So, since there were some questions in the last chapters, I will clarify some of them now
"That last scene had me confused. LITERALLY had to doublecheck the title to see if I were still reading the same story lol. So, are these characters from other stories that you plan to weave into the world of DxD or are they Original characters?"
Shaedy Hoe
It seems like the last part of the last chapter was confusing to you guys, sorry about that, so I'm going to explain what exactly happened.
Naiver is an OC and will be the main antagonist of the series, however, he will not play a big role in the story until later on as he plans every move he makes, leaving no traces behind.
Blank was an organization with the goal to create true equality between all the races. However, it wanted to achieve that by erasing all mana and magic from the world, nullifying the advantage that the other races have against humans.
That however would have started a war, Blank and humanity as a whole against all the other races. William decided that achieving his ideals through a massive amount of sacrifices wouldn't be worth it. He didn't want to start a war, risking the lives of countless innocent people.
William decided to kill the leader of the group, Naiver to prevent that from happening. He set the main quarter on fire, hoping that it would prevent Naiver's ability from saving him, and shot him, while killing almost every other member of Blank. However, that didn't work out very well.
I wanted to introduce the antagonist of the story before he even appeared, showing some of the things he does so that his reveal to the protagonist wouldn't be out of nowhere. The last scene of the last chapter was supposed to give clues about his goals, his backstory and the way he acts without dumping a bunch of information on the head of the reader.
I could've also written something like:
"Oh no, Naiver, the leader of Blank with the power to… That wants to….. And…"
Honestly, I doubt that anybody would want to read that.
In the upcoming Chapters I'm going to give hints about his backstory, his mindset and his abilities. He and Sia are supposed to be similar but completely different at the same time. The reason why Naiver decided to kill William was because William knows about Naiver's abilities, which was a threat to his plans.
"So, he can't turn people into nothing because it would go against the universe or something, but couldn't he just, Idk, turn their hearts, lungs, legs, arms etc etc to nothing? those are just parts of their physical form and wouldn't affect their existence"
XenoLucifer
Technically he could, but his ability is limited to his understanding. Parts of a living organism are still pretty complicated, so Sia has to know the exact measurements and the location of these parts to erase them.
I don't want the main character to go around and one-shotting everything and everyone he sees. Even then, Sia's ability is still pretty overpowered, he just has to find a way to overcome his lack of firepower. Coming up with another ability for the main antagonist that could rival Sia's ability in some way was pretty hard, to be honest.
"Oh shit all-fiction damn mate that's super strong seeing that he's practically immortal tho I have to ask can he erase concepts?"
karmax992
Depends on his knowledge about it. Could he erase something like the concept of colors? Absolutely. Colors aren't really that complicated.
Could he erase the concept of atoms? Technically he could, but that would take way too much effort. He would have to know the exact amount of atoms in the universe, the measurements of each of them, and the location of each of them.
The more complicated something is, the more knowledge he needs to erase them.
Sia and Sona, we're playing a game of chess in the student council room, as she requested. Sia enjoyed it. Sona was a rather quiet person, which made Sia comfortable. However, some things were distracting him from the game. The suicide of William Chestburns. For some reason, it just didn't want to leave his head.
"Have you heard about the incident last night?" Sia questioned Sona, wearing an unbothered expression on his face, picking up a pawn and moving it forward.
"What do you mean?", Sona raised an eyebrow in response, not lifting her face from the chessboard.
"In England. Some CEO of a big company, William Chestburns, burned his mansion down, killing all of his employees and then shooting himself." Sia ran his hand through his hair, and sighed "everything is just way too suspicious in my opinion."
"Is that so?" Sona asked, her voice monotone, but with a little bit of curiosity in it "Why do you think that?"
"No one survived.", Sia muttered. He leaned back, twirling the knight in his hand, that he just picked up "Isn't it suspicious that out of 20 people, not a single person survived a mere fire? Not only that, but the way to the front door wasn't blocked by anything, so it wouldn't even be that hard to escape. Besides that, the owner of the house shot himself. The police speculates that he wasn't able to escape and killed himself to avoid the pain of getting burned alive. I don't know, it just feels suspicious. I'm probably just overthinking things."
He chuckled dryly while moving the next pawn forward "Sorry for rambling, It just kind of bugs me for some reason."
"Is that so? I don't mind, your thoughts on that are actually really interesting." Sona shrugged, a small smile appearing on her face. "By the way, checkmate."
"Well Kaichou, you may have won the fight but I have won the war." Sia pointed at his king that was surrounded by Sona's figures "If you look at it from a different perspective, you can see that I managed to create a perfect smiley, using my figures."
He was right. There was a black smiley on the chessboard. He also had the exact amount of figures on the field to create that smiley. Everyone that he didn't need was out of the field.
"Why did you do that?" Sona asked, infuriated that he wasn't taking her seriously. Sia shrugged in response.
"I was curious if that would work and it is pretty funny."
"Again." Sona said sternly while borrowing her eyebrows. It was annoying to her that he wasn't taking her seriously, even though she did win.
"What?"
"Another round.", she said, which sounded more like a command than a request. Sia just shrugged, positioning his figures.
-Akasha-
"This guy…" Soma growled, crossing her arms. Her eyes were twitching. Tsubaki noticed that and chose to ignore her, knowing that it would be better not to talk to her as of this moment. Saji however…
"What is wrong Kaichou? Did that wicked boy do something to you? I knew that there was something wrong with him right from the get-go!" Saji exclaimed proudly. After all Saji, like any other boy, disliked Sia.
Kiba was fine, he was still very nice after all but Sia is always acting aloof, wearing an indifferent look on his face. He probably isn't even that smart either! Saji speculated that Sia said something stupid to irritate Sona.
To his surprise, Sona shook her head, irritated "No, he didn't do anything. It's the opposite."
Saji's eyes widened hearing that. It can't be...the opposite?! Sona wanted him to do something to her? "K-Kaichou...you wanted him to do something?"
"Of course!" Sona growled, very infuriated. Her eyebrows were twitching even harder when she thought about it "He said that he would take it seriously, but he kept doing some unorthodox moves just because he was 'curious'!"
Saji's eyes widened, gasping loudly at that revelation. Sona wanted Sia to take it seriously, but Sia kept goofing off? It can't be...her first time was taken by a playboy who wasn't even taking her seriously!?
"Saji", Tsubaki realized what Saji was thinking and decided to clear up that misunderstanding "she is talking about chess."
"Oh."
-Akasha-
Sia was on his way home. After playing a few rounds of chess with Sona and losing every single one of them, he was tired.
Sia knew that it was partly his fault, he could have won if he stopped acting on his curiosity, but that was easier said than done. He hated dealing with complicated things, but he liked placing himself in a complicated situation, which is quite contradictory.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!" Sia heard Issei's voice. He was being obnoxiously loud, as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary, so Sia decided to ignore that and go home. However, Sia stopped, as he began to notice new traces of mana. One of them felt powerful, in fact, the most powerful mana that he felt until now, and the other one... it reminded him of KFC chicken wings.
A super-powerful magic user and a chicken? Sign him in. Sia was now interested. Following the traces, he arrived at an old building. Sia didn't even know that they had something like this at their school. He leaned forward, enhancing his hearing with mana to eavesdrop.
"The tea made by Rias's Queen is superb. " It was an unknown voice. Considering that he was confident enough to speak in front of the powerful magic user, he was probably the chicken.
"Thank you very much." This time it was Akeno. She still sounded gentle, but something was off. Her voice was also kind of intimidating at the same time. Then, nobody said anything. Silence.
"Ara ara, Gran-san. It is very rude to eavesdrop, didn't your mom teach you that?" Akeno said, noticing the familiar presence of Sia. It seemed like the claps of Sia's dummy thicc asscheeks alerted her. Not really.
"Not really." Sia muttered quietly, contemplating if he should try to escape or enter the building, risking his life. Nah, escaping was too much of a hassle. He opened the door and entered the building, thinking of an introduction.
"Uhhh hello?" Great introduction. Sia was just a natural genius at something like that. Sia analyzed the room. Issei, Kiba, Koneko, Akeno, and the blond girl were in the room. It seems like he was right about the new bishop of Rias. Sia furrowed his eyebrows at that thought. Wasn't she supposed to be a nun? She did look like that when he met her. Another thing was added to Sia's "research" list.
His gaze continued to wander around the room. The powerful mana was coming from the silver-haired maid, even though she was suppressing it. Rias sat on a couch, next to her was a blond-haired guy. He was pretty handsome, not like Kiba, but the "wild" type. Like a bad boy. However, that bad boy's look of his got destroyed by the feeling of chicken that he emits. The guy was touching Rias, who seemed to dislike it. It was a disgusting sight to Sia. Why can't everyone just use their brain? In which world was something like this normal? - Wait, don't answer that.
"Who are you, human?", the blond guy asked, looking at him as if he were trash. It was somehow funny getting that look from a guy, whose aura just screamed "Look! I'm a KFC chicken wing!"
Sia chuckles lightly at that thought, forgetting that he was asked a question.
"Are you laughing at me?!", the chicken asked. Sia shrugged in response.
"Depends on how you define it. I wasn't laughing at you as a person, but at the aura that you emit. I mean, you do feel like a KFC chicken wing."
Ria's shoulders began to tremble, however, she kept a straight face. Akeno's smile grew a little bit wider and she seemed happier overall. Koneko began to grin and Kiba tried to hide his grin with his hand. The ex-nun looked at everyone confused, while Issei just bursted out laughing.
FLAME!
There are flames around Chicken. There are small bits of fire around the room. His hostility and killing intent fills the room. The pressure from Chicken's body came right at Sia. Issei's laughing stopped, everyone except the maid, we're looking at Sia with an anxious look. Getting worries about an acquaintance, huh? Devils seem to be nicer than fallen angels.
Sia didn't mind that killing intent. His ability gave him numbness to pain and fear after all, even if he only realized it now. His eyes were narrowing, emitting a faint glow, while he was analyzing the flames.
Normally he would only be able to analyze the main components of these flames, but it seemed like his structural analysis had evolved, as the words "phoenix flames" jumped into his head. Not something overly complicated. With a single thought, all the flames were erased, leaving only a majorly confused Chicken behind.
"You...how did you do that?", Chicken looked at Sia in disbelief. Everyone in the room also turned to Sia, after realizing what these words meant. Chicken didn't dismiss those flames, Sia erased them.
"That's for me to know and for you to find out.", Sia shrugged in response, dismissing the topic "Now to your question. My name is Sia Gran and I'm an acquaintance of Gremory-san and her peerage. Is that sufficient? Can I go now?"
"Yes, thank you Gran-san." Rias started while smiling kindly, which pissed Chicken off. He was staring at Sia with a dangerous look in his eyes "However, I would appreciate it if you would stay, you could be a big help to us."
Sia nodded hesitantly. He had nothing to do anyway. Sia leaned against a wall while crossing his arm, listening to devil problems. Chicken proceeded to touch Rias, while blatantly ignoring everyone else in the room.
"Stop it already!"
Rias's angry voice echoed through the room .
Rias got up from the sofa and was now glaring sharply at Raiser. Chicken on the other hand was smirking like usual.
"Raiser! I told you before! I will not marry you!"
Ah, so his name was Raiser. What was Rias talking about? A marriage? Perhaps a political one?
"Yeah, I heard that before. But Rias, that won't do, you know? I think the situation in your household is quite serious."
Huh? Sia raised an eyebrow after he heard that. Household? Was Rias like some kind of royalty? Or a noble?
"That's none of your concern! If I'm the next heiress for the House of Gremory, then I will choose who will become my husband! My father, brother, and everyone in the clan are rushing it! Also, it was a promise that I will be free until I graduate from the University of the human world!"
It seemed like Rias was trying to postpone the marriage as long as possible, however, what would that do, when they were going to marry anyway? Did she have some kind of plan?
"That's right. You will basically be free. You can go to college and you can do whatever you like with your servants .But your Otou-sama and Sirzechs-sama are are afraid that your household will become extinct. We lost a great number of pure-blood Devils in the last war. Even if the war has ended, our rivalry with the Fallen Angels and God hasn't ended yet. It's not rare for the successors of pure-blood Devil to get killed in the worthless battle against them, which leads to the household becoming extinct. So for a pure-blood Devil that also happens to be a High-class Devil, getting together would be the obvious solution for the forces of Devils. A pure-blood High-class Devil. Even you know that these children will be important from now on, right?"
Sia nodded mentally. He had a point. It made sense that a political marriage was a good way to combine two different noble households while preventing the extinction of the so-called "noble blood".
Rias became quiet when Raiser started a serious topic. Though her sharp eyes haven't changed. Raiser continued to talk after he drank the tea.
"The newly produced Devils— . The ones like your servants, the reincarnated Devils, are expanding in terms of strength but that would make us, the High-class Devils with an old history background, lose our place. There are old nobles who get close to the reincarnated Devils because they are very powerful . Well, that might be alright. The newly produced Devils are also important for our future . But we can't allow the pure-blood Devils to go extinct right? You and I were chosen in order to prevent the pure-bloods from going extinct. My house is safe because I have my older brothers . But there are only two siblings in your house. And your brother is someone who left the there would only be you, Rias, who can inherit the House of Gremory. If you don't take a husband, the House of Gremory will go extinct in your generation. Are you trying to crush the household that has been continuing for a very long time? Because of the past war, there is not even half the number of Devils who were referred to as "72 pillars" . This marriage has the future of the Devils on the line."
Pure-blood devils? Well, that makes sense. It was understandable, Rias had to marry another pure-blood devil to keep the blood pure, but why can't she just decide on her husband? Besides that, who cares about being pure blood? As he said the reincarnated ones were getting stronger anyway, so does being a pureblood even matter?
"I'm not going to crush my house . And I am willing to take a husband."
Hearing Rias, Raiser made a big smile. However, Sia doubted that that was the end of her sentence.
"Oh, to be expected from Rias! Then let's—"
Oh, it's coming.
"But I won't marry you, Raiser . I will marry the one I acknowledge . Even the Devils from the old noble house have the right to choose . "
Ouch. That must have hurt. Sia even pitied Raiser a little bit after that rejection.
Hearing that, Raiser suddenly became unpleasant. His eyes became sharper and he made a sharp noise with his tongue.
"…You know, Rias. I'm also a Devil who carries the name of House of Phoenix behind me. I can't let that name get tarnished . I didn't even want to come to a small old building like this in the human world . Rather, I don't like the human world that much . The fire and wind of this world is filthy . For a Devil like me who rules fire and wind, I can't stand it!"
FLAME!
The flames came back. Seriously, didn't he learn his lesson? Do not use these flames to threaten someone in front of a literal eraser.
"I will take you back to the underworld, even if I have to burn all of your servants. "
Huh, interesting. Killing intent and hostility were directed to Rias's peerage. Issei was trembling, while the nun was doing the same, hugging Issei's arm and looking at Sia. In fact, both of them looked at him, expectantly. Koneko and Kiba weren't trembling, but they were ready to fight.
Rias made a stance against Raiser, and there was a red aura coming out of her body. Using structural analysis, Sia identified it as "Power of destruction".
Raiser also starts covering his body with fire. Intense heat fills the room. It was pretty warm, to say the least. The fire was about as strong as Ria's power of destruction.
It was really bothersome to step in, but Sia felt bad, when he saw the nun trembling. She reminded him of a little, adorable animal that is scared of the big bad wolf-or in this case chicken.
"Calm down, you're scaring the pervert and the nun.", Sia states calmly as he erased both, the power of destruction and the phoenix flames. Rias looked with her widened eyes at Sia while Raiser just glared at him. The maid nodded at Sia, approvingly, while a barely noticeable smile could be seen on her face.
"Master, Sirzechs-same, and those from the House of Phoenix knew it would turn out like this. To tell you the truth this was to be the last discussion meeting. Everyone knew that it wouldn't be solved, so they decided to make a last resort."
"Last resort? What do you mean, Grayfia?"
"Ojou-sama, if you wish to push your opinion forward, then how about you settle it by having a Rating Game against Raiser-sama?
Oh? A rating game? Was that some kind of minigame contest like Mario party?
Rias became speechless after hearing Grayfia. She seemed to be very shocked.
"It's a game that is played by the Devils with a peerage, and they compete by making their servants battle." Sia heard Kiba explaining to someone, probably Issei or the nun. So a rating game was basically a war simulation...or a Pokemon battle. Sia liked the second option more.
After a little bit of talking they agreed to the rating game. Raiser began to smirk while looking at Rias's peerage. Sia had the feeling that he was about to flex on them
Rias twitches her eyes at his words.
"So what?"
Oh no, you weren't supposed to say that!
Raiser started laughing after Rias answered him as if he found it amusing.
"Then this match will be a laugh. Only your Queen, the "Priestess of Thunder" can fight on par with my adorable servants. "
Saying that Raiser clicked his fingers, and the magic circle on the floor glowed. Damn...was he going to summon a Cthulhu?
However, Sia wasn't quite right as 15 beautiful girls appeared. Damn...he should have realized it sooner. Raiser was also a pervert! Sia then realized something. Wasn't it Issei's dream to create a harem? Sia slowly turned to Issei, only to see him crying while looking at Raiser.
While Sia didn't approve of Issei's dreams, he has to admit, he gotta respect that determination. Issei might be a pervert, but he is also a man of culture.
"H-Hey, Rias… This servant-kun over here is crying a lot while looking at me. "
Raiser said it while looking at Issei. He seems to be really freaked out by him.
Rias placed her hand on her forehead when she saw him.
"This boy's dream is to have a harem. I think he was moved after looking at your servants."
Sia went to Issei and put his hand on Issei's shoulder "Don't worry Hyoudou. You are a man of culture after all. If you beat this guy, it just proves that you're destined for a greater harem…"
Issei looked at Sia, moved, with tears in his eyes "Gran-san…" He nodded while forming a first with his hand "You are right! I will continue to work hard, for the sake of my dream!"
"Gross~. "
"Raiser-sama, this person is freaking me out~ . "
Damn, that was probably a critical hit. However, Issei was still staying strong. He was determined. Words like this wouldn't affect him.
"Don't say that, my cute girls . Looking up to upper stream folks is what a lowly one does. Let's show them how passionate we are. "
Saying that Raiser started to have a tongue kiss with one of the girls, in front of his fiancee. No wonder that Rias doesn't want to marry Raiser. He was a womanizer! Raiser looked at Issei, with a slight smirk, before he began to kiss another girl.
Sia looked at Issei, who was getting visibly angry. Next to him was the nun. She was turning red, it seemed like this was too much for her.
"You could never do this.", Raiser said to Issei mockingly. Issei seemed to have enough of this as he snapped.
"We don't need the Rating game! Phoenix my ass! You are just a chicken, just as Gran-san said! I'm going to beat you up right now!" Sia just shrugged at that statement. He wouldn't be able to do it anyway, so why not just watch and see how it plays out?
"C-chicken? Y-you Low-class Devil! You and him!" Raiser exclaimed as he pointed his finger at Issei and then at Sia "that's not how you talk to a High-class Devil!"
"I don't care! Twice critical!", Issei shouted as some weird gauntlet with scales appeared on his hand.
[BOOST]
Sia could hear a weird voice saying that from the jewel of the gauntlet. Raiser just sighs.
"Mira. Do it . "
"Yes, Raiser-sama. "
Issei stood up, trying to attack Raiser. However, the small girl, Mira, took out her polearm, incapacitating Issei in a second. The nun ran towards him, healing him with that green light again.
Raiser walks towards Issei, whispering something to his ears while crouching down. It was quiet but still hearable by everyone in the room.
"You are weak."
Issei's eyes widened at that and he winced. It seemed like that really hurt him.
"The one who you just fought is my Pawn Mira. She's the weakest out of my servants, but she has more battle experience and has more talent as a Devil than you. Twice critical, huh? Not even a rare Sacred Gear."
Raiser put his hand on his chin, and it seems like he thought of something.
"Rias, how about we have a match in 10 days? We could do it now, but that wouldn't be interesting . "
"…Are you giving me a handicap . "
"Are you against it? Is it humiliating? Rating Game isn't something simple that you can win with only your feelings . If you can't use your servant's power to the fullest, then you will lose immediately . So it's not weird for you to train with your servants for your first Rating Game. I have seen Devils who lost without using their power to the fullest countless times, no matter how great their potential and power was."
Raiser's decision was dumb. Still, he could respect Raiser for that. Raiser might be an asshole, but he wasn't that unlikeable. Sia doesn't dislike him at least.
Rias didn't complain and listened quietly to what Raiser's said.
When Raiser directed his palm towards the ground, the magic-circle started to glow .
"—10 days . If it's you, then you should be able to improve your servants." Raiser stopped as if he remembered something important "Oh, and I want that human to fight too. You can consider him as a Joker, who joins when no one is left."
Wow. Now that was an even dumber decision. Rias's eyes widened at that suggestion and she looked at Raiser as if he was crazy.
"He can't participate, Raiser! He is only a human and he isn't even in my peerage! Don't drag him into this! Besides that, the protection wouldn't work on him. He would die!", Rias exclaimed, trying to defend Sia...he guessed.
"Oh, so you're saying that you're sure that he has to join the battle? As I said, he only has to join if everyone else is out.", Raiser shrugged while smirking mockingly at Rias. Rias stood there, trembling and clenching her teeth. Sia has to admit, that was a smart way to humiliate her.
"I'll join.", Sia started, everyone in the room was staring at him with widened eyes. He had nothing else to do anyway.
"G-gran-san…", Issei muttered with teary eyes, while looking at Sia with a passionate gaze.
"My Lor-Ouch!" The nun tried to say something but was interrupted by a sharp pain. Sia guessed that it was a devil thing.
"Senpai." Koneko nodded, acting like she said more than she actually did.
"Gran-san…" Kiba smiled gently at him, looking like the prince that he is rumored to be.
"Ara ara, our Gran-san is actually not as cold as he is rumored to be.", Akeno smiled at him sadistically. Sia just can't get used to it. It really creeped him out.
"Gran-san, you don't have to do this. You might die!", Rias was worried. After all, he won't get teleported away when he is defeated. There was a chance that he might die. Well, he won't stay dead for long anyway, but they didn't have to know this.
"Don't worry, Gremory-san." A dark grin appeared on Sia's face. He was actually getting kind of excited. Being a part of a rating game sounded fun "I'm going to show him why the Phoenix turned to ashes in the first place."
Raiser smirked challengingly before he and his peerage vanished in bright light.
-Akasha-
Issei was in the mountains right now, carrying a bunch of luggage at his back. Every step was exhausting and a bunch of sweat dripped down his face. In terms of view, the mountains were beautiful. It was filled with trees, the sky was clear and you could even hear the cries of birds. However, everything was ruined by the massive weight that Issei had to carry.
"Issei, hurry up", Buchou, who was ahead of him, urged him to go even faster. However, Issei felt like he was dying right now.
"I will help too." Asia had a worried expression on her face. God bles-OUCH! Satan's bless her. She is such an innocent and adorable girl.
"Nah, it's fine Asia. Issei has to get stronger after all." Sia said while smirking mockingly at him. That bastard! Even though he didn't carry anything he dared to mock him! Issei decided to beat Sia up when they're training.
"I see, my Lo- Sia-san.", Asia nodded while smiling, happy that she was now on a first-name basis with her lord.
"Buchou! We could use these herbs for our dinner tonight!" Kiba said while also carrying a bunch of luggage in his back. He didn't have any problems with them at all, as he began to walk up the mountain with no difficulty "See you later, Issei."
Then Koneko also ran past him with even more luggage than him. Damn superhuman girl! He wouldn't let them surpass him! Using all of his leftover energy, Issei began to walk up the mountain at his maximum speed. He really was going to die…
"Go! Hyoudou, go! You still have a long way to go!", Sia cheered. However, Issei knew that it was to mock him and not to actually cheer him on.
A few seconds later Asia joined as well, cheering for Issei. However, her cheers were genuine, which gave Issei even more motivation. And as Buchou joined as well, Issei was overflowing with motivation. He was going to use his maximum power!
[BOOST]
"LET'S GO!", Issei screamed at the top of his lungs, running up the mountains with all of his might.
-Akasha-
This mansion made from wood belongs to the House of Gremory.
Usually it is hidden by blending in with the scenery from humans by using demonic-powers, but it had appeared since they will be using it. Issei could smell the woods inside.
He went to the living room, putting the bags away. The girls went upstairs to get changed into clothing where they could move easier.
"I will also go and get changed."
Kiba went to a room located on the first floor carrying a blue jersey.
"Don't peek."
Kiba said something messed up jokingly.
"I will seriously punch you, bastard!"
I didn't have the strength to stand, so I glared at him with eyes filled with killing intent. Meanwhile, Sia was having the time of his life, laughing his ass off at that joke. Kiba smiled satisfied at his joke and went to change.
Sia was supposed to be a cold knight? Cold knight my ass! He was the living embodiment of a chaotic trickster! He just didn't show this side of his to others.
Issei didn't even want to think about what would happen if they saw him, Kiba, and Sia like this. The Kiba x Sia ship and Issei x Kiba ship have been getting really popular lately. He didn't want them to combine, creating a BL triangle.
Issei got changed at the empty room after he rested for a bit, and his stamina restored a bit as well. Even the empty rooms came with beds and equipment necessary for everyday use. However, it didn't come with a tv.
By the time he finished getting changed, everyone had already gathered in the living room . Buchou, who was wearing a red jersey, smiled and said it after she saw him.
"Now then let's start our training outside right away. "
A week has passed. Issei did Sword Fighting with Kiba, trained demonic energy with Akeno, did sparring with Koneko, and basic training with Rias. And while all that was pretty hellish, the thing that he regretted the most was asking Sia to train him.
Sia called his training "survival training" and while Issei was confused about the name at first, he realized why he called it that. His current objective was to survive.
Issei had no talent in using swords.
Issei had no talent in using martial arts.
Issei had no talent in demonic-power
Issei was weak
He won't be useful in the rating game.
That was what he thought at least, until he dough against Sia. Sia didn't use his insane regeneration ability, he didn't use magic to make him stronger. He only used his mind to beat Issei, who was physically way stronger than him.
Using dirty tactics and distraction to beat down a stronger opponent. That was the way humans fight. Issei was beaten down, many times over, and had his life threatened by a weaker opponent more times than he could count.
That training was more hellish than any other training. Quite ironic. The human acted more like a devil than the devils. Asia's healing improved faster than ever before, by healing Issei's wounds and Asia slowly questioned the kindness of her lord. It seems like Jesus can be really cruel sometimes.
However, getting beaten over and over again by a weaker opponent made him realize something. He didn't need to be strong to help Buchou. He just had to know how to survive.
"Ah!" Issei screamed as Sia threw him sand into the eyes. He closed them and tried to rub them as Sia tackled him, throwing him down on the ground.
Sia then proceeded to kick his face, breaking his nose. He was lucky that they are the only ones here. It would be humiliating to let others see him get beat like that. And Sia wasn't even using anything, while Issei used everything at his disposal.
Issei somehow managed to push Sia away. However, that didn't work for long, as Sia came back.
He grabbed his clothes. Issei was then pulled in and felt a knee in his face right after. Issei tried to punch him clumsily. Sia dodged that and punched against his ribs with full power. While Koneko was stronger than Sia, Sia's hits hurt way more.
Sia then punched Issei in the face and tripped him right after. When Issei fell, Sia began to stomp on him. Damn it. Issei was slowly losing consciousness. He wanted to hit Sia at least once. Or at least graze him. He would be fine with that. Only once...
[EXPLOSION]
With all of his might, he did one last punch. The green jewel shone lighter than ever before, but the punch still missed… or…? Issei narrowed his eyes, seeing a small drop of blood on Sia's cheek. He...did it! He managed to graze Sia! Huh? Why was everything getting so dark? Ah, he was losing consciousness again.
-Akasha-
Issei woke up...on Buchou's lap! Was he in heaven? No, he was a devil, so he was probably in hell. Issei opened his eyes, seeing a Buchou, wearing glasses.
"...you have eyesight, Buchou?" Issei asked, still half asleep, while his wounds were healed his whole body was still in pain.
"Oh, this? It's just for looks.I can think more clearly while having my glasses on. Fufufu, this is proof that I have been in the human's world for so long." Buchou chuckled lightly. Even with glasses, Buchou was so beautiful!
"By the way Issei, you finally awakened the true potential of your sacred gear, huh?" Buchou started calmly while running through Issei's hair with her hand.
Issue shook his head and raised an eyebrow in response. His eyes wandered around the room. It was night. He was usually already asleep by now.
"Ise, you have a Boosted Gear. The rarest of the rarest. If it's just like the legend is told, then the ability of the Boosted Gear can double the power of the possessor every 10 second. Even if your power starts from 1, it doubles your power every 10 seconds, and it can reach the power of the leader-class Fallen Angels and High-class Devils. And by mastering it, you could even kill God." Buchou started calmly while patent Issei on the head.
What?! He could even kill God?! So his power was really strong after all! What a powerful Sacred Gear...
"I'm not weak?" Issei asked, almost not readable. Buchou shook her head.
"No, you're not. Well, no matter how powerful it is, a Sacred Gear that needs time has a big risk. There aren't any enemies that would wait for the user to get stronger."
Buchou was right. Certainly, there weren't many enemies that would wait until he powers up. Besides that, he also can't underestimate a seemingly weaker opponent. He didn't want to risk fighting a Sia 2.0 without his full power in a life or death battle.
"You should proceed to sleep Ise, we will be discussing our strategy tomorrow," Buchou said while smiling gently. She looked down at Issei, her red hair gently touching his face. Issei wanted this moment to last forever. However, he had a job to do. He had to thank Sia for awakening his Boosted Gear.
"Actually Buchou, could you show me Sia's room? I want to thank him for helping me awake my Boosted gear."
"Sure. I don't know if he is still awake though. It is pretty late after all."
Issei and Buchou then stood up and went to Sia's room. Issei was expecting Sia to be asleep, but the lights in his room were still on. Rias then knocked at Sia's door.
"Gran-san? Are you awake?" Buchou asked, not sure if Sia was actually awake or forgot to turn the lights off. A few seconds later Sia opened the door. Revealing a room full of shining red and black ores.
"Uh, hi. Is there anything that I could do for you?" Sia asked with a raised eyebrow. Rias then turned to look at Issei "Actually Ise wanted to talk with you about something."
"Is that so? Then please enter the room."
Issei and Rias entered the room, finding tons of different ores everywhere. Rias raised an eyebrow.
"So what have you been doing with all the demonic Iron that I've brought you?"
Sia wanted to say something, but he stopped himself, placing his hand before his mouth "I'm going to explain it after we let Hyoudou talk."
"Issei is fine."
Sia's eyes widened a little at that, before chuckling lightly "Is that so? Then you can also call me Sia. So, what do you want to talk about?"
"Well…" Issei fidgeted a little bit with his fingers, not knowing how to say that without making it awkward "I wanted to thank you for helping me. Without you, I wouldn't have awakened my Boosted Gear by now and I also would have lost my confidence a long time ago! Thank you for showing me that even if I am weak, I can still help!"
Rias smiled at that wholesome interaction between the two boys. Now she just wanted Sia in her peerage even more. However, she would respect the wishes of Sia and still proceed to be friends with him, even if he refuses.
Sia just stared at Issei with widened eyes, not realizing that he had done that much. And Sia smiled. A genuine, warm smile "Well, I'm glad that I could help."
Rias blushed at that. Even if she wasn't interested in him she could appreciate that gap moe. Even Issei was staring at him with widened eyes.
"If you were a girl I would absolutely add you to my harem." Issei said in a serious tone.
Sia had a confused look on his face before he shrugged "Thanks, I guess..?"
He then turned around, pointing at the ore that was laying on his desk "So, Gremory-san, to understand what I'm going to do, you'll first have to understand my problem.
Rias and Issei nodded at that. After all, even Sia can't be perfect.
"I absolutely suck at controlling mana, so I have to find something that makes it easier for me or even does that for me. And you said that demonic Iron was a good conductor for magic, correct?"
Rias nodded. Issei also knew where this was going. Was Sia going to use a sword as a conductor?
"And Himejima-san told me that demonic magic is based on imagination. At first, I was pretty pissed. I have to do all these calculations, while you guys don't? And then I realized something. I was trying to use logic on magic. So I decided to make weapons based on your powers, Gremory-san. I call them Prototype/Gremory. However, they aren't finished yet, so I'm not able to show them yet."
"But when do you sleep then?" Issei asked Sia. He didn't understand everything that Sia just said, but he understood one thing. This took much time.
"Oh," Sia said as if he forgot about that "I don't. My ability allows me to ignore the fatigue."
"What is your ability anyway?" Rias raised an eyebrow in response. She realized that he was lying when he first explained his ability to her, or at least he wasn't telling the whole truth. Issei also wanted to know. He saw Sia reviving himself and teleporting. What else is there to his ability?
"I'm going to tell you guys what my ability is about after the Rating Game. I want to keep it secret as long as possible." Sia shrugged. While Issei and Rias were dying to know, they respected his opinion and decided to not pry further, for now at least.
"But still...what is with the emotional stress?" Rias asked him, realizing that his mind was jumping around earlier when he explained his invention. Sia froze at that.
"Well about that...I just kinda ignore it?" Rias furrowed her eyebrows. He would fit so perfectly into her peerage "Ise, Sia you both go to sleep. Right now."
-Akasha-
They were all discussing the strategy the next day. Issei sat next to Asia and Sia. It felt like he and Sia grew closer last night. He respected him more than Matsuda and Motohama at least. While they were his friends for longer than Sia, Issei felt more connected to Sia. Even though his personality can be really annoying at times.
"The Phenex's are basically invincible. Even if you attack them, their wounds will heal right away. Their flames won't even leave a bone left. Eight wins and two losses. This is the record that Raiser has at the official "Rating Game". He fought ten times and won eight matches. He lost two of the matches on purpose as kindness to one of the households he is close to. In reality, he won all of his matches." Rias read the information from her notebook. Issei's eyes widened. Wasn't that basically cheating?
"So we have to either destroy them completely or kill them till they give up?" Sia states calmly while crossing his legs and arms. Rias nodded at that.
"However, to destroy them completely we'll have to be at least God-class, so that leaves only the second option."
Everyone in the room nodded. Still, beating Raiser not only once, but several times. That would be difficult, even with Issei's new Boosted gear.
"Why don't we try to make it easier?" Sia asked. However, that only got a raised eyebrow from Buchou as a response.
"What do you mean?"
"Devils are weak against holy things, right? Why don't we just throw holy water at him, forcing him to constantly regenerate and feel the pain?" Sia asked with a mischievous smirk on his face.
"Ohhhh." Rias replied while copying Sia's smirk. "I didn't know that you had the same preferences as Akeno, Gran-san."
"Oh, I don't. At least I don't think that I have these preferences. I could also be wrong though." Sia shrugged. His smirk turning into a creepy-looking grin "But when I have to make someone suffer, I'm going to make sure that I do a good job at it."
Everyone in the room had the same thought in mind. Rias was scary. Sia was scarier. Except for Akeno, she enjoyed the way Sia acted. Hell, she was even drooling. Just you wait, Raiser. We're going to beat your ass!