Meruem's POV…I hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter because I sure did. The way that I have it set up is that Yasaka taught Meruem what he currently knows of Senjutsu. Then Kuroka will teach him what she knows, and then Sun Wukong will help him master Senjutsu. Alright, now that I have that aside, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Let's get on with it!

I sigh as I find myself with a sword pointed at my throat "Oh come on man, I just told you why I was here! Tell Vali I've made it, and he can roll out the welcome carpet himself for once!"

The taller, brown-haired man says nothing, and so, I decide to do it for myself. In a flash, Dwyrmyr is in my hand, and I spin around, pointing my own sword at the other man's throat "Look, dude. I don't want to hurt you. Hell, I'd very much like to get this over with so that way I can go back home, but you don't see me complaining. Now, we can do this the easy way, where you tell me where the hell Vali Lucifer is, or, I can find out myself, but then you'll be on the ground, crying for your mommy. You choose."

Vritra rolls his eyes "Meruem. Calm down, your dragon is showing."

I sigh, looking to find scaly formations having crawled their way up my arms. So, I put my sword back into its scabbard with a sigh, and then shout "Hey, Idiot! Is this any way to keep an old friend waiting!?"

Boy, oh boy, Vali came out of nowhere, like a rocket, enveloping me in a hug "Meruem!"

I sweatdrop, patting his back awkwardly "Dude, it's only been like five years...there is no need for hugs. Now, why don't you tell me what's going on?"

He grunts "Well...to put it lightly, we're in trouble. Kokabiel, as I'm sure that you've heard, is searching for all seven Excaliburs. Arthur here *He pats the brown-haired man who had pointed a sword at my neck* has two, one of them being the Excalibur Ruler, the other being Excalibur Mimic. We know where another one of the swords, Excalibur Destruction, is, but other than that, it is safe to assume that the swords are out for anyone to get."

The black-haired, rather beautiful girl behind him speaks up, hitting him over the head "Why would you tell him that, Vali-kun?! We don't know if he's working for Kokabiel or not, and you just gave him the location of our Holy Swords, Nya~!"

Vali rolls his eyes, rubbing the spot where she hit him "Kuroka, calm down. I've known Meruem for years. He would never work with Kokabiel."

With that, I bow, introducing myself "Meruem Dryar, at your service. Sorry for not introducing myself earlier, but Vali has never told me that he's put together a Peerage."

Man, did that get the newly named Kuroka fired up. Before she could do anything though, I wrap one of my shadows around her form, holding her back from making Vali's skull cave in "Easy, easy. He hasn't really been able to write much anymore, so that's probably why."

As she calms down, and I let her loose from my shadow, I sidle up to Vali, whispering "Dude, you owe me so much right now. I could tell, if she really wanted to, she probably could have easily broken my shadows in half."

I then cough "For those of you who can't tell...I'm the partner of Vritra, the Prideful Prison Dragon."

Vali chuckles as Vritra whacks me in the Mindscape, grumbling "That was unnecessary."

I shrug "What, just telling the truth."

Vali sighs "Come with me, let's get caught up."

And so, the two of us walk off, going to Vali's little room. As he closes the door, he sighs "So, how're things in Kyoto?"

I grunt "Well, they are alright. You remember the last letter I wrote to you, how Saka was teaching me Senjutsu? Well, I mastered what she taught me, though all that was is how to sense people's power levels and where they are, stuff like that... Oh, and Vritra turned me into a Dragon, and Yasaka gave me a Dragonslaying Sword, as I'm sure that you saw...which was weird."

Vali facepalms, chuckling slightly "Should have figured. At least she didn't give you a Holy Devil Sword."

I raise an eyebrow "Why would you say that?! This thing is like made to specifically kill me!"

Vali sighs "Are you even any good with it?"

I shrug "Susanoo's been trying to teach me, so I'm okay at it. Not perfect, but okay. So, now that I've updated you, why don't you update me?"

Vali shrugs "As you've seen, I've made my own team...or Peerage, I guess. I did use my Evil Pieces, simply to give everyone a necessary boost. And we've actually been around, going on adventures. Thanks to Azazel's training, I've even mastered Juggernaut Drive, well, to an extent. And now, we have got to deal with Rias Gremory and her Peerage, who are helping us, or at least trying to help us deal with Kokabiel."

He grunts "I'll be honest though, as Gremory has the Red Dragon Emperor in her Peerage, I don't know what to think. Red's name is Issei Hyoudou, and he seems like a good person, but I don't know if he can be trusted. Let's not forget that they have one of the Excaliburs, Excalibur Destruction if I remember correctly."

I shrug "Well...I say that we work with them, for now. If Kokabiel is as strong as everyone says that he is, we're going to need all of the help that we can get."

Vali nods "I guess you're right. We'll keep working with them. Do you think that you could get Yasaka and the Shinto Gods to come for a meeting of the factions?"

I chuckle "Wait, you're telling me that Kokabiel is actually so much of a threat that all of the Factions, most of which absolutely hate each other, are actually allying themselves together? Holy Shit, what sort of chance do you think that we have then?"

Vali shrugs "I guess that we'll just have to find out, I am hoping that we can figure this out though. Kokabiel is a real threat and is to be taken seriously, and taken alive if at all possible. As easy as it would be to just kill him, we need him around, at least for now."

I nod "Agreed."

With that, the two of us walk out, and then the man named Arthur walks up to me, bowing slightly "I am sorry to bother you, but I would like to test your aptitude with a sword. I couldn't help but notice that the sword that you carry on your shoulder is the legendary Dwyrmyr, the Dragonslaying Sword, and I want to see how your power compares to my own."

I sigh "Well, Arthur, since you asked nicely, sure, why not? Granted, I'm not very good with it yet, so you'll probably be able to kick my ass easily. Either way, I still expect you to come at me with everything you've got!"

But before the two of us can get into our fighting stances, Some Monkey dude comes by, grabbing us both by our ears "You will not be fighting inside where you can destroy things. If you truly must fight each other, take it outside for Heaven's sake!"

Vali chuckles as we get dragged outside "Bikou, you don't have to be so rude to our guest. Meruem, this is Bikou, the Monkey King. Bikou, this is Meruem, the wielder of the Sacred Gear of Vritra and of Dwyrmyr."

While dragging us out, Bikou nods at me "How do you do? We have a no fighting inside the building rule, just so you know."

I groan, nodding "Alright, thanks for the heads-up. Come on Arthur, let's go get my ass handed to me."

Arthur simply chuckles, saying nothing as he draws his sword, motioning for me to come forward. I sigh, drawing my own sword as Vritra summons himself "Alright then, let's get this over with."

And so I disappear in a flash, charging at Arthur. Boy, oh boy, is this going to be fun.

Amaterasu's POV…

I smile as we walk into the building "Oh boy, getting to see the other Gods is so much fun! It's been forever since we've seen any of them!"

Susanoo, my childish brother, races straight towards the food bar. Typical boys, always hungry. I roll my eyes, shaking hands with everyone that I meet. That is, until I hear a loud noise...a very familiar loud noise. As I walk forward, I spot the grey-bearded Odin, doing what he did usually, basically hitting on anything with tits. Most of the female Deities have learned to mainly just ignore Odin, but this time...this time was different.

It was pretty obvious that he was drunk, and let me tell you, when a God gets drunk, especially when the God is of Norse descent, shit hits the fan, and very fast at that. I noticed all of Odin's guards standing off to the side, with looks of disgust on their faces. I can't help but chuckle; even Odin's guards don't like him very much. I personally only tolerate Odin and his...issues because I am trying to be professional and not start a war between Gods over something stupid like Odin.

Or at least, that was my plan, until I heard, and saw a girl crying, and Odin laughing. All it took was Odin chuckling "Oh, like you would know, Rosewiesse the boyfriendless Valkyrie! What do you know about anything?"

The silver-haired young girl, around the same age as Meruem, starts crying, and that just sets me off. Yasaka attempts to grab me before I can go for the jugular, rather unsuccessfully I might add. All I can hear as I race forward is little sister Tsukuyomi muttering "And now Odin's done it...here we go, get the popcorn."

I slam into Odin, knocking him off balance and then summon a sword, pointing it at his neck "Odin, dearest. What did you do this time?"

Before he can say anything, I slam my foot into his crotch, as hard as I can. Boy does that drop him like a stone...originally I thought that his other guards would have arrested me, or at least tried to, but no, no one came near me. If anything, they gave me a wide berth as I went to the silver-haired girl "Excuse me, but are you alright?"

I guess that she had had enough of Odin, just like I did, because all that happened was that she practically jumped into my arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. I smile, wrapping her into a hug "It's okay now, Odin's not going to hurt you again. No one is ever going to hurt you again, not while I'm here. What's your name, Dearest?"

The silver-haired girl sniffs, wiping her eyes "R-Rosewiesse, Amaterasu, Ma'am…"

I roll my eyes "No, no Ma'am. Ma'am makes me feel old. Hell, if you want to call me Su, you can. Meruem sure does!"

I mentally facepalm as soon as I say that. She doesn't know how Meruem is, at least, not yet! So, I backpedal slightly "Meruem's a good guy, trust me. Definitely nothing like Odin. Would you like to come to meet him? If you'd like, you can come to live with us in Kyoto, just saying."

Rosewiesse smiles slightly "Perhaps a change of scenery would be nice...but...only if you'll have me."

That's when Yasaka makes her move, wrapping Rosewiesse into another hug "Of course we'll have you! I'm Yasaka, the Yokai Queen, by the way. Trust me though, living in Kyoto will definitely be better than here. If Meruem were here, I'm sure that he'd agree."

She then nods to me, and I let out an evil smile, walking back over to Odin, who's still on the ground "This is going to be fun."

Susanoo, as I pass the buffet table, sighs, heading back over to Yasaka "I guess it's almost time to go...damn it, and they had much better ramen then in Kyoto! I'll bring a bowl or two back to Meruem...peace offerings."

I growl as Odin gets back up slowly, fearfully, and then he drops once more, my foot pulling itself out of his crotch. I then summon my sword once more, pointing it at his neck "Just try to take Rosewiesse back, you perverted old man. I promise you this, if you do try, I will personally cut your balls off and stuff them so far down your throat that they'll become your new necklace. Do I make myself clear? I would suggest you use your words as well unless you wish to get your beard cut. I'm just saying."

The old man squeaks out a yes, and so I ease up, walking back to Yasaka. As I pass them, the guards give me a short, seemingly grateful nod. I smile, giving them a thumbs-up. Tsukuyomi raises her eyebrows as I return "Sister, I love you, but did you really have to go that far?"

I look on as Yasaka works her magic, getting Rosewiesse to cheer up and then nod "Yes. You would have done the same thing, and you know it. Now then, we should probably head...back. Hold on, it's Meruem."

As I answer the phone, Meruem jumps headfirst into whatever he has to say "I am sorry for bothering you about this Su, but can you guys come to Kuoh? I've heard from Vali that apparently there is going to be a meeting of the factions, in order to figure out what the hell to deal with Kokabiel. Don't worry though, Vali, his Peerage and I are not there, I promise, and that is why we are needing you to come. We are currently at Issei Hyoudou's, hiding out for some reason, so if you could come to get us, that would be great."

I sigh, shouting over the noise that had started to pick itself back up again "Lady Yasaka, we need to leave! They need us in Kuoh!"

Susanoo and Yasaka grumble, speaking at the same time "What'd Meruem break this time…"

I chuckle slightly "It's not that he broke something. He and the Vali Team are hiding in someone's house. Apparently, we are going to be going to a meeting between the Factions...interesting."

Susanoo rolls his eyes as the others come over to teleport away "Oh yes, having several Factions that don't trust each other stuck in a room, and yelling at each other. Real smart, people."

I chuckle as we start to teleport "Oh trust me brother, this is going to be nothing for us. I'm more worried about what Meruem's going to do."

Meruem's POV...At The Hyoudou House, waiting for the Shintos, Yasaka, and their new...family member…

I sigh "Great...I have no idea why I agreed to do this."

Vali rolls his eyes "Meru, calm down. Besides, the Yokai Faction's going to be joining with the Fallen Angels, remember? I'm pretty sure that they'll yell more at Azazel than you. Hell, I'm not even sure either of the Factions knows that Vritra is still active, so they are in for a surprise."

I shrug "Okay, yeah, that would be pretty funny to see their faces when they find out that I'm Vritra's partner, but still. Do we really need them? You and I kicked ass back in the day, surely if you transformed into Juggernaut Drive, we could easily take Kokabiel!"

Vali sighs "Trust me, I would much rather not have to deal with any of the other factions as well, but this is something that we've got to do. Besides, if I went into the Juggernaut, I would probably kill Kokabiel, and we want him alive, remember?"

I sigh "Fine…"

All of a sudden, Kuroka comes out of nowhere, sticking her butt in Vali's face as if blocking my view of him, and bending over, getting into my face...as well as giving a view of her *Ahem* assets. I cough slightly, my face burning a slight purple "W-what do you need, K-Kuroka?"

Kuroka's eyes light up slightly "Aw, how adorable, you blush purple! Anyway, I was going to ask what you like to eat. I'm making lunch before we go to the meeting, and I would like to make your favorite food."

I smile slightly "Um….Ramen is my favorite food...if you could make that, I'd be okay with it."

Kuroka nods, racing off like greased lightning "I'll have it done in a jiffy!"

I grunt, a purple blush still on my face. Vali, of course, the ever-watchful, noticed right away, and couldn't help but laugh "Dude, you are so into her!"

I growl slightly, my green eyes glowing slightly "I do not! You have no idea what you're talking about!"

Vali rolls his eyes as Amaterasu and the others finally appear "Whatever you say, dude. I see otherwise. All I have to say about the matter is, you hurt her, I cut your dick off. You don't hurt her, we don't have problems."

I simply nod as Yasaka hugs me "Got it. Hello there, Saka. Su, Susanoo, Tsukuyomi. How'd the Gods meeting or whatever it was go?"

Susanoo pulls out two bowls of Ramen from God knows where giving them to me "Amaterasu kicked Odin in the dick a couple of times."

The ever-protective woman sighs "That's not the way that it went. Rosewiesse, you should introduce yourself to Meru-Chan!"

I sweatdrop, blushing slightly as Vali and the others start to chuckle "Su-Chan...I thought you said you wouldn't call me that anymore…"

Amaterasu shrugs "Sorry, but anyway, this is Rosewiesse. I did kick Odin in his mommy-daddy button a couple of times, but that was because he was being mean to her. Now, she's going to be living with us!"

I roll my eyes slightly, shaking my head. Leave it to Amaterasu to not take shit from anyone, especially perverted old men who hit on anything with tits. I then bow "Nice to meet you Rosewiesse. I'm Meruem, Meruem Dryar. I'm the partner of the Prison Dragon, Vritra."

I then blink, finally noticing the similarities in our hair color "That's a nice color of silver you got there, that's all I've got to say."

So, the two of us bow again, and this time end up hitting our heads together. As we both stand up, rubbing our heads, Vritra mutters "You are such an idiot sometimes, you know that?"

I mutter 'Shut up, stupid overgrown lizard.'

Before we know it though, Kuroka fed us, and it was time to head to the meeting. I groan as Azazel appears "Okay, riddle me this, why the hell do we have to be involved in this?"

Vali grunts "Oh, that's because the idiot over there decided to put Yokai in the same group as Fallen Angels, to sound cool or something, I guess."

Azazel sweatdrops until I sigh "Go figure. You know what, I don't really care, you guys are the only ones who are legit with anyone. Come on then, let's get this over with."

And so, gathering everyone around, Azazel teleports us away. Of course, that's immediately when shit hit the fan. As soon as we got to Kuoh Academy, where the meet 'n' greet of the Factions was to take place, a red-haired girl and a black haired girl, along with, based on what Vali has told me, their Peerages, ordered me and Rosewiesse to identify ourselves.

Rosewiesse, of course, complied immediately. Me on the other hand...now, I've never really liked Devils, in fact, I normally can't stand them. The only Devils that I would consider friends and allies would be Vali and his team, and I don't follow orders very all too. I mean, just ask Yasaka. On top of that though, I have had a pretty rough day, I mean, what kind of guy, no matter the species, wants to have his ass kicked by a better man, and then turn around and figure out that he's got a childish crush on a very, very sexy Nekomata girl, and also have to wonder when his Draconic instincts are going to kick in, and what's going to happen then, not to mention the fact that I know for a fact that I have not used all of the abilities granted to me as a Dragon, nor have I completely unlocked my Sacred Gear. So, combining all of that, I just snapped.

I growl out, a dark aura surrounding me "Order me around again, and it will be the last thing you ever do."

Almost instantly, everyone in the room, as if on instinct, took a couple of steps back, afraid. Well, all except for Vali, but that's because he's too used to me doing this by now. So, once I've made my point, I allow the dark aura to fade.

That is when the other leaders, Michael, Serafall, and Sirzechs as Amaterasu told me, managed to regain their...shall we say confidence, and Michael grunts "How do we know that Azazel and the other Fallen won't just stab us in the back? They should not be trusted. I know that they are needed, but trusted...never."

That's when I lose my shit. I can't help it! Hearing the word trust from an Angel is rich!

As I start to try and control my laughter, I couldn't help but notice some of the other people looking at us like they actually felt the same way. I also noticed the same red and black haired girls, who, if I heard correctly as I am still getting used to the upgraded senses, are called Rias and Sona, alongside their peerages and the Leaders, were glaring at me. Let me put it to you this way: If looks could kill, I'd be dead a million times over.

Michael was the first one to speak, though, if the heat I could feel at the back of my neck was any indication, Yasaka was hoping that it wouldn't come to this "Why do you laugh at this statement? Do you know what the Fallen Angels are truly capable of? Maybe think about that before allying yourselves with them."

I grunt "Oh trust me, we know what the Fallen Angels are truly capable of. As for why I was laughing, well, I find it hilarious just how hypocritical both Angels and Devils are."

Boy, oh boy, did that get everyone's attention, real quick. So, I continued "Both Factions put their greed and opinions above everything else. In the Devils' case, the current Satans are the lapdogs of Zerkam. For example, let's say that a High-Class Devil comes and attacks a Yokai, killing them. We demand the Devil to stand trial, to pay for what they have done, justly and fairly, and yet you refuse. But, when a Yokai kills a Devil, the Yokai and their entire family gets massacred, and I mean, absolutely ripped to shreds, nothing left. And you say that is not hypocritical."

Based off of the Devils', excluding Vali and his team, faces, they knew exactly what I was talking about. And so, I pressed on "Now, for the Angels, they talk all about Peace and about how their God gave them so much freedom to do as they wish, but they go on and shove their religion down people's throats. If that is not hypocrisy at it's finest, I don't know what is."

I could have stopped there, and Yasaka and the others, based on their faces, wanted me to, but my blood was boiling, so I pressed on even more "So since I've got your attention, let's think about this issue of trust logically. If Azazel really wanted to kill Rias and Sona, who, based on your reactions when we first arrived, are probably pretty important, don't you think that he would send an assassin who is skilled in magic and sealing arts? Do you really think that Azazel would send one of his best men to do the job, just to have one of his strongest Sacred Gear users defeat him, defeating the purpose of sending him in the first place? Besides, Kokabiel could easily be killed if Vali just went into Juggernaut Drive, which he can use, by the way, since Juggernaut Drive is said to be able to kill Gods, but no, he wants to capture him and play by the rules. So, maybe give him a break?"

No one says a word, which means, at the very least, they are considering what I said. And so, I make my escape, going and hiding behind Amaterasu, sitting next to Rosewiesse. As I disappear from view from everyone else, my body gives out on me, and I collapse onto a chair. See, one thing that you should know about me is, I might look confident, but I have really bad Stage Fright, which means, the entire time that I gave that speech, on the inside, I was shaking like a leaf. The only people who know this though, are the three Shintos, Vali, Yasaka and Kunou.

The thing that snaps me out of my people-scared stupor is Kuroka. I look up to spot Sona and Rias, alongside their peerages, practically surrounding Kuroka. The thing that I notice though, is her body stance...she's scared. Maybe it's the Dragon instincts kicking in, or maybe it's because Vali was right and I do like her, but something set me off.

The next thing that I know, there are scales covering parts of my body, with my fangs elongating. I march over, big-boy style and growl "What do you assholes want with Kuroka?"

Rias shivers slightly and then tries to get cocky with me, without much success "This is a stray devil that we are talking about, she needs to be put down!"

Vali and Issei, the brown-haired boy with what I took for the Boosted Gear across his arm stand in between me and Rias. Vali gulps "Hey, buddy, come on, she didn't mean it like that. Besides, I'm sure that we could come to an understanding, one that doesn't involve you spilling a High-Class Devil's blood!"

Issei sweatdrops "He's already hoarding, isn't he?"

Vali just nods, and Issei growls "Rias, listen to me. Stop bugging the cat lady, and then everyone needs to step away."

The redhead shakes her head "What, no! This might be the only chance to bring Kuroka in!"

Vali and Issei summon the Divine Dividing and the Boosted Gear respectively and Vali sighs as the two of them struggle to make me stay in one place "Do as he says you, idiot! Unlike Hyoudou and myself, Meruem is a full-blood Dragon and only a dragon. He doesn't have a Devil side to help him balance out his Dragon instincts, and all Dragons have some sort of hoards. Apparently, he hoards people, as he has already hoarded Kuroka, most likely along with the rest of my team, myself, his friends and hell, maybe even you Issei. Something that you should know, Dragons are more than willing to kill if their hoard is bothered so I would suggest, if you wish to see the next day, you don't do that."

So, Rias ends up letting Kuroka go back to us. After she passed me, I breathed out, and then all of my scales disappeared, and I returned to my normal size. Seeing everyone staring at me, I sweatdrop and Vali sighs "Buddy, a little more warning next time you start hoarding, alright?"

Having no idea what he's talking about, I just nod and then dive deep into the Mindscape, looking for Vritra.

Inside the Mindscape…

I facepalm "Okay, everything is really blurry. What the hell happened?"

Vritra sighs "I forgot to tell you that you now have Dragon instincts. That means that, among other things, you will be hoarding things. You will also be willing to protect and die for the said hoard. I suppose that while I have you, I might as well explain everything else."

To say that I learned a lot about myself would be putting it lightly. I even learned of thing I had no idea that I could do! Amazing things happen.

(Author sighs) "I really hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. Poor Meruem, having to deal with Devil bullshit, and then Dragon bullshit. All of this bullshit! Next chapter, they take the fight to Kokabiel. Alright, peace out!"