Names are odd things.

Take, for instance, the name Bob. A three-letter palindrome, it is often short for Robert, though why is a question in and of itself. It's also a verb for moving up and down over and over again, as in "bobbing for apples." No offense to all the Bobs out there, but "Bob" might be the most unthreatening name of all things masculine.

But then there's the name Gog. Another three-letter palindrome, though it isn't the shortened form of any other name. Gog just so happens to be a name brought up once or twice in the Bible, often tag-teaming with Magog to bring up some apocalyptic event. Either one is a person and the other is a land, or both happen to be lands, but no matter what exactly they are, the fact that something bad happens whenever they're mentioned is noteworthy, making Gog a scary name.

Funny, isn't it? Bob versus Gog. Two names that even sound similar, but the context behind them make them as different as light and dark.

The same could be said of Hyoudou Issei and Ddraig. One was the Embodiment of Lust; the other, the Embodiment of Domination. The human had been incredibly weak; the dragon had been strong, but thanks to his possessor's lack of physical training besides an incredibly high pain tolerance, was also incredibly weak at the moment, not that that would last.

Still, it had been that fear-inducing, awe-inspiring, badass-to-the-extreme name (as well as the fact that the dragon hadn't been talking to their breasts the entire time, which was the final proof needed to convince everyone that Hyoudou Issei was dead and gone) that had scared the four she-devils into promising that their siscons for Maous wouldn't learn of his existence until he willed it to be. Well, there might have been a subtle threat included.

… Oh, who was he kidding? A threat dealing with the disintegration of about a dozen reincarnated bodies along with the rest of Kuou was as subtle as a hammer pounding someone's skull. He was a dragon, and a legendary one at that. When a former Maou could be flicked away like a paper football, nuances were a non-issue, even if he really didn't have the power to back it up at the current moment.

Still, at least those four had known who he was. He was a celebrity, if not a bit infamous. There was myths about lands laid to waste by a single breath of his. There was the whole "God shuddered and devils fled" spiel. How could anyone involved in anything with the supernatural not know how awesome he was?

"Um, so Ddraig-san is a dragon as well as a devil?"

… Apparently, if that someone had lived a sheltered life in some isolated church toiling away day and night healing anyone and everyone the Church could bring, then it was certainly possible.

Perhaps this should be better explained. One morning, after Ddraig and the rest of the Occult Research Club (of which he was an honorary member - there was no way a dragon would ever join some high school club if the position of club president was already taken) had politely shown a Stray Devil to death's door - they had offered her a chance at any last words, which in all accounts was rather kind of them - the boy-with-the-mind-of-a-dragon had literally stumbled upon an adorable blonde nun with no sense, both common and of direction. Well, Ddraig prefered to use the term "stumbled" - "knocked over in such a way that the laws of gravity were ignored and her long habit somehow rode all the way up to reveal white panties" were words that left a bad aftertaste. The dragon privately worried if somehow the brat had cursed him to live every pathetic fantasy that the boy ever even thought of. An eternity - or however long devils lived - of the cheap fanservice known as "harem antics" was not something the former Sacred Gear desired.

Anyways, though he had wanted to bid adieu as politely as possible (which would have consisted of a grunt; it was certainly rude, but dragons really didn't care about proper etiquette in the first place), something had made Ddraig take the blonde bundle of gentleness in. He could only assume it was because the girl named Asia Argento reminded him of a lost puppy. A lost, adorable little puppy who, once its stomach was properly filled, would be shoved out the door in a heartbeat, sent along on its way to find another sucker who fell for those horribly cute puppy eyes.

On a completely unrelated note, as a badass dragon who had casually made several battle-hungry idiots go insane out of either bloodlust or fright while merely in the form of a gauntlet, Ddraig would shamelessly albeit hurriedly deny any and all allegations of ever being a softie at heart.

Back to the issue at hand: it was rather unfortunate, but things hadn't gone according to the dragon's plan. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't shake the little nun off his tail. What hadn't occurred to the Welsh Dragon was that lost puppies, when properly fed, automatically felt a bond to the caregiver, even if the smell of a dog's mortal enemy proved the good Samaritan was in reality a cat person. Food was enough to buy any canine's loyalty, especially the young.

Such was the case with the blonde nun Asia Argento. While never really going hungry before, her meal plan as a Holy Maiden consisted of gruel, bread, and soup, with pasta as a treat every once in awhile. That cuisine wasn't very prevalent in Japan, so Ddraig figured taking her to a famous fast food joint would suffice. It turned out to be perfect for the girl, and horrible for the dragon. After enjoying her first ever hamburger (which she openly wondered how anybody could properly afford the delicacy - Ddraig chose not to inform the girl that it was a 100-yen sandwich that one could get nearly anywhere in the world), the girl had elected to follow the dragon around, showering him with gratitude and blessings from heaven, too air-headed to notice the wince he made every time she said "the Lord." Eventually, to ease what was starting to become a throbbing migraine, Ddraig revealed that he was a combination of everything that kept good little innocent nuns awake at night.

The girl brushed it off, too grateful for her own "Savior" to care.

"Sister, you do realize that, being a dragon as well as a devil, I'm practically the epitome of evil in that Bible of yours, right?"

"B~But the Lord said 'Love thy neighbor as thyself'!"

"Didn't that same God," retorted Ddraig, shaking off the pain that came with the sister quoting scripture, "end up making the earth open up to swallow a bunch of unbelievers?" The dragon would know - he'd pushed Apophis into that pit as a practical joke. Plus, the polite prick had been annoying him. One minute he would call Ddraig by his proper title of Emperor, and the next he was trying to secretly team up with ole Azi to take him down. The brat needed a lesson, and a hundred years climbing back to the surface seemed good enough. "And who said anything about me being your neighbor?"

"Ah, but, er… I know God loves Ddraig-san!"

If the girl wasn't as innocent as she looked, the dragon would have sworn she was giving him a migraine on purpose. "... You're seriously messed up, sister." He kept looking ahead, trying to ignore the awkward yet heartwarming smile that spread across the nun's face while also going over in his mind why he was even bothering allowing her to be in his presence. Had he gone soft after a few hundred years locked away in various arms? No, he had basically ignored the devils after his proper introduction, only deigning to grace them with his badassery every once in awhile, if it benefitted him - say, like beating up a helpless stray, for example. That had been good practice!

No, he was fairly certain his awesomeness level was still over nine thousand, even if his pathetic body made it only a fraction of what it had once been. It should have been impossible for the sister to be anywhere near him. Then why did she cling to him like he was a lifeline? And more importantly, why did he let her? … Oh well, it hardly even mattered - the minute she made it to that rundown church, the minute she was out of his life forever.

… Wait a minute… that church…

"Oi, sister, that church you're supposed to be at… isn't that the one under the control of a bunch of Fallen Angels?"

This time the girl's answer was just a look of complete and utter panic. No doubt she was worried that his opinion of her would drop for even consulting with the Grigori, let alone working for them. But considering how loving and charitable the girl seemed to be, she was probably desperate to do whatever she could to help, and the crows had probably convinced her that working for them would aid in her dream.

Hah. "Probably." Yeah right. Ddraig knew the truth - he'd had an unfortunate run-in with a Fallen a few weeks back. Well, unfortunate for the angel, that is. The dragon had learned that the crow - Donny, or something like that - was quite capable as a punching bag. It could almost be claimed as a talent. Well, long story short, the crow was a decent measuring stick on what Ddraig's limits were in the reincarnated human body at that time. It could only handle a few boosts, but that was more than enough to beat up a low-ranked Fallen Angel whose only trick involved light spears going on straight paths. The fight had lasted all of thirty seconds.

After that, it had become a simple game of Give-and-Take - Interrogation style. Donny the Angel had learned that the Red Emperor Dragon was back in a thousandth of his glory, while Ddraig had learned why a bunch of Watchers had decided to ignore a ceasefire and camped in devil territory. As anyone could imagine, the Fallen lost, aided by the fact that he was barely conscious through the whole ordeal. Ddraig really didn't want any big names to know that the Red Dragon of Domination had come back from the dead, especially mad scientists like the Governor-General of the Grigori who had an OCD to study anything related to Sacred Gears. So with no further use, Donny had to go.

Oddly enough, the Stray Devil the ORC had eradicated the night before Ddraig met Asia had eaten some kind of poultry for dinner only a few weeks before. The dragon found that to be quite the coincidence.

Glancing back at the nun, wondering why he was even bothering, the dragon heaved a sigh. "Er, you know those former angels are going to use you, right sister?" According to the late Donny, "using her" entailed killing her and then taking her Sacred Gear off her corpse, but Ddraig decided that sometimes tact was okay. He might have been a badass asshole, but even he knew that casually telling someone they were going to die and not by his hands was a jackass move.

"Y~Yes, but I… I will be of use! Someone needs me, and I'll be happy to help."

… Dammit. She had to say something that was pitiful but also tugged at the few heartstrings the dragon had. Where was all this fluffy feelings coming from? Ddraig was a dragon, dammit, and dragons never were fluffy! Begone, fluffy feelings!

"Er, Ddraig-san, are you okay?"

Shit, had that been out loud? Talk about embarrassing. Ugh, the White One would have a field day if he ever heard about this. A Heavenly Dragon getting flustered around a human girl. The world was most likely going to come to an end soon. "Er… fine. I'm fine." Still, it was surprising how easily this girl was getting to him. It was almost like she had this calming aura… Wait, was that it? Did she have an affinity for dragons? That was certainly intriguing.

"So, that's the only reason why you're working for Fallen Angels? That way of life seems awfully more associated with God than with his former messengers who turned their back on him."

"Ah yes, but, well, um…"

And then everything clicked with the dragon. A girl with the ability to heal anything. Her past life working at some abby, probably as a Holy Maiden. Her hesitance when talking about teaming up with Fallen Angels.

This girl was thrown away as trash by the very Church that had used her. And she was about to experience that all over again with her new employers. Someone with her talents and abilities was simply seen as nothing more as used goods.

And that made Ddraig very, very unhappy.

No, it was not because of something sappy like the girl had burrowed into his heart. It wasn't because her sob story had pricked his conscience. It wasn't because of any idealistic feeling whatsoever.

It was because she was something unique.

Now, Ddraig had lived, either as a giant dragon or as a Sacred Gear, for a long, long time. He'd seen people come and go, and there was one thing that was almost a constant among all those who held power: they were selfish. They saw their own ability, saw how amazing they were, and that made them think they were some hot shit. They took what they wanted, saw what they wanted, and did what they wanted, and all because, with their power, they could. Even the God of the Bible wasn't exempt - He saw how valuable Sacred Gears could be and gave them to mankind, just to see what could happen.

Ddraig was perfectly aware that he was no different - in fact, as a dragon, he could be considered an incarnation of selfishness. Had he not spent hundreds of years taking on the White One just to prove who was the stronger dragon? Yes, he was perfectly selfish, and he didn't give a damn about it.

Yet here was a girl with the ability to heal any and every wound. People flocked to her in hopes of seeing the miracle she was able to grant. She could have had people worshiping her as a goddess if she wished. Blind fanatics would willingly give their lives to preserve their Holy Maiden. Fear was a powerful tool for controlling people, but it was nothing compared to the love that she could have instilled in her followers. But instead, Asia Argento trudged along, only seeking to help anyone and everyone she could. She cared little for herself. She was unique. She was a treasure.

And dragons, the incarnations of selfishness, never threw away treasure.

"Oi, sister," growled the dragon, breaking the silence. Fishing through his coat pockets, he found a small flyer bearing the Gremory crest, and quickly forced it in the nun's hands. "Take it, and if you ever need me, use it."

"But Ddraig-san! This~"

"~ is a magic circle, I know." Indeed, it was just like the one Hyoudou Issei had picked up on his fateful and fatal date. The five words that had breathed new life in the dragon were in the same font: Your dream will come true!

"B~But I can't! I have faith in the Lord! I can't summon a devil!"

"Is working with Fallen Angels any better?" That shut the nun up. The war had been with three factions, after all, and the Grigori were just as vilified as devils were by the Church. "Use it. Or don't. It's your choice. Just know that one badass dragon is only a call away."

That made the blonde nun blush a bit and she looked down, embarrassed. The dragon thought he heard her mumble "thank you," but didn't really care. Neither did he give a damn about her shy glances in his direction. It wasn't that difficult to figure out what was actually happening - a teenaged girl was getting help from a young man (even if he was really a dragon). It was probably the first time that she was on the receiving end of air. And that boy just so happened to promise to protect her. Blushing, shy glances. Ddraig snorted at the obvious signs. It looked like Asia Argento was starting to develop a crush on him. Great.

Whatever. She was just a lost little puppy to him - a treasure that he wanted for his own. Yet despite thinking that Asia Argento would probably get him in some trouble that he didn't want, there was one thought that brought a smile on his face. The dragon was sure somewhere the soul of Hyoudou Issei was currently cursing him for finding the blonde bishoujo of his dreams. Well, Hyoudou Issei could suck it.

The last few weeks had been quite stressful for the Gremory Clan heiress. There was the issue with her pawn, naturally. Rias hadn't known, but Sacred Gears, especially the upper-tier ones like Longini, had their own conscious. Ddraig had slowly and deliberately explained that most of them were born from legendary creatures and gods, or else were the product of natural disasters that could threaten the world. It was quite understandable that so much power was itching to get out of the cramped space of a Sacred Gear - and the Evil Pieces system actually gave them the chance to escape. She honestly should have known better. The entire time the dragon sat there, describing the process, she could only think of Gasper, her mutated Bishop, and why he was locked up securely above the ORC clubroom. Her Onii-sama must have known that reincarnating something with the power of a god within it would be dangerous. If he had told her why she should be more careful, then she might have reconsidered putting all eight of her pawns in the body of Hyoudou Issei.

… Oh, who was she kidding? The moment she realized how much potential the little pervert had, she had decided she'd have him, no matter the cost. Dammit, she sometimes wished she wasn't a devil; perhaps her life wouldn't have been run so much on those deadly sins if she wasn't one. And a lot of the times, those sins cost her. Greed was especially good at paying back with interest.

On top of the whole Hyoudou-Issei-became-Ddraig debacle - which she was still trying to fix, by the way, but the boy who claimed he was a dragon was not being as considerate as she would have liked - there were a bunch of Fallen Angels and stray exorcists who had set up camp at the nearby church. There was good reason why Rias was getting more and more nervous about them - while at first it seemed as if they were just a small outfit of fools not knowing their place, now they were growing to a level where it might be considered a threat on devil territory. It wasn't like she felt they could overrun the town, what with her and Sona, along with their peerages, there to wipe them off if they got a little too raudy. No, what worried her more was the potential of what a small border conflict could escalate to. She was, after all, the sister of the strongest of the Maou. It would be most shameful to her family and her Onii-sama if the Faction War restarted on her land.

It didn't help that the Fallen Angels were actually missing one of their best fighters. A little blonde angel had met with them under a white flag to discuss the disappearance of a certain Dohnaseek, who had been doing a patrol run before suddenly being wiped off the face of the map. Mittelt, whom Rias secretly wouldn't mind having as another member of her peerage (she was, in the redhead's opinion, one of the most adorable little things she'd come across), had believed them when they had admitted they hadn't seen a Fedora-wearing man in a trench coat… though the girl did admit she really didn't care, having gotten bad vibes from the male angel from the get-go.

To be perfectly honest, the buxom heiress had a gut-feeling that Ddraig was involved with that little skirmish. The fact that he never even went to class - that had been one of his demands on that first day; in his words: "What kind of dragon spends his day with a bunch of snot-nosed teenage brats?" - meant that she really couldn't keep an eye on him, so he could have gone and challenged any and all contenders to a one-on-one death match for all she knew. He was widely known as a battle freak, after all.

Fortunately, the previous night they had come across some black feathers while exterminating the stray devil Viser. The grotesque woman with a beast's body had even described eating a Fallen Angel, news that they had promptly reported to the rundown Church. According to Akeno, currently standing just behind her desk like normal, the angels had taken that at face value - evidently Dohnaseek was the type to seek out some fights, so him taking on something that was obviously stronger than him wasn't that much of a surprise. That information was filed for later, should the Fallen actually consider an attack on Kuou. If Dohnaseek, one of the best war assets to the little band gathering within her territory, had succumbed to someone her peerage had put down with ease, then these Fallen weren't as big of a threat as Rias had first assumed.

Still, it was best if they avoided any confrontation.

With that in mind, it was rather surprising to see the boy whom Rias suspected was the cause for the latest fiasco show up at the old school building, plopping himself down on the couch. Within seconds, both Akeno and her clung to his side, while Toujou Koneko, her adorable little Rook, found a nice comfortable seat on Ddraig's lap.

… Yes, the Occult Research Club was shamelessly using their bodies to try to convince the Red Emperor Dragon to stay on as Rias' Pawn. The two Kuou Onee-sama's knew full well that they were the ideal women for every single normal guy within the academy, and Koneko-chan, even though she obviously wasn't very comfortable sitting on the lap of the guy she had loathed just weeks prior, was the perfect loli. Surely a hot-blooded male their age, even if he had the mind of a thousand-year-old dragon, would find this situation too temp~

"Gremory," growled the dragon, "what the hell are you doing?"

And just like that, Operation "Seducing the Welsh Dragon" came to an abrupt end.

"Mou," Rias pouted - being turned down in such a nonchalant manner was quite the blow on her pride as a woman. "Ddraig-san, I only thought…" Yeah, she was at a loss of words. Looking back, it had been a horrible idea. This wasn't the first time she had tried to use her womanly wiles to ensnare her to him, and when that hadn't worked, she'd even tried using Yuuto-kun. Ddraig had responded that if she ever tried to get her swordsman to do anything like that again, then she'd be looking for a new Knight. Well, at least that time she learned that the dragon wasn't asexual - he had never threatened her or any of the other girls that violently after any of their attempts.

"Fufufu, looks like your idea that he'd be interested in our cute little kouhai didn't work, Buchou," giggled Akeno, looking completely amused at seeing another of her King's plans go down the dumpster. Her obvious hint was clearly picked up by the dragon, who rounded on the redhead with a hard glare. He wanted an explanation.

"Well, see~ You haven't shown any interest in me or Akeno, so we simply thought… you might like girls… smaller…"

"... Are you saying you thought I was a pedofile?"

"... Jerk," muttered the white-haired loli from where she sat, trying to enjoy her snacks. The retort was not effective.

"Yeah, well when you take on God, a legion of angels, and armies of devils all at the same time, you get the privilege of being one, kitty-cat."

Rias had to hold back a chuckle as a small hiss escaped her cute little Rook's lips. "I'm sorry. It just seemed like you were most interested about her when I introduced you to the rest of my peerage."

Ddraig simply rolled his eyes. "Typical females - show interest in anything remotely feminine, and they automatically assume you're in love."

"Ara ara, personal experience, Ddraig-sama?"

"Please, I'm a dragon emperor. I could have had women groveling at my feet if I wanted," replied the dragon with as much of a poker face as he could muster.

The great Welsh Dragon wasn't fooling anyone. No, it was rather obvious he had had woman problems in the past, and Rias almost laughed at experiencing for the first time a flustered Red Dragon Emperor. Oh, that was intriguing - perhaps that could unlock a clue as how to gain Ddraig's allegiance without bowing before him and pledging their eternal loyalty. Not that she would consider asking the dragon about that. There was still that threat of wiping Kuou off the face of the Earth in play, and she would rather stay clueless than have everything literally blow up in her face.

"I … apologize for my judgment, Ddraig-s~sama," stuttered the redhaired beauty, having trouble putting a suffix of respect at the end of her own Pawn's name. He'd been quite clear that it would either be "sama" or no suffix at all - but hinted that he outranked her, thanks to being an Emperor. "Please forgive me."

"... Whatever," muttered the dragon. Rias watched as the dragon seemed like he was debating with himself over something. For such an old being, Ddraig really didn't hide his emotions very well. It probably was due to the fact that, in his prime, no one could do anything against him. Finally seeing some resolution behind his eyes, she waited patiently to hear what the dragon with years of experience could advice. "You should make the cat learn her own powers, Gremory. She has the potential to be a nightmare for any reincarnated devil."

"Really?" That did sound useful. Even Koneko-chan, who hated her own powers more than perverts, looked up, a hint of terrified interest flashing on what usually was a completely stoic face. That brought a small smile to the Gremory heiress' face - a cat being curious. How funny!

But her Pawn in nothing but Evil Pieces wasn't finished yet. "Same with the crow here," replied Ddraig with a small nod in Akeno's direction. Unlike Koneko-chan, who looked curious while at the same time mortified, Akeno's eyes gleamed with anger, and without a word the half-Fallen stormed out of the room.

Rias could only sigh. She knew why Ddraig had been so careless - he'd killed hundreds of black-winged angels in his prime - but she still wished he could show a little bit of tact. "I'd appreciate it, Ddraig-sama, if you avoided insulting my peerage in their faces."

"And I'd appreciate it, Gremory, if they didn't hide behind a mask, but we both know that's not going to happen. At least the cat shows no emotions. One look at her and you know she's hiding something, and that you can respect. But acting like you're somebody else? Pathetic."

"They've had hard lives~"

"And I was stuck in a pervert's left hand for seventeen years. And a ton of other hands before that. I've had a sucky life too, if you hadn't noticed, but you don't see me wallowing in the past." The dragon huffed out an annoyed sigh, making Rias wonder what brought this up. "Hell, even that girl was moving forward, even though the rest of the world had turned their backs on her… ah, hell, Gremory. I think I'm going soft. I blame you for it."

"W~What?" This was a sudden change of pace. Where was all this… emotion coming from? She'd known that Ddraig could be rather passionate, especially when it came to his own self (actually, now that she thought about it, only when it came to himself), but this… if she had to say anything, it was kind of cute.

"Oi, kitty-cat, what's that stuff that your type goes nuts over? Catmeg? Catsley?"

"... Catnip," muttered the nekomata with a slight blush on her face. Her King recalled a time when Koneko-chan had stumbled across some of the stuff in a department store. It had been… amusing, to say the least.

"Yeah, that. I met a girl today, and she's literally catnip for dragons." The dragon rolled his eyes in exasperation - obviously he wasn't too pleased with the situation. "So yeah, I'll probably be saving her from that Fallen Angel group sometime, so be ready for back-up."

"WHAT?!" Rias quickly got up, shocked by how callous he was. This was blatantly against the ceasefire that was keeping all the devils alive at the moment. "You can't just go and attack a bunch of Fallen Angels without a just cause! We're currently at peace time."

"Don't worry, they're not working with the Grigori," waved the dragon off.

"How do you know that?!"

"Ah, met one of them. Donny or Danielle or something like that. Ugly guy in a trench coat and a fedora."

"Dohnaseek?"

"Yeah. Honestly I thought the guy was a pervert about to flash me or something. Anyway, he told me everything before I fed him to that stray devil from last night."

"You killed a Fallen Angel and fed him to Viser?" This was seriously giving the redhead a massive headache. Ddraig had basically just admitted to aiding and abetting a stray devil. That was practically as bad as treason. Then again, he had helped in killing the devil… Ugh, why, why was the dragon being so difficult? It was like he just did what he... felt… like. Dammit, she forgot - again - how selfish dragons were. "I know it's pointless to ask, but could you please come to me before you start doing things that could label yourself as a stray devil?"

"... No." Oh, well, Rias had asked. And it wasn't like she could do anything about it - he was the Red Emperor Dragon. "Anyways, I got Donny~"

"Dohnaseek."

"Yeah, him. I got Donny to sing like a bird." A quiet chuckle from the corner reminded them that Koneko was still there. Rias still found it kind of funny how the stoic girl could actually laugh at times while still showing no emotion. "He went on how the crows were working by themselves, without their superiors' knowledge, and how they're going to kill this girl for her Sacred Gear. Honestly, if she didn't have this dragon affinity I could care less, but, well…"

"You do realize that those Fallen Angels came to us to ask about him, don't you?"

"Don't care." The redhead almost facefaulted at that reply. If the dragon hadn't been such an asshole up to now, she was sure her forehead would be wearing a nice mark from slamming against the desk. "I just came to tell you that I'm going to grab the girl sometime. I doubt I'll need your help, but maybe it'd be good to have back-up once in awhile."

"... Why do you want the girl?" That was the part that made the Gremory heiress confused. She wasn't stupid - she knew that Ddraig didn't want her brother to find out about his revival yet. She was fairly certain that he was busy trying to regain his old strength - the only reason why Sona and she hadn't reached out to their Maou siblings was simply because they weren't sure how much power the Red Dragon Emperor had right now. The devil kings did not want to risk their peerages for something that wasn't acting as a threat at the moment.

But should he go through with this rescue plan of his, then questions would start popping up. And while devils were good on finding answers, the Fallen Angels were absolute geniuses. Ddraig's identity would be revealed incredibly quickly. And she was sure the dragon had figured that out already.

"It's because I want her," growled the boy who once was Hyoudou Issei - him growling still unnerved the devil princess. "Listen, Gremory, because I'm saying this just once - dragons do what they want, and they don't give two shits about what others think. You were the one who revived me without realizing just what mess you were getting into, and now you have to deal with it. I've told you already - an Emperor does not bow to a King. You can do all the seduction you and your pretty little servants want to, but in the end, it won't matter. I'm not your Pawn - you are mine."

"But I put you on the board!"

"Funny thing about chess, Gremory - it's not realistic. Most kings don't worry about the other color; no, they're far more concerned about the ambitious 'pawns' in their ranks. Those who do everything to 'promote,' per say, because one day, they may just start thinking of promoting themselves to a king." Then came that grin - the same predatory grin from the first time Rias had met Ddraig. And just like that first time, she felt fear. This was not a being to trifle with. But despite that feeling gripping her heart, the next words the boy spoke surprised her. "Luckily for you, Gremory, I'm not too interested in becoming a 'King.' And also luckily for you, you happen to be an ambitious little pawn. It all depends on what you're willing to do to get promoted."

With those ominous words, the dragon got out of the room, leaving behind a devil heiress going over his words. What was he implying? Had Ddraig perhaps offered an olive branch? A means to accomplish any dream she herself wished fulfilled?

"...Buchou?"

"Koneko, you cannot mention this conversation to anyone." Rias watched as her most quiet servant nodded hesitantly. The nekoshou was perhaps her most trustworthy when it came to keeping secrets. It helped that she was naturally secretive in the first place.

"... Buchou, will we help Ddraig-san?"

"Only if he needs it," murmured the King, knowing full well he probably didn't. "... What did you think about him, Koneko? Do you think he'll betray us?"

The white-haired loli shrugged. "... He'll do what he'll want to."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"... Dragons can be scary devils." That, Rias thought, was the understatement of the century.

Hello. Thanks for the responses! Just a little heads up - I made Rias Gremory a main character in the description, but there will not be any romance between her and Ddraig. Instead, they'll be using each other to further their own goals. This chapter also introduced Asia Argento, but she probably won't be a romance option, either. In fact, I'm not even sure if there's going to be any romance option for Ddraig. Hopefully that doesn't turn off any readers, but if it does, I'm sorry.

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