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DxD: Fates Reforged

[Chapter 7]

||Evening Daze||

When she arrived at the scene only to discover it was her school's kendo captain who had triggered the contract flier, Rias felt a red-hot knife twisting in her gut and sank between her ribs. She wanted Servants, yes, but not the students in her school. Not the students living their daily life, living worry-free without knowing about the callous supernatural side of their world. Not Yukimura Murayama.

Worse, she found Irina unconscious and bleeding on the ground. The scratches on the ground told her there had been a swordfight, but the bullet wound on Murayama's chest couldn't be caused by a sword. As she knelt down and felt the tiny hole on the girl's white sweater, her hand stung a little.

Silver bullets. Vatican. Exorcists.

She summoned Akeno and Suzaku then. Akeno to bring Irina back to the dorm while her cousin stayed to cleanse Murayama's wound. Being a natural expert in purification and being the inheritor of the Sacred Beast that shared her name and blessed by the Sun Goddess Amaterasu herself in spite of being a Devil because of her kind heart, Suzaku Himejima's only flaw from becoming the perfect Bishop was her kindness itself.

Kindness, while she agreed to be important, could be interpreted as a weakness and exploited if given to the wrong people. When you showed mercy to the lowest of lows, the obvious of evils, lowered your guard and stabbed in the back, whose fault was it then?

Luckily for her, the less forgiving Akeno always had her back. If she wasn't around, then of course Rias herself, as her King and leader.

As Suzaku reverse-cleansed the divine radiant power emitting from the bullet wound, Rias stood by, watching, eyeing for any signs and trails of the Exorcists. She found none, but the rite was complete at least. And with that, the rite to reincarnate the human girl into a Devil followed suit and without trouble.

But that was last night's problems semi-dealt with. And they were made minute when Rias learned that the Governor General of the Grigori himself was knocking on the door to her club-slash-office room. She hadn't even noticed his presence until the door was opened by Akeno, which explained why her face distorted with disgust and anger within a flash.

"Azazel," venom was practically dripping in her word. "If it's your head you're offering, then I'll gladly take it."

"Well. I'm glad to know I'm welcome."

"Akeno," Rias commanded, and Akeno backed away from the door, glaring daggers. She despised the crows for thinking they could roam around her territory without repercussion. She was simply biding her time until one of them made a crucial mistake, and she would thoroughly capitalize on it and eliminate their presence entirely. And if the Governor didn't know how to control them, then perhaps she would have already done it.

"What are you doing here, Lord Azazel?" Rias asked. Azazel might have been her kin's enemy but he too was a leader. A leader deserved respect until he showed her otherwise, but also vigilance as he was a Fallen still. Though she didn't fully trust him, she knew Azazel wasn't a brainless fool who would stroll here and kill her and plunge the Devils and Fallen Angels into a war.

"I'm here on behalf of peace… and hope for a far more prosperous relationship between the Grigori and the Devils of the Underworld," the Governor smoothly said. Rias admitted it would be his charisma that had secured the white peace during the Great War and extended both of the Major Factions lifespan. "May we come in, Lady Gremory?"

'We?' A thought echoed, but Rias stood up from her desk riddled with papers and walked towards her unofficial meeting couches. "Please, take a seat."

"Don't mind if I do…" And the burgundy-suited man stepped into the room, and as he did, Rias couldn't understand what she was seeing.

"Yo," Issei unceremoniously said as he threw a peace sign at his two bewildered seniors, then shooting finger guns at his past-future lover. "Wassup. Looking good, Akeno-paisen. You rock that angry semi-confused look."

"H-Hyoudou?"

"Thaaaat's me…" Issei sighed as he slinked into the seat next to Azazel, who was grinning and enjoying his presentation. "Unfortunately."

This wasn't the pervert known throughout the entire school. Even a blind idiot could see that. "Lord Azazel, you seem to know something that we don't."

"About him? Yes I do," Azazel nodded. "He surprises me more often than you think, Lady Gremory, but he's not the main issue here… You can find out more about him yourself later on. What I have, is a proposition for you regarding the Fallen Angels loitering around your town that aren't under my payroll."

This should be interesting… both him and Hyoudou. Subconsciously, Rias folded her arms, resting them under the crook of her breasts layered in her casual sleeveless shirt for weekends.

"I'm listening," she said, beckoning Akeno to sit down next to her. Though her Queen was livid about the Governor's presence, Issei's unexpected arrival had muddled her anger with confusion. Good enough for her.

"My proposition is simple, Lady Gremory. There's a flock of crows. Stray crows, if you will… nesting themselves in the church in the outskirts of the town. And they're doing bad things. Bad, bad things. Murdering innocents and the like, right under our nose."

A crease formed in the space between her crimson brows. "Do they have a correlation to twenty dead clients of the Devils."

"Yes," Azazel grimly nodded. "They're using their blood to perform a ritual. An illegal ritual, I'll add, because it murders people for one, murders the sacrificial lamb, and steals the Sacred Gear they possess - provided they're not Longinus. Longinusi? Longinuses?"

"Longinee?" Issei chipped in. "Either way, he's saying he'll need your help and you'll gain a favor from one of the big shots. Sounds too good to be true, but that's life."

The fact that it was the same leecher who was talking to her with suddenly more soundness in his voice and behaviour still baffled her. Both her and her Queen.

"I… I'm sorry to interrupt the discussion, but are you really Hyoudou Issei?"

"Yeah. Who else do I look like? His secret lovechild?"

Rias blinked.

"...Are you my dad, Azazel? Did you place me at my current parents' doorstep when I was so very little to remember the details? Is that why my mother has that strange baby basket? Am I actually Moses' descendant?"

"No. I'm nobody's father. That gave me chills, stop that."

"Well. I'm glad you're not," Issei muttered. "So go on then. On with it. Time is money. And stuff."

Rias could only exchange glances with Akeno, who was just as befuddled as her. "W-well I… but I don't understand? You've never shown signs of -and I do apologize if I offend you by saying this- but you've never shown signs of supernatural awareness? And has done nothing to attract our attention until…"

"Few days ago, right? With Miuramasa-chan?"

"Murayama, yes."

"Well. Let's just say I 'woke up' from my delusions that I can live life normally without having to be dragged into the entire supernatural mess." Issei had prepared this reason for quite a while now, and cemented it with layers of believable bullshits bred from the years spent of being thrown random bullshits. "Especially after learning about why Irina's a Devil."

Rias pressed her lips. "You know?"

"That she offered herself so she can protect me and my family?"

"And so that neither me or Sona will ever attempt to bring you into the fray, Hyoudou. It's her decision alone, I've done nothing to convince her."

"Or tell her otherwise, I'd assume."

"She offered a deal with a Devil. I'm sorry if I let you down by not turning her down." She hadn't done anything wrong here. No tricks, no honeyed words. Irina sauntered in her clubroom one day when Rias was still observing her and offered her service, even showing a glimpse of the Blade Blacksmith she possessed. Turning down such a lucrative offer and for an exchange of not messing with her schoolmates was practically senseless and idiotic.

But Issei didn't mind that. "Yeah no one has to explain themselves," he sighed. "The milk's spilled and no use licking it… no that's not right - but anyway, I'm with the guy on this one."

"Is he working under you, Lord Azazel?"

"Hah, I wish!" Azazel casually crossed his hands, laughing. "More like he came to me personally by using Raynare's interest towards him. The boy's craftier than he looks, I'll tell you that much."

True… He hadn't been paying attention to her chest, and that surly look was never seen on the de facto leader of the Notorious Trio.

"So then… that would be two-three days ago?'

"Mhmm. On Friday."

"...And you had us fooled the entire time, Hyoudou?"

"Fooled by… what? By fooling around as a perv? Nah. That was genuine," it wasn't the him right now anyway. Still the old breasts-fanatic dumbass known as Hyoudou Issei. That part kinda wilted during the three years of torment. "But so is this one. We're our own different selves whenever we talk to someone. I obviously won't talk like this to my… mundane friends who can't fire shooty magical lasers from their wrist."

"...I see…" What would Irina say about this, Rias couldn't help but wonder.

"As I was saying," Azazel continued, knowing they were on a time limit. "I'm working with him because we share the same interest."

Rias turned to Issei, wanting to hear the answer from him. "And that is?"

"Peace, clearly," he said with a stern look. "White peace won't cut it. I want actual, long-lasting peace, and the Major Factions Trio is the giant first leap." The entire world depended on it. "At least that's how I interpret it… there's likely a reason why other factions haven't tried to take over Hell or Heaven."

"You… know so much already," Akeno muttered under her breath. "And to think everyone sees you as a harmless leecher…"

"Well they're not wrong." Not entirely, at least. "I can be obsessed with ass and titties, but I know there's a time and place and right now is not the time nor the place. There's a crow's nest needing to be set on fire, and while we speak, they might be killing more people willy nilly."

"Exactly," Azazel affirmed his statement. "You help me on this one, Lady Gremory, and you'll have a firsthand gratitude from the Governor himself. That should boost your standing significantly, aye?"

"...While that is true, this all seems so… rather abrupt."

"Opportunities appear abruptly," Azazel said wisely. "And you can either watch it slide away or grab it when it pops up."

"How can we tell this isn't just a trap you set up?" Akeno raised her question.

"Because I'll be going with you," Issei said readily. "Azazel won't come for obvious reasons."

"Reasons being starting an internal war between me and my… rather unhinged comrade… But I will help by cleaning the scene of the crime, and clarify the extermination to my people as a necessary purging. Weed out the bad seeds, so to speak."

"...And we won't trigger an all out war?" Rias asked, still skeptical.

"You have my word."

"..." Rias pondered for a moment.

And as she did, her Queen raised another point she missed. "You'll be joining us, Hyoudou-kun? We've heard the words of your little… spar with our newest Pawn, but she's a human. I don't mean to be rude, but I fear you would only weigh us down."

Issei didn't like the sound of that. Not the accusation of him being a baggage, but the previous statement leading to that.

"...What do you mean your newest Pawn…? Did something happen to Murayama?"

"While it's relieving to know you don't know everything as though you came from the future, it's regrettable that it has to come down to this," Rias sighed. "But yes. She was attacked last night by an Exorcist. Stray Exorcist, I'd hope… regardless of it, the Vatican will hear of this."

Issei's expression turned grim and cold. "Fuck."

Another glitch? Azazel pondered. Or was it caused by another domino?

"The girl's in safe hands now," the Governor slapped Issei's back, pulling him out from kicking himself with guilt. "And I can assure you those Exorcists are yours to kill. They're Strays, like you said."

"...And you're sure of this, how?"

"We're the Watchers, Lady Gremory. We watch things very closely. It's our job to know without being known."

Creepy little spies… Rias would rather not admit their sneakiness openly. "You seem rather eager to let your own kind die in the hands of their enemy."

"Former enemy," Azazel pointedly said. "And they've betrayed me. I'm sure none of us take betrayals very kindly."

"I certainly don't."

Azazel smiled wryly at Akeno's seething tone, unable to say anything without getting her angrier. Five years and her wounds still burn deep… Well. So were the two gaping wounds tormenting Baraqiel. Could Issei really help them mend their broken bond? Azazel supposed only time could tell.

"But. Exorcists are dangerous, Lady Gremory. I'd prefer if you could wipe them clean while you take down the church, but I'm not telling you that you have to."

"They've made it clear that they're dangerous when they injure my Knight… We're perfectly capable of protecting our own, Lord Azazel. Exorcists or not. But your concern is noted. As long as it's genuine."

"Why of course it is!" Azazel flashed a grin. "You're the Crimson Satan's little sister."

Issei winced internally. 'Bad choice of words there, Zazel.'

And she narrowed her eyes. "I'm Rias Gremory. Co-Overseer of the Devil's territory within this town."

"Right, yes, I'm not challenging that notion, but you're still his sister. If something happened to your pretty head and a Fallen Angel is responsible for it, that's like dropping a glass and trying to fix it with glue. The glass being the allegory for peace."

"...And we're allowed to let loose on the crows. The whole flock of them."

"That's right. There'll be no wars, no aggression taken, and you'll rid this town free of those lunatics."

"...I don't fully trust you yet, Lord Azazel, but I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. I expect more than mere gratitude once we're finished, however." Rias turned to her Queen as she stood up. "Akeno, gather everyone here."

A wicked smile flashed across her face. A chance to electrocute those ravens without repercussions? She'd dreamed for this day to come. "My pleasure."

"Ah, that's more like it. Don't worry, Lady Gremory. I pay my debts," Azazel clapped once as he rose to his feet, as did Akeno, who immediately left to the right wing of the school building; where the dormitory was. "Well then. I bid you luck. You probably don't need it, but it's something I guess. I'll be off to order my men to look the other way while you Devils do your thing."

He then tapped Issei's shoulder, who hadn't moved from his seat. "You got it from here eh?"

"Hmm," Issei replied with a low hum. "Before we go, Senpai… Murayama's your Pawn, right?"

Rias wasn't surprised he knew about the Evil Pieces. She had a storm of questions ready, but it could wait for later. After she made certain that Hyoudou Issei could be trusted.

"Yes."

"Then who's the 'injured' Knight?"

Issei didn't like the guilty look on Rias' face. "...It's your foster-sister, Irina. She'll be alright after a rest, I promise you. She was stabbed from behind, but they missed her heart."

'...Missed…?' That didn't sound right. Was this on purpose or did this 'Kiba' get sloppy? Unless he— well, she, wasn't thinking clearly, then yes. She probably would have missed. But that was highly unlikely… but then again, he didn't know for sure if this timeline's Izaiya had the same prowess as Yuuto Kiba. She didn't have the Blade Blacksmith for one, and she was a Stray Exorcist?

Why and how?

But that shouldn't matter now as much as it would later on. Priorities. The old him was a fuckwit who didn't understand and was unable to place emotions before actions. "Right then… let's go."

"I'll leave him in your hands then, Lady Gremory!" Azazel said as he set out to the window, before leaping outwards as his twelve black wings burst the moment he took the jump, disappearing in an explosion of black feathers as Azazel vanished from sight.

'Showoff…' Both Issei and Rias shared the same thought.

"...All that aside… I have many questions for you, Hyoudou."

"And I got answers I'll share once we've dealt with this mess," Issei readily responded, following Rias outside the clubroom.

"But first and foremost… are you able to protect yourself? We won't shy away from killing them on sight, Hyoudou."

"I know," he didn't care either. Those crows sealed their fate by shaking hands with the wrong Fallen Angel. Raynare was just luckier than the rest. "Kill away. I won't preach or shout 'killing bad'."

"...You're like an entirely different person…"

"I am and I'm not." After all, this was what the fool had become. The bitter, sassy, skeptical and all in all fed up with every garbage he had to clean up. He felt more like the universal grumpy janitor rather than the Protector of the World or whatever meaningless title they could come up with.

"Would you mind waiting here? I'll need to change into my uniform."

"What's wrong with your current one?"

"School uniforms are a dime a dozen, Hyoudou," Rias simply said. "But before I do… Can you protect yourself? I'd rather not have my outnumbered Servants hang around because they have to babysit you in case of the worst."

Issei extended his arm, as the green light of the Boosted Gear shone brightly as the crimson gauntlet manifested itself.

On the other arm.

"..." He promptly withdrew his right hand and switched it with his left. Right. He hadn't stolen the Divine Dividing yet. Maybe he could ask Vali nicely this time to share. "This proof enough for you?"

"Is this…?"

"The Boosted Gear, yeh. Very nifty," and it vanished within the same light before she could reach it. Another thing he found to like after he developed several brain cells was teasing the Gremory. "You didn't think I'm tagging along to sightsee or be a deadweight, did you?"

Break

Azazel and Issei's plan went off smoothly, all things considered. Suspicions were raised but were swiftly brought down before it became a problem.

Raynare, on the other hand…

The plan was going well. As arranged, she had called Dohnaseek, Kalawarner, and Mittelt to meet her at the park by sunset. And they did meet. And they did understand her decision. And approved of it, nonetheless, once they learned the Devils were going to assault their temporary base.

And they were tailed by Freed Sellzen, under the direct order of his partner.

"You fucking double-crossing bastards…" he muttered under his seething breath as he unceremoniously fired a silver bullet right into Dohnaseek's head, killing the Fallen Angel as it shot through the back of his head and lodged itself in his brain. "You think you're smart aren't you? Well sucks to be you, I'm smarter. And my partner's smarter than me, or any of you three caballeros."

Freed reloaded his silver revolver, having fired all six shots earlier, each bullet piercing through their flesh or black wings. Or both.

"W-w-wait… Don't—"

Another hushed cry. And a bullet penetrated the space between Mittelt's eyes as her body whipped backwards, slumping onto the ground she was crawling upon.

"None of you are fucking essential to the game plan… but you fuck it all up anyway," The Exorcist blazed as he plunged his sword to Kalawarner's back, stabbing her heart and killing her in an instant, the last person she saw being Raynare lying next to her. "All because of you."

Raynare gasped for breath, the bullet holes in her chest and stomach and lungs making it harder and more painful than it had to.

"Dirty fucking slut!" Freed slammed his shoe to her jaw, and a mix of blood and saliva sprayed out from her lips as Raynare rolled over to her back. "Fucking knew I shouldn't have trusted you with that blonde bitch!"

"...You'll...pay...for this…—-!" A brutal kick to her bleeding stomach tore the air from her lungs as it exited through her mouth along with another gunk of thick red blood. "...GHAH—! AHG! OGH—"

"Yeah? You're going to pay me back? How? Drown me with your blood?" Freed jeered as Raynare struggled to get up to her feet after brutalizing her stomach, ramming his heel and striking her with the tipped part, and yet Raynare was on her knees, on all four as her arms trembled.

'Get up,' she shouted at herself, puking out a sticky red substance. 'GET UP!' Get up, or she'd send her subordinates to die without being able to avenge their needless death. If not her, who would? She wouldn't delude herself into believing her Lord Azazel would lift a finger for these poor fools, especially because he couldn't. Issei? Issei hardly cared about her, let alone her dead friends.

But a sharp pain erupted from her back as a pair of black wings draped limply on her sides.

"Think you can fly away? Tough luck," Freed sneered as he wiped the blood and black feathers coating his sword by using Raynare's side. "...Huh. I missed a few spots, hang still."

He dropped her to the ground with another kick, and be it from shock or pain, Raynare didn't say a word. Yet. As her violet eyes could only stare at her clipped wings, and the lifeless bodies of her subordinates. She felt his weight on her back, and the burning sensation as Freed sawed the remaining parts of her wings, taking a few skin along with chunks of flesh, as blood quickly flooded to fill in the tiny craters.

"Know your place, whore. Where, you ask? On the fucking ground." He spat on the bloodied cobblestone next to her face, and carved his initials onto her marred back in red letters.

Then he left. Bastards had been dealt with. Izaiya wouldn't like this, but Freed should warn her nonetheless. The plan had failed. There was no sister to kill. Time to pack up and get the fuck away from this mess before the damn Devils sniffed them out. In fact, he could sense some pampered princess looming in the distance…

Her and her small band of Devils… Freed would like to stay, if he knew he could take them all on.

Unfortunately he couldn't, and he'd rather flee and live to slay more evil another day.

.

.

.

One of the hardest pills to swallow so far had been Koneko who was no longer as flat as the shape of the Earth imagined by the insane. Once what she had at most were mosquito bites, now they were reminiscent of her sister's. It didn't feel right to see her bust stretching her school uniform and added curvature to the otherwise straight lines of the Kuoh dress shirt. More to that, Koneko was no longer as short either. She used to be the height of his chest, now the tip of her white hair equaled his shoulders. Probably still a bit shorter than Asia unless she had her Nekoshou ears out.

How was she doing… by the by… Azazel better not run any unnecessary experiments under his nose.

That aside, several bubbles filled with questions had been floating inside his mind regarding Koneko's growth, and none of it was able to be asked because it would give up too much information and raise several unneeded suspicions. At this point in time, Azazel needed Rias' trust, and Issei was wise enough to understand that.

He could always ask them when the opportunity arose. From an idle talk leading to the discovery for Kuroka's fate.

"...Can you please quit staring?" Koneko finally snapped. Issei seemed to have been paying too much attention to her bust compared to the rest to successfully cloak his curiosity as perversion. "It's disgusting."

"Yes. I am disgusting," he bluntly said, deadpanning, earning a giggle and a groan from Akeno and Koneko respectively. "Disgust me please."

Koneko turned to her King for refuge. "Does he really need to come? What if the crows seduced him and turned him against us, Senpai?"

"Surely you Devils can out-seduce the Fallen Angels," Issei promptly said, without guilt or shame. "Screw the fighting, let's have a striptease battle instead. It's way less violent and much more fun. Winner takes all."

Koneko's face contorted in repugnance. "You're the worst."

"Tolerate him, Koneko. That's all I ask of you," Rias requested. "He brings an interesting… dynamic to our group."

The group stopped as Koneko froze. "I heard a gunshot," she warned quietly. "From the park."

Huh. Issei forgot Nekoshou's senses were keener than Devils' and probably as sharp as a Dragon's.

"Another one," Koneko said, and the group quickened their pace. They were a mile away from the town's park, but nobody was going to doubt her hearing.

His mouth thinned in displeasure. He heard it too, and he was certain the Devils had picked the cracking sounds as they approached the town's park.

The park was devoid of human lives -except for him. Azazel had likely ordered his cronies to hypnotize the humans to play nice and stay in their house, where they could watch some evening drama or fight for the remote with their wives.

And Issei was damn glad he did, because people would be screaming and traumatized if they ever saw a glimpse of this carnage. Probably start a rumor that would end up transforming into an urban legend. His people loved those kinds of things.

Red coated the orange brick path along with three bodies lying flat on the ground. Blood had puddled underneath them, under their belly and head, as their black wings were twisted in such a gruesome manner. Some were slashed in half, the other was riddled with tiny red holes.

Issei knew all of them. Raynare's lackeys. Question is, where is she? Did she betray him? Impossible… She was drunk on Azazel. Doing this would only drag her further away from the Governor.

"Who… did this?" Even Rias was disturbed. Not shaken, but disturbed. "Azazel?"

"No," Issei replied, detaching himself from the band of Devils. "These are Raynare's lackeys," he told them as he knelt next to Kalawarner, and dipped a finger on her puddle of blood. "Still warm."

Rias glanced at her Servants, who were more distraught by the fact that Issei didn't appear bothered with the grisly scene that seemed like it came off straight from a slasher movie. But they didn't know he had caused more or less the same to his enemies. He only had so much mercy and patience, sadly.

As the Devils approached, he noticed a trail leading from another splash of red, onto the treeline behind the shrubberies. Black feathers were scattered along the messy red line, and Issei clenched his jaw as he found Raynare, sat on the ground, head hung low, her back against the bark of a tree, and hands cradling what he could only see as her own folded wings.

"Jesus fucking Christ…" He took off his jacket until he realized he wasn't wearing any, and instead called for help. "Hey! Over here!"

As the Devils rushed to his spot, Issei rushed to kneel beside her, quieting himself to listen to her breathing, and pressed two fingers next to her bloody neck.

"Lord… Aza...zel...?" She croaked, groaning.

"He's in his office waiting for you Raynare," Issei said, finally taking off his favorite red shirt to wipe her face first, revealing his lanky, not-yet developed body that was very unlike an action protagonist. "Don't want to make the man wait, eh?"

"Oh... it's you..." Raynare muttered, her pained breathing able to be heard. "..Tell him… I'm...sor...ry…"

"For dying? Don't be silly."

He heard soft gasps from behind. The Devils were here. He didn't expect any of them to lend a hand, but it was clear she was beyond saving. Not with this amount of wounds.

"...Freed…" She rasped, her body slumping to her left but was caught by a hand on her shoulder. His blood boiled as he saw the angry red 'FZ' etched on her back, and the spot where her wings once connected to her body.

"He…I..." Blood sputtered from her lips. How she was even alive was a miracle on its own. "...I...fucked up...Isse…"

"Yea you're fucked up alright," Issei sighed, squeezing his shirt as red liquid poured out from it, seeping into the ground between the blades of grass. He placed it back onto her stomach, right under her wings, letting it stay there without pressure. "Did he follow one of you?"

Raynare nodded weakly, her eyes falling shut.

"...Shit…" Izaiya must have sniffed something was off. Which meant she would be expecting the Devils, or in the process of running. Either way, their time just grew shorter, and their ambush had been foiled. Would it matter? Not really.

"You still...got…any smokes…?"

Issei sighed. "Smoking kills, you know."

Raynare managed a painful laugh. Felt like a kick to her chest, but that got her to smile a little. Issei shuffled his short's pocket, and took out the black and golden pack, taking out the last roll because Azazel was a stingy bastard who got his hopes up when he slid the cigarette pack in his pocket earlier.

Issei settled the white cylinder between her drying lips, allowing Raynare to lie against his chest because she was devoid of strength. A tiny red flame danced on the tip of his thumb as Issei lit the tip of the cigarette. It sparked, but without the needed drag, it didn't stay alight.

Without thinking twice, he took back the cigarette, put the reddened white filter on the corner of his mouth, and lighted it himself, blowing a dull grey cloud of smoke as he placed it back between her lips. Another lazy haze of gray danced into the air soon after, as Raynare coughed, and her head slumped down.

Issei caught the still burning roll of tobacco before it landed on her wings, and took one last drag before turning it into ashes.

In the heavenly evening daze, the sun set as Raynare died.

To be continued...

Rias is given more IQ points and competency as an actual leader as I think she should because let's be real here. Canon Rias is dreadfully tiring and sweeps everything under the rug.

Well. All canon characters are tiring, but dxd has been ecchi first plot later, so who cares if you enjoy it amirite

Either way, I'm ramping things up characterization-wise. Gave everyone more oomph without making them completely OOC. Yes, even Asia. The poor sacrificial lamb everyone hated because the author didn't know what the fuck to do with her later on the story because other girls keep taking more of their one chapter of being in the spotlight, before ultimately beams down on Issei alone as he solves every single problem the world has, and is somehow perfectly okay with being used because tits are great i guess

This story absolutely drains me m8. Because of how badly I want it to do well and outdo Lucifer, because that story isn't good. It's a 6 out of 10. Thanks to the old me who wrote it

But anyway i'm not here to beg, so i'll threat instead. Follow and review or i'll visit your house and groundpound your mom