One-Punch DxD: Legacy

'Sup folks! I have returned with another chapter. The reason for this short story is because I feel that, while not-so-important character, I believe Riser and Ravel Phenex may still hold some important role in my future plans, thus I re-tell this chapter with some OPM here and there. This chapter also serves as a breather after some intense arc of Loki's fiasco.

And for the reviews of previous chapter; some people said that Issei was being hypocrite about Saitama. Perhaps it's true, but try to think from Issei's perspective: Imagine, you love your mother dearly, but you have some estranged relationship with your father, who your mother still loves very much. I believe it was normal for Issei to get angry when he assumed that his father had cheated on his ever-faithful-and-loving mother. Not to mention, I think cheating with drunken woman of all things, was rather frowned upon. So… thoughts? Besides, this particular topic will be approached a little as you read this chapter. Enjoy, and R&R!

Intermission – The (Un)Resurrected Phoenix

It was the day when Ravel Phenex suddenly visited to the Occult Research Club after school. Apparently, the young girl had been worried for the condition of her brother, Riser Phenex, ever since his defeat by the hands of Hyoudou Issei, The Red Dragon Emperor and Rias Gremory's Pawn. According to Ravel, Riser had been isolated himself from outside world, and the third son had developed severe fear of dragons and dragon-related matters. In order to remedy the so-called 'pathetic' state of Riser – or so Ravel said – the Phenex clan decided to seek aid from Rias Gremory's peerage to teach Riser something about 'fortitude'.

Issei agreed, considering that he was the one who had defeated Riser Phenex in the first place. With Rias' permission, the group then made a quick trip towards the Phenex clan's territory in the Underworld.

When Issei stepped his foot upon Phenex clan estate, Issei found that the castle where Riser lived was, while it roughly the same size as Gremory estate, Phenex estate possessed a sense of grandeur from several huge torches of blazing fire on top of several towers, with Phenex insignia on the wall of the main building. After walking pass all of the servants from Riser's peerage, who bowed in greeting respectfully towards the guests, Rias, Issei and Ravel finally arrived at the door leading towards Riser's bed-chamber.

When they finally met Riser – who was baited with the notion of his former fiancée visiting him – Issei could only described Riser Phenex's state in one word: pathetic, just as Ravel had surmised. When Riser's eyes met with Issei's, the former suddenly shrieked like a scared little girl and begged for him and Rias to leave him alone.

After Ravel's several attempts to get him out of his room, everyone; Rias, Issei, Ravel and Riser were assembled at the court yard of the palace with Riser heavily frowned while mumbling curses with Issei preparing several bag-packs.

"So what are we going to do now?" Rias asked with her arms crossed under her bust.

"Hmm…. He's supposed to arrive by now…" Issei only replied as he finished the adjustments of his supplies and equipment.

As if on cue, a gust of wind appeared from the sky, followed by a giant figure of a reptilian creature in purple scales. "It has been a while since I met you people." A booming voice was heard from the purple dragon.

Everyone widened their eyes, while Riser's eyes were widened in fear at the sight of the former dragon king Tannin. "A-An ultimate-class devil… As well as a l-legendary d-dragon!?" Riser stuttered as his body was stumbling down at the sight of Tannin.

"Thanks for coming, old ma-… What the hell?" Issei's greeting was cut-short when he spotted Saitama was riding on Tannin's shoulder.

"Saitama-san?" Rias blinked at the unexpected appearance of the bald man.

"'Sup?" Saitama greeted nonchalantly at the youngsters while he stood on Tannin's shoulder.

"The hell are you doing here?!" Issei asked with incredulous tone. The boy honestly thought that the frequency of him running to his father had been increasing as the time passed.

"Well, I was visiting Tannin's dragon apple garden here." Saitama hopped down to the ground.

"Saitama was helping me tending the dragon apple tree in my garden as he has always been. When I heard Hyoudou Issei's call, I thought that Saitama would like to tag along as well." Tannin provided with his explanation.

Issei could only sigh in resignation at Tannin's explanation. Then, he noticed at the corner of his eyes, Ravel had been staring at Saitama. Riser on the other hand, was still too busy being terrified at Tannin's visage to even acknowledge the human's presence. "Right, I guess you haven't met him yet. Ravel-san, this is my… father. Pops, Ravel Phenex." Issei proceeded to introduce his father to the Phenex lady.

Ravel, seemingly out of her stupor, quickly straightened herself and made few steps forward towards Saitama. "My name is Ravel Phenex, pleased to be your acquaintance, sir." She greeted courtly.

"The name's Saitama. Nice to meet you, too." Saitama replied with a nod.

Seeing that the introduction was now out of the way, Issei turned to see Tannin criticising Riser's state of being. "Old man Tannin! We were asked by the Phenex to train him something about fortitude, do you think you can help with that?"

"Hmm… Fortitude, huh? I've heard about his defeat by your hands…. Alright, that sounds good." Tannin replied. "Shall we go to my mountains, then? I know a suitable place to train this fellow."

"NOOOO!" Riser shrieked and took off to the sky with his fiery wings. However, Tannin's giant hand quickly trapped him before the devil could have gone too far.

"Do not run away!" Tannin harshly growled. "If you are a man, then prepare yourself!"

"Say, Ise…" Saitama asked as he stared at Riser in Tannin's clutch. "Who is that?"

"That's Ravel-san's brother, Riser Phenex."

"So… What I heard earlier… About you said… So we're gonna have to train this guy?" Saitama asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Issei shrugged.

oXo

"Make sure you contact me if you need any help!" Rias gave her last instruction while everyone was preparing to depart towards the training venue. "Though, you will probably just fine with him around." Rias silently mused as her eyes glanced towards Saitama, who also wanted to join as well.

Issei and Saitama had climbed on Tannin while Riser remained within Tannin's grasp. "Why are you coming along, again? You should just go home." Issei raised his eyebrow at his father.

However, before Saitama could have replied, Ravel suddenly rushed forward. "Please take me along with you!"

Issei and Saitama blinked at the girl, who had resolute look on her face. "I also want to help my brother as well!" The girl pushed on.

Tannin's corner of his lips twitched upwards ever so slightly. "That girl has a good look in her eyes. Hyoudou Issei and Saitama, why don't you two look after her in the mountains?"

Issei and Saitama only shared a brief glance at each other before Rias provided the answer for them.

"Ise, it's fine." The two men turned towards the Crimson Ruin Princess. "Please take Ravel with you."

It only took a second before Issei smiled and extended his arm in invitation. "Alright, then. Let's go, Ravel!"

The young girl's expression then brightened as she conjured her fiery wings to fly towards Tannin's shoulder. Riser was struggling futilely in Tannin's grasp and had his expression getting paler as Tannin took off to the sky.

"NOOOO! WHY THE FUCK DO I HAVE TO GO TO MOUNTAINS FILLED WITH DRAGONS!?"

"This is for your own good, onii-sama! Please bear with it!" Ravel retorted as she took a spot beside Issei on one of Tannin's shoulders, while Saitama took a spot on the other shoulder.

After a while, they finally made it to the mountain range within Tannin's territory. Everyone could only described the marvellous place as canyons and valleys with dragons of various sizes and forms roaming around. While Riser was seemingly could wet his pants at any moment's notice from the sight of dragon colony, Issei and Ravel were more like children being taken to an amusement park for the first time.

"Wow, just…. Wow." Issei could only say those words while Ravel was rendered speechless. "Pops, you've been coming to this place?" the boy asked his father, who was concocting face of indifference.

"Yeah, from time to time." Saitama shrugged as he managed a small smile, as he took the sight of the dragon population.

Then, a large azure dragon with what appeared to be blue jewels adorning its body on several parts. "Lord Tannin, did you call for me?" the said dragon greeted as he flew by Tannin's side.

The purple dragon king then proceeded to introduce one of his new compatriots. "This is a blizzard dragon that has been serving under me."

"Oh, Saitama-dono! 'Tis good to see you again!" the blizzard dragon greeted when he noticed Saitama's presence. "I truly thank you again for the favour from the other day!"

"It's fine, really." Saitama waved off. "How are the kids, by the way?"

"They are faring well. Please make time to visit my lair if you can. My family would love to meet you again." The azure dragon bowed his head.

As they passed more dragons, some of the dragons seemed to notice that Saitama was riding on Tannin.

"Hey, look! It's Saitama!"

"Saitama is coming by again!"

Saitama only waved his hand every now and then at the sight of dragons calling out to him. It was actually a rather strange experience, especially during the first times. Saitama used to fight this kind of creatures, and now he was hailed and befriending the sort of creatures he had fought during his younger days. If his old friends from Hero Association were to see this….. Well, he had no idea how they would have reacted.

"Ise-sama…" Ravel spoke as she and Issei were watching the exchange. "Your father is… amazing."

"He's just that kind of man." Issei also looked around at the dragons that greeted his father from left and right. "…I did hear that guy is old man Tannin's friend, but I didn't expect that he is this famous."

"Your father did not only help in nurturing the dragon apple, he also lent his help on various tasks and errands for many of my people." Tannin explained. "For us dragons here, Saitama is indeed a dear friend."

"Oh, the boy with similar signature of our kind… You are Saitama's son, the current Red Dragon Emperor, are you not?" Blizzard dragon then proceeded to greet Issei. "I'm looking forward to get to know you!"

"Ah… Yeah, nice to meet you too." Issei awkwardly replied.

"Riser Phenex." Tannin then turned towards the male-devil in his grasp. "You will spend your days with my kin in this mountains, training your mind and body from square one!"

"Uuuhhh…. Why is this happening to me?"

To sum up Riser Phenex's training: the Phenex devil had been sparring and chased around by blizzard dragon, a high-class dragon with the worst compatibility against Riser, much to his chagrin. Ravel, Issei and Saitama also accompanied during the training per Tannin's saying, "Those who do not work, do not eat." The dragon just had no soft spot for slackers. The training did not only consist of sparring, as Riser was also forced to do a mil-run, rock-climbing, and survival; which he practically dragged himself along the way while Issei and Saitama went along those training course without much difficulty. At the very least, Ravel was allowed to ride on the blizzard dragon's back to supervise her brother's progress, while Saitama would watch over his son.

It was another day of the training trip, while Riser was still fighting – or rather, being chased around – by the Blizzard Dragon; Ravel, Issei and Saitama were having a morning tea-time over pancakes in the middle of the snow storm. Saitama and Issei were still in their winter garment while Ravel herself was dressed in red velvet dress despite the weather, even she had gone far enough to prepare ornate chairs and table, along with parasol, for the occasion. In order to shield her from cold weather, Ravel also conjured a spell behind her as make-shift heater.

As the three sat together on the same table, Ravel was fidgeting nervously as she stared at Saitama. From her perspective, unlike Issei who had been taught proper table manner by a certain Lady Gremory, Saitama's posture was improper for tea-time: his body was rather slouched lazily, one of his hands was propped on the table and he rested his chin on it, and while eating his share of pancake, Saitama simply used the fork to play around with the food before cutting it lousily instead of using the cutlery prepared for him. The girl wanted to berate or rebuke the man for his lack of table manner, but another reasoning stopped her from doing so: firstly, Saitama was a neutral guest, and as the host who had offered the treat in the first place, Ravel had to let Saitama's impolite behaviour slide for once; secondly, not that she wanted to admit it, Saitama could be considered as 'future family', so she had to watch her own actions in order not to offend him in any way.

On another note, for all Ravel knew, Saitama was supposed to be a human. However, having seen the man easily made friends of legendary creatures like dragons (she even heard rumours that Saitama also befriended the Crimson Satan), as well as revered rather highly by those dragons, perhaps the human possessed a considerable amount of power? Ravel had learned enough not to take things on face-value.

"It's been 3 days since the training began." Ravel spoke, choosing to finally ignore Saitama's 'lack of manners', or so she viewed it. "How is my brother doing?"

"Err… I think we should ask how are you doing in that dress." Saitama retorted with sweat-drop. "Seriously, aren't you cold?" the man furrowed his brows at the sight of Ravel's outfit being so out of place.

"No, I'm fine." Ravel replied with a blush. "It is only proper for a lady from a noble family to wear a dress for morning tea…" However, Ravel made a cute sneeze as soon as she finished saying those words.

"See? You are cold." Saitama pointed out, garnering a blush from the blonde. "Little girls like you shouldn't push yourself too hard."

"I-I said I'm fine! I'm might be young, but I'm a member of the aspiring Phenex household. This little breeze is nothing." Ravel retorted. She inwardly became even more embarrassed for the show of improper attitude herself like sneezing and her outburst in front of her potential father-in-law. "More importantly, you haven't answered my question about my brother."

"Well, if Riser is really as tough as he's supposed to be, he is going to be just fine after a while." Issei replied, as well as cutting in as the peacemaker. He honestly also questioned about Ravel's choice of attire due to the weather and place, but he knew better than questioning someone as stubborn as Ravel Phenex about her proper decorum. "By the way, this pancake is delicious. Right, pops?"

Saitama then blinked at his son, and the older man proceeded to take a bite of his share of pancakes. "Mmhm, this is good." For now, Issei managed to answer Ravel's question and defusing the hostile air as well.

"Is that so?" Ravel asked with bright expression. "I got the ingredients from the dragons, but there were some ingredients that were unavailable… So I wasn't satisfied with how they turned out…. Do you truly like them?" the girl ended with blushing face.

"Yeah, why would I lie about it?" Issei asked back as he took another bite of his pancake.

"These are really good. Not as good as my wife's, but still pretty good." Saitama added his two-cents.

"O-of course!" Ravel then boastfully replied, ignoring Saitama's comparing her cooking with someone else in favour of Issei's own compliments. "You can count yourselves lucky…" Then Ravel remembered that she was in the presence of Issei's father. Don't go all high and mighty now, Ravel. "I-I mean, you can count of me to make more if you wish so." Ravel said while fidgeting.

"Sure thing." Issei said as he took another bite.

"Wha-!? What's with that response?!" Ravel shouted, as she expected some more enthusiasm from the boy. "And I woke up so early in the morning…." Ravel muttered.

"Early in the morning?" Issei looked back to Ravel, who in return was flustered.

"N-no, I can make even dozens of pancakes in no time!" the girl clumsily cut a piece of her cake before taking a bite. "I just happened to wake up early in the morning…"

Saitama raised an eyebrow at Ravel's attitude. The girl's behaviour reminded him a lot of a certain esper with attitude. Only the difference was, Ravel had more manners and was nice enough to treat him some delicious tea and pancakes. Tatsumaki and Fubuki… He did not even know if they could cook a cup instant noodle.

Speaking of those girls…. Saitama remembered that the elder sister was in fact, older than him. That revelation taught him a lesson something about women's age. On the other hand, as far as his experience with devils, many of them could alter their appearance despite their age that might be at least centuries old. And this information brought him this question; how old was the young girl before him? Sure her body was developed enough, she spoke like a lady, but her attitude was not exactly mature.

"Say, Ravel…" Saitama started as he carefully considered his next words. "What year would you be if you're going to human school?"

Ravel blinked once at Saitama's question, before she smiled contently. "Very well, I shall answer your question. In human high-school, I would be a first-year."

"Oh, I see." Saitama nodded. "So you are younger than Ise, after all."

"Next time, I would like to try Kuoh Academy's uniform." Ravel then spoke again with cheerful tone, before her expression became bashful. "And…. Can I also come and visit your place next time?" the girl asked with meek tone.

Issei blinked but he quickly replied with bright smile. "Yeah sure, come anytime you want. And that uniform will definitely suit you." That comment garnered a bright smile on Ravel's face.

"Th-Then, I will come and visit without any hesitation! It's also the duty of a high-class devil to understand the living style of a commoner in the human world!" Ravel replied excitedly.

Saitama raised his eyebrows as he snorted internally. Ravel Phenex was truly a girl with attitude, but not overall unpleasant.

"Oh, yes. I heard that Rias-sama and the others will be coming to this mountain." Ravel then remembered something. "It appears that they want to try the natural hot spring near here."

Saitama then nudged his son's arm while sporting a knowing smirk. "You hear that, kid? If you want, I can arrange something with Rias to give you sometime alone with your girlfriend."

"Dad!" Issei retorted with a blush on his face. However, Ravel seemed to freeze at the mention of the word 'girlfriend'. One could say that when the word 'girlfriend' was registered in Ravel's mind, her shock was also followed by Riser's indignant scream from the distance, and followed again by a dragon's roar.

"Ravel?" Issei turned to see Ravel's odd expression. "Is something wrong?"

"Ah, I'm sorry… By you mean 'girlfriend', who are you…?" Ravel trailed off with some uncertainty in her tone.

"Oh, I guess you didn't know." Issei then smiled sheepishly. "Do you remember Asia Argento, the bishop from my group? I just started going out with her not long ago."

"I… see." Ravel smiled faintly as she looked down with somewhat dejected expression. However, before Issei and Saitama could have said anything, Ravel's expression brightened almost immediately. "In that case, I'm happy for you."

"Yeah, thanks." Issei replied with his own smile.

As the day went on, Saitama caught Ravel muttering something to herself as her face did not lose the fire she usually had. Ravel Phenex may have lost the battle, but she had yet to lose the war. After all, harem end was possible for devils.

oXo

That night, Riser Phenex was wide-awake in his sleeping bag, as he, Issei and Saitama was camping inside the cave within the mountains. After that gruelling hell called training with a giant dragon, Riser finally found an opportunity to find his paradise in that god-forsaken mountain, thanks to his miraculously sharp hearing to eavesdrop the conversation between his little sister and the Red Dragon Emperor regarding Rias and her peerage to come for the hot spring in the mountains.

He might not be engaged with Rias Gremory anymore, but that did not mean that he could not enjoy some beautiful sight of her body. Not to mention that most members of her peerage consisted of women that were beautiful in their own right. He had set his mind; he shall indulge himself after hard days of work and training, and nobody could and/or would stop him.

Riser peeked from his sleeping bag to see two other sleeping bags behind the camp-fire that divided their 'territory'. One belonged to Hyoudou Issei, while the other one was…. Who was it again? Yes, that human father of the Red Dragon Emperor. Riser needed some time to remember the man due to the latter's 'unimpressive' face.

When Riser took a glance at Issei's sleeping bag, his lips turned into a smirk. Heh, how Riser wanted to rub it on the bastard's face that he would have a look at his former fiancee's naked body, perhaps Riser should have landed a blow or two to his face after the past humiliation and dragging Riser into this mess. However, Riser decided to not wasting time to be petty, focused on his objective and proceed to stealthily get out from his sleeping bag and walk towards the exit.

However, when he was only half-way towards the exit, he suddenly spotted Saitama appeared at the mouth of the cave. The man was carrying what it seemed to be dry logs in his arm.

"Hm…?" Saitama hummed as his eyes met with Riser's. "What are you doing?"

Riser looked back to find that the sleeping bag where Saitama was supposed to sleep in was actually empty, and clicked his tongue silently at the unexpected obstacle. Years of Rating Games and surprisingly, the hellish training and the humiliation Riser had suffered in the past had taught him to keep his cool in sticky situations. No need to make a fuss over a mere human. The objective was to sneak out towards women's hot spring without alerting the Red Dragon Emperor, thus it would be ideal for Riser to buy his way out without raising any ruckus.

"I, err…." Riser carefully thought a decent excuse to step out. "I just want to take a leak."

"You know, if you want to take a leak, there is a spot in that cave that can be used as make-shift toilet, since the hole is connected to another part of the mountain. You don't need to bother coming out in this cold night." Saitama retorted with skeptical look.

"Then…. What are you doing yourself out there in that cold?" Riser asked back, panic started to litter his tone.

"I just got additional fire woods from the dragons in case the camp fire would not last for the whole night." Saitama emphasized his point by showing the stack of logs.

Riser forced himself to calm down. There was no need to worry just yet, the human before him had not suspected anything concrete about him. "Ah… Right, I'll help myself then." Riser bluffed his way out with forced smile as he turned his heels around towards the inner parts of the cave. He could still do this, he just had to wait a bit longer for Saitama to go back to sleep, and went on his merry way. After all, the night was still young and from what he knew about his little sister, women tend to take at least an hour or two when enjoying a hot spring; he still had plenty of time.

However, when Riser moved across the camp-fire, Issei suddenly woke up from his slumber, much to Riser's chagrin. The boy hummed as he rubbed his drowsy eyes and turned towards Riser and his father. "Hmm…? Riser-san, what are you doing?"

"He just wanted to take a leak." Saitama answered for Riser, who felt fortunate that he did not need to bother to bluff his way out again.

"…Is that so?" Issei said drowsily as he slowly got out from his sleeping bag as well. "Alright, I need to go to the toilet as well…"

"It's fine, it's fine…. I just need to wait for these two to go back to sleep…" Riser inwardly calmed himself. There was no need for a fuss if he could save his energy.

As the two walked into the deeper parts of the inner cave, the two found the 'hole' that was indeed convenient enough to be used as their make-shift toilet. As the two proceeded to relief themselves, Riser suddenly struck with another tempting thought. Right now, Riser was already finished early since he did not intend to urinate in the first place, while Issei was still have some water to be excreted. The boy's back was wide open, and Riser had the best opportunity to deal with the nuisance, used the boy to distract the human, and quickly got away before they could have known what happened. It was time-saving, and if the Red Dragon Emperor was out of commission, there was no way for him and his human father to catch up with him when Riser took off to the sky. After all, Phoenix is the master of the sky aside from Dragons.

Riser then steadily raised his hand and gathered his power on the said hand, ready to deliver the blow that would knock out the unsuspecting Red Dragon Emperor in one strike. However, before Riser could have done anything else, Saitama's voice interrupted him.

"Hey, Riser!" the man's voice caused Riser to reluctantly pause on his track as he and Issei had to turn towards the source of Saitama's voice. Saitama, who came upon them from the corner, was carrying Riser's sleeping bag that was stuffed with concoctions and paper with half-assed face drawing. "Why are you stuffing your sleeping bag like this?"

Now things had come down on Riser's side as the man looked back and forth between Saitama and Issei, who just zipped up his pants back. Now the father and son were staring at him, expecting an answer.

"Err… Well, it's…" Riser looked left and right as he was wrecking his brain to come up with a decent, acceptable answer. He had wasted enough time as it was, the girls were probably having fun in the hot spring by now.

However, Saitama's next words were the final nail to the coffin. "Seriously, you looked like you want to sneak out without telling us or something."

"Okay, that's it." Riser could no longer bluff his way out, now that Saitama and Issei had become suspicious enough of his actions. It was time for the Phenex third son to swim or sink. "A mere human like you shouldn't have poked your nose into business of your betters!" Riser flared out his fiery wings and dashed towards Saitama, who was in the way of his exit, in the way of his 'paradise'.

Dragon might be one thing, but there was no way for Riser Phenex, a high-class devil who was also the third son of the esteemed Phenex clan, the wielder of the power of the Immortal Bird itself over regeneration, fire and wind; to lose against a mere human, even if the said human was the father of the Red Dragon Emperor. Once Riser made a quick work on him, he would immediately fly out towards the hot spring, and shake off the Red Dragon Emperor if necessary should he gave chase.

Or so that was supposed to happen in Riser's scenario. However, unfortunately for him, Saitama was by no means a normal human.

Issei was too late to react as Riser made his way towards Saitama with his flaming fist cocked backwards, ready to be thrown towards Saitama's head, the bald man himself simply stay where he stood as Riser's fist was getting closer by seconds. "Ah! Wait, don't-!" Issei cried out as he stretched his hand futilely at Riser.

BONK!

Alas, the next thing that happened was Riser was out cold, his body fell to the ground in awkward angle while his face was sporting a large swollen on his cheek. Issei only sighed in exasperation and he turned to give a dry glare towards his father.

"What?" Saitama asked as he believed that he did nothing wrong. "He just charged at me all of sudden."

"We're supposed to fix him!" Issei hissed out. "Now we probably have to start all over again…" Then Issei fortunately got himself an idea. "…Or not. Pops, help me to carry his body back to the sleeping bag."

"Um, sure." Saitama and Issei then proceeded to carry Riser's body. The son was supporting Riser's upper half while the father supporting the lower half. "What are you planning?"

"Basically, making this 'never happened'." Issei replied. "Once Riser-san wakes up, we have to convince him that whatever happened tonight was nothing but a dream."

"Do you think it will work?" Saitama asked.

"Of course it will work. Rather, it has to work. Otherwise we'll have to spend more time in getting him back in shape." Issei said as he finished tucking Riser inside his sleeping bag. "Alright, he's tucked up. His wound should heal by tomorrow morning, given his regeneration. Now help me cleaning up the ground where you just knocked him out."

X

"Alright, that should do for now." Issei said as he dusted his hands off after he had cleaned up and covered every possible evidences - covering holes, discarding Riser's decoys, etc., etc. - of one-sided beating of Riser by Saitama.

Saitama on the other hand, after helping Issei covering up everything, just recalled that he had something to talk about to his son. He planned to wait for a bit longer after this whole training fiasco had been dealt with, but now was as good time as any. "Ise…" the man called out, causing his son to turn to him. "We need to talk."

"What is it?" Issei asked, noticing the hint of seriousness in his father's tone.

"It's about your body." Saitama replied. "The girls told me about what happened during the fiasco with Loki. Anything you want to tell me?"

Issei narrowed his eyes for a second, before he averted his gaze away. "…It's nothing you should worry about."

"Ise." Saitama's voice became slightly sterner. "Come on, kid. Look at me."

Issei slowly met his gaze with his father's sharp look. Few seconds later, Saitama gave a short sigh. "….Okay, I know that I may not be a good dad…. But at least let me help you."

The old Saitama would have just left Issei alone on his device, just what he usually did to other people who refused his offer. If they were sure that they could handle their problems just fine, why should he force himself? Those people could ask him if they were really cornered. It was fine either with his help or not, as long as the problem was solved.

However, after having a family, meeting his wife and son, Saitama just… changed, in a way or perhaps two. He knew that his son still pretty much disliked him, and he still had a long way to go to earn his full trust and respect, but hell, Saitama just could not bring himself to leave his flesh and blood alone, especially when he recalled about his condition from the girls during the fight with the Norse Evil God.

Both Issei and Saitama stared to one another for a while, and Issei finally relented as he looked away with a sigh. "….Fine." The boy said. "There's this something…."

oXo

"….Oookay, that's not what I expected to hear." Saitama mused after Issei explained his 'peculiar' condition. The thing that happened to his son was similar with what happened to him in a way, and different in lots of ways.

"So are you feeling fine now?" Saitama asked.

"So far so good." Issei shrugged. "But Ddraig told me that whatever inside me only spiked up when I was pretty much in danger."

Saitama blinked as he stared into his son before he spoke again. "Say, Ise. Did you brush your teeth properly?"

This time, it was Issei's turn to blink. "….What?"

"Do you nurse your teeth properly?" Saitama repeated his question. "Do you take good care of your body? Do you have any sickness? Stomach-ache? Muscle-ache? Anything like it? Anything wrong with your body?"

Issei was now narrowing his eyes in incredulous manner. What was with those questions?

"Err… No, I'm pretty much healthy." Issei shrugged, running his arms to show his body.

"…I see." Saitama nodded, but he did not understand what was going on anymore. If his hunch, as well as learning from his experience was correct and matching, there was only one possible explanation.

Hyoudou Issei's body was undergoing the 'transformation', or by other words, 'the awakening'.

But in Saitama's case, the pain he suffered was from the cavity of his bad tooth. When the bad tooth had been removed, Saitama's 'transformation' only consisted of loss of hair. And there was his son, Issei; he claimed he did not suffer any kind of illness, assuming that he was telling the truth, if Issei was undergoing 'transformation' like Saitama, the worst could happen was he would go bald like he was. However….

Seriously, what the hell is going on?

Saitama was no expert or any adept in scientific or medical stuff, Genos or the doctors from his old home were, but in the whole new world and environment, nobody could really tell what did and would happen. Rubbing his head, Saitama could only sigh in resignation as he decided to go along with the flow for the time being.

"Well, then I guess it's alright for now." Saitama concluded the talk. "You know what, want to go to the hot spring?"

"Eh?" Issei blinked. "You mean, like now?"

"Duh. I mean, after this little bout with that Riser dude over there, you probably are wide-awake by now. I'd say a good relaxing bath can help you sleep better. What do you say?"

Issei pondered his father's offer for a minute. True, thanks to the sudden stunt Riser pulled on them, now Issei just lost his 'sleepiness' and would likely need a while to get his sleep back. A nice bath in natural hot spring could ease up his nerve, and there was no harm of doing that after long day of hard work.

It was a well-deserved bath. "Meh. Lead the way, then." Issei accepted the offer with a shrug.

"This is… nice." Issei said after giving a soft moan as he felt the heat of the water seeped into his system. Saitama himself was enjoying the hot water not far across him.

"Tell me about it."

Indeed, as Issei and Saitama had said, it was a nice place for relaxation. It appeared that someone had been maintaining the hot spring, taking care of the location to be clean enough for tourist and travellers to stop by. Not only the pillars and some natural ruins decorating the surrounding waters, there were several lanterns being lit up to give some visuals on surrounding area. Not to mention, the artificial moon of the underworld enhanced the visual aesthetic, as the moon illuminated the mountainous region.

The father and son fell into companionable silence as they soaked their bodies with the hot water, while staring at the starless night sky. "…Y'know, I want to apologize again for the other day, when you told me the thing between you and Rossweisse-san." Issei broke the silence.

"I told you, it's fine." Saitama simply waved off. "Besides, I guess I know that you really love your mother. That's good." The man smiled contently.

"I can still hardly believe that she still madly in love with you even after you neglecting her for fifteen years…" Issei shook his head with a small sigh. "With her devoting so bad to you, of course I expect you to give the best to her."

"Yeah, I gotta admit, I still think that she's way out of my league." Saitama nodded. "But enough about me. Come on, what do you think of the girls?"

"If you're asking about Asia…. Well, I guess I'm the same with you; she's way out of my league." Issei chuckled. "Seriously, she's just…. One of a kind."

"True, true." Saitama nodded in agreement. Bluntly said, Asia Argento could be considered as a highly 'endangered species' of womankind. "But I'm not asking about that. What do you think about having a harem?"

Issei only narrowed his eyes and sent his father a dirty look. "…Are you serious right now?"

"I'm dead serious." Saitama replied. "Your mother would gonna kill me if I were to make a harem, but remember, she wants grandchildren. She will fly over the moon if she finds that you are popular with the ladies."

"…Are you saying that, mom wants grandchildren so bad that she wouldn't mind if I have a….. harem?" Issei summed up.

"Yeah, pretty much." Saitama shrugged. "Besides, I myself don't mind to have a grandkid or two."

"You? Being a grandpa?" Issei replied rather sceptically.

"Don't go rude on me now, kid." Saitama retorted while narrowing his own eyes. "To tell you the truth, one of my happiest moments was…" Saitama paused as he found himself flustered for particular reason. "Well, it was when I saw your mother caring for the baby you. Seeing Haruka spoiling her grandchildren doesn't sound bad at all to me." Saitama said as he scratched his cheek sheepishly.

Issei blinked at his father's expression. "Grandchildren…. Having my own kids, huh?" Issei pondered as he imagined having kids with the woman he loved. His first thought should have been Asia, his girlfriend. However, suddenly the image of Rias, Akeno and other girls he knew suddenly popped out in his mind as well, causing his face to flush and the boy shaking his head to banish such a strange thought.

However, the moment between father and son soon came to end as they felt multiple presences arrived at the hot spring they were currently in. Through the steam of hot water, the girls from the Occult Research Club and Ravel appeared, clad only with towel wrapping around their torso.

"Ise? Saitama-san?"

"Ise-san? Dear father? Are you here to see us?"

"My, my, ufufu~. Ise-kun and Saitama-san are here as well?"

"Oh, it's good to see you two again, Ise and Saitama-dono."

"Good evening, Ise-senpai, Saitama-san."

"I-Ise-kun? And Saitama-san too?!"

"W-w-w-what are you two doing here?!"

"Ise-sama? Mr. Saitama?"

Rias, Asia, Akeno, Xenovia and Koneko did not seem to mind the boys' presences, while Irina and Rossweisse still had not used to have people of opposite gender to join the same bath as them yet, as the former Valkyrie and reincarnated angel quickly retreated to one of the rocks for their hiding spot.

Issei blinked before his eyes widened at the sight of the girls, then he turned to his father. "Pops, I thought this is the men's corner!?"

"I… thought it is." Saitama could only reply with those words. "Erm, sorry about that, girls. We'll move out right away." Saitama and Issei quickly stood up from their sitting position and wrapped their towels to cover their private parts. Bathing in the limited space of the bathroom in their home residence may be one thing, but to have bath at the larger space like the hot spring in the mountains, where the men could give the women some privacy? Not to mention, Ravel Phenex was most likely not the type to easily share a bath with men.

Speaking of Ravel, the girl could not tear her gaze away from Issei and Saitama's figures when the two males stood up from the water, leaving their well-toned muscles and abs for the girls to see. Those from Hyoudou Residence and Occult Research Club might have gotten used at the still-magnificent (they actually never get tired of it) sight of Issei and Saitama's lean muscular body, but it was Ravel's first time to see them.

During the course of her life, Ravel Phenex had a fair share of the sight of men's body. The men in particular are her three elder brothers; there would be times when Ravel would have some siblings skin-ship with her brothers during her younger years. Her brothers who had reached adulthood that time had quite impressive bodies befitting Phenex clansmen, according to herself.

However, Hyoudou Issei and Saitama were simply on a whole different level. Their bodies were leaned, but packed with muscles – completely useful muscles with purpose instead of bulging nonsense of body builders. To make matters worse, the remains of the hot water coating their bodies, added with the effect of the surrounding lightings had made as if their bodies were sparkling.

Her breathing hitched as Ravel swallowed a large lump as her gaze was glued on the physical appeal – especially those perfectly toned abs - of the father and son, and she felt her face grew hotter and hotter.

"Ravel?" Issei's voice snapped her out of her reverie and Ravel found everyone else was staring at her. "…Are you okay?"

It was only then Ravel realised that something was flowing out from her nose. Her face was flushed red and she reached out her hand to find that she was having a minor nosebleed. At her own display of reaction, her face was now getting redder from sheer embarrassment.

She gasped, her breathings were erratic as she was too embarrassed of her own reactions. "Ah… Awa-wa-wa-wa… Uh…" she could not made any comprehensive words as her mind drew blanks. "….ISE-SAMA, YOU PERVEEERT!" In the end, Ravel simply snapped at the boy as blazing flames gathered around her body.

"What the- WHY ME!?" Issei shouted incredulously as a large fireball was thrown right at his and Saitama's direction.

As the explosion echoed across the mountain, followed by a large pillar of fire, the night of relaxing bath for Issei and Saitama had ended up rather eventful. Next day afterwards, Issei put his best effort not exactly to train Riser, but to convince the latter that the man was merely having a bad dream about being defeated single-handedly by a mere human.

By the end of the training, Riser had pretty much been cured of his funk and returned to his usual boastful self, albeit not as cocky as before. Ravel on the other hand, seemingly to avoid Issei and Saitama for more reason than one. It would take a while for Ravel Phenex to be able to look straight at the Hyoudous again.

To be continued…

That's the wrap, folks! I hope I have done enough justice in writing the story and characters within this interlude. No flame, please. Ahsoei, over and out.