Chapter 165 - Returning home.

Thalia had disappeared after fighting Augusta, and Lavinia and Valina had fallen unconscious in the battle. Drako had had to carry them both to where the others were.

Using the same car they had used to transport themselves to the battlefield, the group returned to their base.

Drako began giving orders as soon as they arrived.

"Kouki, Tobio, prepare a room for Koga and help him settle in. Sae, help Shigune."

The boys responded without hesitation.

"Got it!"

Drako then addressed the two new arrivals.

"Tomorrow I will have a conversation with you, you can rest tonight. It's been a tiring day for all of us."

"Thank you very much," Shigune responded with sincerity and gratitude.

Koga said nothing and only looked at Drako with doubtful eyes, but ended with a nod.

Those mentioned above gathered their things and headed for the apartment building where they lived, so only the rest remained.

"Good work, everyone, now it's time to relax. Mordred, get Valina and take her to her bed. She needs to rest."

"Sure, Master."

Mordred took the unconscious Valina in her arms and entered the building with her. The girl was extremely exhausted after using her Balance Breaker to her limits, so it was best to let her rest in a separate room.

Natsume followed Mordred into the house after sharing a hug with Drako. She knew that there was someone who needed Drako the most at this time, so it was not the time for her to waste his time.

And so it was, there was still someone left in the car.

Lavinia had managed to remove the threat posed by Augusta's dark magic, but not without consequences. That magic was extremely vicious, and Lavinia had fallen into a kind of coma after winning the battle of the will.

It was a temporary, harmless coma, probably not going to last more than ten or fifteen days with Grigori's resources. But, the sooner she began treatment, the better.

Lavinia was lying in the back of the car. With her face completely relaxed, she looked like a little angel.

Drako approached her and pulled back some of her hair that crossed her face before kissing her gently on the forehead. He grabbed her gently in princess style, and pulled her carefully out of the car.

Drako was greeted by Kuroka as he entered the house.

"Drako-nyaa!"

She was going to jump at him, but she saw he had Lavinia in his arms.

"Is she all right?"

Kuroka's level of Senjutsu was higher than Drako's, so it was not difficult for her to see the traces of dark magic in Lavinia's body. She had seen Valina before, but she was simply sleeping. However, Lavinia was not exactly in good condition.

"She has been affected by dark magic, and still has some after-effects. She'll be in perfect condition in a few weeks."

Drako briefly explained the situation to Kuroka, who listened attentively.

"You're taller now-Nyaa!"

Kuroka laughed as she stroked Drako's head with difficulty.

Drako no longer had the horns on his head, nor were his eyes different colours. His hair was now silver to black, and his ears had lost their pointy tips.

Why had this happened?

Because of the evolution to Nephilim Dragon King.

When Drako had entered the menu of evolutionary options, he had been surprised to find that he could only choose one option. This option was none other than Nephilim Dragon King. His surprise disappeared when he remembered that the system had told him that something like this would happen if he chose the Nephilim Dragon path. By choosing this path, he was closing the door to any further evolution.

One of the benefits he had gained by evolving was the raising of the skill level that allowed him to take the human form, [Art of human transformation], to the highest level.

With this, any physical trace of Drako's true race was gone. Not only that, but Drako no longer had to spend any MP points on maintaining his human form.

Mind you, Drako maintained the debuff of 50% of his statistics in his human form. That's why it was still much better to fight in his dragon form, statistically speaking.

"Where are the other girls?"

Drako asked about the situation of Shirone and Akeno specifically, they were the only ones, along with Kuroka, who had not accompanied them on this mission.

"The two little girls are already sleeping, it's very late, so they were kinda sleepy."

Drako nodded and said, "I'm taking Lavinia to Grigori, they can help with her recovery."

Kuroka smiled and kissed Drako on the cheek.

"Don't be too long-nya, we're waiting for you in bed."

With that, Kuroka went into the room, where Akeno, Mordred, Shirone, and Natsume were already.

Drako shook his head and let out a sigh, a small smile forming on his lips as he headed for the "elevator".

But something happened before Drako reached the elevator, something that he was waiting for to happen.

"This..."

A girl with blond hair and red eyes stood in front of Drako. She was none other than Valerie Tepes.

Valerie Tepes' relationship with all the members of Akatsuki was rather awkward. Although she had become more open to the residents of this house in recent months, Valerie remained cautious of them.

"Valerie? Do you need anything?" Drako asked politely.

He knew what Valerie had suffered, and he knew how much she might have suffered if Mordred had not rescued her. The state Valerie was in after Rizevim extracted two of her three Holy Grails was one of the events that had shaken Drako while reading the DxD novels, Valerie's state was no different than having pieces of your soul removed.

That's why Drako found himself unable to deal with Valerie in any way other than with absolute kindness. Although he didn't have any emotional or friendship ties with Valerie yet, he was unable to treat the girl in any way other than the best possible.

And this... only made Valerie more cautious of Drako.

Why would a guy she didn't know treat her so well when she had been despised by every single person she had ever met?

All these people who were part of Akatsuki... Valerie was afraid of them.

She preferred to deal with people like her brother Marius, who didn't hide what a shitty person he was.

It was more painful to be betrayed than to be mistreated. Physical pains can heal over time, while mental wounds linger over time.

Valerie was a little nervous right now. She had heard Mordred and Natsume speak of Lavinia's condition, so she had rushed over before Drako took Lavinia to Grigori.

Valerie, even though she knew she should not trust anyone, had been unable to get Lavinia away. The girl treated her just as kindly as Drako, but there was something different about the two that made Valerie feel much more relaxed.

This was probably the fact that Drako knew Valerie's supposed future, which no longer existed, and her natural instincts warned her that he was strange. Another possibility was that Drako was treating Valerie kindly out of "pity", while Lavinia was just acting naturally.

Lavinia had helped Valerie control and use her Longinus during these months. Valerie knew that, if she wanted to live in this safe place, she had to bring something to the group. She believed that they wanted to make use of their Longinus just like Marius, but at least they were not going to experiment with her like her brother had done it. That's why she had made an effort to improve herself.

In fact, Valerie had hoped that Drako would use her on this mission, and she was a little disappointed when she realized that he had left her behind.

But!

Now there was a chance to prove herself, though that was only a secondary motive for Valerie at this point.

Right now, the second most important to Valerie was suffering, and she could do something to alleviate that suffering.

Valerie took a deep breath and dared to face Drako.

"I can help Lavinia."

Drako raised an eyebrow when he saw Valerie's determination. She seemed quite sure of herself.

"Right, let's go to Lavinia's room."

Drako didn't hesitate to act. He knew the healing abilities of Valerie's Longinus, so he was sure that Lavinia could recover even faster with the powers of the Dhampir.

Valerie was amazed at how quickly Drako had agreed with her.

He...really trusted her?

Valerie shook her head, it wasn't time to be thinking about that.

Valerie hurried to follow Drako, and soon they arrived at what used to be Lavinia and Natsume's room. I say it used to be, as they had been sleeping with Drako since they began to form emotional attachments.

As they entered the room, Drako carefully put Lavinia to bed. Then Drako looked at Valerie, waiting for her to work her magic.

Valerie, for her part, bit her lip. She was now doubting if she really wanted to show Drako her abilities. What if he, finding out about her abilities, got too greedy? Valerie couldn't do anything to stop him in that case.

"Sigh..."

Drako couldn't help but sigh when he saw how uncomfortable Valerie was. She certainly didn't want to show Drako her skills.

"Listen, Valerie. I understand your concerns, but I think you're overthinking this. I'm going to leave Lavinia in your hands, let me know when you're finished."

It was a shame Valerie still didn't trust Drako. Since she didn't want to show her skills in front of Drako, he was going to be considerate and leave the room.

But Valerie grabbed Drako's shirt sleeve before he could get out.

"Wait..."

Drako nodded. Valerie was basically accepting Drako at this point.

Maybe she had thought it was no big deal for Drako to see her abilities. Or that she intended to let him see the process, but she had a few doubts.

Whatever Valerie's reason was, it was time for her to start doing her job.

Valerie held her hands to her chest, and a bright light illuminated the room. What appeared in her hands was a golden cup, one of the three Holy Grails that resides within her.

Sephiroth Graal, one of the 13 Longinus, can connect with the realm of life and death. But that's not its only ability.

The regenerative powers of this Longinus are only inferior to those of Twilight Healing by a small margin. This is worth mentioning, as it is only a complement to Sacred Gear and not its main ability.

Valerie concentrated, sweat streaming from her brow, and a white liquid began to build up in the cup, and only stopped when it came close to overflowing. She brought the cup to Lavinia's lips and gave her this white liquid to drink.

Drako watched in amazement as Lavinia's vitality and health slowly improved after drinking this liquid. As expected from one of the Longinus, its abilities are incredible.

"Well, she's getting better already. You've done a good job, Valerie, rest for now."

Valerie smiled weakly. She should not have smiled much in her life, as this one seemed a bit strange.

This smile disappeared almost instantly, and Valerie adopted her neutral face again.

Had Valerie taken Koneko's place as the Kuudere of the group?