Here is the next chapter.
Again, Sorry for the late update. I got a few reason of why my update is a bit delayed right now.
First, our internet connection in Philippines got worse than before, and it's really hard to update online right now, so I apologize for that.
Second, My cellphone recently got formatted for having too many files in its internal storage and I don't know why it keeps increasing everytime.
Third, I have to rewrite this chapter for a few times since the first one got deleted along with my other files, and I'm still a bit unsatisfied in this chapter, and if I don't update for this week, then maybe I can't in the other week. work keeps piling up, you see.
So, as an apology, I will tell the members of Zen's harem in the bottom of the story, and I hope that you're satisfied with that.
Also, the next chapter is on the way, and I hope I can post it this coming Sunday so stay tuned.
Enough of that, Time to answer the reviews in this last week:
shob-vce-zloby-zdoxli: Yeah, Me too. I really liked the DxD stories involving Kalawarner as a first gen angel. Other than that, thanks for the compliment. I really appreciate it.
reaperblaze: Thanks, man. and I'll keep trying to update the chapters as long as possible.
Lighting-Squall: Yep, I recognized that too when I reread the last chapters, and I apologise for that part. I'm still a noob writer, so thanks for pointing that out.
Tyrant Overlord Killidia: I think I will go in this part, my friend. Thanks to it, I can now plan the Asia arc properly now, but I apologise in advance because I think I might be shortening this arc, about 2 chapters actually, but I think it'll be a very long one, so stay tuned for it. Also, Thanks for your suggestions, as always. I appreciate it, man.
Davidab931: Thanks for the compliment, man. and I'll try to see if I can let those people you said interact with Zen again, especially with Gabriel, since there's not much information of how she originally act besides that innocent personality, but I'll try.
Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD or the elements of the other animes I used in this fanfic. They are all owned by their respective owners. I only own the OCs and my ownplots.
With that finished, Let's go to the story.
"Hello" - Speaking
'Hello' - Thoughts
Hello - Flashback
Hello - Chants
Hello - Skill names
[{Hello}] - Inner beings speaking
(3RD PERSON P.O.V)
Darkness.
That was the first thing that came to Issei and Kuroka's mind. It was just simply darkness. Nothing to see, nothing to feel, and nothing to hear. It felt so creepy for them that they almost can't even feel their bodies. All they know was that they were being teleported to somewhere else, courtesy of Zen.
After few minutes of just staring at the darkness, they started to hear something. But, it wasn't something they were expecting.
'Monster!'
'Don't come near me!'
'Why don't you just drop dead!?'
'You monster!'
It was screams of despair, screams of terror, and it was screaming right inside their minds that they thought they were going to lose their minds because of it.
After that, they then saw some images floating right in front of their eyes.
It was the people screaming within Kuroka and Issei's minds, their faces that of terror, along with the dead bodies piled up beside those people. The two of them can only stare at the horrific site.
All of the images that flashed in their eyes only had one similarity, and it was the white figure standing within the center of the piled up dead bodies.
One of the images showed someone that got Issei gape on how beautiful she was. She has a long gray hair that probably extended to her waist, if not for the ponytail on the back of her head. The hair on the sides of her head was braided, giving a full view of her face. A delicate look, a grey eyes that was like a newlyfound pearl in the ocean, and a light red lips that looked so soft, if one were to touch it.
Issei could surely say that this woman was so beautiful, if only she weren't making the same face he saw on other images.
She was terrified, even more when the monster in front of her was extending it's hand on her, making one see like it will strangle the woman.
As the hand was nearing to her head, she then muttered one word that stopped the monster from extending its hand further.
"Monster.."
It was like the image stopped moving after that part. Then, a bright light engulfed the both, never seeing, nor knowing what happened after that.
o-o
After the light died down, Both Issei and Kuroka starts to open their eyes, only to see a wide black sky that showed no light within it, except for the full moon shining on its all glory.
There was also a white pillars all around the place, with some of it broken or at the verge of breaking down, along with the snow-like ash falling from the black skies, even though there was no clouds within it.
Kuroka was then terrified when she saw some skulls scattered all throughout the white sand, along with the swords that was impaled on the center of the said skulls.
'What does this mean?' Kuroka thought to herself, somehow creeped out on this place
While Kuroka was thinking what was it, Issei was wondering where was this place, a bit of wariness available on his face, when he then heard Kuroka gasp after realizing what was this place.
"No way..." Muttered Kuroka, her eyes widened as Issei was staring at her in question.
"What do you mean?" Asked Issei.
Kuroka didn't uttered a word after that, still processing why they were in this place. Until she decided to enlighten the boy.
"This place..." She began slowly. "If I'm not wrong it's-" Was all she could say before she was interrupted by someone.
"It's my world."
Upon hearing a deep, echoing voice, they went to look at the place to see who that was, only to see nothing. They then felt a presence above them, where they saw something they couldn't comprehend. As they were looking at the figure, they both widened their eyes in terror. (AN: Imagine Xiang Yu's voice in the game Fate Grand Order, or Yoshida Shoyo's voice in Gintama, just with a hollow echo on it.)
Issei wasn't able to keep his legs together, and lost the strength within it as he fell down on the white sand.
Kuroka, after seeing the figure, thought if it was flying, only for her to recognize that it wasn't floating, but was standing in the air, if her seeing the figure like it was stepping on something solid had any indication.
This got her surprised, and thought that if someone were to face this...being, then even flying away will not let them get away so easily.
She also felt that this figure was the same as the one in her nightmare. An Ash-colored pale skin, along with the long black hair flowing behind him, only with a white streaks on it this time, and the familiar mask that was inverted in color instead of white with two black outlinings, unlike the one she saw.
In all this time, She somehow managed to keep herself from losing consciousness just by being in his presence unlike the last time, but was really struggling to do so.
This made her conclude that the figure standing above them was Zen, and the only differences between the one in her nightmare and this one was that this one now had a black tuffs of fur growing around his collarbone, wrists, and ankles. Add to it the white streaks within the black hair, along with the inverted color of the horned skull mask.
While the one she saw was bare naked, this one was wearing an open long-sleeved, ankle-length white coat that ends in coattails, with a black undershirt inside. The coat was held together by a three x-shaped white marks with black outlines, but was unable to cover the gaping hole on the center of his chest. (AN: Ichigo's bankai appearance in fullbring arc, but inverted in color together with Hollow Ichigo's black mask.)
Overall, his appearance was very intimidating, and it was even more when she saw that he now had a sword in its hand. It was a white daitō (Japanese long sword) with a black edge. The black crossguard has four prongs bent out to form the shape of the manji (kanji for full), and a short length of white chain with a broken end dangles from the base of the hilt, which is black in color, but has a mixture of white within it.
Kuroka, who was lost in her thoughts about Zen's appearance, and Issei, who was now trembling as he was somehow struggling to breath, were snapped out of what they were doing when they felt Zen descend right in front of them.
After a few minutes of silence which felt like a few hours passed, Zen decided to break it.
"It's terrifying, right? This place..." Spoke Zen as he looked around the lifeless world, attracting Kuroka and Issei's attention.
Kuroka was trying to utter a word, only for Zen to cut her off.
"You don't need to say anything. I also agree with you in that part. As much as I hate that my inner world is like this, I don't have a choice but to say that this place represented who I really am." Added Zen, getting a question marks from the both of them.
"W-What do you mean by that, Zen?" After gathering enough courage, Issei stood up as he asked Zen a question. Although the way he speaks right now is so different than usual, He somehow recognized that it was the voice of the person he treated as a friend, but respected as a brother; Zen.
Zen, his eyes widening behind his mask on how Issei recognized him, wants to enlighten him a little bit, for this may be one of the ways that can help him open up again, just like how his two beloved made him open to them both.
But, he set that thought aside. Before he can answer their questions first, he must do the first thing why they were here in the first place.
"I know that you have so many questions right now, but set that aside first and I'll try to answer it from the best of my abilities after we finished the reason why we came here." Stated Zen, as he starts to walk away from them, preparing himself for their training.
'By training them in this place where time moves slower than in real world, will also make my body regain what's left to its full strength. At least, until the time I have to use this form again in the battlefield. Since it's also the time for me to come back, It'll be killing two birds with one stone.' Thought Zen, as he then turned towards them again after he stabbed his sword on the white sand.
Without uttering a single word, he suddenly disappeared and then appeared right in front of them, only using his bare hands as he exerted half of his full bloodlust.
Issei, being just a normal person until a few days ago, was surprised at this action. Along with how he froze at the face of his killing intent, he took the full force of Zen's punch on his chest, as he flew a few miles away from them.
Kuroka, after realizing that Zen suddenly appeared right beside her after he took out Issei, had her eyes widened as she took in point-blank range of Zen's bloodlust, also freezing her in the place. She didn't even realized that he kicked her as she also flew away, but not as far as Issei did.
Issei was trying to keep himself together, as he grasped the part of his chest that Zen just punched. His chest hurts so much right now, and after his temporary flight ended, he puked all of his lunch on the spot. He knows that Zen wouldn't hold back due to him telling it to Zen, but he didn't expect that he would pretty much beat him to death. He didn't even felt this much pain when the kendo girls was beating him, that felt a hundred times better than this one.
While Issei was still clutching his chest, Kuroka rushed and decided to retaliate by shooting Senjustu aura bullets on Zen using both of her hands, while keeping her distance. She knew that Zen fights in close-quarter combats and even if she reinforced herself with both Senjutsu and Touki, she still wouldn't stand a chance against him.
After she planned what she will do, she proceeded to fight him in the domain where there is a less risk for her; hit-and-run tactic.
As she was fighting back, her instincts were constantly screaming to her again, just like in that nightmare. It was telling her to run away, and that her opponent wasn't someone she could take on, even if she used all of her strength. This person was a different entity, and if her Intuition was right, He could take on all of the current leaders of the underworld and still emerge victorious, that she was sure about.
As Zen realizes Kuroka's tactics right now, he made a smile beneath his mask as he changed his target, going after Issei this time.
Issei, managing to stand up after taking that hit head-on, was trying to think about how he can somehow push Zen away, even if it is just for a little bit.
'Damn, that hurts so much. And judging from how I can somehow stand right now, he held back at the last second before his fist connected.' he frowned. 'I know that this is training, but I can't think that just because he won't kill me, doesn't mean he will pull of his punches. But how!? This power I have right now isn't enough!' He then saw Zen suddenly appeared right in front of him, his hands now raised balled into fist.
Zen then muttered a few words before he drove his fist to Issei.
"What's wrong, Issei? Is your resolve only that much? Are you all bark and no bite!? You lost your motivation in just one punch, you know. I know that you're more than that, Issei! Remember what do you want to do and why I want to train you!" Unusually, Zen rose his voice. He hated to say things like this, but he had no choice right now.
As Zen said that, Issei then thought back to the reason why Zen even bothered to train him, along with the reason what he wanted to do.
'If it will make me strong, strong enough for me to protect someone, then I don't care. If I can't even give someone like Kalawarner-san, who was holding herself back, a hard time, then there's no way I can protect the people that is dear to me.'
'you want to be a harem king, right? Getting stronger means you can protect other people, like the girls from the ORC, who will then maybe fall in love to you, in addition to you being a devil. Where polygamy is allowed for them, you know.'
After remembering what Zen said to him, and what he said to Zen, he then resolved himself.
'That's right. I want to get stronger to protect the people dear to me. Although I just met them, I want to protect Buchou and everyone in the club, along with Zen, and the other ones who will come. That's why, I want to get strong, strong enough to keep them safe! So please, respond to me! You, who resides within me!' Thought Issei as a blinding red light emerges from his left hand.
Before Zen's fist fell into Issei's face, the time then suddenly stop around Issei, if him seeing Zen's fist stopped falling and Kuroka, who was rushing towards them also stopped in her tracks had any indication.
{Do you want to get stronger?} A deep voice echoed inside his head that surprised him a bit.
"W-Who are you?" Asked Issei to the voice.
{If you want to get stronger, I can give you the power you deserve.} Said the voice ignoring Issei's question. {Although it's not enough for you to beat this man in front of you right now, you may be able to push him away a bit.}
"R-Really!?" Issei then widened his eyes at the voice's statement.
{Yeah.} Was all the voice said.
"I think I'm sensing a but coming." Deadpanned Issei.
{Yeah. There is, but let's talk about that later. I'll ask you once more before the time starts again. Do you want to get stronger? Do you want to use my power!?} Yelled the voice inside his head.
Although it got Issei flinched a bit because of how loud it is, He responded nonetheless.
"Yeah!" Shouted Issei.
{I expect no less from you, my host! Then, to respond to your resolve, let me give you the strength you deserve!} Shouted also the voice inside his head.
After he shouted that, the gauntlet in his left hand started to change form as the time starts to move again slowly.
{I am Ddraig, the Welsh Dragon and one of the Two Heavenly Dragons! You are now the user of my power, Boosted Gear! Everytime you use this, your power doubles up every 10 seconds! Use it as you see, Partner!} Added the voice inside his head, or Ddraig as he introduced himself.
As the time starts again, Zen widened his eyes beneath the mask as he saw the state of Issei's left hand.
{BOOST!} Shouted the gauntlet.
Issei, after seeing Zen's fist now falling towards him, decided to intercept it by driving his gauntlet-covered left hand upward.
"UUUOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Yelled Issei.
As the two fists intercepted each other, dusts began to cover them both, with one suddenly being pushed away.
Kuroka had her eyes widened as she ran towards the smoke.
As the dusts dissipates, she saw that Issei was extending his hand in front of himself while panting heavily.
'Wait, if he is here, then where is Zen?' thought Kuroka as she looked around the place.
Then, She realized that there is another smoke rising from a distance away from them, roughly 70 meters.
As the smoke dissipates, She then saw Zen standing, his mask now gone from his face except for the protruding horns on the side of his head, showing his smiling face as his still long black hair flowed along the breeze.
But, they weren't expecting that the face beneath the horned mask was an adult version of Zen. It made Kuroka's heart flutter a bit because of how it made him even more handsome, add to it his already monstrous strength and it was taking everything of her just to not pounce on him right now.
"That's it. You've finally attained your Sacred Gear's true base form, Issei. Congratulations." Spoke Zen, his voice now not having that creepy echo on it as he again, suddenly appeared in front of them, which got them surprised again.
They really weren't going to get used of it, the two thought.
After hearing what Zen said, Issei took a look at his left arm, which was still covered in gauntlet, but instead of a small and fingerless one, this one covered even his fingers with claws, as it also has 4 golden spikes growing from it with a green orb on the back of the palm of his hand, and it now covered his forearm to his elbow.
"W-What the heck is this!!?" Screamed Issei, his eyes now wide open as he took a look on it, he also fell to the ground... err...sand.
Kuroka, realizing who was Issei right now, let out a gasp as she also took a look at the gauntlet.
"Wow, I've been wondering since the first time I met you why is your aura like that of a raging flame, so you are this generation's Sekiryuutei, nya huh.." Exclaimed Kuroka. "Although you are a perfect material in the future, I've already found someone other, so sorry, nya." She added, winking one of her eye towards Issei.
Issei didn't know what she meant, but somehow he felt a bit hurt on what she just said.
"W-What do you mean by 'perfect material'?" Asked Issei.
Kuroka was going to answer it, if Zen didn't intervene by grabbing one of her ears, making her let out an erotic moan as she flinched a little.
"Nyaa~"
"Don't think about it, Issei. It's just her... circumstances, that's it." Said Zen, as he let go of Kuroka's ears.
Although he wouldn't say it in front of her, he really enjoyed grabbing her ears and would continue to grab it, if it wasn't for the reason that they were now currently training, along with Issei looking at them both.
He just let out a small sigh at that thought.
As for Kuroka, She can just pout at what Zen just did to her.
'I swear, if I ever have the chance, I will not stop teasing you until you can't take it anymore, Zen.' thought Kuroka, as she planned what she will do to him, along with a red tint on her cheeks and a smirk on her face.
As she was lost in her thoughts, She snapped out of it after hearing a deep voice out of nowhere.
{Good job partner, for pushing him away just like you wanted.} Said the voice inside the orb on Issei's gauntlet.
Issei, although a little bit surprised, recognized the voice and took a look at his left hand again.
"Y-You are..!"
Zen, also recognizing the voice, decided to speak to it.
"It's been a long time, Ddraig. From what I can hear, you must be doing very well inside that thing." Snickered Zen, which was unusual for him, making both Issei and Kuroka rose an eyebrow.
{Yo, Zen. Nice to meet you again. It's unusual for you to be disrespectful to me, and from what I can see, it seems that you're a human right now, huh?} Spoke Ddraig to Zen as he grunted a little after hearing Zen snicker.
"Yeah, I'm a human, for now. The moment I enter this form into the battlefield, I won't be called a living being, much less human anymore." Replied Zen, his gaze falling down to the ash-like sand beneath his feet as he showed a hurt smile on his lips.
The both then talked to each other, with Ddraig trying to catch up to what was happening right this time. Although both Issei and Kuroka was listening to their conversation, he didn't mind if they ever heard some of his secrets, since this two was his first target of his opening up plan.
While it was true that they were both listening to their conversation, they were currently dumfounded on how the hell they even knew each other.
From the way he talked to the voice, or Ddraig, it seems like they were close, but for Zen to be close on one of the Heavenly Dragons, most of the people in the supernatural would just laugh on it, not believing a bit of it.
But, they were seeing it right now, talking to each other like some close friends that had never met up for a long time, and they can only gape at the both.
{Well, enough of that, Zen. Although I very much wanted to talk to you for more, I think your companions are confused right now.} Said Ddraig, after realizing that Kuroka and Issei can only just stare at them as they talk to each other.
"Yeah, You're right. I was planning on not telling them until after this training, but I've made you both wait for too long, huh?." Said Zen, as he then faced the both of them.
Of course, the two had many questions to ask about him, as they hardly know who he was. For Issei, he only know Zen as someone who was lonely and also a man who would extend a hand to the people in need just like how he helped him, but he never knew who his family is, or does he even have a relative living in the town. He didn't know anything of him.
It was also the same for Kuroka, and although she already knew what was his true form, she didn't know if he was even a living being, due to her not even feeling a speck of a life force within him. It was also the reason why she always question if there was a person in front of her door...their door, because of how she can't feel him.
The both then took a look at each other, maybe recognizing what the two were thinking about, nodded at one another as they looked back at Zen after reaching a decision.
"Who... No, what are you, Zen?" Said Issei, staring straight at Zen's eyes, along with Kuroka, not even blinking a bit. They weren't going to let pass Zen's answer, not after going this far.
After letting out a small sigh, along with a white breath, He responded to their sole question, for now.
The cat had already been let out of the bag ever since he made a move on these two, after all.
"*sigh* Okay, I'll tell it to you." Resigned Zen. "I wonder just how many years have passed since someone asked me who I really am?" He then let his face look upward, his hair still flowing together with the air.
The two, still looking at him seriously without battering an eye, somehow made Zen a bit uncomfortable at the situation he was in.
"Hollow."
"What?" The duo's stares now changed from serious to confused. They didn't understand what did that mean.
"Didn't you heard what I just said? *sigh* Then, let me say it to you one last time, and I'm not going to repeat it again." Zen just went and decided to drop the bomb again as he faced them once again, a small smile plastered on his face.
"I am a hollow. beings that manifests from the negative part of the dead souls within the earth. Kuroka, if you are still wondering why you can't feel an ounce of life force within me, then let me enlighten you for that. It's because I'm...already dead." Explained Zen, as he also answered Kuroka's sole wonder from him.
As a response, Kuroka widened her eyes in surprise after learning the reason why she couldn't feel him.
'So that's why.' She thought, grimacing at the thought of the day she will die, only to become a hollow and live in constant pain.
"Hollows also don't have any emotions, and only act based on their instincts. They also kill and eat everything that is on their way, whether it be a living being, God, immortal, or the hollow themselves. In short, we're just some mindless beasts, only a bit worse." He explained further as he looked at his right hand, which was still in pale-ash color, along with the black colored sharp nails on his fingers, ever since they arrived here. "As you can see right in this place, I am the sole survivor of my own race, which means that we are basically on the verge of extinction." He added.
Kuroka, who was lost in her thoughts, snapped out of it when another question popped inside her head. 'Wait, he himself said it basically that he also came from the negative part of the dead souls, and that he didn't had any emotions from the start, but why did he show emotions from the time I lived in his house? Although it is just a few like irritation and a bit happiness, how did he do that if he himself said that he had no emotions in the beginning?' She pondered.
"W-Wait, Zen!" Called out Kuroka.
"Hmm? What?"
"You said that your race don't have any emotions, but why do you have some?"
"About that, let me explain how we enter our process of evolution. It is actually related on why I am the sole survivor of my race." Said Zen, as he then explained to them how he attained emotions.
"So, We enter our 'process of evolution' after ingesting a being with a life force, and the more life force of the being we ingested, the more powerful we evolve in our next stage." Zen then grasped the large hole in his chest. "Because of that, we desperately try to find a way to enter the human world, only to be exterminated by either the devils or angels."
"After our instincts screamed that we don't stand a chance to what we call 'guardians' in the human world, we realized that the thing we wanted was just right beside us, and decided to do the worst." Added Zen, as he created a the same skull mask that he wore, only without the horns and instead of only two thick black vertical stripes falling on the eyeholes down to the jaw, it was only a pure white on the right side and a total of ten red stripes across the three spots on the left side of the mask.
As Issei was still wondering what did Zen meant by the worst, Kuroka noticed it almost instantly what he meant.
"Y-You mean..!" Exclaimed Kuroka, as Issei looked at her as he was still confused.
"Did you get it?" Issei asks.
Before Kuroka could respond to him, Zen cut her off and explained it.
"Wow, I didn't expect that you are the one to realize it first, Kuroka." Complimented Zen as he showed a small smile to Kuroka, making her blush a bit. Zen hardly compliments her within the house and for him to do that suddenly, it was a sign that she was making progress on what she was doing to him.
Back to the topic, How did she realized what he meant? It was simple, She was very familiar to it, and was what she was doing to protect her little sister, after all.
"Umm, can someone also explain it to me? I'm feeling like I'm being left out here, you know." Said Issei as he raised his right hand timidly, making Zen notice him and that he was going off the track.
"Sorry about that, Issei. To answer your wonders, What me and my race did can be describe in a certain phrase." Said Zen, after apologizing to Issei for letting him feel like being left out.
"A phrase, huh? Can you please not beat around the bush and just get into the point? You know that I'm not good at things like that, right?" Said Issei, still not getting what Zen was stating.
"Yeah, I know. That's why I'm doing this. You're going to become a high-class devil and you will get your own peerage. Being a leader means that you must be good at using this guy here." Replied Zen as he pointed a finger in Issei's forehead. "It won't be a training if I just train your powers, and we don't know when is the time where someone will leave their life to you and sometimes you have to make a decision, so I'm just letting you prepare before that time comes." He added.
Issei then remembered Zen's explanation in the school rooftop, where he said that low-class devils can be promoted to become a high-class devils by either making an achievement to the battlefield or getting multiple contracts from the humans. Although there was no wars right now, it was good to be prepared, just in case.
Issei just let out a groan as he spoke. "You're really making it hard to me, huh?"
Zen just gave him a small smile. "Of course. You said it yourself and I'm not going to let you rest until you can't take it anymore, so prepare yourself."
As a response, Issei just let out a sigh of resignation, as Kuroka can only sweatdrop a bit at their interaction.
'I can't believe he is someone more terrifying than the current Four Great Maous, and if he didn't have those horns, I can't think of him as someone terrifying. He is too overprotective to be called a monster.' Thought Kuroka as she showed a small smile.
After a few moments of silence, Issei then thought back to the riddle.
"But still, from what Zen said, It can be described to a certain phrase, and 'decided to do the worst', just what does that mean?" Issei thought out loud, as his right hand scratched the back of his head.
Ddraig, who was silent the whole time, cannot take it anymore and spoke through the orb on the gauntlet.
{'Survival of the fittest' is what he meant, Partner.} Exclaimed Ddraig. He didn't know that his new host was this stupid, no pun intended.
Although he was a bit troubled if Issei can even utilize his Sacred Gear's power but with Zen guiding his host, Ddraig knows that he can leave it to the guy. He knew Zen that much and was feeling reassured about it.
Issei, after hearing the old Dragon speak once again, was surprised, but he got even more surprised after comprehending what Zen really meant on his words for a few moments, courtesy of Ddraig.
"Y-You mean...!" Yelled Issei, as Zen gave him another small smile for saying the exact same thing when Kuroka also realized it.
While Zen just showed a smile at them both, Kuroka can only grimace at the thought of doing something like that to her fellow clansmen when they were still alive.
"Yeah, It's what you are probably thinking right now. In order for ourselves to survive, it led to us fighting against each other, with the one who loses becoming the meal for the horde. In the end, I'm the only one who came as the sole survivor of our race." Both Issei and Kuroka can only just gape at shock on the revelation.
For Kuroka, it wasn't that surprising for her than Issei is right now. As a person who was being chased for these past few years, she can understand a bit of Zen's race's situation. Sometimes, you have to be cruel in order to save yourself, after all.
"As a result of me...ingesting all of my...fellow brothers' flesh and blood, it made me gain emotions and a form similar to that of human's, and this is the result." Said Zen, trying to say the compatible words while shrugging his shoulders off, as he gave a hurting smile to them both.
"Although no matter how much humanoid we became, this one here will not disappear as a Memento that we won't become a human." Zen then grasped the large hole in the center of his chest. "But if you're still wondering why there are no longer Hollows in this age of time...Well, let's just say that I'm much older than I look." He added as he gave them a rare smug on his face.
The both can only sweatdrop at what Zen was doing this whole time. 'He must really like creating mysteries, huh?' thought Kuroka and Issei at the same time.
"Well, Enough of that. I will answer your other questions after you get stronger, as a reward. Same for you, Kuroka. I know that you are already strong, but you can still grow. You're now entering the prime of your life, which means you still have so much to improve, so your training will get harder as you both progress, Understood?" Stated Zen, as he changed from a relaxed personality to a serious one, staring at them as his eyes glow blue once again.
After seeing Zen's demeanor change, the two also focused and went on their respective fighting stances, preparing if Zen suddenly appeared right in front of them again.
"If it will make see Shirone again, then I'll do it, nya." Said Kuroka, as she went to prepare her stance, which was her raising her right hand just at the height of her chest, as a white ball of energy was created on her palm, with her right leg also raised a little bit. (AN: Ahri's stance in League of Legends: Wild Rift Mobile game)
"Yosh! I'm now prepared, so bring it on! I won't fail like the last time!" Shouted Issei, bumping his left fist at the palm of his other hand as his Boosted Gear shouted.
{BOOST!}
{I'll also try to help, but don't try to rely to me too much, partner! You might have one of the strongest longinus, but there are some situations where you can't use your power, you know.} Said Ddraig after the gauntlet shouted boost.
"Roger that!" Was all Issei said as he raised his left arm just in front of his head, his fingers clenched into a fist, his gauntlet shouted once again.
{BOOST!}
Zen didn't even bother to use his mask this time. Instead, the white daitō impaled in the sand suddenly disappeared and what appeared right in his hands wasn't the white longsword, but a twin falchion-like swords with the same form, only with the one black and the other one white.
It was the twin married swords, Kanshou and Bakuya.
"Trace on." Chanted Zen, as the twin swords materialized, readying them by grabbing it into a reverse grip, his arms still not raised.
"Since you two are a bit prepare right now, let me show you the swordsman side of mine this time." Said Zen, as he ran towards them in incredible speeds. Kuroka was able to react to him due to her traits as a Nekoshou, along with the enhanced senses of a devil.
The same could be said to Issei, together with the boosts of his sacred gear, was enough for him to react to Zen in time.
Then, the once silent world of hollows, was now having a noise of exploding magics, the noise of two metals clashing at each other, and the grunts of the Female Nekoshou and the Current User of the Boosted Gear.
o-o
After their training of only one hour in the real time, but felt like a one day to Zen's world, Issei got a bit stronger than what he was, and he was enough to give a low-class stray devil a run for its money.
As for Kuroka, She didn't improve that much, but she was able to keep herself from going berserk, despite of using Senjutsu continuously throughout their training, and she didn't even show any kinds of fatigue to it. She was only exhausted because of how Zen pushed them both too far.
After teleporting back to Zen's house by using magic circle, Kuroka instantly lost all of her remaining strength, continuing to fall on the floor, only for Zen to catch her before falling as he then proceeded to carry her in bridal style.
"Ain't are we a gentleman, nya?" Said Kuroka, as she gave Zen a playful smile.
"Well, I pushed you both too far than what I intended, so I hope you don't mind."
"No, but let me snuggle up here a bit, nya." Kuroka then went to sleep as she snuggled to Zen's chest, since it was warm up to her standards.
"Although I appreciate that, can you please hold me properly instead of just grabbing my collar?" Said Issei as he struggled to breath, but his arm were too heavy because of how he over used his boosts in their training.
Zen, after realizing that Issei was struggling to breath, decided to let go of his collar, making him fall to the floor face first, as he uttered a low grunt on his lips.
"Ow."
"Sorry, I'm carrying Kuroka right now, so I have to let go before she fell down."
"So does that mean that it's okay for me to fall down face first to the floor!?." Said Issei, muffled on the floor as gave Zen a deadpanned stare.
"Well, you're a man, so something like this won't even make a dent to you, right?"
"Yeah, right." Said Issei as he tried to sit down, but struggled a bit through the way.
Zen, after seeing Issei struggle a bit when trying to sit down, felt a bit guilty on what he just did. He then went to his room to set Kuroka to his bedroom before going to tend Issei exhaustion and his muscle cramps.
"Wait a minute, let me set Kuroka first." Said Zen as he made his way to the second floor, where his bedroom is located.
After arriving to his bedroom, he tried to lay Kuroka down to the bed, but she clinged to him like he was her lifeline. She won't let go even just a bit.
After seeing her grip still tight on her, he went to spoke to her, hoping that she would hear it.
"I'll be back for a few minutes, so can you let go of me for a bit?" Asked Zen to the sleeping Kuroka, hoping she would oblige to his request.
And, she decided to do so, but only after muttering a few words.
"Hmm, just a 5 minutes..." She said after Zen covered her with a blanket. It made Zen smile a bit, seeing that there was someone who would still need him, since he usually force someone to do what he wants or try to convince them to do so.
"Yeah, I'll be back for 5 minutes." Said Zen, as he patted Kuroka's head before heading out of the room, not seeing that Kuroka made a smile as she opened her golden eyes to look at his retreating form.
"Always caring for someone instead of yourself, you really are an idiot." Muttered Kuroka in a low voice, as she showed a loving smile, along with a red tint on her face, her eyes till on the door.
"If being an idiot can save someone that I adore, then I'll gladly be an idiot." Said Zen, sticking his head on the door as he looked at her now surprised face, together with her blush suddenly getting darker.
He then just gave her a small smile as he then truly went down the stairs, leaving Kuroka with a still flustered face.
"Idiot." Muttered Kuroka before covering herself to the blanket, embarrassed because she really didn't expect him to hear what she said to him, and his response to her.
'Does that mean I am one of that 'someone' that you adore, Zen?' Thought Kuroka as she tried to sleep, but struggled to do since the warmth she wanted still wasn't on her side.
After a few moments of not being able to sleep, she decided to wait for him. He promised her that he would snuggle to her, after all. And she knew that he was someone who would break promises, thanks to her short time with him.
As Zen went down the stairs, the first thing he saw was Issei talking with Ddraig in his thoughts, with the back of the palm of his hand having a green glow. Probably, he didn't want to disturb the person sleeping on the sofa beside him, even though he yelled a bit earlier.
"How are you feeling?" Zen decided to let his presence known as he went to Issei's side.
"A bit better than before, but my body still feels heavy. I'm not an athletic person, you see." Replied Issei, as he grabbed his shoulders, swinging them a bit.
"But you are getting beaten by a bamboo sword every early morning." Pointed out Zen.
Issei can only let out a small grunt at the realization, like a block of stone fell on his head.
Zen just chuckled a little as he tried to fix Issei's current problem, which was the heaviness of his body as Zen extended his right hand on Issei's back.
"Trace on."
After Zen said that, a green magic circle, the same magic circle he traced on Tsubaki, the same one he used in Kuroka when she was heavily injured, appeared on his hand. Although its main job was to 'heal', he tweaked it a little by instead of healing injuries, he made it by making fatigues inside one's body disappear like it was nothing.
And it did its job, as Issei let out a small sigh, like he was now feeling good, along with Zen now smiling a bit, happy that his on-the-spot experiment somehow worked.
Maybe this will be helpful for Sona and Tsubaki, since all they do was sit inside the office, their bodies must be really tensed up for not moving it in a long time.
As he now know how to pay back Sona with her increasing paperwork, in courtesy of him, he then asked Issei.
"So, how are you feeling now, Issei?" Zen then Patted Issei's shoulder.
"Wow, that feels good. It feels like I'm being liberated at the process. I didn't know that magic has something like this. I hope that you will always do this after our training." Said Issei, still amazed at what Zen just did at him.
"Well, if you always do your best in our training, then of course why not?" Replied Zen.
"Okay! I'll do it! I'll do my very best in our training! In exchange, do that again everytime we finished our training, okay!?" Said Issei, yelling a bit as to not disturb Kalawarner, as he took his fist towards Zen.
Zen, after seeing Issei's fist in front of him, smiled as he bumped his fist on it as he gave Issei his reply.
"You got a deal." Said Zen, smiling towards Issei.
After fist bumping at each other for a few seconds, Issei accidentally glanced towards the clock above the large TV, which was now 1 hour left before 8 Sharp.
"Shit! I forgot about the time! Sorry Zen. I have to go home right now, or else my parents are going to be worried." Exclaimed Issei as he stood up and gave Zen a pleading pose by putting his hands together and bowing a little bit.
Zen, seeing this let out a small chuckle as he patted again Issei's left shoulder with his right hand.
"Don't worry about it. Our training is finished and I'm planning to take you home, but..."
"N-No, it's fine! I can walk on myself. Plus, you've trained me, so try to trust your now student for a little bit." Replied Issei, as he waved his hand to Zen, declining his favor of walking him to his home.
After thinking a bit for a few seconds, Zen then gave Issei his bag as he said to him.
"You're right. The way you are right now, you can give most of the stray devils here a hard time, so I don't need to worry about you. Besides, You have Ddraig to guide if you ever don't know what to do, so I feel at ease." Said Zen, as the Boosted Gear appeared in Issei's left hand.
{Don't worry, Zen. I'll watch over him in your behalf when you're not with him.} Reassured Ddraig.
"Thank you, Ddraig." Said Zen as he let out a small sigh.
After that, Zen guide Issei to the door as Issei put on his shoes with Zen opening the door.
"Well, that's all so, see you tommorow, Zen!" Said Issei, now standing in the outside of the house.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Was all Zen said before sticking his fist towards Issei.
Issei, seeing this, decided to bump fist to it as he gave Zen a large smile, which made Zen also show a smile, although a small one, before going on his way.
"Then, I'll be going." Said Issei as he walked away from Zen.
Zen didn't say anything and just waved at him as he disappeared on the other part of neighborhood.
After that, Zen entered the house as he closed the door. He was now feeling sleepy, as he entered his bedroom, entering to its covers.
After entering to it, he instantly felt someone snuggled up inside the blanket and realized that it was Kuroka, thanks to the black ears sticking out of the blanket.
Smiling a bit, he then also hugged Kuroka, which made her yelp at the feeling of his arms around her waist.
Before she could say anything, Zen cut her off by saying something he didn't say to her in the time she lived with him.
"Good night, Kuroka." Said Zen, as he then let his sleepiness took over him, along with a small smile still plastered on his face.
He was feeling too good right now that he didn't even think about what he just said.
Kuroka's eyes widened as she stared to his face, which was now looking a peaceful, after hearing him saying good night to her. Well, this was the first time she snuggled up to him before he went asleep. Usually, the time she snuggle to him was already midnight, and Zen was already asleep at that time, so this wasn't strange, at least for the man she was now snuggling on.
After staring at his peaceful face for a few seconds, She also smiled as she snuggled even further to Zen's chest, with her now hearing her own heartbeat due to how silent the room was as she felt her face getting hotter, and she know that it wasn't because of the warmth Zen gave to her.
'Ahhh... I was planning on letting him fall for me, but...to think that I lost even before the game started, I really must have fallen too hard on this scary looking-but-kind monster, huh?' She thought, as she let out a small sigh on Zen's chest.
Then, a thought passed on her mind. It was the thing she said to him when she first met him, holding on him tightly as he pleaded to her, to save him, before resolving herself to keep her end too, after all of the things he did to her.
'It seems I have to keep my promises to him too, huh? Well, after all this time and everything he had done to me, I have long lost interest on leaving him, after all.' She thought again, as she also wrapped her arms around his body, her head still snuggled up on his chest.
She knew that she will never forget this day, along with the day he saved her from death,
For it was the day she finally found her mate, her man, and..
her beloved one..
That's the end of the chapter.
Yeah, I know. no need for you to review it. I suck at writing fighting scenes, and I realized that harsh truth when I was writing the training part of this story. Although the first one was good, if only my phone didn't got formatted. (T_T)
Also, about Zen's voice, it will only be when he is in hollow form, and if you want to imagine what his normal voice is, Check Glenn Radars from the anime called Akashic records of the Bastard Magical Instructor. (Is that the title? I forgot about it and sorry about that).
And Yeah, here is what I promised on the top of this chapter. Zen's harem members are:
Sona, Tsubaki, Kuroka, Kalawarner, Grayfia, and Gabriel.
Yep, that's the gist of them, I guess. but I think I might add others as long as it doesn't exceed 10. two of them are also confirmed, and a reviewer already guessed one of them, but I'm not going to say who they are since they're still not going to appear until in the late chapters.
And the question is, how did Ddraig know Zen? from the way they talked to each other, it seems that they are close, but how?
And the last one. PLEASE REVIEW ANYTHING AS LONG AS IT'S NOT A SPOILER PLEAAAASE!?
With that finished, I'll see you on the next chapter...