Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD, or anything else you recognize in this story. I only own my original MC.
Yo. A few quick notes before we get to the story.
One: Events won't be happening in suvh a short amount of time, like they did in canon. For example, the Raynare incident and the Riser rating game take place a little over a month apart in this story.
Two: There'll be elements and characters from other franchises. I won't go overboard and make this a full on multi-crossover, though.
Third: There will be a few original arcs in this story. If you have any ideas for one you'd like to see, I'm open to suggestions, and if it fits with the story, I may add it in.
Lastly: I like Issei. He will not be bashed in this story. Also, I will not be having my MC take his entire harem.
Without further ado, hope you all enjoy the chapter.
"Hey" - Speaking
'Hm?' - Mental
Boost! - Spells/Techniques
'This again?' Was the thought running through a young man's head, frowning as he observed the scene in front of him.
The young man had rich, caramel skin, along with sharp, golden-brown eyes, and black, long hair that was twisted into locs, reaching just past his shoulders. He was wearing a white, short-sleeved, button-up shirt that had black pinstripes, paired with black trousers, and black shoes.
His name was Jeremiah Lee.
As for the scene in front of him, he was watching as a beautiful, busty young woman with long, crimson hair, doted on a boy with brown hair, who had a perverted expression as he rested his head on her lap.
"Such a spoiled child you are, Issei." She said with a smile, running a hand through the boy's hair.
"Y- Your lap is so soft, President." Issei said, breathing heavily with a blush.
"Oh my, Rias. You're gonna spoil him." Another beautiful young woman said with a soft laugh, standing behind the couch they were sitting on.
She had long, jet black hair, which was currently tied into a ponytail with an orange ribbon, going past her perky butt. She also had purple eyes, and, perhaps most notably, a pair of very large breasts, even bigger than Rias'.
'Pretty sure that's already the case.' Jeremiah thought, sighing as he stood up, showing that he was very tall, standing at 6'5. "I'm gonna head home for the day." He said, drawing the attention of the others.
"Eh?" Rias said, turning her gaze to him. "You're leaving already? Akeno hasn't even finished making her tea yet."
'How would you feel, watching someone you love keep showering someone else with attention, while ignoring you?' Is what he wanted to say. Instead, he just sighed and said, "Yeah... I've got chores. I'll see you all tomorrow." That actually wasn't a lie. He lived on a farm, so there were pretty much always chores to be done.
"See you tomorrow." Rias and Akeno both said, while Issei just gave a distracted wave, laughing like an idiot as Rias continued running her hand through his hair.
Exiting the room, Jeremiah walked down a set of stairs, about to leave the building, only to pause when a red magic circle suddenly appeared on the floor in front of him, making him take a step back. A few seconds later, after a brief flash of light, he gave a small smile at who he saw standing there.
Now standing in front of him, was a petite, cute girl with white, medium-length hair, going a little past her chin, and golden eyes. Although she was a first year in high school, the girl only stood at 4'6, making her have to crane her neck to look up at Jeremiah.
"Hey, Koneko." He said, gently rubbing her head. "How was your mission?"
"Annoying..." She replied with a faint blush, watching as he crouched so that he was eye-level with her. "I always have to dress up in costumes."
"Well, you are a cute girl. If I made a contract with you, I'd probably be requesting the same thing." He said honestly, making her look down as her face turned red. Rubbing her head one more time, he stood up and said, "Anyway, I was just on my way home. I'll see you tomorrow, Koneko."
"See you tomorrow, Senpai..." She said quietly, watching as he walked out of the building, before the doors closed behind him.
Leaving the school grounds, Jeremiah stuck his hands in his pockets, sighing as he made his way down the street. Even though he could just create a magic circle to quickly get home, he preferred to walk sometimes, since it allowed him some time to think about things.
'Both Rias and Akeno... I wonder what they think of me now.' He wondered with a sigh. 'As kids, we were as close as friends could be, and the same was true up until recently, but ever since Hyoudou joined the peerage... I don't know. Is it because of his sacred gear being a Longinus?'
Ever since three weeks ago, when Rias' peerage had all found out that Issei's sacred gear was the legendary Boosted Gear, rather than a simple Twice Critical, both she and Akeno had been all over him, constantly showering him with their attention and affection.
'And then there's Asia.' He thought, his mind going to the newest member of the peerage, a sweet girl that had joined shortly after, and because of, Issei. 'She's also new, but they don't give her as much attention as they do Issei, so it has to be because of his sacred gear, right? Or are they just really attracted to him?'
Jeremiah sighed. He really didn't feel like thinking about this. 'Jealousy isn't a good look on me.' He told himself, wanting the feeling to just disappear.
'You do not need them...' He heard a raspy, almost tired-sounding voice whisper in his mind, his eyes widening slightly as he saw a dark, shadowy energy start to gather around his right fist, showing that his sacred gear was activating on his own. 'You would be stronger if you left them behind...'
"Be quiet." Jeremiah said, thankful that the streets weren't very populated right now. This strange voice in his head was one that he'd been hearing for the last two weeks or so. Initially, he'd simply written it off as his subconscious thoughts coming to the surface, or maybe even just his imagination, but as time went on, and his sacred gear started to activate without him willing for it to happen, he'd come to understand that he'd been wrong.
'Those girls... have already started... to forget about you... They will betray you eventually... And do you know why?'
Jeremiah didn't answer, quickly ducking into an alley to make sure nobody saw what was happening.
'It is because... above all else, supernatural creatures... especially dark ones, such as devils... and the fallen, value one thing... above all else.'
Jeremiah already knew what he was going to say. "Power/Power." They said at the same time. It wasn't a secret that power was something that attracted many beings in the supernatural world. It was part of the reason why harems weren't frowned upon amongst supernatural creatures. In fact, it was almost expected for powerful people to have a harem.
'And when anyone sees the Boosted Gear, power is the first thing that comes to mind.' He thought, balling his fists. It was pretty unfair, in his opinion. He trained hard every single day, pushing his body and mind to their absolute limits. And yet, because a random boy was blessed at birth with gauntlet of the Red Dragon Emperor, he was automatically deemed to have more potential for growth.'
The voice was silent after that, with the energy around Jeremiah's hand dispelling. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair, releasing a long, frustrated groan, before he created a magic circle on the ground, deciding to just hurry up and get home.
Early the next morning, Jeremiah sighed as he finished cleaning out a chicken coop, having made sure to sanitize every inch of it thoroughly.
"Alright, alright, settle down." He said to all the merrily clucking chicken, before ushering them back inside their coop.
"They're always happy to see you." He heard from behind him, getting him to smile a bit as he stood up.
Turning around, he laid his eyes on a beautiful girl, who had caramel skin like him, along with medium-length hair, which was white at the front and brown at the back, with the back being tied up, and her eyes were light brown. Very noticeably, she had a pair of upward-facing horns on the sides of her head, along with white cow ears, a white cow tail, and legs that were covered in white fur, with hooves at the ends. She also had a very athletic, yet very curvaceous physique, with a pair of massive M-cup breasts. At 7'2, she was even taller than Jeremiah.
She was only dressed in a pair of denim overalls, showing off a very eye-catching amount of cleavage, with the sides of her huge breasts practically spilling out of it.
This was his little sister, Cara.
"It's only four in the morning. They're too energetic." Jeremiah said, looking up at the still-dark sky. There was only the two of them running this farm, so they always had to be up by at least 3 am to take care of the morning chores. He had recently been considering hiring some extra hands to help out around the place, but Cara was hesitant to do so.
As he turned his gaze back to his sister, he caught her running her eyes up and down his lean torso, making him chuckle as she blushed and quickly looked away. He never wore a shirt when doing chores, since it would just get covered in dirt anyway. Thus, much like Cara, he was simply wearing denim overalls. Unlike her, however, he had on a pair of work boots.
"Um... Are you gonna stay in that form?" She asked, looking and sounding a little shy as she 'sneakily' glanced at him again.
Raising an eyebrow, Jeremiah looked down at himself, before blinking. Due to spending so much time with Rias and the rest of the peerage, along with all the other students at Kuoh Academy, he often forgot to change out of his human form.
Kicking off his boots, Jeremiah was surrounded by a cloud of dark energy. When it cleared, his new appearance could be seen.
Like Cara, he now had a pair of horns on the sides of his head, along with black bull ears, a black bull tail, and his legs were now covered in black fur, with hooves replacing his human feet. His nails and teeth had also become sharper. His physique had also changed. As opposed to the lean and toned physique of his human form, he now had a more ripped, athletic build. He also now stood at a whopping 7'5.
As one could probably guess from looking at them, Jeremiah and Cara were minotaurs. Well, minotaur hybrids. Their mother was a minotaur, while their father was half human/half devil.
"Better?" He asked, his voice now deeper, getting her to look at him again, only for her blush to intensify.
Naturally, his overalls weren't quite prepared for his sudden growth, which was why the straps and parts of the top had been torn off, leaving him naked from the waist up. The bottom half managed to stay on, but was now ripped and much tighter on him, revealing a huge bulge.
Covering her face, Cara ran off to go finish her chores, with her face practically steaming, making Jeremiah laugh.
Honestly, she'd already seen it all before, so he didn't get why she still got so embarrassed from something like this, when he wasn't even nude.
'My little sister is just too cute.' He thought with an amused smile, shaking his head as he went back to work.
Later that day, Jeremiah was walking down one of the halls in the school, hands in his pockets as he hummed a song. It was currently lunch time, given him some free time to himself.
'I guess I'll head up to the roof.' Normally, he would have had lunch with Rias and Akeno, but that idea didn't really appeal to him at the moment. He didn't exactly appreciate the way they'd been blowing him off over and over again these past few weeks.
"Jeremiah?" He heard a familiar voice say, getting him to stop and turn around.
The owner of the voice was yet another beautiful young woman. She had smooth, pale skin, with sharp, calculating, violet eyes, and jet black hair, which was styled into a chin-length bob-cut, with a bang over her forehead. She was dressed in the female uniform for Kuoh Academy, which showed off her long, toned legs. She also had a pair of black glasses.
"Sona?" He said, raising an eyebrow when he noticed she was alone. "Where's Tsubaki? She's usually attached to your hip."
"I let her take lunch off." She told him, pushing up her glasses, before she, too, raised an eyebrow, asking, "Don't you usually have lunch with Rias and Akeno? Why are you alone?"
"Ah..." Jeremiah trailed off, sighing. "They've been... preoccupied, helping one of our new members?"
"Hyoudou?" She guessed, getting a nod in return, making her sigh quietly, shaking her head. Then, looking as if she suddenly got an idea, she asked, "Why don't you come have lunch with me? We can go to the student council room."
"I don't know. Does the president still have time for all of us little people?"
"Very funny." Sona deadpanned, getting a chuckle from Jeremiah, before she turned and began walking away. "Come on. We can also play another game of chess."
"...Sure." Jeremiah said, sticking his hands in his pockets as he followed behind her, with his gaze soon locking on her nice and round derriere. Sona may not have been as voluptuous as Rias and Akeno, but he had always found her to be just as attractive as them, and even more-so in some ways.
Unseen by him, she had a light blush dusting her cheeks.
As they entered the SC room, they both sat down on opposite sides of Sona's desk.
"So, tell me. How's it been having one of the 'perverted trio' as part of the peerage?" She asked, making small talk as they ate their food.
Sighing, Jeremiah scratched the back of his head. "He's not so bad, I guess. A little annoying, for sure, but he's not as bad as the rumors make him out to be..."
"But?" Sona prodded, sensing that there was more. They had known each other for a long time, after all, almost just as long as she and Rias had known each other.
Jeremiah opened his mouth, trying to think of what to say, only to sigh instead, shaking his head. "Nothing at all. Now, you wanted to play chess, right?"
Deciding not to pry, Sona cleared her tray off of the desk, with Jeremiah doing the same, before she slid the chess board over from the corner of the desk.
"What's our score now?" He asked, watching as she made the first move.
"80-0. My way." She said with narrowed eyes, making him raise an eyebrow as she stared into his.
"Something wrong?" He asked casually, making his move.
She didn't respond, simply continuing to stare into his eyes, even as she made her next move.
Shrugging, Jeremiah continued to play the game. He wasn't very talkative anyway, so he didn't mind the silence.
The two continued to play, each side taking piece after piece, with Sona's eyes narrowing further at how long Jeremiah was taking to make his moves, before the game was interrupted by the sound of a bell, signalling the end of lunch.
"I guess we'll have to end it here." Jeremiah said, standing up with a small smile as he looked down at the board. "Looks like it's your win again."
"Yes... I suppose it is." Sona said, resting her chin on her hands. She then watched as Jeremiah gave her a wave, which she returned, before he left the room.
When he was gone, she frowned, turning her gaze down to the chess board.
'He could have won with one more move.' She didn't know why, but whenever she played chess with Jeremiah, it seemed that he always found a way to lose. Whether it be from dragging out the time, or just suddenly making a move right at the end that clearly wasn't a good one. 'Just why do you do this, Jeremiah?'
He was one of her closest friends, and yet, she sometimes felt like she would never understand just what was going on inside his mind.
That night, Jeremiah sighed as he walked down a street, his destination being the Hyoudou residence. Since Issei had joined the peerage, Jeremiah felt like he'd been a little rude to the boy, so he wanted to try to talk to him, and maybe smooth things over. 'Who knows, maybe we can even become friends?'
As he was a few blocks away, however, he frowned, his nose twitching as he picked up a very familiar scent. 'Rias?'
He started walking faster.
'Was she here earlier?'
Two blocks left.
'I'm sure she was just giving him some more info on the supernatural world.'
By the time he was only one block away, he was in a full-on sprint, running far faster than any human eye could track.
'Please let me be wrong.'
Not even half a minute later, he was standing outside of Issei's house, right below where the boy's room was.
'Why is she in his room?' From this short distance, he could very clearly make out both of their scents.
Not wasting anymore time, he sprouted two sets of leathery, bat-like wings from his back, before he flew up into the air, allowing him to see inside the room.
His stomach burned at the sight that greeted him.
"Issei! Please, take my virginity!" Rias said, wearing only a pink bra and a matching pair of panties as she joined him on the bed, straddling the surprised boy.
'...After everything we've been through... After everything I've done for you, never asking for anything in return... Why, Rias? Why him? Why is it always him?' Jeremiah thought, balling his shaking fists as he silently dropped to the ground, just missing the sight of another magic circle appear in the room.
'I told you... this would happen.' Naturally, the voice chose this time to return.
Not in the mood to talk, Jeremiah created a magic circle to take him home, not caring that Rias would probably sense his magic.
Inside of Issei's room, a beautiful woman appeared from a silver magic circle. She had long, silver hair, with two long braids framing the sides of her face, which had blue ribbons at the end. She had fair skin, red eyes, and a very nice body, which wasn't very well hidden, even with the blue, French maid outfit she was wearing.
"G- Grayfia! What are you doing here?!" Rias asked in surprise, looking at the woman with wide eyes.
"Lady Rias..." Grayfia began, gazing at the boy beneath Rias with a stoic expression. "What are you doing here? Who is-" Suddenly, Grayfia paused, her eyes snapping to the sole window in the room, widening just a fraction at the magic she just felt disappear from the area. 'Jeremiah? He was here... Oh, no. Did he see them like this?'
Grayfia, otherwise known as the underworld's strongest Queen, was the wife of Rias' older brother, Sir Lucifer himself, and they both had known Jeremiah since he was a little kid, with him having been the second person to join Rias' peerage, pretty much right after Akeno.
They also knew about his feelings for her.
"We are leaving, Lady Rias. Now." The beautiful maid ordered, leaving no room for argument.
Sighing, Rias looked down at Issei with a sad smile, saying, "Sorry, Issei. We were too late."
"W- Wha-?" Issei stuttered in confusion, not understanding what was going on at all. One minute, he's lying in his bed, ready to go to sleep for school the next day, only for Rias to show up in nothing but her underwear, suddenly asking him to take her virginity! Then, before they can even do so much as kiss, a gorgeous maid suddenly teleports into his room, looking at him in the way that one may look at an insect, putting a stop to whatever was about to happen.
Getting off the bed, Rias walked over to where Grayfia was standing on another magic circle, doing her best to avoid looking at the maid, not wanting to see the disappointed look she was giving her.
And then, with a flash of light, they were gone.
The next day, Rias asked for her peerage to come straight to their clubroom after school. When they arrived, they were surprised to see Grayfia there, as well, standing beside Rias, who was sitting at her desk.
"Whoa! It's the beautiful maid from last night!" Issei couldn't help exclaiming, only to throw a hand over his mouth when she shot him a sharp glare.
Glancing at Jeremiah, who was sitting off to the side and reading a book, Grayfia wanted to say something to him, but decided it would be best to wait until later. She was here for business, after all.
"Is everything alright, President?" A handsome boy with short, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a mole under his left eye asked in concern. This boy was Kiba Yuuto, Rias' Knight.
"Would you like to tell them, Lady Rias, or should I?" The powerful maid asked, making Rias sigh, folding her hands on the desk in front of her.
"No... I'll tell them." She began, her expression downtrodden as she looked around at her peerage. "The truth is-"
She was cut off when a magic circle appeared on the floor in the middle of the clubroom, with Akeno, Jeremiah, Kiba, and Koneko's eyes either widening or narrowing as they saw it, all of them recognizing the symbol in the circle.
Flames surrounded the edge of the circle, before a blonde man in a red suit rose from it, looking like the definition of arrogant with the way he was smirking.
"Yo, my R-" When he stepped out of the circle, the blonde man suddenly tripped, his face just barely missing Rias' desk as he fell to the floor.
While the others stifled their laughter, Issei did no such thing, hunching over and slapping his knee from hard he was laughing. As for Grayfia, she had a tiny, almost imperceptible smirk on her face, having been the only one to notice a shadow creeping across the floor, before it wrapped itself around the man's ankle.
Quickly getting up, the man straightened out his clothes, seemingly trying to pretend like nothing happened as he continued, albeit with an annoyed edge added to his tone, "Yo, my beautiful Rias. It's good to see you. It's been a while since I've come to the human world."
"Riser." The red-haired girl nearly growled, getting Issei and Asia to look at her in surprise, having never seen her look so angry before.
"You wound me, my lovely Rias, looking at me with such hate." The man, now known as Riser, said, regaining his smirk. "Now, come. It's time we go take a look at the ceremony hall." He continued, reaching forward and grabbing her arm, getting a look of disgust from her as he pulled her up and out of her seat.
"Let go of me, Riser." She spat, snatching her arm away from him, only making his smirk widen.
"Hey!" It was at this time that Issei decided to speak up, pointing at Riser. "You bastard, quit being rude to our President! Who are you, anyway?!"
Barely even glancing at him, Riser asked, "Hm? And who are you?"
Putting a fist against against his chest, Issei declared loud and proudly, "I'm Issei Hyoudou! Pawn of Rias Gremory!"
"Ah, that's nice." Riser said dismissively, clearly not caring to even pay attention to the boy, making him slump a bit. Riser then turned back to Rias, saying, "It seems, Rias, that you haven't told all of your little 'family' about me. That's no good. After all, once we're married, they'll all be serving me."
"...What?" Issei muttered, wondering if he heard that right.
Sighing quietly, Grayfia stepped closer to them, saying, "Issei Hyoudou, Asia Argento, this is Riser Phenex. A high-class, pure-blood devil, and third son to the honorable Phenex clan." Then, she dropped the bombshell on them. "...He is also to be wed to the heiress of the noble Gremory household."
"E- Eh?" Issei stuttered, taking a step back in shock, with Asia looking almost just as shocked next to him. As far as they knew, there was only one Gremory heiress, and she was sitting right in this room.
Laughing obnoxiously, Riser sat down on one of the couches in the Victorian-styled room, kicking his feet up on a coffee table.
A little while later, Akeno walked into the room, pushing a cart that had tea and snacks on it.
"Ah..." Was the sound made by Riser, after taking a sip of the tea. "The tea made by your Queen is always superb, Rias." He said, licking his lips as he stared at the raven-haired girl's bountiful breasts, while he had his arm wrapped around Rias, who was now sitting next to him on the couch, looking as if she would like to be anywhere else.
"Thank you." Akeno said, mustering up the fakest smile she could, before she began going around to the others in the room.
"Here you go, Jeremiah~." She said, giving a real smile as she reached her old friend, about to pour a cup of tea for him.
"No thanks." He said, continuing to read his book.
His words drew surprised eyes from everyone present, save for Riser. Everybody knew how much he loved tea, so it was very strange for him to be turning it down.
"What, is the little low-class devil too good for tea, now?" Riser asked with a laugh, being joined by no-one.
Jeremiah didn't even give him so much as a passing glance, making him scowl.
Deciding to ignore the - in his eyes - low-class scum, Riser looked down at the much desired chest of Rias, trying to creep his hand towards them, while he used his other hand to rub her thighs.
"I can't wait to have you, my Rias." He said, loud enough for all to hear, getting multiple looks of anger and/or disgust. "Our wedding night will truly be glorious."
"That's enough, Riser." Rias said, standing up. Looking down at him, she continued, "I have told you many times, I will never marry you."
"So you've said," Riser said, sighing, before he continued, sounding as if he was talking to a child, "but can you really afford to be that inconsiderate? Aren't your family's circumstances too desperate for you to even be think of refusing this gift of marriage with me?"
'What an ass.' Jeremiah thought, rolling his eyes as he flipped to the next page in his book.
"I do not intend to bring my family to ruin, but I will also not stoop to marrying someone as horrible as you. When I'm ready, I will marry whoever I wish." Rias declared strongly.
"Both your father and your brother, Lord Sirzechs, agreed to this arrangement long ago, with the intent to try to pure-blood devils, many of whom died in the last war, from dying out altogether. Yet, you continue to act like a spoiled child, not willing to set aside your own wants for the needs of the many." Riser said, making Rias frown.
"Don't act like you're trying to do this for some noble cause, Riser. All you want from me, is my body. You want me to be a nothing more than a trophy, one that you can take with you and show off wherever you go." She said with disdain, shaking her head. "My father, my brother, and my clan as a whole are in too much of a rush. We will not be dying out anytime soon." She then glared at Riser, before she strongly said, "Now, for the last time, I will never marry you!"
As soon as she finished, Riser stood up, cupping her chin as he looked right into her eyes, saying, "I, too, Rias, bare the reputation of my house on my shoulders. I will not allow some spoiled little girl to besmirch our good name. Even if I have to incinerate all of your servants right before your very eyes, I will take you back to the underworld with me."
There was the sound of a book snapping shut.
"I think that's enough, Riser." Riser was surprised when he felt a strong grip on his shoulder.
'I didn't even see him move!' Was the thought going through the heads of everyone except Grayfia and Kiba. Kiba was the most surprised, seeing as his Knight piece gave him a huge increase in speed, yet even he had barely seen Jeremiah move.
Jeremiah then looked at Rias, who was staring at him in surprise, before she squealed when she felt something something wrap around her stomach, and lift her up. Looking down, she saw that it was a pitch black, shadowy hand, which stretched over to to where the rest of her peerage was, before releasing her.
This seemed to finally break everyone out of their states of surprise.
Flames began to flicker off of Riser's body, with the man scowling deeply as he looked at the hand on his shoulder.
"You're gonna have to go way hotter than that, if you wanna burn me." Jeremiah said, increasing his grip on the man's shoulder. Being a (half) minotaur came with quite a few advantages, with one of them being a very high level of durability. When you added the fact that he was a mutated Rook on top of that, well, it became pretty hard for a lot of people to actually cause him any type of damage, especially if he changed his form.
"Fine by me." Riser snarled, flames burning in his eyes as he started to increase the heat of his flames, making the others begin to sweat.
"That is quite enough, you two." Grayfia's sharp voice cut through the tension in the room. "I am here on behalf of Lord Sirzechs. I will not hold back if anyone wishes to cause trouble."
"When told such a thing by the strongest Queen, even I become fearful." Riser said, while Jeremiah just walked back to his seat, continuing to read from where he left off.
"Lord Sirzechs anticipated that something like this might happen, so he has given me a last resort, should an agreement not be able to be reached." Grayfia informed, getting curious looks.
"A last resort? What do you mean, Grayfia?" Rias asked, looking for any hope to cling on to. Truthfully, despite everything she'd been saying, she had no idea how she was gonna be able to get out of this unwanted engagement.
"If my lady is that insistent on following through with her wishes, then she is to settle this once and for all in rating game against Lord Riser." Grayfia said, getting surprised looks from Rias and her peerage.
"A rating game?" Issei muttered, wondering where he'd heard the term before. He then remembered back to the day they'd played dodgeball against Sona's peerage, in which she had mentioned it.
"It's sort of like chess." Kiba said, getting Issei's attention. "A game where the masters have their servants compete in battle."
"Chess, huh?" Issei whispered, still a little confused.
"This is why those of us, the servants, otherwise known as Evil Pieces, are given powers based off of pieces in chess." Akeno explained for him and Asia, getting them to nod in understanding.
"I've played in multiple rating games, while you, on the other hand, my dear Rias, haven't even qualified for one." Riser said smugly, taking pleasure in the way Rias frowned at him.
"Normally, only mature devils are allowed to compete in rating games." Akeno explained again for the two newest members of the peerage.
"Eh? T- Then, aren't we at a disadvantage?" Asia asked timidly, wringing her hands together.
"That's not our only disadvantage." Koneko said with a frown.
"Just to be sure, Rias, I have to ask: are these really all of your servants?" Riser asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked over the group with amusement.
"So what if they are?" Rias questioned, only for Riser to laugh and snap his fingers.
Another flaming magic circle appeared on the floor, with a gang of young women appearing from it.
"I have fifteen pieces, which is, of course, a full set." Riser declared smugly, with Rias looking on in shock.
"N- No way." Issei said, his jaw dropping slightly. "Fifteen people in his peerage, and all of them are pretty women and girls?!" And then, out of nowhere he started to bawl his eyes out. "What a man!"
"Disgusting." One of the girls in Riser's peerage said, bearing a striking resemblance to the man himself.
"Rias, your servant is staring at me and crying. What's wrong with him?" Riser asked, actually sounding a little uncomfortable.
Sighing, Rias placed a hand on her forehead as she said, "His dream is to have a harem."
"Oh, is that all?" Riser asked, his smirk returning at full blast. Turning to one of his peerage members, he called out, "Yubelluna."
"Yes, Lord Riser." The beautiful woman said, walking over to him, before he pulled her into a heated kiss, getting Rias to look at him with even more disgust than usual, while Issei looked at him with envy.
He then turned the woman around in his arms, reaching around and groping her breasts as he stared right at the envious Issei, saying, "You'll never be able to do this as long as you live, you filthy lower-class devil."
"S- Shut up! After I marry the president, I'll get cozy with other ladies, too, you chicken bastard!" Issei shouted, shaking his fist.
From that point on, Jeremiah only paid half attention to what was being said, deciding instead to just continue reading his book. However, he couldn't help looking up when he heard the ever so distinguishable "Boost!" of the Boosted Gear, before Issei started charging at Riser and his peerage.
"Mira." Riser called out, with one of his peerage members jumping out to meet Issei, stopping him in his tracks as she held her staff.
Jeremiah briefly considered intervening, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth it. After all, the boy had the legendary Boosted Gear. Surely, he could take down one enemy by himself, right?'
Apparently not. All it took was one hit from the girl's staff, and he was sent crashing up into the ceiling, looking like he got the wind knocked out of him, before he dropped face-first to the ground.
"This is the bearer of the oh-so mighty Boosted Gear?" Riser asked, looking down at the now unconscious Issei with an obnoxious laugh.
"Grayfia." Rias began, trembling in anger as she held Issei in her arms. "We will settle this with a rating game." She said, eliciting gasps of surprise from her peerage.
"Understood." Grayfia said, stepping forward with a nod.
Rias then turned to Riser, glaring as she said, "I swear, Riser, we will wipe you out!"
"I'm looking forward to it, my lovely Rias." Riser said, creating a magic circle under him and his peerage. "See you at the game."
And then, with a burst of fire, Riser and his peerage were gone.
"Alright, everyone. We've only got ten days until the rating game, so we have to use that time wisely." Rias announced, sitting behind her desk as she looked around at her peerage. It had been just about an hour since Riser and Grayfia left, and the young Gremory heiress had been using that time to think.
"What do you mean, President?" Akeno asked, tilting her head.
Standing up, Rias said, "We'll all be going on a training trip. We're going to an old Gremory estate, up in the mountains."
"Actually, Rias." Jeremiah said, getting everybody's attention as he stood up. "I'm gonna go do my own training."
Blinking in surprise, Rias asked, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I'm not going with you guys." He replied, looking down when he felt Koneko pulling on his hand. Giving her a small smile, he rubbed her head, before he started to walk out of the room, waving over his shoulder. "I'll see you all later."
As the doors closed behind Jeremiah, Rias turned to her Queen with a troubled expression. "Akeno, has Jeremiah seemed... distant to you recently?"
"Yes." Akeno said, nodding with a frown. "Is he not feeling well? Or, did we do something wrong?"
"I have no idea..." Rias said, before she turned to Koneko. "What about you, Koneko? Has Jeremiah been acting different around you?"
"Senpai and I hang out all the time." The petite girl responded, eating a chocolate bar. "Yesterday, we went to see Gasper."
"Really?" Rias asked, frowning as Koneko nodded. She then turned to her Knight. "Yuuto?"
"Yes, President." He said, smiling as he nodded. "I don't hang out with him quite as often as Koneko does, but it's still pretty often."
Rias' frown deepened. 'When was the last time I hung out with Jeremiah? I can't remember us having any alone time this past month.'
"P- President?" Asia shyly spoke up, breaking Rias from her thoughts. "I- Is something wrong?"
"...No." The busty young woman said, slowly shaking her head. She then clapped her hands, saying, "Alright, everybody start packing up for ten days! We'll meet back here in two hours."
"Yes, President!"
'You have to focus more. Imagine a blade of pure darkness-- of pure power!'
Closing his eyes, Jeremiah took yet another deep breath, allowing the dark energy of his sacred gear to gather around his right arm.
'This is pretty difficult...' He thought, grunting as sweat rolled down his face.
He was currently standing in a large field, with plant life around him decaying as more of his power flowed out.
'Of course it is difficult, young one. Did you think it would be easy, trying to control a power such as this?'
'Not like I wanted it to be easy, in the first place. If it's this hard, then I know it'll all be worth it.' Jeremiah responded mentally, sighing as he thought back on how this strange partnership started.
Flashback - Previous day
'What am I to you, Rias?' Jeremiah thought, chopping some wood to vent his frustration. 'You would seriously go to Issei Hyoudou, someone you basically just met, for something that important, rather than me, or even Yuuto, who you've known for much longer?' It's not like he didn't understand what Rias was trying to do. She was desperate to anul her engagement to Riser Phenex, so she was trying to quickly lose her virginity. He got that, but, still.
'Did you think that Issei would be easier to convince than me or Yuuto?' He thought, frowning. 'That may be true for Yuuto, but given how long you've known me, Rias, I would have expected you to know better. All you've ever had to do is ask for my help, and I've given it without question.'
He hated that he was just coming off as some jealous guy that got dumped. It was true, he was a little jealous, but more than that, he felt... unappreciated.
'Did I not tell you that this would happen?' He heard the voice in his head ask, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"Who the hell are you?" Jeremiah asked with a frown, tired of not knowing, on top of everything else that was going on. "I can guess that you're part of my sacred gear, seeing as it activates whenever you start talking." Initially, he thought his sacred gear was just Night Reflection, or maybe one of Vritra's four sacred gears, but ultimately, he didn't know.
'Hn... I understand that you are frustrated at the moment, so I will forgive the disrespect.' The voice began, making Jeremiah roll his eyes. He couldn't help but notice that the voice didn't sound as tired as it did before, although it was still pretty raspy. 'As for who I am... I am Knull!'
"Knull?" Jeremiah repeated with confusion. "I don't think I've ever heard of a sacred gear that holds a creature with that name."
Grunting, Knull explained, 'To be expected... I have been bonded with a few other mortals since being sealed in this "sacred gear", as you call it, but by some odd coincidence, they were all killed before even awakening the power.'
"Oh..." Jeremiah wasn't really sure what else to say to that. "I guess I'm lucky, then."
'Perhaps.'
Scratching his head, Jeremiah sat down on the ground, putting his ax on the ground beside him. "So... Why are you only just now talking to me? It's been almost a decade since I awakened my sacred gear."
'It is because of your emotions.' Knull said, getting a raised eyebrow from Jeremiah. 'I needed your dark emotions to fully awaken. This past month, your emotions have been darker than ever before.'
"Ah." He wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. The last thing he needed was people thinking he was some edgelord. "So, was there something you wanted to talk about?"
'Yes... You need to get stronger.' Knull said bluntly. 'You have not been using your... sacred gear the correct way.' He paused, before amending his statement. 'No... It would be more accurate to say that, you are not using it to its full potential.'
Frowning in confusion, Jeremiah asked, "What do you mean?"
'The darkness that you command, is supposed to be an extension of a blade... A sword, to be exact, which you have yet to summon.'
"A sword?"
'Yes... I have been watching from inside of you, learning about these sacred gears. I understand that the thirteen Longinus are capabale of slaying a god, yes?'
"Yeah?" Jeremiah said, wondering where he was going with this.
'Unlike those, my weapon - now yours, I suppose - was made for the sole purpose of slaying gods.' Knull said, making Jeremiah gain a surprised expression. 'In my youth, I created the weapon myself. I may tell you the full story someday, but for now, all you need to know is that, after a battle with God, he sealed me inside of the sword I speak of. That is what is inside of you. It is far beyond merely controlling darkness.'
Jeremiah was speechless. That certainly sounded way more impressive than anything he'd imagined. Up until now, he'd pretty much just been making darkness into various things, such as hands, whips, spikes, and various other types of weapons.
Still.
"Why are your telling me all of this?" He asked, narrowing his eyes. While it was nice to know that his sacred gear was much better than he'd thought, he couldn't help being wary. People didn't usually just offer power without a price. "What do you get out of helping me?"
'It is simple. If you die, I will have to move on to a new host... I do not know about other sacred gears, but over the past few centuries, I have only had four hosts, five if I count you.' Knull said, much to Jeremiah's surprise. 'It is... unpleasant, having to wait so long between hosts, especially when all except you have died before I even fully awakened.'
"I guess I can see how that would kinda suck." Jeremiah said, lightly scratching his head. "So, what do you suggest I do to get stronger? If you've been watching from inside of me all this time, then I'm sure you already know how hard I train."
'I will instruct you on how to draw out the full power of the Necrosword.'
"Necrosword, huh?" Jeremiah repeated, finding that he liked the name. He'd never known what to call his sacred gear before.
'Yes. Now, stand! We have no time to waste!'
Flashback End
'Only ten days... I certainly would've appreciated more time, but I guess this also has its benefits. Being under pressure just makes me work harder.'
With that thought in mind, he focused all of his attention on his training for the next ten days, pushing himself harder than ever before.
It was time.
Rias and her peerage had spent the last ten days training as much as they could, and could now be found in their clubroom, all waiting in anticipation for the rating game to start.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, before Sona walked into the room, closely followed by another beautiful young woman.
She had long, flowing black hair that went past her butt, with split bangs over her forehead. Like many supernatural women, she had a nice body, with her breasts being just about the same size as Sona's. Her most distinguishing feature was her heterochromic eyes, with her right eye being purple, while the left was light brown. Also, like Sona, she was wearing glasses.
This was Tsubaki Shinra, Sona's Queen.
"Pardon our intrusion." Sona said, as they stepped into the room, frowning slightly as she looked around, immediately noticing that someone was missing.
"Good evening, Sona." Rias said, smiling as she greeted her long-time friend. "And you as well, Tsubaki."
"Good evening, Lady Rias." Tsubaki said, bowing slightly.
"The student council president, and the vice president? Why are you here?" Issei asked in confusion.
It was Rias who answered him, saying, "The rating game is being relayed to the members of both houses. These two are helping with the relay."
"I can't help but notice that someone is missing, Rias." Sona said bluntly, noticing the red-haired girl tense slightly. "Where is Jeremiah?"
"I-" Before Rias could answer, the door opened again, drawing the eyes of everyone present.
"Yo." Jeremiah greeted them, casually walking into the room with a wave. Like the rest of the peerage, he was wearing his school uniform.
"Jeremiah, where have you been? We were worried sick!" Rias said, watching as he sat down next to Koneko on the couch, before she climbed on his lap.
"Cara wouldn't let me leave until I finished the big meal she made for me." He replied, shrugging at the deadpan stares he got in return. "She can be surprisingly stubborn at times."
"It's nice to see you, Jeremiah." Sona said, growing a small smile. "I trust that you've trained hard these past ten days?"
Before the conversation could go any further, a silver magic circle appeared on the floor, with Grayfia materializing from it soon after, before she asked, "Is everybody ready?" Getting an answer in the affirmative from Rias, the maid continued, "Once the time to start has arrived, you will all be transported via magic circle to the battlefield."
"Transported? We're not fighting here?" Issei asked, wishing he wasn't so confused all the time.
"For rating games, an alternate, expendable space is created for the sole purpose of battle, allowing everyone to go all out without worry. Fufufu~." Akeno explained, with Issei shivering at the sadistic laugh.
"We'll be heading to the student council room, which will be our broadcast booth." Sona said to Rias, getting a nod in return, before the two bespectacled beauties turned and began walking away. Just before they left the room, Sona said, "Good luck, all of you."
"Incidentally, this battle wll also be watched by the Great Devil, Lucifer himself." Grayfia said, making Rias' expression change to one of surprise, before she looked down.
"I see. My older brother, too?" She muttered, sighing quietly.
"Eh? P- President, did you just say 'older brother'? Or did I mishear?" Issei asked warily, hoping that it was the latter.
"No." Kiba said, smiling. "Our president's older brother is indeed the devil."
"Eh?! The devil?! President, your older brother is the devil?!" Issei shouted, with Asia looking just as shocked as him at hearing this news.
While this was going on, Jeremiah was resting his chin on top of Koneko's head, pulling her back against his chest as he rubbed her belly, making the girl blush faintly.
Next to them, Akeno was sneaking glances at the two, feeling something strange in her belly as she looked at them.
About a minute later, the magic circle finally appeared.
"Let's go, everyone." Rias said, standing up and walking over to the circle, followed by her peerage.
As Jeremiah looked down at the glowing circle beneath their feet, he heard Knull's voice in his head.
'Do try not to die.'
Approximately thirty minutes into the game
"Issei!" Rias yelled in concern, watching as he tumbled down the roof they were on, only coming to a stop when he dug the claws of his gauntlet into it. As he struggled to push himself back up, he suddenly coughed up blood, much to her horror. "Issei!" She yelled again, before turning to Riser, who was on the other side of the roof, screaming as she fired off blast after blast of her Power of Destruction, managing to hit both of his arms.
"Rias, you only have but so much magic power left!" Riser said to her, his arms instantly regenerating. "Just admit your defeat already. Why don't you resign?"
"I- I'm alright, President." Issei weakly spoke up, making Rias quickly turn to look at him, watching as he slowly crawled his way back up the roof, even as he coughed up more blood. "No matter what it takes... I will win... For you, President... I'm going to be the mightiest Pawn, just like I promised you..."
"You just don't know when to die, do you?!" Riser yelled, with a pair of flaming wings growing from his back, before he flew straight at Issei, kneeing him in the stomach.
"Issei!" Rias shouted in horror, cursing the fact that Asia, their only healer, was currently knocked out. The only ones still in the game for them right now were herself, Issei, Koneko, and Jeremiah. Koneko was busy dealing with the remainder of Riser's ground force, and none of her peerage had any idea where Jeremiah was.
"You're pissing me off, you brat!" Riser said, holding up the bloody and bruised Issei by his hair, while he was holding a fireball above his other hand. "A lowly servant, such as yourself, actually dares to defy me, Riser Phenex?!"
"Riser, what are you doing?!" Rias asked, wanting badly to help Issei, but her magic was already almost depleted.
"Oh, I'm just gonna burn this boy up. Enough so that treating him afterwards would be meaningless." Riser said, smirking at Rias' horrified expression. "Deaths that happen in rating games are treated as accidents, after all."
As Riser looked down at Issei, he was somewhat startled to see the boy glaring at him with fierce eyes, even in his injured state, making the blonde man growl angrily.
"Why, you!" He shouted, the fireball above his hand growing both in size and power.
"Riser, please, stop!" Rias screamed, flying across the roof at her top speed.
Just when she was about a foot away from Riser, a black streak suddenly zipped across the area, before, to the surprise of everyone watching, Jeremiah appeared, wasting no time as he punched Riser square in the middle of his face, sending him rocketing off of the roof, crashing through tree after tree as he flew back.
"Lord Riser!" Yubelluna yelled in concern, before turning to Jeremiah with an angry expression, only for her eyes to bulge out when he suddenly appeared right in front of her, giving her the exact same treatment as he did Riser. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have the durability or regeneration of Riser, so that one punch was all it took to take her out.
It all happened in less than ten seconds.
"Lord Riser, one Queen retired." Grayfia announced, sounding a little surprised.
The announcement managed to snap Rias out of her state of surprise. "J- Jeremiah? Where were you?! Issei is-!"
"Rias." Jeremiah cut her off with a slightly steely tone, making her flinch a bit as he turned to glance at her. "If I'm not mistaken, before I showed up, you were just about to give up, weren't you?"
"I- I..." Rias trailed off, not sure what to say. She'd never seen Jeremiah look so mad - no, not mad, disappointed - in her. "I- We didn't know where you were, and he was trying to kill Issei!"
"I was busy." Jeremiah said, reaching inside of his pocket, before he threw her something. "Getting these."
Fumbling to catch what he threw, Rias' eyes widened when she saw what it was. "Phoenix tears? And you managed to get three vials of them?! How?!"
"I had a... talk with Riser's little sister." Jeremiah said, before he turned away. "Anyway, you, Issei, and Asia use those. Koneko is fine."
"R- Right..." She said, nodding slowly as she clenched the small vials in her hand. "Thank you, Jeremiah."
He didn't say anything, simply continuing to stare at the forest, watching as it was engulfed in a huge fire, before his eyes narrowed when he saw Riser flying out of the fire.
"You filthy piece of shit!" Riser yelled, flying towards him with two fireballs at the ready.
Deciding to meet him in the air, Jeremiah blasted off of the roof, making the entire building shake.
"You just had to interfere!" Riser shouted, narrowly dodging a roundhouse kick from Jeremiah. "I would've had everything I wanted, if you'd just stayed away for a few more seconds!"
Jeremiah didn't say anything, simply continuing to give Riser a lightning fast combo of punches and kicks, eventually sending him rocketing to the ground with an axe kick to his head.
Not letting up, Jeremiah retracted his wings, bending his knees as he allowed himself to plummet to the ground, right over where Riser was, only for the blonde man to just barely roll out of the way, with Jeremiah creating a sizeable crater as he landed.
"You won't get away, Riser." Jeremiah said, finally speaking to the man, who was once again creating fireballs. "If you don't give up, you may actually die today."
Thoroughly enraged, Riser increased the power of his fireballs, before having them combine. The end result looked like a mini sun, with the heat being so hot that the ground around him was melting. With a scream, he then launched it at Jeremiah. "Die, you scum!"
When the attack landed, there was a huge torrent of fire, with Jeremiah swallowed up right in the center of it.
"Jeremiah/Senpai!" Rias, Koneko, Issei, and Asia, all shouted in concern, with the latter two having woken up Rias a short while ago, thanks to the phoenix tears.
"Hahaha! Die! Die! Die!" Riser laughed, continuing to throw out fireball after fireball, adding to the flames of the previous attack.
Finally stopping his attack, Riser stayed floating in the air with a victorious smirk, waiting for Grayfia to make the announcement.
As the flames slowly died down, Riser, Rias, Koneko, Issei, Asia, and everyone else watching were surprised at the sight that greeted them, with many women, including those of Rias' peerage, gaining blushes.
Walking out of the flames was Jeremiah, who was now in his hybrid form. His clothes had been burnt up in the attack, leaving him with just his pants, which were barely hanging on. Very notably, despite the power of Riser's attack, the young minotaur only had a few small burns.
"Whoa! Is that really Jeremiah-senpai?" Issei asked in surprise. "What is he?"
"Senpai is a minotaur." Koneko said, surprising him even more with the answer.
"What... What the hell are you?!" Riser screamed, fear creeping into his voice. "Why can't you just die?!"
Ignoring the question, Jeremiah held his right arm out to the side, saying, "It's my turn now, Riser... I'll end this quickly."
'You ready, Knull?'
'Hmph. Show this young whelp the true meaning of fear!'
'Will do.' Jeremiah thought, before darkness began to swirl around his right arm. "Awaken, and erase all light, Necrosword!" He shouted, with a huge pillar of darkness rising from his arm, with the feeling of the power sending a chill down the spine of everyone present, and even those in the observation room.
And then, just as quick as it came, it was gone. When the pillar dissipated, everyone could see Jeremiah holding a long, pitch black sword, with whisps of his signature dark, shadowy energy drifting off of it.
"W- What is that?" Rias stuttered, never having seen such a thing from Jeremiah, not to mention the power that he was emanating. 'Could it be his balance breaker?'
"Don't blink, Riser..." Jeremiah warned, holding his sword behind him as he went his knees, before he disappeared from his spot, moving far faster than anybody present could track as he streaked across the sky, reaching his opponent in less than two seconds.
Before Riser could even fully comprehend that his enemy was already right in front of him, he had his left arm sliced off.
And then, he felt something he never could have imagined.
Pain.
"AHHH!" Riser screamed, holding the stump of his left arm, which was now leaking blood, much to the shock of every single person watching.
Observation Room
"He actually harmed a Phenex?!"
"No way!"
"Riser!" A woman with long, blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and a voluptuous body yelled in concern.
'Hoh... Looks like you've gotten stronger, Jeremiah.' A man that looked like a male version of Rias thought, smiling as he stared at the screen in front of him with interest.
Student Council Room
"Amazing... I knew he was strong, but I never would've imagined it was to this extent." Tsubaki said, sounding a little awed as she observed the fight.
"Indeed..." Sona had to agree. Jeremiah had always been the strongest amongst Rias' peerage, but she couldn't have predicted that he would actually be able to hurt a Phenex.
"It hurts! It hurts! Why isn't my arm coming back?!" Riser screamed, having never felt actual pain before.
"Give up now, Riser, or I will take your other arm, followed by your legs!" As Jeremiah continued to speak, his voice became a menacing dual layer, while his eyes started to turn into pitch black orbs of darkness, before he roared in Riser's face, cocking his sword back, making the blonde devil scream in fright.
"Alright! Alright, I- I give! Lady Grayfia, I resign! Just get me away from him! Hurry!" He screamed, with the blade stopping just millimeters away from slicing his right arm off.
"Lord Riser's resignation is acknowledged. Lady Rias Gremory wins the game."
"We... Won?" Rias whispered, her eyes watering up as she looked down at Jeremiah, watching as he reverted back to his human form, with his sacred gear also deactivating.
"We won..." Koneko muttered, staring down at Jeremiah with wide eyes.
"We won, President!" Issei shouted happily, wrapping the red-haired young woman up in a hug. "We actually won!"
Looking up at the rest of the peerage, Jeremiah sighed, giving them a thumbs up. It was his first time actually using the Necrosword in battle, and he found himself feeling quite sore.
'Not too bad for my first time, I'd say.'
'It was... Passable.' Knull said, making Jeremiah roll his eyes. 'Assuming that you continue to train, you will only get better with time.'
"All remaining participants will now be transported to an infirmary." Grayfia announced, before everyone remaining in the alternate space was teleported out.
Later that night, Rias and her peerage were back in the Gremory estate they'd trained in for the past ten days, smiling and laughing as they celebrated their victory.
"That was awesome, Jeremiah-senpai!" Issei said, holding a cup of punch as he approached the young minotaur, who was sitting on the stairs. "I never knew you were so strong!"
"You put up a good fight, too." Jeremiah said sincerely, nodding at the boy. "I was impressed, seeing you fight so hard."
"Ah..." Issei laughed, rubbing his head in embarrassment. "I just didn't want that chicken bastard to take away President's happiness, you know?"
Humming, Jeremiah finished off the rest of his own punch, before he stood up, placing his hand on Issei's shoulder. "You're a good kid, Issei. Don't let anybody change you." He said, getting a surprised look from the boy, before he smiled and nodded.
Walking away, Jeremiah made his way over to Rias, who was talking to Akeno, before he tapped her on the shoulder, getting her to look at him. Not saying anything, hw waved for her to follow after him, making her raise an eyebrow, but she followed nonetheless, with Akeno watching curiously as they went outside.
"I'm glad you called me out, Jeremiah." Rias said, enjoying the feeling of the night air. "I wanted to thank you again for earlier. If you hadn't shown up when you did, I... I don't even wanna think about what would've happened."
Jeremiah glanced over at her, before he turned his gaze up to the starry night sky. "I remember when we were just little kids, and you first found out about the engagement... I don't think I've ever seen you as sad as you were that day. I remember holding you in my, at the time, small arms, while you bawled your eyes out... And do you remember what I said to you at that time?"
She remembered it clearly. "'Rias, I swear, no matter what I have to do, I'll make it so that you can smile freely again someday. I won't let anybody make you do anything that you don't want to, and I won't let anyone hurt you.'" She recited, looking down with a soft smile and blush.
"And have I fulfilled that promise?" He asked quietly, stopping in his tracks as he turned to the young woman by his side.
"You have." Rias responded, feeling her face heat up a bit when he gave her a small smile.
"I'm glad." Jeremiah said, closing his eyes, before he surprised Rias by pulling her into a hug.
"J- Jeremiah?" She stuttered, wrapping her arms around him. She couldn't remember the last time they'd hugged like this.
As he pulled back slightly, she watched him look down at her, before he surprised her again by leaning down and placing a kiss on her forehead.
He then pulled back completely, and Rias found herself missing the warmth.
"I'll see you later, Rias." He said, before he suddenly turned and started walking away.
"Wha-? You're not staying?" She asked, a little saddened that he seemed to be leaving early. After all, this was a pretty big day for all of them, not just her.
"No." Jeremiah replied, stopping briefly. "I, um... I have to go help Cara with the chores."
"Are you sure you can't stay for just a little longer?" She asked, trying to grab his hand, only for him to pull away.
"No, I can't." He said, sticking his hands in his pockets as he started walking again. "Tell everybody I'm sorry that I had to leave early, but I had to take care of something."
"Okay..." Rias muttered, watching as he walked away, before she looked down. 'Just what is this bad feeling?'
"I'm ready, Null." Jeremiah said, sitting in the field that he'd done his sacred gear training in.
'Okay. Remember, this is likely going to be a very painful process, given how long you have been bonded with it, and there is still no guarantee that you will survive the process. You had better make sure you are fully prepared.'
'The more I think about it, the more reasons I'm gonna come up with to not do it.' Jeremiah thought, frowning as he stared up at the sky. 'This is something I need to do, Null. It's the only way I can truly grow.'
'Alright, then. Lay down. We will begin the process immediately.'
Doing as instructed, Jeremiah lied down on the grass, doing his best to push away any lingering fear or doubts about what they were about to do. He had also made sure that Cara was sound asleep before leaving the farm, so that she wouldn't possibly get caught up in this.
'Are you ready, Partner?'
"Let's do it." He responded fiercely.
'Here we go!'
And then, his world exploded in pain.
Gasping, Rias bolted upright in her bed, sweating pouring down her nude body as she panted heavily. She had been sleeping peacefully, when all of a sudden, it felt as if someone had ripped something right out of her. Something very important.
"What on Earth...?" She gasped out, putting a hand to her chest. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she could tell that she'd just lost something incredibly vital. There was no way that was just a nightmare.
The next morning, back in the field Jeremiah had been in, he was nowhere to be found.
However, there was something there.
A single, mutated Rook.
AN:
Yo. That was the first chapter of my new DxD story. Be sure to let me know what you all thought. This is the first time I've ever written a chapter that was over 10k words, so I hope you all enjoy it.
If you guys want an idea of what Jeremiah's body is like in his hybrid form, think something like Sadao Maou's devil form, except a little more bulky/muscular, and obviously taller. Also, his horns are both intact.
Before I go, let me say really quick: the tone in this chapter, is not what it will be for the entire story. I won't have this story be filled with drama. I just had it like that this chapter, because I wanted to do a proper build-up to Jeremiah leaving the ORC peerage.
Also, if you guys don't know what the Necrosword is, or who Knull is, just look them up on the Marvel wiki. As a quick side note, Jeremiah doesn't have (or rather, doesn't know how to use) all of the abilities yet, so he won't instantly be OP.
Also also, this story has been posted on Wattpad as well, under the username SniperJ324. Figured I should clear that up now, before people think I'm trying to steal someone else's work, or that someone was trying to steal my work.
Also also also, in case you guys didn't know, Cara is from Monster Musume. I know she wasn't in this chapter much, but she will have a pretty big role in the story.
Lastly, this story will, of course, be a harem, and will have quite a bit of lemons. I won't give out the whole list, but I will say this: Rias won't be in the harem. Like canon, she'll be with Issei. Also, I'd definitely like for you guys to give me some ideas for limes and lemons, just to keep things interesting. However, I will not be writing an orgy with Jeremiah and all his women, so please don't even ask for that.
Anyway, that's all for now. Hope you guys all enjoyed this first chapter. Be sure to review and let me know what you thought. I've been wanting to write this for a long time now.
Til next time, guys.