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Chapter 7 - Mysterious Eyes
He didn't know when it started, but at some point through his beating, someone, no, something, started talking to him. The voice was faint, yet bloodthirsty. It didn't seem to be coming from outside him; It was as if it came from inside his mind.
"Do you desire for power?" Was the first question.
Issei wanted to answer, but he couldn't.
"Do you desire for strength? I can give them for you..."
It was at this moment that Kazane threw Issei at the ground and stamped his back. The voice, however, continued as if nothing worthy of note had happened. Still, it seemed to have gotten more excited.
"Do you desire for what should be yours?!
"Do you want revenge?!"
"Do you want to protect your loved ones?!"
"Then..." The voice then grew dark and cruel, sending chills down Issei's spine. "Slaughter everyone! Kill whoever stands in your way! Kill, devour, slaughter! Become a demon, become darkness!"
As soon as the voice resounded in Issei's mind, his eyes widened, as he felt a burning pain coming from them. The pain started faint, as if only a slight candle-fire. Slowly, however, the pain kept increasing. By the end, Issei was about to scream out.
However, as soon as it reached this point, the pain disappeared. His eyes, however, experienced a change. His pupils had disappeared, now replaced by two, shining, magic circles.
At the same time, power started to rush through Issei's veins. His body started regenerating, his pain fading away. Everything started to heal, and not only that, it was as if not only was he healing, he was getting stronger than before.
Lead by this sudden surge of power, Issei's hand grabbed Kazane's retreating leg. The moment he did so, however, he felt something building up on top of him.
He had never felt this feeling before, but the moment he sensed it, he understood – It was magic. For some reason or another, he now could sense the magic.
Unbeknownst to Kazane, he lifted his head up slightly and gazed at the magic circle that adorned his hand. The moment he did so, an endless string of various number and words flashed before his eyes. If it were any other situation, those seemingly randomly placed numbers and letters wouldn't make any sense, but to him, it couldn't be any clearer.
Just from glancing at them, he understood the length of the magic, the amount of magic energy required, the attack power, the area-of-effect, speed and every other characteristic pertaining to it. Not only that, he felt as if he could use the magic.
The wind blade then collided against his back, and he stopped moving. Unknown to others, however, he was now decomposing the information he had acquired. It all felt natural to him... it all made sense!
Slowly, he lifted his body up from the ground and strength started to surge through his body in waves. His eyes glowed brighter, and within his body, something akin to flame sparked. This flame was small, but at the same time, it burned brightly in seven different colors. Issei didn't know how, but he understood that that was the magic of the Seven Deadly Sins.
At the same time, in his head, the cruel and dark voice from before came back.
"This power... it could all be yours," The voice started. "You only need to pass a single test... Kill those two youths who stand in your way!"
Issei nodded weakly, his mind muddled. Currently, he was unable to think straight. Still, he understood that no matter what, he must follow whatever this voice ordered. If he did so, he would be able to acquire what he always wanted, what he always needed – Power.
In the next second, he concentrated on the ever-burning flame within him, and at the same time, thought back to the information he had acquired from observing the wind-blade magic. Slowly, while following the steps, the flame within him released a wisp, that flew to his hands. This wisp then went out of his body, becoming an exact replica of the previous magic circle.
With a single thought on Issei's part, the a wind-blade was sent forward, sailing through the air, before slashing apart Kazane's hand.
"I... told... you..to...release...them." Issei murmured, his voice hoarse. In the next moment, he concentrated on the flame within him again. Wisps once more were released, all of them becoming countless magic circles that surrounded him.
He didn't know what he was doing, how he was doing it, or anything else. It all occurred naturally to him, and all of his actions were from pure, raw instinct.
"Go."
The magic circles around him instantly burst with power, as countless of wind blades appeared. In the next moment, the two youths in front of him were reduced to a pile of minced-up flesh.
As soon as that happened, the voice rang by his ear again.
"You did well... I'll unseal some of your powers for now."
With that, he passed out.
..
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…..
Issei woke up with a start. His first instinct, as always, was too look around. Thankfully, he confirmed that he was now in what seemed to be the school's infirmary. Just as he was about to breathe out a sigh of relief, he noticed two figures laying by his bed.
One of them was Celes. Her eyes were closed, and she was sitting in a chair, her upper body resting against his bed. She most have probably have been waiting for him to wake for a long time.
As for Shiro, she was in the opposite side of the bed, also sitting in a chair and in the same state as Celes. Both of them were asleep, and were obviously tired. Looking at his two sisters, the corner of Issei's lips curled upwards slightly.
"Thanks, girls..." He murmured slowly, not wanting to wake them up. He then looked down at his body, and saw that most of his wounds had already healed. At the same time, however, many of them had left scars.
"For the scars to have already appeared... Then, it must mean that I truly did regenerate quickly on that fight," Issei got up from his bed slowly, and stood up in the ground. He then tried to move his limbs a little. Although a little stiff, he could already move them fairly well.
"Well, this is for the best." Issei nodded as he carefully picked up Celes' body in a princess carry and laid her on the bed, letting her rest on a better position. Afterward, he did the same with Shiro, placing her on another bed. After covering both of them up, he smiled satisfactorily.
After that was done, he sat down on the chair, waiting for his sisters to wake up. While he did so, he thought back to what had happened in the previous day.
"So, it seems like some kind of being granted me some powers."
Deciding to test if his theory was correct, Issei slowly thought back to what he felt the other day. Power... a surge of power...
Issei closed his eyes, and searched for the seven-colored flame within him. Just as he thought, there it was, burning brightly. Not only that, it was even brighter and bigger than the day before.
"This should be the essence of the Devil's magic," Issei concluded after a while. "Still, I'm only human.. how can I possess such a thing?"
Issei then shook his head. "Well, let's forget about such technical things for now. At the moment, I need to focus..."
He then concentrated, and tried to control the flame. Slowly, one of its wisps separated from it and flew into his bloodstream. With a single thought of his part, the wisp reached his hand, there upon becoming a magic circle.
"Wind Blade."
On the next moment, from the magic circle, a small, curved air current came out, going forward for a few meters before dissipating.
"Invidia Archive... Thema Expectatio, Shamanic Spell branch..." Issei slowly recited the information that he had learned the day before from simply observing the magic. At that moment, not only did he learn it's powers, range, magic consumption, he also learned many other important characteristics regarding it.
Issei then concentrated a little more, and the magic circle in his hands changed slightly. Although it was the same design, some lines were thicker, while some were thinner. Not only that, some lights started to shine brighter than others.
"Wind blade."
From the magic circle, what came out wasn't the usual wind blade. This one was much thicker, faster and wider.
Looking at the result, a surprised look appeared on Issei's face. "So, just from modifying the endless string of numbers and words, I'm able to change the base characteristics of the spell..."
Issei had learned a couple of days back that when it came to devil magic, the only way to change a spell was to increase the amount of magic power used. That, however, would only increase the potency. Aside from that, there were no other rooms for improvements.
What Issei did, however, was to literally change the foundations of the spell, changing the basic characteristics. That was no different from creating a new spell, and even a someone on Lucifer's level wouldn't be able to pull that off. Obviously, Issei was already aware of that, and because of this, he couldn't help but to be surprised.
"The only reason why I'm able to do this is because I managed to analyze the spell yesterday when in that strange mode... I wonder if I can activate it again?"
He then looked around for a mirror, but all that he found was his cell-phone that was resting on top of a table not too far away. "Well, that should do the job."
Picking the cellphone up, Issei turned on the camera function. Once it was loaded, he turned the camera to face himself, allowing him to have a good look of his face, specially his eyes.
Closing his eyes once more, Issei concentrated, thinking back to the feeling that he had felt the day before, much in the same way that he had done when contacting with his seven-colored flame. Slowly, he felt a tugging feeling in the back of his head. In the next moment, he felt a sharp pain in his eyes.
When he opened them again, he saw that in the place where his pupils should have been, there were now two miniature magic circles. They were of a blood-red color, and seemed to shine brightly.
Looking at that, the corner of Issei's lips curled upwards. "So.. I truly am able to activate them." He then closed his eyes again, and dispelled the magic off of them. When they opened, they were back to normal. Once more, he concentrated on his eyes, and soon, he felt a sharp pain, although fainter than last time.
After that, Issei kept activating and deactivating his eyes, until it reached the point when he could activate them in the same instant, without feeling any pain. Seeing that his objective was achieved, Issei breathed out a sigh of relief.
He had always been a perfectionist, and since he saw that these eyes were undoubtedly precious, he wanted to hone them to the peak. So, before even beginning investigating their abilities, he made sure that he would be able to use them at will without backlash.
Issei then blinked, and the magic circles disappeared. In the same second, he blinked again, at the magic circles came back.
Seeing that he had finally achieved what he considered to be peak condition, he was about to celebrate, but suddenly, he remembered something. "Fenrir once told me that in a battle, one millisecond can determine life and death... To blink takes too long.."
This time, without closing his eyes, he tried to activate them. He once more felt a bit of pain, and when he saw that it was possible, he trained on it until he once more reached the point of being able to activate it in the same instant, without even a bit of pain.
"Alright, this should be enough for now.." Issei nodded his head. He then checked the time, and saw that it had already been one hour since he had started training his eyes. "Alright, until the girls wake up, I'll try finding out what else this eye can do."
Placing his cellphone is his pocket, Issei moved back to seat in his chair. With a single thought, the magic circles appeared in his eyes. His first thought, obviously, was too look at the girls with it and determine whether or not her had see-through-clothes vision.
Sadly, even after looking at the girls, no changes occurred in his vision. Shrugging his shoulders, Issei sighed. "Well, a man can dream..."
He then tried many other things, but no matter what, the eyes didn't show any reaction. Up until now, the only times that they had reacted was when he saw Kazane using the wind-blade magic. Armed with this new-found piece of knowledge, Issei began to contemplate.
"The only time they actually worked was when I gazed at magic.. after that, I managed to learn that same magic, and not only that, I became able to change the properties of the magic, something that should have been impossible..."
Issei's fist suddenly struck against his palm in realization. "Could it be that I have something akin to the Sharingan from Naruto?"
As a person that spent his days playing games and watching anime, Issei was clearly knowledgeable on popular series, such as Naruto. He had already finished the manga, and because of that, he was quick to make a connection between his peculiar eyes and the legendary Sharingan.
"Yes... From what I could deduce, this eyes give me the ability to copy, just like the Sharingan. The only difference is that the Sharingan doesn't allow me to modify the spell..."
"Also, it seems that it was that dark voice that granted me these eyes..."
Although Issei couldn't think straight at the time, he clearly remembered everything that had happened, including the mysterious blood-thirsty voice. "I wonder what that was..."
Just as Issei was thinking that, the door of the infirmary suddenly opened, and from the other side, Sirzechs and Grayfia rushed inside. Well, Sirzechs did. Grayfia walked calmly behind, although there was some consternation on her face.
"Where is he?!" Sirzechs immediately looked around, but upon seeing Issei sitting on a chair just fine in the middle of the room and the girls sleeping on the bed, his eyes widened.
"But... Huh?" He had a flabbergasted look on his face, as if he couldn't make heads or tail out of the situation. In reality, when he was in the mansion, he received a call, informing him that Issei had received serious and life-threatening injuries. As such, he came rushing in as fast as he could, but it took him quite some time, as magic circles can't be used in the Royal Biblia Academy.
However, imagine his surprise when saw Issei calmly resting on a chair as he seemed to be musing over something, with both of the girls sleeping on a bed.
"Wait... What?!" Sirzechs quickly snapped out of it and hurried over to Issei. "Are you alright?! Where did they hurt you?!"
"Whoa, I'm fine..." Issei took a step back, a look of surprise in his face. Never in his life would he have expected to see the almighty Lucifer acting like an overly concerned parent.
"Fine?! But, the report...!" Lord Lucifer, however, wouldn't believe him, as he once more tried to make sure that Issei was alright. Obviously, Issei being hurt, to him, was one of the worst outcomes possible. Why? Because of what he would have to face later on.
He knew from experience that Fenrir can be a very, very vengeful person. If he let even a scratch come to his beloved adopted son that he treated better than he would treat his own child, the poor Maou couldn't even imagine the consequences. Getting off with three limbs torn off would be the one of the best outcomes. As for the worst... Sirzechs trembled just from thinking about it.
Seeing the look on the poor Maou's face, Issei sighed as he lifted up his shirt, showing them his upper body. Before, it was almost flawless, and completely scar-less, as every time that he was hurt, Athena would personally heal him. Now, however, after receiving the beating, and regenerating on such a fast speed, his upper body was littered with scars.
"See?" said Issei. "Only scars... no wounds."
However, that didn't serve to make to situation any better, as Sirzechs freaked out even more. He hurriedly grasped Issei's shoulders as he shook him, anime tears coming out of his face. "Please tell me that you had this scars before!"
Amidst the constant shaking, Issei's thoughts were in disorder, and he couldn't think of a lie on-spot. As such, he answered with this beautiful sentence, "Erhm.. No?"
"I'm dead!" Sirzechs eyes widened. He then looked back at Grayfia, madness in his eyes. "Why did you let this happen?! You have doomed us all!"
Before he could start barraging her with curses, Issei's body quickly flashed, and in the next second, he appeared right in front of Grayfia.
"Sirzechs, calm down. It isn't her fault." Issei firmly stated, not wanting to bring any troubles to the poor maid. He just couldn't stand the idea of having such a beautiful, dignified woman taking the blame for something that she just couldn't help.
"Not her fault?! She could have just stayed here and sent someone else on the mission! It wasn't even that important!" He was about to push Issei out of the way. In reality, that wasn't really the real Sirzechs at work. One of the downsides of the sinful magic is that when one emotion took precedence over the other, devils tend to do crazy thing. Right now, Sirzechs fear and rage were at their peak.
Looking at the situation, Issei cursed lightly. He knew that he didn't have the qualification to even block his path for a second... he needed to make something to snap him out of it.. to startle him... to make him surprised beyond belief.
"Oh well, I guess I'll have to use that sooner than I thought." Issei slowly raised his right hand, and a magic circle appeared on it. From within, a wind blade shot out, coming dangerously close to Sirzechs head before dissipating.
As soon as that happened, Sirzechs stopped dead on his tracks, a look of disbelief on his face. Behind Issei, Grayfia also showed the most expression that she had ever showed this past century. Her mouth was agape, and her eyes were widened.
"That... that... that..." Sirzechs tried opening his mouth, but all that came was a random string of words. His eyes shined with disbelief. "Did... did.. YOU JUST USE DEVIL MAGIC?!"
"Pretty much." Issei nodded.
"But... how?!" Sirzechs started shaking him even more. "This just isn't possible!"
"Well..." Issei sighed. "It's a long story... let's sit down first."
After Issei got both Sizerchs and Grayfia to calm down, he began explaining what happened, of how he was captured and all of the events that had taken place. He explained everything, with one exception – About the voice.
When it reached that part, he just said that he felt something stirring up within him. In the next minute, the eyes appeared. Obviously, he knew that if he talked about the voice, it would only bring unnecessary troubles. Also, if he had learned one thing after reading mangas was that this kind of voice would only bring him troubles if others were to learn of it.
By the end of his explanation, Sirzechs was looking at him with widened eyes. "So... this eye can copy other spells and gives you the ability to change them?"
"From what I could see, yes." Issei nodded.
"Can you activate them?"
"Sure." In the next moment, Issei's pupils were replaced by two red magic circles. As soon as Sirzechs and Grayfia saw that, they felt a chill run down their spines.
"So you were speaking the truth..." Sirzechs said slowly. Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, as he raised his arm, and a magic circle appeared.
"Remember the magic I showed you on the train?" Sirzechs asked as he started pouring power into the spell.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Try copying it." In the next moment, from the magic circle, a small black ball appeared. As soon as Issei saw it, in front of his eyes, just like before, countless string of numbers appeared before his eyes. One second later, the same magic circle appeared on top of Issei's hand and from it, a small black ball, the same size as Sirzechs' appeared.
"Ira Archive, Annihilatio Thema, Destruction branch..." Issei murmured subconsciously as he analyzed the spell. He then waved his hands, and the magic circle disappeared. Waving his hands once more, the same magic circle appeared, but this one had some slight differences, such as the size, the thickness of the lines and some other minor tweaks.
When the magic circle shined again, what appeared was a different type of energy. This one was now a small spike, and around it, the power of destruction was even greater.
"Yeah... just from changing some of the important base information..." Issei murmured as he summoned another one. This time, however, Issei's face paled slightly, as if he had just spent a large amount of energy. At the same time, from the magic circle, a ten-foot lance, made entirely out of destructive power, appeared.
"Yeah, I guess that's a bit too much..." Issei breathed in slowly, trying to regain his breathing. Within him, the almighty 7-colored flame had been reduced to mere wisp. This spear... was truly terrifying...
He then raised his head, only to seem Sirzechs and Grayfia looking at his spear as if they had seen a ghost. "Hmm.. are you guys alright?"
Before he could do anything, Sirzechs jumped a few step back, and an ice barrier appeared around Grayfia. From the distance, Sirzechs screamed out. "Dispel that spear... slowly. Don't let it fall down..."
"Oh?" Issei waved his hands, and the spear scattered into tiny magic particles. He then looked at Sirzechs and Grayfia. "It's safe now."
Immediately after, Sirzechs rushed forward, and the ice barrier around Grayfia disappeared. After arriving in front of Issei, Sizerchs glared at his eyes, a look of disbelief on his face. Without saying anything, he looked at Grayfia, who was by his side.
That spear… was one of the most terrifying things he had ever seen. The advantage about destruction magic, the one he used, was that it could completely ignore barriers and spells, and just pierce through everything. Because of that, it was one of the most difficult ones to learn, and Sirzechs himself had taken dozens of years. Even then, all he could summon was only a large amount of small balls. If the destruction magic was condensed into a single spear, just like that, although it wouldn't be nearly enough to hurt him, it could damage the school's magic barrier, and cause an explosion. That explosion was what he was truly afraid of.
"Any ideas?" He asked, not regarding the spear, but about Issei's eyes.
"Negative." Grayfia shook her head. "Azazel-dono should probably know, however."
"Azazel?" Sirzechs asked. "Well, most likely..." As he said that, he fished a cellphone out of his pocket, took a picture of Issei and then placed it back.
After he finished, he glanced back at Issei, an unsure look on his face. At the same time, deep within his eyes, was a little bit of fear. "Issei... I'm sorry, but I truly don't know about your eyes..."
"No problems," Issei shrugged his shoulders. "Though, do I have to keep it a secret? Since I now have magic, I was kinda looking forward to partake in classes..."
"Not keep it a secret, huh?" Sirzechs thought over for a bit before nodding. He then waved his hands, and around Issei, a red aura appeared, before retracting into his skin. "This is my devil aura... I have imbued some of it within you. With this, devils lower than Maou-class will think you're a devil."
Seeing his actions, Issei immediately understood it. "So you are saying that in order for me to take part in classes, I must pretend that you resurrected me as a devil?"
"Not bad," Sirzechs nodded. "Yes, for now, I'll have Biblia announce that you were killed yesterday, and I had you resurrected as a Devil, using a pawn piece. As such, you must keep it a secret that you are in fact a human. As for those who can know... they are limited to yours sister and Biblia. Is that clear?"
"Alright," Issei nodded, as he couldn't think of a better development. "So, since you resurrected me... I'll be part of your peerage in name? Do you happen to have a pawn piece remaining to prove it?"
Sirzechs nodded. "It just so happened that I indeed have one less servant than normal, as Enku only takes up four Mutated pawns and Beowulf three... So, if anyone asks, you took up my last pawn piece."
"So, I can brag about being part of the peerage of the Almighty Lucifer, huh?" Issei smirked. His school days had just gotten much, much more interesting.
At this moment, behind Issei, the bodies of Celes and Shiro trembled a little as they slowly woke up at the same time. Looking up, the first thing they saw was Issei's back.
"Nii!" "Ise!"
"Oh?" Issei turned around, only to be thrown onto the floor, as two girls clashed onto him. Both of them hugged his neck, as tears streamed down their eyes. Seeing that, Issei smiled sadly.
"Don't worry, your big brother is alright." He then stopped for a moment and added with a devilish smirk that could put even the original Lucifer to shame. "Oh yeah, I now am part of Lucifer's peerage.…"
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"WHAT?!"
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