Chapter Two
Even two weeks later, Mordred was still only at a fraction of his strength. He was not as defenseless as he had been, but it still felt as though Uncle Vali had hit him with a few Divides. Still, he had recovered enough strength to monitor things around town with his magic.
So far, things had progressed a bit strangely. If not for him actually traveling to the park where his father was to be killed by Raynare in advance, things would have already changed in a fundamental way. His father did not have one of Rias Gremory's leaflets when Raynare struck him down, resulting in Mordred summoning Rias in his stead. Fortunately, she had not seen him and likely assumed the dying Issei had been the one to do so somehow.
The sequence of events left him puzzled even now. His interactions with those of the new timeline were limited to Azazel and Slash Dog. There was no way his actions should have already caused a change.
Still, everything seemed to be corrected now. Encountering a fallen angel who thought he was a stray devil, discovering that he had died and was reincarnated by Rias Gremory as a devil, meeting Asia Argento, coming face to face with a stray devil for the first time, and meeting the insane Siegfried clone named Freed Sellzen… it had all progressed correctly from what information he had pieced together. But the most crucial incident was still ahead, and it was the single one that he was the most anxious about.
For that reason, Mordred had stopped observing from a distance and showed up at the Kuō Town's abandoned church shortly after Raynare attacked his father for the second time. Asia's death at the hands of Raynare by the Sacred Gear Extractor was not something that was easy to stomach.
For as long as he could remember, he had never called Rias Gremory, Himejima Akeno, Xenovia Quarta, Shidō Irina, Ingvild Leviathan, Elmenhilde Karnstein, Ravel Phenex, Shirone, Kuroka, Rossweisse, and Kunō by anything but their names. Hyōdō Asia, on the other hand, had always been Mother Asia.
For that reason, he owed it to her to personally intervene and make sure she was unharmed.
When his father, an unfamiliar pre-pubescent girl with short white hair, and a young Kiba Yūto showed up at the church Mordred showed himself.
"Huh? Who are you?" Issei asked, nervously while the girl looked ready to punch him and a sword appeared in the Knight's hand.
"Less talking and more moving," Mordred said, walking towards the entrance of the church. "If you wish to save Asia Argento, we need to hurry. We can play twenty questions afterwards."
Knowing the Kiba Yūto, he was going to be watched carefully for now, but at his current strength, this was the best option.
"Fine," Issei said, following behind him with little hesitation. "But you've got some explaining to do later."
"Agreed," Mordred said as he lifted a hand towards the church's entrance. A magic circle appeared on the doors and they sprung open. From behind him, Issei let out a gasp of shock, but it was soon drowned out by the sound of someone clapping.
As they passed through the entryway, a single figure stepped out from behind one of the pillars inside the church, clapping his hands. "Wow, this is a first. I've never met the same devil twice before, you know? I'm super strong and usually cut devils into pieces when I first meet them. You see, I just can't help but cut them up on the spot. That's how I used to live! But since you guys ruined my style, I'm so lost! Seriously, you guys piss me off! I hope you all die! Trashy devils, go die!" His expression was a mix of joy, sadness, and rage as he took out a gun and a sword hilt. A blade of light erupted from the handle of the latter.
"You guys came to rescue Asia, didn't you? Who knew devils could be so big hearted and come to rescue a bitch that heals even devils? Well, she's going to die anyways!"
"Hey, where is Asia?" Issei demanded.
"There's a hidden stairway under that alter." The stray exorcist actually pointed to the altar in the room with his gun as he spoke. "From there, you can go to the place where they are doing the ritual."
Moving forward, Issei yelled, "Sacred Gear," and a red gauntlet appeared on his left hand. At a glance, Mordred would have not even realized that it was Boosted Gear, had he not been so intimately familiar with Ddraig's aura.
"Swordsman, can you and the girl handle him while the Pawn and I continue onward to rescue the girl?" Mordred asked, looking to Kiba Yūto. Conflict raged in the Knight's eyes before he nodded his head in agreement.
"You're not getting past me," Freed Sellzen laughed as he charged towards them. He was forced to jump back, however, when a pew was literally thrown at him.
"Get smashed," the petite white haired girl said in an almost robotic way..
Before he recovered, Mordred placed a hand on Issei's shoulder and the two vanished, only to reappear directly in front of the altar. Mordred pushed it to the side with little effort, revealing the staircase.
"We don't have time to get caught up in their fight." With that said, Mordred rushed down the stairs, Issei following him.
Beyond the stairs, they reached a long passage with doors on both sides of the wall.
"It should be at the end of the passage," Mordred told him, a large door in his sights. "There's bound to be stray exorcists and fallen angels inside, so be ready."
"Right!" In that moment, there was a look of resolve on Issei's face. It was very reminiscent of the man that people told stories of in the future.
Bursting through the door, Mordred came to a stop. Asia Argento was strapped to a cross-shaped mechanism. Standing before her was the fallen angel Raynare and a number of priests with blades of light, just like Freed Sellzen had wielded.
"Asia!" Issei yelled.
"Issei?" the nun asked weakly.
"Yeah, I've come to save you!"
"How touching," Raynare scoffed. "But it's too late. You won't be able to get through my forces before the ritual is complete."
Her declaration was punctuated with a scream from Asia.
Something snapped in Mordred at the sight. He lifted his hands and dozens of small magic circles appeared. In an instant, magic bullets shot from them and all of the priests collapsed, blood flowing from between their eyes. Asia Argento fell from Sacred Gear Extractor moments later, the chains that bound her to it severed by the same assault that had killed the stray exorcists.
As Asia touched the ground, a magic circle appeared beneath her and she was sent directly behind Mordred.
"How?" Raynare could only look around in shock at what happened.
"Pawn of Rias Gremory, I leave the fallen angel to you. I'm going to need to focus on your friend so I can stabilize her Sacred Gear. The timing was a little close for comfort."
There was no hesitation as Issei rushed forward to meet Raynare. He only had one thing to say about it. "Call me Ise. It's the least I can do for helping me."
Picking the exhausted girl up, Mordred carried her upstairs and was greeted with the sight of the other two devils heading that way. Freed Sellzen was nowhere to be seen.
"He's fighting the fallen angel down there. Stay with me or go and check on him… I really don't care. I need to take care of this girl."
In the end, Kiba Yūto went downstairs while the girl stayed with him, but Mordred did not spare her another look. Instead, he laid Asia on one of the pews and summoned a magic circle.
"Thank you," Asia said, softly. "I thought I was going to…."
"You're fine now," Mordred reassured her. Stabilizing a Sacred Gear after a failed extraction was not something that necessarily had to be done, in all honesty. At most, she would have had some issues using Twilight Healing for a few weeks before it stabilized itself, but he saw no reason to make her go through such a period unnecessarily when he knew that spell.
"How is she?"
That voice made Mordred freeze. Rias Gremory was standing next to the pew, looking down at Asia. The Rias Gremory of now and of thirty years into the future did not look much different. The only real difference was clothes, though she seemed to also carry a more innocent aura.
"She'll be fine," Mordred said, making eye contact. "We halted the ritual just in time."
"I see." At that, Rias showed a kind smile. "I'm glad. We may not be on the same side, but I would have been distressed to hear of her death."
It was hard to believe that this was the same woman that spent years ordering him around and berating him every time he and Ex got into a fight. But then again, it wasn't, he realized. This wasn't the Rias Gremory he knew, no matter how much they looked alike. This was the Gremory heiress in her youth, before she lost her older brother and was overwhelmed with stress.
"I should thank you for helping my cute servants, but I'm going to need to know who you are and what brings you to my territory," Rias continued a moment later, her smile suddenly predatory. "But for now, I need to go check on Ise. I'd appreciate it if you did not leave until after we have our talk."
"I'll be waiting," he assured her.
Himejima Akeno stayed behind when Rias went to check on his Issei. Like Rias, she looked no different than she had in the future, but Akeno's aura made her feel less approachable.
"Not going to go anywhere, are you?" she asked, a hint of warning in her tone.
"That would defeat the point of getting her attention, now would it?" Mordred answered easily, his lips curving into a smirk. "Though, if I wanted to leave, I can assure you that you wouldn't be able to stop me."
"Is that so?" she asked, challenge clear in her face.
He did not answer her though, merely turning back to Asia, whose eyes were closed. She had apparently fallen asleep at some point, too exhausted from the ritual. Looking down at her, he fought the urge to pinch himself when he noticed how underdeveloped her body was in comparison to her future self. Well, at least one of the past versions of his step-mothers did not look the exact same.
"You smell of dragon."
That voice… Mordred recognized it. The almost monotone she spoke in made it almost unrecognizable, but the voice itself was not so easy to forget. With her white hair and amber eyes, perhaps he should have placed her sooner, but the girl that had accompanied him inside the church looked like a twelve-year old. Putting the word flat in the same sentence as Shirone was just wrong.
Perhaps it was for the better that she looked so unlike her future self. Unlike the others, she was dead in his future. Seeing her walking around just fine after attending her funeral would have been even harder than reconciling the wildly different versions of Shirone.
"I smell of dragon?" he asked, to which she nodded. "I guess you could say I've got a little dragon in me." She just stared at him before looking away, apparently satisfied with the response.
A short while later, Rias Gremory, Kiba Yūto, and Hyōdō Issei came up the stairs, with an unconscious and bound Raynare. Well, that was certainly a surprise to Mordred. Why didn't they kill her? He did not have time to puzzle things out before Rias spoke.
"It would seem that this night turned out better than it had any right to. But it's not over. I'm going to need to know what exactly you're doing here."
"Ah, I believe an introduction is in order, in that case," Mordred said as he stood up and approached her. "My name is Mordred Pendragon, and I'm here to make a pact with you."
"Pendragon?" It was hard to tell who all said the name, though only the Knight looked angry as he said it.
"I am a magician of that Pendragon family. And while I was named after my ancestor, I'm not a swordsman, so I won't be entertaining any sword duels." At that, he looked at Kiba. His misplaced hatred for Excalibur in his youth was something Mordred had heard firsthand from the man in the future. "I expected that I would have to approach you at your school, but this works well enough. I helped to save an innocent young woman, and I get to meet my intended contractor in one night."
"Pendragon? What's he talking about?" Mordred dropped his shoulders with a sigh and adopted a downcast expression. Hearing the man that would be his father not even recognize the surname of King Arthur was just painful.
"Pendragon is a noble family from England. It's said that they are direct descendants from King Arthur. Their members are among the greatest magicians and swordsmen in the world," Rias explained, looking to Issei. "But why should I form a pact with you, Mordred Pendragon? I've never even heard of you."
"You wouldn't have. My mother was a Pendragon. My father was not. As a result, I'm not exactly part of the main family," Mordred confessed with a small smile. "But it's fine if you don't want to form a pact with me. I'm sure that I can convince the younger sister of Leviathan to deal with me. After all, not everyone knows how to seal the regeneration of a Phenex."
Rias grew still at that. "Now, don't be so hasty. That being said, I don't believe this is the best venue to discuss our pact. If you will meet me at Kuoh Academy tomorrow evening, I will gladly discuss terms."
He could have laughed at that. Who would have thought the spell he devised for fighting Robertina would have caused such a reaction? Once again, he wished that the family had not glossed over so many details of their youth. It was only thanks to Azazel's information that he knew Rias was unwillingly engaged to a Phenex.
"I will be there. It was a pleasure meeting you and your servants, Rias Gremory." Strangely, it was not as much of a lie as he intended it to be. "In the meantime, I have places to be." As he spoke those words, a magic circle formed beneath his feet and he disappeared from sight.
Rias Gremory slumped into her chair in the Occult Research Club room that night after her peerage left, excluding Akeno. The past couple weeks had been trying. Between fallen angels, her new servant, a stray devil, and the mysterious magician, the stress was getting to her.
"Rias, are you sure meeting with that magician is a good idea?"
She looked at her best friend at that. It was rare that Akeno questioned her decisions.
"Not really," she admitted. Mordred Pendragon was an unknown entity, and one that had intruded in her territory without alerting her. Ise's description of the magician's one sided slaughter beneath the church was telling. No novice magician could have created dozens of magic circles and simultaneously taken down thirty stray exorcists.
Even so, she had planned on refusing his request for a pact if not for his claim of being able to seal the regeneration of a Phenex.
"I can't let the opportunity pass me by. I need to see if he's telling the truth."
"That won't be easy to confirm," Akeno pointed out. "We can't exactly test whatever this spell is. Not unless you want him to know about your trump card, at least."
That had not occurred to her. It would need to be considered and brought up when she met with the mysterious magician.
"And what do you plan on doing with her?" Akeno asked after a moment of silence. The vitriol she put into that one word made a chill run down her spine.
"I'm not sure what fate awaits the fallen angel. For now, she is in Grayfia's custody, but I considered offering her freedom as my Bishop."
Akeno froze at those words and shot a betrayed look at Rias.
"I don't want to. I don't trust her in the least," she assured Akeno. "But if things continue as expected and I have to fight Riser in a mock Rating Game, it may be necessary. A fallen angel's powers of light would raise my chances against him." She looked down, knowing Akeno would be hurt by those words. After all, Raynare was not the only one with those powers. "But if the Pendragon comes through, I won't need her."
How callous could she be? Raynare was not the kind of servant she wanted. She was vile, and a traitor to her kind if her compatriots were to be believed. Even desperate as she was, the thought of taking that woman into her peerage left a bitter taste in her mouth. If not for Issei's request that she be spared, Rias would have destroyed her.
"How did Ise fair against her?" Akeno's voice was even softer than before.
"He did very well." Her lips curved into a smile. "Our theory was correct. He is the Red Dragon Emperor." It was unfortunate she had not considered the possibility of him holding such a formidable Sacred Gear before he became a Devil. If he had been recruited right after entering Kuō Academy, he would likely be even stronger than Akeno by now.
A Longinus, a fallen angel, and a magician… at present, each presented a possible way out of the bleak future her parents were intent on sending her to. For the sake of her freedom, she could not discount any of them.
The following night, Mordred sat across from Rias in the old school building on Kuō Academy's campus. It was actually a somewhat familiar location for both. He had spent his fair time there in the future. Taking a sip of the tea Akeno had prepared, he nodded appreciatively. It was perhaps a bit too bitter for his tastes, but it would not do to be impolite.
"Tell me, Mordred, where are you from?" Rias asked as she set her tea cup down, trying a little too hard to seem casual.
"I was born here, actually. In Japan, that is." Even so, he had actually spent the first few years of his life in England while his mother handled some business with the Golden Dawn. "I never joined any kind of association though. It was never really my style." Not that there were any magician associations left after Trihexa ravaged the world and the Endless invaded.
"I see."
"How about we get to the heart of the matter," Mordred suggested out of a mixture of impatience and bemusement. She was not going to get anything useful out of him at the rate she was going. "I want to form a pact with you. To be more specific, I want access to the Underworld and some information. In return, I will provide you with a method to defeat your fiance should you have to face him in a Rating Game." That was, apparently, the method most devils used to get out of unwilling engagements these days.
"You want two things, yet you only offer one in turn," Rias asked, leaning forward. "Not exactly equivalent exchange, now is it?"
Mordred actually laughed at that. She was a better negotiator than he gave her credit for, that much was certain. "I'm impressed. Alright, I'll throw something in. It's actually the formula for a spell you saw me use on Asia Argento."
That caught Rias and Akeno off guard.
"You correct the effects of the extraction ritual, correct?" Rias asked, confusion evident in her tone.
"I stabilized her Sacred Gear. The spell was not made for failed extractions, though it does work for those as well." Still, neither devil was understanding what he was getting at. Apparently, he needed to be more direct. "That spell was created for those born with Sacred Gears that were incompatible with their bodies. If you stabilize the Sacred Gear within such a person, you can save their life. You may not find such a spell to be useful to you, personally, but I have it on good authority that Rudiger Rosenkreutz would give anything for such a formula."
Once again, it proved that Mordred's future knowledge was actually considerably limited. He knew from Azazel that Rudiger Rosenkreutz, the seventh ranked King of the Rating Games, had a son with a Sacred Gear that was slowly killing him. He did not know, however if the boy had died or survived in the original timeline.
"That's fair." If anything, Rias sounded a little subdued now. Apparently, such an idea had never occurred to her. "But I can't agree to anything without proof your spells will do what you say they will, and I can't exactly test the anti-Phenex spell you have without revealing a possible trump card in advance."
At that, he rolled his eyes. "I was suggesting a provisional pact. I provide you with what is promised, and on the honor of your name, you swear to fulfill your end once you've seen that I did not fail to deliver."
"Oh," Rias said, her cheeks flushing ever so slightly. "In that case, I'm willing. However, I need to know the nature of the information you seek before I accept. I can't exactly agree to a term that isn't clearly defined."
"It's nothing major. I just need information on the location of a certain battle from the Great War."
"In that case, I'm willing to accept the terms of a provisional pact. And should you fulfill your end, I'm willing for our pact to last one year's time with the option of renewal."
"Sounds fine to me." Mordred extended a hand and they shook on it. Once they broke the exchanged, he said, "Now, if you get me a notebook and something to write with, I'll provide you with the formula for stabilizing Sacred Gears."
A single look from Rias was all it took to get Akeno to fetch what he asked for.
"And the anti-Phenex spell?" Rias pressed.
"Inform your clients that you will not be able to fulfill requests as frequently for a little while and gather your peerage tomorrow night. My promise was that I'd provide you a method of winning a rating game with your fiance. I'll give you the formula I mentioned, but that alone isn't going to guarantee a win. So starting tomorrow, I'm going to be assisting you in training your peerage."
Akeno arrived moments later with the notebook and nothing more was said as he began to write out the formula for the first spell.
