Hi everyone, sorry it took so long to update, had an exam that I couldn't miss, along with a few other things. But the chapter is here now, so please enjoy!


I left Kuroka's house, taking a few steps out into the sunlight. I looked around, taking in the area, and trying to memorize the houses and streets nearby. I looked at the nameplates of the nearby houses, and though they were written in Kanji, I understood them as if they were in English.

"Damn, that makes this a lot easier." I thought, before I looked down the street. In hindsight, I'm not sure I would have had much of an issue finding Kuoh Academy. The buildings of the school stood dozens of feet above everything else nearby, so though I was a few miles away, I was able to see it. "That... also makes this much easier." I thought, a slight frown appearing on my face. I looked back at the house, trying to read the nameplate. But there was none to be seen.

"I guess that makes sense." I thought to myself. "A detail like a nameplate is just another thing that could be used to expose Kuroka. She can't met anybody know she's here, being a wanted criminal and all that." I started walking down the street, in the direction of the academy. As I was walking, I pondered the power gap between myself and the big shots of the world, the people I might have to eventually fight.

"I shouldn't have to fight the Maou (Devil Kings) as long as I stay on Rias' good side." I thought to myself. "And the others on that level of power won't take notice of me for a very long time, especially with the Khaos Brigade and Ophis around.

That was another thing to be worried about. The Khaos Brigade, a team of devils, humans and even a few gods all being lead by Ophis, the Ouroboros dragon. Also known as the Infinite Dragon God, with the power to pretty much wipe out the whole planet on a whim. "Definitely not someone to piss off." I thought to myself. Though, I expect I'll be meeting with it eventually, especially if Kuroka tells it about me. "No doubt the dragon would be interested in something from the Dimensional Gap," I thought to myself. "After all, that's where it was born."

It took around an hour to walk to the Academy, mostly since I was taking the time to memorize the route from there to my new home. And wasn't that a strange thing to consider?

"I didn't realize that Kuroka was this nice." I though to myself, now seeing the bridge to Kuoh Academy, where Vali introduced himself after the battle against Kokabiel. The gate was in front of me, though it was closed. School wasn't out yet, apparently. "I woke up past noon, according to Kuroka, and it took me a while to get down to the Academy." I thought to myself. "It should be around 1, so if I wait for maybe an hour or two, I'll be able to catch Issei."

-0-0-0-0-0-

On the grounds of Kuoh Academy, in an old school building, Rias Gremory stepped out of a shower. She toweled off her hair, put on her school uniform and walked out into the Occult Research Club's meeting room. The red carpet and green high-backed couches matched well with the Victorian-era paintings, desks and other woodwork that decorated the rather spacious room. There was only one one other person in said room, another woman, sitting on one of the couches nearby.

This woman had long, jet-black hair done up in a ponytail, long enough to reach down to her thighs when she stood up. She, like Rias, was unnaturally, if not supernaturally beautiful, with smooth, porcelain skin, a toned yet curvy figure, and mesmerizing violet eyes. This woman sat at the table with a small tea set, sipping from a cup elegantly, though with an air of amusement about her.

This woman was Akeno Himejima, and if Rias was considered to be the most beautiful woman in Kuoh Academy, then Akeno was a very, very close second. She was also Rias' right-hand woman, closest friend, and the second-in-command of her peerage, small though it may be.

"So, Akeno, care to tell me what has you so... preoccupied?" Rias asked, sitting down across from her friend. "It's not often something captures your attention so thoroughly."

Akeno set down another cup, and filled it with tea from the nearby pot. With a small thanks from Rias, Akeno let a small smirk flash on her face. "I was just taking a look at the interesting young man that has decided to loiter around campus, like some sort of delinquent." Akeno chuckled softly, a beautiful sound, though with a very dark undertone to it. "I do hope he's here to cause problems for us, I haven't heard someone scream in agony for far too long."

Rias didn't react to Akeno's sadistic words, choosing instead to focus on her friend's specific wording. "What makes you think he's going to make problems for us, Akeno?" Rias asked her friend. Akeno chuckled again, turning to look out the nearby window. Her face turned serious for a moment, something that caught Rias' interest. "...He has a Sacred Gear, Buchou." Akeno responded softly. "And a rather powerful one at that."

Rias took on a serious look as well, even as she continued to enjoy her tea. Akeno rarely looked serious, even in the middle of a battle. Whoever this man was, she had to take him seriously. "I'll have Koneko trail him at once." Rias said, as she stood up from the couch. "What is he doing right now? Is he trying to break in?"

Akeno paused, inspecting something that could not be seen by the naked eye. "No, Buchou, he just seems to be waiting by the front gate, on the other side of the bridge." Akeno took another sip of tea before continuing. "He has not once touched, or even come near the barriers. Strange."

Rias frowned. "He must know we are here, so perhaps he is not here to make enemies." She held out her hand, and a small bat-like creature appeared in a flash of red. "Seek out this Sacred Gear user once he leaves the area around the Academy. Try to give him one of the fliers." The creature nodded before vanishing.

Now it was Akeno's turn to frown. "Are you sure that's wise, Rias? If he is an enemy, we're giving him the opportunity to isolate one of us." Akeno looked slightly nervous at that, undoubtedly thinking about the newest member of their little group. "Do you think he could be here for Hyoudou?"

Rias paused, thinking for a moment before responding to her friend. "If he is, my familiar will notify me, and we can all be summoned to him at a moment's notice." A cocky smirk appeared on Rias' face. "Whoever he is, he won't be able to defeat all of us."

Akeno nodded, seemingly in thought. "Should we let Sona know of his existence as well, Buchou? She has most likely taken notice of this man as well, and a sacred gear user like him would seem like an enticing addition."

"I will notify her Akeno, thank you." Rias said with a soft smile, before looking back out the window. "In any case, we should be on standby in case Issei gets in trouble. Let Koneko and Kiba know, would you?"

Akeno nodded again, before leaving the club room, and Rias stayed, lost in thought, staring up at the sky. "There isn't much time left." The young Devil mused to herself, watching the clouds overhead. "I hope one of you holds the answers I seek."

-0-0-0-0-0-

As I waited on the other side of the Academy bridge, I turned my thoughts inward, to the supposed Sacred Gear I possessed. "Where are you?" I said under my breath as I closed my eyes. I figured that I had a couple of hours at most until Issei left the Academy, which meant that I also had a couple of hours to figure out what the hell my Sacred Gear could do.

As my eyes were closed, I tried relaxing my body as much as possible, taking a seat and leaning against a nearby light pole. I sat there for a while, allowing myself to get lost in my thoughts as I sank deeper into a state of relaxation. I listened to the sound of the river going under the Academy bridge, focusing on nothing else, until it was the only thing I noticed.

And then I felt it.

The closest thing I could compare it to was a gentle humming, except I couldn't hear it, nor could I feel it like a vibration. But I knew it was there nonetheless. It was strongest in my core, almost behind my sternum, but as I focused on it more, I became aware of that not-humming coming from everywhere in my body. Every single bit of me was humming in this way, so quietly and so uniformly that I never noticed earlier. But now I knew it was there, and I could feel that energy moving through me, just underneath the skin.

But something felt off. The power, whatever it was, moved far too slowly. I could feel the humming, yes, but it felt muted, almost sleepy in a sense. There was power, yes, so much that it caught me off guard, but it wasn't active. It was dormant. I knew then, what this had to be.

"Kuroka was right," I mused to myself. "Power spread through the body, but not having any obvious effect. It's not really active, though I guess she wouldn't be able to tell as well as I can." I allowed myself to get used to the humming of this energy, before I tried to see if I could manipulate it at all. "Sacred Gear, don't let me down."

It wasn't very effective, as the slow nature of this energy worked against me. It moved, certainly, and it seemed to obey my desires, but it moved far too slow. Trying to move it outside my body was even more difficult. It was like trying to stretch a massive rubber band. I pushed and pushed, but the moment I let up, everything snapped back to how it was before, the soft not-humming being all I could feel.

"Welp, no energy blasts for me just yet, it seems." I thought to myself, still trying to fiddle with the Sacred Gear. "What about moving this stuff internally?" I thought again, before turning my attention back to the not-humming.

That had a much better result, though it still felt sluggish. The energy moved through my body wherever I directed it, though it always took more than a few seconds to get to where I wanted it to go. Progress was progress, however, so I spent a bit more time shifting the flow of energy in my body, still leaning against that streetlight with my eyes closed.

I then had the brilliant and maybe idiotic idea of trying to coalesce energy in a singular body part, my right hand to be precise. Nothing happened at first, but after a few seconds I felt a slight pressure building up, and after a few seconds more, I could actually hear the humming. I opened my eyes and looked down at my hand, still building up energy within it.

You know how when you look at a hot road in the middle of a summer day, the air far away shimmers and distorts near the ground? That's pretty much what was happening with my hand. From my wrist down to my fingertips, there was a distortion in the air that was gradually becoming more and more obvious as time passed. I realized that this was the energy that was building up in my hand, now so concentrated that I could see it. The humming was getting louder as well, and it seemed to match the distortions, if that makes sense. As the humming increased in volume, the mirage-like aura around my hand became more and more intense.

Wanting to test out this power, I grabbed a nearby rock with my left hand, and gently dropped it in the open palm of my right. I could see the aura almost part around the rock, and though my hand was still distorting, the rock looked normal. My hand was still open, so I decided to squeeze the rock, to see if this energy made me any stronger.

The rock, previously the size of a closed fist, shattered immediately.

Shards flew around, bouncing off my shirt, and one managed to nick my cheek. My hand got a few cuts from the rock, and lost all the built-up energy but was otherwise fine. I, however, was immensely confused. "How the hell did I do that?" I wondered, staring at my slightly bloodied hand. "I barely started squeezing, my hand couldn't have crushed the rock." I grabbed a second, smaller rock and began to build up the energy again. Once I heard the humming, I squeezed the small rock gently, trying to feel what was happening to it.

This time, it split clean down the middle, and I understood what was going on. This energy of mine, the Sacred Gear, shot into the rock near-instantly, the moment I started to squeeze on it. While this power may have moved slowly through my body, it had no such issue with the stone itself. But this energy also didn't appreciate the new environment, and for a moment, I could see the power rushing towards a particular spot in the stone, before the whole thing split in half.

"It found the weakest point in the rock before it split..." I thought in slight amazement, looking back down at my hand. "I didn't even need to guide it, the Gear just found the weakest point in the rock and shattered the whole thing!" I laughed for a second, beginning to understand what my Sacred Gear could do. As the energy snapped into the rock, it condensed at the point of least resistance, the weakest part of the rock, before reaching a critical mass of sorts and releasing all that force on that area, splitting the stone.

"That explains why the first rock shattered." I thought to myself, a grin appearing on my face. "There was too much energy for one spot, so several 'kernels' appeared in different parts of the rock, and they all detonated at once. Holy fuck."

This power was practically designed to attack one's internals, a place that most beings weren't really able to defend. After all, how could one train their organs to resist getting punched, or kicked, or stabbed? For most opponents the main cast fought, barring the Phenex of course, regeneration wasn't a big issue. The higher powers of the world had different abilities that were often stronger, but if this power could ignore durability and target weak points autonomously, then this was a massive boost. The sheer potential of this Sacred Gear was insane.

"And this Gear isn't even fully materialized yet." I realized, a small look of awe on my face. "If it's this strong now, what is it going to be like when I can actually manifest the thing?"

I was snapped out of my trance by the sound of a crowd. I looked up towards Kuoh Academy, where students were funneling out of the building, and I realized that in my exploration of this power, the school day had ended, and people were starting to leave home.

As I waited, a few loud voices made themselves known. Three boys, walking through the gates, shouting for all the world to hear about the glory of tits. I smiled, despite the fact that I knew what was coming later tonight.

But I had a goal, a path, and I knew what I had to do.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Issei walked through the Kuoh Academy gate, across the bridge that spanned the river. He and his friends Motohama and Matsuda, also known as the Perverted Trio, were on their way to Matsuda's house. Apparently he had a surprise waiting for them there, of the perverted nature, no doubt. But Issei wasn't as excited about this surprise as he usually would be. He was still reeling from his maybe-memories of Yuuma Amano, the gorgeous girl with a great rack who asked him out on a date.

The same girl who grew wings and killed him.

"Was it really just a dream?" Issei thought to himself, not listening to his friends walking along them. "It felt so real. I felt myself die." As he walked, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head, and for a moment, he was looking at someone from that night. The man who stayed by his side as he was bleeding out. The man who wouldn't let him die alone, who ran the moment that strange red light appeared.

That same man was standing just a few feet away. Staring at him.

Issei rubbed his eyes, and when he opened them, the man was gone. "Issei!" Matsuda called out. "What's up broski? You look like you just saw a ghost?"

Issei shook his head before turning to his friends. "Hey... this is gonna sound weird, but was there a guy standing over there a second ago?" He pointed over to where he had seen the man. "Someone not wearing the school uniform, standing next to that pole?"

"There's nobody there, man." Motohama said, adjusting his glasses. "You sure you're okay? You've been kinda off today."

Issei looked back across the walkway, before turning back to his friends. "Nevermind, it's nothing. Let's see what kind of surprise Matsuda has for us, yeah?"

The others shouted their agreement, and started walking with renewed vigor. Issei tried to match their enthusiasm, but in truth he was more confused than ever. "Am I losing my mind?" He thought, still walking towards Matsuda's house. "What the hell happened last night?"

-0-0-0-0-0-

I noticed a handy little perk when I was following the Perverted Trio to their home. My hand had been sliced up a bit from my experiments with the rock, along with my cheek, and though they weren't exactly debilitating injuries, I was gonna be feeling it for a while. Or so I thought. It had only been a few minutes since I got cut, but already the nick on my cheek was gone, and the cuts on my hand had stopped bleeding. On closer inspection, I could literally see the wounds closing, though it was pretty slow.

I would be in perfect condition by the time the Trio arrived wherever they were walking.

I looked down at my hand, and I could sense the not-humming was greater around the cuts, specifically where they were closing. "This energy is working to accelerate my own healing." I thought to myself, a small grin on my face. "Is this also the Sacred Gear? No wonder Kuroka called it high-class, this is insane!" On closer inspection, I could see the edges of my cuts distorting slightly, a byproduct of the power being used.

"Okay, so the Sacred Gear seems to have an impact on my body itself." I mused, watching the Trio walking together. "What else can I do? What kind of utility does the Sacred Gear give me, if I can already do this much?"

I was going to ponder more about this, when a girl in a red-black bat play stepped out of the shadows, and handed me a flier. "Here, take this!" She said with a bubbly voice, as she pushed the flier in my face.

I took a step back, my eyes narrowing. I looked around, but it was just us on the sidewalk, and the Perverted Trio were too busy talking about boobs to even notice. I turned back to the girl, and put on the best smile I could manage. "Oh, I'm good, thank you." I said quickly, starting to move around her. "I'll just be on my wa-"

The girl grabbed my arm as I tried to walk by her. "I insist you take this flier." She said, a hardness to her voice making itself known. "It would be in your best interest."

I stopped, looking the girl, or rather, Rias' familiar, in the eyes. "Very well, if you insist." I said, trying not to display any nervousness.

The girl smiled, and walked away, until it was just myself and the Trio, who still hadn't noticed us. I looked down at the flier, and sure enough, there was a magic circle on it, one which surely contacted Rias and her peerage. I paused for a moment, before putting it in my pocket and walking after Issei and his friends.

-0-0-0-0-0-

We arrived at what I assumed to be Matsuda's house, where the Trio ran inside, shouts of excitement echoing from within. I looked around for a moment, before walking into an alleyway between the house and a neighbor's. I leaned against the wall and waited for the sun to go down. I knew that Issei left Matsuda's house around sunset in canon, so I just needed to wait.

As time passed, I found myself experimenting with the unknown energy, trying to find other applications for it. I found a small shard of glass and held it against the palm of my hand, before slowly concentrating the power where I intended to cut. I waited a few moments, until I could hear the humming, and then pressed down, trying to break the skin. It probably wasn't the smartest idea, grabbing a random shard of glass from an alley, but I suspected the energy could deal with that as well as it deal with physical injuries, so I wasn't particularly concerned.

As I pressed the glass into my palm, slowly moving it across the skin, I realized that nothing was happening. My skin wasn't being cut. I pressed harder, and the glass shard broke between my fingers, cutting them slightly. "I guess my skin gets tougher then, though only in small areas." I thought to myself, as I observed the small cuts on my other hand slowly close. "I won't be able to make every part of me tougher right now, so I'll need to practice every chance I get. Maybe when I awaken this thing, I'll be able to do so."

I felt another itch in the back of my mind, feeling like I was missing something, but I set it aside in favor of keeping track of Issei.

I looked around me, wondering what was happening inside the house. For a moment I could hear mumbling, coming from the second floor of Matsuda's house. I strained my ears, trying to make out what was being said. For a moment, nothing happened, but then I felt the not-humming intensify around my ears, which was quite disorienting. I shook my head, but stopped once I realized I could hear the voices much clearer.

"This is Momo's latest video, Kamen Rider Pinky!" I heard Motohama shout over the sound of the video playing.

"Sure is," Matsuda said in a smug tone. "I had to pull some major strings."

I sat back against the wall as I listened in to the conversation, trying to ignore the very suggestive noises of what was most certainly a japanese porno playing in the background. "So I can hear better then?" I thought to myself, now more used to the not-humming in my ears. "It seems to act as a general amplifier when used internally. I wonder..."

I looked at the alley, now more shadowed once the sun started to set. I felt the not-humming increase behind my eyes as well, though I tried to keep my enhanced hearing at the same time. It didn't work completely, as Matsuda and Motohama got quieter, but I could still hear them, and I confirmed my earlier hypothesis. Where I looked in the alley, the shadows were almost nonexistent, as if it was the middle of the day.

I let the energy in my eyes shift back into place, and the shadows returned. "Okay, senses can be amplified as well then, sweet." I thought, now focusing entirely on the conversation happening in Matsuda's room, and seemingly at the right time.

"What's wrong, are you alright?" I could hear Motohama say in a worried tone. I strained my ears more, feeling the not-hum get more intense, until I could hear small thumps echoing through the house. I was hearing Issei's footsteps, and he was leaving.

"Bingo." I thought, standing up and creeping to the end of the alley. I saw Issei leave the house, and he turned to walk away. Quietly, I followed him from a distance, though I knew where he would end up.

"Alright Dohnaseek, let's see what you've got."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Issei was not having a good day.

First, he had the craziest dream about being murdered by his girlfriend, someone who nobody else seemed to remember, even his own friends.

Next, he started seeing things from the maybe-dream, mainly that guy who tried to help him as he was dying, though nobody else could see him.

Then, his body started acting weird. His eyes could see in the dark as if the lights were on, he could hear people shouting from a block away as if they were standing right next to him.

Finally, after running for who know how long, he ended up at the fountain in the park, where he was murdered.

Only, he wasn't alone, and now some freak in a trench coat was chasing him with those same wings Yuuma had.

The strange man landed in front of Issei, making him stop in his tracks. Issei stepped back, dropping his school bag, and the man spoke. "Such cowardice, as to be expected of lower class scum like you." The man spoke in a dark and arrogant tone, before he started monologuing.

Issei didn't really catch what he said, something about masters and strays, before the man stretched out his hand and a blue spear of light, more angular and sharp-looking, materialized. Filled with the memory of Yuuma, Issei turned and sprinted away. "If I'm gonna die in a dream, I'd rather be killed by a hot chick than a dude!" He screamed internally, running for all he was worth. "Not co-" His thoughts were interrupted and a blur appeared from the treeline knocking him to the side.

Issei felt the spear graze him as it flew by, before a fiery pain flared up in his side right where he was nicked. He hit the ground slightly dazed, before turning to look up at who had pushed him out of the way. As he saw who it was, his eyes widened.

"What the hell! It's you!"

-0-0-0-0-0-

Chasing after Issei taught me a few things about the Sacred Gear and what it could do. For one, I was able to amplify my speed by concentrating the not-hum in the muscles of my legs, and I was able to improve my stamina by doing the same in my lungs. I guessed that the energy took the place of what the body normally needed, like ATP and oxygen, and that allowed me to run faster while also not getting winded.

It allowed me to keep up with Issei, who was surprisingly fast due to being a Devil now. Even when sprinting from Dohnaseek, I was able to move through the treeline, and I was able to keep track of them by focusing my power in my eyes and ears. This normally should have been difficult, but the adrenaline pumping through me made things much simpler, for whatever reason.

It felt like the energy was getting primed for action, if that makes sense. It moved quicker, responding to my desires almost subconsciously, and amplifying myself was much more fluid for that reason. The degree of amplification was improving as well, thankfully.

Without it, I wouldn't have been able to push Issei out of the way of the light spear.

As he fell on the ground, I turned to look at the Fallen Angel, who looked more annoyed by my appearance than anything. "Well, well, what have we got here?" He said, a sneer on his face. "Some more trash to clean up?"

I paused, catching my breath before looking Dohnaseek in the eye. "Look, man" I said, raising my hands up by my head. "I get that you wanna kill the guy, but he's Rias Gremory's newest pawn and he hasn't been given the memo yet." I looked at the Fallen, and gave a shaky smile as I built up the energy in my right hand. "I don't think you want to piss her off, so could I maybe ask you to just chill for a moment?"

Dohnaseek paused, looking at Issei with a more careful eye. "Gremory's pawn, eh?" He said, before chuckling. "Well, who knew that this town was under the control of the next head of the great Gremory family." He looked at me for a moment, before he stopped chuckling. "I suppose I should thank you, saved me quite the hassle. You a part of her household too, I take it?"

I chuckled for a second, heart still pounding in my chest. "Nope, just a normal dude." I said, trying to keep my voice from wavering. "He's the only devil right now, that's for sure."

Issei was still on the ground looking at me in bewilderment, before Dohnaseek started chuckling again, his fedora shadowing over his eyes. "Well then," He said, raising his head to look at me. "I guess that means there's nothing stopping me from killing you, is there?" Suddenly, another spear appeared in his hand.

As he reached back to throw it at me, I blurted the first thing that came to mind. "Can you at least wait for the kid to leave, so he doesn't get caught in the crossfire?"

The Fallen stopped, before scoffing and turning to the side. "Fine, but you're not getting away." He said loudly, pointing the spear at me.

"That's alright, I figured as much." I said, trying not to stumble over my words. I looked at Issei, before walking over and pulling him up to his feet. "Hey, Issei, look at me." I snapped my fingers in front of his face, causing him to look over at me. Before he could say anything, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the flier, before putting it in his hand. He looked at it, and a flash of recognition appeared on his face.

He started to ask something, but I interrupted. "I need you to take this and run as far away as you can, okay?" I said looking him in the eyes. "You need to hold it and think about getting help, as hard as possible. Think you can do that?" Issei nodded shakily, and I smiled before patting him on the shoulder. "Okay, you got this, now get going! I'll explain everything if I survive this." I pushed him along, and he looked back at me once before taking off in the opposite direction.

I turned around to look at Dohnaseek, only to pause at the spear of light he was reaching back to throw. "Because you saved me from messing with the Gremory family, I'll make this quick, human." He threw the spear at me, and I moved.

The moment the spear left his hand, I felt time slow down. I could sense the humming increase in the middle of my head, and suddenly everything moved slightly slower. I could see the spear moving through the air, and I could tell that if I did nothing the spear would pierce my skull, and I would die instantly. I moved my hand, now humming and wavering with power, to intercept the spear. I moved to catch it, and I felt all the stored energy flow into the light construct.

For a moment the spear slowed, straining against the aura coating my hand, before the spear flashed and shattered into motes of light.

My own hand was unharmed, though the energy that was built up was gone, used up. I felt slightly tired, but I started condensing power in both my hands, now that I had a way to defend myself from Dohnaseek's weapons.

Speaking of which, the Fallen Angel looked confounded, pausing for a moment before looking at me in a different light. "The hell kind of magic was that?" He said, confusion filling his voice.

I took a moment to catch my breath, before I started amplifying the muscles in my legs. "Still trying to figure that out myself, actually." I said, trying to buy time to condense enough power in my hands. I was starting to feel some strain now, but I kept my face as neutral as possible. "You sure we have to do this?"

As Dohnaseek went to answer, I rushed at him, moving faster than I ever had before. I moved to grab his head with one of my hands, but in a blur he grabbed my wrist and forced it away from him. I grabbed at his elbow with my other hand, and I felt the energy shoot into his body. His arm made a sickening crack, and he screamed in pain. His hand let go of my wrist, and I took the opportunity to grab his face and end the fight.

As I moved my hand towards his face, I saw a flash of fear in his eyes, but it was drowned in a white-hot rage and he roared before punching me in the ribs with his free arm. My legs came off the ground, and I felt several things break before flying back into a nearby tree. My head hit the wood, and I saw stars before I hit the dirt. I felt something in my lungs, and coughed for a moment, feeling something dribble out of my mouth. I wiped away at it, and looked down at my hand. It was blood.

I had never coughed up blood before, but from the way my lungs were practically screaming in pain I could only imagine Dohnaseek's punch did a lot more damage than I realized. Without thinking, I started moving the energy towards my ribs, feeling the pain lessen. Whether that meant things were fixing themselves or my power was just numbing the pain, I didn't know. All I knew was that it allowed me to shakily stand up, and look at the Fallen Angel.

He was still screaming, holding his arm. It hung limply at his side, and I could see blood trickle out of his trenchcoat and drip onto the ground. He looked up at me, and I could feel the hate in his eyes pressing down on me. "You little shit!" He seethed, spraying spittle in his rage. "I'm gonna fucking gut you like the pig you are!"

He spread his wings and flew at me, slamming me back into the tree before throwing a knee into my stomach. I screamed in pain, but as I fell over I grazed his shin and I felt something break. The energy in my other hand shot into his bone almost on instinct, and Dohnaseek fell back, landing on the ground. I coughed up more blood, but between the adrenaline pumping through my body and the Sacred Gear doing whatever it was doing, I barely felt it. I almost certainly had a punctured lung, and my stomach was fucked, but the healing factor I had would just have to do for now.

I stood back up panting, barely able to keep my balance, and I slowly stumbled towards Dohnaseek. His leg was bent in one extra place, above his ankle where my Sacred Gear had shattered his shin bone. If he got away he would probably be able to heal it, but I had no intention of letting him do so.

Dohnaseek noticed me as I got closer, and in a desperate scream materialized a larger light spear over twice as big as his previous ones, before throwing it at me. "DIE YOU BASTAAARD!" He yelled, a flash of terror in his eyes.

As the light spear got closer, as time slowed down further, as I pushed my power to the limit of its amplification, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop it from impaling me. I hadn't built up enough energy in my hands to even think about shattering it, and I was running on fumes as it was.

For a moment, I believed that was it, that my time was up, and I was dead. I was going to die here, in this park, alone, before ever accomplishing anything. Before ever finding out what the hell this Sacred Gear was. Before helping Rias and Issei become strong and defeat Riser. Before becoming powerful enough to stand on my own. I was never going to see my family again. I would never again hold the love of my life in my arms. I was going to die.

And in that instant, when I despaired and raged against the reality that was about to be made truth, a shackle I never knew existed shattered in my soul.

Before I knew what was happening, I had moved out of the way of the spear, standing right in front of Dohnaseek. He looked up at me in fear, struggling to find words. "How di-" He didn't get another chance to speak, as I grabbed him by the face and slammed him into the stone path. The path cracked around his head, and a small pool of blood appeared underneath him, before I lifted his skull back up and slammed it down again.

I kept slamming his head into the stone, over and over, rage boiling up in me until I released it all in a bloodcurdling scream, and I slammed his head into the ground one final time. He didn't move after that.

I kneeled there for a moment, before I realized what I had just done. I killed someone, in cold blood.

I stood up and backed away, all pain forgotten and a wave of nausea flowing through me. I stumbled backwards before falling onto a park bench. I stared at the Fallen's prone form, looking at the growing pool of blood under his face. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, or tried to, at least. A spike of pain stopped me halfway, and I remembered that I was more injured than I had ever been in my life, with quite possibly a punctured lung and internal bleeding.

I looked myself over, trying to take note of any external injuries, but my attention was drawn to my wrists.

Thick black bands seemingly made of metal had appeared on my wrists. They were inscribed with symbols that I didn't understand, glowing with a golden light. As I inspected these bands, a name popped into my mind seemingly on its own, and I couldn't help but smile.

"Pinnacle Form, huh?" I thought to myself, feeling my body shift as my Sacred Gear went to fixing what Dohnaseek broke. "Pretty badass name, if I do say so myself." The bracelets seemed to glow brighter at that, and I chuckled a bit before looking at the cooling corpse across from me. "Sorry, Dohnaseek." I said, still processing the fact that I just killed a man. "But at least I have superpowers now, I guess."

Internally I knew I was in shock again, but I just couldn't bring myself to care. My Sacred Gear would patch me up anyways.

"Well now, this is unexpected." A woman's voice said, and I turned to see Rias Gremory watching from afar. She looked at me, impressed. "It's not very common for a human to be able to defeat a Fallen One."

I laughed. I couldn't help it, the stress of the fight and the elation of my Sacred Gear materializing was too much, and I found myself laughing like a madman until I couldn't breathe. Rias looked slightly off-put, and I composed myself as best I could before responding.

"Hah...hah...hah... sorry, Miss Gremory." I said as politely as I could, not wanting to upset the very powerful Devil. "That was my first fight, still trying to process it, you know?"

Rias nodded before looking over my body, stopping at my wrists, seeing the Sacred Gear. "I suppose that explains it, then."

I looked at Rias, slightly confused. "You know what this is?"

Rias pursed her lips before walking towards me. "No," She said, a small smirk on her face. "But I may know someone who does. Would you mind coming with me, please?" A reddish-black glow appeared around her hands. "I need to ask you a few questions about recent events."

Despite the danger, I chuckled. "Well, I'm not exactly in a position to refuse." I motioned to my chest, where I realized a rib could be seen pressing against my shirt. "If you have a place for me to lay down, that would be greatly appreciated, Lady Gremory."

Rias smiled, though I could tell it wasn't entirely genuine, before a red magic circle appeared around the both of us. "Oh, not even afraid to owe something to a Devil?" She asked amusedly. "I can't tell if that's bravado or stupidity."

"Well," I said, "I think I have a few ways I could assist you and your peerage. Plus, I need to apologize to your pawn for not being able to help him last night."

Rias had an 'a-ha' look on her face before responding. "So it was you back then. I suspected as much, but it's always nice to get a confirmation."

I nodded, starting to feel the exhaustion of the night catch up to me. "Also, I hate to spring this on you, but I'm probably about to pass out, so I'm just going to ask that you don't reincarnate me in my sleep. We can talk about how I can help you and yours out in the morning. Does that sound good to you?"

Rias laughed a very beautiful laugh, as if she found my informality amusing. "Yes, that sounds just fine, Mr..."

"It's Kai, Lady Gremory" I said, before I closed my eyes for the last time that night. "Kai Malek."

The magic circle activated, and as Rias used her magic to dispose of the Fallen's corpse, both Kai and her were whisked away in a flash of crimson light.


It's been a little while, and I feel like I must apologize again. I got distracted with a bunch of things, and then boom, two weeks pass. But, again, here is the chapter, and my biggest one at that. We'll hit 10k words in a chapter eventually, i'm sure of it.

I hope you enjoyed the fight scene, I decided that this is gonna be a slightly darker DxD, as you could see.

Also, Sacred Gear reveal! What it does and can do will be discovered over time, and I'm hoping it will be unique enough to stand out, or at least the application of it will. You've kind of already seen what Kai does with that power, so that should give a slight idea of how he's going to fight, at least initially.

He is also finally gonna meet the main cast. I have a pretty good idea for how the dynamic is going to work between the peerage and the OC, and I hope you lot enjoy it.

Anyways, I would write more but its like 3:30 in the morning and I need to be up at 8, so imma sleep now.

Be sure to review and all that good stuff, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll see you in the next one!

Dragon out!