Issei was quite proud of himself for the past couple weeks with everything he had done but he had definitely taken a wrong step by not paying attention to the energies inside the ORC clubroom and when he walked in he walked into an argument between Rias and Riser, when he came in all the attention was on him. "Bad time?" asked Issei "Obviously, yes." said Grayfia "Then I'll excuse myself then." he said but he was interrupted and intercepted by Rias "Hey, dont forget about our date tonight." and he could feel the heat coming off of Riser as he got pissed off. "You are dating this worm?" Riser asked and it ticked Issei off a little bit but he decided to play along since he had heard about the despicable man and his want to bully this guy was going nuts. "Sure, is there something wrong with that, Riser Phenex?" asked Issei and this stunned Riser since Issei knew exactly who he was but because of that he was willing to push the bill and see if he could force his influence on Issei. "If you know who I am then you know what I do to those who stand in my way. Now bego-" Riser started and Issei interrupted "I know that you are a despicable man who sees women as nothing more than a stepstone to make you more popular...I know what you do to people who don't do what you say and I know that you are a man child and a brat who was never been told 'no' by his parents. You have no authority over me Riser, as my blood is just as ancient as yours, Vinea sends his regards." said Issei and he sat down on the couch with a smirk on his face and he could tell that Matsuda was quite happy with his actions even without turning around and looking at him. "What does he have to do with our marriage Rias? Why is he here?" asked Riser "He is part of the program to teach the young noble devils by using others experience, he came by at my request thanks to the devil I share this territory with." she lied and this piled on perfectly, almost overwhelming the Phenex heir "I will fight you for my freedom, you only see me as a trophy and I cannot and will not be with a man who sees me as only that." said Rias and Isseis smirk kept growing bigger and Grayfia seemed to also smile at this and decided to deliver the news to Sirzechs when Riser decided to leave. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I shouldn't be doing what I did but I couldn't help it! He is just too easy to bully!" Issei said while shedding a tear while laughing but he calmed down knowing that everyone else didn't share his sentiment. "Now, I know you and yours need to train but I feel like that man child needs to learn a lesson or two about women and how people won't always bend to his will. So I will be loaning you my Combat Bishop Raynaire, Rook Ogi and Queen Kuroka who will substitute as a secondary knight, I won't be handing over Katase because she needs further training and is still too new to real combat, fighters like Risers may be a little too much to throw at her right now, and her Sea Dragon Gear is similar to your Boosted Gear, Matsuda, if she gets pissed off enough she can and will go berserk, I need her to learn how to control it and not let it wash over her, no pun intended." said Issei and he left and waved at Rias, it looked like she was a little more calm since she was recieving reinforcements from her underling who had strong allies but was strong themselves as well, he went home and sat down on the couch and felt that strange feeling again in his head, taking out his gun again and looking straight at it and then a strong heartbeat and his mind was finally in tune with the being inside the gun. "Finally he listens to me, at least respond!" his gun said out loud. "So...you are the one talking inside my head...I thought I was going insane hearing voices in my head." said Issei "Ha, I guess you can call it that but no, I do have a name, Vulcan." said Vulcan "Ha, how the hell does a Roman god get from Italy to Japan? Legions never got this far because their territory was too large for them to control reliably." said Issei "Yes...well...I was contained in this gun then sold to the Chinese, back then I was nothing more than an experimental core, back then people were more in tune with the supernatural than they are now, back then people weilded their sacred gears more openly, but I went from Italy as a experiment to China, they made a rifle and I was in one of them and next thing I know I was thrust into the war in Japan, but it was different, it was war and sacred gears were a rarity and not weilded openly as they were seen as witchcraft, I got picked up by some mercenaries and used, they defected when Nobunaga had died and they went into hiding, they were not like the Iga Shinobi but different, hunters, snipers and gunners, I wasn't used again until you picked me up for the first time." said Vulcan and Issei decided to holster the gun and see if he could communicate to Vulcan in his mind and it was successful, the only thing he had to worry about was Katase since he could trust Ogi, Raynaire and Kuroka to do their jobs when he would send them to fight for Rias.

The day came and Katase stood next to Issei and waved goodbye to three of his peerage members knowing that they were going to be training for the rating game and it was his turn to give specific training to his knight. "You and I are going to do some serious training, you did well during combat at the old church but you are still too new to combat so..." Issei moved both her and himself to the Kendo room at the school and set a barrier on the room "hit me with everything you have got, if you can hit me." he said and she drew her sword and they stood there, Issei with his arms open and Katase in her stance that she used for Kendo and she attacked first but it wouldn't bug him, only if her speed was fast enough, but she wasn't even close enough. "You need to focus on points that are easy to hit not points that are hard to hit, remember I am not a sword user so I can dodge all day unless you use something else as well!" he said and he stepped in and pushed her back making her stumble and fall on her butt "Lets go again, I need some more before I can properly train you." he said and she charged him but this time she was pissed off and her strikes were getting more accurate, aiming for his gut and neck her speed was picking up as well. "Ok, that's enough." said Issei and this time he grabbed her arm and using a jujitsu throw he grabbed her by the shirt and threw her and her body didn't take any damage and she didn't feel any pain. "Good but, you need to control that temper. That could be the factor that gets you killed." said Issei and he helped her up and then started teaching her another form of martial arts to use alongside her sword skills but kept reminding her to never use it during a Kendo match it took her nine days to completely memorize the basic attacks, grabs and throws.

On the second day he was borrowing a part of the Kendo room to train her but by using the bamboo swords, a feeling of when the weapons were equal to one another, one not more power than the other on its own, but completely reliant on the users.. The third day they had the room to themselves and this time Issei casted a barrier and had her focus on her dragons water based powers, first was the ice cristals, sharp and cold, and heavy in anyone but her dragon and her own touch, she succeeded and was able to pin Issei who was trying to escape the attack. The fourth day he did the same thing but this time using his eyes of tharsis he was able to dodge and counter each one and sent one back at her by deflecting it with his gun, she countered and shattered the ice spike. The training continued each day and her powers became more and more focused, however she wasnt able to reach the potential needed to activate her balance breaker. "Good, now let's try that again but this time, we are taking out my special toy." Issei said and he drew his gun then pointed it at her. "Issei, dont point that at me, I don't want to die, what did I do to deserve it?" she asked and Issei said: "Don't worry about it, it's loaded with practice rounds they will hurt but they won't kill." said Issei and she began to charge and Issei fired three rounds and she cut all three in half making them miss, she then used her sword and used it to block the next three and then she grabbed Issei after getting low and flipped Issei using her leg, and her blade was at his chest. "Good...but now you need to use it in real combat." Issei said and when they were done he moved both of them back to his house. "Go take a shower, I will take one after." He said but Katase started then stopped, turned around and launched herself at Issei and she tackled him kissing him on the mouth, the kiss was a long one and tongues fought and intertwined and they separated and both were panting hard. "If your not careful, I would start to think that you want me to bang your brains out." said Issei and then she got closer and put her mouth near his head "Maybe that is what I want." said Katase while nibbling his ear. 'Oh...shes going to spoil me!' said Issei in his mind and he could hear Vulcan laughing up a storm at what he just heard and can see from his partners point of view.

(Scene Skip)

The sex that they had at his house and in the shower was quite a bit and he was fine but he could easily tell that Katase couldn't walk straight because of what he did with her but that wasn't what mattered, she was now being put to the test. "Tonight we let the sewers run red with the blood of strays, I asked Rias for stray contracts and she gave me a good stack of them, now you can get combat experience and when we are done we rest, but be ready the day after tomorrow early, I want to make sure to watch and keep an eye on my people, most of all I want to see how well my peerage performs, it's combat veterans against combat veterans, so things should be interesting as they are outnumbered and outgunned." said Issei and that night was as he described it the sewers ran red and Issei only had to watch as Katase got stronger and stronger, with more experience came more strength, starting with the weak ones then going to the stronger ones, using his gun to find weaknesses in the stray and letting Katase deal with the rest. Her skill was evolved and magnificent, there was not one if the strays that could stop her that night, her sword and abilities flowing like water. The night ended and Katase collapsed and delivered her to her house and stayed over, but this time he would sleep next to her. Morning came and she woke up, sore in the muscles but she felt much stronger than she did the days before.

On his own time he escaped to the roof the day before the battle and decided to speak to Ogi despite having to go to class. "So Ogi, how is it going? Be honest, don't feed me what I want to hear." said Issei through a communication circle "Well, we are in top shape, old man Tannin saw us as enough to face the incoming onslaught but he still had us train just less brutally than Rias and her peerage. Boss...they don't stand a chance...its highly likely that they will be slaughtered during this fight...but let me put the bad news to the side for a moment, it seems that Koneko has finally forgiven and is more drawn to Kuroka, I feel happy for them both," said Ogi "regardless we will fight our hardest and also, we recieved a message to you from SirZechs, he wishes for you to be at the observation area with him." "Already? Damn, that was fast, or no...Rias must have told him...or maybe Tannin...who knows, just fight your best and hardest don't let yourself be smacked around." said Issei "Roger Roger" said Ogi. Issei returned to class and was sternly talked to by his science teacher but then the teacher just let it go and told Issei to take a seat, the rest of the day went as expected and the training continued for Katase, until her arms were sore and she could no longer pick up the sword. He escorted her home, carrying her bag and bid her goodnight, using a transportation circle, the home he lived in was eerily quiet...he was used to Ogi's snoring and Kuroka playing video games and being her usual cheerful self.. "Weird...very weird." said Issei "You can say that again partner." said Vulcan

The day of the Rating Game came and Issei was summoned by a Maid of his family and brought to the spectators box and he sat at his fathers right hand side between his father and the Phenex clan head, the father of Riser Phenex. Risers Father tapped Issei on the shoulder and said: "I know you loaned troops to Rias Gremory and feigned my son into thinking you were dating her, is it true or were you messing with him?" he asked "I was just toying with him...he made it too easy to get under his skin...it showed how much of what I said was correct, words which I will not repeat here." said Issei and Jiro was confused wondering what his son had done when he was gone. "Master Issei, I have brought you your knight." said the Maid and she left as soon as the Katase was delivered to him. "Still sore in the arms?" asked Issei and Katase responded saying no but he could tell she was still a little strained and the rating game began when Grayfia appeared in her studio where she did announcements. "The rating game between Riser Phenex and Rias Gremory will begin in two minutes plan your strategies." Grayfia said and there was an overlay of the maps given to them and Rias was making a plan but Riser seemed to still be just sitting there. "Mr. Phenex," Issei whispered to Risers Father "is your son always so cocky?" "Unfortunately yes, embarrassingly so. My son will probably just do it in this way, try to wear down Rias' forces and then make an all out push. If he wins I do not care, but if he loses I would be happy since he would learn something since he is getting full of himself. Some of his peerage shares the same sentiment as I but they must fight as hard as they can." said Risers Father, the battle raged and Ogi was doing very good, resisting attacks like it was nothing and breaking weapons with bare fists in the gymnasium with Matsuda, Kuroka and Koneko teamed up and were pushing the forces that were flanking into full retreat and Raynaire was waiting for an opponent to fall into Akenos traps so she could wipe them out, Kiba and Asia stayed back and protected Rias and the base from intruders, so far everything was going perfectly, Issei continued to smile as more and more of Risers pieces were defeated one by one, all that was left was the queen, Risers ace piece, the two bishops one being his sister, a knight, a rook and three pawns, Koneko and Kuroka had been defeated by the bomb queen by blowing them up and Ogi was defeated when he was outnumbered and Akeno was defeated by being too hasty, Issei took notes to know what to train them in when he got home, Raynaire was protecting Rias using her shadow spells while Kiba and Matsuda were busy dealing with the remaining pieces and they dealt with them quickly until Kiba was defeated by the bomb queen and rushed off to Risers side, Raynaire was running out of stamina and she was shaking from the strength she used up, Matsuda came from the side and protected Asia from a bomb spell from Risers queen and Raynaire decided she had enough and eliminated her quickly. "Check." said Rias, surrounding Riser with herself, Raynaire and Matsuda, Asia had passed out from the explosive pressure and was lying motionless on the ground except her breathing. "Surrender Riser, you are outnumbered three to one!" said Rias and then Riser laughed and first attacked Matsuda throwing him back and then Raynaire kicking her backwards, she hit the pavement with a thud and she was taken out of the game. Overall he was impressed with how long Raynaire lasted but decided there was still room for improvement and wrote some more notes. Matsuda got up time and again and tried to fight Riser but it ended with Rias resigning and Sirzechs being disappointed, he wrote a note and asked the maid to give it to Grayfia and she did as such when Grayfia stepped out of the studio.

(Sir Zechs POV)

"Sir Zechs Lucifer, would you contact me after the rating game, I have an idea, you may or may not like it but it may be worth your time if you hear me out." said SirZechs and he smiled and called immediately "You told me to call Vinea?" asked SirZechs Lucifer "Yes, I want to have a re-empowered red dragon emperor to save your sister, she dotes on him obviously so what if her crimson pawn came to the rescue to save his king? I imagine that would convince your father and his father to decide to call it off." Issei said "Hm...ha ha ha. Yes...I like this plan...what will you need?" asked SirZechs and Issei explained what he would need and he agreed to it, even the sigil of the intruder that Issei had named it but it was obviously a intrusion seal that every devil learned, and SirZechs agreed and it cause a smile to creep across his face. "So when does this plan get enacted?" asked SirZechs "Isn't it obvious? On the night of engagement, of course, the Phenex guards will be present and so my peerage and Rias' peerage will open a path for him if they interfere. This should give him a taste and a want to achieve the power I gave him a taste of." said Issei

(Engagement night, Matsudas POV)

"He should be coming around soon." said Asia and Matsuda woke up and he borrowed a multitude of things for his interception at the party then Grayfia appeared. "Use this, I imagine my lady would love to see you come in and swipe her from the beak of the Phenex. The only way is to fight, also a gift from Young Lord Vinea." said Grayfia handing the pieces to Matsuda, and in his hand lay five energy boosting syringes and something that is considered contraband, a bottle of holy water. He pocketed the items and grabbed the cross with his sacrificed arm and pocketed it as well. Matsuda used the magic circle and the fight was on.

(Isseis POV: Ballroom, Phenex Mansion)

"It should be occuring right about now, battle faces on, if they try to intercept, disable but don't kill." said Issei and they all nod when they came Issei came and he had come dressed as a cavalier, his knight Katase in a nice one piece dress which stopped at the knees, Kuroka in a Kimono, Ogi in his honor guard clothes and Raynaire came in a suit since she didn't have clothes for herself yet, but even Rias' peerage whom he was hanging around because he could was also ready, Sona was also there but was keeping a close eye on Issei, wondering what he was planning. The procession was beginning and Riser had just entered the room and then Rias did and just as she entered the doors were blown open and two guards lay unconscious in front of him, the other guards reacted and Issei and Rias' peerage acted quickly and Matsuda unchallenged walked up the middle and challenged the marriage between Riser and Rias, Issei could tell that this left a lasting effect on Rias, Riser said that he couldn't object but then SirZechs asked why he couldnt and the idea seemed quite intertaining to him, the two were set to duel for Rias and Matsuda stated his only want: Rias to have her freedom of choice for who she decides to love. The battle began and Matsuda immediatly promoted to queen and activated what he thought he would activate, the boosted gears balance breaker and he immediately took the shots he gave him and Issei noticed the overcharge on his body, he could sustain the armor for about a minute but then his body would start deteriorating or the armor would deactivate, the dragon armor clad Matsuda charged at Riser and his first punch landed, he missed another running into a wall breaking it and his strikes continued and finally he ran out of gas after striking the cross bearing fist, Riser was pissed and he grabbed Matsuda by the face and prepared a fireball and Matsuda intercepted him by quickly dousing Riser in holy water causing damage to the Phenex and could not get his strength under control. He grabbed the remaining holy water and doused the cross in it and boosted to a high level and dumped the remaining power into the holy water barren cross and he punched Riser in the gut and that was the final blow, as it made Riser crumple to the floor cradling his gut from the powerful attack. Issei smiled and gathered his peerage "It is done, we can leave now." said Issei and they all left by a teleportation circle back to his home, a smile on his face that the plan worked, it was an idea in his head but it was Zechs who made it work.

"Well, I think that went smoothly boss." said Ogi. "Yes, it did but still, I feel uneasy...like something else is going to happen." said Issei and everyone looked at him confused not knowing what he meant "I mean first off we haven't found the one in charge of the fallen angels that were operating out of the church." Issei said "Also dont forget to mention we don't even know where the bastard is considering we don't even know the name of the one in charge." said Ogi "Yes...your right. Maybe I should spill it all then." said Raynaire and Issei looked over concerned about what he was going to hear next. "The one in charge is a Cadre class Fallen Angel, I don't know for sure who it is, but the orders definitely came down from one of them, it's the only way so many of us could group in a single area without bickering about who is in charge," said Raynaire "I left and intended to defect during the time when the second set of orders was sent, I wanted to defect because of what they wanted to do. Absolute demolition of the town of Kuoh. But nothing has happened yet so I have to assume they are waiting for something or they are building up little by little to avoid detection." "Then we must proceed with caution, if we are not careful finding them could be like stepping on a landmine." said Ogi "I agree...I normally don't have opinions on conversations like this...but I agree, even a cornered cat or mouse will bite their hunter." said Kuroka, Issei noticed she dropped the nya from her sentences...so she must have been taking it seriously. "So they want to destroy our home?" asked Katase "I wont let that happen, as long as I have a say in what is going on, or if I can intervene." said Issei "Putting that aside, you are all getting new training regimen, after witnessing your skill in the rating game I know how to advance your abilities." said Issei and he handed out lists to everyone but Katase who he was still working on. "So, you want me to attempt to see if I have a sacred gear?" asked Ogi "Yes, but even if you don't it will not change your position for the negative in our group here, it's optional." said Issei Kuroka read it and put it down, Raynaire read it and she saw something she didn't expect on the bottom right corner. "You did the best out of everyone, keep it up!" -Issei. She read it and smiled putting it away. "Son, I am home and I have something to tell you." said Jiro appearing out of the doorway "We have the house scheduled to be rebuilt, so if you wake up tomorrow and find the house bigger dont be suprised." said Jiro sitting down at the table "Should I make tea, master?" asked Katase and this made Issei flinch "Don't call me master, my name is fine, Katase." said Issei "Then why does Ogi call you boss?" asked Kuroka "Because I'm fine with it and if he wanted to call me out by name I know he would. It just that Katase unlike the three of you is new to the idea of there being a truely existing supernatural world." said Issei and right then Katase came in with the tea "Oh, so you are babying one of your servants?" asked Jiro "No, in fact before the rating game, I put her through the ringer with some training, now she can fight strays, sometimes alone if she has to." said Issei "But isnt that dangerous?" asked Ogi sipping his tea "Yes, but it gave her an understanding of how and why those beings are as dangerous as they are, and as you can see by the way she looks, no scars and no permanent damage so I think she is doing fine so far, but the next time we hunt we go together, speaking about that, your teamwork during the rating game was excellent, and Ogi thanks for babysitting the red dragon during that game, he needs to be looked after until his gear matures. Mmm, that's good." he said while sipping his tea he was happy at his peerages performance and the results of Katases training. "Well son, would you like to tell me the stories of all these people? I have heard dear Kurokas story and I know where Katase came from but what about Raynaire and Ogi, I know Ogi came from the royal guard stock since the general there is and has always been such a racist pig. So, would you like to tell?" asked Jiro and Raynaire started to explain her story and how she was betrayed and turned into the woman that she is "I now have had my direct revenge on the thralls but the one who ordered it must be killed. The bad part is just that I don't know who it is that ordered it..." said Raynaire who somehow found a bottle of alcohol and was pouring herself another glass. "I see." said Jiro taking the bottle of alcohol and pouring himself a glass as well. "Well my story isn't as wild as that...but it still has importance in my eyes...that not all leaders are just. But your son my lord, he is the best man I have served under and I am thankful to him for picking me...its just a shame that human/devil hybrids are discriminated against...mostly by the pure bloods." said Ogi "Ha ha, Claudius must be shitting bricks, I remember him saying something about you being in the rating game and he was all pissed off. But still, you are right...he's not really fit to lead an army." said Jiro "Son, go into my room and below the bed there is a box, bring it here." said Jiro and Issei went into the room that was his parents but he was borrowing since he didn't have enough rooms to put all his current peerage members into and went under the bed and when he pulled out the crate, it was filled with Sake, Issei brought it out but set down the box in the kitchen. 'Maybe your father has finally found a drinking buddy' said Vulcan "Shut up V, if he did that, mom would be pissed." said Issei and he brought the bottle of Sake out and set it down in front of his father who opened it and filled the two glasses. "Revenge can be nice once you finish it but be aware of the punishment afterwords...its like rice, a normal life is like a bowl of warm rice...revenge is like a cold dish of rice...it isn't as fulfilling. But find another thing to fill that void and you will go back to the before mentioned "normal" once that is achieved, protect it because if you don't protect it and you lose it, the cycle will repeat...and pain will be a constant in your life." said Jiro "You sound experienced in this Lord Vinea." said Raynaire and he nodded and told the full story of his life and it made Issei understand why his father does what he does...trains others so that they don't end up like he did. "That is very noble Lord Vinea." said Vulcan and Issei set the gun on the table "Your story is almost intertwined with mine, though your time as a samurai was quite interesting, how did you find your wife?" asked Vulcan "That is an interesting story...we were enemies on the battlefield and we couldn't defeat eachother, it kept ending up as a draw, every single time but when it all ended was when the Civil War broke out, I escaped the underworlds grasp when I was kicked into the dimensional gap, and that woman found me after about a year of waiting...gave me plenty of time to reflect on my actions, meditating twenty four hours for three hundred and sixty five days. When she found me, I was a changed man, she disliked it at first but eventually she fell for me again and I as well in turn, it took a couple years to finally have finally born Issei...my son, and when he was born, my wife was the happiest person alive." said Jiro "But why take the name 'Jiro'?" asked Vulcan "I didn't, my wife chose it for me and also said 'It suited my ronin like nature.' but I learned to accept it because it really is a good name, short and to the point just like I taught my students in the devil military, dont play with your enemy, finish them quickly as playing with them will lead to your downfall." said Jiro.

"Dad...I have something to apologize for." said Issei lowering his head so his hair covered his eyes. "What is it?" asked Jiro "Remember during the rating game how there was a bit of chatter between me and Risers Father? I had insulted Riser, maybe at my own expense so I could get a laugh out of it...but I realize that I could have messed things up for us in the long run." said Issei "It's fine, that boy is the same age as me, and he needs to be put in his place for his cocky nature, he was just as cocky during the war and especially when we were kids," said Jiro "your actions have just given him a reality check, something that he needed desperately in his fathers eyes." and this made Issei smile a little bit "There is also something else as well, it seems that Risers Father is trying to get you and Ravel together, she seems to have taken a liking to you." said Jiro "Oh for the underworlds sake, I keep saying that arrainged marriages are not something I am willing to do." said Issei while moving closer to Katase and hooking his arm around her waist. "It's more along the lines that I owe Mr. Phenex a debt and this is the only way I can pay it, just stick with it for now, I might or might not be able to find a way to weasel you out of it." said Jiro "Ok." said Issei though everyone in the room could tell he was disappointed in the outcome.