A legend among Devils

by theLawbringer

The devils face a power vacuum thats divided the species in two with the death of the originals. with this, The Underworld is consumed into a Civil war that threatens the eradication of the very species itself. however, a new arrival appears at the peek of the conflict, a man with potential far beyond imagination... (Civil war timeline/OP OC/Harem/Canon time line coming soon...)

26. Revels and Revelations

-Revels and Revelations-

"Well... I guess I never really considered my true limits when approaching my inevitable clash with Dragon king Tannin—as I didn't exactly expect to learn anything from the fight, other than affirming my unreasonably high durability being more then it was... which somehow managed to beat out a dragon.

That was... comforting – and also ego empowering – ... but if it was anything less then what it was then I'd imagine I'd be feeling that fight more so then I did after the fact...

However, in all honesty of the matter itself – and according to Ventus and Fulgur – I had actually discovered a new degree of power whilst fighting Tannin...

They had called it 'instinct zone'...

I wanted to call it 'ultra Instinct' but... yeah... apparently I wasn't THAT good... yet...

Apparently, due to Tannin's incredible durability and power, he had managed to force my own instincts into overdrive—leaving my mind no choice but to overcome my usual human limits without conscious awareness; such as hesitation, fear and doubt... such a thing led me to literally inducting my senses completely towards combat... and I Honestly enjoyed it...

And I gotta say—the movies are dog shit compared to what dragons truly act like in fights; there's no slow lumbering swipes and constant breath attacks—no, them motherfucka's come at you like you owe them some fricking money.

Fast and powerful—truly the Apex of the supernatural world, I don't think anything could truly compete with their tenacity... well... there was one...

...Anyway

Dark souls got a lot easier upon that realization.

Aside from my tussle with Tannin, it was easy to tell I had earned a place to call the shots in some sense of the matter – not like Tannin would argue against Tiamat's word that is – but, again—the objective had been met... the dragons were on our side...

Now all we had to do was take Ashfeld...

Before that however... well... I had some shit to deal with... some deep shit"

---

[Crimson Dagger Operations Log: 09/ field summary: with the success of Dagger-1's clash with the Dragon king – now identified as 'Tannin' – all preparations for the siege on Ashfeld were met/ priority objective: locate and extract the three remaining blackmailed families under cover of Dragon support/ secondary objective's: locate and eliminate HVT's 'lady lucifage' and descendant 'Shalba Beelzebub'/ operation notes: if HVT 'Shalba Beelzebub' is located, it is advised that Tannin be the one to 'dance' with the target... all outcomes otherwise is unacceptable]

---

[Somewhere within Ashfeld/ Sulfur field mines]

---

"How goes your progress, Shalba?"

"All schedules have been met my Lord Lucifer—the 'unwilling' have been perfectly situated into their roles"

"I see... what of their heirs? What means have you used to 'motivate' their parents?"

"The Vassago family's son is being kept isolated—I'm sure a long time separated will be perfect enough to break him. The Amon family daughter is also being kept isolated..."

"Interesting... what do you plan for them?"

"I believe I can smell a romance in the air between them—I'm sure they will get to know each other very well within time my lord... I think that isolation may speed up their bond"

"I never took you as a romantic type Shalba..."

"Heh... i merely wish to feed the lies of hope my lord—it's quite amusing when it crumbles beneath their feet"

"Hahaha! You sly devil—I like the way you think!"

"Thank you my lord..."

"Now what of Calfa Belial and her husband—what was his name again?—"

"I believe its Mallon Belial my lord—but for the most part, they both seem willing enough to cooperate... surprisingly"

"Well that's a surprise—but I guess I can't really blame them, considering young Calfa is pregnant..."

"...indeed she is"

"I'm curious—is that a normal pregnancy? Or did the men get restless?"

"I-It's normal my lord—she came down with partial symptoms of mid to late pregnancy some time ago..."

"Well that's a relief—if it had been the ladder then I would have feared for her mental stability"

.

.

.

"Well... keep your eyes on them at least—and if she finds herself resistant, you know what to do—in the mean time however, finish whatever it is your doing there and rendezvous with Katerea... with the progress of Sirzechs Gremory's efforts – along with his little bitch, Sitri – I fear their barbarism is closing in on the capital far faster then I predicted"

"It shall be done—but I'm afraid I haven't been completely updated on the Project's progress"

"It's already entered into its first stage—our efforts may uncover more answers as to what we found... however, the Anti-Satan's will reach the capital before we manage to move our efforts outside of the territory, and that will spoil our fun entirely. Return to The capital of Thorns and provide further assistance—Katerea is focusing her efforts in our search for an Infernum Armis"

"Understood—what of the one rumored to be in this region?"

"It doesn't matter in the least, lord Foras has more of an understanding as to where the one in the Thorns territory is, then in that dump—we'll have a better chance at reaching it here"

"And the Dragon's?"

"The poison should be enough to cut their water and food source off for good—they'll die out in time"

"Very well—I shall return to the Capital of Thorns in due haste... by the earliest tomorrow if I'm lucky enough; I'm sure by then this little issue in the Capital of Lilith should be resolved—what with Lady Lucifage taking the initiative by sending him of all people to deal with the rumors"

"Heheh—well she does take her task seriously... by the way—how is that little bundle of joy doing anyway? It's been some time since I've spoken with her last"

.

.

.

"She's right beside you isn't she?"

"S-she is... I must admit though—you were right... she does smell of ice"

"HAHAHA! See! I knew I wasn't the only one!—ahh; do tell her I wish her the best with her task... she – amongst you all – understands the cost of failure... am I right, lady Lucifage?"

"Yes—lord Lucifer, my forces will stomp out this issue... I can promise you that"

"...Interesting—I thought I heard some nervousness in your reply"

"I do not see the reason of such perception my lord—nervousness hardly comes into it"

"Such a tease—I was only pulling your leg my dear...but anyway—do carry on with your task; once complete; return to your usual post—your brothers constant mutterings of anxiety have been rather endearing...I'd hate to stress out the poor man anymore then he already is"

"I-I shall do as you command..."

"Shalba—Shalba! Is she blushing? ~please tell me she's blushing~"

"Ah—no... She seems to have come up with a head ache of sorts... do you desire medical treatment lucifuge?"

"No... I shall carry on with my duties as instructed—good day my lord"

"It seems I've scared her off..."

"No... She looked about ready to leave a couple moments ago—I guess your reminding of her brothers 'odd' interest has managed to push her over the edge"

"Ah well—Euclid does have that affect on her... makes me wonder why she doesn't just kill him if he makes her so uncomfortable..."

"I believe it's called 'familial resistance' my lord... even if Euclid's odd interest with her extends beyond the usual levels—I doubt she'd kill him"

"Well I guess if you put it that way I might just start having those two work together more often... maybe they may blossom into a couple in time—that family is due for a new heir after all, and Euclid seems to be the only one capable of approaching her with such lust"

"...I never took you as the Romantic type my lord"

"Hahaha! Clever throwback..."

"Heh..."

"~Ahh~... anyhow, my orders still stand—make sure you return to the Capital by tomorrow – regardless of the status – my plans are unfolding as the days go by and I want to make sure it isn't spoiled by anyone"

"I shall heed the call..."

"Good—good, if things go right for once then everything should fall into place perfectly... regardless of their unification"

"M-my lord?"

"—Carry on Shalba, in time, the True rulers of hell shall retake their place"

"...so they shall"

*Click*

---

[Dragon valley/ sometime later during the night]

---

Night had fallen over the territory a few hours after Ryden and Tannin's near cataclysmic clash—the end result of such having actually leveled a third of the valley – the mostly underpopulated area that is – with debris and ash from the resulting destruction of a local mountain—and the slight deforesting of a few acres of land

Yet—to the surprise of all dragons, it had been Dragon king Tiamat to have quelled the violence before it grew out of hand. Though, for the majority of the denizens populating the valley, none could truly argue against the clash when it came to their understanding that it had let their king blow off some steam... in a more draconic manner—some of them had started to worry over Velkhana's health, so the fight was a well received change compared to the usual nightly events.

But, when word of Tannin's opponent started to circle through the collection of dragons and fledglings, their minds honestly couldn't comprehend the sheer ridiculousness of the matter itself.

None of the dragons ever believed a human could actually managed to stand on equal footing against their king—much to Ryden's amusement when they spotted him of course; wide eyed stares and seemingly salivating grins were sent his way in more ways than normal.

Their looks varied in meaning—according to Tiamat, a small percentage perceived him as potential food, a third perceived him as a potential rival—and the blasted majority saw him as a potential mate...

Seriously... the dragons didn't know human decorum so when they desired something—they made DAMN sure the target was aware of it... though a side glare from Tiamat – a glare that Ryden never noticed – easily pushed them away before they could act on their intentions... much to Ryden's sheer relief.

For the man himself, Velkhana and Tiamat easily passed on a message to all adults present that none of them were to voice his true heritage to the devils—and in response to his simple request, all adults carried the message to their children... or at least to the ones that could keep a secret—the ones that were considered 'loose lipped' however, were simply entranced with a barely noticeable spell.

It confused him at first but Tiamat merely stated that all dragons possess a high level of perception and a strong sense of smell—allowing most of them to easily know exactly what they were speaking to. Rather convenient that Tannin hadn't blown his cover the instant they met, but Velkhana had revealed that she merely desired the secret to be kept when she had retrieved the dragon king himself prior to his edgy entrance.

In all honesty – with how pissed off the dragon was at the time – it was a miracle Tannin even considered it; however Ryden was just glad they had been out of ear shot when he'd muttered it directly into his face.

So with all that done, both he and Tannin were admitted to a medical cave for 'rebuilding'—something that felt so foreign to him that it was almost like a dream. Yet regardless, Tannin had actually breached his unnaturally high defenses and inflicted a nagging burn all over his arms and neck— yet his chest plate somehow survived almost all of the damage completely.

It was... odd. No other metal could truly compete against his skin, yet his skin had failed while the armor had survived. Though his arms felt like they had smelted under a piping hot sun for several hours, and his face and neck followed in the pain levels—his armor barely shone with a slight singe of heat. Rivia had even said the armor itself should have melted off from the fire exposure – given his failed defenses – yet considering her surprise, it was clear she hadn't alluded to a minor detail regarding its now perceived alien defenses.

Aside from the chest plates degree of worth, the medical treatment applied to both him and Tannin helped alleviate most of their issues—that being him mostly... Tannin's scales had actually melted down into hardened slag from Fulgur's lightning, so he had to go through the amusingly agonizing process of tearing off the melted chunks of scale and flesh with his claws.

Ryden would have felt bad... if Tannin hadn't been laughing the whole damn time...

Apparently he was also surprised by the outcome of their clash, and accepted each of his new scars as trophies earned from a fight that stood to be his most enjoyable since his clash with Ddraig. Ryden guessed the earlier muttering of Ryden's possible connection with the late heavenly dragon was due to the similar moment—yet Tannin had merely corrected that assessment by stating that it had been the aura he gave off at one point in the fight.

It was... nice to learn such information... to learn that you gave off the same feel as a heavenly dragon...

Ryden made sure Nyx smacked him around with a few verbal scolding's just so he could humble himself right afterwards. It even grew worse when Tiamat had commented on Tannin's observation with a genuine look of agreement – a rarity between the two dragon kings.

It had become incredibly well known to all present that Tiamat and Tannin didn't get along that well, as the both of them seemed to treat the other like siblings—really annoying siblings at that. Ryden had even found himself enraptured by Tiamat's and Tannin's interactions within the medical cave; as he had witnessed on more than one occasion, the twos almost sibling like banter. The constant nagging and advice towards Tannin's own means of removing his – and this was in his own words – 'scabs' from Tiamat came across as more worrisome then what the azure dragon let on... he had his fair share of teases towards their interactions—especially when Tannin finally started barking back at the nagging woman constantly standing at his side.

He'd tease—and they'd simply stare at him before some form of stone was flung at him from a mildly blushing Tiamat; which was then immediately complimented by an approving nod from Tannin when one of such stones pegged him between the eyes.

It did nothing but mildly aggravate the healing burns, but the accuracy was something Tannin appreciated. Then again—anything associated with a form of combat skill was considered a means of approval from the still draconic dragon king.

Speaking of which—at the time when the others had waited patiently for his release; Ryden had asked why Tannin didn't possess a human form while Tiamat however, did.

It was a random question fired off after a brief period of barrage attacks from Tiamat – after he'd pressed another tease towards the female dragon of course – which sent them both into blinking fits.

Random indeed... but they had answered Ryden's question none the less.

Apparently, male dragons – most of them presently – didn't exactly see the need in compacting what they deemed as their 'pride' into the smaller frames of human avatars. Tannin especially disliked the idea of hiding his hulking build behind a mask of pink skin—which was a response followed by a compulsive flex of his biceps; which was then followed by a small 'whap' to the back of his head from Tiamat, having obviously found the action annoying to some degree.

Remember—sibling rivalry

On the other hand, Tiamat however had a more surprising response to the question...

She liked the human form...

As in; she genuinely liked the "curvy aesthetic" that came with a female human body. On a more horrifying spectrum however—Tiamat even revealed she had tried the male form at one point, but in the end, disliked the excess muscle; as to her, the smaller frame of a female was a bit more centralized for her taste.

Ryden was surprised at first – well, correction, horrified – but quickly understood her stance on the matter when his memory of a few encounters entered his mind. If given time – and enough study – Ryden could've probably confirmed a female dragon's own physical geometry differences with their males counter parts easily without having experienced such encounters—but life had a way to make shit weird.

he'd come to notice that with all the female dragon attention he'd been getting on his spare time, as some of the more aggressive females didn't seem completely hesitant to show off their goods whenever Tiamat wasn't around to limit them—which explained why he was able to now see the differing proportions on the females.

Details are up to the imagination...

At first it was horrifying; to see usually intimidating beasts of mythical folklore strut their now distinct female characteristics like they were draconic super models—but it quickly became endearing when it was saturated with constant coaxing comments from Fulgur, and he just kinda rolled with it at that point—often times by doing what Tannin did... ignore it.

Well—a silver ling stood out to him at that moment anyway...

If Rivia and Rosalina ever did take his secret the wrong way, then he'd have some fallback options... some REALLY big fallback options.

Any-ho...

So after their small conversation, Tannin had apparently forwarded his desire for a small alliance party to his mate Velkhana—who nodded at his desire, glanced at Tiamat like any junior would a 'senpai' and skipped out when the female dragon gave the other a small nod of acknowledgement.

Ryden knew for a fact Sophia would have giggled herself blue upon witnessing such a sight—even he had to contain himself briefly when the ice dragon left—and his amusement only grew when Tiamat looked at him as if he were an idiot.

So that was Tannin's plan—drink and eat like a king for a night, and then raid the shit out of Ashfeld in the morning—by earliest dusk to be more exact. Ryden was accepting of the idea—mostly because he could tell his team hadn't exactly replenished themselves since their breakfast with the Valefor family... side note: Rena knew some damn good recipes.

So... now it was the time to see what a dragon 'party' was truly like...

---

[Sometime later]

---

Ryden was completely shell shocked with what he was seeing; a sight so completely foreign to his own mind of degenerate images and fetishes – the later being fueled by a certain sword – and fantasies filled with hours upon hours of daydreaming, as well as dozens of days worth of video game adventures—completely left him stunned silent by the sheer display before him.

Dragons of varying colors – size and designs – western and eastern descent; flew within the air in a rhythmic form of dance—a display of character completely foreign to what he knew of dragons.

His mind kept on playing out images of the dragon Smaug—the greed and hate within its eyes steaming out in vehement glares; yet the image instantly vanished when his mind snapped back to the scene of a dozen 'fledgling' dragon's – no larger than an adult German shepherd – chasing each other around in a game of tag... fire, lightning, ice and wind breath following along in their chaotic clutter of childish play.

He blinked—an action mimicked by an equally stunned Nyx, before the both of them glanced off towards a small hill side that held up a handful of adult female dragons—their expressions marred with looks of amusement as they both gossiped about which young blooded dragon would stand amongst them in the future—and momentarily glanced at the disguised human when he wasn't looking.

Ryden and Nyx blinked again before they spotted a couple male dragons standing guard over a few bond fires—fires that from what they could see, held dozens of smaller animals – skewered on large sticks – that had apparently been hunted and killed some time ago. Now however... they seem to be undergoing the BBQ stage... for a party.

It was so surreal to witness, so alien; that Ryden wondered if he'd accidentally walked into the most realistic and expensive Scalie convention on earth—A scalie convention currently featuring a fucking Tailgate party of all things.

Ryden sat silently amongst the others around a fire, their posteriors sitting heavily along a large carved out tree truck. Every single one of them was outfitted in more casually clothing, bereft of their armor. Rivia wore the dress she received from Tiamat all those days ago, while Rosalina was seen in her previous noble dress that made its appearance in the crucible. The only ones that hardly changed was Nyx and Abigail, as they merely wore their skin tight suits – obviously being stripped down from their extra plating – while Ryden simply wore a pair of pants, as his torso was completely covered in large bandages that apparently possessed a sort of healing attribute that would help restore lost energy and soothe the burns along his arms.

Aside from their wardrobe changes, their own expressions regarding the scene in front of them seemed to perfectly mimic both Ryden and Nyx's; their eyes held slightly ajar at the sight around them.

Obviously the shock of the moment was lost on Mephisto of course—as the devil found himself simply enjoying a drumstick of some BBQ with the side helping of an assortment of berries found in the lush forest around them. He was merely chewing casually at the drumstick – uncaring of the scene around him – while Tiamat sat contently at Ryden's side... for some reason finding no other spot of comfort suitable for her preferences.

Much to the annoyance of two blondes...

"You seem shocked" stated the azure haired woman, her eyes mildly fluttering with amusement at the silence before her. "I can understand the silence I guess—most of your people hardly ever see this side of my kind... but as much as I'd like to say 'drink it up!' I'm afraid you'll need to make a move before those twerps over there start getting hungry... they tend to leave nothing behind when that happens"

Tiamat slightly smirked when they didn't make a move—yet her own amusement grew when the blue and red haired devil nodded along with her, his eyes suddenly sparkling with mild excitement.

'Interesting' she thought as the devil named Mephisto quickly stood up upon finishing his own meal.

"Right! I should show teacher where she can get her food" he stated, unaware that his aforementioned teacher had heard him—as well as the others.

Even as Rivia saw it coming – having actually stood up to prepare – her eyes widened when Mephisto quickly grabbed her arm and dragged her off towards a particularly intimidating red dragon—its sharp blue eyes momentarily narrowing in judgment before it nodded and proceeded to serve her just enough food for her to carry.

Once the usually stoic and poised woman was stocked with enough BBQ to make an American feel freedom, the dragon snickered at her unusually stressed expression before Mephisto pulled her off towards another dragon.

Ryden almost chuckled at the sight, amused by Mephisto's oddly innocent nature corroding at Rivia's stoic and noble demeanor; it sort of helped the woman let her own hair down once in a while.

"Yeah—that seems easier said than done" Nyx mildly whimpered out when his eyes locked with the same red dragon that had served Rivia. This time however Ryden did chuckle – openly – as after a moment of intense staring, Nyx suddenly took a sharp intake of breathe when the crimson dragon raised its clawed finger and beckoned the ravenette forward as if it knew exactly what the devil was thinking.

Though to be sure it was clear, the dragon was most likely thinking of something else entirely then what the now terrified Nyx was thinking... that was obviously clear. However, one indigent yelp later and he was being dragged off by Abigail—her own amusement of Nyx's fear having created enough confidence for her to step up to the plate... Tiamat almost joined Ryden in his snickering.

Yet seeing as how the group was departing to grab their dinner, Ryden sighed after collecting himself from his silent fit of chuckles and made to stand up.

"I should—" he started before a hand quickly fell on his shoulder, interrupting him.

"N-no!—y-you're..." Rosalina began before hesitating—probably trying to find the word. "Injured—wait here... I-l shall retrieve you some food, just rest for now" Rosalina offered with a slowly rising blush when she noted both her hands placement on the man's shoulder and Tiamat's wagging brow—the blush increased exponentially; Yet due to the orange hue from the flames of their fire, Ryden didn't really see the full extent of the blush—leaving him merely caught off guard by her kind offer.

"T-thanks" he muttered before he leaned back in his sat – the logs size being large enough to provide a back rest.

Wordlessly, and with much effort, Rosalina stood and followed behind Nyx and Abigail—leaving him with a now slowly snickering Tiamat.

"Heheh... that one sure is smitten with you..." she stated as she watched Ryden's eyes trail after the woman.

"I know..." he muttered without thinking—the result of a mental habit born from constant mental spars between himself and a horny sword.

Tiamat mildly rose at the reveal. "So your aware—and yet you make no move... why torture the poor thing?—you'd be wise to possess such a woman, and she'd be gifted to be with someone as strong as yourself" after her little tid bit, the woman slowly leaned back—content with her logic and with the faint blush along Ryden's cheeks.

Ryden however, shook his head—ignoring the last bit of Tiamat's words. "Possess?—it seems I'm not the only one ignorant of another's way's" he retaliated with a small shake of his head.

"So I may be rusty on what your terms may be—however I'm not wrong about what I said about what she'd have... devils desire power just as much as my own—that's where we relate best of all, and I can see a devils desire for power when I see it" Tiamat's eyes shown slightly in mirth. "And I can see it within that woman just as much as I can feel it from the other... they desire power"

"In case you've forgotten... I'm no devil—what I seek doesn't correlate with anything you believe" Ryden replied simply. "And I highly doubt they possess the same form of mindset as you do"

Tiamat ignored the follow up response and focused on the former. "Then what is it you seek?" she asked with eyes filled with both mirth and curiosity.

Ryden simply shrugged, not seeing the need to dispose his desires to someone that probably doesn't believe in it, yet after a moment of thought, he glanced at Tiamat with his own expression of curiosity.

"Now that I have this thought in my head... what's the current opinion of 'love' on a dragons tongue nowadays?" he asked with a quirked brow.

Surprisingly, the question itself surprised the dragon. "Love?" Tiamat repeated with a bare hint of awkwardness.

He nodded.

Tiamat laughed, gently, which echoed out in a small rumble in her throat—yet even still, a cynical nature blanketed her mirth filled eyes.

"Don't tell me... you believe in that fairy tale of an emotion?" at her question, Tiamat suddenly chortled—yet Ryden's eyes never did waver, not even crack at the clear mocking in Tiamat's tone.

It took a moment, but after a second, Tiamat herself noted the sheer lack of emotion on Ryden—and the complete level of acceptance at her dismissal of such a question left her feeling as if she'd failed at something.

"I'm not surprised..." was all he said while glancing away.

Tiamat however narrowed her eyes. "Not surprised by what? My take on the fantasy that is love?" she pressed on with a small hint of open mindedness.

Ryden nodded. "I had a feeling you'd possess that opinion—considering your relationship history, it's no surprise you hold such a degree of dismissal towards the concept of love"

"And only the foolish believe in that lie of an emotion" growled the dragon, mildly surprising Ryden by the tone.

Did he strike a nerve?

"Spoken like a fool who thinks she knows what she's talking about" he retorted back with a small smirk, bemused by the spike in heart rate behind him. Ignoring that for now, Ryden pressed his point further.

"Tell me exactly why you are here Tiamat—is it the scenery? The people? Or something else?"

"That's none of your—"

"It's funny really; I just started putting the dots together... Tannin had mistaken me for this jackass named 'Ddraig' – the apparent red dragon of domination – during our fight, and if my memory serves well, wasn't that very same jackass your mate at one point?" at his line of questions, Ryden glanced back at a silent Tiamat, her eyes held wide in shock.

"How did you know of that?" she growled after a moment... Ryden shrugged.

"My brother told me you two had a thing when I mentioned our little deal of alliance—he seemed a little worried about that"

"As anyone should"

"Fair enough, but my observation still stands—you didn't come here to check up on your best friend and secret lover Tannin—" Tiamat shivered at that. "—nor did you come here to check up on HIS people... you came here because of me—and I have to ask why? Why would you go out of your way to find a little ol human like me?"

"You? Human?" Tiamat mildly laughed cynically at the word. "I doubt that entirely—to survive with only minor burns against a Dragon king infamous for his fire only stands as a testament as to what you are—and while that may be unknown, I can assuredly tell you are no human—at least in body that is... your mind is a different story"

"To humans—who we are as people define us more so then our bodies... at least in my case that is" Ryden paused and glanced over at Tiamat, idly taking in her human features with a knowing look in his eye. "The same could be said as to what you are right now—though you possess the body of a human, you will always be a dragon deep within, and you know that for a fact"

Tiamat remained silent.

"Ignoring my earlier question because I'm sure you don't know the answer to it—let's move on to a more personal question, one that I'm sure you'll know very well" Ryden idly watched as Rivia and Rosalina almost bumped into each other before he glanced back to a silent Tiamat.

"Did Ddraig love you?—it's something that's been nagging me since you dismissed the concept earlier, but I know for a fact a dragon possesses far more wisdom then that... so tell me, did he truly hold you up to the standard regard as an equal? Or were you something else?"

Tiamat merely sat silently, her own eyes slightly dropping into a more meek expression. "I don't know..." she muttered out silently, clearly annoyed at Ryden's surgical perception of her.

"I see..." he started after a moment of silence, yet soon enough, the irony before him quickly overwhelmed his thoughts. "So here you are, the mighty Chaos Karma dragon, talking my humanity – or my lack thereof – and the futility of 'love' and yet you're coming at me with a human issue—an issue created by the love of another... talk about instant karma" he laughed, sparking a heated glare from the dragon...a glare that was accompanied by a blush.

"S-speak carefully human" she growled out.

Ryden rolled his eyes. "Suddenly I'm human again... wow—ain't that convenient..." he added while shooting the woman a pointed look that said 'seriously?' all over it. Surprisingly, Tiamat glanced away from him—too embarrassed by her hypocritical words then mad.

Ryden shook his head and leaned forward—eyes locked on the struggling image of Rosalina as she approached them.

"If power is all you seek in a relationship, then it's clear you've never been in one—and I'm not interested in helping you get over your past regrets and guilt if all it is you see in me is a memory" he started before he glanced at her. "perhaps in the future I may find myself more open to your preferred 'romantic advice', when you aren't so fueled with angst and unresolved issues... cause if you can't get over your own, then you have no hope in understanding mine"

.

.

.

Ryden sighed before he pointedly ignored the stunned dragon in order to toss Rosalina an appreciative smile. "Thanks Rosa—though I could have joined you in order to help" he said while taking several drumsticks out of Rosalina's makeshift plate.

In response to his kind words, Rosalina found herself fighting yet another blush. "I-it's no issue at all—I just thought you could use the rest" she mumbled back whilst taking a new seat at his opposite side.

"I appreciate it either way Rosa" he thanked before he dug in.

For a moment, Ryden simply enjoyed the meal provided to him; taking his time to savor the arguably well dressed meat that seemed to almost flake off the bone with every bite. Yet, before he could move on to his second drumstick, his face suddenly went beat red when Tiamat suddenly appeared right beside him—her face mere inches from his right ear.

He sat slightly keeping his composure and expression as natural as possible as he regarded the dragon with a relaxed set of eyes. In this sense, he was ignorant of Rosalina's mild glare towards the aggressive dragon while the aforementioned dragon merely ignored the blonde devil in order to stare intently into his eyes... searching.

It was for moment that Ryden could slightly see hope within her eyes – curious hope – before it faded into a small smirk, one that looked almost predatory. "I see..." she muttered before her eyes glanced over to the still glaring Rosalina Phenex.

She ignored her for the moment and returned her eyes onto Ryden. "Maybe you are not what I believe you to be—perhaps you are...different, then him" she stated, confusing Ryden by her words and meaning before she snickered. "Perhaps you may not make the same mistake as he did... for your own sake—I hope I'm right"

After her words left her lips, Tiamat sent Ryden a small smirk – one that exposed draconic teeth – before she stood up to leave. "Do enjoy yourself Ryden..." Tiamat waved over her shoulder. "Not many get to enjoy the hospitality of dragons" upon the woman's final words, she vanished with a flurry of lightning bolts, sending wisps of wind in all directions with the force of her exit.

The kids loved it, all of whom seemingly dancing and chirping at the effect in blissful ignorance; yet many of the adult dragons merely glanced at him—momentarily surprised by the events that they undoubtedly heard and simply nodded slowly towards him—especially the female variety.

Ryden wanted to just disappear at that moment; bad enough the rumor of his humanity was apparently vastly known by the dragons at large – most of them that is – but now he was the object of awe... again... for having literally stood up to a dragon king. dragons sort of respected that... even if he did kinda feel like a dick.

He was known best for his integrity—never once bending his morals towards making someone nod in approval, as such an action in his eyes only made him lessen his respect towards anyone that did such a thing. To cater towards something that one doesn't believe in is the height of cowardice, and in all parts of the word – meaning and all – he was Human... and he would not cater to no one.

To him, humanity was a mindset—not a physical relation; though he may not be human in body, his mind however, was—and he would make sure it stayed that way for some time.

Tiamat's words regarding what he should be doing only seemed to annoy him more than force him to accept something that is – truthfully – really easy. Fulgur made sure he was aware of how easy it would be to speed up his relationship with Rivia and Rosalina; almost on a constant basis—and even that was beginning to annoy him. Ryden knew the extent of what power can do to someone – the intoxicating feeling of overwhelming might – yet he knew all it took was for him to indulge in it and he would change completely.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely... and for some reason, the supernatural world never stood by to understand that—because, in the end... they had already fallen.

Tiamat was a woman scared by her past relationship with a being known for its dominating nature. It took what it wanted, killed whenever it wanted to and destroyed whatever stood in its way; so who's to say It didn't affect their relationship?

Ryden didn't know this 'Ddraig' personally – for obvious reasons – but he could tell from the stories – both from that bitch Grayfia, and the others – that he wasn't the romantic type—no, Ddraig was a fully fledged dragon and made damn sure it lived up to its name and title with full and absolute authority... Tiamat had been its mate, therefore, she had lived under an oppressive being for what seemed like her entire life...up until now that is—but the effects of the life style had forged her outlook on relationships... kinda like a really submissive Stockholm syndrome.

Rather revealing to him honestly... he never expected Tiamat to be the submissive type—kinda the opposite really. But never the less; he didn't know why so many thought of him as the red dragon, the answer eluded him just as much as the response to his question.

Tannin didn't know why he saw him as Ddraig – only for the moment that is – and Velkhana herself had admitted to believing the same thing... yet neither of them knew why that was—they just said he had this 'feel' to him that possessed a domineering nature that – when pushed – became like a torrent of power that commanded all under it.

So it was his aura – made sense considering his telekinetic powers – but anything deeper than that and he was stumped.

Though now that he understood that he possessed a slight relation with this Ddraig—he had been partially suspected to behave similarly to the beast by Tiamat; to take and dominate whatever he fancied and then some, yet now it looked as if he had impressed Tiamat – somehow – with his differing mindset compared to Ddraig.

That was good he guessed—at least the woman wasn't completely enveloped by her fetish, which was a good number of points in his book... if he could truly call it that, but either way, Tiamat had taken his own words – however measured in consideration – and stepped off to think.

That was what he believed anyway—she might just be embarrassed... he did kinda put her on the spot and picked apart her motives like a fisherman would his catch and then dished it to her on a fine platter inscribed with the words 'fuck off' right at the end.

Honestly he was surprised he could still chew... talk about an easy way to get cold cocked.

But in a more positive frame—he was merely hoping he could reach his bed with how massive his balls had gotten... sheesh.

"Is everything alright Ryden" Rosalina questioned after a moment of silence.

He blinked, glancing at the inquisitive woman in mild surprise before he waved her off. "Nothing too deep—Tiamat seems to be playing at something and I kinda surprised her with my reply—honestly, I kinda surprised myself if I'm being honest" he said with a small huff of self amusement.

Rosalina huffed her own cent of bemusement before she shook her head. "Worlds ending—Ryden finally surprised himself" she muttered.

Ryden suddenly laughed at her statement, amusing her. "I guess it is..." he muttered back before they both caught sight of a slightly disheveled Rivia returning with a feast worth of food—she was carrying so much that Nyx and Abigail merely stood off to her sides spotting her.

"You got this girl! Just a couple more steps!" Nyx encourage as Abigail seemed to summon a set of pom-pom's and began chanting the woman's efforts out like an over enthusiastic cheerleader.

Ryden's eyes burned at the sight... gravity defying breasts

"Hugh!" Rivia grunted before she disposed the large stack of meat onto a make shift table that Nyx quickly grabbed. Both Ryden and Rosalina sweat dropped at the sight of a heaving – but mildly accomplished – Rivia before Mephisto materialized at her side—eyes glowing in admiration.

"Wow teacher—I didn't think you could take all that meat!" he said without any hesitation.

Rivia froze—her eyes wide in horror just as both Nyx and Ryden – along with Abigail – keeled over in fits of laughter; the trio easily seeing the innuendo as it was.

With their reaction, Rivia tried and failed to control her rising blush of embarrassment, however the overwhelming giggles and laughter from the three easily overpowered her control—leaving her a silent blushing mess.

"Tsk... s-such childish minds—control yourselves!" she howled, distraught by the damage to her image.

Her eyes locked with Ryden's, hope dawning, but yet her hopes were dashed when the man suddenly exploded into even deeper depths of humor... she blamed her embarrassed blush; such a thing had a critical effect on the man in her eyes.

She clicked her tongue again before he eyes locked with Rosalina—a very brief gout of hope dawning in between their small feud.

All Rosalina did however was glance down at the pile of drumsticks on the table in front of her—a devilish grin spreading across her cheeks before she suddenly gasped at the sight—a look of surprise marring her features. "Oh my... are you sure you can handle all of that meat?" she asked in the most concerned tone possible.

Rivia's face fell.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Nyx and Abigail suddenly went uproarious in response to her added innuendo, while Ryden fought an even deeper chortle.

Rivia on one had merely nodded towards the triumphant woman before her, a small nod of respect following, yet her look of betrayal remained present. "I don't like you—" she began amidst the loud laughing. "—but I respect the contribution" was her finish before she plopped down on her seat – opposite of Ryden's spot and grabbed a drumstick.

"Damn perverts" she muttered quietly before taking an – admittedly – bigger bite then needed... laughing ensued at the sight—much to her pressed annoyance.

Mephisto on the other hand stared at the scene with a look of conniving triumph—his own eyes locking with a glaring Rivia. She shook her head at his antics – already knowing he did it on purpose – before she mouthed a 'fuck you brat' towards him.

He snickered before he turned to find himself some seconds.

---

[Later]

---

"I still can't believe all you got was a burn"

"And I can't believe you all fainted"

"...well... considering the hype—I sort of expected some kind of aftermath...perhaps a broken bone at least?"

"Naw—never broke a bone in my life"

"Seriously? You never broke a bone?"

"Nope... never"

Nyx sat across from Ryden around a freshly started fire dumbfounded; the embers rising gentle into the darkened sky above only seemed to highlight the devils stupor.

He shook his head. "I'm done questioning your stories—you could literally tell me you're some kind of fairy and I'll believe it" he exclaimed while shaking his head before he suddenly locked eyes with him. "You're not right?" he suddenly asked, fearful.

Nyx's sudden worry forced a slew of chuckles from the gathered devils—leaving him to stress fully stare at a snickering Ryden.

"Ryden?"

Ryden himself held himself steady for a second longer before snickering. "No Nyx, I'm not a damn fairy—I'm already weird enough as is; you think you could take me seriously with pointy ears?"

This time Nyx chuckled at the reply. "Heheh—no, no I don't think I would"

"So while Nyx has a fear of fairies—does that mean you also fear goblins?" Abigail suddenly teased, earning a few rounds of laughter for her efforts.

Nyx merely laughed in good nature. "Don't forget witches, elves, vampires and leprechauns" he listed off, earning even more chuckles.

Ryden cut in. "hey guys, don't forget about dragons" he added while shoot Nyx a teasing grin before he shook his head. "Never have I seen a man tense up tighter than an imps arse when locking eyes with a draconic cook" he lightly paused to snicker – an action followed by the few around him.

"Were you afraid he'd serve you up as well?" Ryden added. "I mean I think he did eye you up for a second when you turned your back to him"

Nyx slightly chuckled at the tease before he sent Ryden a small knowing grin. "You'd know that look better than anyone here—considering your new 'fan' base" Nyx commented with a rising grin when he noticed both Rosalina and Rivia slightly tense at the reminder.

Ryden merely waved it off, ignorant of the girl's reaction. "Of course, but at least their woman—most of the males were eyeing you up instead... kinda makes me wonder what you did" he chuckled while Abigail slapped Nyx's back lightly.

"He has a way to attract a following" she said before giggling. "I mean, there was a time way back in the murmur territory when Nyx uprooted a pack of 'prowlers' taking refuge in some high-class noble woman's shack—I think I remember seeing your eyes light up at the clear opportunity"

"How romantic..." Ryden almost purred out, forcing an eye roll from the aforementioned devil. "Guess the big question then is... did you get to know her afterwards?" Ryden asked and Nyx shook his head, a fake expression of mourning take precedence on his features.

"Kinda... it turned out the 'prowlers' were actually a bunch of twits playing around in some costumes they made—so when I came busting in there, spear drawn and ready—and smiling like a psychotic murderer, they practically shat themselves running the second I showed up; which—didn't sit well with the noble woman watching over them... *Sigh*...that's what I get for trying to show off"

Ryden and Rosalina cringed while Abigail and Rivia lightly chuckled at the unfortunate outcome of Nyx's prowler crusade. "Ouch...no wait, that's a 'yikes'" Ryden stated with finality.

"Do you have a 'yikes' moment Ryden?" Rosalina asked suddenly, and Ryden merely smirked darkly at the question.

"Perhaps—buts it's not me being the dumbass; it's actually the time I saw some jackass scare off a bunch of kids wearing prowler costumes" he paused when the others started chuckling, leaving Nyx to send him a deadpanned expression. "I think the guy was trying to pick up a noble woman"

Clearly it was a lie, as Nyx merely sent Ryden the finger. "Fuck you Ryden"

"Love you too Nyx" he retorted with a fake blow kiss.

This time, Rivia opened up with a look of interest; her question being directed towards Abigail—which resulted in the woman's blush and subsequent chuckle from the group when the question suddenly went girly.

Ryden smirked and shook his head before he simply glanced off towards the sky above, drowning out all other sounds in order to enjoy the sight above him. The starless sky itself seemed infinite in distance yet empty of any sort of life; however, with the added embers of dozens of camp fires and bond fires throughout the valley, the dark starless sky was quickly filled with the listless embers—creating an almost swirling mirage of a sky in motion.

He couldn't quite remember how long it had been since he'd last camped out under the night sky; the secure base they operated at was situated under thick foliage, meaning no such sky could truly be appreciated—yet here and now, the view was as breathtaking as any other time.

Though it felt reminiscent of the times he'd sleep under the stars way back when his family took yearly trips outside of the country – Canada or America – but he didn't remember spending time with dragons and devils; laughing and exchanging banter in the wake of a civil war.

Oh the times change – literally in this case – and even still, the feeling of the reality around him still remained as foreign as the day he crashed into the Malphes territory. It was times like these where he'd sit and just compare his present life with his past life; and the contrasting nature of either always seemed so... alien.

Ryden had to just sit back and Imagine going from a regular, ordinary, apple pie life—to suddenly experiencing the most visceral torture no one should ever experience; And then partaking in a civil war alongside an army of devils, while also juggling with the secret of humanity, aaaaand coming to terms that two drop dead gorgeous devils may or may not be falling in love with him—at an almost unprecedented speed.

And that's not even factoring in his mysterious powers, increased life span, apparent relation with a dead heavenly dragon, and his apparent connection with four distinctly powerful weapons of untold history... shit was so Gary sue it hurt to think about.

Shit—Ryden had to guess that if he ever told his life story to someone—they'd probably think he was retelling a shitty fanfic... imagine that.

No matter what anyone else would say though; Ryden knew for a damn fact they'd be contemplating existence just as often as he was if they were experiencing something like this. And he should know—his sister Sophia read fanfic's on her spare time, and every time she came across another 'original' self insert story, for some damn reason—the protagonist always seemed fully prepared to inducted themselves into a completely foreign world—and for some reason, no one would bring up the sheer mind shattering effect it would have on someone.

They just kinda gloss over that fact...

Ryden could understand his sister's annoyance with those sorts of stories—only ever enjoying the ones that have mild references to the protagonist experiencing a mental breakdown...and yes—he did experience a mental breakdown after a week of hanging in a cold dungeon for an entire week buck naked.

He really did appreciate Grayfia's cold, emotionless, and uncaring demeanor when she explained to him what had happened—and what he was going to experience; hell, she even seemed kinda understanding of his panic for all of two minutes before she got down to business and decided to start flash freezing his limbs.

Good times...

Just as the others continued in the light banter and jokes – their fill of food and revels simply riding along peacefully – and Ryden's mind felt almost ready to doze off into a light snooze, the distinct feeling of heavy foot falls echoed out in the distance—closing by the second. None of them really found it hard to notice the hulking mass of purple scales lumbering towards them, the distinct afterglow of crimson easily locking with each of their own eyes—staunching their words easily.

"Oh? Did I interrupt your little gathering...apologies"

Ryden slowly lowered his head back down to lay steadily towards the approaching dragon king; Tannin himself having easily noticed his own stare and returned it in full. Yet, instead of their being hostility in the air between them, Ryden instead gave the dragon king a benevolent wave—as if he was a friend.

Reality was weird...

"Sup Tannin—what brings you out of Velkhana's protective presence?" he asked as if he were addressing a literal bar mate.

The following second that fact almost became true...

"Oof!" Ryden grunted out just as a large bowling ball sized fruit landed right on top of him—nearly winding him with its weight.

"Here..." was all Tannin said as he circled around and dropped into a seated position—a handful of the same fruit sitting in his clawed hand. "A dragon's most cherished delicacy... effectively named a 'dragon fruit'—we shall see if you are capable of handling your tongue just as well as you do your sword" Tannin explained before a grin spread across its lips—its eyes trailing over his allies in a slight challenging manor. "Perhaps your friends may try their hand at such a thing"

Nyx looked about pale – mostly because a dragon king was almost a couple meters from him – while Abigail slightly gulped down her tongue in fear; yet out of them all, Rivia and Rosalina looked a slight bit interested in the dragons proposition... Ryden merely looked about ready to drink the giant lizard under the table.

"Oh you're on big guy!" he howled.

"HAHA! Then dig in boy—I'm eager to see your reaction"

?

Now hold the fuck up...

Ryden was no slouch to frat boy antics or college humor; so when a dragon – or anyone really – stands by and waits for ones reaction to something—it usually means it's something even they found hard to do... and are now waiting to see how someone else reacts.

Oh boy...

Ryden took a breath before he studied the rough looking fruit for all its worth. Its size was as stated—the size of an official league bowling ball except it was without the convenient holes for grip. He slowly examined the thing for a moment – taking in the thickness of the outer shell – and simply summoned his Dagger and stabbed into the top portion and trimmed out a circle opening.

Upon his cut, the entire fruit itself seemed almost entirely similar to the kind of dragon fruit he knew on earth—except other then the size, the inside of the fruit itself possessed a blue bio-luminescent glow that shone with a sort of heat and flavor he was completely unknown to... honestly though, it looked absolutely delicious just from sight alone.

His cut had managed to create a perfect cone cut of blue fruit meat which he easily pulled out using his knife as a make shift handle. Its savory substance and consistency was both equally hard and equally juicy—as the cone of fruit in his hands seemed to leak out messily onto the ground below him...

Ssssss...

He froze, the distinct sound of sizzling resounding out from where a droplet of blue liquid fell at his feet. Hesitantly, he glanced down at the drop zone—and intimately noted the presence of a burning leaf, now having literally caught on fire.

.

.

.

"So is this how you guys get your fire breath?" he suddenly asked – calmly – as he glanced over to a grinning Tannin, ignoring the terror gripping Nyx and Abigail at the sight.

Sadly though—and to both his and Nyx's further pressed terror, the dragon shrugged.

"Maybe... maybe not" was all he said before he crushed a fruit in his hand and tossed it into his open maw. Ryden watched the dragon chew for a moment before he shivered and twitched after swallowing... similar as to what one does when shooting back a shot of whiskey.

Now think about that...

Considering it's heavily understood that dragons possess a powerful digestive system—it stands to speak a hell of a lot about what the dragon fruit possessed in its natural state to make a dragon do a 'whiskey shudder'...

Ryden shook his face, hyping himself up—much to the growing amusement of Tannin, before he chomped down on the watery fruit in one massive bite.

Slowly... he started chewing—savoring the oddly flavored fruit for what it was...

...

That texture...

...

The smoothness...

...

The—

Ryden's eyes narrowed as he swallowed the thoroughly chewed fruit, the sensation of which actually being far colder than he expected—yet, the feeling seemed to grow warmer as it slowly fell into his stomach, but yet, upon the climax of the fruits descent, the feeling merely left a fruit after taste followed by a slightly warm after affect in his belly.

It was oddly refreshing... and comforting

He licked his lips, exhaling moderately just to be sure he didn't get a sort of 'fiery' reaction—yet nothing seemed to shoot out his throat upon doing so. Ryden blinked; a hint of disappointed spreading along his face as his teams baited breath suddenly exhaled in moderate relief—yet for Ryden's part; he glanced at a silent Tannin, his eyes narrowed in cocky dismissal.

"Well that was... lovely... not really something I'd call a dragons fruit if I'm being honest" he said with a minor twitch shortly following—a twitch he didn't notice.

Tannin merely smiled. "You aren't done boy..." was all he said before he downed two more dragon fruits and grunted at their effect.

Ryden's eyes merely remained narrowed, yet his Dagger was already cutting away at another serving—however, this time he split the Dragon fruit in half and sectioned it off like a water melon and distributed it to his team... much to Tannin's amusement.

One small round of nods – a collection of bravery shared as comrades – before they each took a respectable bite from their serving.

Tannin snickered when the less tolerant immediately stood out after the first bite.

"Well...*hiccup*... that was... interesting...*hiccup*" Abigail stated with a mix of hiccups to follow, her eyes slowly going droopy. "I'm not sure...*hiccup... what's going ooon" she mumbled out in a slowly developing slur.

In a mild moment of awareness, the others watched as Abigail fell backwards off her spot along the adjacent log—her arms and legs practically frozen in place in some sort of catatonic state; her face held in an oddly blissful manner.

"~Nwwyx~" Abigail called out from her spot on the floor, her call managing to grab Nyx's attention—yet upon locking eyes with the woman, the aforementioned devil merely starting giggling at the sight of a clearly intoxicated Abigail—the effects of the fruit having already effected her.

He giggled almost uncontrollably, finger raised – wobbling randomly – towards the down woman before he noted his own buzzed state. "Oh...sheet—I thwink I'm starting to get dunk ass swell... heheh—I swain ass" with one final garbled commented about...something, Nyx collapsed—his unresponsive body falling gracelessly on his face, his ass facing up.

Ryden watched it happen, his constitution obviously made of sterner stuff as the image of a completely incapacitated Nyx and Abigail from one single bite easily told him the true effects of the dragon fruit. Yet just as he became aware of it, his left side was almost immediate attack viciously by a clearly drunk Rosalina Phenex—the woman finding his arm to be the most comfortable thing in the area.

"~Aww—come here, nya!~" Rosalina half yelled and half... what?—that sounded like something Sophia would say... da fuck?

Ryden casually took another bite from a second slice of fruit, his eyes staring at a very odd image of a blushing Rosalina – smiling as if she were the happiest in the world – and comfortably hogging his left arm as if it were a life line that shant be released.

One part of his buzzed mind noted the soft cushions meshing against his arm and side – the feeling of which giving him a rise he never expected to feel so suddenly – while another side of his brain kept asking where the fuck the 'nya' came from.

His mind began to wonder without conscious thought, leading him to remember the times his damn sister had done that—constantly muttering a Japanese variant of a cat's meow in his ear; often times sounding like 'nya' or 'nyu'—something that effectively froze him in place with just how adorable it sounded.

Ryden's head snapped back to reality when Rosalina's cheek suddenly meshed against his, the woman's full body weight quickly over whelming is own—sending him falling onto his back towards a calmly eating Rivia Abaddon.

His head met softness – a sort of warmth normally felt from physical contact – before he grunted when the drunken Rosalina clambered onto him without a care as to the individuals watching. From his spot along the log, he could see Rivia's stoic eyes staring down at him from his spot on her lap— yet the woman herself continued eating her share of dragon fruit without a care-and seemingly without effect. Tannin on the other hand could be seen laughing silently to himself; the obvious amusement at seeing his team completely crumble from a lone fruit being far too much for the dragon to handle.

Ryden's attention fell back onto the Phenex, the woman herself having now started to nuzzle against his armor-less chest like a cat would its master.

Ryden had to blink a few times in his current predicament. From what he was observing, Rosalina's entire campaign in upholding her noble image was shattered completely by a single fruit – Ryden noted to invest in dragon fruit stock upon realizing that – and seemed entirely interested in acting like a cat for the foreseeable future; with Cheshire grins, 'nya's' and 'nyu's' following in mass.

He watched with a silent – yet arguably shocked – set of eyes as Rosalina playfully rubbed her face into his chest before she closed the distance and nuzzled her face into the nape of his neck, snuggling her face right against an uncaring Rivia's thigh. Honestly, with the placement of Rosalina's now silently snoring face, Ryden would think the woman he was involuntarily laying on would desire to move or remove him from her personal space; yet upon that thought crossing his mind, a hand immediately dropped down and held him in place—forcing him to lock eyes with a silent and deadly serious Rivia Abaddon, the woman's own set of eyes – now burning with an intense golden glow – spoke of a degree of command that he did not argue against.

So he laid there, silently, his ears calmly noting the distant laughter of a certain dragon king while also picking up the gentle 'nya' and 'nyu' from a calmly sleeping Rosalina.

.

.

.

Well... that escalated quickly—like that really got out of hand fast.

In one fell moment, one trickling instant, the dragon king Tannin had managed to introduce them all to the most destructive piece of fruit they'd ever seen. It took one bite for the majority of his team to become incoherent blobs barely sounding of devil nobility, leaving only himself and Rivia as the sole survivors of the first fruit consumed.

Ryden had an odd time trying to finish the fruit in between the constant snuggles from Rosalina and the near deafening laughter from Tannin—however his struggle came to a halt when Rivia casually began feeding him the last half of the dragon fruit – something that he now called 'Truth Serum' for a lack of a better term. So there he was, pinned down by a sudden Neko-esque Rosalina Phenex and bombarded by bemused snickers and loud howls of humor from a clearly buzzed Tannin... Ryden never thought he'd see a damn blush on a dragon—but irregardless of his desires at the moment, everything seemed to just present itself in odd lights.

On a more realistic note – and a deep surprise for both him and Tannin – Rivia had actually remained completely unaffected by the 'truth serums' effects... leading him to eye her blandly held stoic eyes with a hint of trepidation.

Rivia had the kind of look that spoke of extreme disinterested—the kind most edgy anime characters have when their trying their damnedest to look 'cool' when in actuality they looked more sleep deprived then anything of the sort. Rivia on the other hand seemed to hold the look just enough to carry a sort of wisdom; along with what he could see as 'lust', just lingering behind her eyes.

He didn't know if it was the fruits effects to bring out something inside – or merely incapacitate – but Ryden could clearly see something lurking behind the woman's eyes as she slowly fed him the last remnants of the dragons 'truth serum'. And every time she held the fruit to his lips, he could see the smallest of smirks play along her own—a sort of dominant enjoyment in their odd positioning.

He could slightly understand – in the heat of the moment – as Rivia was simply staring down at him from in between her breasts. And currently, his head was almost perfectly placed directly in between her legs – her abdomen mere inches from the left side of his face.

He was close to her, dangerously close to a region she had no qualms in using as a teasing factor – their first time sleeping together slowly lingering in his mind reminded him of that – yet his own predicament with Rosalina didn't help at all.

The Phenex devil had somehow managed to position her pelvis directly against his... – yeah... – and to make that feeling even more awesome – bad! He meant bad! – Rosalina seemed to press herself into him instinctually—her random motions having the grinding effect against his slowly awaking Johnson; which pressed an even further point of 'oh shit' down the line of danger when the woman seemed to moan whenever she moved—suggesting that she was literally feeling his little buddy against her.

But wait! There's more...

Rivia knew what he was going through – oh, she obviously did, judging by the slight leer of enjoyment on her face – and It was clear now that Rivia Abaddon enjoyed watching him struggle against his better nature; and grew even more amused whenever the woman on top of him instinctually teased at his pride. He didn't know if Rivia was effected by the fruit – he honestly hoped she was – but as the moments went on, and his mind was slowly growing far less tamed to his liking, Rivia suddenly decided to grip the Phenex devils rear with her free hand—forcing an even deeper groan of pleasure – and a much more aggressive thrust – from the softly sleeping Rosalina Phenex.

It was at that point – in a state of both shock and... Admitted pleasure – that he thanked god he didn't bring along Fulgur for this outing. That sword would be howling...almost as loudly as he did.

Not his proudest moment...

It wasn't as if it felt completely amazing – Jesus fuck did it ever! – But the feeling of a woman's pelvis slamming directly into ones unprepared crotch, stood as a major gabble for the receiving parties, because – as you all know – every man's Johnson is a father of two... and there just as sensitive.

Briefly, the feeling of Rosalina's nether region marring against his own felt greatly pleasurable... for all of a couple seconds.

The reason?

Devils pack a lot more punch in their bodies...and they're a lot more aggressive... and he wasn't prepared for it.

So... there he was, in the presence of a laughing and clearly buzzed dragon king, situated on the lap of a sadistic devil that seemed to take great pleasure in make him squirm; while at the same time, his nuts and Johnson were pressed firmly in between two distinct folds of flesh, that seemed to hold no intention of letting go... silver lining? Their connection was only ever kept separate by a few layers of clothing.

.

.

.

Ryden didn't expect to experience a moment of dry sex with a woman clearly unaware, nor did he expect to do so with one of his other teammates initializing the moment; the cherry on the cake was the nice and relaxing sound of a buzzed and amused dragon king laughing his arse off at the moment in front of him.

Life was truly weird...

---

[Several Awkward moments later...]

---

Unceremoniously, the odd moment – if it could be classified as 'odd' – ended when a human formed Velkhana stepped out from the shadows, her steel like eyes of frosted death seemed to home in on him and his 'predicament' the instant he was in eye shot—yet instead of question his positioning, the dragon merely quirk a brow and carried on towards her now silent husband without a second thought. It was a moment of pure elation for Ryden when that happened and now he was treated to the sight of the female dragon locking onto her mate—the dragon king himself having finally settled down from his snickering, only to lock eyes with his wife.

Did dragons even call each other husband and wife?

Ryden blinked away the question before he calmly watched Tannin get schooled for his indecent behavior – odd choice of words considering what Ryden was in – and then ordered him to accompany her to bed.

So, in an awkward moment, Tannin nodded at his wife and stood up to acknowledge him with a smirk of excitement—as if he wasn't aware of his impartial union with the woman on top of him.

Ryden merely stared at the dragon king with a pained look.

"Be ready for tomorrow Dragonborn... I will have many of my warrior's prepared for an invasion at the earliest" Tannin informed with a splitting grin that spoke of bloodlust.

Ryden merely grew confused though, by a word he knew.

"Dragonborn? What do you mean by that?" he asked before he fought of groan when Rosalina pressed herself against him harder—much to Rivia's amusement.

Whether or not Tannin knew of his predicament, the dragon simply ignored it and pressed on with the question.

"It's a title I merely came up with—for one whose presence resembles that of a dragon"

Ryden blinked. "O-oh—that's cool" he muttered with a look of strain, and this time Tannin noticed it.

"Hmm... indeed..." the dragon king muttered before his gaze shifted towards Rivia. "Must you torment him so aggressively?"

At his words, Rivia merely cooed a breath of mirth and simply remained silent, her eyes remaining locked on his own. Seeing as how his question was left unanswered, Tannin simply chirped a bit of amusement at the scene and nodded along anyway.

"I see... well then..." he started before his gaze returned to his own; smirk returning. "Be ready Dragonborn, tomorrow we shall see if your promise holds true"

Before Ryden could affirm the dragon king, Tannin stepped off out of view—leaving him alone in his predicament along with two unconscious nobles.

He coughed shakily, nervous of his movements and voice before he looked up to a now more serious Rivia Abaddon.

"What?" he asked when he eyes seemed to shimmer for just a second—as if she had just scanned him.

Her golden eyes blinked for a moment before they focused back onto him, her posture shifting into a more reserved state.

"I think Rosa has had her fun for the night—don't you think Ryden?" Rivia questioned before she began massaging the female's ass seductively—an action that caused the woman on top of him to moan and fidget sensually.

While Rivia continued in her motions; Ryden stared wide eyed at Rivia—questions swelling around him as she continued to arouse the woman on top of him. "Please stop" he quietly muttered as he felt Rosalina a little bit more than before.

In a sensual manner, Rivia gently dragged her hand along Rosalina's rear before she stopped all together—a small huff of bemusement following when Rosalina made a small disappointed grumble under her breath before the woman eased off grind.

Ryden partially relaxed, yet his impartial union with Rosalina still remained—however, before anything else could happen, Rivia gently rose him up into a seating position and stood up. Yet seeing as how he was now being straddled by a sleeping Rosalina, Ryden fought a groan when the woman inevitably sat down on his awakened member, sending them both into the previous state of impartial union.

Ryden wanted to depart from his bond with Rosalina the second he found a chance, yet the drunken Phenex gripped him in a tight hug while her face gently rest against his shoulder—the woman's soft breathing noting her state of consciousness... or lack thereof, and yet her possessive grip on him still rivaled his baser strength.

Ridiculous... what the hell was this situation!?

Ryden sighed and merely focused on flexing his muscles the best he could – one of the many tricks on staunching a boner – while he idly watched Rivia take Nyx and Abigail to there make shift hammocks through a single rift.

Two seconds and she stepped back through the rift to stare at him and Rosalina with a mild look of amusement.

"Enjoying yourself?" she suddenly questioned with a hint of mirth in her tone.

Ryden's gaze said it all—no; he wasn't fully enjoying himself right now. Bad enough he felt like he was literally on the brink of sliding into Rosalina without her consent – based on the thinness of their clothing – yet considering they both were not wearing much else other than their casual attire—in his case, he was wearing a pair of pants with an array of bandages on his torso, while Rosalina was merely wearing her blouse and skirt... this left them both pretty bare compared to their usual state of dress.

He was basically shirtless, and she had a boob window in her blouse... smart minds would know how that would feel.

"Come now—you must have enjoyed a part of that" Rivia pressed with a smile while resting a hand on her hip.

Ryden gave her a half glare. "If I give you the answer you want, will you finally help me?" he partially growled out.

Rivia simply snickered at the desperation in his voice and stepped before the duo and gently rest her hand on Rosalina's neck. In a second, upon the woman's touch, Rosalina almost fell slack against him—her chest pressing strongly against his own, yet even still, the woman's iron grip loosened significantly, allowing him freedom to reposition the woman into a bridal carry.

Ryden sighed in relief, yet his vision caught a glimpse of Rivia's mild enjoyment. "Your one odd cookie you know that?" Ryden stated with an odd look directed at the now chuckling Abaddon devil.

"Perhaps—though if I really wanted to make things interesting, we wouldn't be having this conversation now would we?"

Ryden just stared at Rivia; dumbfounded by her means of aggression... was this the norm for devils? This sort of flirting felt akin to a couple's sexual instigation—yet Ryden saw nothing in Rivia's gaze that suggested they get it on right then and there.

Seriously, though Rivia acted like a prim and proper noble amongst the rest of them – minus Rosalina of course—she still found a way to be the biggest pervert he knew.

He shook his head and handed the sleeping Rosalina over to Rivia, who graciously took the woman into her arms without argument.

"Before you depart Ryden—I'd like to have a word with you" Rivia suddenly said just before Ryden could douse the fire.

He paused – mid motion – and turned to regard a now suddenly serious Rivia Abaddon with a pair of confused eyes.

He knew he'd done the bipolar joke enough times to kill it, but good god was this a persistent issue.

He glanced around the area, confused by the change in tone, before he relocked his gaze with a silent Rivia Abaddon when he noted the coast was clear.

"Ooook... what do you want to talk about?"

Rivia remained silent for a moment before turning away from him. "I wish to discuss what happened back at the Prefab base and something else... that is all" was all she said before she disappeared into the rift, leaving him behind in total silence.

Ryden blinked, his eyes scanning the spot in which Rivia just occupied and then he scanned the ground at his feet before he suddenly recalled what had literally just happened to him. In a moment of immature annoyance, Ryden gripped his head in further established confusion—his brain suddenly sending him on a trip down memory lane without any sort of breaks.

What had happened with the dragon fruit was probably the most sudden change in setting that he'd ever experienced, it was so sudden that he honestly felt as though he had whip lash. Going from mild jovial banter and brief life stories to suddenly grinding his Wang against a Neko-Rosalina's private area wasn't something he entirely expected; unconsciousness from fruit intoxication? More than likely the predicted outcome... recreating what a hot-dog feels in between a set of plump buns? Definitely not what he expected.

It was a surprise to be sure... but a welcome one.

Ryden suddenly shook his head when the vivid memory of Rosalina's form invaded his mind with a violent passion; the softness of her chest, the voluptuous sensation of her body against his, the heat, the breathing—and finally, the feeling of her nether regions marred directly on his own... regardless of one's state of mind, or status within the world of sexual intercourse—be it veteran or virgin, that image and feeling will not be leaving anytime soon.

Resistance is futile...

And Ryden wasn't a pussy – no pun intended – as the memory was slowly turning into a fantasy... much to his more gentlemanly nature, yet regardless, it had happened... frontal hotdog is best hotdog.

However, now that he accepted his perversion—he had to consider the implications regarding possible recollections with Rosalina—as it may get REALLY awkward when she finds how close she 'd gotten with him in that moment of honesty... was it honesty?

Again, Ryden shook his head whilst gently flexing his muscles as to fight off another awakening in his pants; yet while he fought his own desires, he suddenly remembered who had been the one to initialize the moment itself—which honestly didn't surprise him at all. Admittedly, he had forgotten the culprit in the midst of his fantasizing and memorizing the moment – whether that was against his rational side was a massive possibility – yet now that he could think, he quickly realized that Rivia had been the one to force Rosalina – correction; entice – the intoxicated Phenex into grinding against him to the point of a possible release... believe him, the clothing they wore was extremely well made fabric... sensations and definite 'oddities' could be felt very easily.

So... ignoring his potential sexual assault on Rosalina Phenex – something that only he was worried about... hopefully – he now had the distinct image of Rivia Abaddon gently massaging Rosalina Phenex's firm – and now identified thicc – ass—and keep in mind, Rosalina had been moaning the whole time Rivia had done it... imagine the images that would bring up.

Ryden had to deeply breathe out a sigh when an image of Rivia and Rosalina – buck naked and hugging – suddenly sprung up in his mind; sweaty, and clearly enjoying each other in more ways than normal...

Ryden vowed to never bring this moment up with Fulgur—and even now he was thankful that their mental connection was only every possible when in close proximity; if Fulgur had been here, he was sure the woman would be hounding his ass for not chasing after Rivia through the rift—intentions being perfectly clear as to what she wanted him to do.

And now that his mind had circled back to the present, he quickly realized the seriousness in Rivia's tone prior to her temporary departure...

He found himself scratching his head. "Seriously? How does one go from being perverted, to teasing, then to serious all in one moment?" he asked no one in particular... however.

"You'd be surprised how easy it is" a sudden voice called out from his flank.

Ryden sighed, understanding who it was. "I was wondering where you disappeared to" he started before he glanced back and spotted Mephisto pheles leaning against a tree, the devils previously established eyes of innocence now held in a more mature manner.

Ryden had suspected there to be more to the devil then initially perceived.

Never trust someone at face value...

Mephisto waved off the question. "I was dealing with business of my own; nothing that should concern you Dragonborn" replied the devil with a small smirk of amusement.

"Fair enough... what do you need?" Ryden held his expression neutrally, poker faced—the action seemingly amusing the wild card devil in front of him.

"No need to be so defensive boy—I merely desire some answers to my questions" Mephisto intoned while pushing himself off the tree. "And only now have I found the chance to ask them... in private of course" Ryden had to fight a moment of surprise when the previously assumed child seemingly morphed into a far older individual within a scant second—just when the devil stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the camp fire.

Ryden nodded, ignoring the change for now. "Shoot"

"How did you come across Rivia?"

Ryden didn't hesitate in his reply. "We saved her from a prison transport en route to Lucifaad around a few weeks ago" for a brief moment, Mephisto's eyes slightly rose at the information – a sort of archaic fire springing to life in his heterochromatic eyes – before he nodded.

"I see..." he muttered before continuing. "And how exactly did you find said transport when it was on route to Lucifaad?—I may be uninformed of the happenings with this ridiculous civil war, but I do know for a fact Ajuka and his allies haven't so much as crossed a third of the thorns territory... so how exactly did you get there?"

"I was participating in the crucible trials when a small sect of Old-Satan's laid siege on the coliseum; it had turned out that someone I dearly wish dead assisted in the attack and helped produce a Ruina Imperium—long story short, we defused the bomb and used a scar fissure from a devils previous teleportation sigil and followed it to Lucifaad... from then on, I gave the Old-Satan back there bomb"

Mephisto nodded. "Interesting..." he muttered before he clicked his tongue. "Now I'll ask the one thing that's been bothering me the most"

Ryden cocked his head to the side patiently. "And that would be?"

Mephisto's left eye twitched, clear annoyance suddenly marring his features. "How in the nine circles of hell did you manage to survive a meeting with Tiamat?!" shouted the man, his eyes twitching in sheer exasperation.

Ryden paused at the sudden change before he shrugged, ignoring the incredulous expression on Mephisto's face. "I met her when I was searching for a watering hole to help Rivia and a few other POW's—turns out the one I chose was the one Tiamat was using to bathe in..."

Mephisto almost flipped at the reveal. "You?—you walked in on her—what!?" he suddenly twisted around to do a brief lap, his voice muttering impossibilities and other nonsense before he quickly collected himself.

"You showed her the Infernum Armis didn't you?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

Ryden nodded.

"And what else? What else could you have possibly done too..." Mephisto paused, his eyes slowly rising into realization. "Wait..."

"I destroyed Lucifaad in her name—promised her even, under the notion that she would help heal and hydrate Rivia and the POW's of course... I even requested some moderate dragonite for a second deal that she believed me capable of doing"

At that movement, it was clear Mephisto had a hard time believing such a story—yet considering the man was still breathing stood as proof enough; never the less, his interest was piqued with the latter half of his story. "And what was this second deal?"

Ryden held his neutral gaze with a lazy sort of edge. "To retrieve an apparent treasure of hers from the tomb of Valefor..."

Mephisto's eye twitched again. "And do you know where that is?"

He nodded. "The necropolis..."

"And do you have any fucking idea how stupid a task that is?"

"Yup—though it should be easier with fire... lots of fire"

Though his answer was minimal at best and even downright lazy to digest, Mephisto however immediately saw the plan of action laid bare to him right with that last response—leading his eyes to loosen in revelation. "I see now... this is all part of the plan then, right after your done with Ashfeld—you'll move on to the necropolis with the newly acquired Infernum Ignis and use it to carve a path to the tomb of Valefor and retrieve the treasure... simple and flawless"

Ryden raised a brow at Mephisto's deduction; most of what he said was spot on right—yet the last bit was something Ryden didn't fully agree with. "I wouldn't say flawless just yet Mephisto—directly after Ashfeld, we will be returning here to help revitalize the land for the dragons—and then after that well will begin the delicate operation towards escorting the four blackmailed families out of the region and into Anti-Satan hands... after that, then we'll siege the necropolis"

Mephisto nodded. "And what's on the line for this treasure?—what's it going to grant you?" he asked suddenly, and Ryden had to fight off a mild blush when he remembered the third deal with Tiamat—the challenge she'd issue upon his request for alliance.

"Ah... the second deal was so I could be granted even more dragonite; however the third deal I made—"

"A third deal?" again, the devils eyes twitched... this guy was insane!

Ryden nodded along, unaware of the devils opinion of his mental state. "Yeah, the third deal was an issue of challenge—at first I had offered Tiamat to join me and my team in our efforts against the Old-Satan's, however that changed when Tiamat offered me a challenge via combat" Mephisto surprisingly found himself blushing crimson at those words—yeah, he knew. "I accepted without thinking about the actual reasons behind her motives—and she told me to come back to her domicile when I finish acquiring all of the four Infernum Armis' and maximize my skill with this..." Ryden summoned his hand cannon – Cerberus – to show a slightly shocked Mephisto. "After I destroyed Lucifaad, she ended up granting me a small amount of dragonite as to 'invest' in my services... so, yeah" he dismissed Cerberus before Mephisto could fully download its features, yet even still, the devils eyes were wide with familiar recognition.

"Y-yeah—that's cool and all – congrats on getting inviting to a mating ritual with a female dragon king – but what I'm more interested now is that weapon you just showed me" Ryden blinked at the devil before he recalled Cerberus to his hand.

"What about it? Do you recognize it from somewhere?"

Mephisto nodded as he stepped closer to examine the fire arm; his eyes roaming along the intricately crafted weapon as if it was some sort of ancient relic.

Mephisto's eyes shot up to him. "You forged this?"

"No—I had Ajuka forge it for me using the dragonite I acquired from Tiamat" Ryden blinked when Mephisto suddenly gave him a wide eyed look. "What?" he asked, curious of the devils line of question.

However, Ryden's eyes narrowed when only one possibility came to mind. "You've seen a weapon like this before haven't you?" he suddenly accused, to which Mephisto merely nodded at the question.

"I've seen dozens of varying designs such as that one in multiple crypts and caves—most of them being too far damaged to actually use, however I have been able to document their age and descriptions using photo imaging" Mephisto suddenly summoned a series of iridescent magic sigils onto his palm before several images sprang to view within a sphere.

Ryden's heart nearly sank... and his skin went frigid cold.

The designs of the weapons themselves varied in size and fiction – a surprise in of itself – as the documented images collected by Mephisto depicted several dozen weapons varying from Revolvers, M1 Garand's, 1911 sidearm's, trench guns and Thompson M1A1 sub-machine guns. The era of these weapons obviously came from WW2—however; the following slew of additional weapons took a massive jump forward in time...

...And towards fiction.

Ryden was dumbfounded at first upon seeing the more futuristic styled weapons, and even ponder his reality perception when his eyes locked on an M45 tactical shotgun, which was then followed by a MA5C assault rifle, a M6C/SOCOM magnum and an SRS 99 anti-material sniper rifle. It was an impossibility, or a really bad joke, as all four of those varying weapons came from a god damn video game – most specifically... Halo – and yet here he was, watching a devil slide along his images whilst listing off the weapons description like a narrator, and each description was flawless in accuracy.

He wasn't hallucinating, he wasn't going crazy... this shit was real.

Some motherfucka seems to have been here before him—or was it him?

Now that's a thought...

Ryden wasn't gonna lie and say he didn't ponder the idea of creating a few fictional weapons from the fabrication station back at the S.O.B; call it sort of childish enthusiasm—yet more specifically, he'd desired to create several stupidly overpowered weapons for his team with the mind clearing feature attached to the fabrication station; however he'd merely forgone the idea to fantasy when the idea of fucking up the Time-line came to mind... if he got too crazy, the devils may catch on in interest.

So yeah... he'd rather not see a version of Joanne of Arc wielding a fuckin chainsword any time soon—or a BFG.

Ryden had to curse his own blunder after a moment of staring at the images—as each one in its entirety kept on forcing his eyes wider and wider in recognition; an expression that Mephisto was very quick in noticing.

The sigil went dead after a second, leaving Ryden to turn towards a very serious Mephisto Pheles. "I know what that look entails—you know exactly what these weapons are; you know how they function, their purpose... you may even know when they were made... so tell me – whoever you are – what are these things?"

Mephisto's eyes were locked coldly onto him, a form of seriousness that honestly unnerved Ryden to a certain extent; and the feeling only ever grew worse when he slowly realized he had no way out of the situation; he had to think quickly.

He couldn't lie and say he randomly came up with the weapon design and function—the devil was too sharp to fall for it. Hell, the idea of just inventing a revolutionary weapon such as the gun was so deeply flawed that it honestly hurt to consider.

Humans were destined to invent the equalizer between themselves; their constant struggle to survive in their own violent world led them towards the use of stones, then to sticks—spears, slingshots, bows, and swords; with each era came a time of struggle, and each era came about a new form of equalizer used to outgun whatever danger available.

The gun was humanities finest tool of destruction; it kept the wielder alive, and made sure its enemies were pushing up daisies before its wielder. All in all, humanity was destined – as a weak species – to make it.

Devils didn't have a need for guns however—they had magic, their means of projectile combat was already finalized and perfected; all they had left to work for was quality and quantity—nothing more, nothing less.

The gun wasn't theirs to invent—they didn't need it; so the invention of such a tool of war only stemmed from prior knowledge... he made a mistake.

"That isn't something you should be asking lightly boy"

Ryden blinked – as did Mephisto – when Tiamat stepped out from the shadows at the latter's flank; the female's eyes lingering momentarily on the red haired devil before she directed her sole focus on the one devil closest to death.

The dragon kings eyes didn't deceive her, nor did her instincts... Mephisto Pheles was on a very quick path to death with that line of questions.

Ryden's killing intent had risen...

"What?" Mephisto questioned, surprisingly serious even though it was a dragon king he was speaking to.

Tiamat narrowed her eyes at the inquisitive devil dangerously. "Did I stutter, boy?" she growled as her hair and eyes slightly crackling with unrepentant lightning.

That did the trick.

"S-Sorry, lady Tiamat—I seem to have been enamored with a discovery... forgive my impoliteness" Mephisto quickly retracted his pressure and lightly dipped his head towards the dragon king.

It's in these moments when Ryden could clearly read the situation as it stood out; he could deduce what sort of individual each person was just by their conduct and posture... a sort of rapid noble training from Venelana and Zeoticus to help him read a devil during any sort of situation. Considering Ryden had a small bit – if you could call it small – of physiological study on body language and emotional reactions to stressful situations, the training stood as a final stroke to the perverbal nail into the perverbal coffin.

In short—Mephisto Pheles wasn't a conceding sort of devil; nor did he have any desire to perfect his bow. And considering the devil himself had even stood up to Tiamat for just a second before realizing his mistake went as far as to show how detached the devil was to extreme decorum—and manners.

Nobles possessed a muscle memory when it came to greeting a fellow noble – Venelana's words, not his – that practically forced a strict mannerism life style into each noble's lives. Had the situation involved Rosalina instead, then there would have been no threat directed towards her—as she would have bowed the second the dragon king approached.

This made it clear that Mephisto was a devil to be more wary of then prior understandings went; because as it stood to reason—its best to not fear a devil with manners then ones that don't.

Mephisto was a powerful devil by mystery alone—and even still his demonic energy made sure none mistook his innocence as genuine.

A Pandora's Box so to speak...

And Tiamat had made it bow...

Ryden could feel it from where he stood, the pressure exuding off of Tiamat in droves—like a tidal wave of power that washed over both Mephisto and himself. Yet, while Mephisto remained silent on the matter – making sure his eyes remained on the ground – Ryden however had found himself slightly shaking... not from fear...

...But excitement

It was stupid, irresponsible, and downright preposterous to feel any sort of excitement towards the literal titan of power before him; such feelings were derived from suicidal morons with more brawn then brains... combat junkies with nothing left to live for then the Euphoria of battle.

His instinct should be telling him to concede, to run, or to submit... however.

NO!

FIGHT!

CHALLENGE!

CONQUER!

DOMINATE!

Ryden's eyes slightly widened when his thoughts went on a rampage, single words ramming through the highways of his mind—sending waves of emotions and sensations to both his eyes and his body.

His rational side had considered the normal means of engaging the dragon king... most of which resulted in running in the opposite direction.

Yet something inside him... something stronger—demanded him to stand and challenge, to conquer what stands before him; to DOMINATE.

Ryden didn't realize it, but externally, his body was shaking and his breathing was coming out in quite rags that only one individual could see; however internally, Ryden was fighting his rapid heart rate—and the heat that followed, which created a sensation of mild euphoria throughout his entire being.

What was this!?

Ryden's eyes seemed to slowly lose focus, just as Tiamat watched the man slowly lose himself to something only she knew of... or rather... what a dragon knew of.

Tiamat casually strolled forward – passed a silent Mephisto – and gently dismissed the man with a gentle pat on the head. "Forget this conversation devil—there are some secrets that shouldn't be unveiled... at least not yet anyway" she said with a slightly increase in amusement when Ryden's hazed eyes locked onto hers. "Leave... I wish to converse with Ryden alone"

Mephisto slightly tensed yet after a moment of silence, the previously imposing devil stood back up and turned to regard him with a set of determined eyes. "I'll let this slide for now—but sooner or later Gremory, you'll need to come forward with what it is your hiding" Mephisto sighed after a moment before he stepped off towards the darkness. "There is something ominous looming over the distance—something that's even making me nervous with each discovery I find"

Though Ryden's senses were running amuck – staunching his perception – he still managed to see the determined, yet fear ridden, eyes of Mephisto pheles glancing back at him. "One of those discovers cannot be ignored" he said with gravity to his voice.

Ryden noticed he'd moved to leave, yet suddenly, his instinct flared out in protest—and for a moment, his senses cleared. "Wait!" he called out, freezing the departing devil in his place.

"Hm?" hummed the mixed devil.

Ryden took in a heavy breath, steeling himself completely while also making sure not a single soul – other than theirs – was present. Thankfully... none were anywhere close to them, he could even sense Rivia some dozen meters away, far from ear shot.

Little did Ryden know, his demand for absolute secrecy yielded a reaction that shocked both himself, and the others present.

An azure energy shot down from his step towards Mephisto before it melded into the soil below—spreading out into a complete circle around the area which then rose upward into a complete dome of energy, the dome itself being 40 feet in diameter. Within, sound became isolated, and all outward sources of ambient noise suddenly snuffed out completely. Gravity became lighter, as gravel and rock slowly began to rise upward into the air—as if locked in stasis; and the energy within seemed almost alive; creating a form of territorial awareness in both of the experienced beings present.

Their instincts told them they were no longer in control

In an instant... none of them could sense the outside world—nor hear it. And now they had been cut off from any sort of retreat, and where now completely at the mercy of whatever bounded field they were in.

All three occupants of the azure blue dome briefly glanced upward, two of which being slightly surprised by the sight of the obvious dome of energy; yet the last individual glanced towards the dome in shock—not at all expecting the outcome of his actions.

"Well that's new..." Ryden muttered as Tiamat and Mephisto glanced at him in confusion—the latter of which being more so then the former.

"This seal" Mephisto muttered as he grazed his hand along the glass-like surface only to feel a moderate sense of danger—forcing him to retract his hand before anything could happen. "No... This isn't a seal—it's a literal reality marble" Mephisto whipped around towards a stunned Ryden, the expression written on the man clearly telling him he wasn't even aware of the impossibility of what had happened. "How did you do this?"

Ryden couldn't really answer that question without sounding like an idiot—so he shrugged. "I have no idea, it just happened" was all he said, leaving Mephisto and even Tiamat in stunned silence.

Mephisto's archaic knowledge regarding arcane arts was profound enough to warrant accommodation, so hearing someone say they accidentally created a pocket dimension almost hurt too much to ignore.

And Tiamat... well...

From behind Ryden, and out of visual viewing of Mephisto, Tiamat found herself fighting control over her body just as Ryden had before—yet in her case, the sensation she was feeling was clearly familiar, as her eyes locked solely on the man in front of her, a blush slowly marring her cheeks which was then followed by a hungry smirk. Heat emanated off her body in waves, forcing her breathing to come out in raspy moans of an unknown pleasure, yet even so, the pressure weighing on her forced her into silence.

And she willingly submitted to it... with a moan of course.

Unaware of the events behind him, Ryden sighed – ignoring the questioning look from Mephisto – and fully steeled himself for what he was gonna do.

It was stupid... but his gut was telling him to go with.

Here it goes...

"It's called a gun" he said after a moment of silence.

The suddenness of the answer slightly threw Mephisto for a loop; first reality marbles and now the devil was coming forward with his secret? He had to blink away the slight whiplash that followed the last 20 seconds. "W-what?" he asked with a bit of a stutter... a side effect that Ryden was known to inflict.

"The answer to that mystery... the weapons you've found—there called guns... well—they each have a specific name and number, but the classification of those weapons are called 'guns'...their human made" Ryden could see the slowly rising corners of Mephisto's eyes before it evolved into shock.

"Human... you?" Mephisto was shell shocked, bamboozled—all sorts of surprised. "How is this... no human's can survive in this world without succumbing to sicknesses, I should know, I've seen how weak those creatures are even to their own world—but yet you?—that's not possible"

Ryden sighed, he should have know the devil would make that connection—in fact it was inevitable with the way their conversation had gone, and even then he was prepared to silence the devil with a flick of his wrist if he blurted out the truth.

How could he be able to explain that to Rivia wasn't lost on him; in fact he had to thank Tiamat greatly for arriving when she did, such an entrance had unknowingly saved the devils life. Yet now—with this dome up, he could freely explain himself and even set some rules on keeping the devil silent on the matter.

"It's possible, believe me—I was unmoved by the idea about seven months ago when I arrived in the territory of Malphes... damn near destroyed the whole territory with my landing"

"Landing?—wait... you said six months ago?" Mephisto's eyes widened.

Ryden nodded knowingly. "it's about seven now I think – I haven't been able to properly keep track of the time lately – but yeah... six or so months ago I landed in Malphes—apparently I looked like a falling star when I arrived" Ryden's eyes shimmered with mild amusement when Mephisto made the connection, he smirked at him. "I think you understand now..."

"No human could survive that landing..."

"I was born in 1995, British Columbia, I'm 23 years old—and I arrived here from the distant era of 2018... I'm no god, nor angel, or fallen angel—my powers only ever started to manifest upon my arrival" Ryden made sure he could perfectly articulate his true origin as best he could, as each word spoken almost sent Mephisto over the edge of disbelief.

After he was done, Mephisto was silent... for a moment.

"This... this is insane" he muttered.

Ryden hummed. "Ajuka said the same thing—Sirzechs seemed to be the best one to receive this information, hell, even his parents took it better" at his words, Mephisto again recoil in shock.

"Ajuka knows?"

"I just said that..."

Mephisto suddenly twisted around and rubbed his face, clearly overwhelmed by everything. "I see why you withheld this information—humans aren't exactly fan favorites around here, yet this itself confuses me as to why you chose to reveal this information to me in the first place... I ask why the sudden trust?—you don't know me, nor I you, yet here we are"

Ryden sighed at that—the crux of his reasoning. "I'm not gonna lie—the line of questions you piled onto me forced me into a corner; leaving me no other way but to reveal this information, yet I wasn't prepared to let such a secret loose freely out in the open... worst case scenario, I would've had to kill you" Mephisto raised a brow at the assured answer, yet Ryden waved off the incredulous stare. "Thankfully Tiamat stepped in before anything could get ugly"

"I find it rather odd you believe in such an assured vic—" Mephisto's eyes bulged when his throat suddenly contracted in on itself, tightening his Trachea just enough to the point of total asphyxiation. He tried to breath for a second, but nothing came out of his efforts; panic came suddenly before his breathing returned within a fraction of a second later.

Just as his breathing stabilized and he stopped gasping, Mephisto had to note that there had been an odd noise filling his ear the second his airway was blocked; it sounded almost as if the air itself had become denser—heavier.

Mephisto's eyes suddenly locked onto Ryden's, and then his gaze trailed over to his hand – namely his thumb and index finger – which was lightly pinching the air towards him. Ryden smirked when Mephisto returned his gaze to him—a pale look of shock written on his surprised features. He chuckled "Like I said... it wouldn't have ended well" he clarified.

Mephisto lightly coughed into his hand, noting that it was slightly shaking, before he stood up and fought back his primal fear of the man in front of him. "I see... was that telekinesis?" he asked.

"Yup..." was Ryden's simple reply.

Mephisto nodded.

That was a fearsome ability... and rare...

The heterochromatic devil mentally shook himself off of the growing nervousness towards the man in front of him. So many years of being the mysterious danger had led him into a comfortable placement in every conversation he had, yet know that he knew what the being before him could do—easily nullified his own confidence.

How irksome...

Ryden sighed, suddenly appearing apologetic. "Sorry about that... I just wanted to make sure you were aware of how serious I am about secrecy" he stated with a now newly determined expression. "Action's have always has been more effective than words in my opinion—and I wanted to make sure you knew how direct I'll be when – or if – you decided this secret becomes too much to bare"

Mephisto lightly snickered. "A wise decision... however, you need not distrust my ability to keep secrets"

"Trust is a luxury I don't currently have at the moment" Ryden quickly shot back.

"Fair enough..." Mephisto nodded understandingly, yet his eyes returned to confusion. "However, you still didn't fully answer my first question... why tell me this?"

"It's because you seem less inclined to advise authority of my secret—as there is nothing to gain from it... other then my prejudice of course" Ryden gave Mephisto a stare—conveying the message clearly, before he continued, leading with a sigh. "The other reason is because of what you showed me... and it bothers me by what it may entail"

Mephisto nodded again. "What about it bothers you?" inquired Mephisto with a slowly rising bead of interest.

Ryden sighed again...

Why did it feel like he made a mistake...?

He sighed a third time. "The guns you showed me—they come from two separate era's, however the first slew of weapons you showed me are actually historically accurate... the other ones after them however, are actually fictional depictions of weapons from fantasy—namely a video game" at Ryden's words, he immediately knew Mephisto grew lost.

"What's a video game?"

Ryden rolled his eyes. "Imagine it like an interactive movie but with an addition of arcade like motives"

"What's a movie?"

"Theatrical enactment of a real life event or fictional story"

"And what is this 'arcade' mean?"

"Oh for fuck sake's, forget it... just think of it as an advanced form of entertainment; and these guns are based exactly from their Video game counterparts" Ryden know knew why he felt like he made a mistake... how in the bloody blue blazes would he be able to explain the sheer ridiculousness of recreating fantasy weapons for practical use? Then again, he should probably shut the fuck up on that matter—considering his swordspear and hand cannon were based off of fiction in the first place.

As Ryden slowly began realizing the implications of what the pictures meant, and because he was the dumb motherfucker that already started the damn trend, Mephisto on the other hand didn't seem so affected by the realization.

"I'm not entirely sure I understand why this seems like an issue" but then it hit the devil hard. "Oh wait... if its fantasy in origin, then that means... and considering you are the only one aware of the origin of these things, then that also means... oh" Mephisto suddenly had a troubled look on his face, now matching Ryden's own completely.

"Seems like I'm going to be sent back even further at some point" Ryden suddenly rubbed the bridge of his nose, as if in pain. "God—what the fuck is going on right now?" he asked himself, ignoring the brief cringe of pain on Mephisto's face.

Regardless, Mephisto suddenly shook off his piqued personal interest when the severity of the mystery became clear enough—leading him to approach the scenario more rationally and with a more analytical mind. First a human makes a miraculous appearance in hell – armed with terrifying powers and seemly unaffected by the environment... as well as extreme physical damage – and then said human unseals two extremely powerful weapons of hell, proceeds to fight a dragon king to a stale mate – other battles not included – and even seems to have attracted a female dragon king to some degree... and that didn't even factor in the apparent temporal nature of the situation; and the even deeper mysteries that followed.

Something was happening—and dare Mephisto believe it to be prophetical, what with the murals and tapestries he'd seen; and most of them were closely tied with the Infernum Armis—something the human was closely tied to.

This went beyond simple discovery...

Suddenly Mephisto's eyes widened when a critical bit of information slammed back into his mind, bringing about a slight chill when he recalled the time in which he literally witnessed the falling star that was Ryden's entrance... it was odd by its sudden arrival, and Mephisto was confused as to why such information had eluded him for some time now.

He could remember it clearly, yet for some reason, he hadn't acted on it until now... as if it had been blocked until this very moment.

Strange... he'd need to look into that some time down the road.

His eyes steeled over however – forgetting the odd return of a vivid memory – before he turned to a muttering Ryden with seriousness unseen before. "Ryden..." he called out with an iron-like tone; the human immediately regarded him with wide eyes... clearly unnerved by the sudden change in his tone. "Do you remember anything about your fall into hell—can you explain any sensations or emotions?"

Ryden blinked, confused, yet he answered swiftly... the tone in the devil alone was enough to slightly spook him.

"It's hazy, but I remember feeling pain... and cold—rather odd considering I was wreathed in flames; at least I think I was." Ryden scratched his head in puzzlement before he suddenly remembered an odd sensation—or rather an emotion.

Weird...

His eyes narrowed towards Mephisto—obviously expressed confusion. "It's odd, but I think I remember getting frustrated—hell, even a little angry... yet I think it only lasted for a couple seconds before the emotion vanished... then everything went black after the impact" as Ryden explained his wonderful adventures in crashing spectacularly into the Malphes territory with a brief moment of nostalgia, Mephisto slowly grew colder by the second.

"You didn't notice it then..." muttered the devil with far paler complexion then before.

Ryden titled his head, perplexed... and even more unnerved. "What?"

"You said you felt cold... and in pain, right?"

Ryden's eyes suddenly rolled, almost painfully. "Ok, I can only get so erect with suspense before it starts to hurt—so, just lay it down on me flat, cause nothing is gonna surprise me at this point... time travel and shit; you can't beat it" he suddenly sprung up harshly, yet Mephisto hardly seemed affronted by the tone.

"I saw the fallen star—the comet that you created when you entered into hell; however, one doesn't just simply fall from high atmosphere, because there isn't a high atmosphere—only a roof, an impenetrable field of energy created eons ago by beings far older than us. And outside of the roof, is the dimensional gap... the feeling of pain and cold you felt, only comes from being exposed to the primordial energy of such a space" Mephisto paused as Ryden digested the information. "However, the one that governs the dimensional gap – the Great Red – is the only one in current creation capable of piercing the reality between worlds... as far as I knew"

Ryden gulped. "As far as you knew?" he quoted.

Mephisto nodded, smirking now. "Yes... I said that because it would appear there are other beings capable of doing it... and I'm talking about you" Mephisto suddenly snickered when Ryden looked shell shocked by that information, however, all pretense and humor vanished in order for the devil to explain further.

"Call it luck if you will, but I was studying the dragon's migration into the Territory of Lucifaad – before there redirection towards Lilith – when I witnessed the reality over my head shatter like glass—and in an instant, a shooting star came roaring out of the hole in space"

Ryden chuckled mirthlessly. "Must have been one hell of a sight" he stated

Mephisto gave him a dead serious look. "That's where your ignorance comes in... you're not aware of the thing that followed after you"

?!

Ryden's eyes widened. "I-I was followed!?" he suddenly questioned with a slight rise in panic.

The devil slowly nodded; lips now dry. "Yes..." he muttered with an honestly haunted expression on his face. "I can remember the sensation clearly—the deep burning malevolence, the anger, the hate—everything associated with whatever that came after you spread all over the territory like a blanket before it slowly seeped away when it passed over the border to the Thorns territory" now it was Mephisto to look slightly rushed. "You don't remember anything after landing? Nothing at all?"

Ryden slowly shook his head but stopped when his memory finally acknowledge his desire. "It's foggy, but I do remember getting up and walking towards a distant light... keep in mind, I was a simple innocent human completely foreign to the concept of free falling without a parachute, so surviving something like that was a bit... jarring—to say the least" Ryden eyes slowly grew distant when he recalled his capture—but then he shook off the memory before it went further.

Mephisto seemed slightly relieved by his admission. "I guess my theory of it being a living being can be forgotten—whatever followed you may be something of great power, because all throughout Lucifaad recently, and even here in Lilith, I've been discovering patches of desolation in the environment; hinting to some form of over saturation of nether energy"

Ryden's eyes widened again. "I've found them as well... Nyx and Abigail reported finding a massive hole in a mining quarry in the Territory of Thorns – yet it wasn't saturated in nether energy at that time – and we also discovered one in Lilith just a few days ago, and that one was completely saturated"

"So what could be causing this exactly?—it seems to be subterranean in nature, but why?"

Ryden shook his head. "I should be asking you that mister explorer—perhaps you should dive in next time when you find one"

"That wasn't directed to you... I'm merely taking all possible ideas into consideration; and diving in would be extremely unadvised"

"oh well—but I guess if you want to consider anything, then you should probably consider the reactions of the Infernum Armis'—apparently nether energy is a big no-no to them"

Mephisto eyed him closely. "They reacted?"

"Yeah, they even seemed terrified of it carrying on actually; so they ordered my ass to the sight of the corruption upon learning of it and had me purify the area completely" Mephisto's eyes widened, forcing him to rub his chin in consolidation.

"It seems whatever's creating these pockets of Nether energy stands as a sort of direct antithesis to the Infernum Armis' claim to the natural order—considering they hold almost the majority of the responsibility in creating the land around us; then I'm sure you can understand their zealous desire to defend it"

Ryden could understand the idea, but that wasn't entirely all it was. "That could be it, but when I pressed them for answers, they couldn't exactly recall why they felt so inclined to counter the Nether outbreak"

Mephisto sighed suddenly, almost appearing several millennia older then present before he regarded Ryden with a serious expression. "all of this theorizing won't help us create definitive answers, I'll need to dig deeper into this matter regarding the unidentified source of power that followed you through the dimensional gap; everything that's happening, your arrival here, the sudden unsealing of the Infernum Armis', the odd environmental occurrences, and now the sudden connection with these ancient artifacts from this 'video game' you mentioned"

"Don't forget about the fact that I may or may not be sent back further in time... kinda seals the deal for me"

"We don't even know if it's you that's sent back in time"

"fair enough, but if I am, then I'm leaving behind a very clear message proving that I am... if you find anything stupid or confusing, show me... I know a thing or two regarding stupid"

Mephisto nodded with a slightly troubled look on his face. "Sure, I'll keep that in mind" he muttered before dropping the matter and sighing. "Well I guess I'm off to Malphes then—while I would have enjoyed the idea of staying to see Infernum Ignis unsealed, this new discovery proves a far greater importance awaits elsewhere"

Ryden understood the devils approach to the subject, even becoming slightly surprised by the heterochromatic devils sudden change towards patriotism – if it could really be considered as such – yet considering the danger this new discovery brought easily outweighed any sort of personal interest, so that was a possibility.

"How will you cross borders?" Ryden suddenly asked, partially seeing a chance at a favor.

Mephisto's eyes squinted slightly, suddenly aware of where this going. "Through Leviathia's border—I know a few back ends that can easily get me to where I need—I'd say more but it's a secret I'm not willing to part with"

Ryden nodded understandingly. "If that's the case, then I'm wondering if you could do me a favor—in the notion of trust... I did reveal a secret and helped you discover answers to what would have been permanent mysteries; so what say you?" Mephisto could be seen scrutinizing Ryden with a look of mild rebellion and Ryden could understand that expression enough to know he was asking a lot—especially when it came to a devil that didn't hold authority or orders very high on his list of considerations, but yet even then... Ryden had stepped on a nerve that Mephisto couldn't easily ignore.

Not a bad nerve one per say; but it wasn't one that the devil could easily ignore...

"What is it?" the devil asked with a really strained expression.

Ryden knew this would annoy the devil.

"There's a family of devils hold up in the southeast region of Lilith, deep in the forest—around a couple miles from the Marchosias manner. There are three combat servants guarding the location but they should be able to identify you as an ally if you tell them 'Dagger-1 sent you'... I would heavily appreciate it if you helped smuggle them back to Leviathia—it would help speed up the process towards acquiring the Infernum Armis', as I won't need to worry about smuggling them back myself"

Ryden searched through Mephisto's eyes with a hard gaze, determined, and after a moment of staring Mephisto nodded in agreement.

"I don't take kindly to requests boy, but in the notion towards creating trust—I shall heed your request... but don't think of me as a charitable man, the only reason I'm doing this is because of your actions; nothing more"

That was good enough in Ryden's book.

"Thank you"

Mephisto suddenly grew confused however. "I'm curious though, how will you smuggle the other families out? I plan on departing the second this conversation ends so I'm curious as to how you'll manage"

Before Ryden could answer with his own honesty, Tiamat stepped out from behind him only to pause at his side. "I'll shall be the one to help with that..." she suddenly said with a lazy tone, however, contrary to first observation, Ryden could almost see slight strain in her eyes from his point of view.

A second later, and then he became intimately aware of the dragons hand placement... and if he was being honest, he didn't take Tiamat to be an ass grabber.

As if on cue, the females hands slightly squeezed his rear, slightly forcing out a yelp of surprise from him—too which he countered by controlling himself as best he could.

"Isn't that right Ryden?" Tiamat questioned with a casual glance towards him—and in a second he knew her gaze was nothing but casual... draconic lust wasn't hard to miss—yet somehow, Mephisto was completely ignorant of the dragons apparent hunger.

She squeezed again.

"~YEAH!~" he started with a slight pitch to his tone before he coughed away his surprise. "I mean, yes, of course—Tiamat will be the one to help smuggle out the remaining families, no need to worry"

Ryden smiled – a strained smile – towards Mephisto, who simply nodded at the information and turned on a dime... clearly, the devil was now fully aware of what was brewing. "I shall take my leave then" he said with clear haste before waving over his shoulder, body slowly regressing to its earlier child-like state. "I'll be seeing you around Ryden" was Mephisto's final words before he practically phased through the dome of energy without issue.

Ryden had to blink away the ease in which Mephisto departed—clearly having been capable of escaping the situation whenever he wanted. He blinked again however, this time in a more panicked manner when he suddenly noted the heavy breathing suddenly escaping Tiamat's lips. He glanced towards the frisky dragon only to meet the hungry gaze of a madly blushing dragoness.

He had meant to try and break the dense ice with an apology for ignoring her, yet before he could voice his apology; the dragoness suddenly hauled him to the floor, mounting him in a tight straddle that proved inescapable; and in one fell motion, he was getting to know Tiamat just as intimately as he had with Rosalina—except this time there was a distinct wetness pressing against his pelvis.

?!

"Hold up, are you—mhmm!"

Without any hesitation, Tiamat's lips mashed against his own in a primal and lustful manner—bereft of finesse and grace, and simply controlled by a hunger that had been brewing since a few minutes ago. Ryden hadn't been aware of it due to the depth of his conversation with Mephisto, but directly behind him, Tiamat had been brewing in pleasure and growing hunger that easily overwhelmed the dragoness into a heated state—courtesy of her own hidden kink.

The dragon's hands explored his bandage torso for a moment before she tore away at the pointless cloth to reveal Ryden's moderately toned stomach and abs. However, to Tiamat, the image of Ryden's arguably average build didn't deter in the slightest – no – in fact, the sight of Ryden's bare chest and stomach invigorated the dragon further; and within moments, the hungered dragon lowered her assault down to the human's neck—trailing along her tongue in a lustful manner, leaving a gasping Ryden to try and process the moment as it was.

However his recovery only last for a second before the dragon quickly returned to sealing his lips and explore his mouth with such invigorated lust that it honestly started to awaken something in Ryden that he could quite ignore. He could note the dragons slightly elongated tongue exploring the inner workings of his mouth, trailing along his outer limits before completely dominating his tongue in a wrestling match—coiling and pinning his own completely before slowly releasing it. This action carried on for a moment before the dragons eyes widened in shock, a slight visible realization taking hold as she realized what she'd done.

Quickly, Tiamat parted the heated kiss—a slight trail of saliva connecting them which snapped when she stood up completely; a mad blush taking over her features as Ryden fought every ounce of himself not to question what the fuck just happened.

Objective failed...

"What the fuck?" he suddenly asked both himself and the woman that had literally just assaulted him.

Tiamat remained silent and turned away from him, sparking a moment of confusion in the completely awakened human. "So you jump me with the most intense make out session of my life and then pull away without explaining yourself... or carrying on?" he suddenly asked her, feeling both assaulted and blue balled; however, his question only enticed a growl from the dragon king.

"B-be s-silent... T-that was... n-nothing" came the incredible weak excuse from the aforementioned dragon king.

Slowly, Ryden stood back up – mildly discarding the loose cloth covering his already healed burns – and went to approach the silent Tiamat only to be greeted with a heated glare and growl.

Now he'd experienced Tsundere before from Rosalina, however the look and energy coming off of Tiamat almost seemed to completely overwhelm his definition; leading him to believe something quite profound about the 'hard-to-open-up' Rosalina—and the now sexually confused dragon king Tiamat... two birds one stone—wow.

Ryden found himself licking his lips, both in thought and also because his lips felt dry suddenly—however, his action inadvertently supplied him with a slight taste of the woman before him. He paused, taken off kilter by the taste of Dragon fruit before he suddenly eyed the dragon king with an accusing stare.

"Wait a minute—are you drunk?" Ryden had to admit that he himself seemed completely unharmed by the effects of Tannin's 'truth serum', however—if even Tiamat could fall victim to such a devious fruit then he had a few thousand drinking games to forget ever competing in.

No answer by the way—only low growls.

He blinked – several times – before he glanced up towards the dome and casually snapped his finger when he saw no point in keeping it up. Predictably, the dome shatter by his simple command—creating thousands of glass-like shards that seemed to disappear into the ether just before they hit the ground.

No reaction from Tiamat though.

He had planned to approach the dragon king, yet a slight gasp from behind him caused him to pause and glance over to see a completely shocked Rivia standing a couple feet from him. He blinked again – he'd been doing that a lot lately – and almost found himself giving Rivia a fish face expression from his own shock when he realized he'd gone and done another impossible act.

The reality marble... oh yeah... he did that.

Ryden fought the need to blink again before he gave Rivia a slightly pained expression—especially when he noted Tiamat had turned to regard the new arrival with a still present glare—and blush... that was still there, and it didn't help the image and implication of what he'd been doing... bollocks.

Rivia – for her part – had simply been confused on Ryden's disappearance—even having noted that the camp fire had vanished along with him, yet after a second of waiting – mostly in confusion – for some form of answer to come up, she instead received a reply in the form of reality shattering like glass—revealing a fish faced Ryden and a deeply blushing Tiamat... who was clearly frazzled by... many things.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously into a deadpan – a disappointed one mind you – before a cloud of ominous energy leaked off of her body like a shroud, directed solely on Tiamat. Ryden suddenly felt very small—especially when Rivia of all people suddenly sported a murderous expression—a dangerous combination to go with Rivia's demonic energy.

As if sensing the challenge, Tiamat suddenly began sparking with lightning, her own eyes locking with Rivia's in an equal look of murderous intent—and in an instant, both woman were bare inches apart, dark murderous gazes locked silently in a conflict none could comprehend—nor dare interfere.

Ryden held his breath, both mentally preparing to step in if things became bloody and also mentally prepping his final words for his inevitable demise... however, something else happened...

Rivia's eyes twitched dangerous. "I see you have started to lose control of yourself—pathetic" Ryden flinched at the viscous assault from the blonde devil, yet if her words had any effect on the dragon, it only stood to fuel Tiamat's response.

"Lose control you say? Hardly—I'm merely acting on my desires, unlike you, brat"

Tiamat's words held firm, even though her response lacked ferocity her tone possessed arrogance—which easily enticed Rivia's continued assault.

"Your desires match that of a loose fitted harlot—unbecoming of a dragon king, or should I refer to you as slut instead?" Ryden recoiled into a defensive stance, completely taken off balance by the sheer venom exuding off of the woman in front of him. He could see literal lightning bolts shoot from their eyes in a hard conflict of wills, yet neither side possessed the means of surrender... it was a battle of the century.

Tiamat growled. "Mind your tongue bitch, while you waste your time in silence—I have merely taking the chance at something you lack the courage to do" Ryden's eyes shot to Rivia, noting the unwavering conviction within her eyes.

"You over step your bounds dragon—this was MY moment; take your wanton thirst and drown in it in solitude" Rivia's sharp words caused a deep growl from Tiamat, which also elicited a deep growl from Rivia.

"Drown in your own worthlessness whore—you lack the conviction to move forward" Tiamat growled out.

"Cunt..."

"Bitch..."

Ryden was shaking, full on terrified of the situation as the two females slowly delved into single worded insults, the both of them practically forehead to forehead in proximity... he had to stop this—b-but how!?

He had to do it though—or they might kill each other...

Before Tiamat and Rivia could literally jump each other in a maddened frenzy, they both suddenly heard the distinct sound of squeaking coming from somewhere—and within seconds, their eyes locked on a terrified Ryden; the man's voice having literally gone supersonic under the combined pressure of their womanly testosterone.

"Stawp!—" Ryden squeaked—emasculated by the fact his voice had bitched out. "—Stop it please! Think of the children!" he squeak/bellowed whilst brandishing a small stick for defensive reasons; but yet his posture shook vigorously under the combined weight of the predatory gazes now locked on him.

Like cougars they stared onward—having suddenly acknowledged a combined opportunity to end their squabble.

Tiamat suddenly grinned widely—like a shark in blooded water. "Perhaps we should let darling decide who the better...is" Tiamat offered with a low sultry voice.

Ryden missed the darling part almost the second Tiamat said it, as immediately afterwards, Rivia was on him – or more accurately – her breasts were on him.

Soft boisterous globes of heavenly – or demonic – mounds of flesh practically meshed into his face like clouds of awesomeness. Yet a second afterwards, a second set followed directly after Rivia's, both encompassing his face and also striving for dominance against each other.

Ryden had to take a minute to process the moment as it were. Currently, his face was forced directly in the soft—and clearly exposed, mounds of flesh attached to both Rivia Abaddon and Tiamat—a fucking dragon king. Both woman seemed to be fighting over who got to give him the most cleavage—which locked him in a small game of tug-of-war that shouldn't at all be that bad for what it was... however, considering the two woman possessed jugs far larger than most humans he knew, the experience was slightly more dangerous than it should be, as oxygen was not current in supply.

He tried to push them away – his trusty stick having been tossed to the side prior by Tiamat – yet every time he got he hands where they needed to be, they were instead redirected towards the woman's breasts.

Ryden's eyes widened when he found himself gripped Rivia's chest – both hands on the 'steering wheels' so to speak – which seemed to elicited a deep moan from the blonde devil that honestly unnerved him with how invigorated it was... he noted the distinct feel of erect nipples against his palms right before his hands suddenly found themselves pressed against Tiamat's—which also elicited a deep moan from the dragoness.

It was hard to comprehend how such a moment could occur—as a couple hours ago he'd literally stood up to Tiamat during their small conversation, yet now here he was, being straddled by Rivia Abaddon and Tiamat – the both of them having strong armed him into a seating position – which lead to the now literal titty message party.

What the fuck was this? Some kind of ecchi anime?—there was no fucking way this could happen at random... blood should be running!

Sadly, his nose was doing the bleeding...

However, considering he had breathing room, Ryden took in a deep breath—which yielded some form of relief, as just after a moment of further booby bobbing, the two suddenly pulled him into a hug; effectively sandwiching him in-between their fleshy mounds... and he had to review the sensation whilst he had the chance... anime was right... there really isn't any oxygen to be found.

It was still nice though... smelt like sexual frustration, natural fragrance, and blissful satisfaction... the latter of which being his final verdict of a double titty sandwich. The only downside being the lack of oxygen and the ever present feud between devil and dragon... honestly, the moment should've involved full package deal lingerie underwear, pillows, and a chorus of laughter from the woman involved.

Oh well... he could settle for what he got...

9/10 – IGN

"Needs more oxygen"

---

[Unknown amount of time later]

---

Ryden's eyes flashed open, his mind suddenly reeling from an invigorated dream he must have had some time ago; if he recalled it just right—he could still feel the sensation of both Rivia Abaddon's and Tiamat's breasts pressing tightly against his face. And for a second, Ryden clenched and unclenched his hands when the phantom sensation of their boobs slowly resurfaced to mind—giving him a vivid idea as to what they both felt like.

Tiamat was firm – squishy sure, that's inherent – but her chest was just the right mix of firm and squishy that it practically imprinted itself in his mind.

Rivia however—her breasts seemed to dwarf Tiamat's by some degree; however her firmness was a degree less compared to Tiamat, but yet the sheer size of them easily created a sort of appeal... nothing beat a set of huge knockers.

"Was that a dream?" he softly asked himself when he remembered just who it was he was thinking about. For some time since their deployment into Lilith; Rivia Abaddon had been distant with her usual advances—more so then their first encounter back at the Bael territory. Nothing extreme had partaken during their nightly hours – other than the odd moment of sleepy eye contact – so it was a deep surprise to him to even consider Rivia's sudden decision to molest him with her twin weapons of mass erection fuel.

And Tiamat... since when in the nine circles of hell did that dragon feel the need to advance on him like that? A deep lust filled kiss and then a good helping of titty exposure didn't at all feel like something the proud dragoness would do—even willingly. And there was absolutely no way the dragon king was drunk, Ryden didn't take Tiamat to be the kind of drunk that would do stupid shit—unless of course it was something she really wanted.

But now he had to consider the possibilities with that observation... if she wasn't drunk, then she... oh hell!

But if she was drunk then that could... No... No that's impossible—that dragon hardly displayed an ounce of tipsiness to even hint to the possibility of intoxication, and everything she said both towards himself and Rivia hardly at all came out slurred... unless territorial instincts immediately nullified liquor.

It was far too vivid... it was real.

"You're finally awake..." a familiar voice called out, momentarily freezing Ryden in his seat against... someone.

He kept his head upward – pointed to the sky – as he sighed and reached over his head to swiftly grasp at something firm and squishy... which elicited a small gasp/moan.

Ryden frowned and then nodded—content with his findings. "Soft and firm... and large—like... ah, Rivia, I see you're enjoying this fine evening" he began as he gently continued to message the globe of flesh in his hands—uncaring to decorum, while he casually re-positioned his head on the woman's lap. "You mind telling me what all that was a minute ago?—you could even start by explaining why I suddenly passed out as well... that might help"

A hand gently grasped his offending limb, easily parting his grip with her breast before her hands lowered to grip the sides of his face gently—he fingers casually messaging the sides of his temples.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." came Rivia's calm reply...for a woman whom just had her chest region invaded by his hand, her tone was awfully poised.

"Riiight" he drawled out as she continued to sedate him with her masterful fingers. "Should I be worried about the body then?" he asked whilst closing his eyes to enjoy the moment.

He heard a quite chuckle, an adorable sound if he had to say. "...No, before we parted ways, we kissed away our differences and even exchanged 'pleasantries' once we were sure you couldn't hear us"

Ryden snorted. "Damn..." Ryden opened with clear sarcasm before he glanced upward, his eyes meeting a set of golden eyes—amusement rife within them. "Should I be worried then? Tiamat's quite the kisser and I'd hate to see her steal you away... she even had me on the ropes"

Ryden smirked when Rivia's fingers briefly paused in their message before an icy tone whispered out from above him.

"I see..."

Ryden chuckled. "Easy now my dear Guardian—I seem to be sensing jealousy in you" he teased, effectively earning him a pinch on the cheek. "Take it easy now—you know I can't feel that" Rivia changed tactics and grip his cheeks and pulled roughly, yet even still, Ryden remained unmoved.

"Ha! Alas my dear guardian, your jealousy infused abuse cannot harm me!" Ryden jested boisterously before Rivia surrendered to his power and relinquished her hold on him—followed by a sigh.

Ryden eyes remained closed as he simply relaxed against Rivia's thicc thighs, yet even as he did so, he could mildly feel a hint of dejection in Rivia... if that sigh was anything to go by... he should probably fix that.

"For the record though—I'm not entirely sure what came over Tiamat when she jumped me; it just sort of happened" he supplied with a small remorseful expression. He'd seen the look of Rivia's eyes after his words, and if dejection could be written on her face—then someone was a damn mind reader, as her expression hardly at all shifted—honestly, to Ryden, she looked hardly effected at all.

The message carried on after his words; enticing him to sigh contently—leaving Rivia to charge ahead towards clarification... she too possessed curiosity towards Tiamat's sudden advance.

"Tell me... what do you think caused such a reaction?" Rivia questioned while calmly focusing on her task.

Ryden shrugged against her thigh. "No idea... I blamed that damn dragon fruit at first but it seemed she wasn't effected at all" Ryden idly scratched his cheek while Rivia recalled something else—something that shocked her.

"Perhaps it was that new ability... it's possible she may have been affected by its influence on reality" the Abaddon devil theorized with a small knowing smirk. "You may have overwhelmed that poor innocent wench with your otherworldly powers" Rivia giggled at her words, mildly throwing Ryden off with the venom laced in her tone.

"Ooook, glossing over the now apparent blood feud you have with Tiamat, I can kinda see the possibilities of that making sense... I mean she did state before that power trumped everything else, and Mephisto did say something of a 'Reality marble'—so it's possible that... oh" Ryden's eyes rose into shock, while Rivia eyed Ryden with a differing degree of shock.

"Mephisto... you spoke with him?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh—Yeah I spoke with him... that 'little' apprentice of yours approached me before Tiamat showed up"

?!

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.

.

"I see..."

Ryden wasn't aware of it, but his little admission spoke many things to the elder devil; many things that caused the woman to regard Ryden with a look of seriousness... and a small amount of hesitation.

"Ignoring Tiamat for now Ryden... what did Mephisto speak to about?" asked Rivia, eyes set in stone while her hands now cupped Ryden's cheeks without motion—merely holding him.

Ryden himself just blinked at the sudden change in subject, yet regardless he indulged the woman... cautiously.

"He asked me how I found you..." he replied, yet Rivia rolled her eyes at the answer.

"No—Mephisto approaches no one without the intent to indulge himself and his curiosities; that question was a mere distraction to his intentions... I'll ask again, what did he truly speak to you about?"

There was a long pause after Rivia pressed the issue, and for a moment, Rivia had to actually slap herself mentally for using such a forceful tone as she could see the deep hesitation in Ryden's eyes when she looked into them—and she could understand a desperate cry for dismissal if she saw one... but yet, with what she knew, and what that devil also knew nearly went hand in hand in most circumstances; however, the difference between herself and Mephisto was almost entirely night and day.

She sought answers for the mystery of the Infernum Armis'—while he sought answers to the ones that supposedly created them – if they had been created in the first place that is – however, Mephisto was an enigma, a wild card that showed up at her doorstep a thousand years ago seeking knowledge... claiming that he knew everything there was to offer, except her own secrets.

She could read people better than most... Mephisto wasn't interested in the history, nor the mystery, but the power —he was just as interested in the Infernum Armis' as Hallen Foras was – still is – because they both see the weapons as a means to gain power... authority.

Mephisto was the more dangerous however... a nameless devil without a family name and powerful enough to warrant caution; and that didn't factor in the devils lack of respect towards authority figures.

Her focus on the matter was directed solely on her own caution... even though the brat was younger than her by far, and seemed to look up to her as some form of role model; she was still no fool to believe it completely—without a contingency.

So to say her nerves grew cold when Ryden mentioned Mephisto's approach didn't exactly word the sheer extent of her caution... what that devil knew, she must know—he could not be a step ahead of her.

Her instincts ordered her to make sure of it.

"Ryden... trust me that whatever it is you said to him will not be shared by me to no one else... not a single soul will hear what I hear now" Rivia reassured while she gently caressed his left cheek with her finger. She hadn't noticed it, but the man had gone unimaginably tense by her prior words... she had to admonish herself, such a folly was on her.

"Six months..." came Ryden's slow reply, ominous if his tone could be attested, and it even sounded as if it carried a tone of surrender as well.

Rivia blinked. "What?"

"Six months ago—there was a fallen star that mysteriously feel from the sky"

Rivia's eyes widened, she remembered such an event as it practically froze hell into a period of stunned silence before all hell literally broke loose. The fallen star had impacted the derelict territory of the Malphes – the apparent home of Ryden's late family – and immediately afterward, Old-Satan activity in the region grew exponentially; however neither of her own scouts were capable of determining what had fallen. The only thing she managed to do at the time was piss off the Old-Satan forces enough to warrant an invasion—an invasion that ended with her capture.

Rivia shivered at the memory... never again.

"You may not know the full details regarding that event... considering what happened to you—but Mephisto said he witnessed its entrance into this plain of reality first hand—the origin of the fallen star coming directly from the Dimensional gap itself.

Again, Rivia's eyes widened... the dimensional gap?! How was that possible? There was only one being capable of penetrating through the reality barrier with force alone, and IT was barely known to even consider crossing into their reality, yet something else had managed to do so?

Rivia narrowed her eyes. "What else did Mephisto tell you?"

"He showed me images of destroy artifacts that correlate with a weapon in my possession" Ryden summoned Cerberus and held up towards Rivia. "I'm actually shocked none of you ever commented on how I came up with such a perfect and functional weapon... it's almost as if I knew how to make it in the first place..."

Ryden's words were easy to read, to understand what he was hinting at; and now that she could truly take those words into consideration and fully review the weapon Ryden presented—the one he'd been using for some time now, easily started to formulate questions in her mind—and a deeper understanding as to the implications Ryden was getting at was also being made at the same time.

How does one invent a heavily complicated and mechanical weapon without trial and error; without mistakes and setbacks? Rivia knew of Ajuka Astaroth's abnormal intellect for some time before his rise into fame—yet even his bright mind came up with trial projects that inevitably failed... most times the fails only happened once or twice – a impressive record for someone so bright – yet even still, the message was there.

Not a single soul could invent something as complex as Cerberus without a trial phase and several mistakes and or failures to follow. Yet all it took for Cerberus was an hour of planning, a night of forging and several test shots and it was combat ready... no fails, a pass with flying colors.

That only meant one thing...

Prior knowledge

Rivia had her question thought out and prepped, yet before she could voice it, Ryden's hand rose up to rest on her cheek before he gently pulled her down until she could almost feel his breath on her face; a set of cold and serious eyes locking onto hers with a severe tone of finality—even resolution.

"By absolute command as the Arbiter, I swear you to absolute secrecy" he worded with a deadly tone, a tone that honestly made her shiver. The commanding nature, the dominating pressure both in his eyes and presence easily compelled her to agreeing.

"I understand Arbiter..."

He held her close for a moment before a sigh escaped him, a sort of resolute conviction rising in both his eyes and features; and even Rivia could feel the man's body tighten again before almost relaxing in surrender.

Once he calmed, his voice came out in a low whisper...

"I was the fallen star..."

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Silence prevailed the revelation, a dreadfully still sort of silence that passed on for what felt like an eternity. For Ryden, his heart couldn't be pounding any bit harder; he was by all rights nervous of the situation, the reaction and the inevitable outcome of what was happening.

He was going to tell her... now that he revealed it was he who fell from the dimensional gap, there wasn't a chance that she would believe any sort of excuse he could make in order to keep his devil disguise, so he had to tell her; and deep inside himself, he could feel his emotions rise in agreement towards his next actions.

This would determine many things... but first, he needed her reaction.

"My name is Ryden Vale, I was born in the year 1995... 1,563 years from now" Ryden added calmly.

Though, he had to admit, revealing such information whilst using Rivia as a lap pillow did subtract the impact of the moment to an impractical degree. So to make the moment more serious, he picked himself up and twisted around to look a silent Rivia Abaddon in the eye—a younger set of blue eyes locking with a set of shocked golden eyes.

He looked away after a moment, finding the sight of Rivia's gaze to be far more burdensome then it should have been.

He had to consider the implications, the damages and the lash back of her situation as it stood. Rivia had intentionally gifted him a present to consolidate her interest with him... whether it was because of power or character was an easy assumption; Rivia seemed to be the closest in regards to relationship status, as her personality seemed to be far more attracted to his personality then his power; and their sharing of experiences had helped them close the usually awkward gap as if they had a stone bridge between the other.

However, that very bridge was laced with C4... that shit could crumble any minute, and this moment was the deal breaker.

Rivia was silent for a moment, long enough for him to wonder in his thoughts and to even idly acknowledge the new scenery he was in. And for a moment, he was awestruck by the beauty of it all.

The deep night sky around them created a perfect back drop, allowing the calm atmosphere around them to build up with pure tranquility; nothing could be heard for miles, a luxury Ryden appreciated immensely—as the sounds of constant chatter and voices had grown annoying, and even with his time in urban jungles back in Canada and the states, the sound of moving cars and groaning highways had easily become a nuisance... this silence was a welcoming venture... the tension however wasn't.

His eyes traveled further, this time having located the main reason his interest in his new surroundings had sprouted. He had at first wondered why the light in the area had gleamed a brilliant blue, and once he locked his eyes on the small pond at his flank did he realize the culprit.

It was either magic, or bio-luminescent algae—yet regardless, the pond behind him shined a brilliant blue, perfectly illuminating the area in a perfect saturation, hell, he could even see slight particles of pollen rising and floating gently in the air, creating a sort of mystical wonder to the area.

Healthy grass lined the entire pond area, filling the perfect image with a lush green color that he couldn't help but admire.

What was this? Was this something Rivia had found? Or did he miss it in his small travels around the dragon valley?

His eyes went foggy all the sudden in response to his rapid slew of questions – as if he was blinded by something – which forced him to rub his eyes for a second before relocking his vision back onto the pond itself.

This time however... there was someone in it

Correction... on it

He sat there frozen, eyes wide like dinner plates as he regarded the now mysterious figure that seemed to stand on the surface of the water like it was but glass. Ryden grew confused by the sudden addition, his eyes blinking furiously as he tried to process the image before him.

It was a woman – a beautiful woman – draped in the most luxurious samite gown he'd ever seen, looking as if it was made out of the purest of fabrics. Emerald green eyes shone with mirth as his own eyes locked with the mysterious woman, silky dark hair shimmered like passing water, parting just enough to show off a set of pointed ears... like an elf's.

Confusion... nothing but confusion...

Ryden blinked again, and the woman thought it right to finally speak.

"Good fortunes to you, Sir Vale..."

Ryden had long since passed the record of rapid blinks per second—honestly, the sheer suddenness of the woman's arrival had created a sort of deep confusion and whiplash that didn't at all help him in the current moment.

Right now Rivia was probably contemplating her next moves now that she had a good idea at what he was—she was probably making the connections right this second. Yet here he was all the sudden, being greeted by yet another bombshell of a woman calling him 'Sir Vale' as if she knew him completely... when will the time of ground shattering surprises end?

Ryden desired to wallow away such a notion—already feeling drunk off of revelations alone already, any more surprises and he might shit himself.

"Heheh... you are much livelier than I expected"

Ryden wanted to reply, but he could still feel Rivia sitting behind him—silent; he didn't need to start sounding insane right about now.

"You need not fret over speaking Sir Vale, in time you will meet with me and we shall regale our own words at that time, however, you must forgive me of my curiosity... I've grown quite anxious upon learning of your – shall we say – excitable entrance"

Excitable was saying it lightly...

The woman's eyes shimmered with continued mirth.

"Indeed..." the woman started – surprising Ryden – before lightly bowing towards him. "As brief as this was, I'm rather accosted by my own roles as of this moment, so before I leave I shall grant you some advice..."

Great, some odd part of my brain roll playing as a pond lady thinks it's high time to get witty... Ryden rolled his eyes at his own thoughts, sparking a slight chuckle from the apparition.

"Continue on the path you have set for yourself, be true to whom you are, and look no further then to those you surround yourself with... loved ones should be held dear, not with fear"

Ryden remained silent, both verbally and mentally as the woman gave him a motherly sort of smile; clearly happy for the speechlessness her advice had left him.

"Until then Ryden Vale... farewell"

With a blink of the eye, the image of the woman vanished... and time resumed anew.

Ryden's back was to Rivia, form froze in clear shock at the sudden arrival and words of the mysterious woman; yet before he could truly ponder the woman's message—a softness suddenly pressed itself against him, sleek effeminate arms gently wrapping around his neck in a soft hug while a set of lips gently brushed his ear with a warm breath.

If he could stiffen anymore then he had, then he would have, but right now, he was spent—leaving him to only melt into the soft embrace of the woman behind him; shell shocked by both the sudden greeting of the mysterious woman and the words she spoke of.

"I guess what I felt was true... you truly are a human" Rivia whispered, yet her words made no rise out of the man she was holding; instead, he merely hummed in acknowledgement... far to mentally tired to give a damn.

"When did you figure that out?" Ryden asked.

"The prefab base—your little stunt with my demonic energy" she revealed with a small smirk. "Did you think that I was unaware of your little bout of curiosity—you should have known that was me all along..."

"Ah..." Ryden hummed as he calmly relaxed against the woman, completely unmoved – physically that is – by the blonde devils reveal; instead, all he had was a simple question. "...You angry?"

He felt her shake her head after a moment. "No... I can understand why you kept this secret, I'm just glad you admitted it instead of trying to hide it..."

Ryden nodded and said nothing... well, he tried to. "For what it's worth—I'm sorry"

"For?—" Rivia replied in confusion before she gently shook her head, as if dismissing the notion all together after a moment of consideration. "Ah... forget any of that Ryden, I have only know you for a couple weeks now—such a secret doesn't affect me as much as you may believe... now if you were an Old-Satan spy on the other hand, then that would be different" Rivia spoke mostly in jest, clearly sensing the small ounces of remorse and guilt creeping into Ryden's tone, however her words pressed the issue slightly further.

"You are not affected by me being human?" Ryden suddenly questioned while turning to regard her with wide eyes; a bead of hope in his tone.

Rivia smirked—and dare she say her smile looked like her mothers.

Her own instincts flared to life, a maternal instinct hardly ever used—which led her to pulling Ryden to her chest like a mother would an anxious child. She didn't know exactly why the idea felt so natural, but judging by Ryden's sudden reaction to it, she guessed it was a much needed response to his question.

Ryden feel silent, his eyes being hidden by the angle in which he now rested and Rivia felt it right to finally explain her response. She even smirked when her hand gently rose to the man's hair; soft and gentle locks interweaving between her fingers as she stroked his head soothingly.

With a contented sigh, Rivia finally spoke.

"Unlike most of my kind, I hold no resentment towards any species as a whole; how could I when my very own species partook in a war that beheld prejudice over reason? Unlike most of my kind, I neither hate nor condemn—I merely accept the situation as it is and move on. Because if I choose to hate a species—then I merely choose hate itself." Rivia paused to consider her words – it had been a while since she'd even thought of this matter – however, after a second, she nodded contently when her chosen path found itself known to her.

"During the Great War I made many enemies—yet I also made allies, both amongst the fallen angels, and the Angels themselves... though, don't tell them that; it's sort of a secret" for a moment, Ryden's eyes rose to see Rivia giving him a playful expression before it suddenly changed to reminiscent. "If I recall it right, I had once confronted a fallen angel named Azazel; he was a vulgar man—always trying to seduce me with silver plated words and barbed comments towards my rather immaculate physic that apparently rivaled his sisters... I didn't ask who that was if you were wondering."

Ryden fought a snicker.

"But get this—even with all those words, I could tell his mind was elsewhere, and all it took was for me to noticed the state of his men—his allies, his sisters and brothers. Azazel was apparently their leader at the time, I didn't really know or cared as much; I just knew that the little critter always managed to lure out the Archangel Raphael—which was a man I had desired to slay. But I guess at the time, the leader of the fallen angels was more preoccupied with the safety of his kind, rather than fight me fully... so I spared him" Rivia slightly snickered at her words end.

"Should have seen the man's face; he went from lecherous to shocked in the span of a second. Only the two of us could tell which one was fighting fully and the other desperately; Azazel had been placed in a corner and I had all the time to end him, but yet I chose to end the fight in a draw" Rivia paused, somewhat forlornly. "Its honesty sad to see such relief on a being once ordained to the heavens, a being that once held mercy and kindness above all.

"I had told him upon questioning that I bore no hatred towards his species, nor the angels; and that I desired no such stains of mercilessness to bear upon my blade... I had enough already"

"He was surprised of course; to hear the rumored Devil Reaper actually possessed a heart... I ignored that and recalled my forces to other matters, leaving him to tend to what I guessed to be his wife"

"I don't understand..." Ryden began, giving Rivia pause—yet upon the man glancing towards her, he could tell she already had her answer prepped. "How does that correlate to your choice about me?" he asked, more curious of the woman's answer then anything now.

Rivia merely smiled. "The actions of any known species have always been dictated by power, greed and Pride; and the Great War started because of a petty pride; and it was Lucifer's pathetic family issues that resulted in the major conflict, leading my species into a bloody battle that birthed nothing but hatred. Our actions shouldn't be dictated by the choice of the few, because if you knew the amount of devils that despised the war heavily, and the fallen that rebelled against the conflict—and the angels that fell to the ranks of the fallen because they possessed the courage to speak out to that ball of cartilage called 'The Father', then you'd understand my point..."

Rivia smiled warmly to a silent Ryden, the man neither noticing the expression or the shimmer in her eyes as his face was pressed tightly to the woman holding him; almost possessively.

"I don't care if you're human, your species has done nothing but commit the sin of survival; you are beings cursed to roam the lands of earth without a singular leader to help guide you; tainted by a treachery that ended with your kinds condemnation because of the ignorance of one, and the petty jealousy of another" Rivia's grip grew tighter. "I refuse to fall prey to such baseless hatred; to hate something without reason or understanding , to condemn something – someone – without understanding it—it is the height of hubris!"

"If I were to be like them, to hate what I don't understand and believe myself right, then I... then I... then I wouldn't have been able to fall for you"

!?

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.

.

He... Ryden didn't expect that... at all...

From within Rivia's now tight grasp, Ryden merely stared off into space blankly; blinking in shock and confusion as the woman's words slowly seeped into his mind, processed, and repeated over and over as he continuously replayed the woman's words at the same speed. This wasn't something he expected from Rivia, a confession such as this was supposed to be reserved for something further down the line; but yet here they were.

Though arguably he did receive an engagement present from the woman holding him... which constituted affection... and commitment... and a pledge – at least, he thought it did – and a clear sign that the woman wished to be with him more so then a simple guardian—all of that should have dulled the moment even just a little, but that was naive thinking. Of course the affection was there, naked spooning, cuddles and the odd sexual innuendos did help in bridging the gap between himself and the woman immensely but at that level, it might as well be construed as friendly, with a side helping of immense blue balls... Ryden never did say the sleeping naked part was easy... he always made sure to wake up facing away from the woman due to reasons pertaining to natural reactions.

.

.

.

Wait... Ah... right... that could be it...

Now of course this was spit balling but... well he should probably get the answer for himself—before he made a serious assumption.

"Uh... um... what – er – what—ok... why did you fall for me?" he asked with a very clear stutter. His mind was working but his lips were a bit laggy right now.

Rivia didn't miss a beat in her reply, either not offended by his rather amateurish question or simply uncaring to it—either way, Ryden got his answer.

"No devil I know exudes your level of charisma; and I only remember experiencing such a thing twice. The first time involved a man with daddy issues, and the other merely used the image of a true leader as a facade to lull his sheep into believing his course of action was right. I can't help but notice the underline of treachery within them both... yet you... your words, its... pure. Every word you utter, every plan you form, every idea you come up with – regardless of the risk and danger – you always make it sound easy, you never use the smile as a mask to hide a deeper greed, you instead carry yourself with a confidence that I can't help but admire... and..." Rivia paused after a moment, a small shudder of... something, coursing through her for a moment.

"The story about you and this knight Valeria... and the family that you saved... I..." again another shudder passed over the woman, and this time, her grip tightened further—followed by a frustrated growl. "Why can't more of you exist?—why must there be only one of you?" she suddenly asked with heat in her tone.

Ryden merely replied by grasping her arm slightly, grabbing her attention in an instant. "There is only one of me Rivia—and he's right here... trying to breathe"

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.

.

"Heh—Hehehe... hehehehe—Hahahahaha" Rivia shook jovially against him, grip loosening, as she laughed openly at his casual reply; and for a few more moments, the woman carried on with her laugh, releasing the pent up frustration with each chortle before she slowly relaxed—repositioning him so he could easily regard her on his own.

Yet that changed quickly.

"Yes... there is only one of you..." she muttered before leaning in close with a slightly glazed expression. "And he's all mine... for now at least"

The moment and the intimacy involved had long since numbed Ryden to the outside world. With every spoken word from Rivia regarding herself, his character and her stance on his true heritage had easily dulled the world down to the point that Ryden could only see the woman sitting in front of him. He was no lie detector, but he could see genuine frustration, admiration and affection in the woman's golden eyes... everything she said was true, originating from a heart that had seen and felt far too much heart ache.

And then he had his answer... the reason this woman had fallen for him so quickly and without much attention; quite honestly Ryden had merely attracted the woman by just being himself... on a small note, Ryden suspected that he had already made that connection.

...Regardless

He was no ladies man back in his time, with only one amateurish relationship under his belt he didn't exactly bring in the ladies as much as some of his other friends did. One of his other friends – Gabriel – always seemed to find his way into a woman's heart like he knew the back door, or had some kind of VIP access.

Clearly, he wasn't the best at this, and he knew he wasn't; but he didn't need to be like Gabriel in order to do what he'd done.

Because In a world of pain and war...

It only takes the slightest of good deeds to create a saint...

Upon realizing this, Ryden didn't fight Rivia when she pushed herself onto him; nor did he clam up when her lips met his. Instead, he embraced her—tightly and without quarter, using every ounce of his own confidence and impartial experience to strengthen the moment as it was. Without noticing, Ryden fell backwards onto the soft grass, followed closely by Rivia as she pressed herself tightly against him.

Ryden didn't really keep tabs of how long he was ensnared with Rivia and her aggressive advance on his lips, but once their lips parted for just a moment—he'd found himself at a loss of breath.

No words came from either of them for a moment, the both of them merely gazing at the other before Rivia reclaimed Ryden's lips in a far more aggressive kiss, pushing her tongue into his mouth with reckless abandon. With no other desire present, Ryden quickly responded with his own; guarding and countering Rivia's tongue before pushing back into her mouth—establishing his dominance.

A moan escaped Rivia's sealed lips; the brief sound echoing out softly as Ryden flipped them over, reversing the position, which enticed a second moan from the now submissive Rivia Abaddon. Their lips parted a second time, allowing Rivia enough time to deeply suck in some much needed air. Ryden however, kept the pressure going upon watching the sensual rise and fall of Rivia's healthy bust—and without any hesitation, he buried himself into the nape of the woman's neck, kissing and suckling the woman's healthy skin.

Rivia's breathing sharpened by the action, her breathing coming out in small rags as Ryden traced his kisses all along her neck before moving down her collar—ensuring every inch of her nape was explored. In response to Ryden's advance and burst of lust, Rivia wrapped her arms around Ryden—actively exploring his build hungrily before her mind almost went blank when a rough hand took a hold of one of her breasts, messaging it far more vigorously than before.

Rivia's hands gripped against Ryden tightly, her fingers scraping along his impervious back before Ryden parted her top just enough to fully expose her bosom. Cool air nipped at her exposed globes, impartially erecting them, before Rivia's breath hitched when Ryden immediately took a hold of her now exposed breasts and fondled them like mere play things; the sensation of his hand on her flesh amplifying the stimulation far more than before.

Before Rivia could release a moan, Ryden sealed her lips again, this time completely dominating the kiss with complete control whilst keeping his grip completely enraptured by the woman's exposed breasts.

Rivia couldn't think properly; every thought seemed to vacate her mind whenever Ryden changed the tone of foreplay; erecting an unseemly noise from both herself and her inner pervert. She moaned again when Ryden fiddled with one of her nipples, pulling and pushing it, before his other hand slid down her back slowly, only ever stopping briefly upon reaching her rear, yet even then, his hand continued to explore every inch below her belt—only leaving her nether regions be... much to her annoyance.

Rivia moaned again, now becoming aware of her steep arousal upon thinking on that final thought, and immediately pulled Ryden down into her lips, sealing her haggard breathing within a sloppy smack between a set of lips. Ryden smirked at Rivia's hungered growl before he quickly complied with the woman's desire.

He held off his tonsil assault, giving Rivia enough room to explore him to her heart's content before he ambushed her roughly, pushing her invasive tongue back with gusto; however his ambush only lasted for a moment, as Rivia fought back eagerly.

Ryden disregarded the woman's breasts and rear after a moment of struggling. Instead, he found purchase with the woman's wrists—too which he immediately pinned above Rivia's head, giving him complete freedom. Yet in response to his actions, Rivia wrapped her legs around his waist—her action coming out slow at first, before her now exposed legs sensually slid up along Ryden's own legs before locking tightly against his waist, pulling his pelvis against her own.

For a moment, Ryden froze when he felt his awakened length become pressed tightly against Rivia—the sensation being eerily similar with what he'd felt with Rosalina and Tiamat—which easily gave Rivia enough time to re-establish dominance.

This time, Ryden moaned when Rivia took control and flipped them over, her hips bucking slightly against him eagerly while her lips and tongue completely overpowered the struggling man below her. However, after a moment they parted for air – leaving only a few inches of space between them. In the silence, only the sound of haggard breathing could be heard between the entwined couple; the deep gasps of breathing coming out in bouts of heated air that kissed the other in small gouts—yet neither of them noticed it. All they saw was each other, their faces now deeply flushed under the weight of their actions, further heating the moment as it was. Soon enough, their awareness slowly returned, and the both of them noticed the saliva and drool that had been mixed uncaring in their fervor, the contents of their lust caking both of their lips.

Ryden huffed tiredly uncaring of his sloppy appearance, while his eyes remained locked with a calming Rivia's—the woman's own eyes now possessing a sort of hunger found in a satisfied predator, and after a moment, a lustful glint sprang up behind her mirth filled eyes... a small brief moment of deep hunger gracing her usual immaculate features

Slowly, she licked her lips clean – sensually enjoying the action – before a soft satisfied moan escaped her upon finishing. Once done, her lips slowly enveloped Ryden's for a moment before she pulled back with a soft nibble to Ryden's lower lip—pulling it back slightly before releasing it with a mild purr to follow.

After a moment of continued silence – filled with haggard breathing – Rivia gently rested herself against Ryden; neither furthering her position against his obvious erection or retreating from it. However, the sensation was enough to elicit a chuckle from Rivia when the man below her groaned at the sensation. It was a humorous for moment, but she ultimately forgot about it when she found her spot on top of Ryden and contently lulled out the world—happy there were no interruptions.

Silence followed shortly after and for Rivia, all was good in the world, no interruptions, no impending dangers, no nothing... for Ryden however... it was slightly different...

Jesus fucking Christ... and here I thought Tiamat could kiss!

In a constant state of euphoria, Ryden's mind replayed the last several minutes over and over, desperately replicating the mental image of his moment of extreme intimacy with the woman on top of him yet no matter how hard he tried, his thoughts remained on the moment as it was—merely choosing to instead enjoy the company then dwell on what had happened.

With that thought, Ryden sighed deeply – contently – as he matched his own breathing with Rivia's and basked in the woman's warmth for as much as time deemed it; however, with the silence of the moment—his mind began to wonder back to the previous topic he'd been on prior to the present situation – if he could call it that anyway... he was rather new to the whole romantic movie type moments—bear with him.

As much as it seemed shallow or simple, but Ryden honestly had to consider the fact that not a single devil he knew had ever been exposed to his degree of kindness—or charisma. Well perhaps that was being a little narcissistic, it's not like there weren't people like him in hell – there was probably a shit load of selfless white knights running around – however Ryden was mostly refereeing to the passionate nature of those... how could he put it?—untouched by the cynical side of the world?

Wait... now he felt like a naive boy... well, that wasn't exactly that far from describing him but that's not it...

No...

Ryden slowly grew pensive, an expression of confusion quickly noticed by a content Rivia.

"Something wrong?" she asked while remaining where she was.

Ryden shook his head before he released another sigh when Rivia gently slid her hand across his chest to cup his cheek. "I'm confused – mostly –... I never really expected... uh... this to happen so quickly" he spoke honestly, mildly confusing Rivia—as evident by a soft frown.

"I take it... humans from your time take this much slower?" she asked with now affirmed curiosity.

The response she got was a small chuckle.

"Heheh... it honestly depends—I've known couples that hooked up within hours, and I've heard stories of couples that never really got together until a couple months after meeting. A lot of tip toeing and beating around the bush in my time"

Rivia's frown became slightly skewed. "That last bit Sounds... almost familiar" she muttered after a moment, a knowing smirk suddenly rising on her lips.

Ryden pinched her side when the meaning of her words clicked, enticing a slight jolt from her. "Competition is great and all, but that's just plain mean" he stated with a grin.

Rivia snickered. "Hehehe... I don't know what you're talking about"

Ryden shook his head but never the less dropped that particular matter... for all of two seconds.

"Speaking of competition... that's also new to me"

Rivia hummed at his words, playing with the subject for a moment before she sighed contently. "What about this seems new? Don't humans compete for the attention and affection of a significant other? Or am I wrong?"

Ryden grew pensive again. "oh we do, the compete for attention and affection is absolutely correct—it's just... multiple partners isn't exactly how it normally ends in my time – humans nowadays sure as shit do it – but in my time, it's perceived as something immoral... and, also—can make you look kinda douchy" in response to his words, Rivia merely hummed curiously at the information.

"I see..." she started before raising her head enough to lock eyes with Ryden. "I'm not sure exactly the difference between humans and devils are when in comparison with perceived relationships, but if I had to guess... we may just desire power and security more so than humans; considering your species natural physical limits, the desired outcome of the union may be different compared to what we devils desire"

Ryden nodded. "Tiamat said your kind and dragons relate on that matter more than any other species... but that can't be it right?" Ryden's question elicited a slight glint in Rivia's eyes.

"Hmm... for some, perhaps that is all they seek—but it isn't all we look for..." Rivia lowered her head back down to Ryden's chest and sighed, relaxing. "I guess I may just simplify it... we devils seek singular equality; power meets power—and power is created upon union; and in our eyes—we don't truly care how many of us – woman I mean – choose the same male... or even female in some cases" Ryden frowned at that, sparking a glint of perversion from Rivia.

"How does that—"

"Magic..." was all she said, a small chortle of perversion echoing out from her chest.

Ryden left it at that, especially when Rivia slightly pressed her pelvis against his when he chose to question it further... and to be perfectly honest with himself; Ryden didn't exactly like the implication of what she was saying.

But before he could delve into that forbidden realm of pornography, Rivia continued. "It's also possible that humans don't feel the same feeling we get when being around our selected partner... kinda like a sent or feeling of sorts" upon finishing that statement, Rivia shoved her face further into his nape, practically inhaling his sent before returning to rest against his chest with a contented sigh. The action was sudden to say the least, and Ryden couldn't exactly un-see the slight glow in Rivia's golden eyes when her gaze momentarily locked with his. Safe to say he found himself blushing hard at that and suddenly blinked curiously at a question that arose in his head.

"What do I smell like?" he asked, a little bit more quietly then intended—yet regardless, Rivia answered.

"Campfire, a little bit of Rosalina's perfume, dragon fruit and... Tiamat—and also myself" Rivia licked her lips. "Not a terrible combo, but it has its attraction"

Ryden blinked at the random moment. "Nice..." he said simply before he returned to the prior moment. On an off handed thought, Rivia seemed easily distracted right now... neat.

"So what's this feeling thing you mentioned?"

"Oh... it's mostly like an aura, the stronger the devil—the more pleasant the aura..."

Ryden felt slightly at odds with that notion...

"Does it affect anything?"

This time, upon his question, Rivia raised her head to regard him with a half trouble, half deadpanned, expression. Her look being no less inclined to the build up of his increasingly more obvious paranoia; and now it was clear she was annoyed by it—at least, that's what Ryden believed.

"What's this all about?" she asked with a look that he could not ignore or avoid.

Instead, he sighed in surrender, seeing as his trail of questions was easily noticed... not that it wasn't hard to notice anyway. Yet regardless, his questions had been enough to help alleviate most of his growing worries, however his incessant side had not deigned to leave; regardless of how plausible Rivia's answers were.

So he spilled...

"Sorry..."

"Don't apologies for something you haven't even said yet—explain"

"...It's about the multiple partners' thing; it bothers me on how easy it is here—how simple it is for someone strong to simply attract potential partners by just having inherent strength; with humans, the notion of attraction comes with personal potential and skill, as well as charisma. But to see something difficult come about so easy for another, I can't help but question the genuine emotions behind it... this aura, does it affect the mind? Does it influence attraction?" Ryden searched Rivia's eyes for a moment upon finishing his little tirade, yet nothing came of it, instead Rivia blinked her eyes at him in mild contemplation before she slightly huffed in amusement.

"You're over thinking it... its how we've been for as long as we've existed" she said with a dismissive tone.

"...but are you happy with it?"

Rivia couldn't help but react to the question with a set of wide eyes.

"W-what?"

Ryden didn't hesitate, as his own eyes regarded her own with true genuine care; a curious expression mixed with a token of nervousness. "I said are you happy with it?—this predetermined notion, are you happy with the arrangement?"

Rivia couldn't exactly place the feeling she was getting from the question itself; as no one had ever truly thought of such a thing. And as unlikely as that notion was, it still stood true to her when she thought of the many stories that her sisters had spoken of a little too loudly for privacy tastes. Among her sisters, she was the only one that didn't find a partner during the Great War—none attracted as much as Nocris Phenex. But regardless and against most stories of the 7 sisters... they were NOT virgins.

However, Rivia never did find them questioning the notion of sharing a man—nor did they voice their disapproval when they watched their chosen man chase after another... quite honestly they seemed amused by the devils actions more so then annoyed.

The more you know...

But now – Rivia blinked – now she found herself lying upon a man that actually questioned something that most devils ignored. Are you happy with it? The question itself was generic and frequent, yet the context was new. No devil asked their female partner if they were happy about their new addition—they didn't because it was inherently – and unanimously – answered with a yes; not verbally, but no female ever really hated it... only one had...

One out of billions that is... and a single change doesn't exactly spark complete rebellion against something most devils perceive as natural—no, it's merely interesting and partially tragic.

And above all else...

Rivia paused before she came to that remembrance, retaining the meaning in Ryden's words well enough to understand his direction, however, even still; her own spot on the topic never changed. So in the end, she smirked down towards Ryden—her arms now framing the man's head, before she placed a gentle kiss on his lips; staunching the man's nervousness right then and there... yet she was not finished.

This child – this naive and young child – needed to be reminded of something very important...

Rivia's eyes shone briefly as she directed a knowing grin towards Ryden before she closed the distance between her lips and his—yet she didn't complete the intended action.

"Do you want to know something you may not be aware of?" she asked with a slight husky tone.

Ryden nodded, slowly. "Color me interested..." was all he said, forcing a slight chuckle from Rivia.

"I knew Venelana way back before Sirzechs was born..." she started with a growing grin when Ryden frowned at the information.

"I'd assume so—I mean you did fill me in on that woman's apparent perversion... not that I'm surprised" Ryden scratched his cheek, remembering the escapades involving that woman and the apparent stories Rivia told him about.

Rivia herself chuckled at the reminder. "It takes experience to know of one's perversion..." was all she muttered... silencing Ryden entirely.

He lay there, silent and confused, before it slowly sank in... And the surprise was legendary.

?!

"Wait? What!?" he howled in a whisper, amusing Rivia by the expression on his face alone. "You mean to tell me? That you and Venelana..." Ryden paused in order to fight off his confusion... and it was only confusion—disgust was not present... for some reason.

That image wasn't a terrible thought... but it was a shocker for Ryden.

Rivia for her part merely shrugged. "No big deal really, Venelana was pitching the idea of me joining her with Zeoticus – not a bad idea mind you – and we ended up in a rather 'heated argument' that involved a couple hours of... well you know the rest" Rivia smirked almost darkly when Ryden's young little mind was invaded by the image of something Fulgur had fantasized about—yet before he could go further, Rivia added in a little something extra; courtesy of her inner pervert.

"She was good – and aggressive for such a coy little thing – yet I still managed to pull off a victory that may or may not have ended with her unconscious..." she added while licking her lips in fond memory of that particular encounter.

"R-Rivia, please... I don't need to know about that" Ryden slowly drawled out in horror, yet in an instant, Rivia was responding.

"Oh but you do... because you've forget something important Ryden" she began before she leaned in further, down towards the man's right ear; and close enough for him to feel the heat of desire roll of her breath.

Slowly, her fingers began to soothingly fiddle with his hair, distracting him while she continued. "In all of your worries, you failed to remember something crucial about me... something that's been far easier to grasp"

"And what is that?"

"I'm a devil..."

The reminder didn't exactly enact a massive reaction from Ryden, but it did remind him who – or what – he was talking too. In his honest defense, devils and humans acted almost unnervingly similar, yet now it was clear their perception and approach to otherwise more difficult subjects was fueled by literal sins. Not that these were bad per se, humans have for some reason elected to demonize them completely, even though those very same humans use most of them every day... they call them sins, and yet—yeah he'll just leave it at that.

Enough was said, and now he understood...

In the end, he was over thinking his paranoia—blanketing his own era's fear and negative outlook onto something socially accepted by a different species... it worked here – apparently – and it seemed to not at all involve the robbing of freewill. Instead, the devils had managed to discover a balance between lust and love with the added assistance of natural evolution— the end result of this match made in hell, somehow managing to make something far more sticking then simple love with a pinch of lust involved.

In hell, it was a half mix of lust and love – perfectly balanced as all things should be – and added to that mix was a large helping of power for incentive and survival—which also helped speed up the evolutionary growth of devil kind itself. So as Rivia had said—mutual equality; power meets power, and thus power creates even greater power.

Devil kind in a nutshell...

But he'd been over this already—what Ryden truly wanted was to make sure he wasn't influencing the decisions of the girls around him with just his power alone... for Tiamat, this was different; that dragon had been involved in power flexing for god knows how long, and had been mostly exposed to the raunchiest of personalities one could think of.

Bite him... Ddraig didn't exactly sound like the most upstanding dude to base off relationships with—quite the opposite. And it would take an empty emotionless idiot without a brain to consider power as the sole motivation for relationships. For attraction your god damn right that's needed, ain't no fat fuck without strength gonna be picking up all the chicks – nor attracting the dudes if their female – unless they got the big brain and the charisma of a team captain on a collage state football team, then that's a different story.

Thankfully though, it seemed his worries were unfounded... however that didn't mean he would lean back and accept the multiple partner shenanigans without adding in his own approach to it. He'd absolved himself to this notion over some time, and a few hours of council with Ventus and Fulgur had eased him into accepting this path with only a bare amount of clenched teeth.

Rosalina was slowly growing on him... and he knew it would probably get better... if she takes him being human well; and that was still in the pending booth, yet regardless, Ryden could tell Rosalina was a free spirit at heart, and yet her fear of expressing that inner desire was what kept her from truly becoming what she was... he just needed to keep pecking at it.

Rivia on the other hand... well, yeah... that was an obvious answer.

He wouldn't lie and say Rivia hadn't grown on him; and though their bond hadn't exactly expanded beyond the military venue, he could see the woman perceived him as something worth striving for beyond simple loyalty to a cause—and now in this moment, the contentment she expressed and the happiness she seemed to feel now that she had managed to share an intimate moment with him – finally! – was clear enough that she was already sold on him to begin with... and that wasn't including the engagement present.

And in some time further—he would be too... they just needed to get to know each other first... perhaps a date when they returned to allied lines? Maybe Sirzechs would give them some leave to help them unwind... hell; he still needed to meet Rivia's sister.

Wait...Why did he think of that...?

Ryden shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts before he gently pecked Rivia on the cheek, giving the woman a moment of surprise before she smirked and nestled into the nape of his neck again—clearly aware of his answer with that mere action alone.

With one calming sigh, Ryden finalized his own ideal when noting the smile on Rivia's face as she re-positioned herself to his left, her body still remaining at his side as tightly as before, yet now it was more relaxed. However, amongst these little things, the image of serenity and tranquility written in her features burned something deep inside Ryden's psyche as he stared at her now—his nervous now allowing him to fully accept the moment without fear, easing his own heart into a warm fire while the image itself led to a single absolute resolve.

No matter what... he would make sure that smile remained...

Regardless of the tradition, and regardless of futility, he would make sure the woman in his arms kept that smile... same as any other—he would make sure they knew happiness.

This he swore!

A soft thumb caressed his cheek, the perpetrator being Rivia herself as she silently studied the emotions written on Ryden's face with her own expression of warm contentment. She saw conviction and resolve harden behind a set of eyes that shone with a familiar light, and in the wake of such a sight—Rivia couldn't help but feel her heart flutter when his gaze locked with hers, and the resolve and conviction never faded.

This man...

"Never change..." Rivia muttered as she slowly nestled herself into Ryden, seeking the warmth of a man she continuously found herself falling for. "Stay just as you are..."

Just as Rivia's head met his chest, her eyes shut into a peaceful sleep; contentment and happiness written on her face as slow gentle breaths escaped her lips and warmed the man's chest with each exhale.

Ryden watched her in silence with a small smirk, fully aware of her final words before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in gently.

"...As you wish"

His words reply came out in a whisper, a gentle sound that tugged at Rivia's lips, and soon enough, Ryden followed after Rivia and fell into oblivion.

---

[?]

---

"It was the expression on your face pushed me into the realms of protection... an expression that which I would cherish far more then I knew...

It's really something of a feeling when someone shows such emotion, such joy towards a quality that not many really take notice of and accept someone regardless of what they are...

I can't express in words how relieved I was to know that you had accepted me; a part of me guessed that you'd already fallen for me too deeply to care about such a thing, but I knew that was pushing it...

But it still shocked me to hear it... your confession... even after learning of what I was...

In my time, I wasn't much of a stand out guy to be honest... just an average Joe among familiar fellows that acted just as I did... and in that case, amongst those masses, my own uniqueness didn't exactly stand out as much as it did back then...

But to you, Rivia... I realized I was something more than what even I had expected; something that only you noticed before even I did...

I blame that damn age gap...

...

Over the years, I took into account of the time and date of the human world based upon events and seasons and managed to triangulate that particular day to a single event... a holiday of human traditions, though I'd ignore the church regarding this one... its kinda stolen anyway—but don't remind them... you know how ornery those bastards get...

So I guess while I have your attention... as well as the others I'm assuming... then...

Merry Christmas my loves..." XOXO

-forever Yours, Ryden Vale Gremory

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A/N:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

So in the spirit of the holiday, I busted my ass to get this chapter done before Christmas. I mean, I was getting pinged by a bunch of update notifications regarding a few stories that I follow so I was like "fuck this, let's get a Christmas upload!"

Sadly, I don't think it's exactly everything I had planned, a lot of the revel scenes were minced up and pathetic for a little while before I remembered how human interaction worked and bang, I got a good gist on a small 'filler' episode that not only gets a little steamy from time to time (I hear you perverts hollering for some perversion! Merry Christmas you filthy animals...) so I dang gone done it.

Though... I've discovered how shit I am at doing chapters that really don't progress towards some plot stuff... so I had no choice but to thicken the plot by getting Rivia filled in on Ryden's human side and also drop some real shit regarding a few more future events.

Halo weapons? Further time travel? Tiamat romance progression? Rivia is a massive pervert?

Just like turkey dinner I'm just stuffing shit in at this point... had I not planned a lemon scene in the future then it would've been getting it really juicing up in here... but alas, you all shall suffer the Lawbringers Christmas blue balling! Buahahahaha!

But I guess that last little bit could be a good replacement... nothing but a little sap every once in awhile...

So... I'll be editing this chapter some time down the road, in the mean time, enjoy the holiday! Or any other holiday you follow and keep it classy boys and gals...

PEACE!