Chapter 2: Fury and Doubt

It was the day of the rating game between my sister and Sakra. As we are waiting for the game to start I am talking with my team about the plan. "Nivana and I will keep an eye on the match to keep an eye out for something strange," I tell everyone. "Yin, Lilian, and Trisa you will need to go to the station that sister's team will be retired too. The rest of you will be outside the stadium on guard duty. Issei will not be fighting with Rias, she will be using Crom. The only ones allowed to know this are us, Ajuka, Shiva, and Vali's team. Vali's team will also be outside guarding."

"What does he gain from this?" Sasha asks me. "His end game is a war with Shiva, so what does taking out Rias get him?"

"I am in the way of him recruiting Issei and his war with Shiva," I say to everyone. "He may be trying to take away people that are in the way of getting Issei, either by killing them or by damaging their reputation."

"He is foolish," Lilian comments. "Stupid arrogant god, he will learn what pain feels like."

"Alright everyone lets move out," I say and everyone nods. We all head out. Nivana and I head into the stadium. "Shiva will be with you to protect you, so please don't push yourself." She touches my cheek and smiles.

"I will be fine," she says to me. "I will not take any risk that would harm our unborn child." I kiss her forehead and we split up. As I am walking down the hallway I stop and knock on the door to my sister's team room.

"Who is it?" I hear my sister ask from inside.

"It's your twin," I say. "I have come to say good luck." She opens the door and I step in. I wave at everyone. "I see Crom is waiting until the last minute to show up. Oh akeno, I have been meaning to ask. How are things going with your mother?"

"They are wonderful," she says with a smile before it turns into a frown. "You said it only lasted a year though." I walk over to her and place my hand on her shoulder.

"I based that piece on the chess pieces," I begin to explain to her. "I also added in the ability for it to mutate, so there is a chance it will permanent. I will say this though; she is not a reincarnated devil. She is 100 percent human and if that piece mutates to the point where it's permanent then she will live as long as she was suppose to be, before she was murder." She smiles again.

"If I may ask," I hear Strada say and I turn around. "Can you list a few for her?"

"The biggest one would be getting pregnant at the right time," I explain. "Shuri's own willpower to stay with her family longer could be another one. Being around Issei enough could do it as well since he has been causing miracles before I showed up."

"That is what I thought," Strada comments. "May I see that form?" I smile and walk up to him. As I get closer to him, I activate the Crimson Archangel form. I stand before him. "I can feel it even in this form." He kneels before me. "My lord, even though it is your reincarnation it is wonderful to see you."

"Raise Strada," I say to him and he stands. "You have been a loyal follower and I am proud of you." I reach out to touch his shoulder but I notice my hand is shaking so I pull my arm back. "Keep an eye on my sister for this match." He nods. "Good luck everyone." I then leave the room.

I return to normal and walk into the seating area. I look around. I don't see anything yet so I sit down.

Part 2

It's in the middle of the rating game and I have seen nothing happen yet. "Partner," I say looking at my right arm. "I need you to check if my powers are stable."

"It will take awhile but I understand," he says. I look over to Shiva and Nivana; it seems they haven't spotted anything yet. I start looking around and notice Cao Cao leave. I open communications to Yin.

"Yin comes to the arena after you tell Hilda to take your place," I order him.

"Understood," he says. I stand up and begin moving to another location. I reach the next point and start watching again. Lint and Valarie get retired next but they also take down one of Sakra's team.

"This is not good sister's team is thinning to fast now," I comment. "Come on Kiba and Strada finish your fights. Sister needs you now."

"What is this?" the announcer says. "It seems Sakra has found Rias and Gasper." My eyes go wide because that is the last thing I wanted. Then it gets worse. "It seems Kiba and Strada have been retired too. Looks like its only Akeno, Rias, and Gasper left for Team Rias."

"This is very bad," I comment. "If he was going to make his move now would be the time." I communication circle appears next to my ear.

"Cartil this is Ajuka," he says. "Something has gone wrong with the system. Rias is in real danger now. I will try to fix it as soon as I can but I am not sure if I can make it in time."

"Then I am going in," I tell him. I jump into the air and change into the Crimson Archangel Form. The crowd gasps and then goes silent.

"Understood," he says to me. "I will inform everyone else what is going on."

I close my eyes and sigh. A teleportation circle appears below me and I disappear. I arrive in the rating game field in time to block a sneak attack on sister from Sakra. He jumps back and looks at me questioningly. Rias and gasper are also shocked.

"What are you doing here?" sister asks me.

"Hello everyone this is Ajuka," he begins to explain. "I have detected an issue with the rating game system so I have sent Cartil inside to keep the peace until I can fix the problem." Just then Akeno arrives and stands next to sister. I glare at Sakra.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he questions.

"You know why Sakra," I say to him. "Or should I say Indra? This seems way too much for a coincidence. The system goes crazy right as you find sister. If you would have actually landed that sneak attack then you would have killed my sister. It feels staged to me."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," he says to me. "You are reaching and that is a bad thing. So be careful of your actions while in here." I start to laugh.

"Do you really think I care what they think of me?" I ask him. "My job is to protect my family and keep the peace so the next generation has a brighter future. The war you want with Shiva gets in the way of that Indra. So I don't give a damn about what other people think." I place kneel down and place my hand on the ground. A summoning circle appears and a handle rises from it. I grab the handle and pull up a sword out that is completely over in chains. I look at Indra with murderous intent. I yank the sword and the chains shatter.

"That sword," he says. "You are bringing out the sword you claim can kill a god. Are you really going to use it?"

"Today is the day you die," I say to him. I charge forward and slash downward. He jumps to dodge but I grab his leg. I slam him down and come down again with a slash. He deflects my attack but he still takes a cut. He screams in pain.

"What the hell is?" he questions. He gets up hold his arm as I step back. I touch the handle of the sword. "What the hell did you create?"

"This is the God slaying sword," I say with a smirk. "It does kill a God by normal means. A god can be revived from the dead by the people that worship them. This sword kills a god by slowly turning a god mortal and human with each cut. Back when we were enemies with gods and others I needed to create weapons to fight them. So I did my research and created this sword to counter evil Gods. I actually was going to use it to kill Loki but you will work."

"You are kind of scary right now," I hear gasper comment behind me.

"I know gasper I am sorry," I say and look back at him. "Protect my sister please." I turn back to Indra and charge forward again. I slash towards him and he dodges then hits me in the stomach. I return his punch with my own infused with power of destruction. The impact sends us both flying back. I land on my feet and slide back. He lands on his feet and kneels down. I hear a scream and look behind me to see sister being attacking.

"You really should watch your surroundings little crimson angel," Indra comments with a laugh. Rage begins to build within me. I hold my left hand out and another summoning circle appears. A handle rises out of it and I grab it. I pull out the sword and get into battle stance.

"Rias," I yell back to her. "They intend to kill you, so do not hold back. The same goes to you Akeno and Gasper." I step forward and appear behind Indra. He screams in pain and kneels down again. I then fall to my knees. "What?"

"I guess where you would hit me and planned according," he says to me and look down to see my own blood leaking out. "You may have speed but anyone who can predict your movements can counter you." I cough and blood comes out of my mouth. I then feel pain from my arms. They are slightly burned. Something is very wrong but I must end him. I have no choice true chant time.

"I am the crimson devil who was gifted with the power of god. I am the vessel of devil and holy power that will destroy those who would try to destroy peace." Crimson light radiates from my body and my wounds behind to heal. My armor changes into gold and armor covers part of my wings. I stand back up and grab the chain on the back of the handle of the God slaying sword. I start to spin the sword. "I will kill you here and now." The rating game field shattered from the energy that I am admitting. We return back to the stadium.

I hear a metal hitting metal sound behind me. I look back and Yin has blocked an attack from Cao Cao. "Leave this fool to me," Yin says and pushes back Cao Cao. I turn back to Indra. I drop the sword in my left hand and create a chain of light. Indra tries to flee but I throw the chain of light. The chain wraps around his hand and I yank it forcing to stop moving. He tries to pull free and I throw the God Slayer at him. The sword impales him and he falls to his knee. I start walking to him.

"It is one thing to threaten me," I say to him as I am walking to him. "The minute you try to harm anyone I love then your life becomes forfeit. I don't give a damn anything else." My aura reaches dangerous levels and each step I take starts to break the ground below me." I reach him and grab the handle of the God Slayer. I slowly pull it out and he screams in pain. I lift up the sword and then suddenly feel an intense pain. I step back and look at my left arm. I am shocked to see it covered in blood.

"Partner," I hear Kronus say. "Something has caused your power to become unstable. Its starting to backlash on you the longer this battle goes on."

"Is it being caused by my anger?" I ask him.

"No," he says to me. "It seems to be as Ophis has said. There is darkness somewhere in your heart clouding you. You may have accepted yourself but I sense pain behind this darkness."

"I don't know understand what would cause it," I say. "What in my past could cause this?" I then hear something. I look over to the stands and I see mother standing there with a horrified look. I then get a flash of something from my past. "I have seen that face before." I fall to my knees and the sword land in front of me. "You may go Indra, our fight is done. I have done enough to you. Your power has drastically been reduced. You are the level of a demigod now and it will take you a long time to recover your godly powers. I hope this will be a teaching experience for you. It has been for me." The sword I left behind me teleports away and then the God Slayer teleports away. I sigh and teleport away.

Part 3

I have returned back to the human world and have gone down to visit the dragon egg. I am hugging it close and I am crying. I now understand the darkness that's inside me. I can sense two other in this room with me. It seems Ophis and Lilith have come to watch me for some reason. "Why are you both here?" I ask them. "I no longer care about seeking the power of infinite. I don't even care about the power of dreams anymore. I would be stealing them anyway Issei is the chosen one." They say nothing and just sit down to eat.

"Partner what happened?" I hear Kronus ask me.

"I did something bad a long time ago," I say to him. "When I am ready I will tell you the story."

"I understand partner," he says quietly and then goes silent. I stare at the dragon egg I am holding. My arms still hurt but that pain is nothing compared to what I am feeling now in my heart.

Part 4

"Yin," Lord Gremory calls to me. "Can you give me a report?" I nod to him.

"Indra and Cao Cao left shortly after Cartil," I begin to explain. "The damage is being repaired as we speak. The Four devil kings, Azazel, and Michael seem to be trying to do damage control about Cartil. I fear the damage won't be able to be repaired though. I have never seen so much rage from my King before."

"I have," he says. "That rage is far more destructive than people think. It seems once his rage reaches a point the holy light within him begins to infuse with his power of destruction."

"What happened when you saw it?" I ask him.

"I am sorry but that is no my story to tell," he says to me. "That would be Cartil's."

"I can't get the image of his face out of my head after he saw Lady Gremory's face," I say looking down. "He looked full of pain and regret. I don't understand why she is afraid of her own son."

"Like I said it is Cartil's story to tell now that he remembers," he says and looks away. "We still have no idea where he went do we?" I shake my head. "That is a shame; when you do learn his location please tell me. So the whole family can be together." I nod and leave.

I am walking down the hall and I see Issei outside the door. I wave at him and walk up to him.

"Why are you out here?" I ask him.

"Rias and Hanalil are inside talking with Venerana," he says to me. "Rias is trying to find out why she acted the way she did back at the stadium. I felt like it was not my place to be in there, so I am waiting outside. This has been going on for hours and it doesn't seem like its going to stop anytime soon."

"That's because the issue is deep rooted," I hear Lord Lucifer say and turn to see him walking up. "Something happened between my mother and my brother, it's not my place to say what happened." He looks at Issei. "I will just say that you are not the only one who tired to stop Rias's engagement to Riser. I can see that he is glad you did. He always did say it wasn't fair and that Rias deserved to marry someone she loved." I look over at Issei who seems to be over thinking things.

"What we should do is focus on finding my master," I comment. "He can't fight in this broken state; I fear he may be in danger." Just then the door opens. Rias and Hanalil walk up. Rias looks pissed off.

"I can't believe mother," Rias says. "She refused to tell us what is going on between her and brother." She sighs. "The heart break in brother face haunts me right now."

"I have seen that face before," Hanalil says. "It took awhile for me to get him back to normal." She begins to cry and Rias hugs her. "Not again, I almost lost him back then. What haunts my husband's heart?"

"We can't help him if we can't find him," I say. I hear someone appear behind us and we look to see Vali stand there.

"We found him," he says to all of us. "It seems with the dragon egg. Ophis and Lilith are with him." I run down the hall to inform Lord Gremory.

We arrive at room underground room that holds the egg. We see my king in a corner holding the dragon egg. In another corner we see Ophis and Lilith eating with watching my king. He is just staring at the egg.

"He has been like that for hours," Ophis informs us once she spotted us. "I would not approach him right now in this state." I sigh and look behind me to see all of my kings girls fall to their knees crying. The only one not here is Nivana, I ask her to stay behind. I did not want her to see my king in this state. I promised my king to watch over her so their unborn child would be fine. "Issei come here." He walks over to Ophis. "Draig connect to Kronus's sacred gear realm." A few minutes later a white gem appears on my king's right hand.

"Is now the time?" Kronus asks through the Boosted Gear. "I am using one of Draig's gems to talk to you all. I will begin the projections now." The gem on my king's begins to shine and we start to see images all around us. The first image that becomes clear is a little Cartil pouting with his mother standing in front of him.

"Why can't I play with Rias?" he asks.

"She is starting her princess training today," she tells him. "You won't be able to play with her for awhile now."

"Fine," he says and walks away. "Looks like I am going to be alone from now on." The next image fades and another appears. He is being picked on by other kids his age and they seem to be calling him mean names. "Always alone and hated by others." More images of painful memories. The image of him trying to protect Hanalil for the first time appears. It's different seeing it than when he told us. I can hear Rias crying now along with Akeno and Asia. The image fades and a word appears before us, "Monster."

"The story is about to be seen," I hear Lord Gremory. "This will be painful to see again." The next image appears on the screen.

Part 5

I have burst into the room where a meeting is taking place between brother and my parents. I have learned about the force engagement Rias has with Raiser. I walk up to them. "What the hell is wrong with you all?" I question them. "You are going to force Rias to marry that asshole Riser. Are you stupid?"

"This does no concern you," mother says to me.

"The hell is does," I say in a furious tone. "She is my twin sister, you made hide it from the world but that is a fact. She is my sister and I am supposed to be her guard. Forcing her to marry someone who will treat her like crap pisses me of. She deserves to marry someone she loves. Stupid devil politics, I am starting to think you care more about that then your own children."

"It's for the better," Father says. "Building better relations will help in the long run."

"Oh don't give me that crap," I say. I turn to brother. "I am mostly surprised you are going along with this. I thought you would be at least on my side, you were allowed to marry for love. Why is Rias forced to marry someone that she is not in love with?" I punch a wall.

"Maybe we should settle this, a different way," Father says. "Cartil you will duel Sirzechs. If you win then Rias will be free to fall in love and marry who she wants. If Sirzechs wins then she will marry Riser."

"I accept," I say. Brother nods. We leave for the Gremory training ground. I walk out to the battlefield first. I unsheathe my sword and throw off my trench coat. I get into the ready as brother walks out to field. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"Begin," father says. I dash forward before jumping up into the air. I come down with a slash. Brother reaches out and blocks my sword by grapping it. I spin my body and kick him in the side of head. He lets go of the sword and jump back. This is not going to be easy. He fires a large blast of destruction power at me. I empower my sword with my own power of destruction and slash his. It gets cut in half but I see him appear behind it. He hits me in the stomach with his fist. I walk back hold my stomach.

I shake my head to regain my focus. I run around him trying to find an opening. He is watching my movements. I stop and dash towards him with sword in the ready. Once I reach him and swing my sword to slash him. He blocks my attack and knocks my sword into the air. He hits me again and I go flying backwards. I land on my back. I sit up and look at him. I am starting to understand the gap between us now. I can't give up though this is for my twin, Rias. He picks up the sword and tosses it to me. I grab it and pick it up. I get into the ready again.

I infuse my sword with the power of destruction again. I lift up my sword and slash down firing a crescent wave of destruction at him. I follow behind my attack. He knocks my attack away but I manage to cut hit him with my sword. I flip into the air and land behind him. I look back to see the damage and I see him looking at his hand. He managed to block that attack. "That was good to copy me but I figured that was your plan," he says to me. I take a deep breath to relax my nerves. I infuse my sword again and dash towards him. I jump up and right before impact I release the crescent wave at point blank range. I try to pull back but I can't move. As the smoke dissipates, I can see why. He is holding my sword but I can see the impact has torn his cloths. I can see he has taken some damage.

Then he does what I least expected it, he snapped my sword. "That was a gift from Souji," I say with complete shock. "Why would you break my sword?" I am standing there in disbelief.

"I may have got carried away," he answers. "I am sorry; I will ask Souji to make you a new one."

"Carried away?" I say while still in shock. "Replace? This sword was very important to me, Souji gave this too me after he finished my training. He believed I was ready to improve on my own." I look at my broken sword. I look at my brother. "You will regret your choice to break this sword." Anger begins to build within me and I start giving off murderous intent. "Maybe I should get carried away and break something important of yours."

"Lord Gremory maybe we should stop this now," Grayfia pleas with father.

"I think we are beyond stopping it now," he says with a sigh. I dash to the side, while leaving behind an image of myself where I was originally standing. My fist hits brother on the side of the face and he is sent back flying. I don't even wait before charging at him. Once he hits a wall I unload of fury of blows into is chest. I jump back and watch for a counter attack. I sense his movements and I quickly raise my hands up. The next instant I am hit with the power of destruction and I slide backwards. I hear movement to my left and jump into the air dodging another attack. I start to create a ball of destruction in front of my right hand. After it reaches the right levels I grab it and my fist ignites with the power of destruction. I swing down and hit him the face as he looks up.

I jump back and watch for another counter attack. I am breathing heavy and my vision is getting blurry for some reason. My senses are dulling as well. Something is wrong, very wrong. While I am panicking silently, I get hit with an attack. I get sent flying back and I land on my feet. I slide back a bit and kneel down. "That was an interesting attack," brother says. "That attack did a real number on me but it has damaged your hand as well. You managed to make me bleed. I can see from your face that something is going on with you. I think we are done here."

I stand up shaking and start charging up another attack of destruction. "I am not done yet," I yell out and fire the attack. I fall to my knees after it launches, I try to track it but my vision goes completely blurry. I felt something has gone wrong. I hear a scream.

"Lady Gremory is you alright?" Grayfia asks. My attack hit mom.

"Why did it turn?" I ask before passing out.

I wake up hours later in my room. I look around and I am covered in medical wrapping and bandages. I am trying to replay what happened in my head but I can't remember the details easy. "Well you are awaken now," I hear brother say. I look up but I can barely see him. My vision is still blurry when I look at things far away. He walks up to me and sits on the chair next to my bed. I can see him better now. "It looks like we both got carried away. I am truly sorry about breaking the sword."

"What happened?" I ask him. "My vision went blurry and I couldn't see. Everything on my body was going dull so I couldn't place what went wrong." He sighs.

"It seems your attack changed directions last minute and slammed into mother," he explains to me. I look at my hands and they start shaking. "With what you just told me, the rage levels you reach back lashed on you. You own power started to damage you without you ever knowing it."

"I hit mother?" I say in disbelief. I felt something inside break at that moment and I hug my knees. I start crying. "I am a monster. That is why I have to be hidden."

"You have seen my true form and you are calling yourself a monster," he tries to reassure me.

"Did you almost kill mother?" I fire back at him. "I am the monster. I am sorry mother that hurt you. I am sorry that I am a monster."

Part 6

We have just witnessed my king's deepest regret. I look over to Lady Gremory but I don't see any reaction from her yet. She is just staring at my king. More images are still coming through, the images are just flashing "monster". The images then display the look he saw on Lady Gremory's face back in the stadium and we can feel his pain. It's the same as back then. The next image shows my king as a little boy in tears. "I don't want mommy to see me as a monster," he says. "I want to be someone mommy is proud of. I want to be important to her like sister and brother are."

I see Lady Gremory start walking to my king. No one is trying to stop her and I think we understand why. She reaches him and hugs him.

Part 7

I feel something warm. What is this warmth? The warmth is coming from someone hugging me. I look to see who is hugging me. It's the last person I expected. "Mother?" I ask. "What is going on?" she is crying. I look passed her and I see everyone.

"I forgive you," I hear mother say to me. She grabs my face and I look at her. "You are not a monster. You are my baby boy." My only action is to hug her.

Chapter 2 Author notes. I think I need to explain the projection thing. Kronus and Ophis used Draig to connect to the dream; since Issei has great reds flesh.