Chapter Two

Three years.

Three years of hunting, of fighting, of slaughter.

Three years, Daichi stalked the forest, slaying horned rabbits, demonic rodents, warped birds of prey. His quarry expanded in size and power as he grew. Warped hogs, magical deer, demonic wolves, harpies, non-sentient yokai; his prey was vast and varied. After a certain time, normal animals and monsters failed to speed his growth. His vulpine form did not stop at the size of a mundane fox. At this point in his life, he was approximately the size of a dire wolf, approaching the size of some bears. He was sitting on the cusp of his second tail; the one that would allow transformation to a more humanoid form, as well as the capability to alter the size of his animal side.

He had never been able to answer the question of When he was in the story. The leaders of the three factions of Christianity working together suggested it was relatively close to canon, as they had something of a cordial working relationship between them during the story even before peace was officially declared.

He had no clues as to their motivation for banding together, but reevaluating his brief memories of the moment, several details stuck out. He was born of obsidian, blackened glass, most likely a result of one of the group member's attacks. The only entities that would warrant such a massive response of a combined force would be other gods, Satan class devils, or similar entities.

They were in the underworld, which meant angels and gods could likely be discounted. The only Satan class devils available for this kind of effort would be of the Old Satan Faction, and they didn't start making moves until later during canon. Unless one of the leaders of a group went… berserk…

They were killing off one of the dragon emperors. There was no way to tell which one, but it mattered little. Assuming that sacred gears were immediately put back into circulation upon the previous wielder's death by God's system, Issei was seventeen and Vali was eighteen at the start of canon, meaning Daichi had been born around the same time period as they were. He'd spent three years hunting monsters, leaving him with an estimated twelve to fifteen to continue amassing power. By the start of canon, best case, he could theoretically have five to six tails. That would make him a force to be reckoned with. The only question was how to achieve it within the time frame.

Every faction had problems. Stray devils or exorcists, malicious yokai, rebellious fallen angels. Bounty hunting would kill several birds with one stone. It would be a way to amass power from fighting and killing, provide a source of income, allow him to travel, and eliminate threats to himself and society. Hell, he already had something of an in with most of the factions considering a few of his visitors over the last three years.


It had been two months since Daichi had been reincarnated. His first two weeks in what he had sardonically labeled The Forest of Beginnings had been dedicated to his genocidal rampage against the horned rabbit species. For some inexplicable reason, the meadow that he haunted never seemed to run out of the little fuckers. He had slain an untold number, and unless he consumed them, their cooling corpses disappeared not long after he passed them by.

It had taken two weeks for the energy influx to peeter off into negligible gains and send him hunting for larger, more constructive prey. He was the size of an adult fox, perhaps slightly larger as his size pushed towards a medium sized dog. It was good that his size had increased so much, as he found his next prey not far from the meadow.

Rodents ranging from small to medium sized dogs had crafted a burrow within a hill slightly beyond the far side of the open field. He labeled them rodents, but he imagined they were qualified to be called kobolds, though if they held any form of intelligence, he had been unable to discover it in the following weeks he spent slaughtering them. He had moved his den closer to his new source of food and energy, giving him easy access to both the meadow which held his source of water and food, and his energy supply. Even as a fox he had standards, and eating what was essentially rat fell far below them.

It was nearing the time where he would have needed to once again move farther afield to find new sources of energy that his first visitor came calling.

He was taking a siesta beneath his favorite tree. He had grown to roughly the size of a large retriever by this point in time and had decided a break from his near constant struggle against the rat hordes was needed. It was during this time a flash of red erupted from the center of the meadow, a telltale sign of devil teleportation, if he recalled the details correctly. Sniffing the wind, a hint of perfume reminiscent of an arctic sea breeze caressed his nose.

Barely moments later, a young woman dressed as an archetypical magical girl seemed to pop into existence in front of him.

"Hello, little Daichi!" Serafall Leviathan bubbled out before registering the large fox in front of her. "Not so little anymore! You've gotten so big, Dai-tan!" Daichi snorted in response, the terrible pun causing his inner human to facepalm despite the humor. He stood, shaking off any possible dirt before circling his spot twice, then dropping back to the ground lazily. Tapping the dirt beside him with his paw, he gestured for the maou to sit, which she promptly did with no hesitation. It was a strange sight to see for any casual observer, a magical girl cuddling up against the side of a large fox. Daichi wrapped his tail around her, laying it in her lap for her to stroke as she giggled and babbled about mundane things, how cute her beloved So-tan is most of all.

As frightening of an existence as Serafall was, Daichi knew from his prior world's knowledge two very important facts. First, if she wanted him dead, as he was now, he would have died without even knowing it, so fearing for his life was a pointless exercise in anxiety. Second, she really just wanted some friends, and so Daichi, despite the surprise of her sudden and unexpected appearance in his domain, simply acted as if his old friend was dropping by. The alternative was blinding terror, so he opted to bury that portion, and grunt, woof, and grumble occasionally in response to Sera's one sided conversation.

She eventually seemed to run out of words to say, and the two sat in companionable silence for some time as she continued stroking the fur on his tail, though he eventually noticed her eyes and mind seemed to be in a far off place. Flexing the prehensile nature of his appendage, Daichi used the tip to lightly tickle her beneath her chin, bringing her back to the present with a smile. She fought in the devil civil war, so Daichi felt it was no surprise that she perhaps had some form of PTSD despite her personality. Perhaps that same personality was an extension of some form of trauma, though Daichi had no way to verify such speculation. Regardless, he much preferred pretty women to smile.

They both remained silent from then on, Serafall eventually falling asleep as she cuddled deeper into Daichi's soft and fluffy fur. He didn't mind. She was beautiful, and she obviously needed the rest if she was passing out so easily. The pair remained that way until the sun began truly falling below the horizon, painting the sky in various shades of pink, purple, and blue. Daichi regretted having to wake his visitor, since he had gotten rather lonely in the forest by himself, something he only realized now that another person had come to visit, but she would eventually have to leave and night was creeping up on them. He would simply have to go back to slaughtering innocent woodland creatures to keep his mind off of his lack of companionship.

Raising his snout, he pressed his wet nose into Serafall's ear and huffed gently causing her to quickly wake with a squeal as she leapt from her resting position. Daichi huffed in his equivalent of laughter as she wiped the feeling from her ear as she glared down at him.

"Dai-tan, that was mean!" Daichi simply rolled his eyes before gesturing with his nose towards the sky. Serafall puffed her cheeks out in a pout.

"Dai-tan still didn't have to wake me up in such an icky way!" He simply gave another roll of his eyes. Sitting up, he took a moment longer to balance himself before propping himself up on his hind legs and gave her nose a lick, causing her to giggle and wipe her face again.

"Daichi! So bold!" She faux blushed. Daichi snorted, staring intently at her lips to get his message across. 'Just wait, you only think that was bold.' His look caused her to giggle once more before stroking his head and taking a step back.

"You'll have to earn that one! Keep getting stronger, and maybe one day! I'll come visit again soon!" With a little wave, and a flick of Daichi's tail in acknowledgment, a burst of red light illuminated the meadow once more as Serafall departed. She became his most regular visitor over the course of the next three years, taking at least one day out of each month to check in and spend time with him. If he was honest with himself, Serafall Leviathan was the reason he remained sane in that forest.

For some unknown reason, all of the major leaders that had been present at his birth had stopped by several times to check in on him over the years. Sirzechs Lucifer stopped by twice, both times attempting to persuade him to join his little sister, Rias', peerage. Daichi had nearly scoffed in his face, even as a fox, though he was thankfully able to keep the condescension from the suggestions from his visage. Peerage members were essentially slaves. Even if the Gremory family treated their members as family, a servant was still a subordinate to their master, and both Daichi's human and yako side recoiled in disgust at the idea of being subjected to another's influence.

Azazel and Odin almost always showed up together, the pair doing their best to indoctrinate him into the Brotherhood of Boobs. Daichi didn't need much persuasion for this, as he fully understood the magnificence that is a woman's body. Regardless of his Brotherhood membership, he still wouldn't act as a perverted buffoon. Doing so only tainted his own image, and was exceedingly rude to his female counterparts.

Michael only visited once a little over halfway through his three years within the forest. He mostly spoke of the outside world, his worries as the leader of heaven, and some of the concerns he held with the church. Daichi wished he visited more, since he was a font of knowledge and news. Maybe once he was able to leave the forest they could converse more.

Inari would drop in every three to four months, only for a few minutes at a time to gauge Daichi's growth. He essentially functioned as a glorified experience bar.

"Daichi, you've been growing well. I see the rats were no trouble. You're about ten percent of the way to your next tail."

"Daichi, another great step in progress. Twenty-five percent of the way to your second tail."

"Keep up the good work, Daichi. It looks like mundane animals and monsters are running out of efficacy for you. I'll start putting stronger monsters into the dimension to boost your growth. They'll be much tougher and more aggressive than before, so be careful. You're about a third of the way through to your second tail."

For his father, Inari certainly didn't seem to hold much attachment to the philosophy of a loving home for raising children. Daichi forgave him, however, as circumstances were rather unorthodox. He didn't really want a new father anyway.

Last but certainly not least was the Seraph Gabriel who regularly graced his little kingdom. She didn't visit as often as Serafall, but was nevertheless another being he thoroughly enjoyed spending time with. She was much like Serafall, often cuddling up into him and discussing everything and nothing, though the burden of her station often slipped through. He was a comforting shoulder for both women, and both women equally confided in him things he was certain they would have not shared had he held a humanoid form.

Regardless of their conversations, Daichi acted as their rock. A stable place for the two to come and visit without judgement. He would simply wrap them up in his tail and fur and comfort them while they talked. For Serafall, it was the pressure of her station, and being forced to hold a portion of the future of her species on her shoulders.

For Gabriel, it was similar, but she also seemingly struggled constantly with the temptation of Falling. He had quickly learned the innocent, naïve façade she kept up was simply an act to throw off her enemies. No being could remain so sheltered over the course of time. It was something that had been building within her for millennia, but her responsibilities to her post and support for the host of Heaven now that God had died had helped keep the impulses at bay.

Daichi had made his thoughts on that as clear as he could without directly speaking the words to go along with his actions. The day she had vented her worries of Falling, he had snorted derisively by accident. What followed had been a back and forth as Gabriel interrogated him over his impulsive action.

"What's that supposed to mean, you mischievous cretin?!" Gabriel had leveled Daichi with a glare. He groaned in response as his eyes rolled. That was going to be a bad habit in the future, he could already tell. Gabriel's glare had intensified, taking his response as an accusation against her character. Daichi moved his tail, caressing her cheek with it as he sighed, a sincere look in his eyes.

'I didn't mean it that way, and you know it.' He moved his tail to pat her on her head, using the prehensile appendage to point at her glowing halo, then pat her on the head again. She seemed to deflate in response.

"Yes, I know I haven't Fallen yet. Everyone sees me as some infallible bastion of the light, but some days, I can't help but wonder what it would be like to Fall. To just leave all those responsibilities behind and just be me." She paused and sighed. "It's selfish, I know." Daichi huffed in response, making wild gestures with his tail that the angel somehow interpreted. Daichi blamed magic and just rolled with it.

"You're right. Thank you, Daichi. I know I'm allowed to have moments of weakness. Falling only happens when an angel gives in to a sin, after all. Still, I can't help but sometimes wonder what it would be like…" Gabriel trailed off. Daichi took his turn and glared at her, wrapping his tail possessively around her waist. When that failed to receive a response, he shifted his entire front half of his body on top of her, pinning her to ground as he stared into her eyes, tail once again possessively wrapping its way around one of her legs. He growled at her look of surprise causing her to burst into laughter.

"Fine, fine. I promise I won't Fall. At least not until you come to claim me for yourself." She punctuated her statement with a teasing wink and Daichi simply raised his head, an arrogant countenance in his eyes as if to say 'Of course, woman. You're already mine.' Gabriel bopped him on the nose.

"However, you'll have to be much more powerful to be able to tempt me," she stated with a grin, punctuating it with a hug, squeezing him tightly as she murmured into his fur.

"Thank you."

Daichi hummed in response.