Nico D'Renna, a Paladin who belongs to a secret group of the Vatican has requested Gabriel's assistance, that is if he can prove that the rumors are true about his strength, Gabriel possesses the physical capabilities of a vampire, that makes him faster, stronger and more durable, regenarating powers to recover from injuries, as seen by Warren though this healing factor isn't useful against tremendous amount of damage, Gabriel has another trick, there, in his mind lies a voice, he has no name and no identity, he claims that the transformation Gabriel performed was his doing and that he has Gabriel's back, the odds are in his favor but Nico wants to fight him, even though he has heard that Gabriel defeated a Raiju, an opponent that onmyoji masters have feared, this might mean that Nico is also stronger than a Raiju, that doesn't sound right, he hasn't mentioned anything special, he is just a human and humans don't have any special powers, but they have their cunning and the power to bend anything to suit themselves. Gabriel has led Nico to the forest, up until now it has been an arena for a few fights and since it's quite remote and out of sight...

Gabriel-We can spar here, no one will bother us.

Nico-What about the others?

Mak-Oh, we will stand back and just watch, don't worry.

Nico-I can't stress this enough, you need to be very careful, if it's possible, I would like the esper girl to make a barrier.

Carmen-I can't...

Nico-Then stand way back...

Gabriel-I am not going to hurt them.

Nico-I am not worried about your power, I am worried about the collateral damage.

Gabriel-I will keep it to a minimum.

Nico-(Is this confidence or arrogance?) Get ready, Gabriel.

Gabriel-I always am.

Nico reached in his pouch and drew a sword and a shield, the sword was black in color and dark energy emanated from it, it's shape was one of a normal longsword but it's energy signified something more, the shield was grey as if made by stone, on it was the image of a woman's head with snakes for hair and her mouth was wide open to reveal a set of sharp fangs...

Kevin-What is that?

Mak-I think this pouch has been imbued with some sort of spell to have increased capacity for storage.

Kevin-Fascinating.

Gabriel-What?

Nico-This pouch has a holy enchantment to hold an entire arsenal, the Portable Hole and this is the Sword of Night, one scratch from this blade and it eliminates any vision from the target for a short period of time.

Gabriel-Are those?

Nico-Infused artifacts from the Vatican, I told you that I wanted to test you, don't lose focus now, this shield is the Aegis of the Gorgon, it shoots a petrifying ray that turns anyone it hits into stone.

Gabriel-(Damn, I should make sure to dodge that at any cost. Well, I am faster than him).

Nico-I wouldn't count on speed to dodge.

Nico grabbed his pendant and even more equipment appeared, his rings glowed and then vanished, in the place of his shoes now appeared a pair of brown leather boots with markings, on his head materialized a red helmet with no shielding for the face, it had a pair of eyes engraved at the side and at his chest a feathery crest covered his entire torso.

Nico-This are the Boots of Swiftness, it makes the wearer extremely fast...

Gabriel-How fas...

Nico disappeared for a moment and hit Gabriel with his shield knocking him a couple of meters away...

Gabriel-Hey now...

Nico-This helmet is the Helmet of True Sight, it allows me to see the aura of anyone I gaze upon and this is the Crest of the Gryphon, it provides near impenetrable defense against bladed weapons. I told you not to lose focus, next time I will not just

strike you.

Gabriel-I see...

Nico moved again, this time Gabriel managed to deflect his slash with his own sword, the shortsword that he always carried with him, Gabriel was able to match Nico's speed with his own but it proved harder and harder with each slash, Nico was on the attack and Gabriel was blocking the hits as much as he could, that is until Nico managed to slash Gabriel on the arm, in an instant, Gabriel lost his sight, most people would panic at this moment but Gabriel as clueless as he was in life, he was experienced in combat and managed to keep calm...

Gabriel-(Fuck, I can't see, at this point I would try to end the fight with the shield, if that ray hits me I am done, dodging left or right isn't an option as he would easily drift it towards me, the only thing I can do is get some height, elevation should throw his aim off just enough for me to see again)

Nico did exactly as Gabriel predicted and used the shield, a glowing yellow ray traveled towards Gabriel, he managed to dodge just in time by jumping straight into the air...

Nico-In this case...

Gabriel-(Right, now I can fall straight down and hit him, WHAT!?)

As soon as Gabriel's sight returned, Nico was flying with two brown wings that emerged from his back...

Nico-This Crest allows me to fly in order to fight enemies out of my reach.

Nico kicked Gabriel on the ground with enough force to make a small crater around the point of impact, at this point Gabriel stood up and thought about his next move...

Gabriel-(What the fuck is this? How am I to counter all of those things?)

Nico-(He is strong but not very sharp, it's not the weaponry that you should worry about, Gabriel, it's the amount of training I did with them.)

Meanwhile, the others are watching the fight from a safe distance...

Mak-Wow, this dude is something else.

Munderic-I know, what's with all those artifacts?

Kevin-It's not the artifacts.

Munderic-What?

Mak-These things would be pointless if someone like you carried them but in the hands of someone as skilled as Nico, they are unbeatable.

Carmen-How is Gabriel going to win then?

Mak-It's not about winning, Nico doesn't want to see how strong Gabriel is, he wants to see how good he can fight.

Nico started to fly downwards towards Gabriel, up until now he had the advantage, Gabriel couldn't react to his movements and the way he chained his attacks, with one false move everything is over...

Nico-(Is that it? Did this guy really took down a Raiju? Asano wouldn't have this much trouble unless...) Is that all you got?

Gabriel-What?( Now I am getting pissed)

Gabriel focused his energy on his feet, the exploding amount of energy was used to propel Gabriel in incredible speed, even Nico couldn't counter that, with one jump, Gabriel was now faced with Nico in the air, he pulled his fist back and by focusing the energy now at his hand unleashed a punch so strong that it made the sound of a cannon as it hit Nico in the face, with the force from the punch, Nico was now the one on the groun bud he stood up like nothing happened, when Gabriel landed he took a look at Nico only to see a mask on his face, it was a scary mask made out of wood and it had a sad image...

Nico-(Good, I didn't expect to use this).

Gabriel-What is this now?

Nico-This is the Mask of Infamy, named after an ancient torture device, this mask randomly protects the user from any physical damage, using it comes with a risk, there is no way to know if it will block the attack.

Gabriel-In other words, you just got lucky.

Nico-(He has enough spirit to joke around, I knew he was holding back, hahaha, all it took was some taunting to bring out his true strength.) That's enough.

Gabriel-What do you mean?

Nico-I figured out how strong you really are. ( That's a lie, he could still be holding something back.)

Gabriel-Does that mean I can come with you?

Nico-Yes.

Mak-(Bloody idiot, I know he wanted to test Gabriel's strength by taunting him but this could have ended badly, this was nothing more than simple energy management, Nico has no idea about Gabriel's true power, this thing could have erased the entire forest in an instant.)

The fight ended as per Nico's saying, after they agreed on Gabriel joining Nico in this mission they returned to Kevin's house and they had something else to discuss before departure...

Mak-Mexico would be awesome.

Nico-You want to join us?

Mak-Are you kidding? If I leave Gabriel alone he wouldn't be able to put his shoes correctly.

Gabriel-Idiot.

Kevin-I know that Mak won't be of any use during a fight but I am sure you are familiar with goblin's special attributes.

Nico-Inherited memories.

Mak-Right, when I grew out, I inherited the knowledge of a dragon, presumably the last dragon.

Kevin-Mak's knowledge has helped us countless times, he may be a sarcastic annoying little idiot but he has proven his worth many times.

Mak-I don't know if I have to feel good or bad about that.

Carmen-Mak has also helped me control my powers better, he is a great teacher.

Mak-Aww...

Nico-I guess you would be a good asset.

Carmen-Maybe...

Mak-What is it?

Carmen-Could I come along too? I have improved a lot.

Mak-I don't know, Nico has kicked Gabriel's ass and if he thinks that he couldn't do it without our help, this might be too much for you.

Carmen-But with Gabriel and Nico there I would be safe.

Nico-We can't bring too many people, this is supposed to be a quiet mission, I have come here to get Gabriel's help, I count for a goblin either.

Mak-I have a name.

Nico-I am sorry, Mak, I am not used to partnering up with your kind, most of the times I have eliminated them.

Mak-Well, you are not the only one, Gabriel here has destroyed my village.

Nico-What? There was a goblin village near this place?

Kevin-Yes, they had a Glamour spell up to conceal it, Gabriel was able to bypass it.

Nico-I have to ask, how did you get your abilities Gabriel?

Gabriel-(Oh crap, what do I tell him?)

Kevin-Gabriel was just a normal boy, I found him half dead on the street after he got in a fight with a werewolf, Bertram. At that time, I didn't know that the military stopped pursuing me, since I couldn't expose myself to any authorities and I was the only one there I took him back here and treated him as best as I could, I had to put a device in his chest, think of it as a pacemaker, it keeps his heart pumping, apparently it made him able to absorb the powers of other things, of course I wasn't aware of that, I am not exactly a medical engineer and the thing I thought I made wasn't just a pacemaker.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Mak-(Wow, Kevin thought about all this in an instant, telling Nico that we don't know about Gabriel's origin would be a problem, good job.)

Nico-That sounds like an incredible device, I suspect you wouldn't be able to mass produce it.

Kevin-Sadly, no, it was just an accident so I don't have any schematics, I had a blueprint for a pacemaker, I don't know what I did because it was a mistake.

Nico-And this device isn't functioning perfectly, right?

Kevin-Yes, Gabriel has had many issues when he stresses up his body and he might collapse.

Nico-That could pose a problem to the mission.

Gabriel-It hasn't happened in a long time, I am sure it will be ok.

Nico-I guess you managed to stand your ground against me without any issues and even managed to take on a Raiju, we can hope it's going to be ok.

Gabriel-Yeah, it will be fine.

Nico-Now, another question, where does your physical strength come from?

Mak-Warren.

Nico-You took the powers of vampire!?

Mak-Relax, Mr. Paladin, he can go out in the daylight and there is no sign of thirst whatsoever.

Nico-This is relaxing. Something else...What about you Mr.Kevin?

Kevin-What about me?

Nico-When I equiped the Helm of True Sight, I saw a strange aura around you too, you might want to tell me about it.

Mak-(Fuck, this feels like talking to a cop.)

Kevin-Well, you know why Gabriel went to Japan.

Nico-Asano told me that he wanted the powers of an onmyoji to defeat a Shinigami.

Kevin-Yes, during his trip, he got chaos energy from one of those students and used it against said Shinigami.

Nico-A strange method to aquire power but nevertheless, it's not my place to do anything about it.

Kevin-Thank you for that, anyway, during his fight, at the place I am sure you noticed something else, right?

Nico-I see where this is going, the monolith at the forest was a summoning stone, you made a contract with something, right?

Mak-(Damn, there is no hiding anything from this guy.)

Kevin-Yes, it was a shadow elemental, the monolith appeared from Gabriel's use of chaos energy, I just had to investigate it and I ended up accepting a contract from the elemental.

Nico-I hope this contract isn't forcing you to do anything bad to other people.

Kevin-Not at all, the elemental just wanted a loyal worshiper in exchange for power.

Nico-Again, that's relaxing to hear.

During all this Kevin kept his cool, no one would have guessed that some of the things he said to Nico are lies, about Gabriel's powers and his origin that is, by mixing some true facts in this story, he was able to completly keep a straight face like talking about something mundane, Nico surely had no idea these things were lies and the fact that he didn't comment on it made clear that he also had no information...

Nico-Now to return to our mission, I, Gabriel and Mak will leave tommorow for Mexico, from there it will be a couple of hours drive to the small town that Ozymandias is hiding and planning to perform his ritual...

Mak-Why are we leaving tommorow? Shouldn't we get there as soon as possible?

Nico-Summoning a demon king isn't an easy job, we have time to discuss a proper plan before barging in foolishly, I will arrange a room in a motel for the three of us and from that place as a base we will begin our investigation and locate where Ozymandias is planning to perform the ritual, I will ask you to not bring an entire arsenal with you, arriving in a place like Mexico with tons of guns, ammo or bladed weapons will pose a problem.

Kevin-Mr.Nico, I want to ask you something, during Gabriel's fight with Marbas, he came across this sealed weapon, Marbas used it in the form of an axe, what can you tell us about it?

Nico-Let me see...

Nico equiped the Helm of True Sight and took a look on the sealed axe, Kevin didn't mention Munderic's involvement with it.

Nico-Yes, that is a demonic axe for sure, it was created by a high-class demon with the remnants of another less powerful demon, the seal seems to be some kind of warlock spell, Marbas must have had a collaborator working with him, I think this warlock placed the seal on this weapon, I can't think of a reason for a demon to hide a weapon though...

Mak-Maybe to look cool when he pulls it out?

Nico-I don't think so, but then again, I can't fathom the thoughts of a despicable being like a demon, I guess you want to bring this axe with you?

Gabriel-Yeah, when I push energy to it the seal is undone and the axe takes shape, after I recollect the energy it goes back to a simple trinket.

Nico-That's just overloading the seal, it could have a negative effect if for whatever reason you decide to put too much energy in it.

Gabriel-Like what?

Nico-An explosion, overloading the seal is a blunt method to unleash a sealed weapon, it has been used before but there have been incidents where the user just blew himself up, I remember reading something like this with a Druid's wand, he wanted to grow food for his village so he infused the spirit of a dryad in a wand, I think its name was Wand of the Forest, it is a really powerful artifact that has been lost for decades, anyway the Druid got mad with the amount of crops he could accelerate the growth of and at some point he used too much of his own energy on the wand, it blew him to pieces.

Gabriel-I haven't used the axe too much, is there an indicator before it goes off?

Nico-It will shine bright with the energy like an overloaded reactor, the tempreture will surely go up and it will become unstable, at the very least, you can stuff it in the ground when you notice something like that and maybe have time to escape.

Gabriel-So...No to the axe?

Nico-I am saying that there is a better method to undoing the seal each time, I might be able to help with that but we can't spend much time right now, maybe when we arrive at Mexico I can teach you a technique to use it more effectivly, you can bring it with you.

Kevin-You might want to bring the Draconic Gauntlet as well.

Nico-What is this?

Kevin-Mak's village had a dragon scale, I used my energy to infuse it with a shield I bought online and the end result was a gauntlet with the abillity to nullify all elemental attacks.

Nico-This sounds usefull, Ozymandias will probably use elemental attacks if we run into a fight, you should bring this too.

Gabriel-So, axe, gauntlet, can I take my uzi?

Nico-No, one sighting of a gun and we will have to answer to the local authorities, the Vatican can let me off by pulling a couple of strings but you are not with the Vatican.

Gabriel-Then let me join you.

Mak-WHAT!?

Kevin-WHAT!?

Carmen-Gabriel...

Nico-Hm...I can't argue that you would be an asset to the forces of the Vatican, with the right training you might be able to earn the rank of Paladin fast, I will make a request to the council if we make it back from Mexico in one piece.

Gabriel-Nice.

Kevin-Have you thinked this through Gabe?

Gabriel-What do you mean? Those onmyoji said that I can't do what I do unless I join an organization, the Vatican sounds neat.

Nico-There are a lot of rules to follow, Gabriel, Mr.Kevin asks if you will be able to follow this procedure through.

Gabriel-Is there any way to kind of join the Vatican?

Mak-What are you talking about? This isn't a fishing group to "kind of" be a part of and go every now and then.

Nico-I could make a request to the council to consider you a free agent and have some juristriction but if at any point you get summoned you will have to answer and if you get extremely out of order maybe even have to face consequences.

Gabriel-Oah, slow down, so, I can continue doing my thing and the Vatican won't trouble me?

Nico-As long as you get permition from someone inside the Vatican, the only ones that can grand permition for missions are the council and any of the Paladins.

Gabriel-So, I can kill stuff as long as I call to tell you?

Nico-In one way, yes.

Gabriel-Great, after I beat that Ozy...something dude, we can arrange this, give me your number.

Nico-Later, for now we need to get some rest, I have arranged for a room in a nearby hotel, the tickets for our flight are already booked, I will come tommorow morning to pick you and Mak.

Gabriel-Ok, later.

As of now, Gabriel, Mak and Nico are to leave for Mexico, they will begin the investigation for Ozymandias there, Kevin's quick thinking about explaining certain things haven't made any suspicion's on Nico's behalf, Gabriel did drop a bomb by

asking Nico to join the Vatican, no one but Gabriel thinks this is a good choice because if the Vatican get's a grip on Gabriel, it could mean that his secret will be revealed and the Vatican won't turn a blind eye to everything that Gabriel is involved with, things like Gabriel's origin, his connection with Munderic and Eric, there are many things that Gabriel has done and many of these things are not exactly in order with the Vatican, Nico seems to be a kind person and has overlooked the fact that Gabriel beat up some of his acquaintances, he hasn't made any rude moves against any of them but that doesn't mean he isn't suspicious of many things, he asked directly about Gabriel and Kevin's source of energy, the fact that he overlooked Carmen being an esper and Mak means that there is no issue with them, Munderic was also there and him being a warlock means that he is essentially an enemy, Munderic's shy nature proved usefull since he didn't talk at all during the conversation they had and Kevin was quick and calm about his answers, Kevin doesn't trust Gabriel's decision about joining the Vatican but Gabriel doesn't seem to be aware of the true weight of that decision, he thinks that he can continue his work without any implications but the fact is that he will be assosiated with the Vatican and every move he makes represents the Vatican, every wrong move means that he might be targeted and if the Vatican investigates him, trouble is sure to come.