Chapter 4
Once again Issei found himself being swallowed by the void of darkness while his body felt weightless, "What happened?" He thought, "My body won't respond at all and it feels like…" An image of a certain fallen angel stabbing him flashed in his mind, "Like I'm dying." He started to replay the first time he died with Rayner, until he saw the blackness pierced with the flames of countless damned souls.
-You are not dying yet.- Ddraigs voice pierced through his thoughts, -If you were the power that I absorbed will revive you.- Issei frowned and tried to think of when Ddraig got a power like that, -I just pulled you in here with me to have a talk with you face to face.- Issei closed his eyes and waited for the dragon to reveal where he was, after all it's kinda hard to have a talk face to face if he was the only one present.
A huge pillar of fire appeared as the great Welsh Dragon appeared, the scarlet dragon had a more powerful aura around him than when Issei has seen before, the dragons scales seemed more radiate and new looking, plus the wings seemed to be made of silk, -The power that you absorbed, The Blood Of Sparta, while it grants a huge increase of power it will have major repercussions if you don't learn to control it.- The dragon flew around Issei as he spoke, -Keep in mind that while you are a demon and you have an aptitude to absorb most of the other Demons powers, you are not in the bloodline of Sparta.-
Issei watched his sacred partner and frowned, "I mean I heard you when you said I had a 50/50 shot of absorbing the power and not dying, but first of all what even was that? WHo where those people and why am I back here?" Issei asked his friend thinking of Fortuna and the fight with Nero, "I mean one minute you're telling me that I need to find this Tony Redgrave guy and that I'm not going to be able to see you for awhile, the next thing i Know I fell from the sky met a strange guy named Nero who had his own sacred gear, and this witch that got him under a spell-"
Before he could finish the dragon stopped flying around him and faced him, -That women was not a witch, she was healing him as she healed me. As for where you went, you went to the Isle of Fortuna, the home of Tony Redgrave and Nelo Angelo, the places is teeming with demons stronger than even I.- Ddraig blew smoke from his nose and looked deep into Issei's eyes with his own deep green eyes, -I'm not quite sure how you got there in the first place but my guess is that because of Nelo Angelo attacking you, he must have left some sort of magic in you, that's what must have led you to his son.-
Issei opened his eyes in surprise, "Wait his son? Who is his son?" even as he asked the question he already knew the answer, the image of a blue tailcoat flashed into his mind, "It's Nero isn't?" He looked down at his hand and remembered the energy he felt when Nero swung his sword at him, the cool burning sensation, "Wait you said Sparta as a demon knight right? Then what is Nero, and the other guy named Dante? Are they Demons as well because I didn't see them have wings or any clear indication that they were Demons." He clenched his fist looking up at Ddraig, who in turn remained silent and looked back at him.
-I don't know what type they are, but they are demons. Ones that I bet could even topple the King of hell himself and bring God to his knees.- Issie felt his heart drop, that wasn't possible, -I think that the young one, Nero you called him. He could become the most powerful of them all, earlier you said he had a Sacred Gear, you're wrong that isn't a Sacred Gear but it's something even more powerful.-
"More powerful than a Sacred Gear?" Issei asked, "What can be more powerful than that, I mean if it's not a Sacred Gear than what can it be?" He found himself thinking of how Nero was able to pull something close to him with his arm and him not even being close to it, "I mean I saw him conjure something like a demon with his power and use it's arm as if it was his. If that's not a sacred gear than what can it be?" He closed his eyes, then he got the flashback of how Nero seemed to regard him as an enemy in order to protect that lady that Issei attacked.
-You get it now don't you, the women said something about how it was an injury after he was protecting her, however since he is a Sparta descendant I think that his boy morphed and shaped itself to his will.- Ddraig said echoing Issei's thoughts, -It's like you and Rias Gremory and the fight with the phoenix, you sacrificed something to protect something you cared about, i think he did the same thing only his body gave him the power he wanted.- The dragon blew another steam cloud and the flame started to dim, -Keep in mind while you are in japan here, you will probably be transported back to Fortuna when you sleep. Find Tony Redgrave, while I am feeling better I don't know how long it will last and if us absorbing the power was a good idea.- With that the Welsh Dragon roared and a pillar of fire shot out from below him and the flames disappeared and Issei eyes shot open.
He groaned as he blinked a few times, he nodticed that he was back in his bed, "Woah talk about craziness." He sat up and felt a sharp pain come from his stomach, he gritted his teeth as he looked down, he saw three red dots blossom under his now wrapped torso, "What the heck?' He sat back down for a second closing his eyes, breathing heavy wondering when he got shot, "Wait in Fortuna, I remember Nero shooting at me, but that can't mean that…." He stopped himself thinking that it wasn't really worth trying to stress over, after all he could get Asia to heal him and it would go away.
"Wait where is everyone?" He thought while opening his eyes, suddenly becoming aware that he was alone, he looked his room expecting to see at least Kiba, but no one was there, "Maybe they all had to go to school?' He looked at the window and it seemed to be daylight, plus he could hear the birds chirping, "That must be it." He smiled, he decided that he was going to get up and at least step outside, and after a few colorful swear words and a lot of moaning he stood on his feet.
He leaned on the edge of his bed, he had never been shot before, but the way that these bullets made him feel, it made him feel as if he had been cut with a holy sword. He walked over to his closet slowly and pulled out his normal School outfit, Black slacks white striped shirt and a black overcoat. As he was pulling on his over coat a green glowing stone fell onto the floor, it looked like the same one that lady in fortuna used on him and Nero.
Shrugging Issei picked it up and almost at once the stone shone brighter and crumbled to dust, he freaked out as it shone brightly but then saw that the stone turned to ashes as the light became unbearable to look at.
-WELSH DRAGON POWER RECOGNIZED, DO YOU WISH TO ABSORB?-Ddraigs voice rang out, "That's the second time that he's said that I could absorb something from this stone" Issei thought while looking at his empty hand, "I bet that it could be something badass, but…" His mind flashed to when he absorbed Neros demon power and how he felt then. He shook his head and frowned, "Nah I don't think so, but Ddraig what was that stone?" He lifted his hand and looked as a green circle glowed in response.
-Thats a magical stone that has similar properties to Twilight healing only twice as strong, the only difference is that it can only be used by the kin of Sparta or someone who has power equal to them.- Ddraigs voice said, -Before you get a swell head, you are not a kin of Sparta, so the fact that the stone worked the first time doesn't mean anything.- He must have sensed Issei's growing excitement, because at that moment he crushed it, -However I think that because you have an enormous amount of power, the stone healed you. Plus since you absorbed some of the power of Sparta the stone didn't have a reason not to work.-
"Wait, so you're saying that I have power equal to Nero?" Issei said with a smile on his face, he didn't hear a response from his partner so he walked out of his room with a smile, he kept in high spirits even as he started to walk to school, he wasn't even paying any attention as he walked into school where he strutted into his classroom with a triumphant smile, "Wait!" He thought, "I came here to find Rias and the others, not to go to school." He nodded and made his way to the Occult Research Club building.
As he was walking up the stairs he could start to feel his excitement build at the thought of seeing all of his old club members, "I wonder if they would be believe the story that I told them." He gave a small smile as he walked down the hallway, but before he could even open the door, it opened to reveal Asia charging forward with teary eyes and clinging to him.
"Issei-san!" She knocked the air out of him as she squeezed him as tight as she could, "I was so worried! You kept saying things and we thought that we lost you. My magic wasn't working!" The rest of what she was saying was blocked out as she cried into his shirt, he reached out and patted the top of her head. Issei felt bad for making cute Asia cry and he wanted to tell her that everything was alright now that he was back, but before he could he heard someone clearing her throat.
He looked up to see Rias sitting at her desk giving him a charming smile, while Akeno was standing next to her with a smile on her face as well. Kiba walked over to him and gave him a friendly smile while extending his hand, "Welcome back. You had us all worried, especially Asia." Issei took it and felt bad again noticing how everyone had bags under their eyes, "We practically had to drag her to school or to go outside. She wouldn't leave her side." He closed his eyes and squeezed Issei's hand tight before pulling him into a hug that squished Asia, "I thought that I had lost another friend, I'm sorry that I wasn't able to help you Issei." Issei felt the weight of Kiba's words after remembering that he had lost all of his friends during the Excalibur experiments.
Kiba gripped Issei's shoulder and then walked away, Xenovia was next to walk up to him and smiled, "You don't think I would be able to let you leave before making babies right?" Her voice sounded firm but he could see a single tear escaped her eye before she turned away, Keneko pulled on his arm before telling him that she was glad that, "his pervertness was back." So in her own way that was her telling him that she was glad that he was doing better, Akeno smiled at him and winked before Rias cleared her throat,
"As a pawn of The House of Gremory, you are not allowed to die unless I give you permission, however Issei," She gave him a smile that melted Issei's heart and his very being, "I am glad that you were doing better." Rias got up from her desk and went over to Issei and after peeling Asia off of Issei (with a lot of protest.) she hugged him and Issei felt her amazing cleavage in his face again and heard her heartbeat, he felt himself smiling. Safe, that's how he felt smelling Rias and he started to cry.
"I'm sorry for making you all worry so much." Issei said "I have something to tell you though and I hope that you will understand what I have to tell you." He recounted everything that had happened to him with the help of Ddraig, about Fortuna, the church, Nero and his strange abilities, and after telling them they all looked at him like they were expecting more.
"Hmm Tony Redgrave." Rias muttered looking thoughtfully at Issei's hand, "Issei." He felt himself straighten as she called his name, "This power that you spoke of, you said that it changed your Sacred Gear? How is that possible?" Even as she asked the question he wasn't sure how to tell her that he didn't even know, however Akeno probably sensed that he wouldn't be able to answer because she stepped in and said,
"I don't think that poor Issei knows, I mean I haven't even heard of someone else besides dragon users being able to use Sacred Gear. From the sounds of it this, Nero might be a stray demon, so-" She was cut off by a sudden spike of energy and the sounds of blades cutting through the air, then suddenly the door fell to pieces in front of all of them and three strange looking knights came into the room, along with a strange looking man who wear clothes similar to Credo, except this man looked like he lifted seven tanks for weights, he carried with him a clipboard and had an ominus feel to him .
Two of the knights had silver armour with strange headpieces that had green energy emanating from the eyeholes, they carried a long blue lance that had some sort of floral pattern at the end, one of the knights however was covered in solid gold except in some parts where you could see the skin, when you could see them it looked as if someone carved ruin marks into the skin and they were a fresh blood color.
"Whoever you are, you don't have manners for knocking do you?" Rais said, "What's more you bring holy knights into my room." Issei wasn't looking but he could feel her demonic energy building up, along with everyone else he felt them retreat to in front of Rias desk, he activated his Sacred gear and was going to follow suit but Ddraigs voice rang out,
-Hey! Those aren't just any Holy Knights. They feel like demons, and what's more the man in front of them feels like a fluctuation of human and Demon.- Ddraig said, -What's more, if you were to get hurt from those weapons that they have, they won't just hurt like a holy weapon.- Issei gritted his teeth as everyone tensed, having holy weapons cut you was bad news as a demon.
"What do you mean?" Issei asked his partner, "No demon could stand any type of Holy equipment, much less wearing their armour." When ddraig remained silent Issei shook his head and turned towards Rias, she looked at him and nodded,
"W-w-wait before this goes any further." The man in front held up his hands, "I c-c-came t-t-to ask you a question. I heard that someone here has the p-p-power of Sparta and I was sent to find him." Issei's eyes opened wide as he stared at the man, he wore black gloves glasses and he had brown hair pulled into a ponytail, "I was t-t-told that he awakened a certain s-s-subject that I needed to find." He finished with a smile and bowed, he made Issei's skin crawl and for a second Issei could have sworn that he saw a huge bug with a Halo over its head looking at them before he blinked, he also could have sworn that instead of knights he saw green lights in there places. He blinked again.
His knights remained motionless as he talked, it gave Issei and uneasy feeling, "So what if we have? Like Pres said, you have a lot of nerve coming in here with Holy Knights!" His protective side kicked in as he held his gear in front of his face, "I don't know what you're here to do, but I can guarantee that if you hurt anyone here, I'll make you regret your existence."
The man waited for a second and seemed taken aback from what Issei said before a scaly smile formed slowly on his lips, "You bear the same arm as Nero." He held his hand up and reached forward, and before Issei could back away he was touching his arm, "Tell me why is this one shaped different? Why is talking to you?" Issei pulled his hand away and the knights moved with unbelievable speed themselves.
Issei felt two points on either sides of his throats as he saw that two knights holding lances were holding the lances with a dark energy emitting from the points, the one gold knight had moved in front of the man and had it's shield pointed at Issei, everyone around him jumped as they were about to go into action, Rias held up her hand, "Make your next move wisely lest you want a war on the House of Gremory for attacking one of my subjects."
The man laughed "Child, it b-b-because of your cursed blood I do hate my existence and your blood line." He snapped his finger and Issei felt weightless once again black clouded his vision as he smelled blood,
-WELSH DRAGON, BLOOD OF SPARTA ACTIVATED-
Thanks for reading!, tell me what you guys think and as always have an awesome day