Welcome! So a couple things are going to happen this chapter including familiars, a new weapon for Gin and a meeting with Riser, everyone's favorite plot device- I mean Phenex. Saji will also have a minor role in the familiar forest. But really that's about all I have to say about this chapter so enjoy!
Anything you recognize I don't own and High School DXD belongs to Ischium Ishibumi.
"Talking"
'Reference in speech'
"Sacred Gear/Phone talking"
'Thoughts'
Hyoudou Household:
Gin was just waking up to the now familiar weight of Koneko being on his chest. Ever since the stray hunt this had become a very frequent thing for the two. Normally Gin would be very against this situation but considering who it was he let it slide.
It was awkward though because one night, everyone's favorite magical girl had shown up and saw them as they slept. Gin chuckled slightly at the memory.
Flashback:
It was late, about 1:00 am, to be precise (ish). Serafall had decided to pay her favorite servant a visit but remembered to not just teleport into his room, so instead she climbed in the window, much better I know but at least now it is easier to detect was her thinking process.
Now the Leviathan had assumed that Gin would be awake at this point due to him becoming a devil… you know what they say about assumptions, they make an Ass out of U and Me.
Thus when she came into his room she pouted slightly that he was asleep until she noticed that Koneko was currently sleeping peacefully with her cat-like features out on top of Gin. She already knew about Koneko being a nekoshou because she had led the devils that found her.
Squealing in delight she suddenly felt a blade that was radiating electricity against her throat, ready to kill her at any moment. Blinking she noticed that it was Gin holding the sword and that she'd woken him up which not only put a sour look on Koneko's face for losing her pillow but Gin's as well.
"Bloody hell Sera-tan. Why the hell are you here?" Gin said in a quiet tone but she could tell he was angry.
"I just finished my paperwork and decided to say hello to my favorite servant, but it seems you got a girlfriend. Wah! If you keep getting more you'll make Sera-tan sad if she's not one of them." Serafall spoke with her ever present enthusiasm while making both Gin and Koneko blush at her words, basically saying it was ok for him to have a harem.
Koneko was the first to reply "It's not like that…" she said in monotone then continued so no one could hear her "yet…".
Gin nodded while de-summoning his sword. After a few moments of silence Gin spoke "By the way, that was my sacred gear Sera-tan, the 8-Tō no Kuchinawanoken."
Serafall looked at him with an unusually serious face before she looked at him with a smile "I see… I've never heard of that one Gin-chan! It must be one of a kind! Also since you can use your sacred gear now I guess it's time for you to go get your familiar!" She said happily but in reality she was wondering how she hadn't heard of this sacred gear. In the end she just left it up in her mind satisfying herself for now that it was just unlucky that nobody had activated it yet, although she was wondering why she could feel a soul inside of it.
"Oh already? I've been doing my research and I thought that you get them after about 4 months after reincarnation. Well I'm not complaining but can I take Issei, Asia and Koneko with me when I go? I want to get my familiar at the same time as him and the other two because I don't want them to be alone with Rias." Gin's words were laced with hidden worry that only Koneko could see at the time which caused her to blush slightly at how much he cared about her.
"Hmm… I don't see why not but what did Rias do?" The Leviathan replied.
"Well I've been doing some digging around and getting information from Koneko, Sona and the others about the nature of her peerage because something just didn't sit right with me that she had Akeno follow Issei on his date but didn't step in when he got attacked. So after digging around I discovered that Akeno might have been ordered there to ensure he dies so she can gain his loyalty. After all it wouldn't be her first time, Rias did the same thing with Akeno. I noticed a wound on her shoulder one day in the hall but when I asked her about it she said it was from her family's brand of lightning magic and that she met Rias soon after. But that was wrong, it was actually devil magic specifically from the Gremory household and I doubt from what I heard about the rest of her family from her peerage that it could have been anyone other than her. That brought me to the conclusion that Rias is probably obtaining her peerage through inhumane ways. I've taken a look at the laws of devil society and they aren't actually all that different from human laws." Gin replied surprising the two females present with how much he was looking into this so he could protect the people he cares about and even some he doesn't. "I also found out you spearheaded the mission that led to Koneko being brought into the Gremorys and was wondering if while I'm in the underworld for my familiar if I could investigate the scene as well as get the report because I suspect that it was foul play from Rias as well. Ideally I'd look into Kiba's reincarnation as well to acquire more proof to use against her whenever I ultimately take her to court but I'll talk to him myself to see what he's willing to divulge himself first." This again caused the Serafall and Koneko to be surprised by his planning and caution to the others' privacy. His words also served to make both of them to blush at how determined he was to accomplish his goal and also how he wanted to make certain that he had done everything he could to ensure that his facts were accurate for when he presents them.
"Hmm… I'll see what I can do but until then I'll keep quiet about your suspicions so nobody tries to get in your way. Do you have any solid evidence now?" Serafall asked towards Gin.
"Yeah here I've got a recording from a few nights ago right after reincarnating Asia." Gin immediately took out his phone and played the recording he took when they confronted Rias about resurrecting Asia.
"Okay well, on the full moon I'll come get you for your familiar and I will then take only you and Koneko to the former residence of Koneko. See you later Gin-chan!" Serafall said.
Serafall then teleported out of the house to go prepare for Gin's excursions and also to try and get Ajuka Beelzebub to talk to Gin about his sacred gear and because she honestly thought they'd get along.
Once Serafall was gone Koneko jumped Gin onto the bed in what would normally be a bone crushing hug "Thank you…" she said in a tone that only Gin would be able to recognize as happiness "Thank you."
Flashback End
Gin just smiled gently as he stroked Koneko behind her cat ears when he remembered how happy she was after his declaration that he'll investigate the conditions of her reincarnation.
Koneko stirred slightly as she was waking up. She meowed cutely as she sat up half asleep while smiling at the young devil who she fell in love with. At this point it was something she could no longer deny she had fallen for him the day she met him, the day he told her that they were the same. She's noticed how differently he acts around her than even his brother. He's more expressive with her and he seems to genuinely care for her. So once he asked her to go to Mexico with him she decided that she would tell him her feelings there, completely unaware Gin was planning on doing the exact same thing.
"Come on sleepy-head, it's time to get up. As much as I don't want to we need to go to school." Gin said to the silver-haired girl occupying his chest.
Koneko pouted adorably before she reluctantly got off her 'pillow', as she liked to say, and walked over to Gin's closet and took out a fresh uniform for school. This was only possible because she had brought a couple uniforms over once she and Gin started doing this more frequently.
"Tonight is the full moon Gin." Koneko said in a slightly anxious tone "That means soon you'll have a familiar and in two days we'll be leaving to Mexico."
"That's right. Oh yeah I forgot to mention to bring a swimsuit and be prepared for some serious heat. Not just from the sun but from what we're visiting there." Gin told her.
"Ah! You've mentioned that a few times now… but you never told me who."
"That's because I wanted to see if you could guess it." Koneko pouted at his words and smacked him lightly on the back of his head. "Fine, fine. We're going to meet the Aztec fire serpent Xiuhcaotl so I can improve my skill with fire magic. While we were at the church I discovered that Orochi's true fire can disintegrate a fallen angel in just over a second so I want to make sure I have complete control over that as well. But don't worry there will be plenty of time to relax and enjoy our vacation. Oh yeah and I got Rias' approval to take you with me even though I didn't need it, I was going to take you anyway but I think she wanted to try getting on my good side so I wouldn't reveal what she said at her house." Gin finished as they walked out of the house to go to school.
At School:
It was just after lunch when all the school's devils gathered together to discuss something important. So seeing as he had nothing better to do Gin actually attended. Koneko was happy about this development because she knew that Gin would have somehow planned all of his responses to get the best possible result while subsequently planting minor ideas into the heads of Kiba and Akeno that they might want to take a closer look at their reincarnations. He'd already started with it and was doing the logical thing and not rushing it. (Somewhat unlike the Author) Koneko would sometimes get confused at how he managed to know some of what was going to be said before it happens but he just explained that he sees it as a game of chess where instead of thinking three moves ahead, he thinks ten steps ahead and that that was just how his mind naturally worked whenever he was thinking strategically.
Everyone had met in the Occult Research Clubroom. Gin, Koneko, Issei and Asia were all sitting on the same couch while the student council was standing and the remaining members of the ORC were sitting in various places around the room.
A few of the girls from the student council had squealed slightly at the cuteness that was Gin and Koneko on the couch. Koneko had her head resting on Gin's shoulder and Gin on his part had his head on hers. The two of them had been waiting for a while and decided to take a nap to pass the time leading to the situation they are in now.
But alas all good things must come to an end. This time it came in the form of Rias despite Issei's protests that it won't end well. "Wake up you two we have something to discuss." She said in an exasperated tone.
This, while it had the desired effect, did not end well for her. She quickly found herself at the end of Gin's sword that currently had multiple blades of wind spiraling around it, ready to be used at any moment.
Gin yawned for a second as he opened his eyes to see Rias standing there with a shocked expression. "You should be glad for the years I've spent with Issei and his family. Had it been 3 years ago you would have just lost your head." He said as he put away his Sacred Gear while walking back to the couch and sitting himself next to Koneko once again. "So what are we here for anyways?" Gin asked with most of the people in the room (other than the Kings and Queens) nodding that they were wondering that as well.
It was Sona who answered the question "You see as both Rias and I have new servants that we both were planning to get familiars for tonight but he only accepts one family so that is what we are here to discuss." She said with all the elegance Gin had come to expect from her.
Those on the couch with Gin on it were about to speak up that they were actually going tonight with Serafall, but Gin stood up and silenced them with his words "Well then if that's the case than I propose we settle this with a duel between the knights of each peerage. That way we can all get a feel on all the others and it will give us a clear victor and who's going to the forest also if I win I will be taking all of those who need familiars anyways because I am able to change the rules if I ask Serafall but I want to fight Kiba and Tomoe."
All the devils present looked at him either in shock or in the case of his fellow knights, with a challenging glint in their eyes so without waiting for their masters' approval they agreed "Challenge accepted." They said together but it was Tomoe who continued "So how are we going to do this?" she asked.
Smirking unnoticeably Gin said "I'll fight both of you one after the other as I'm the challenger and we will not be using our actual weapons so we don't kill each other. You're free to wear armor if you so desire but be ready because I won't be holding back. I'll be off to go secure the kendo club's dojo for this afternoon." He then left to do just that, which wouldn't be hard if they were anything like the rest of the girls in the school. Koneko followed after him to, as she claims assist him, but in reality she just wanted to stay by his side in case something he can't handle comes up.
Later:
Like Gin had predicted it was easy to get a hold of the dojo and he was now preparing to face off against Tomoe. Since this was a battle of swordsmanship they had all agreed not to use their improved speed for being a knight.
Tomoe came out first with nothing but the shinai in her hands. But when Gin came out a few people were confused because he was holding two swords instead of one.
"I'm ready when you are." He said getting into a stance designed for countering. He had his right foot back with the knee significantly bent, marking where his weight was placed. His swords were positioned with his left sword in front of him and his right sword above him. His stance seemed to have a lot of holes in it but in reality there wasn't a single point on his body that wasn't protected, with an opportunity to strike back.
Taking this as her cue to start Tomoe moved forward with an overhead strike however by doing this she had left herself open for one of the moves in Gin's arsenal that would end the duel in a single strike.
Using his lowered sword Gin pushed it to his left which threw her off balance as he turned and moved the higher sword to the side of her neck faster than anyone there could see. The devils (except Koneko) were about to say that he's cheated in their little tournament but they were silenced by Kiba surprisingly "That was his natural speed and his stance was flawless." He said "He's obviously been training for a long time and he seems to already have abnormal reaction speeds."
Kiba's words defending Gin caused Rias to grit her teeth because now he was going to fight one of her servants and if she knew anything about swordsmanship from Kiba, it's when two swordsman clash that they can best learn. She just hoped that Gin wouldn't talk to him about his past now that she knows how cunning he was.
It was a couple minutes later when Kiba came out onto the field and had grabbed a sword for himself. Once he got into the ring he said "You know Gin, I've wanted to duel you since I first found out you could wield a sword but then you surprise me once again by using one of the most dangerous styles out there." The students around could hear the sincerity in his words, he really has been waiting for this.
"Well then, whenever you're ready… when two swordsman fight…" Gin left his statement open to see if Kiba had the same mentality as himself.
"They fight to learn, not win! Let's go!" Kiba finished with a smirk seeing that they had already started learning about each other and was also slightly happy about their shared mentality about swordsmanship.
Deciding that it would be boring to just use counter strikes on Kiba, Gin decided to go on the offensive. He bolted forwards with his swords down, which seemed to leave him open, but Kiba knew better. He raised his sword up to block the strike that he knew would arrive just moments later.
The sound of wood hitting wood rang through the dojo as Kiba blocked strike after strike of Gin's vicious assault, there were a couple times where the prince had almost gotten hit by the second sword. He was silently surprised that Gin eventually stopped his attacks and shifted more to the defense, it seemed he really did want to learn more about him. Smirking, Kiba moved to the offensive, laying blow after blow on Gin's swords only for them to be effortlessly blocked. Kiba knew what was going on, Gin had been using the momentum from his strikes to simply shift off the attacks.
This continued on for about four more minutes until Kiba saw Gin smirking. By now the blonde knight had already learned that he does that as if to say 'play time's over' so he moved himself back only to hear a whistle being blown.
Confused Kiba looks around until he finally notices that he had just been completely played. Gin had backed him into the side of the arena so when he jumped back to create distance between them he actually jumped out of the ring.
Gin walked up to him and shook his hand while quietly whispering "I don't know why you want revenge but I can help with it if you let me know what happened." It shocked Kiba that he was able to identify that much just from a single duel but he nodded none the less, feeling slightly better with the feeling that he could talk to Gin about what happened without any problems.
Everyone cheered at the fantastic display of swordsmanship and comradery. Once the cheering was over the group of devils all got back together at the student council room. "Okay everyone so in the end all of the new devils are going to acquire their familiars tonight, thanks to Gin. But what about masters? Are we coming?" Sona directed the question towards Gin.
"No." he said causing everyone except Koneko to look surprised. "You won't be coming but as we will be splitting up into two groups, each group will have someone who could be considered a powerhouse with them. After discussing it with Koneko she has agreed to come along and look after Issei and Asia so they will be a group and I will be going with Saji." Gin finished.
"I see you must have been scared so you invited the strongest devil in the room to be in your group. Don't worry young man, I'll protect someone weak like you without a question." Saji said with so much arrogance that someone else who will be introduced in this chapter would think that Saji was somehow more arrogant than himself.
Although Saji didn't notice it unlike everyone else Issei paled considerably remembering the screams that followed the last person who called him weak. "Watch the arrogance Saji, it will get you killed tonight if you don't tone it down, there are some very dangerous creatures out there." Gin warned while barely containing his anger.
Saji was about to speak again but Koneko punched him in the face, knocking him out then she walked back over and stood at Gin's side. He patted her on her head in appreciation which caused her to purr softly so only Gin heard her. "Now then all we have to do is wait for Sera-tan to show up to bring us."
11:55 pm:
The five devils were lazing around in the SCR while waiting for the Leviathan. Saji and Issei were playing video games, Asia was watching them play with a look of awe on her face at the new experience. Gin and Koneko were like usual sleeping with Koneko's head on his shoulder and his head on her head.
Coincidentally right as Serafall showed up Issei and Saji had just finished a round of Mega Break Sisters and Saji had started cheering from his victory, which woke up Gin.
Saji stopped cheering whenever he felt the heat of fire sitting just behind his neck but not burning him. He screamed girlishly and jumped away as Gin returned his sword to wherever it goes whenever it's not in use. Gin returned to Koneko who had a sour look on her face for her rest with Gin being disturbed.
Serafall cleared her throat, gaining everyone's attention. "Okay every one! It's time to go get your familiar-chans!" She exclaimed while bouncing up and down slightly "Come here and I'll teleport you over!"
Doing as told they all gathered around Serafall who teleported them to a forest in the underworld. Those present who were adept at sensing presences could tell immediately that they were in the familiar forest as well as the fact that the master of the forest was on his way.
He was almost there when Gin did something that nobody expected, he grabbed Saji and bolted off in a seemingly random direction.
In reality however Gin had felt a presence calling for him, begging him to head towards it whenever he finally came to a cave. The energy inside it was so powerful even Saji could feel it.
"Holy shit!" The blonde teen said "Dibs! You're too weak to handle it anyways!" he then sprinted down the stairs.
Gin had to resist the urge to pummel him right then and there, but quickly followed after him shouting "Saji, you idiot! It will kill you!"
When he got to the bottom of the staircase, which was stupidly long, he saw that the only thing in the cave was a pedestal that had a rusty sword in it. Saji was the first to reach it however and tried to pull it out. Gin was surprised and slightly skeptical about it, he knew the presence had been calling to him so how did Saji take the sword?
It was then that Gin saw a flawless silver European styled sword with a blue blood groove (Has nothing to do with blood but reduces the friction acting on the blade) with a golden guard, handle and pommel. The sword was radiating pure power, it was also the presence that was calling him. The only problem was that it was sentient considering it was floating in the air pointed at Saji.
"Saji watch out!" Gin yelled trying to get the boy to listen but he didn't have enough time, he would be hit by the sword.
Deciding in the heat of the moment Gin sprinted forward and tackled Saji out of the way, saving his life. With the sword stuck in the wall Saji said despondently "Thank you… I'm sorry I've been an asshole. It's just everyone's always looked down on me and it kinda just rubbed off. I'll try and tone it down." Gin just smiled happy that Saji would make the Author's job easier.
"Good… Now then let's get me a familiar." Gin said and as he did the sword broke free of the wall and flew towards Gin. Realizing he wasn't getting out of this without a scar he put his hand out.
The sword punctured his hand but Gin just gritted his teeth and said the first thing that came to his mind
"Oh Noble Spirit Sealed in Thy Ancient Holy Sword!
Thou Shall Accept Me as Thy Master and I Shall Be Thy Sheath!
Thrice I Command Thee!
Exchange Vows with Me!"
The moment the last words were spoken a blinding light shone from Gin's right hand. Once the light had faded the sword was gone and instead there was a silvery blue seal on Gin's right hand. The seal had two elaborate swords crossing each other surrounded by a simple ring. As Gin was admiring the seal felt another presence, just as powerful as the last coming towards him at high speed.
Jumping back out of pure instinct Gin narrowly avoided the black sword. It was something you'd expect to see in a fantasy video game. The sword was as black as the void with a purplish red edge to it. Decorating the sword was a crimson red gem in the handle and purple crystals covering a bit of the blade. (Google Restia Sword Form to see the shape of the blade I can't really explain it well.)
Gin quickly turned and summoned the 8-Tō no Kuchinawanoken to defend himself. He knew that he should use the light element for this so focusing on the blade it lit up with a pure holy energy. Although Gin was preparing for the sword to come and attack him again he was pleasantly surprised when it didn't, instead it glowed purple for a moment before transforming into a rather beautiful girl wearing a dusk-purple dress. She had milky white skin, long black hair, violet eyes and red tipped black angel wings. The girl walked towards Gin completely ignoring Saji who was just starring at her dumbstruck.
Once she reached him she spoke in an almost angelic voice "Ah, so you're the new one eh? Well then, make me your familiar. That is if you want a second powerful sword spirit to complement your other one."
Gin looked into her eyes and deeming that he could trust her he nodded "Okay, so how do we do this? Also thank you for letting me know what my other familiar is." He said to her.
She smiled angelically at him "My name is Restia Ashdoll. All you have to do to finish the contract is kiss me." If Gin was drinking anything he would have just done a spit take at her words.
"Okay then." He said as he came up with a loop-whole so he could save his first kiss for Koneko, it was only fair. He walked up to her and pecked her cheek which worked, but caused Restia to pout because he didn't fall for her trick "Not yet. I need to give my first kiss to someone else. Sorry." He apologized.
Restia sighed as she accepted that. She wouldn't want to give her first kiss to just some girl either. She had also become intrigued by her new master, he was the first one to figure out that loop-whole. "May I know the name of my new master?" Restia asked.
Gin mentally berating himself for not saying that yet replied to her "Gin, Gin Hyoudou."
Gin was about to leave the cave whenever a bright white light shone out and another girl appeared wearing nothing but black knee socks. She had slightly paler skin than Restia, long silver hair and sapphire blue eyes.
Gin averted his eyes while Restia giggled and said "Put some clothes on your disturbing our joint master."
Nodding her head the new girl summoned a white dress to cover herself with. Then looking towards Gin she started in monotone "My name is unpronounceable by your vocal abilities but you may call me Terminus Est. Please finish the contract master." She said.
"Okay Est." Gin said as he walked up to her and kissed her cheek as well then patting her head as she pouts cutely.
"Terminus Est, Master." She said
"I didn't want to do this but I guess I have to… As your master I order you to let me call you Est and for you to call me Gin." He said in a stern tone. Causing her to once again pout cutely but nod none the less.
"Fine Gin, but what did you mean by you didn't want to do this?" She asked him, Restia was curious as well but didn't voice it.
"Oh, that's easy I don't want to be your master, I want to be your partner." He said as he finally noticed the seal that had appeared on his left hand. It was a dark purple with a jagged sword on it surrounded by the gem that was on the actual sword.
Walking away from the cave Gin remembered that Saji didn't have a familiar yet so he kept walking around until Saji found one which turned out to be an evil bat.
Once Gin and Saji met up with everyone else they were surprised to see him come back with not just one but two powerful familiars. While Serafall couldn't be more proud Koneko was slightly perturbed about the loli that he brought with him feeling that her spot would be taken but those fears vanished the instant Gin walked up to her and pet her head lovingly which caused Restia to smirk. Now she had something to tease him about.
"So Issei what's your familiar?" Gin asked his adopted brother.
"Oh I have a wyvern named Haruka, she's kinda busy right now with her pack so you'll have to wait to meet her." Issei said with pride. Saji's mouth just dropped but Gin was proud of his brother.
"Great, well you guys head back Koneko and I have some work to do here in the underworld. We'll be home late." Gin said as the others teleported away leaving him with Koneko, Serafall, Restia and Est. Serafall then teleported them to an abandoned laboratory that Koneko never wanted to see again so she grabbed onto Gin's jacket and held him tightly, Gin for his part put his arm around her as he began his investigation.
Restia and Est were confused, having no idea what was going on until Serafall explained where they were, it's significance and why they were there. This caused the two sword spirits to gain a new found respect for their master.
Moving over to Gin and Koneko, they were searching through the multiple books they found in the main office. Nothing was particularly interesting until Gin dropped the journal he was reading with a look that could make Great Red piss himself. He picked up the journal and reluctantly showed her the page he was reading.
It read:
June 4th,
Today our experiments on the nekoshou Kuroka went very well and we have received word from the Gremory heiress funding our experiments to begin experiments on the younger sister Shirone. If Kuroka kills me I just want it to be known that my employer is Rias Gremory.
June 5th,
I was right, I'm dying and it was Kuroka who did it. I knew she would do this to protect her little sister from the beginning. Also after everything we've done for her that red haired bitch has betrayed us by sending information to the devil kings so we will be eradicated. So this is my final testament. I'm sorry for everything I've done… I wish it wasn't this way but we needed Gremory's funding for our research into teaching devils senjutsu…
After reading it Koneko was in tears while also being furious about what Rias had done.
Gin pulled Koneko into a hug and started stroking her hair softly "Koneko, I'm sorry but soon I'll find your sister so you can have your family back again. I promise that to you. Besides I feel like she's closer than we think." Gin said to her softly as she cried into his chest.
About an hour later Gin and Koneko returned with the journal. "So did you get everything you needed?" Serafall asked noticing the obviously tear stained face of the cat youkai.
"Yeah here you go, the page is marked so read it at your office and bring something to let some steam off into." Gin said handing her the notebook.
"Okay let's get you home then." She said as she teleported everyone present back to Gin's house where they quickly went to bed in their usual fashion with Gin serving as a pillow for Koneko. Restia and Est also curled up on the bed, however they were just next to him as they drifted off to sleep.
The next day, 5:00 pm:
Gin was walking to go fetch Koneko from the ORC to walk her home seeing as she needed to pack her stuff for their trip tomorrow whenever he felt a small burst of heat from the ORC so he sprinted off towards it as fast as he could.
Upon arriving he went upstairs and was greeted by a silver haired women who looked to be in her 40s radiating power so he summoned Restia and Est in their sword forms or the Demon Slayer and the Vorpal Sword as they told him to call them in their sword forms.
This caused the woman to raise an eyebrow seeing as he was standing directly between, not her and Rias, but her and Koneko. She was also curious to know how he managed to contract the two most powerful sword spirits there are, especially since they are complete opposites.
Gin looked into her eyes and the woman could have sworn she saw his silver eye turn black for a moment but shook it off raising her hands to show she wasn't a threat. All she knew about the man in front of her was that he was very powerful and would not hesitate to kill her.
Seeing no ill intention coming from her, he returned the two sword spirits to their human forms with Restia hiding her wings for now, both of them sporting dazed expressions and wondering how he could use the two of them simultaneously. It would tear a normal man apart, heck even whenever a Hercules tried once he almost got killed but at the same time he hadn't contracted them like Gin had although it was still something the two believed to be impossible.
Gin then offered her a hand shake with a slight bow "My apologies Miss. I was on edge due to the sudden burst of heat I felt from outside. My name is Gin Hyoudou, Serafall-sama's knight." He introduced himself politely.
Impressed by his manners the woman introduced herself "My name is Grayfia Lucifer, wife and queen to the Sirzechs Lucifer, Rias' brother. It is a pleasure to meet such a powerful young man who managed to maintain his manners. Also if you would turn to your right you will see Riser Phenex, a high class devil and Rias' fiancée. I believe he caused the heat you felt." The now named Grayfia said.
Gin looked to his left and sure enough there was a man with messy blonde hair and a burgundy suit sitting on the couch fondling Rias. Gin unnoticeably smirked seeing her in mental pain. Before he bowed and said "It's a pleasure to meet you Phenex-sama. Congratulations on your engagement. I've read about the Phenex immortality and I was wondering if I could see it in person?" Gin both introduced and asked at the same time.
The only people in the room who knew what he was doing were Koneko and Grayfia due to her experience. He was testing him so he could begin making counter strategies to it. She would have to suggest both him and his brother to Sirzechs to aid Rias out of her engagement.
Riser smirked as he picked up a knife and stab himself in the arm with it wincing slightly. But that was all Gin needed to know how to beat him, he may be physically immortal but not mentally. "It's a pleasure to meet you too Gin I'm glad that someone can acknowledge my greatness in this room." Gin was irritated severely by his attitude but kept his pleasant façade up.
Grayfia cleared her throat to gather everyone's attention "Now where were we? Ah yes, your last chance to change the engagement. You have been given the chance to fight Lord Riser in a rating game with the stipulation being that the winner gets to decide what happens with the marriage." She said in monotone but Gin could tell that she doesn't like this engagement.
It was then that Gin figured out why Rias did what she did, other than greed. She killed and manipulated all these people to escape an arranged marriage! Gin was furious but he hid it well. Gin also realized that Sirzechs was probably going to have a contingency plan for if she loses the rating game. After thinking for a moment he realized it would probably be him or his brother, possibly both of them so he'd have to let Issei in on his plan.
When Gin snapped out of his thoughts it was to Riser talking about how he was going to burn all of Rias' servants, which includes Koneko.
Before Riser could finish charging up his fireball Gin had the 8-Tō no Kuchinawanoken sparking with blue and purple electricity against his throat and the demon slayer prepared to attack anyone who came close. Riser was the only person who was able to notice Gin's silver eye had become black as an endless void and he was scared. Not that he would die, but that he would live. Silently noting that he should never threaten the peerage again.
Gin's words came out icy-cold that put even Grayfia's tone to shame "Never threaten Koneko again, directly or otherwise. If you do I can't guarantee your safety." Riser nodded quickly, not trusting his voice at the moment. Gin then got off of him with his eye returning to normal as he walked towards Koneko.
Everyone in the room was silent as Gin whispered something into Koneko's ear that made her blush causing expressions of surprise to spread around the room on those who hadn't seen the two's interactions yet.
Riser was the first to speak albeit shakily "I'll give you some time to train. Ten-" seeing the expression on Gin's face he doubled the amount of time "Twenty days maybe?" he said with Gin nodding his approval of the time.
You see Gin had planned for a 19 day trip thus the original 10 day time limit would not be good.
Everyone else then nodded as Riser teleported out of the room. "Kiba, I need to talk to you before Koneko and I leave for Mexico. Also Grayfia-sama, I need to talk to you as well." Gin said as he walked out of the room with Grayfia following him. Koneko, Est and Restia stayed behind because they felt this was a private discussion.
Outside the ORC Gin stopped once they were no longer within earshot of the others, which included Koneko and Issei. Facing the ultimate queen Gin said "I know about your contingency plan." This surprised Grayfia but he continued "You were too calculating after you saw me test the, pardon my rudeness but, fried chicken's regeneration. So I will do it so long as I get three wishes out of it, don't worry it's nothing that's not easy to accomplish. In fact it will probably be easier for you than setting up the rating game. And please do destroy that recording once you've played it to Sirzechs thank you." Gin said making her eyes widen in surprise yet again. His perception and tactical mindset were spectacular. She had honestly never seen anyone so keen before.
She nodded "Ok. But could you tell me one of your wishes in advanced?"
Gin had expected her to say this so he smirked slightly causing her eyes to widen. Just how far ahead did he plan? "Okay, my third wish is to present some evidence in court. Against who, you'll have to wait and find out." He said as he walked off to go speak with Kiba.
Grayfia was left standing there, dumbfounded. He had completely outsmarted her and had complete control over the contingency plan. She teleported away to inform Lucifer about this development.
While Gin was walking back towards the ORC he was also having a mental conversation with Raikou, who was somehow being helpful now that Gin had trained with him a couple times he understood how his mind worked. "Sparkey-sparks earlier were true Sparkey-sparks. Use to Zappy-zap into sparklez!" (Translation: The earlier electricity was our true lightning. Use it to zap things into non-existence!) 'I see well then Raikou is it possible for me to harness this into, say a gun?' The thought was brought on after seeing the electricity. Now Gin wanted to build a magic rail gun. "Yeppers! Sparkey-sparks make great Pew-pews!" (Translation: Yes! The lightning makes for great guns!)
This made Gin smirk as he began thinking up plans on how to do this when Enkou suddenly spoke up "Actually Gin, almost all of us can be used in a rail gun if that's your plan. Only Mizu, Iwa and Doku can't."
Gin actually smiled at this, leave it to Orochi to continue to surprise him. 'Got it, thanks.' He said telepathically as he walked into the ORC. "Kiba, come on time for a talk." Gin said as he turned on his heel to leave waving to his familiars and crush to follow as well.
Kiba nodded and joined them outside and asked "So what's this about?"
Koneko was the one who answered him "First… can we record this?" she said catching Kiba off guard.
"Umm, sure?" Kiba was uncertain but agreed anyways. Gin took out a recorder and turned it on.
"Okay so what was your life like prior to being a devil?" Gin asked.
Kiba could tell by the genuine look of concern in Gin's eyes this was just for his own good so he answered truthfully. "Bad, I was put through a series of inhumane experiments run by the church called the Holy Sword Project. One day they decided we were no longer needed so they massacred us I was the only survivor. Rias found me two minutes later as I was dying and reincarnated me. Why do you ask?"
"I'm sorry to tell you this Kiba but Rias has been doing some pretty terrible things to get her peerage. For my brother she let him die, for Akeno she helped her family hunt her down to kill her, for Asia it was only because Issei begged her, for Koneko she effectively framed her sister for self defense and finally there's you… You were in church territory correct?" Gin said causing Kiba's eyes to widen but he nodded anyways "Than she was risking a war being there right? Wrong. She wouldn't have done that so she must have had some form of power in the damn place so she could walk around freely." Gin concluded.
"Maybe they kept saying something about 'the red haired lady' who was helping with their funding and I think they once mentioned her last name and that she was a devil." Kiba said after a moment of consideration.
"Okay that's all. Thank you for your cooperation Kiba." Gin said as he stopped the recording.
Gin and Kiba shook hands before walking away in different directions. Koneko and the two familiars following Gin.
They walked in silence until they arrived at Koneko's house "Goodbye, Koneko. I'll be here tomorrow at 5:00 am to pick you up and head for the airport be ready." Gin said as he hugged her then left with his two familiars saying their own goodbyes.
Koneko smiled softly, silently psyching herself up to confess to Gin tomorrow once they arrive.
Gin was walking home when Restia suddenly spoke "So she's the one you're saving that kiss for eh? She rally is adorable isn't she? Well I'm glad she's accepting of a harem so long as she's the alpha of it."
Restia's words made Gin do a spit take. "Really?" He said incredulously.
"Really." She replied in a firm tone with Est nodding to the statement. It was true, Koneko really did say that to the two of them who had somehow already fallen for him. They had talked about it while Gin was gone talking to Grayfia.
"Well okay then…" Gin trailed off as he got into bed, the two sword spirits following soon after and cuddling up to him for the last time before Gin goes to Mexico. He had already told them that he'll only call upon them if he needs them, otherwise it would be just him and Koneko.
The next morning Gin woke up, grabbed his stuff, picked up Koneko (after waking her up and carrying her stuff), got on a plane and departed for an adventure in Mexico, the home of the taco!
There we go Chapter 7 done! It was a lot of fun writing this one and I may or may not keep chapters at this length. So yeah… I kinda turned Saji into Claire 'Rouge' Elstein for a minute there. I'd also like to thank everyone who reads this story because it actually means a lot to me because I've always doubted my writing abilities and so far all I've gotten was constructive which is something I greatly thank you for. Also I've figured out ways to make the harems larger without turning girls into bags of meat but only certain ones which I will include here and put up a poll on my profile for it also if you post your requests or opinions in the reviews I will count them along with the poll. Oh and then of course it's time for peerage requests, both already have their queens, Issei has both bishops, knights, 1 rook and 4 pawns taken. While Gin has 1 bishop, both knights, 1 rook and 5 mutated pawns taken up (All of Gin's pawns will mutate) At any rate leave suggestions. So thank you and see you next time!
Official Harems
Gin:
-Confirmed: Ophis (Main), Koneko (Main), Kuroka, Serafall, Sona, Tsubaki, Xulean, Momo, Terminus Est, Restia, Bennia, Akame, Lilith, Vali (fem)
-Potential: Amaterasu
Issei:
-Confirmed: Xenovia, Irina, Asia (Main), Gabriel, Ravel, Akeno, Rossweisse (Main), Tsubasa, Penemue, Murayama, Aika, Hikari, Kunou
-Potential: Yasaka, Katase, LeFay
