Disclaimer: I do not own the High School DxD in any possible way.
Italic words: Flashback
THE ULTIMATE PAWN
Arc 1 Life 1-1
Red...
That is the only thing registered in my mind right now, including one certain scarlet silhouette which occupying my field of vision.
The scarlet silhouette seems to be waving smoothly, as if it was some kind of a silky veil. Combining with the agonizing pain on my chest, red blurs my sight so completely that I can't discern between the redness of my blood and the redness of said waving silhouette.
So, I try to close my eyes, in an attempt to shut off the suffering. At that moment, my mind wandering back to how all of these began.
This world, the one that I am currently living in, is a world with many strange types of beings co-existed together. There are two main powers that govern over the world together with humans. They are the Heaven, consisting of only angels and the likes, lead by the God in the Bible himself; the Underworld that is made up of devils, ruled by the infamous Satan, the strongest ultimate devil, who is sometimes called «Matei». There are also many other deities that only used to appear in myths and legends who reside themselves in neutral zone and rarely interfere with the Earthlings, thus leaving the power balance mostly on the Angels and Devils.
It is said that there was an apocalyptic war between the Heaven and the Underworld, which almost destroyed the Earth and left it in ruins, an event that revealed the existence of supernatural force to humanity. A truce was created in order to prevent another similar catastrophe, and ever since then, we have been living in a world with peace, or at least that was what people tend to believe.
I am Hyoudou Issei – my parents and friends call me Ise, a normal healthy human boy and a student of the Kuoh Academy. It used to be an all-girl school, and it only turned into a co-ed school recently, so the ratio of girls to boys is quite large. The academy accepts all kinds of beings enrolling, doesn't matter whether you are an angel, a devil, or just an ordinary human like me. The school doesn't only give normal courses to students like a high school but also magic-teaching courses to both non-human and human students that have high compatibility to the manipulation of Mana – the source of all magical power.
Despite the fact that I am simply a human with absolutely no compatibility to magic, a lot of students recognize me whenever I am around, and they would always say: "Hey, isn't that Ise?"
You might be wondering how I am so popular, right?
Hah! As if that could be true. To be honest, I am known widely in the Kuoh Academy for my perverted trio, which includes me, Matsuda and Motohama, my best friends who shared the same belief in the beauty of girls' bodies. We went through so many lecherous acts together, such as: peeping at the girls in Kendo Club's changing room, attending porno magazine enjoyment parties, participating in selling ecchi merchandizes in some conventions...
With a reputation like that to us, it's easy to understand how most girls in our school hate us to an extent, some went as far as threatening to kill us. Needless to say, none of us have ever received any kind of affectionate attention from girls, thus we are still virgins even though it's our second year of high school. It was frustrating for us as we could only fantasize about girls in secret.
So, I was taken breathless when an amazingly blissful thing happened to me.
"I love you, Hyoudou-kun! Please go out with me!"
Can you imagine it? Me being confessed to by a slender, black-haired beauty?
I pinched my cheeks right there and then, to check whether this was reality or not, and it earned me a brief stunned look and an after giggle at my reaction from the girl, whose name I later found out was Amano Yuuma.
God, she as so adorable that I fell in love with her at first sight!
And thus, I became a guy with a pretty girlfriend, much to Matsuda and Motohama's jealousy.
I really felt sorry for them still being Mr. Lonely. But I couldn't help it as having a girlfriend by my side made me grin all day and many days afterward, to the point where my parents almost called a mental doctor to look at my condition.
Then, the day for our first date had come.
As you all could have guessed, I arrived at the meeting spot three hours early. I counted up to a hundred girls who were wearing glasses walking in front of me. During that time I received a weird article from a suspicious looking person. It was an occult-looking thing with a weird magic symbol and a sentence written on it: "Your dream will be granted!" I wanted to throw it away, but I decided to put it in my pocket because I didn't have time to spare.
Upon Yuuma-chan's arrival, I said "Don't worry, I also just got here". Bullseye! I always wanted to say that. We then started to walk while holding hands. I was so moved that tears were about to drop because I was holding the hand of a beautiful girl on a date. After that, we went to different kinds of shops, enjoying our date. For lunch, we ate at a family restaurant where Yuuma-chan was eating a chocolate parfait, and I was full just by looking at her. I felt as if I understood how other teenagers feel when they go on a date. I felt as if I was alive for the first time.
When the date gradually came to an end, we went to a park out of the town. There was no body nearby except for us, and the sun was settling. Because of that, I imagined even more perverted stuff. I should have read a book that teaches you to do more naughty stuff.
As my mind kept straying toward many adultery stuffs, Yuuma-chan was already away from me and standing in front of a fountain.
"It was fun today."
That's what she said while smiling.
Damn, she's cute. The environment around her gives off a good atmosphere.
"Hey, Ise-kun."
"What is it, Yuuma-chan?"
"There is something I want to do to celebrate our first date."
Oh yes! It's here! The moment I was waiting for! My breath smells nice, and my heart is ready for it. My heart was racing like crazy.
"Um, what is it that you want?"
Aaaah. The tone of my voice is deep. She must think that I'm thinking of naughty stuff. Did I screw up? But Yuuma-chan was still smiling at me, and she said to me clearly...
"Would you die for me?"
...Ummm. Huh?
"Ummm? That...Huh? Sorry, can you repeat that again? I think there's something wrong with my ears."
I must have heard it wrong. That must be it. So I asked her again. But...
"Would you die for me?"
She said it again, while laughing. The sentence which didn't make any sense. I was there holding my smile and was about to say, "That's so funny, Yuuma-chan."
-FLAP-
Black wings appeared from her back. Her black wings were making noises and they touched the ground after a moment.
What the heck? A fallen angel? Yuuma-chan is a fallen angel?
For you people who don't know about this, fallen angels are angels who have tainted their own wings due to having 'impure thoughts' that divert from the God's teachings, and thus have fallen from grace as a result. There is only one organization that held all neutral fallen angels together, named Grigori. The rest are either feared or disgusted by other supernatural creatures because of their wild and rogue nature. I had heard tales about fallen angels disguised as humans and hid among us, and I even got wind of rumors saying that one of Kuoh Academy's teachers being a fallen angel.
Right at that moment, I knew for sure that I had encountered one such.
All of Yuuma-chan's cuteness had gone, replaced by sheer coldness of her aura and the scary eyes that seemed to be penetrating my instinct.
"It was fun, the short time I spent with you. It was like playing couple with a little child."
Her tone of voice also changed into that of an actual adult, and her mouth formed a small sadistic smirk. Then a sound of something ethereal created in her hands.
A-A spear of light! A deadly weapon exclusive only to the angels and the fallen angels! My instinct was screaming at maximum volume to get away from Yuuma-chan.
I knew that, I expected that, but my fear was eating my mind inside out, and my feet went cold at the realization of how much sense her words made.
Without even blinking my eyes, the spear had swiftly pierced through my chest. I tried to get the spear out of me, but it disappeared. The only thing left was a huge hole in my chest and a great amount of blood oozing out. My head was getting dizzy, and my eyesight was getting bad.
It wasn't very long before red filled my vision, with the sudden appearance of a scarlet silhouette.
Argh... The pain is intensifying. At this rate, I'm really gonna die as a virgin.
Dying as a virgin...
Uwah God, you are so cruel! Why does this have to happen to me? Why can't you let me spend a single night with a beautiful voluptuous naked naughty girl?
Well, I don't think he is going to reply me since I'm sure he had to lot of things to do as the leader of the Heaven, and he wouldn't even do if he got time since it's the perverted me we are talking about.
Forgive me, Matsuda, Motohama, I can't keep our promise of definite graduation from virgins together. I thought of that when my limbs all go numb.
But no matter how much I force my body to giving up, it simply just doesn't listen to me. Instead, my eyes keep drawing toward the scarlet silhouette that started to wrap around me, and I heard the sound of something entering my chest.
Ting... Ting... Ting... Ting... Ting... Ting... Ting... Ting...
There are exactly eight sounds of that, and it stopped. As if – I assume – some kind of mechanism or a phenomenon would eventually happen, the scarlet silhouette seems to wait for me to respond.
However, I don't feel anything changing inside my body at all. I don't know whether I should be glad or not for this.
I hear a faint gasp, which is followed by a voice.
"No way... Impossible..."
Huh? This voice sounds so girly. Don't tell me that fallen angel is still here.
Then again, if she was still here, she would have already made sure that I am dead for good, not trying to lingering around my body like this. And most importantly, she doesn't have anything related to red.
So who is this person in front of me?
Regrettably, fatigue has finally come to crush my consciousness. My eyes start closing for real this time, and I soon fall into a deep black world, letting the unspoken question of mine unanswered.
Or so I thought.
Ugh... What the hell is wrong with this throbbing headache of mine?
That was my first question when I, surprisingly, regain my own consciousness.
I could felt something soft and bouncy beneath me (It felt more like a bed, but believe me when I say that I wished it to be something like a pair of oppai), which was different from the hard ground floor in the park where I was previously impaled by that wretched fallen angel, as well as the feeling of a blanket draping over my lower body.
When I slowly open my eyes from the still painful headache, an unfamiliar face appears right before me.
And I jump back as a reflex, which results in me colliding with the wall behind, making my headache worse than its current state.
"Gurgh!"
I groan at the new found pain. Damn it! I only woke up recently and I have to get another unpleasant feeling right after.
The person who was looking at me earlier has now leaned back into his chair, scribbling something in some kind of a file on his hands.
I was able to take a hold of my breath and steady my senses when I glance at the man sitting beside me.
He is quite a handsome man – I hate to admit this fact as I hold an intense hatred for pretty guys for taking all the attention of girls – and young too; although his eyes speak otherwise, it's as if he was a sage who has lived for thousand years. In addition, he emits a calm but destructive aura that normal people usually don't have. It is so visible that he could easily throw me into disarray without even lifting a finger. This man is anything but human.
The strange man seems to be ignoring me as he mumbles some incoherent things.
"...An average look, an average education, an average physical strength, an average family, and not a single shred of Mana stored inside the body. You have all the required traits for a pathetic human. Just what is it that makes you so special, huh Hyoudou Issei?"
Hey! Don't talk as if I am not even here to begin with! And what's with that obvious pity gaze you are having right now!?
The man abruptly jerks his head up, which almost makes me jump again. Did he hear what I was having in mind?
He doesn't show any specific emotion on his face beside an analytical expression and a finger scratching his chin. A perfect example of a thinking man, except that he is starting to creep me out.
"Hmm... May need some practical experiments on him. I wonder what it will be first. Should I burn him on a stake? Or put him inside the Iron Maiden? Or have some Yuki-Onna froze him for two weeks straight? So many possible scenarios."
WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! What the hell are you spouting on and about!? I am not a guinea pig for you to do as you wish! I won't survive for mere minutes before I turn dead in whatever of those three things you want to try on me! And stop ignoring me damn it!
Hmm?
Speaking of death, shouldn't I be dead right now? I remember being pierced by Yuuma-chan's spear of light. Then someone with scarlet color came before me. Did that person save my life?
I let my hands reach toward the place where I got impaled. Strangely, I don't feel anything weird at all. Not even a sensation of hurt was there. It has gone, completely.
"Oh, are you examining the wound? Don't worry about it; there is literally nothing wrong with you. And there aren't even a scar left for you to touch. She has patched you up quite effectively that I am slightly impressed by her skills."
Ah, I see. So that explains how I could feel so well despite the fact that I nearly went to meet my ancestors.
Geh! What the hell? Seriously, this guy only starts acknowledging me now. And who is this 'she' you are speaking of anyway?
As if answering my question, someone else enters the room which I am staying in.
It wouldn't be so shocking if I hadn't known the person myself. I mean, who the heck in my school wouldn't know her, or at least had heard of her.
Rias Gremory
The extremely beautiful and busty third year student of Kuoh Academy who currently holds 'The most popular girl' title in the campus, and affectionately called 'The Great Onee-sama' by her fangirls. She is also the heiress to Gremory House, one of the Underworld's 72 Pillars. Thus, she is pursued romantically by a lot of boys in our school, if not all of them. I sometimes fantasized about her too, but I have never dreamed of seeing her so close like this.
She strolls with graceful steps befit of her noble image toward me. Her eyes seem to have a sparkling interest in me, although I can't figure out why.
"Beelzebub-sama, is he fine?" Rias-senpai speaks as she is still locking her gaze on me.
"Oh, he is, for most parts. I didn't detect any severe trauma or disruption within his body."
I know it's a bit too late to ask this, but didn't Rias-senpai just say his name was Beelzebub-sama? As in one of the current four Yondai-Maou, the Ajuka Beelzebub?
Ha ha... Ha ha... Ha ha...
I am dreaming.
Of course that would be the only reasonable explanation, since I was previously stabbed by my very first girlfriend on our very first date, only to wake up and met the Madonna of my school and the second strongest Maou of the Devils, inside an unfamiliar hospital-like room.
But still, even though it's a dream, both of them are looking at me so incredulously as if I am an insane clown. Their expressions seem so real that I doubt it was a dream.
Hah! Nice trick you got there, my brain. Although I shall not fall for your illusions that easily, you imaginative bastards of mine!
Oh well, let's forget these things and sleep away all of my worries.
"Good night my dream, and I hope that we won't meet again." I speak loudly as I slump down to the bed and close my eyes.
[Poke] [Poke] [Poke]
[Poke] [Poke] [Poke]
Urgh...
Why do I get the feeling that I haven't gotten out of my dream yet? And who the heck keep poking my cheeks like that?
[Poke] [Poke] [Poke]
"Arghhhh! Just leave me alone already!"
I have no choice but to open my eyes again and shout at the person who was supposed to be Beelzebub-sama, according to my deceptive brain. Well, I won't be killed with this disrespect act, right? After all, this is just my mind trying to fool me, right?
In spite of whatever method I use to reassure myself, the man before me has disregarded them all as he says.
"For your information boy, you are not dreaming. This is real, everything you have experienced up until now is real, and the fact that you are sitting here, breathing lively is also real."
Eh?
Then, does this mean that I was actually stabbed in the chest by Yuuma-chan? And that scarlet silhouette, could it be that it was Rias-senpai who saved my life?
As I am pondering in my thoughts, Ajuka Beelzebub-sama stands up and turns around while speaking.
"Rias, I have some business to attend to, so I will leave him with you for now."
"Haiz, Beelzebub-sama."
With that, the disaster called Maou has left me alone with the prettiest girl I have ever known of.
Somehow, a new found silence has started its reign in the room. And I am getting really itchy with it.
Just as the silence is reaching its unbearable limit, Rias-senpai is the one who initiates our conversation.
"Hyoudou Issei, do you feel... hurt anymore?"
"N-No, I-I am perfectly fine. T-Thanks for asking, s-senpai."
Oh god, this is embarrassing! I have my first line with her and I have already crashed my impression by stammering like a stupid virgin.
Wait, I am definitely a virgin. Stop insulting yourself, you idiotic Issei!
Senpai doesn't seem to mind my awkwardness as she continues.
"I know this must be shocking news to you, Hyoudou-kun, but you are apparently revived as a Devil of the Gremory House."
Oh, is that so?
Wait... What!?
"Wait... What!?"
Holy Hell, what did she just say? I am a Devil? Does that mean...?
"Yes, what you have heard is the truth. As a student of Kuoh Academy, you should know that I could use the «Evil Pieces» made by Beelzebub-sama to turn someone from human into my Devil servant."
As if sensing my suspicion inside, Rias-senpai confirms it with a nonchalant voice, although she becomes rather serious as she carries on.
"However, there was one unexpected problem when I tried to use my «Pawn» pieces to save you at first."
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"I used up all of my eight «Pawn» pieces, and they still aren't enough to revive you. So I have to bring you to Beelzebub-sama to ask about your particular situation, and your body only started reconstructing and stabilizing after I had injected 4 more «Pawn» pieces into your chest, which I have to borrow from the Maou himself."
I know that I shouldn't be surprised by every single new thing I have heard for today. But Fate doesn't seem to agree with me on that as I am dropping my jaw in shock.
«Evil Pieces», as Rias-senpai have said, are materials to change a living being into a Devil servant who pledges their loyalty to the one holding the «King» piece. There are several types of «Evil Pieces», following the pieces on a Chess board game: «Queen», «Rook», «Knight», «Bishop» and «Pawn».
Normally, a «King» can only own up to eight pieces of «Pawn». To think that someone could actually require more than such limit is simply unthinkable, not to mention that it is twelve pieces, one-half of the original number.
And that someone was me.
Even so, at the moment, I still have no idea that I am going to be in one hell of an adventure.
Life 1-1 Suddenly, I found myself become a Devil