CHAPTER 10:

OF SACRED GEARS AND STRAY DEVILS

Harry found himself liking Asia more and more the more time he spent with her. Okay, she was a bit of a naïve little twit, especially about the evils of the world, but that wasn't wholly her fault. It was more to do with her seclusion from the world by the Church. But she was a genuinely likeable and moral person, an embodiment of the best ideals of the Church. The sort who would willingly heal a Devil, both because it was the right thing to do, and because the Church was supposed to reach out to those who needed it the most.

And to tell the truth, he felt a lot of sympathy for her. Like his childhood, she had been kept in seclusion. And people's expectations of her were always so high. In fact, even the Church and Asia had heard of Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. And all it took was an honest mistake, or the malice of someone else, to have everyone treating her like shit, frankly.

"Not all Devils are like Diodora Astaroth," Emma said. "Many of them are really more like humans of a somewhat more hedonistic and self-indulgent bent, but follow a moral code that isn't unlike our own. As it was, you were lucky Azazel sent you to us."

Asia shivered, having been told of what Diodora Astaroth liked to do to nuns. And about the Fallen who might be targeting her. "Even so, it must be a rare Devil who is willing to help someone from the Church," she said. "If what you told me about these three factions is true, then they would consider me an enemy, or at least someone who might bring the wrath of the Church or the Angels on them, Fallen or not."

"I help people because they need help," Harry said. "As long as they're not actually trying to kill me or use me, I don't really care that much. Rias is the same. She may be the sister of the current Lucifer, but she's a good person. Even Sirzechs is nice enough."

"The problem is, the Fallen won't just give up because we've placed Asia under our protection," Emma said. "Sacred Gears are fairly valuable, especially if they're a Longinus. Twilight Healing isn't a Longinus, but healing ability is quite valuable. I'll ask Lupin to put up some wards: a combination of Fallen and Devil barriers and wizarding wards might help deter them for long enough. And as Kuoh Academy has three of the top Devils there, along with their Peerages and my daughter, we'll enrol you there, Asia, as long as you have an escort going there and back. At the very least, you should have an education outside of what the Church gave you. Once we've dealt with the rogue Fallen, hopefully, we can dial back the protection."

Asia nodded, although she seemed a little apprehensive. Harry smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry, Asia. Hermione says that I have a sort of 'saving people thing'. You let us worry about protecting you."

"But…I don't want to see anyone get hurt because of me…" Asia murmured.

"We're willing to protect you, Asia," Hermione said firmly. "Besides, these Fallen are the sort who'd want to use the Sacred Gears to start a war, with humanity in the crossfire. And we don't want that."

The next day, at lunchtime, Asia was taken (by Hermione, of course) to meet the respective Peerages of Harry and Rias. And for someone formerly affiliated with the Church, she showed little fear and no hatred towards the Devils. Indeed, she got on very well with them. It helped that Asia, despite or because of her naiveté, was a very likeable person. Harry knew that Neville was going to ask for her help to see whether she could heal the damage done to his parents by Bellatrix Lestrange.

Last night, Harry had learned something interesting from Rias: Issei didn't just have any old Sacred Gear. He had one Rias was almost certain was a Longinus. And to have a Longinus user in a Peerage boosted the prestige of the Devil who had that Peerage.

Of course, that night Issei had also had to go and deal with a man who wanted to make a pact. In fact, it was that creepy idiot who wanted to become a magical girl. Harry didn't envy Issei.

As it turned out, they had work to do tonight: the rumours about Viser, one of the Asmoday servants, becoming a Stray were true. The Asmoday had wanted Rias and Harry to clean up. And as Viser had been confirmed to be eating humans, well, Harry really wanted to destroy Viser.

After school, Hermione called her mother, and had her take Asia home. Then, the two Peerages and the Nephilim went to deal with Viser.

"So, I guess tonight is a tutorial for your new Peerage member, Rias?" Harry asked.

"Yes. It's often better to show than to tell, after all."

"Well, might as well tell him the basics first." Harry looked over at Issei. "You're familiar with chess, right? As opposed to go or shogi?"

"Well, yeah."

"Good. Then you don't need that part explained. The Evil Piece system is based on chess and the attributes of the pieces in that game, and it was those chess pieces that were used to revive you. Now Rias and I are the Kings. Now, you might think that makes us weak, given kings can't move much in the game, but that's far from the case. We're the keystone to the system, true, but both of us have extraordinary power. Now, I have two Bishops, Remus and Neville. Bishops can use magic of all kinds, offensive, healing, defensive. Rias and I have one Knight each: Rias has Kiba, and I have Sirius. They emphasise speed and mobility and attack power. Koneko is Rias' sole Rook, and uses strength and defence. She may look petite and fragile, but she's anything but. Queens combine the attributes of those previous pieces. Luna is my Queen, and Akeno is Rias'."

"So, what piece am I?" Issei asked.

"A Pawn. Now, before you get depressed, remember that in chess, pawns have the ability to change their rank when they get to the end of the board, deep in enemy territory. In Evil Piece terms, it means that, if you're in declared enemy territory, or Rias gives you permission, you can change ranks. And considering that Rias had to use all eight of her Pawns on you, you've got some power in you. That being said, try to stay out of the way."

When they found Viser in a deserted warehouse, Issei predictably began ogling the rather beautiful looking woman with the bare breasts, though she was half in shadow. Sirius nudged the perverted boy in the ribs viciously. "She's a Stray Devil, remember? And they usually aren't pretty after a while. Don't let your guard down."

"Viser, this is your last warning. Go back to the Asmoday family, or die," Rias commanded.

Viser sneered at them, walking forward, revealing her human form to be growing from a rather uglier monster, a hideous chimera. "I think not. I don't listen to the likes of you, especially traitors working with the Fallen."

"Confident, isn't she?" Harry remarked. "Do you want to go for a combo for the finale?"

Rias grinned. "Took the words out of my mouth."

The battle that followed wasn't too difficult. Poor Koneko nearly got swallowed by the rather grotesque mouth on the underside of the monstrous part of Viser's body. And when she emerged, some of her clothes had been dissolved. Hermione held back with her Light-Spears on Rias' request, save for hitting Viser to deter attacks. Thanks to the joint efforts of the two Peerages and Hermione, Viser was defeated swiftly, and it only remained to Harry and Rias to administer the coup de grace.

"Any last words, Viser?" Rias asked.

"Go to Hell…" Viser rasped.

"Meh," Harry said, before he and Rias stood together, placing their hands palm outwards. Suddenly, Viser's body seemed to be sucked into a bizarre tunnel of streaking blue lights, like some sort of hyperspatial vortex.

"Hey, Issei, you ever play Final Fantasy IV?" Harry asked. Issei nodded. "Then you'll appreciate this."

Then, together, Rias and Harry yelled, "Sitri-Gremory Combo Attack: Zeromus: BIG BANG!"

Bolts of lightning-like energy flared throughout the vortex Viser had been sucked into, and with a scream of pain, the Stray Devil was consumed in an explosion of strobing colourful light. The ashes that remained were spat out before the vortex closed up. And then, Harry and Rias hummed the victory fanfare from the Final Fantasy games. She was quite a strong Japanophile and a bit of a gamer, and had loved the idea of making moves that mimicked the attacks from the games as well.

"That…was awesome," Issei breathed quietly.

That was admittedly one of the few times Issei could be said to say something universally agreed-upon.

As they made their way back to the clubhouse before they finished up for the night (the damaged clothing, especially that of poor Koneko, being repaired by magic), Issei asked, "What was with that attack, anyway? That last one you guys did? I mean, not that I'm complaining about it, but I reckon you should have opened up with it."

"We need to keep our Peerages trained," Rias explained. "Plus, we were demonstrating the power of a Peerage to you."

"So why a combo attack?"

"It's partly because of me," Harry said. "You probably haven't heard of me, but my name back home was Harry Potter."

Issei frowned. "Wait, what? I know that name." When he saw their looks, he hurriedly said, "I overheard my mother talking on the phone once. Well, ranting. Apparently some uppity idiots in the government wanted her to keep an eye out for someone of that name. I heard her say that she was discarded because she was a Squib or something, and they weren't going to get any favours from her. I thought Squib was some slang word, like she was part-burakumin or something."

Rias and Harry shared looks, before Rias said, "A Squib is a person born to a magical family, but who doesn't have magic. They're often shunned in magical communities. Sounds like the Japanese Ministry wanted to use her as a spy."

"This was before I transferred to Kuoh Academy," Issei said.

Harry nodded. "Okay, well, long story short, I became famous when I was one because I survived an instant-death spell, one that can even kill Devils if the user is powerful enough. My father was a high-ranking Devil of the Sitri family, while my mother was a human he revived as his Queen. They knew that a dark wizard called Voldemort was after them, so in order to give me protection, they used an obscure ritual. If they died, their very life-force would be tied to mine, through a bond of love. My mother gave me extremely powerful defences, while my father gave me offensive power that approached that of one of the Great Satans. But almost all of that was tied up when Dumbledore, who wanted a Devil as a weapon, and managed to deter anyone else who could have raised me, bound my power, and left me with my aunt and her family."

Issei looked at Harry's dark expression, and muttered, "They weren't nice people, were they?"

"They treated me like a slave. I slept in a cupboard under the stairs. No joke."

Issei shook his head. "That's fucked up. I mean, you ARE telling the truth, right?"

"I can always have you talk to my cousin," Harry said. "She's got the Dursleys with her, along with Dumbledore and Voldemort. Anyway, I still had enough power to basically burn Voldemort and whoever he possessed with a touch: I guess Dumbledore left that part of the Defensio Ultima intact. Now, when my cousin decided to arrange a marriage between Rias and I, I decided I wanted to make sure that she was my equal in power. Rias is an extremely powerful Devil, but I was in another league. But the only way we could do so was by transferring some of the power of the Defensio Ultima from me to her. And the best ritual to do that was more than a little…intimate in nature, so we left it until after we married."

Issei's eyes, predictably, bugged out of their sockets. "You mean…you made her more powerful…through sex?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Put crudely, yes, though it also requires, given the love and self-sacrifice inherent in Defensio Ultima, one to actually have a loving relationship first, not to mention a complex ritual with…he's not listening to me at all, is he?"

"No," Hermione said. Issei seemed torn between fantasising about Rias having sex, and annoyed that Harry got to do so.

"Koneko," Harry said. "Please give him percussive maintenance. Lightly."

"How lightly?" Koneko asked.

"Just enough to get his mind back on track."

Koneko slapped Issei, sending the perverted teen spinning around like a top. He shook his head and demanded, "What gives?!"

"You were having a Blue Screen of Perversion," Harry snarked. "Anyway, regardless of how we got the power shared, Issei, and I would like you to focus on this explanation, please, thanks to Rias and I having gone through this ritual, we have a bond. You ever read that manga series Soul Eater(1)?"

On seeing Issei's nod, Rias picked up where Harry left off. "Think of it as being like Soul Resonance. Our power gets fed on each other like in a positive feedback loop. Together, given enough run-up, we can power up to levels surpassing the Great Satans, albeit temporarily. In fact, that's why we put Viser into that pocket dimension, besides it looking cool and resembling Zeromus' battlefield from the game: the sheer destructive force unleashed is dangerous. As in potentially world-ending dangerous. Of course, we didn't charge up that attack that much, we didn't need to for a Stray like Viser."

"We try to bring them down hard and fast normally," Harry said. "And keep in mind that you'll see other Stray Devils who'll try to entice you. Try to keep your mind off their breasts and on the matter at hand, okay? That sort of distraction could prove lethal."

"Killjoy," Issei muttered sullenly. "Just because you're married to the busty babe…"

"He does have a point, Issei. Devils are very hardy, but we're far from invincible, as you saw," Rias said. "If Hermione went all-out with her Light-Spears, she could have annihilated Viser. And to tell the truth, Hermione is a credible threat even to me, as she's not only a powerful Nephilim, but Devils like you and I are vulnerable to Light weaponry and spells, and the Fallen favour creating Light-Spears."

"Like that Yuuma girl did to me," Issei murmured quietly, touching his chest where Raynare speared him. "And there was another Fallen last night, one who tried to attack." He grinned. "I managed to chase her off using my Sacred Gear, blasting her clothes off."

"Of course you did," Harry muttered.

"Well, leaving aside the lewdness of such an act, it's actually an effective battle tactic," Remus said. "Who wants to fight naked?"

"I do," Luna said with a smile.

"Luna, please don't encourage Issei," Harry sighed, facepalming. "That being said, Remus does have a point. It's a valid battle tactic…providing you don't get distracted by naked flesh afterwards."

Once more, Issei got lost in his labyrinthine and lewd imagination, and it was Hermione this time who snapped him out of it. "You guys suck!" he whined, nursing the latest bruise to his cheek.

"Issei, you're never going to get a girl this way," Hermione pointed out.

"Get strong enough, though, and you can ascend to the rank of a high-class Devil, with your own Peerage," Rias said.

Issei stopped short when he heard that. He then asked, "Can I get my own harem that way?"

"If you like," Rias said, smirking when Issei began cheering. Harry and Hermione, meanwhile, facepalmed. She was encouraging the damn pervert. Then again, if it helped motivate himself to become stronger…

Afterwards, in a dilapidated church, a quartet of people were waiting. Two would have been very familiar to Issei: Raynare, and a female Fallen wearing a minidress by the name of Kalawarner. A third female Fallen was dressed in a Gothic Lolita style, and had a petulant, childish demeanour to match her body. Her name was Mittelt. The sole man amongst them was human and handsome, though given his vicious crimes, Freed Sallzen had a soul as black as the worst of Devils or Fallen. An Exorcist who had once worked for the Church, he had been excommunicated for murdering anyone who even associated with Devils, regardless of their character or even if they had made any deals. In a way, he was worse than these Fallen, for he killed out of enjoyment, blanketed in false righteousness. He didn't care about causes anymore, or doing good works. Only killing Devils and their associates.

The door opened, and a man in a trenchcoat and fedora, with a pencil-thin moustache, walked in, his pitch-black wings betraying his nature as one of the Fallen. Raynare looked over at the new arrival. "So, Dohnaseek, how did things go? Did they detect you?"

"I kept my distance and my shields up, so I don't think so. The two Peerages are certainly nothing to sneeze at, given how they dealt with that Stray. Neither is the power of Apollonia's half-breed girl. Indeed, I know she's holding back much of her power. And with eight wings, she certainly has power, more so than her mother did. She may be yet to reach her full potential, though."

"And with those damn wards, we'll have a hard time breaking into Apollonia's house, never mind snatching the Argento brat," Kalawarner said. "And the school's Devil territory."

"Which means we'll have to snatch her while she's in transit," Raynare said. "While she's outside the wards, and preferably while she only has the half-breed as an escort. Powerful though she is, she's also young and inexperienced. As they may recognise myself or Kalawarner given our previous attempts at attacking that pervert Hyoudou, I'm leaving this to you, Dohnaseek, and you, Mittelt."

"Hey, why don't I get in on it?!" Freed demanded.

"Because we don't want Argento becoming damaged goods," Raynare said bluntly. "We need her and her Sacred Gear alive and relatively well. And given how you'd love to enjoy yourself with people like her, that wouldn't work out. She might not live long enough for us to extract the Sacred Gear. You can have fun by attacking the clients of Devils. That may help distract their attention from us."

Freed gave a vicious grin. One that didn't bode well at all towards anyone he would target…

CHAPTER 10 ANNOTATIONS:

Well, there you have it. Harry and the others befriending Asia, the fight against Viser, and the Fallen plotting. And this will be the last chapter for a while, as I've burnt myself out doing this and other fics, and I don't know exactly what to do with the next chapter. That being said, this has already become one of my most popular fics, given how soon it has been since I posted it.

Hope you liked Issei, or rather, his mother, having a connection to the Wizarding World.

1. The manga has been going on already by the events of this chapter (set in 2007), though the anime of Soul Eater is yet to be made.