(Power levels)

Power levels are dumb but there fun so I decided to add a section to help explain some of them to help answer any that you guys may have about who is stronger than who or whatever. (Each character have a normal level plus a high and low end because these power levels fluctuate a lot in dxd)

Normal human-5 (High 7) (Low 2)

Issei (Post DW)- 15 (High 25) (Low 1)

Asia-50 (High 60) (Low 30)

Normal devil, fallen angel, angel soldier- 100 (High 150) (Low 50)

Kiba-250 (High 300) (Low 200)

Koneko-250 (High 400) (Low 220)

Issei (Base)- 400 (High 600) (Low 300)

Rias- 500 (High 1,200) (Low 300)

Akeno- 700 (High 1,000) (Low 500)

Riser Phenex- 900 (High 1,500) (Low 500)

Issei DW (Dominating Will)- 1,200 (High 12,000) (Low 800)

Issei (Base Balance Breaker)- 2,000 (High 4,000) (Low 1,000)

Sairaorg (Repressed)- 5,000 (High 10,000) (Low 3,000)

Issei (Juggernaut Drive)- 200,000 (High ∞) (Low 100,000)

Sirzechs- 5,000,000 (High 10,000,000) (Low 500,000)

If you guys want I can add a power levels section at the end of future chapters because they will change over time. Let me know in the reviews. Please enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 8: Terms of Engagement

(Phenex Resident, underworld)

"Seriously, this is just an engagement party. Why do I have to be dressed in a wedding dress." Rias declared as she stared at her reflection in the mirror, she found herself currently dressed in a low cut wedding dress complete with a veil.

"Because it pleases me, my dear." Riser cooed, he himself dressed in white. "Fret not my love, it looks splendid on you." Riser smirked creepily but doing so caused him discomfort in his jaw that caused to manually re-adjust it.

"Your jaw still sore?" Rias seeing his discomfort took advantage of an opportunity for some snark. "I guess there are some injuries that even an immortal can't recover from. Maybe you should keep it in mind."

This comment displeased the blonde high class devil. "And you should keep in mind the devil who did this to me. You had the power of the Welsh Dragon on your side and you still couldn't find a way to defeat me." Riser boasted as he wrapped an arm around Rias' shoulders.

"In a fair fight you wouldn't've stood a chance." Rias growled as she managed to shake her pushy fiance off.

"Pffffttt! Are you serious? You think he's some kind of honorable warrior or something? You seriously need to grow up Rias." Riser scoffed. "He fought for you because you payed him, he's a glorified mercenary. Maybe he would've beat me in a "fair fight" but we'll never know for sure. You know why, because you'll never see him again. He doesn't care about you! By this time next week he'll be onto his next master, by this time next year you'll be nothing but a memory and ten years from now you won't even be that."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Rias roared, a dangerous crimson aura forming around her that got Riser to back up but his antagonizing didn't end there.

Riser smirked at Rias' frustration. "Don't tell me you honestly believe he cares about you? If that was the case then where is he? He left as soon as he felt he fulfilled his obligation to the contract. You're his client not his friend. He's a professional, he knows how to play the part. Any kindness, any sympathy, any interest or intrigue he may have shown you is just a part of the act. I know better than anyone how he smiles and acts respectful but deep down all he cares about is money. Don't try to pretend he's some hero. He's not coming to save you."

(Meanwhile outside Phenex Mansion)

Issei marched up the imposing stairway up to the massive front entrance of the Phenex household, he was about to enter through the open door but a pair of devil guards stepped in his way and crossed their long spears to halt his interest. "What do you think you are doing here?"

"Um, I have an invitation." Issei held out the card he got in the mail and the two soldiers exchanged glances before one of them took Issei's invitation and tore it to shreds.

"There must've been a mistake, we've been informed that you are not to be allowed to enter. Please leave." They asked politely with their wording but their body language was a bit more antagonistic.

"Oh well, thats a shame." Issei cracked his knuckles before his gauntlet appeared on his left arm. [BOOST!]

"Huh!?" The soldiers exclaimed in unison before WHAM!

(Later at the engagement party)

It looked as though the party was in full swing, drinking, dancing and chatter filled the ball room. The only thing missing were the hosts but that wouldn't last long as Riser appeared at the front of the room in a massive gust of flame.

"Greetings, those gathered here today from the illustrious families of the underworld." Riser began to address his guests with a long winded speech. "I am honored you would be here to mark the beginning of a new dynasty in the world of devils, the merging of two great devil houses begins today as I the illustrious immortal Riser Phenex will wed the Beautiful, Rias Gremory! Without further ado, allow me to introduce my bride!" With an over zealous wave of his arm Rias appeared from thin air in a flash of crimson light resulting in a wave of applause from the audience with the exception of a few hold outs, luckily for them this celebration wouldn't last long.

WHAAAAMMMM! With a loud thud like sound the doors at the back of the ball room were flung open and a devil soldier came flying through, crash landing a few feet in front of Riser. "Uggghhhhh.. Agh!" The soldier groaned before passing out right on the spot.

"What is the meaning of this!" Riser roared, furious at his big moment being ruined. He glared back down the now open hallway to see a pair of glowing emerald eyes staring back at him causing a slight chill to go shooting down his spine. "Shut those doors immediately! Seal them with magic!"

Riser commanded and his bishop Mihae nodded as she lept into action, conjuring up a spell that shut the large doors closed and a orange magic circle formed on it. "There we go, nobody is gonna make it past, huh?!" WHAM! CRASH! "WAAAAAHHH!" Mihae shrieked as a loud thud hit the door and it immediately flew back open as the spell was destroyed and the woman who cast it dropped to her knees.

From the shadows beyond the doorway, Issei emerged holding one of the soldiers' spears in his gauntlet with a sinister grin on his face. "Some party you've put together here Riser, I really appreciate the appetizers you left out for me." Issei taunted as he snapped the spear in his gauntlet. "But it would seem as though I've ran out and I'm nowhere near satisfied."

"Issei…" Rias muttered with a tinge of hope that served to infuriate Riser.

"What do you think you're doing here Hyoudou." The blonde devil growled. "You have no business here!"

"That's where you're wrong!" Issei declared as he pointed towards a clock on the wall that read 11:50. "I signed a ten day contract with Rias Gremory nine days 23 hours and fifty minutes ago! Which means for the next ten minutes I'm still Rias Gremory's pawn."

"Hmmm, if that's the case then you should make like the rest of her peerage and silently accept the outcome of the games. Show some respect for the house you represent and act with a little class!" Riser growled.

Issei responded with a smirk. "That's the great thing about being a temporary piece. Your run of the mill servant devil needs to worry about acting with the best interest of their family name but a temporary pawn can commit themselves to fulfilling their master's wishes without worrying about any consequences. Rias signed me in order to prevent this engagement from happening at all costs and I'm here to fulfill that request! Riser Phenex I challenge you!"

"A challenge? Why would I agree to something like that, I've already won." Riser declared with an arrogant smirk.

"Because I went through the trouble of arranging it." A voice called out from the crowd that immediately knocked the arrogance off of Riser's face. Soon a man long hair of a familiar crimson shade, dressed in luxurious robes with golden spikes along his shoulders, stepped forward and was followed by a silver haired maid. "I personally delivered an invitation to Issei's apartment hoping such a situation would arise and I'd appreciate it if you didn't deny me this bit of entertainment Lord Phenex."

"Uhhhh… Sirzechs, sir…" A bead of anxious sweat formed on Riser's forehead. "But why would you?..."

"I don't have much time to watch rating game matches so I was looking forward to seeing a battle between the full power of the Welsh Dragon and the Immortal Phenex but you denied Issei the use of his Illegal move Balance Breaker. I didn't intervene then because that was your right as King but I will admit I was disappointed." As Sirzechs continued to explain, Riser felt as if a hundred tons of pressure were piled on him with every insult. "You seem to under the false assumption that your engagement to my little sister is set in stone. While some may argue the importance of a purebred match I fail to see the significance at this time I'm more concerned with Rias' well being and so I hope she finds a husband capable of protecting her. Needless to say if you refuse the challenge or the Red Dragon Emperor here proves more powerful than you lord Phenex your engagement with Rias will be terminated."

"Wh-What!? Sirzechs! You can't do this to me! Your family promised me this engagement!" Riser started pleading but Issei began to lose patience.

[WELSH DRAGON BALANCE BREAKER!] Issei crimson armor formed around before. WHAM! Issei struck the ground hard with his powerful tail, getting the attention of everyone present, before pointing his finger towards Riser. "I'm sick of your shit!" Issei roared. "Always hiding behind your name and your family connections, acting like everything should be handed to you just because of who you are. You're the type of person I hate most in this world and I've waited long enough! Lucifer and I both want a fight and you're gonna give it to me or I'm gonna beat you bloody until I'm satisfied."

"Well Riser, it would see that the challenger is ready to go. If you value this engagement then I'd suggest you prepare yourself." Sirzechs smirked.

"Fine, if I must. I'll show you just how foolish it is to challenge your superiors! I don't care if you are the welsh dragon incarnate, the phoenix is immortal!" Riser boasted but sweat began to build at the back of his neck.

"Excellent." Sirzech smiled and then with a snap of his fingers Issei and Riser disappeared in a flash of crimson light.

(Later in the battlefield)

Issei and Riser reappeared in a strange new area unlike the world they had once left behind. The sky was a deep, dark red and the two combatants seemed to be standing on a giant chess board equipped with massive stone statues that resemble giant chess pieces.

"Like it?" A giant image of Riser's face appeared above the board. "I made it myself. Figure it'd be better if we moved the fight elsewhere just in case things get messy. Put on a show for us." With those parting words the devil king's face vanished replaced by Ravel Phenex's.

"Kick that traitors stupid butt big brother!" The pint sized phenex roared out.

"Fret not Ravel, I don't intend to lose. This'll be over before the main course is served." Riser taunted as his sister's face disappeared.

The last one up for words of encouragement was Rias herself and she kept her message brief. "Issei, thanks for coming back for me." And with that out of the way there were no more distractions and the battle could begin.

"Well, since you've been so eager to fight I'll let you have the first attack Red Dragon Emperor. Make it count!" Riser declared with a shrug.

"PROMOTION TO QUEEN!" Issei announced as power began to surge through him. [BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!] Issei pointed his arm at RIser and a small ball of energy formed in his palm. "HAAAAAAHHHH!" He roared as he launched the energy ball towards his opponent.

"HAH!" Riser laughed as he easily leapt over the incoming energy blast, using his wings to give him an extra upward boost. "Is that the best you can MMMMMFFFF!" WHAM! While he was distracted dodging Issei's blast, Riser didn't notice his opponent close the distance and he was met with a face full of fist as Issei knocked him back into the dirt CRASH! While painful to look at this opening blow was quickly brushed off by Riser's regeneration as he stood back up. "That HURT!" He roared, before pointing both hands up and unleashed a torrent of flames at Issei.

Issei flew directly up as fast as he could to avoid the flames but it was no use, the flames moved too fast and Issei's whole body was consumed by flames momentarily but with a powerful flap of his wings the fire was dispelled. "RAAAAAHHHGGG!" The dragon roared as he dived straight down towards Riser.

"Not so fist!" Riser formed a bowling ball sized fire blast in the palms of each hand and tossed the both up at the incoming foe. Issei simply spun his body and the force extinguished these two flame attacks before he finished his dive bomb.

The moment before impact, Issei cocked back his fist Slamming it into the Phenex's skull with the added moment of his drop, cracking the ground below Riser's feet. CRASH! The sound of splitting concrete and bone echoed through the arena. Issei wasn't done yet, Riser's immortal flame was just getting to work on his skull when Issei slammed his foot into the high ranking devil's stomach, sending him flying. Issei to add on further followed his kick with a blast of energy from his palm that made contact before Riser could even hit the ground.

"ACK! ACK!" Riser coughed as he pushed himself up to his feet, his body quickly putting itself back together as he looked over at Issei with confident eyes. "Your attacks may be strong but in the end they won't matter. Just like in the rating game, you can throw as many powerful attacks as you want but I'll simply regenerate. Unlike mine, your power has a time limit and I can wait it out."

"Maybe I can't break your body, at least not for long. I'm positive I can break your spirit to a point that it can't recover." Issei growled, reigniting Riser's explosive temper.

"WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT!" The Phenex roared as he began to charge Issei both his fists burning with devil fire. "HAAAAH! HAAAHH!" He threw one punch after the other but with relative ease Issei managed to catch both blows in his claws. "Huh? AAAAHHHHH!"

Riser roared as Issei's grip increased and his hands began to break. "Not good enough!" Issei growled before WHACK! With a powerful strike of his tail Issei knocked Riser away.

SLAM! WHAM! Riser tumbled across the giant chess board before eventually coming to a stop and once again climbing back to his feet. "Bastard…" Tired of yelling Riser simply growled as

He created a boulder sized fireball in his palm, which he didn't waste any time lobbing at Issei.

"Not Strong Enough!" Issei growled a little louder as he pointed his palm at Riser's attack and fired an energy blast that was miniscule in comparison to Riser's flames but pack enough power to quickly extinguish the fire, leaving the high ranking devil open for attack. [JET!] The jets on Issei's back unleashed a massive amount of green energy that propelled Issei forward and he used this increased movement speed to burry his fist into Riser's guts.

"AAAHHHAAAAHHHH!" Blood spewed from Riser's mouth as Issei burried his fist in deeper, slamming Riser down onto the ground. Issei then grabbed a hold of Riser by the throat and began to squeeze. "AAHHHHKKK! AAAHHHKKKK HAAUUHHHHH!" The devil began gasping for air.

"I wonder if regeneration restocks the oxygen in your lungs? Not that it matters. I'm not trying to kill you, I just want to make sure this hurts!" Issei declared throwing Riser back down, once again cracking Sirzechs well constructed arena floor. Issei then placed his armored boot onto Riser's stomach and pressed down hard. "So this is what it feels like to step on someone weaker than you, no wonder you enjoy it so much."

"AAAAHHHHAAAGGGHHH!" Riser spewed out even more blood as his guts were crushed under the weight of Issei's armor. Using what little strength he could muster through the overwhelming pain Riser managed to grab a hold of Issei's ankle and desperately tried to force the boot off of him but to no avail. "GET OFF! PLEASE GET OFF!" The proud Riser resulted to begging and in exchange for said pride Issei accommodated this wish but still didn't give Riser a chance to catch his breath. Issei drove his foot into the devil king's side, kicking Riser away once more.

Thanks to his healing Riser was back on his feet once again but now his knees were shaking and he took a much more defensive pose but his bravado appeared to be intact, on the surface at least. "I've had enough of your insolence! HAAAAAHHHHH!" Riser let out a battle cry but his flames didn't come out. "Huh? My fire? Where'd it go?"

"Hah? Well that was faster than I thought. Your conscious mind doesn't realize it but your brain and your body have given up the fight. I told you, your physical body may be immortal but your brain, that's a different story. I'd go ahead and accept your defeat but if you wanna keep going you can probably will yourself to go through the motions but this fight is basically over." Issei taunted as he slowly began to march towards the shaking Riser.

"Give up? Don't flatter yourself! I'm not afraid of you!" Took a step forward but the second his foot touched a new patch of ground it began to violently wobble and Riser was forced to retract the step. He then lifted his fist up to his eye only to watch it vibrate uncontrollably. 'No way. Why can't I control my body. He's nothing! He's just a lower class piece of reincarnated dragon filth! I'm the head of the Phenex Household, I'm a hundred times more important than him! The only quality he possesses of note is sheer brute strength! But if I truly am so much greater than him, why is every fiber of my being screaming at me to run away!'

"That's the spirit!" WHAM! Issei glocked the unwilling to move Riser in the face, knocking him backwards a few steps.

(Back at the engagement party)

At this point droves of high class devils were pouring out of the party leaving Ravel and a few of Riser's team members, Rias and her entire peerage and Sirzechs. "Well so much for my dual. The Welsh Dragon's Scale Mail is truly a force to behold but I'm starting to question what father sought in a marriage with the Phenex Clan. Clearly Rias deserves a better partner than this, this is just boring!"

As Sirzechs monologued to himself, a certain blonde haired younger sister devil approached him in a panic. "Sir Sirzechs Sir!" She rapidly began to bow her head upon approaching the Devil King. "I don't mean to mis step my place here sir but could you please call this match over! Riser's body won't even move and Issei has long surpassed wanting to defeat my brother for the sake of his master. It's just torture at this point!"

"Hmmmm… You bring up an interesting point." Sirzechs mulled the thought over in his head for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "I'll admit that it's clear that Riser doesn't have the strength to stand but his willingness to continue the fight has impressed me. Issei on the other hand has impressed me with his strength but his attitude during this fight has been concerning to say the least. I'm proposing a new challenge if Issei does not defeat Riser by the stroke of midnight when his contract is set to expire than Issei loses the match."

"What!" Rias shrieked back. "That's not fair! Issei's kicking his butt! It's not his fault that Riser's too much of a stubborn jerk to realize the fight is over!"

"I agree with Ravel, Issei's job as your pawn is to fulfill your wishes thus his primary goal should've been defeating Riser, not playing with him." Sirzechs argued back sternly. "He could've finished this already through a number of means such as when he had Riser in the choke hold he could've held on until Phenex passed out. If he can't accomplish your goal of him winning this dual despite his power advantage then that reflects negatively on you as a king and you should be punished for it."

"Wait a minute!" Ravel stepped back into the conversation. "If you're meaning this is to last until midnight that means Riser will have to take three more minutes worth of punishment?! When he can't even move much less fight back?!"

"Yes, I'm testing Riser's commitment as well as Issei's sense of morality so Riser will have to take the punishment until Issei decides to finish things, if he ever does. I'm also going to make it so that neither of you can inform either fighter of this rule change, lets see who pulls through." Sirzechs finished with a smirk.

(Back in the arena)

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! "Grrrrrr!" Issei growled, growing more and more frustrated with as he continued to slam his knee into Riser's face. "This is boring!" He roared as he tossed Riser aside. 'What the hell! This was supposed to feel cathartic and it did at first but now that feeling is gone. If anything… I feel… bad… for Riser.'

[I told you partner everything you get from this sacred gear comes at a cost. Even the Pride of a Dragon comes at the price of not being satisfied by an easy fight. It's time to think of a different strategy, attacking his mind was the right idea but you didn't focus on the right area. Instead of breaking his spirits, attack his pride.]

'His pride huh? I think I can do that.' Issei smirked under his helmet. Meanwhile Riser slowly shambled back to his feet, taking a lot longer to recover than he had before and by the time he was back on his feet he was consumed by an overwhelming feeling of dread, though he'd never let it show on his face, as Issei began marching in his direction.

"Is this it, seriously?!" Issei marched up and with a WHACK of his tail knocked Riser down to his knees and proceeded to kick him. "You wanna know, I bet I can tell what you were thinking when I showed up here. "What is he doing here, he shouldn't care about some stupid engagement between high class devils", am I right?" Issei received no answer as Riser was busy having his ribs kicked in. "While I am here partially to break off the engagement I'm also here because this was a long time coming. I mean you really piss me off man. It pisses me off that despite being handed everything you have in life, from your money and title to your power of regeneration, all given to at birth. Despite every gift you have, you're still greedy to the point you'd rob a girl of so much of her happiness in life just to add another ounce to yours! It pisses me off thinking about all the time I spent as your servant, every forced smile, every "yes sir". It pisses me off that once I was finally free of you that I followed right and your footsteps and let foolish pride keep me tied to you for ten more days when you could've been just another memory by now. It pisses me off that I let myself lose to you in a rating game, and that tied me and my pride to you once again when I could've been finished. But what pisses me off most of all right now is the fact that after all this time I can't even enjoy this fight anymore!" Issei finished with a kick that sent Riser flying into one of the chess piece statues, ironically a king, and making it crumble.

Issei followed after Riser lifting him up from the rubble by the neck and tightening his grip. "IAAAIHHH! ACKAAAHHH!" Issei's hold on the phoenix's windpipe kept him from verbally surrendering as his body was starved for air. Meanwhile back in the real world the clock continued to tick. A minute and a half left.

Issei, oblivious to his time constraints, continued his attack on Riser's pride. "But as much as you've managed piss me off in the past, there are two things I've always considered almost decent qualities about you. One you're honest, most would say to a fault but that's still something. Second being your overwhelming pride in yourself, your name and your abilities. While playing the part of the rental pawn I had to keep my own inherent sense of pride a secret for the most part so seeing you be able to express it so openly always made me a little jealous but now I'm wondering if those feelings are misplaced. Here I am about to take away your marriage you deemed so important, one that would cement your dynasty and here you are begging me for your life. I'm about to embarrass you in front Lucifer himself and you won't even throw a punch. I'm going to take your bride away from you and drag your family name's reputation through the mud along with you and you're going to go out gagging? In front of the devil king, not to mention your little sister. If you could speak I bet you'd even be begging. Your body won't listen to you? So what? A true warrior would find a way to fight, wheres your fighting spirit?! Did I break that too perhaps, along with your pride? Or was that prideful demeanor just a facade, a person you put on and you hope everyone buys because despite your money and your name, you know deep down you can't cut with those of us who possess real power in this world. So your pride was just a lie, if that's the case then I guess you truly have no redeeming qualities, you're just garbage aren't you?" Issei taunted before suddenly he felt warmth surging on his arm that he had around Riser's neck.

The warmth turned to heat and heat to a sensation of burning as Riser had reached up and grabbed Issei by the wrist and smoke began bellowing from the high class devil's palm. "Who are you calling garbage! You worthless nothingness!" The smoke turned to all out flames as Riser managed to push Issei off and his fists combusted into fire. "I'm Riser Phenex! I don't care if you are a legendary dragon! I'm unbeatable! HAAAAAHHHH!" Riser charged forward, fists ablaze

"That's more like it." Issei smirked under his helmet as he charged in as well. "HAAAAAHHHHH!" The two brawlers locked palms as they made contact as the final bout was going to be a shoving match.

"I see." Riser smirked as the battle raged, neither fighter seeming to lose ground. "So you said all of that inorder to reignite my flames? To do such a thing when you clearly had the advantage, are you some kind of battle maniac?"

"Hmmm? I don't know if I'd go that far. I meant a lot of what I was saying, but particularly the stuff about wanting to enjoy this fight so I guess so. I'm also trying to teach you a lesson I learned from the wisest person I've ever known, one that I've seen to have forgotten now that she's no longer with me and that's that pride means nothing if you can't BACK IT UP!" Issei roared and his armor responded. [BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!] Issei's power increased and he began pushing Riser back but Lord Phenex managed to plant his feet and hold his ground once again.

"I refuse to lose!" Phenex roared and flames began to shoot up from all around him, the fires of his desire.

"Well, then I guess it's time for me to pass on another piece of wisdom. This one coming straight from the source, sometimes it really pays to have a tail!" While Riser was distracted Issei's long, crimson tail had slithered its way to the space between his legs and in a single, powerful, crushing movement was thrust upwards and slammed into Riser's… weak spot WHAM!

"AAAAYYYYHHEEEE!" A high pitched shrill escaped Riser's lips as he dropped to the ground, holding tightly onto his crotch. "I surrender…" He squeaked in a pitched up voice and with ten seconds to spare on sirzech's timer, the two were transported back to the ballroom.

(Underworld, Phenex House)

The two were returned to the party, Riser writhing on the floor in front of his peerage and his little sister and Issei returning to the spot he had disappeared from towards the center of the ball room.

Issei gave himself a once over as he had somehow lost his armor during the transportation he only stopped when he felt a strange, powerful hand on his shoulder. "Good job Issei." It was Sirzechs who welcomed the boy back with a kind smile. "I am once again in your debt."

"I didn't do it for you." Issei looked away from the devil king as he brushed his hand away from his shoulder.

"Of course not. You did it for you, that's what you want us to think? Regardless, it seems you have more pressing matters to attend to. I'm not the only one looking to thank you." Sirzechs took a step back as his younger sister ran up and hugged Issei by the front, still dressed in her wedding dress.

"Issei! You came back for me! You saved me! I'm sorry about when I yelled at you! You're my hero!" She exclaimed, nuzzling herself into Issei's chest.

Issei put his hands on the red haired devil's shoulders and gently pushed her back so he could look her in the eyes. "Rias…" He spoke softly as he grabbed a hold of her hands.

"Oh, Issei…." She muttered back sweetly before Issei let go of her hand and took a step back. She looked down to see a rolled up piece of paper was left in her hands. "Huh?"

"Your contract has expired." Issei declared as the clock finally struck midnight and the rolled up paper in Rias' palms exploded into her eight crimson colored pawn pieces. Issei then bowed to the girl clad in white. "I expect to receive full payment by the end of the month, it was a pleasure doing business with you."