The Grand Order - Solomon

Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD or Fate.

Note: This is an AU story, so don't expect things to be the same as in the anime or manga.

'Thinking'

"Talking"

"The Time of Crowning has Come; He is the One who Begins All."

…

Chapter 5

- Solomon PoV -

Staring down at my right hand as the golden rose cross of my Key lit up, I smiled with pride at the change in my status that reflected my many long hours of hard work and determination.

Solomon

Creation Magic Advanced - [7%]

With the initial jump between Beginner and Intermediate having happened in a short span of time, I hadn't really had the time to notice the difference in levels. But then I'd had to spend over a month as Intermediate before I finally moved up a rank, and I finally got the gist of just how slow my progress was until now, and just how different each rank was in terms of ability.

As soon as I'd gotten enough to rank up, I suddenly found myself able to make twice as many knives and swords as I could before, and they only used half the amount of magical power.

Which might not seem like much, in total it came out to around 10 blades at a time before I had to wait for my reserves to refill - which did so in roughly 5-10 minutes - before I could create another set. But over time those numbers quickly added up to a massive number of blades just lying around the grass next to my campsite. Before, that is, I realized that I could shape the entire pile into something else.

Which is when I decided to take my newly increased reserves and better control, and try my hand at making something larger than the figurine I'd made of Tiamat… or should I say, figurines.

Glancing over to a spot slightly away from my bedroll where a raised patch of earth had been changed into a pristine marble table, my eyes roamed over the dozen hand-sized figurines of Tiamat that were strewn across the tabletop. All of them displaying the dragoness in different poses, and nearly half of them involved her performing lewd acts to a non-existent partner.

The table was one of a dozen new pieces of furniture that I'd added to the campsite, including an actual bed and a few chests and dressers to store the clothes I'd finally figured out how to make.

It was nice not having to reuse the same old sets of uniforms from the Golden Dawn. It felt like I was leaving another piece of the old me behind, and taking my next steps towards being someone different.

I decided, with helpful suggestions from Tiamat, to change my style into something that seemed more Magician. Replacing the aged and worn button-up shirt and pants for a flowing black robe with red and white accents that felt wonderful on my skin and matched the weather conditions of this dimension perfectly.

Outside of testing my limits on how many things I can create by making dozens of copies of my new clothing, I'd attempted to make my largest creation yet - which was the bed, and had found that it taxed my magical reserves something fierce.

Leading to yet another scolding from Tiamat about not pushing myself too far, or risk permanently injuring myself.

And it was very much worth it… I'd grown tired of sleeping on the dirt, and an actual bed did wonders for my back.

"Are you sure that you're ready for this?" Tiamat asked one last time. "There is no shame in waiting a little while longer before doing this."

"No." I shook my head. "If I don't do this now, I don't think I ever will. And I haven't come all this way just to turn tail at the last minute."

Feeling adequately psyched up, I held my right hand out as if to open a door.

"Ars Paulina."

A wave of Creation Magic cascaded out of my hand and mixed in with the ground in front of me. Moments later, stones rose from the ground and molded together until an archway was formed. In the center of it, a swirling pool of golden energy coalesced before turning translucent as the image of a quiet city street appeared on the other side.

Taking a deep breath, I spared a last glance back over my shoulder at the dimension I'd been living in for almost two months before squaring my shoulders. "Here goes nothing."

Stepping into the portal, I knew that this wouldn't be the last time that I'd return here.

The limitless potential of what I could do in a dimension all my own is too grand a concept not to return, and that was before taking into account the fact that I was likely to grow sick of people within the first few hours of returning to my old world.

But I had to go back.

Not out of any small notions of sentimentality, or a desire to return to my old stomping grounds at the Golden Dawn. But to attain the necessary things Tiamat needed in order for her plan to set her free to work.

… …

- Flashback -

- Tiamat PoV -

Watching as Solomon toiled away with his Key, the Matriarch of the Dragon Race felt hope for the first time in a long time that the future might actually turn out for the better.

That after all her eons of suffering the pain and loss of watching her children grow up, leave her, and inevitably die at the hands of their siblings or the others races; there might finally come a chance for her to get her own happy ending.

Hadn't she deserved it after all she'd done for her children?

She'd sacrificed countless times in order to keep her children happy…wasn't it time for someone else to want to make her happy for once?

'Solomon… you have no idea of just how grateful I am for you.' She thought with smile, the only real control she had over herself with the rest of her body chained. 'To swear yourself to the task of setting me free… not knowing who I am, or what I've done… A blind trust that many would hesitate to give, but you gave it all the same.'

She admired his dedication, but she doubted that the boy knew just how great a task he'd set himself to.

The chains that bound her were part of a seal so powerful that no soul weaker than a god's could even hope to undo it. And she sincerely doubted that any gods would be coming to her aid. They already disliked the Dragon race for its uncontested dominance above all other races, and they would more likely kill Solomon to keep her contained rather than to actually offer their assistance.

Which meant that without their assistance, Solomon would face an uphill battle trying to find out a way to undo the seals without their power.

'Souls… perhaps that is the answer?' She mused to herself.

It was possible… the power of a soul was an untapped source of energy that only one other person had used before. And Yahweh had created an entire afterlife and system in heaven based off its power, effectively using the souls of his dead faithful to keep his creation going even after his demise.

The energy of souls could be the key to setting her free… but they would need to gather many of them to have a chance at making it work. "Solomon, my dear… "

Watching through his eyes as he stopped practicing with creating his new chains, his voice resonated through the blank void that had become her home. "Yeah, Tia?"

There it was.

That term of endearment he had given her after she had decided to push their budding relationship forward by referring to him as something more than just his name. She had been momentarily worried that it would have been too soon to start using such affectionate names, but the overwhelmingly positive response he gave proved that it was the right choice.

"I believe I know how you can go about freeing me." Just saying the words out loud sent a tingle through her body. Free.

Oh, what she'd give to have a taste of freedom again.

Solomon's entire body froze at her statement, even the chain he was manipulating ceased all movement as it stilled in midair. It was actually quite amusing to see him trying to recover from his shock as he stumbled through his words. "Y-You did? How-…wha-um, that's great!"

"Indeed…" She smiled, but it quickly withered at the thought of what she would have to ask him to do. "But it requires taking on a burden that I would not normally ask to put on you… One that I am not sure you are ready for."

It wasn't his resolve that she was questioning, but the fragility of his mind inherit to all young children who have yet to experience the truth of the world. And what her plan required was that the boy she was quickly growing fond of would have to face such truths head on.

Sure, the groundwork had already been laid for her with Solomon having already taken his first kill by way of the animals in his dimension… but there was a big difference between taking the life of an animal, and the live of a living person.

Despite the worries in her mind, Solomon felt none of them as he seemed to straighten himself up, determination bleeding through their connection as he replied resolutely. "I said that I would set you free, Tia… and I meant it. No matter what it takes, or whatever sacrifices I have to make… I am going to free you from that seal."

"…so be it, my dear Solomon." She whispered huskily. The feelings coming through their connection were affecting her greatly, and it caused a familiar warmth to settle in her heart as she felt her nipples harden with desire. "Then we will need to journey back to our old dimension if you are to see it through."

- Flashback End -

- Kuoh -

- Solomon PoV -

Stepping through the portal and out onto the calm night streets of a rather quiet town, I glanced around at the new location I'd ended up in with a curious look as I tried to figure out just where it was that the spell had transported me too.

'At least I didn't end up back in the Golden Dawn.' I thought with a relieved sigh, keeping my conversation with Tiamat internal so as to not look crazy now that I was in public again.

It didn't take long to notice the rather unique roof style of the buildings near me that were different from what I was used to in England; so I could at least safely say we were no longer in the UK, or any of the neighboring countries. And certainly not any of the Americas.

'Well…wherever this is, it's an incredibly quiet town considering the rather empty streets and lack of cars going by.'

Stepping out of the alley that I'd portaled into, I got my first clue as to where I was by the illuminated signs hanging over the windows of nearby shops. The words themselves were written in an entirely different language to what I knew; but while I couldn't make heads or tails of what they said, I knew exactly what language it was. 'So, we've landed somewhere in Japan?'

"Indeed." Tiamat hummed. "A rather long distance from where the first portal was created… we'll have to be careful about where the portals will open up to in the future. Who knows where it might take us next time?"

Nodding in agreement, I began walking down the streets towards what looked to be the center of the town as I glanced around while feeling out with my magic for anything abnormal.

And almost immediately got back a worrying sensation. 'You feel it too, right?'

"Yes…" She agreed, her connection to my soul allowing her to feel exactly what my magical senses were telling me. "Devils. And quite a few of them… Strange, for so many to be present within such a small town… Perhaps this is one of their territories?"

That wasn't good.

Devils were notorious for being extremely territorial; and many of the locations they'd claimed as theirs outside of the Underworld were usually kept under heavy observation.

A rather necessary precaution considering how little land they actually could defend with the growing presence of the Heaven Faction.

While Angels themselves were very rarely seen outside of the more heavily defended Church territories - like the Vatican; the Church itself, and its many delegations and denominations, had enough Exorcists, Nuns, and Priests to maintain their ever-expanding territories without threat of being taken by the other Biblical Factions.

In most cases, it was less of a battle between Heaven and the Underworld, and more of a proxy war by the Church and the Devil Peerages; with only a few instances of the Angels and Fallen getting involved. And the Fallen typically on made their presence known when a Sacred Gear was detected in the area.

Feeling rather unsure about staying in this town for longer than necessary, I tried to stay focused on why I was here in the first place. 'So… what's the plan?'

I knew the gist of what needed to be done, but I hadn't exactly put much thought into the smaller details after hearing that there might have been a way to start the process of freeing her.

Something Tiamat knew, if the amused but exasperated tone she gave meant anything. "The plan requires the use of souls - very many souls, in fact - to act as necessary catalyst to combat the seal's power. That way, we can focus on the more difficult work on undoing these chains… one link at a time."

One link at a time? That… sucks.

"A rather time-consuming effort, I know…" She sighed. "But it will take quite a while for us to acquire the number of souls we'll need alone, and any misstep could cause a potentially dangerous backlash if we're not careful."

Makes sense. 'But how are we going to collect the souls we need? I don't know of any Grim Reapers we could trade with, and the Greek and Norse Pantheons guard their followers' souls zealously. Heaven even more so.'

I felt a rather dark sense of foreboding as Tiamat didn't reply for several seconds, a sudden feeling of regret and discomfort fed through our link from her as she seemed to gather herself before responding.

"You will need to gather the souls in the only way available to us, my dear Solomon…" Tiamat stated bluntly, revealing her idea as quickly as one would rip off a band-aid. "By taking them from the living."

…Oh.

… …

- Later -

It was with a rather numb feeling in my chest that I walked through the streets of an unknown Japanese town, searching with both my eyes and magic for what we needed.

"Regular Human souls are not powerful enough for what we need," Tiamat had said soon after revealing her plan. Trying to be as supportive of my current emotional struggle as possible while making sure we get what we needed. "Luckily, Fate itself seems to be with us… as we have found ourselves somewhere with souls that are powerful enough. Devils, Angels, Fallen… even Magicians and Sacred Gear wielders will serve as adequate alternatives."

Considering this was Devil territory, I doubted that any Angels or Fallen would be lingering around in this town; and if they were, it was as a scouting party for an eventual war over control of the territory. Which left Magicians, Sacred Gear wields, or Devils.

"The Devils seem to be grouped together in two separate parts of the town." She continued. "One has a larger number than the other; so if you feel confident enough to take one of them on, I'd recommend the smaller group… but that comes with the risk of drawing unwanted attention to us - especially if one were to survive and inform the others."

Frowning, I had to eventually decline that option after thinking about it for a moment.

'Neither of them sound like a good option. I don't have enough experience yet to feel comfortable taking on multiple opponents.' That is to say, I've had no experience at all. The only time I had ever fought was basic combat classes taught at the Golden Dawn, and that was in very controlled environments. 'And I don't sense any other Magicians.'

So… either I had to find a Sacred Gear wield - that wasn't under observation by the Devils - or a lone Devil separated from the others.

Continuing to walk around the main center of the town, I eventually sensed a few presences who fit that specifically. 'Two Sacred Gear Wielders… and what I think is a Stray Devil.'

Tiamat seemed to mull over our options before eventually stating. "Any of them will do... We need only pick one, and see if my idea has any lasting merit before trying to go after more."

In other words, I had to make this decision on my own.

This felt like another one of Tiamat's little tests that she did from time to time. Watching how I'd respond to see if I'd make the choice to move away from what the boy I used to be would have gone with, and make the tough decisions necessary to become the man I wanted to be seen as.

…Great.

Between my choices, the Stray Devil seemed like the hardest choice of the three.

If there were two Sacred Gear wielders that weren't already taken into a Devil's Peerage, then that meant they had yet to awaken its power fully, and were probably even unaware of the supernatural world altogether.

Easy targets, in essence.

'A lot easier than a Stray Devil; that's for sure.'

Stray Devils only became Strays after killing their King and fleeing the Underworld. Which meant they had to be strong enough to kill a Devil worthy of ruling a Peerage, and then have the skills necessary to evade any pursuers and escape the Underworld's security into the Human world.

For one of them to hide within another Devil's territory like this, meant that they were either too weak for the Devils to waste time on them… or they were strong enough to make the Devil Peerages think twice before attacking.

'Let's go for the Stray.' I finally decided. If I want to be better, then I need to take some risk.

Nothing unnecessary, obviously. But in instances like this I need to prove my conviction… both to Tiamat, and to myself.

Also… I felt less uncomfortable with killing a Devil who had already killed someone, than a Human who was probably living an ordinary life and had no idea of what they contained inside of them.

Within my soul, even without saying anything in response, I knew that Tiamat was pleased with my decision.

- Warehouse -

- Viser PoV -

Licking a trail of blood that was dripping down her clawed fingers, the Stray Devil Viser smiled cruelly at the sound of her latest meal's agonized screams.

The young, voluptuous woman with long black hair lifted one of her mutated lower limbs that resembled a beast's hands - connected at her pelvis region like some type of centaur - and slammed it down brutally on the poor victim's head.

The way the blood splattered underneath her limb seemed to please her greatly. Her terrible smile frightfully chilling as she raised the dead carcass with that same limb. Bringing it closer to her lower body as a mouth-like cavity opened up, she dropped the bloody corpse inside without hesitation.

"Mmm, they always taste delicious when they die screaming." She moaned in pleasure, reaching one of her normal hands up to grope her naked chest as the mouth-like cavity nosily chewed the body. "Such a rare delicacy… and to get one so young, too!"

The foolish other Devils in this town had no idea what they were missing out on by letting all of those young students to go about their days freely; ignoring the exquisite buffet that was set out before them.

So young, so weak, and so easy to lead astray…especially if they were a boy.

All it took was to show one of them her tits, and they'd follow her willing off a cliff if she asked them. Her favorite was leading them into an abandoned warehouse, with the promise of letting them get inside her, worked every time.

Cackling, she squeezed an erect nipple as a spray of liquid shot out from her groping. The moment the liquid made contact with the concrete floors, it began sizzling and burning through the floor like acid. "They should feel privileged to be my meal! As if they would have had any other chance of getting access to this beautiful body of mine!"

In the midst of her demented rambling, there was no warning before a thin golden chain pierced through her chest. The pointed tip rapidly moving straight to her heart as it bypassed blood, skin, and bone with ease.

"AAAAAAAAH!" She screamed like a banshee, wailing in agony as the chain was soon followed by another that shot from a little to the left of the other. It's pointed tip piercing one of her mutated front limbs and sending a shower of blood spraying onto the ground to mix in with her former victim's own. "WHO DARES ATTACK VISER?"

Not able to see where the chains were coming from in the darkness of the late night, she was barely able to make out the sound of chain's clinking in movement as another chain shot out from behind her - having curved around the side in order to come down from the ceiling and try to pierce her lower back leg.

Attempting to dodge out of the way, Viser struggled against the chains that already pierced her body as they tried to hold her in place. And with strength born of the Rook piece which had turned her into a Devil all those years ago, she was able to shatter the chain that held her front limb and dodged the next chain by a mere foot.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!"

… …

- Solomon PoV -

Cursing as the Stray was able to shatter one of my chains so easily, I sent another one to curve around the opposite side of her body, hoping to distract her - because there was no way someone with an upper body like that was anything other than a woman - long enough to get everything ready.

Viser dodged each chain I sent at her by the barest of margins, with only a few coming close enough to leave long cuts on her otherwise pale skin as she screamed and howled in rage. The sight of her porcelain skin being damaged drove her into a frenzy.

"I WILL KILL YOU FOR THIS, WORM!"

Yeesh, she's got a set of lungs on her.

… And a pair of tits too. Those things were jiggling and bouncing hypnotically with her every movement, and it was rather difficult not to stare when she let them be free like that.

"Ars Enkidu." I cast the name I'd come up with for my Creation Magic's chain spell, sending another chain flying in a different direction as it swerved to attack her from the side.

Like the others before it, the chain wasn't able to hit her. But it kept her distracted from what the chain that had pierced her chest was doing, and that was all that mattered.

I'd almost missed that first one when I saw her grope herself lewdly, and was rather embarrassed to feel my lower body reacting to the sight of her erect pink nipples as they sprayed some type of liquid. Realizing that I might have just discovered a possible fetish that I didn't know I'd had.

"Had it not been for those figurines of me that you've been pleasuring yourself too, I imagine that this Viser's body would have been distraction enough to have made you miss…"

Tiamat, always happy to tease me when it comes to something lewd, took great pleasure in reminding me that it was her body that I used when I needed stress relief. "After this is over, we will need to work on satisfying your lusts better if you are to ever face another attractive woman again. It would be embarrassing for you to have come so far, only to be defeated by a pair of lactating breasts."

Okay…that was fair. A little hurtful, but fair.

But come on! It was one thing to relieve stress by staring at some lewd figurines of Tiamat's body, and another thing entirely to see a naked woman lewdly groping herself in real life!

"…You really are a hormonal boy, aren't you my dear?"

Speaking of lactating breasts. Viser was slowly losing her strength as the blood loss from the rapidly accumulating number of wounds I was giving her began to take its toll, and had resorted to spraying that liquid acid stuff from her breasts all over the warehouse.

Apparently, she'd given up on trying to find me as I hid out of sight, and had taken to attacking everything around her in the hopes of getting a lucky shot off.

Unfortunately for her, I'd created a small hole in the ground to hide in using my Creation Magic while sending my chains out in multiple directions to make it seem like I was attacking her from different locations. 'It feels a little cheating to be fighting her this way, but I doubt I'd last in a straight up fight against her with how muscular that lower body looks.'

I'd heard that Devils who went Stray underwent dramatic physical changes as a result of the Evil Piece inside them, but to think it had mutated her body enough to become some type of hybrid-centaur-abomination was unbelievable.

"There is no such thing as 'cheating' when it comes to fighting for your life." Tiamat rebuked my statement swiftly, refusing to let that idea exist in my thoughts. "There is only survival, and doing whatever is necessary to ensure it… I must ask that you cast aside any foolish notions of fighting 'honorably' and 'respectfully', my dear Solomon."

She scoffed as she said it, like the very thought of honor or respect in battle was a ridiculous notion.

Which…considering Dragons had a completely different set of beliefs and opinions on things, was entirely possible. "The true outcome of who wins a fight and who dies, comes down to which opponent was willing to do more than the other was in order to survive."

'Got it.' I nodded, because I really didn't have the energy to fight her on this while my magical reserves were being stressed to their limits with all of the chains I was making. 'No playing fair in a fight to the death.'

That, at least, appeased the dragoness for now - as the indignation I felt through our connection slowly faded away.

In the meantime, I continued sending chain after chain to attack Viser from every angle as she slowly grew more tired. Until eventually she was too slow to dodge, and one of my chains finally landed another solid blow to her lower limbs. The metal piercing through her flesh in an instant before wrapping taut around her limb.

"AAAAGH!" She screeched, her face slowly morphing from that of a beautiful young woman into some type of demented monster's. Her formerly human teeth shot out in a grotesque spray of blood to make way for massive, piranha-like fangs. "DAMN YOU TO THE DEEPEST LEVELS OF HELL, SCUM!"

…rude.

But no matter, I had distracted her long enough. Time to put the second part of the plan into action.

Focusing on the chain that was still piercing her chest, I felt through my creation as it finally burrowed deep enough to make contact with her soul. 'Ew…Gross!'

The foul, corrupted soul of the Stray was every bit as vile as she looked. And I was glad in that moment that I'd chosen her instead of some unsuspecting human.

As I commanded the chain to pierce through her soul, the rings of Telos Karma appeared on each of my fingers as Tiamat helped to change the likelihood of success for what we were attempting to do. Once again making the impossible a reality as we worked in sync to absorb Viser's soul into the Key; storing it away for use later.

"W-What?" The Stray cried out in horror as her flesh began to disintegrate. Her body spasming as the chain buried in her chest glowed with golden light.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!" She demanded.

But it was already too late.

As her soul was drained from her body, there was nothing left to sustain her flesh… so it began to break down, bit by bit. Until what remained of the Stray Devil Viser was nothing more than a puddle of her and her last victim's blood. And a single Rook's chess piece.

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief as my body sagged in exhaustion, I crawled out of the hole I'd made for myself before patting off the dirt that had gathered on my robe.

There was very little time to celebrate my first ever victory in a life-and-death fight, however; as moments later I felt several dozen signatures begin racing towards the warehouse.

"The Devils have finally sensed us, and are on the move." Tiamat's voice spoke in a hurried tone. "We cannot linger here any longer. You must hurry… create a portal back to our dimension; it's the only place we will be safe."

Giving a tired nod, I called on the last of my taxed reserves as my body screamed in protest. "Ars Paulina!"

Feeling the Devils rapidly approaching, I tiredly dragged my body through the golden portal mere moments before they arrived. The last thing I saw as I made my way to safety, was a flash of long crimson hair before the portal closed and my body fainted from magical exhaustion.

- Same Time -

- Rias Gremory PoV -

Slowly descending from the sky on a pair of black bat-like wings that sprouted from her back, the crimson-haired Devil with a breathtakingly gorgeous body looked around at the utter destruction done to the abandoned warehouse with a narrowed gaze.

In the dim light of the moon, she could barely make out the dozens of acid burns and puddles of blood that littered the ground. And a single cracked Rook's piece in the center of all the destruction.

"Whoever did this is long gone." Her friend and fellow King, Sona Sitri, stated after a moment of looking over the wreckage. Her sharp eyes darted behind her glasses as she took in everything, feeling out with her magical senses just as Rias had to search for the other signature they'd felt before they arrived.

"And they seemed to have taken care of the Stray Devil, Viser, for us." Rias mused with an odd inflection in her tone. Confused as to why anyone would go out of their way to kill a single Stray and then flee so suddenly.

Maybe it was the loved one of one of Viser's many victims?

No matter what the case may be, whoever had done it had invaded their territory without permission. And had done so without setting off any of their magical wards that should have detected their arrival. An impossibility - or at least it should be - with the number of wards the Satans had commissioned to be placed over the town.

"Akeno," She called out to her Queen after a long moment.

Hearing her, an equally gorgeous teen girl - with a body that rivaled her own - turned away from staring at the destroyed warehouse to bow obediently. "Yes, my King?"

"Warn Kiba and Koneko…" As much as Rias hated worrying her younger Peerage, such an unauthorized intrusion by an unknown individual was tantamount to an act of aggression… and that could lead to problems for everyone if it wasn't handled carefully. "Tell them to keep their eyes open for any unusual activity, and report anything suspicious back to me immediately."

While her Queen would usually make a sadistic remark about the Stray's demise, Akeno knew this was a time to be serious. "As you wish."

"I'll send word to several of our contractors, as well." Sona added, drawing her attention away from Akeno as her Queen teleported away. "Perhaps one of them saw something that could shed some light on what happened here."

Thinking it over in her head, Rias eventually agreed with her fellow King.

It was a shot in the dark, at best; but with nothing else to go on they needed all they could get. Whoever, or whatever, it was that had killed Viser left residual magic behind that was unlike anything she'd ever seen before. It was neither Holy Light, nor Demonic Power, nor any sort of magic that was used by Magicians.

'A Sacred Gear, maybe?' She pondered. It wouldn't be the first time that a Sacred Gear had displayed unusual powers; the Sub-Species category for them had been created for that very reason. 'But which one is the question?'

She would have to call in some favors if she wanted to find out. But considering how many she'd already called in trying to get her engagement broken off, Rias wasn't very hopeful about that idea.

"As if I didn't have enough to worry about." She huffed, drawing a look of condolence from Sona as they turned to leave.

First her engagement gets pushed up, then she had to deal with trying to figure out what Sacred Gear it was that Issei Hyoudou had… and now this?!

Life was really unfair sometimes.

- Solomon's Dimension -

- Solomon PoV -

After having passed out from magical exhaustion the moment that I'd crossed over safely into my dimension, it was several hours before I finally woke up with my face in the dirt.

For having survived my first trip into a Devil-controlled territory, and my first ever life-or-death fight… that wasn't as bad as I'd expected.

'Well… at least it worked.' I thought, glancing at the Key as it glowed with the power of Viser's soul. 'Right?'

"Indeed…" Tiamat replied happily. "Congratulations, my dear. You've taken an important step forward today, and I am very proud of you for it."

Hearing her say that made my heart warm in my chest, and I felt rather good about myself despite having had to kill someone in order to make it happen. The shock of what I done hadn't fully settled in yet, but its blow would later be lessened by the thought of not only having gotten a step closer to freeing Tiamat, but also that I'd removed such a monstrous being from the world.

The memory of the corpse being chewed within that lower-mouth-thing sent a shiver of disgust through my body.

Shakily getting up as I shoved that memory away, I struggled to drag my exhausted body over to my campsite before I threw myself down onto my bed. Sighing blissfully as the soft animal hides that covered its surface helped to reduce the aching in my body.

Peeling off the sweaty and dirt-stained robe that I still had on, I groaned as soon as the cool breeze of the early morning brushed across my skin. The sun was barely rising in the distance, and already I could hear several of the birds begin to chirp over the soothing sounds of the nearby stream as they flew in the distance.

Absently pulling the hides up over me as I allowed myself to drift off back to sleep, this time without my face being planted embarrassingly in the dirt, I sighed happily at the feeling of warmth and safety washed over me. 'Oooooh, that's nice.'

"Sleep well, my dear Solomon." Tiamat's voice whispered soothingly. "You've earned it."

… …

- Solomon's Soul -

- Tiamat PoV -

Trapped within the blank void that was her home and prison, the bound form of Tiamat stared in fascination at a small ball of wispy energy that floated in front of her. Her unusual x-shaped pupils watched it for several long moments with a calculating look as she thought over how to best go about the next stage in her plan.

"My thanks to you, Stray Devil Viser…" She muttered with heartfelt gratitude. "Your soul - tainted as it may be - shall be the catalyst to bring about my freedom."

Closing her eyes, Tiamat used what little power she had control of - thanks to Telos Karma - and manipulated the soul to float closer to her. As it did, she directed it down to the chains that bound her while its form began to unravel; becoming thin streams of energy that fed into one of the dozens of chain-links that restrained her limbs.

The process took mere moments, and it ended as quickly as it began, leaving behind no noticeable difference to the chains that bound her.

But, opening her eyes as soon as it was complete, she saw that there actually had been some change. After all, she'd stared at them long enough to know even the slightest difference - no matter how small.

One of the links that bound her right arm was no longer the same pristine golden metal as the rest, but now looked to have rusted slightly. A rather small change that would have been insignificant to most, but to the dragoness… it was life-changing.

Already, she could feel more of her power returning with just this slight change to the seal alone; like she'd finally gotten her first breath of fresh air after being trapped underground for so long.

"It worked…" Tiamat smiled as a small bit of wetness gathered in her eyes. "After all this time… the possibility of freedom is no longer a dream, but a reality…"

Closing her eyes again as a tear ran down her cheek, she whispered lovingly to the sleeping boy that had helped give her this chance. "Thank you…my dear, beloved, Solomon. You have no idea how much this small act of yours has meant to me… To have spent so long trapped in darkness, asleep - but aware - for the countless eons that passed me by as the rest of the world moved on… It was a tortured existence; one that I wouldn't have wished upon even my most hated enemies."

"But I will find a way to thank you…" She smiled. And this time it was a lustful, almost sinister smile that promised a great many things.

Things that she knew would cause her dear Solomon to blush in embarrassment, but would also bring him unfathomable ecstasy. "And when I do… you will feel pleasures this world has never seen before."

As she spoke, an idea came to mind as she remembered the figurines that he'd been working on. "Perhaps… it might even be soon than either of us thought." Her body trembled with barely suppressed desire as she began making her plan.

Her dear, sweet Solomon had suffered long enough in the wake of that little girl's betrayal… It was time for a woman to make things right.

- END -

Author's Notes:

And that's Chapter 5!

Obviously, Solomon wasn't in the DxD dimension for long before he'd returned to his own. But that's going to be the basis for how the rest of this story is going to continue; with him making brief trips back to it in order to get what he needs before returning to his own dimension as the story mainly progresses there.

Also, there's finally going to the very first lime of this story in the next chapter. So it you don't like reading lemons or limes, I recommend stopping here because they'll become a common occurrence in the story from this point on.

Hope you all are still liking it so far! Thanks for checking out my story!