The First Flame

Well, here it is. Chapter 8, which is lucky in Chinese culture, if I'm not mistaken.

Chapter 8: Heat Haze

If Issei had to describe MacGregor Mathers in one word, it would be creepy.

Everything about the man, from his perpetually narrowed eyes, to his strange attire to his discolored hair just screamed of someone you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. Every second he spent near him made him want to rub his skin with steel wire and a cheese grater. It was just this inexplicable sense of discomfort he seemed to exude that made Issei mark him as someone he would never just invite into his home for no reason.

And yet, here he was, chatting so casually as if they had known each other for years.

One would question why such a creepy character would become so friendly with compete strangers, but not Issei. Oh, he knew exactly how Mathers managed to weasel his way into the Hyoudou household.

This was the work of a Devil's [Aura].

As far as he understood from Seraphina's explanation, it was like a Devil's natural charisma. The mere presence of a Devil awaken's a human's baser instincts as well as lower their inhibitions. This makes them more susceptible to manipulation, and more importantly, to sin. For most Devils, their [Aura] is a passive effect, but with enough practice, it can be controlled towards specific goals.

[Aura] was the reason Issei almost lost it when he met Rias and her companions in the Occult Research Club room. It was likely that they had loosened the restraints on their [Auras] in the hopes of influencing him. It was also why a creep like Mathers managed to get a normally cautious couple to invite him into their home like it was an ordinary occurrence.

He looked to the white-haired girl beside him, hoping for some support in this mess, but she was already engrossed in his mother's world-famous curry, so no help there. Also, it was a pretty safe bet that she was familiar with Mathers, or at the very least, had met him before, so it was no surprise she isn't wary of him.

To be honest, dinner wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, since Mathers pretty much ignored him in favor of depleting his father's beer stash and exchanging stories. It was afterwards that things began to go sideways.

"So, Mathers-san, what are you doing all the way up here?"

"Well, you see, it's kind of embarrassing. My niece goes to the high school here, and I was planning on visiting her. But it turns out, I knew diddly-squat about Kuoh, and ended up wandering the town for hours!"

"Ahh, your niece goes to Kuoh Academy, huh? Issei goes there too! What's her name, maybe our son knows her."

"Her name is Rias Gremory. Koneko-chan is in Rias-chan's club right? Issei-san, you should know her then."

"...Yeah, I know her. I met her a few days ago. Actually she did say something about her uncle coming to visit, but she wasn't expecting you to come so soon." Why the hell are you here?

"Well, something important in town came up, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. And this way, I have the added benefit of surprising Rias-chan!" I wanted to talk to you personally, without any interference.

"Why didn't you prepare something beforehand? There are lots of places around here that cater to tourists?" You could have scheduled a meeting. Why did you feel the need to barge into my fucking house?

"In hindsight, I probably should have, but then I met these nice people, and I really just didn't have the heart to decline such a generous invitation." I met these people by chance, but I wasn't going to pass up such an advantageous position, was I?

Issei didn't say anything further, merely gritting his teeth and repressing the urge to smash his teacup in the other man's face. Not like he would succeed if he tried anyway.

"Well, it's getting pretty late, Hyoudou-san! I should be heading to my hotel."

His father glanced at the clock. "Oh damn... it's this late already? Give me a minute, I'll call you a taxi, Mathe-"

"Oh no, that's quite alright. My hotel isn't far from here, and I think a nice walk in the night air will sober me up a bit."

"Bu-"

"It's alright, Dad. I'm going to walk him to his hotel. I have to walk Koneko-chan home, anyway." As if to emphasize his point, Shirone let out a small, but adorable yawn. Issei couldn't usher them out any faster, doing his best to get the two Devils out of his home while still maintaining a facade of courtesy.

Well, he could agree with Mathers on one thing. The night air did make for a pretty nice atmosphere for a walk with Shirone. Pity Mathers had to break it.

"Why the wards?"

"Consider it an act of goodwill towards a promising magician. I saw the remains of the seven-tiered ward scheme you set up, and it was rather impressive. Powerful with the added benefit of being undetectable until it encounters a threat. Most innovative. I thought I would show you some advanced techniques. But, please, feel free to examine them. I won't be offended."

Oh, he'll examine them alright. He'll scour every freaking nanometer of those wards, because there was no way there was nothing added on them.

And he wasn't buying the goodwill act of instruction for a second. It took him nearly a week to set up those protections, and this guy made barriers a hundred times stronger in less than a day. In a way, he was instructing him, in that he was demonstrating how superior he was compared to Issei.

Smug bastard.

Of course, he didn't say that out loud."Thanks for your generosity." A few seconds of silence. "So did I meet your expectations?"

"I see Rias and Sona warned you." Mathers smirked in that infuriating way. The kind the villains in movies do when they think they have every advantage. The only difference was that this guy does. "But to answer your question, yes and no."

Issei's eye twitched. He hated it when people answered like that. "Well, feel free to elaborate."

"When my boss told me to appraise a magician of unknown origin and affiliation, I was excited at the thought of meeting someone new. I was told to reserve all judgements and assumptions, but I couldn't help it. I expected someone talented in magic, but then I heard that your organization has been dormant for some time, so I knew that the magic I would see would be of an older style. Which it was, I haven't seen runes like that in actual use for centuries."

"What can I say, my teacher was kind of old-fashioned."

"Do you think there is any chance I can meet them?"

"I'm afraid she passed on quite some time ago."

"Oh... I'm so sorry." To his credit, he did look genuinely sorry, but Issei was pretty sure it was because of the lost opportunity to speak to a master magician, rather than the death of said magician, that saddened him. That suspicion was confirmed when all trace of sorrow instantly vanished. "Well, no matter. I suppose I can still learn a lot from you."

And he didn't appreciate being treated like a new specimen to play with.

...Ugh, that sounded so wrong.

"Koneko-chan, how are your studies going?"

"Good."

"Ever the strong and silent type, huh? I guess I can ask the girls tomorrow. So, where are we going?"

Issei stalled. "You... don't know where we're going?"

"Nope!" he chirped, popping the p.

"I thought you were going to a hotel."

"Oh, but the night is young! We can sleep when we're dead, there is so much to do! Devils are nocturnal by nature, after all. That... and I may have placed a small compulsion on your parents giving you permission to stay out all night."

"You..." Disregarding the blatant use of mental magic, Issei didn't really want to spend anymore time with this guy. He turned to Shirone, hoping to use her exhaustion as an excuse, but it turns out Devils were nocturnal, as Shirone's earlier signs of drowsiness have been replaced by alertness. He could only grit his teeth in frustration. He did promise Rias and Sona he would try to make a good impression. "So what would you like to do?"

"Mmm, this is quite tasty!"

The three of them had ended up in a small, hole-in-the-wall ramen stand which Issei knew was open until late. Mathers had expressed a curiosity for Japanese cuisine, but Issei felt that he really wasn't helping the stereotype. It's not like he could afford anything better, and that was even considering the rising stack of plates in front of Shirone.

Seriously, she just ate, where the hell is she putting it all?!

"Yeah, sorry this is all I could get us."

"No, don't be! I spend everyday in stiff, formal, dining halls with food so rich, it's probably worth more than this establishment. I'm growing to like the quaintness of this place. And gaining such high-quality food for such low prices is quite bargain, indeed!"

Issei had no experience with the high-class, but his enthusiasm seems real enough. The lifestyles of the rich and wealthy, he supposed.

"So, Issei-san, how long have you been practicing magic?"

He choked on his noodles in surprise, and quickly raised his head to look at the ramen chef who was preparing another bowl not three feet in front of them. But he didn't even look up from his work.

"So not that long, huh?" Mathers smirked.

"When did you-"

"The moment we walked in. When you didn't say anything, I thought you just didn't think much of it, but you didn't even notice it, huh?"

Sera?

I felt nothing. Seraphina's voice was clearly frustrated and horrified at the though of not being able to detect his magic.

"You really are an amateur, aren't you? And here you have Rias-chan and Sona-chan thinking you're an actual wizened mage. But I bet you've barely touched a grimoire, have you?"

Issei briefly contemplated lying, but he realized that Mathers would instantly see through any deception he presented. "First off, I never said that I was some supreme sorcerer. I've never really been interested in learning more magic."

"Then you're really not that much of a Magician, are you?" Mathers chortled.

Perhaps that was an insult, but Issei couldn't help but chuckle. "Up until I botched my date with a Fallen Angel, I was just another high-schooler. But when life gives you lemons, I guess."

Mathers actually looked offended. "Hey, we can't possibly be that bad!"

Issei fixed him with a flat stare.

"Okay, I never said it would be 100% safe, but come on, where is your sense of adventure? Your natural curiosity?"

"Adventure has had its fill for a lifetime. If it's my sense of curiosity you're looking for, it's being used to wonder what the hell I'm doing here with you."

"Oh, that was harsh." Mathers winced exaggeratedly, his hand to his chest. "Well, to be honest, I wanted to confirm or correct some expectations. One of those expectations was that I'd have to scare the crap out of you because I thought you'd be some smug, prickish, know-it-all-"

"Like you?" Issei couldn't help but interject.

"But," he continued as if he hadn't heard him. "I can tell you're not that stupid. Fortunately, there is something else I'm curious about, so i still have an excuse to terrify you! You finished, Koneko-chan? Good, let's go!"

He slapped a hand on their shoulders, and they disappeared, leaving nothing but a stack of empty bowls, a handful of bills, and one very confused ramen chef.


"Here we are!"

Issei blinked, before hunching over with one hand over his mouth to stop the rush of vomit. Sera, what the fuck just happened?!

Teleportation. This is amazing, he didn't even use a circle. Oh, are you alright, by the way? Teleportation can be quite jarring for first-timers.

You don't say. He managed to stand up, only to immediately notice something extremely wrong. Even Shirone seemed confused as to their whereabouts. It was then that he noticed something above him that really shouldn't be there. He looked around, and saw nothing. Miles ad miles of nothing, stretching all the way to the horizon. "Okay, I'll bite. Where the fuck are we?"

"The Sahara Desert, of course." Mathers said it as if it was obvious.

The sun blazed above them, baking the barren rock and sand. The air seemed to suck out every bit of moisture from Issei's body. The land around them was nothing but sand and rocks, sand and rocks, sand and rocks in every direction. The place held nothing but desolation.

"Let me rephrase that: Why are we in the fucking desert?!"

"Temper, temper." Mathers tutted. "Well, you see, I needed some place that was secluded. We can't very well do this in the middle of the city, can we? The humans have never even set foot in this area of the Sahara Desert yet. So we are quite literally in the middle of the middle of nowhere! It's perfect, don't you think?!"

"Perfect? For God's sake, why?" Issei nearly lost his temper, even slipping and using God's name near Shirone, and he could only apologize mentally when he saw her wince.

"I wanted a demonstration." Mathers shrugged, seemingly unaffected by Issei's faux-pas. "And you look like you need a stress reliever."

As soon as Mathers said that, an internal struggle erupted within Issei's mind. On one side were Sera and Nick, on the other, Ulrich, with each side compounded by a host of unfamiliar voices. Issei heard them all, but whether or not he listened to them was another story. He ignored them all, forsaking their advice and opinions to ask himself a question he hadn't asked in what felt like ages. Forget what he should do. Right here, right now, what did he want to do?

A great pillar of white flame, bright enough to outshine the midday sun, roared towards Mathers, continuing until it collided with a sand dune. The inferno raged for a full minute, and once they dispersed, all that was left was a trail of red-hot glass glinting in the sunlight.

"Well, that wasn't very nice." Mathers' admonishing voice made Issei and Shirone whirl around. Mathers was perched on top of a rock outcropping, at least ten meters high, without a scratch on him. "Jumping the gun a bit, are we? I didn't even say start yet."

Teleportation again?

Definitely not. I was paying very close attention this time. Seraphina was serious now, her earlier misgivings about engaging Mathers in combat forgotten. Magic wasn't used whatsoever. That was pure speed.

He leaned down to whisper to Shirone, whose mask of indifference seemed a bit strained. "I though you said Bishops were magic casters?"

"He is. He's just faster than you."

Issei couldn't help but gulp. In general, magic users almost exclusively used magic. An obvious point, but it also meant that they often neglected their physical attributes. The fact that Mathers seemed so fast meant one of two things. Either he trained his physical capabilities alongside his magic, or he was just so damn powerful that his weakest aspect was still leagues above them. No matter which one it was, their prospects just got bleaker.

"What are our chances?"

"Zero."

Can't get much bleaker than that, can you?

"Are ya kids ready?" Mathers hollered down to them. Upon receiving no reply, he gave them another unsettling grin that stretched from ear to ear. "Don't worry. I'll give you guys a handicap! Well, then…

"Here I come."

Space distorted. The air in front of Mathers twisted, and suddenly, Issei was grabbed by his shirt collar and flung to the side. His shoulder ground painfully against the coarse sand, but he managed to roll to his feet. He looked back and saw that the place where he had been standing now sported a small, but very deep gouge in the sand. Shirone stood next to the newly-made crater, covered in dirt, but otherwise, she seemed completely unharmed.

"Ah, you saw right through that, Koneko-chan. Fine then. I'll go back to the classics."

There was a brief flash of light, and in the next second, thirty tons of rock were raised into the air, and were sent hurtling towards them. With no way to evade the onslaught, Issei was forced to blow them apart with concentrated streams of fire. A few stray shards of rock managed to cut him, but it was hardly noticeable. Shirone didn't bother to dodge either, instead opting to use her bare fists to smash the rocks into pieces. Her status as a Rook meant that she barely even felt them when they impacted her skin.

Issei decided to go on the offensive and sent a wave of flame towards Mathers, expecting him to teleport again. But instead, Mathers raised his hand towards the flames, as if trying to block them, but there was no apparent result. Mathers' eyes widened slightly, but he still didn't teleport. Instead, his body rose straight upwards in order to evade the flames. But Issei didn't let him escape. The flames continued to chase Mathers, who was still flying through the air.

Why doesn't he just use his wings? The way Mathers was moving right now was choppy and imprecise. He had seen how excellent Devils were at flying with their wings, so why was he limiting himself? Was this his handicap?

A shadow passed over him, and he looked up, just in time to see a large boulder fly over him, straight towards Mathers. Issei watched as the rock flew closer and closer to Mathers, but at the last second, seemed to 'bounce' to the sides. Shirone continued to throw more and more chunks of debris, only to receive the same result.

"Koneko, get us up there!"

Shirone nodded and flared her wings, swooping down and effortlessly picking him up and giving chase to the floating Bishop. Mathers looked at them quizzically before grinning and flipping over so he was flying backwards, his hand held palm up towards him.

"Hang on." Shirone warned him, before diving and swerving in dizzying patterns. He could barely see what Shirone was despertely trying to avoid, but he could feel it. He could feel the air shift around them as Shirone dodged the invisible projectiles by centimeters.

The constant motion prevented Issei from aiming properly, and he couldn't just release fire uncontrollably because Shirone could fly into it if he wasn't careful. But they had to do something, because Shirone couldn't dodge forever.

Fortunately, (or perhaps not) Shirone had a plan.

"Hang on." Shirone hefted Issei up until he was on her shoulder.

"Wait, wai- you're not gonn-AAH!"

And then he was flying like a bullet headfirst towards Mathers. An idle thought praised Shirone for her throwing ability, since he was flying straight as an arrow. His knee-jerk reaction was to burst into flames, but he managed to control it, and amplify it, so a curtain of flame was now crashing down onto the gliding Magician.

There were less than twenty meters between Issei and Mathers. At the speed Shirone threw him, he would close that distance in three seconds. There should be no chance for Mathers to defend hiself.

Despite the oncoming onslaught, the Bishop's grin never abated. If anything, it grew more vicious. Instead he raised both arms and crossed them in front of his chest. At that moment for the first time, Issei saw Mathers use a magic circle.

Tha-That's impossible!

Issei didn't have time to ask, because he had bigger problems. In every sense of the word.

Two seconds.

A deafening groan reverberated throught the Sahara. The land itself was growling, as if rejecting their presence. The dunes shook, the sand either spilling down or being kicked up into the skies, trying to reach the tiny figures soaring dozens of feet above them.

One second.

And the desert screamed.

A thousand tons of golden sand reached for the heavens. Gigantic tendrils sprang up with astounding speed, covering the distance between earth and sky in a split second. Where there was nothing between them was now a gaping maw ready to swallow him whole.

And he could do nothing to stop it.


Shirone saw Issei be swallowed by the sand. She didn't panic, or worry for his safety, because she knew, that despite what logic or common sense might say, that something as mundane as crushing or suffocation would not be enough to kill him, to overcome his godlike healing. There was no reason to worry. So she didn't.

Instead, she was enraged.

Her lithe, leg muscles exploded into action, the force resulting in a ten meter wide crater behind her, and would allow her to cross the distance between her and Mathers instantly. It wasn't at all like Kiba's technique of self-acceleration. Instead her method was more crude, simply kicking the ground as hard as possible to propel herself in any direction. She soared towards Mathers, her fist cocked back, the energy within it ready to be unleashed along with her fury.

The Bishop continued to flash that grating smile, extending one arm out in front of him, as if beckoning her forwards. The action did not improve her mood, but she caught herself. One of her strong points, besides the obvious, was her ability to remain calm and level-headed despite her raging emotions. She could visualize the next milliseconds. She had to put all of her power into this punch, because this enemy would not allow for second chances.

Her fist shot forward, with the intention of slipping past his defenses before he could get a chance to activate a barrier or teleport away.

She never got that far.

The Bishop named MacGregor mathers was an Ultimate-Class Devil. More than that, he was an Ultimate-Class Devil under the direct command of the most powerful Devil in existence. His strength, in all aspects and disciplines, was in a league light years away from Shirone.

And yet, that knowledge could not have prepared her for this result.

Mathes did not use his magical prowess to stop Shirone, nor did he block the blow with his superior body or even catch her incoming blow in the palm of his hand.

Shirone's meteoric punch, was brought to a halt by the tip of his index finger.

"Uwah, that was friggin' scary! You were really gunning for me, weren't you, Koneko-chan?" He was completely relaxed, but at the same time, she felt like she just punched diamond.

Shockwaves continued to propagate through their surroundings, blowing up large amounts of dust, but she didn't even notice. She could do nothing but stare at this impossibility that had unfolded right before her eyes.

"Well, that was quite something, but I've seen enough. I'll finish this real quick, Koneko-chan, so sleep tight until then!"

She didn't see what he did, she didn't know what he did, but before her rattled brain could even perceive it, his finger was on her forehead. And there was nothing but darkness.


Mathers gently caught the dozing white-haired girl, settling her onto the sand and transporting her to another location (along with an array of defensive magics, of course). He had a feeling it would be rather treacherous to have her here so defenseless right now. He was already risking a scolding from his niece by doing this.

He raised his hand to the sun, inspecting his index finger. There, right on the tip, barely noticeable, was a small blemish, so tiny that one wouldn't even see it unless they were looking for it, and even then they would be hard-pressed to do so. It wasn't even big enough to be called a freckle, but Mathers couldn't stop staring at it in clear curiosity.

"That's very interesting."

His thoughts were cut off by a high pitched whistle and a series of cracking sounds, reminiscent of festering thuderbolts. He looked up to his creation, a swirling, spherical vortex of sand raised to the sky like a second moon.

Which was currently being ripped apart.

Two collossal forces were at war within this sphere. From the outside, the desert sand was constricting and contracting tighter with each second. At the same time, the heat from Issei's white flame were radiating outwards. It seemed that the two powers were trapped at a stalemate, but not for long.

A bright spot appeared on the surface of the sphere. The color shifted from red to orange to pure white, at which point, fire burst forth. Molten glass spewed from the opening like a volcano belching out magma. The number of eruptions grew by the second, until the entire proto-planet looked like a glowing sphere of red glass. It continued to brighten, until it could do nothing but violently explode, blowing itself apart.

Mathers' eyes tracked a small spot trailing ribbons of fire, falling to the ground. The figure crashed onto the ground, along with massive globs of sand and glass. He waited until the explosion had settled, and watched the figure struggle to get up. He surveyed the surroundings, and noted that he would really need to clean up this mess. After a few more moments, he sprinted over to Issei and began to jovially congratulate him.

"147 seconds! Not bad, not bad at all! The last time I used that trick, it took the guy five minutes to escape, and he was missing a limb!"

"Good... for... me!" Issei growled from his postion laid flat on the ground. He sluggishly raised a fist but Mathers put his hands up.

"Wait, wait, wait! I surrender! I have seen the error of my sinful ways! All I ask for is a second chance at life so I may redee-"

"Stop it! Why the hell are you talking like that?!"

Mathers was genuinely confused. "Isn't this how the repentant villain talks after he has been vanquished by the noble hero?"

"Maybe in cheesy shounen anime! So quit it!"

"Hmm... It seemed so much cooler when the people on the shows Rias-chan watches says it... Wait, I wasn't supposed to mention that."

At this point, Issei couldn't really care less about Rias' apparent dispostion towards anime. "So that's it? Is the examination over? And where's Koneko?"

"In order, yes that is it, yes it is over, and don't worry, she is safe. In fact, she should be waking up any second now. Now, shall we see your results?"

A blink later, and they left the area, to another part of the desert. They materialized in front of Shirone, who was glaring at them with her arms crossed.

"Sorry, Koneko-chan. I promise I'll treat you to your favorite treats when we get out of here, okay?" Mathers pleaded in an attempt to placate the annoyed girl.

"Why?" Most people would find the monosyllabic query completely nonsensical. But both men had known her long enough to infer from context.

Mathers put a finger to his chin, as if considering how to answer. "You know, I really don't like the desert. It's hot, it's dry, and sand gets absolutely everywhere. It's disgusting! I could have brought us to some peaceful grassland if I just wanted seclusion. I know this plain on the Eurasian continent that is just beautiful this time of year. But there was something that was bugging me. Not just you, Issei-san, but you as well, Koneko-chan. My initial theory was that it was a side effect of your contract, but now I see it's something more.

"Empty space seeks to be filled, and conversely, something with a high concentration will seek to disperse itself to the surroundings. Magicians naturally exude a small amount of magic because of the large amounts of energy within them wants to be released. In a place like this," Mathers gestured to the desolation surrounding them. "where there is no life, no magic, this internal urge for the equalization of energies is at its greatest. Magicians will subconsciously raise the output of their magic, and-

"[Senjutsu] users will bring out their own internal chakra."

"No." Shirone spat out with more emotion than he had ever heard from her. "Never. I swore to never-"

"Never lose control like she did?"

"Shut up." It wasn't a request, a demand, or even an order. It was a threat, and despite the obvious hierarchy in strength, Issei could tell that Mathers had crossed a line. He didn't know what, or who they were talking about, bu he needed to keep this conversation going lest he risk Shirone becoming even angrier.

[Senjutsu]? What the hell is that?

I'm afraid I know virtually nothing. I studied magic exclusively, not sage arts. All I know is that it utilizes some form of energy that is separate from magic.

"Mathers-san." he started, breaking the exchange of glares between the two Devils. "What exactly is [Senjutsu]?"

Mathers looked him dead in the eye, without a trace of humor on his face. "[Senjutsu] is an art that uses chakra, the power that exists within all living things. It is completely separate to all branches of magic, and its use is available only to humans and several families of Youkai. A user of [Senjutsu] can wield their chakra in order to utilize ki, which is essentially life force, to use a variety of techniques beyond the power and complexity of ordinary magic.

"But it comes with a heavy toll. When a [Senjutsu] user takes in external natural ki, they must absorb some of the malice and hatred that is always present in the world. Without enough willpower and control, one can quickly succumb to madness, overwhelmed by such destructive, negative emotions. That is why very little is known about it, and why there are so few users."

Mathers switched his attention back to Shirone. "So, normally, you'd be right, Koneko-chan. You know the risks better than I do, so I know you have a tight lid on your own chakra. If nothing else, your self-control is top-notch. And yet, for some reason, while we were fighting, you were using ki without realizing it."

"But you said this place was dead. Where-" Shirone stopped herself, eyes wide, seemingly lost in her thoughts, before her head snapped to Issei, witha look that he really didn't like, a glare that felt like she wss examining every fiber of his being. "Impossible." she breathed out.

"You hit the nail on the head, Koneko-chan! There was indeed a source of energy, right here! That brings me to the second reason I brought you two here. Not only does it bring out more of your power. Any power, no matter how miniscule, becomes easier to detect.

"You really confused me when I first heard of you. I was racking my brain and researching non-stop, looking for your kind of magic. It was something I had never seen before. My curiosity only increased when I observed this strange bond between you and Shirone-chan. But then a possibility came to me!

"Maybe it was because of your contract, I haven't figured that out yet, but somehow, Koneko-chan was drawing power from the energy you were naturally emitting. But that power didn't feel like mana, and furthermore Koneko-chan doesn't use magical energy to fight in the first place. But then it hit me! What doesn't feel like magic, can be generated by a human, and is readily usable for someone like Koneko-chan?"

"None of this is possible. I would've known the moment I met him if he was capable." Shirone protested. Throughout Mathers' deductions and explanations, she had grown increasingly agitated, to the point where anger was obvious on her usually expressionless face. Issei could not even speculate what could force her to exhibit such emotion, but he just knew, that it would not be good news.

"Yes, initially, I did completely dismiss it as the ramblings of an overworked mind. I made sure that you were human, and it is simply unheard of for a human to have such abilities, or a capacity like what is needed to use and sustain flames like yours. But what is it that one human detective said? 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' I was right the first time, you're not a Magician at all!" Mathers crowed out in triumph.

"You're a Sage!"


I wonder if this one turned out okay. It's the Christmas season and I've been drowning in schoolwork, so this is the product of several sessions of half-asleep typing in the middle of the night. But, I wanted to get at least this chapter out before the new year. I'm not sure if I'll get to update again over the holidays.

Now, for some responses!

infadinityfollower: Truth be told? Concerning the integration of other pantheons, I did not think that far ahead. Also, I'm using the Genesis story simply because in the DxD universe, the Biblical God was the most powerful and prominent deity, and the story just kinda fit with what I was trying to do. Another thing is that, after a cursory glance of the creation stories of other cultures, they are almost all identical. As in, a deity sculpts man, breathes life into him, gives him knowledge, and so on.

That's all folks! In case Chapter 9 isn't up before Christmas, happy holidays!