of his own making with magic, they were never as loud as the real ones. In fact, they made little sound as it was still magic.

The bullet had made contact with the hostage-taker, blood spraying out. Daithi didn't bat an eye though. The screaming citizens that fled the area was what worried him. What kind of tale should they spin to excuse all of this? He should have learned how to do a memory wipe magic as to cover these kinds of bases. However, it would seem that Delilah wasn't too worried about them. Right, they should focus on the matter at hand. The worry that they might be exposed or the cafe would be closed down, or both, still weighed heavily on his mind. Could they excuse this with a simply, 'this was just a shooting for an upcoming movie'? Hopefully the humans would be convinced but somehow, he doubted that.

Kael had taken down the chanter through the use of his own demonic power, one that Daithi was still trying to grasp. However, before he was taken down, he had summoned some hellish dog that then bared its teeth at Suzue. Another cultist, the one that he had hit earlier with lightning, had fired a fireball at their King. A flash of worry appeared in his eyes as his wings spread out upon instinct, raring to speed towards the fireball to intercept it. However, Sato couldn't make it - the priest did though, protecting Delilah. Why the priest had done that was another matter. Sato called out to Asia to help the priest and then attacked the hellish dog.

Suzue had risen to her full height through the use of her spider legs and promptly began to attack the caster. Daithi rubbed the back of his head as he seemed to find no more further use for him as his colleagues seem to have it covered. His wings retracted but he turned to Sato who was asking for someone else to finish the dog. "I got it." He remarked to let the others know. A dark light spear appeared atop his hand and it began to be enveloped with blue lightning. He then launched it towards the dog, hoping to slice its head clean off. It would go through the hellish dog, and it probably would be a rather effective attack seeing as it looked to have been made from dark and devilish energy, but the spear itself wouldn't hit Sato.

"Are you alright, Delilah?" He asked, turning his head ever so slightly to his silver haired master. He still kept an eye on the battle ensuing within the cafe but wanted to know her condition.

@Lord of Evil

[Shadow Daedalus]

James Ashe-Hartnet

Under the sounds of the panicked rush, James hadn't heard the approaching threat until he was suddenly tackled, losing grip on the dagger he had confiscated and falling into his back. The man with the wavy dagger tried to take advantage of his surprise and take him out with the blade, only to blasted away by his King, but the man he had been restraining managed to escape and summon a bizarre eldritch mimicry of a dog, a shark and a rhino rammed into one misshapen body. James let out a low curse under his breath as he made to pursue the creature, only for the spider queen to send it flying. His fellow Knight had quickly incapacitated the summoner and the flame-wielder was being handled by Suzue, so the only remaining threats were the bizarre dog-creature and the last man.

The former was quickly grabbled by the Rook and Daithi was using it at target practice, so just left the bastard that tried to stab him. The man in particular was dragging himself out of the splintered remains of a table, nursing a wound left by Delilah's magic. The British Knight piece walked towards him, a silver light starting in the palms of his hands and wrapping around his arms until they suddenly burst, leaving the black armour of his Sacred Gear. As he drew closer, he suddenly burst into a sprint and grabbed the man's face with his clawed hand, his sharpened grasp tight enough to draw blood. Enhancing his momentum with his devil-born speed, he rammed the man's head back into the ground, before kicking him onto his front and summoning a katana into his right hand.

Stepping around to stand in front of the man, he placed a booted foot onto the man's head, pressing it into the ground before grasping his weapon in a two-handed grip and delivering three deep slashes across the man's back, cutting deep into the spine and severing his spinal cord. While it was more to ensure he wouldn't escape before he could be interrogated, If he were to, against James' better judgement, survive the day he would e crippled for life, never walk or regain the feelings in his legs again.

"This one's dealt with as well."

[PaulHaynek]

@Rune_Alchemist @Lord of Evil @Polaris North @Shadow Daedalus

---

"Get off me, Devil! Your pitiful kind's days are over!" The enemy that Kael captured spat at him "Argh!" However, each move brought him pain so he resigned to his fate as a captive. "You know not the powers that you trifle with, Devil!" He continued to dole out the harsh language.

After swatting away the summoned hound, Suzue ensnared and bound the hostile who cast a fireball at Delilah but received by the priest. The caster was not fast enough to react against Suzue's webs and by the time he realized what was going on, he was too late. He struggled as hard as he could but he could not break through the threads that bound him. Hanging from the ceiling enveloped in web, he continued to futilely struggle.

Meanwhile, James had dealt with the enemy who had tackled him but blasted away by Delilah. The hostile was barely unconscious when James captured him. However, the method by which he was subdued was too much for him and he expired before he could talk or be talked to.

The hound that was sent flying by Suzue and held in place by Sato was cleanly killed by Daithi. The summoned dog thing disappeared into ash after it was killed, leaving absolutely no trace of the monster's corpse.

The relatively little fight came to an end as things calmed down with the hostiles dead or captured. Delilah cradled the unconscious priest who was hurt pretty bad from the fireball. "Asia! Come here, quick and take care of this man!" It was only then that Asia reappeared and took the priest from the King's hands.

"Everyone, I would like to say that you all did a very good job at containing this situation." She congratulated her peerage. "Although it escalated more than I liked. But I suppose there was little to be done about that." She continued as she walked over to the captive hanging from the ceiling with webbings.

"Before I decide, I would like to know: What would you like to do with these troublemakers? We could interrogate them as to who they are but we could also dispose of them immediately. We do have another source of information here."

[Lord of Evil]

Delilah's voice snapped Kael out of the berserker fury that had engulfed him, shaking him from his focus. He turned and realised that she'd asked a question, and then he realised that his face was still covered in blood. Hurriedly he got off the man he'd been standing on and knelt towards his king on one knee, face down.
"I will only follow your decision, master. No need to consider my opinion." He announced.

He was pretty sure he did that right. Was he supposed to raise his left knee or his right? Kael kept his dagger close to hand and left one eye on his prisoner. Answering his master was the highest priority, but if the cultist tried anything, he was prepared to finish him for good.

---

Delilah asked the peerage a question, though Sato hardly registered it. He had more pressing concerns to worry about. Sato looked down at the carnage wrought by the battle. Chairs and tables everywhere, with half-finished meals and lukewarm coffee waiting for people who would never come back to finish them. The demon dog has left some ashes behind too, so he'd have to sweep the floor. But that wasn't the worst offender. James and Kael had gone postal on their marks, perhaps excessively so. Sato grew more and more uneasy as the cultists' blood spread onto the floor. It would be annoying to wash the mop afterwards. At the very least Suzue had been kind enough to simply wrap up her target in her webs, which were much easy to take care of.

Sato sighed and picked up a misplcaed chair, to put it back in its place.
"I don't know why you're asking me," He said to Delilah. "But I'd prefer not to have them killed. It'll be hard to clean the floor if there's more blood."