A Dragon's Tale

by Blackshadow999

All have heard the story of the Great War between the Biblical Factions. However, what you all have been told is wrong, there was far more to it what happened. This is the truth from a side that is often dismissed.

4. Setting Terms

A/n

Okay, this is one of the chapters that if you have issues with violence or the description thereof, sorry that kind of stuff is in this chapter. For the rest of you, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 4: Familiars

Days went by after the incident and following cleanup with the fallen angels and things had gone back to routine for the most part. Rias was still miffed with the aftermath of the fallen angel situation Chris had handed her to clean up as it had been a lot of work. The humans were none the wiser about what happened which Sona had helped make sure that was the case. So, Rias now owed her a favor which she didn't like but she couldn't change that point. Rias had told Sona about the debacle with the fallen and how Maxwell had stepped in and resolved it himself. And when Sona had listened to Rias, she was more worried about Maxwell and what he could do.

Sona had been right about him, though she wasn't comforted or happy that she was right. Honestly, Sona had wished that she'd been wrong about Maxwell, but he was dangerous and she wouldn't argue that fact. That was not to say that observations hadn't gotten anything about the individual, they did have some information. As a dragon, he was clearly powerful, but he didn't flaunt or display his power much if at all. Maxwell seemed to more go with using fear and intimidation for his work which Sona would admit was effective. However, as far as Sona knew, Dragons tended to have at least one element or special power that was unique to themselves. At least, that was what her older sister Serafall said Tannin mentioned the fact to her some time ago. And then Maxwell had said nothing to any of them in the school since that event. In fact, he avoided them more than he had been before now, seeming to disappear during breaks between classes and then once school ended. Sona had to admit that Maxwell's capability to vanish was quite something regardless of how the guy did it, it was undetectable.

They needed more information, and approaching the dragon wasn't working at this time and Sona told Rias that. Rias didn't vocally admit defeat, but she had gotten in touch with her brother Sirzechs during the passing days. However, when she had reached out, she was informed that Zechs was busy with his duties so couldn't speak with her directly. Instead, she had talked to Grayfia and that wasn't going as Rias would have liked either. Zechs had told her to stay away and not to bother Maxwell before, and Grayfia repeated that. It frustrated her as they clearly knew of the guy but just hadn't given much if any detail about him or as to why they said to leave him alone. However, with the incident with the fallen, Rias felt that she needed more information about Maxwell. If he could take on and beat four Fallen with the results she had seen, then there was a danger that needed to be addressed in some way. Her brother seemed the best source she knew of right now and even if it was kind of admittance of needing help, Rias couldn't think of anything else she could do. "Grayfia, the question is a simple one, do you know Christopher Maxwell or not?"

With Zechs busy with his duties, specifically working on the growing mound of paperwork that had been waiting for him, Grayfia took the call from Lady Rias. Zechs had mentioned that she had inquired about Christopher Maxwell, and he had told her to say away from him. Yet apparently, Lady Rias had not taken the hint and was still ignorant of the danger she was potentially faced. That caused Grayfia to sigh at the question, "Lady Rias, as you were told by Sirzechs already, it is in your best interest to not involve yourself with Mr. Maxwell," Grayfia stated clearly. "Sirzechs and I do know Mr. Maxwell, but that isn't a subject that you should be concerned with nor need any details upon. So, your question as to Christopher Maxwell has been answered enough and needs no further discussion."

Grayfia wasn't answering Rias's question as she wanted, instead, she was evading it even if "nicely". It annoyed her more than usual as Chris had been doing the same thing since the beginning and it had gotten to irk her quite quickly. And if things weren't what they were, Rias would begrudgingly admit that Grayfia's mannerisms were as effective as ever. Yet, from the things Rias had seen in the last few weeks, she wouldn't take that as an answer so easily. She needed to know what she could about the dragon and prepare accordingly.

Rias's efforts were still going towards her chance at getting out of the engagement she was in with Riser Phenex. The guy was getting more than just insistent on proceeding with the marriage. He'd even gotten his family to push the date forward to before she graduated from high school as was the original agreement. And as things stand right now, it would likely come down to a rating game against him. While Rias found Riser a disgusting individual, she couldn't deny his records in rating games had much more wins than losses. However, Rias believed it was due to two reasons that Riser won as much as he did. It was because of his regeneration ability and the magical prowess of his queen. The power of a dragon should have a high chance of countering both of the difficulties.

Nonetheless, while that event was looming, it had been shoved to the back burner with what had happened with the fallen. It wasn't surprising that Maxwell had handled them, it was that he'd stepped in and how he had dealt with the Fallen that were beyond unsettling. Dragons were powerful, but it hadn't been through his power Maxwell had done the task, but seemingly through fear and intimidation. One thing that Rias had been discovering, Maxwell didn't "show off" as several in the non-human world. It was yet another hint that Maxwell was very powerful but no sign as to how powerful the dragon was. But Rias begrudgingly admitted that she didn't know enough nor had anything of value to convince Maxwell to help her in her issues. And she didn't want to be in the bad views and graces of a dragon on top of dealing with Riser Phenex.

Thus, why she had reached out to her brother as much as she didn't like doing so, she needed more information about Maxwell. Rias needed the lines with Maxwell defined better than they were which were currently just implied. Crossing said lines had already come with consequences that had been harsh. And Rias was now more concerned with the wrath of the dragon than the results of defying another devil pillar. "No, all you have said is it would be best for me to leave him alone and you keep repeating that. Neither you nor my brother has said any reason as to why you are so insistent upon not being involved, nor how you even know the dragon Maxwell," she returned.

Grayfia applauded that Lady Rias was persistent, it was admirable but in this a mistake that would cost. This subject was not one she should dabble in and Grayfia knew that "And again, I tell you that such is none of your concern Lady Rias," Grayfia replied firmly. Both Grayfia and Sirzechs understood Chris's situation as it was which he went to great lengths to not let others know about, but it had taken years of friendship to learn of it to a major extent.

It had come decades ago when they had met Chris while looking into a disappearance at the time. He had helped then before they had found out he was the Shadow Dragon and that he wasn't as stories said he was. Chris was slow to trust others and rightfully so with the history that he had which the vast majority saw incorrectly. The Shadow Dragon was known as the meanest dragon historically and Chris had earned that reputation even if he wasn't like that so much now. Honestly, both she and Zechs had been in shock when he had told them he was the Shadow Dragon, Zechs questioning if he had heard right. However, after talking with him, they had found most of the time he did horrible things to others, it was in order to defend one or more of those that he cared about. That was a fact that the stories about him almost never if ever mentioned as the stories were told by his attackers more often than not. Then a portion of his attackers had gotten close to Chris and then betrayed him and the trust they had earned for one reason or another. Then, most that learned of who Chris really was, they then feared him for what he used to do to those that were foolish enough to cross him and not take the chance to see how he truly was.

And though it was possible, Grayfia doubted Lady Rias would do anything to harm Chris's family were she to find out about them. Nonetheless, Chris didn't like those he didn't trust getting involved with his family period. His response was to scare or sometimes just kill those that tried if they got in his view too close. If one needed an example, those that she and Zechs had been looking for when they had met him were a testament of how far Chris would go to defend his family. He flipped the tables and hunted them down and had slaughtered all of the devils he could get to and truthfully, they had brought their ends for trying to hunt Chris and those close to him. In the end, Sirzechs had gotten things to go away, but by that time, the amount of dead had climbed rather high even if few in the Devil Faction knew that.

Grayfia's reply only irritated Rias for several reasons other than not answering her question. The main reason, Grayfia was not answering the question, she was waving it off. Rias was now more sure that Grayfia and her brother knew more than they were telling her. She just couldn't figure out what reasons they had to not tell her anything about the dragon. Rias was left to wonder how her brother could have even crossed paths with the dragon since they kept to themselves. And Maxwell had been infuriating in how he dodged questions and revealed nothing of himself. Rias no longer pushed much as Maxwell's show of power had made it clear consequences should she insist. However, she couldn't really determine how powerful Maxwell was or if as Sona suggested he had a special power.

At the same time, while Rias was attempting to get more information about Chris himself, he was having the least amount of contact with devils as possible. He'd had enough trouble from them to last a bit and wanted time away from them. Cleaning up another's mess was something that he didn't like doing, it was extremely irritating. And from the signs of it, the Gremory girl expected others to "handle" problems that she either created or got involved in. It fit the "spoiled princess" behavior that the she-devil flaunted the majority of the time and it was frustrating. Truthfully, Serafall, Zechs, and Azazel should be offering serious returns for him handling a potential fiasco before it blew up in their faces.

Instead of taking his complaints to those that would more likely address them, Chris decided to just have time away from the devils. He took extra steps to avoid them during the school day and would quickly slip away when school was done. Chris wouldn't doubt the devils didn't like the behavior but they had been prodding him insistently. It was getting hard to not resort to punishing them in his own ways as the backlash was beginning to sound less troublesome. But for Aria and his children, Chris would do his utmost to "play nice" and not do horrible things to them that could do permanent harm. For a dragon to do such was an immense show of tolerance and patience since the opposite was the expectation from the other factions.

While avoiding the devils more of Chris's friends and teammates arrived in Kouh for which he was very grateful. His intuition told him Gremory would try to pull something soon enough, the girl wasn't what most would call "patient". And the thought that something would involve Asia kept coming to the forefront of Chris's mind. The girl was innocent to the point of being extremely naïve and that was before one took into account her healing-type sacred gear. Asia was gullible or trusting, whichever way one wanted to state it and devils saw nothing wrong exploiting such. Chris didn't want Asia to be led on into the world of devils, more so after her near-miss in being dragged into it. Granted, Chris would admit there were some devils that were actually decent and weren't self-centered idiots, but there were far fewer of those types.

And Chris felt that his suspicions were not unfounded about Rias Gremory, the messes she was around and her behavior were all the proof that he needed. With Asia having more than just a passing interest in Hyoudou, she could be led away with that temptation. Asia didn't hide the point of her crush very well, but with her innocence, it wasn't much of a surprise. And it wasn't Hyoudou that Chris worried about as much as a pervert the kid was. Chris didn't think the kid had it in him to trick Asia knowingly and put her in danger. It made Chris seriously wonder how Zechs had become the kind of individual he was, it was difficult to figure.

As if Chris needed proof of his suspicions, it came days after Asia began going to Kouh academy. It was on her second day when she returned home and asked/begged to be "allowed" to become a part of Gremory's peerage. She didn't say exactly what Gremory had said to tempt her, but at the end that didn't matter to Chris. It wouldn't be shocking to him if it had been spun in a way that would imply that Asia would get more time around Issei. Gremory was unknowingly proving him right that she was a self-centered girl that was a little better than most of her selfish peers. Chris had questioned Asia a bit and found out that Gremory had as he suspected charmed the naïve girl. It was why he hesitated on giving his "blessing" to Asia for her to join the she-devil's peerage, he didn't agree with how they got what they wanted. However, in the end, it was Asia's choice and Chris would respect that freedom even when it could do her harm.

That didn't change the fact that Chris would do what he could for Asia, she was family now after all. Such didn't mean that he would give in to the devils or let them have their way with him or his family. Chris had considered the chance that Rias would use Asia to get closer to him and then get him to "solve" the crap she was faced with. It was the mentality that Chris despised, use another to avoid dealing with an issue yourself. The idea made him feel like another was treating him as some sort of attack dog they could set loose on another. The very thought was sickening and brought dark thoughts about how God's gear was in a fashion were exactly that. And there within lied the difference between Chris and other factions, he didn't control or manipulate others for his benefit.

So, Chris didn't refuse Asia's request to "join" the Occult Research Club which was Gremory's peerage. He would still keep a close eye on her in some way even if it was through others' eyes rather than his own. Asia had the real makings of a dragon tamer who could work with dragons in ways others had extreme trouble with or couldn't do at all. Dragon tamers were the best partners and/or riders dragons could ever hope or ask for. And potential dragon tamers were becoming rarer with each passing century which the dragon race as a whole didn't like to admit. It was one of the many reasons that Chris would watch over Asia even with her becoming a devil.

On the current Saturday, Chris was sitting in his living room chewing on a chocolate chip cookie. He cursed his sweet tooth at times, but he had gotten it from his mother who had a bigger sweet tooth than him. Sweets were just a temptation he had a hard time refusing for Chris and that his kids were the same in that didn't help, so it was an ongoing addiction he dealt with. However, it also had a bit of a calming effect on him and helped him not resort to old habits to resolve ongoing problems he faced. Sadly, Chris had found himself consuming more sugar in the last month than he had in the last six before. It was due to the devils around and their behavior and he had to admit it was slowly getting worse.

At the same time that Chris was meeting with one of his teammates, his kids were outside playing. Phina was with them keeping an eye on all three of them as well as watching for any that may try intruding. It was still a possibility that the devils or others could try and get to his family even with the steps taken to prevent that. Then as it was the weekend, Asia was around the house and so playing with the kids. Chris had made sure the message that Asia was to be left alone on the weekend had gotten to Gremory. He felt it would be better for Asia to have time away from the devils even if she didn't understand why.

Chris was sitting on the sofa in the living room facing the said teammate that had arrived less than an hour ago. Across from one of the recliners was a young woman of Asian descent with a fairly voluptuous figure, including fair skin and amber eyes. The woman had mid-back length hair that was close to a hunter-green shade, which was tied into a ponytail currently that went down her back. Her name was Lynn Nana, and she was one of those that Chris had saved while he had been traveling around the world. Her attire consisted of a plain short-sleeve neutral blue dress, along with leather shorts, and brown high-heel boots. She also had fingerless black gloves and earrings which complimented her overall appearance. Around her waist was a red wrap with a green rope belt that looked to synch her waist well.

Lynn respected Chris as he had found her when she was six years old and in dire straits. She had been captured by some associated with one of the Churches that worshiped angels and heaven back at the time. They had been brutally experimenting on her wanting to copy and utilize her psychic gifts with others. Lynn still had nightmares of those days as she had been mentally scarred by the experiments. Yet, she had been saved from her misery by Chris offering her something she had thought nothing more than a word, salvation. He'd killed or rather slaughtered Lynn's oppressors, none of them had escaped the event. Lynn hadn't been the only one that had been a prisoner, but the rest had left and gone their own ways. She had nowhere to go, her family had been murdered when she had been captured, she had nothing back then. That was the reason that Lynn hadn't resisted when Chris had taken her with him when he left. Over the following year, he'd nursed her back to health and even helped her find reasons to live again. He'd even found her a good home to grow up in while keeping an eye on her.

And when Lynn reached her late teens Chris had approached her and asked if she wanted to keep living the life she had made or join his "team" that worked within the supernatural world. Obviously, Lynn chose the former rather than the latter, feeling grateful for what Chris had done in saving her life and dedicated her efforts to hone her abilities so she could serve Chris better. And at the moment, Lynn had her arms crossed under her bosom as she sent Chris a curious look with the facts he'd given her. "So, let me see if I understand what you have said is as I heard it," Lynn started, "During the month since you moved here, you became known to the devils and met the current Sekiryuutei."

Chris nodded, "Yep," he said simply.

So, not only had he encountered devils and fallen here, but he had gotten into other things, "Then you came across and later adopted a former nun that wields a rare Sacred Gear that can heal anybody into the family. Not to mention she also has a high affinity as a Dragon Tamer which is extremely rare, and then, you let her become a devil," Lynn continued. Adding a former nun to the team was unexpected, but Chris could be that way sometimes. It wasn't the girl that Lynn found fault with, it was that she had become a reincarnated devil that was problematic. Even as a psychic she couldn't figure out what Chris was thinking, not that she would read his mind. "Have I missed anything?"

Lynn had covered the salient points of what had happened in general over the last month here in Kouh. Chris saw no reason to get into the dumb details with how foolish the devils had been, Lynn knew that most of them were stupid and selfish. But the tone she had when talking about Asia denoted that Lynn had some potential issues with her. "Nope, I do believe you covered the major stuff that occurred," Chris replied as he took a bite of his cookie. "Why? Do you have a problem with a former nun joining the fold of misfits that we are a part of?"

Lynn sighed thinking about some of the other members of the "Fold of Misfits" as Chris had put it. Each one of them was different and they stuck out in one way or another from those they would be expected to be around. Lynn was no exception, even among psychics she was unusual with the strength and capabilities she had. The one that was similar to this "nun" was an exorcist who like the nun had come from less than pleasant circumstances. "I didn't mind a former exorcist like Frodo joining with what he has been through, so I have no trouble with this Argento girl," Lynn replied. It wasn't the nun joining the family that was bugging Lynn, it was who she would be around on a regular basis. "I'm more curious why you let her be taken in by a devil since you aren't the fondest of them. And knowing what I do of you, it is for good reason you aren't fond of them with the crap they've caused you."

Chris knew Lynn wasn't exactly wrong as devils, in general, had been a pain in the rear to deal with in the past. It wasn't until the current century that it had become easier to tolerate some of the non-human factions and it was because of getting to know some of the leaders. They'd been able to curtail issues before they become incidents that Chris didn't want to handle via killing the troublemaker and be done. In the case of the devil faction, Chris had made an agreement with Zechs, Ajuka, and Serafall that devils left him alone, then he in exchange would tolerate them and not hunt and kill them. So, Chris exhaled, "Well, to be honest, I wasn't so keen on the idea myself, but I didn't have the heart to try and control her life even if it is for her protection. Asia has a crush on the current red dragon emperor, no matter how hard she tries to hide it. With that in mind, I feel that allowing her to be around the devils is the best way for them to get close to one another."

Lynn knew personally that Chris would not control others' lives, he had made it clear to her and others beyond a shadow of a doubt. He wasn't that kind of individual despite what others would claim about him. But there were risks in the Argento girl being a devil, more to Chris than to her by what Lynn figured. Her "king" could use her as a means to get to Chris and try to use him as a way to solve their own problems. Those that had attempted such an idea had ended out in a world of trouble if not just outright dead. "The Gremory devil may try to use the innocent girl to get to you," Lynn brought up as she took a cookie for herself.

Chris had thought of that specific possibility since Gremory's behavior had shown no change. She was still trying to insert herself into his business, unsuccessfully thus far but it was still annoying. However, with what Chris had seen, he felt that it was unlikely for Gremory to use Asia to get to him. She did get at least the one quality of having "niceties" as part of her behavior which she shared with Zechs. It was one of those things that were good for the most part but could also bite one in the rear end. Nonetheless, Chris still put things in place to prevent the slim chance that Rias would pull the stunt of using Asia to get to his family. The few nice devils had shown they "could" do the right thing and mind their own business yet, the vast majority did not do such often if at all. "Gremory doesn't have it in her," Chris snorted at the thought. "And should she try something like that, she'd lose the trust of Asia and Hyoudou, she's trying to avoid that for some reason."

Chris paused wondering about the point of Gremory wanting the trust and loyalty of her peerage. It was rare for devils from what Chris had seen, wanting voluntary loyalty, they tended to depend on enslavement in its various forms. He knew that Ajuka Beelzebub who created the evil piece system the devils used had never intended it to be employed as enslavement shackles. It had originally been meant as a tool for recovery of numbers for devils which Chris could understand to a degree. However, over time the system had been used to force several to become slaves of devils, and that Chris was completely against. Evil pieces could be used to force another to do whatever their king told them to, so most devils saw no reason to have voluntary loyalty.

It didn't really matter in the end since Chris wouldn't let Asia be abused by anyone, Gremory included. But he couldn't help but wonder why Rias was doing things in the way she was, a question of logic. "Should the slim chance of Gremory trying to use Asia to get to me come to pass, then I can easily overwhelm anything she tries through either force or other means." Chris took a breath, "I certainly hope things don't come to that, more so as the girl is Zechs's sister and I would rather not have strained feelings between us. And that is why I'm working with him to get her to be smart and not cross lines and tick me off." Chris shrugged at the matter, "I believe Zechs is getting the point across somewhat and I'll take that for the moment." Chris stopped before deciding on mentioning the reason he believed Rias was doing what she was. "I feel that the devil is attempting to get me to "assist" with an issue she is dealing with, and I'm considering whether if it would not be worth the time."

Lynn's curiosity was caught at the last sentence since it was so odd to her. Chris wasn't one to get involved in others' business unless it had to do with something he cared about. By what Lynn had heard from some of the others on Chris's team, his last "experience" trying to make a deal with devils had not gone well. Supposedly, the devils had not held up their end and so Chris had taken what they owed. In response, the devils had gone after him and it had become a mess quickly after that. So, Lynn assumed that Chris wouldn't want to deal with devils for a time and she wouldn't blame him for it.

Chris noticed Lynn's curious gaze at his reply, so he elaborated on what he was implying. "Simon dug up some info on the girl as I asked him to," Chris began, "and he just sent me some interesting stuff. From what was obtained, the Gremory girl is engaged to the third son of the Phenex Clan." Chris shrugged, "Some arrangement between the families before the two were born or something like that. Gremory has been openly speaking against the engagement ever since she was told about it according to Zechs. And from what I've heard and read on the Phenex guy, I honestly can't blame her for not wanting to be around him. Riser Phenex is supposed to be a real piece of work and that's putting it mildly." Chris paused for a moment, remembering how much fun it had been to take on prideful idiots like he used to. It had been essentially a pastime Chris had taken down those that thought themselves high and mighty. It had always spurred his mood upward to rip egotistical individuals down from their pedestals. "Although I have to admit, I do miss messing with those types like I used to, most reactions were amusing."

Lynn blinked for a few seconds at both the last line and what he implied before it with his explanation. The last sentence wasn't too much of a surprise, egotistical people and powerful individuals rarely got along. Dragons specifically were prideful but didn't outright flaunt it most of the time to non-dragon races from what she understood. And Chris terrorizing pompous fools she could easily see him enjoying. The implications were the more questionable point to her as it sounded like he was thinking of "stepping in" to the she-devil's problem. She couldn't come up with any reason that Chris would care enough to do anything about the trouble the Gremory girl was having. Even should this Asia be involved, Chris could just extract her and be done with the trouble with little hassle.

Not to say that Lynn didn't feel for the she-devil and the situation the girl found herself in. Arranged marriages were an old tradition that Lynn knew of but didn't really see much of anymore. It was more for the family benefits historically speaking and not for those involved which was sad, but tradition rarely took into account what it did to some. So, Lynn was sympathetic with the Gremory girl, but it was her issue with the engagement, no one else's. Some just had bad luck and circumstances in life, Lynn had dealt with such when she was younger. Yet, as Lynn thought, the pieces fell into place and the realization hit her, "You're planning on getting yourself involved to acquire Phenex tears," she murmured.

Chris had been confident that Lynn would figure out why he was going out of his way with devils. The young woman had a keen mind even among psychics from the signs that Chris had seen with her. And Chris certainly wasn't helping Rias just because he could, that would be dumb and bring more crap which he had no interest in. Gremory like most devils saw an act of kindness as permission to use the giver as they pleased without consideration. No, Chris had his own reason for "interfering" with Gremory's engagement. The friend that was working on a means to help Aria said he needed Phenex tears for his work. So in response, Chris had told him to give him a bit to obtain an amount and that had been months ago. The situation with Rias served as a way to acquire the stuff without a clear mess following as consequences. "A large amount of Phenex tears if I can manage it," Chris rephrased with a smile. "Finius believes that if he could get at least fifty Phenex tears, it could help him develop a serum to help Aria's condition even if it doesn't cure it and I'll take that for the moment."

The response made more sense to Lynn than Chris just stepping in for the former nun. She had heard things about Chris's wife/lifemate from other teammates, yet Lynn had never met the woman in person. His reason for doing what he did, didn't always make logical sense, but Lynn knew he had reasons. There was trust between Chris and his team members, they did what they could to help one another regardless of the reasons. And if the lady could change the one seen as the meanest dragon to be as Chris was now, Lynn would call that person a miracle worker and/or saint. Still, to get involved with devil aristocracy came with lots of issues and hassles Lynn knew and it was why she avoided them. Which begged the question that Lynn asked, "Wouldn't it just be easier to take the stuff rather than just do it the way you are, it seems easier?"

Chris knew the view Lynn was brought up and there was a time which Chris would have fully agreed with the woman that was the way to go. In earlier days, if a dragon had a fancy of something or someone, the expectation was to take it. However, that had come with others fighting back and such problems. Draconic strength and power used to be enough to scare off the vast majority, but that reaction had waned. Dragons of power were more mentioned in stories, even the dragon kings, not spoken of as those who should be respected. However, over the years Chris had learned such had changed and so it was better to change the expected behavior as that came with some consequences that were worse than others.

He was accounting for what would come his way were he to steal the tears from the Phenex devils. Chris had made the foolish mistake a select few times, and he had learned that it wasn't worth it in the end. Stealing from others especially the biblical factions got extremely unwanted attention and trouble. The devil faction was the worst out of the three biblical factions as they dogmatically pursued the thief even when it got them killed. Even when stealing wasn't involved, dealing with devils was horrible as it had taken more than a year to get the last bunch of devils to mind their own business and leave his family alone. Really it had taken work and "silencing" a couple of devils to get them to back off with some help from Zechs as well. With the past experience, Chris had in mind, this time around handling devils he would be smarter and not so impatient to obtain his goal. "The way I see it, I can avoid having to deal with devils possibly trying to track me down for theft by not doing that since it's happened before. Plus, I can humiliate some devils at the same time and do something nice for Zechs by getting his sister out of the engagement," Chris said with a small smirk while Lynn let out a sigh in response.

The conversation was interrupted when the sound of approaching footsteps came to their ears. Chris and Lynn turned to see the source and found two individuals approaching them. One of them appeared to be a large man, a giant to some as he was taller than an average human by a notable margin. He had tan-colored skin and had red markings over his body along with white spiky hair and yellow eyes. The man had baggy tan pants on with a brown belt and a golden buckle, as well as a sleeveless brown shirt. The "man's" name was Sunen who despite his appearance was an Asura. However, as he was born without the usual four additional arms and two extra faces as the race had, thus he was cast out by fellow Asura.

Chris had come across Sunen while traveling the world before he had met Aria shortly after Sunen had been cast out. Back then Chris had seen Sunen's expulsion had not been clean or kind in any way, the signs of beatings had made that plain. Chris had felt pity for Sunen along with his lot in life since he had seen the idea of extreme rejection due to differences. And so, out of the rare kindness, he would show, Chris had taken him in and helped him even having special armor built for him to use. Chris had felt a connection with Sunen and taught him some of what he knew of the world which was different than general knowledge most had. Since showing him that kindness, Sunen had been absolutely loyal to Chris and would follow him without question.

Perched on the left shoulder of Sunen was a small child-sized individual who was a gremlin with dark purple scaly skin. They had large yellow eyes, bat-like ears, claws on hands and feet, and sharp canine teeth. His only attire was a pair of blue overalls that had a hole in the rear for a tail to stick out and a bandana around his neck. The gremlin's name was Zecrom who had nearly been eaten by a pair of Undines when Chris had encountered him. It had been while Chris had been visiting his "aunt" Tiamat and he had saved Zecrom from the Undines attacking him. While nursing Zecrom back to fair health, Chris took a liking to him and so took in the gremlin as a part of his family. And like most gremlins, Zecrom had skills in building, infiltrating, and sabotaging things that were greatly useful.

"Hey Chris, we got a message from Frodo as he was with us for half of the trip here," Zecrom greeted. "He got word that there was trouble in an area we were passing, something about a human trafficking operation he said. So he wanted us to tell you that once he finishes up eradicating the illegal operation he will be coming here."

"And by what information he received, he mentioned it will likely be a period of time before he gets here," Sunen added in his deep voice.

The one that the two were referring to was a young man by the name of Frodo Nimus, a friend of Chris's. He was the kind of guy that had a sense of justice that was close to absolute which had him helping in what ways he could to those he didn't even know. Part of that came from the time Frodo had been an exorcist for the church but it was also just a part of his personality. Knowing that just got Chris to smile, "That does sound like the Frodo I know, the guy was never one that could ignore wrongdoing, not with his sense of justice," Chris replied. He doubted Frodo would be in any trouble as the man was something else in a fight. The church didn't have a clue what a good fighter they lost with Frodo, at least the leadership didn't understand. And by what Sunen and Zecrom said, Chris figured it would be a while until he arrived around Kouh. Before more could be said, Chris spotted Alternes coming into the room, "Alternes, what's the status on the others?"

"From what I facts I have currently, most of them should be in the area within the next five days or so," Alternes returned. "Lance went to pick up Dr. Cole from the airport right as we speak since he has been working in India. However, Genji won't be able to make it right now as apparently something was going on in Kyoto and his sister Yasaka needed his assistance to settle the issue," he iterated. "Then Athena is assisting Tannin with collecting Dragon Apples and plans to stop by the Familiar Forest to meet with you along with Cyrus along your way to see Tiamat."

Alternes paused and that got Chris's attention as his friend didn't pause without a reason. And truthfully, Chris didn't want more issues or complications than he already dealt with. "What is it Alternes," he asked. "When you pause like that it usually means that something has gone differently than expected. There are enough issues going on that I would rather not have more added to them."

Alternes knew Chris wouldn't like what Minx had done, the kid had gotten involved somewhat with the devils. The team was supposed to watch and avoid alterations with the devils here, but Minx had let his interests and instincts get the better of him. So, Alternes inclined his head, "Indeed, you are correct as we have a potential problem concerning Minx," he replied.

Minx was one that could get into trouble if not given something to do and Chris had learned that the hard way. But around here, there wasn't really much if anything that Minx could get into by what Chris could think of. Granted, he had a passing interest in the white-haired she-devil, but the kid knew better than to get emotionally involved in such things. At least, Minx should know better than to let his "urges" drive him to do "stupid" things. So, Chris's face took on a confused look, "Okay, the kid can get into trouble sometimes as some of us know, so then what did he go and do this time?"

Alternes began telling what Minx did or rather was likely setting up from what Ayano had managed to find out thus far. And as he did, Chris gained an expression of shock which then morphed into irritation. The kid was going off on his own listening to his urges and ended out pulling a stunt that would bring trouble for Chris himself. And as Alternes finished, Chris wasn't pleased as he let loose a shout, "HE'S GONE AND DONE WHAT?!"

Chris was up and out the front door a moment later and Ayano raced after him with the irritation that was coming from him due to the stunt Minx had pulled. The two raced to the school to confront the Nekomata that had gone and been foolish. However, Chris and Ayano couldn't find Minx who had hidden after "transferring" into Kouh Academy. So, when Monday rolled around and the students came back to school, Chris sulked as he knew there would be repercussions with what Minx did. The kid was letting his instincts tell him what to do and it was very annoying to Chris as he was to an extent responsible for the kid and what he did.

Koneko was in her homeroom and was lost in her own thoughts after meeting the boy Minx a few days ago. The revelation of there being other Nekomatas let alone Nekoushous alive besides herself and her sister was something she had not expected. And while the chances of some surviving were possible, she never would have guessed she would meet one. The nekomata purge had been messy and so Nekomatas were virtually gone as the survivors had hidden since. And the reason was the laws devils had concerning nekomata were clear, they were to be captured and dealt with since they were so "dangerous". After knowing what her sister Kuroka had done, dangerous was an appropriate term. And with the brief meeting with Minx, Koneko could tell he was a powerful individual so the devil's law would certainly apply to him.

From what Koneko could surmise, Minx's power was at least the same as an Ultimate-class devil. That possibly made him as strong or stronger than Koneko's sister who had consumed two Bishop pieces and was now a wanted SS class stray devil. That Chris stated Minx was even a great Senjutsu user and that had also piqued Koneko's interest in both good and bad ways. Her youkai side was still something she was afraid of as what happened to Kuroka could just as easily happen to her. Unfortunately, as her thoughts continued to stew, they soon shifted to that little scene of Minx licking her cheek, essentially flirting with her which made the cute first year blush a little. She still didn't know what to think of the gesture the boy had done to her, whether she liked it or not.

Yet as the teacher finished the attendance but before the lesson started, there came the unexpected surprise. And that said surprise tore Koneko from her thoughts with the teacher making an announcement, "Attention students," the teacher began. Once all eyes were on her, she continued, "We have a new student today so I would like you all to welcome him kindly and make him feel welcome."

The students began whispering amongst themselves wondering who the new person was, along with some groans from the males about having more competition at hearing "him" being mentioned. It was normal for the boys to not like another guy being added to the school, they saw it as more competition. However, they all went quiet as another person entered the room and focus settled on the boy. He wore the standard Kuoh male student uniform except his was opened to reveal a black shirt with a white lion symbol on it. Koneko's golden eyes widened in surprise as she recognized the newcomer instantly.

Minx had to wonder to himself why he hadn't thought of this idea of becoming a student earlier. This plan came with more benefits than costs and at least one bonus of getting to be around the cute kitten. Granted, Minx knew that Chris would unlikely be the most pleased that he went and did this without saying anything, but Minx could think of an apology later. He could convince Chris eventually that this was okay and not be in too much trouble. So, with a wide smile, Minx introduced himself. "Hello all! My name is Minx Naratani and I'm from Kyoto originally but came here recently. I shall be your new classmate starting today and I hope we can get along, please take care of me."

The school day came to an end and when it did, Rias had come to the Occult Research Clubroom like she usually did. However, to her surprise, Chris had come shortly after she had gotten to the clubroom. She tried asking him what he needed, yet he didn't give an answer to her questions. Even when Rias racked her brain, she couldn't come up with anything she or her peerage had done to get Maxwell's attention. Still, Rias didn't really press when she saw the irritated expression on Chris's face, and she became glad it wasn't directed at her. Nonetheless, that certainly didn't stop her curiosity about the woman that was with Chris.

The woman looked like a normal human, nothing out of the ordinary from a glance at all. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties and had fair proportions though Rias's were fuller. The woman had silver waist-length hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a neutral blue blouse and dress pants with wore half-rimmed glasses. Aside from that, Rias could sense nothing from her at all much like Maxwell himself, which was unsettling. Added to that, she had been silent the entire time and had shown many of the same mannerisms as Maxwell from what Rias saw.

It wasn't long before the other members of Rias's peerage began showing up after school had ended one by one. Akeno had been first, followed by Kiba a short bit later, and both had been curious as to what Maxwell and the woman were doing there, but said nothing. It was shortly after Asia arrived that she identified the woman as a "friend" of Chris's by the name of Ayano Grace when she greeted her and Ayano returned it. The woman "Ayano" didn't give off a bad vibe or anything, in fact, it was that she was polite and yet said nothing else which just was similar to Maxwell that it was putting off the others in the room other than Asia. Issei when he got to the ORC did stare for a moment at Ayano to which Ayano didn't really respond.

Then around ten minutes after the rest had arrived in the clubroom, came the last member of Rias's peerage accompanied by another. Minx found out that he was in more trouble than he had originally surmised at seeing Chris waiting in the ORC when he had followed Koneko there. He had originally thought to have some more fun with the kitten before moving forward. Minx hadn't missed the reactions of the other students, especially the murmuring to one another as he and Koneko had been walking by. He hadn't minded it since he was quite pleased to be with the kitten and play with her for the moment. Honestly, the rest of Gremory's peerage had been surprised to see the male Nekomata appearing in their clubroom with Koneko. Although, that didn't stop Akeno from making some lewd comments that left Koneko blushing harder and Issei having a bit of a nosebleed.

Chris being in the club room had Minx a tad nervous as he didn't want his friend mad at him though he knew it would likely happen with enrolling into the academy. He'd seen what Chris could be like when he got mad once and that had been enough to tell Minx not to have Chris mad with him. Plus, he knew who Chris was and the stories about him, his titles weren't for show and that's all he needed to know it was stupid to tick him off. So most of the time, Minx did his best to not go too far and make Chris more than frustrated with him. If it was just Chris being here, Minx believed he might be able to calm down his friend enough to smooth things over. However, with Ayano here that may not go so well as she would back Chris regardless of what Minx said. She could whip other members of the supernatural and make it look easy for most and Minx had seen proof of that. Heck, he had experienced what Ayano could do in a fight and Minx knew he couldn't beat her in a fair fight. Senjutsu didn't work against Ayano or Alternes at all. It was a given with them being automatons, magic and the like didn't work the same with them.

Minx turned his attention back to Chris and the moment he saw his face, it was clear he was ticked off. That said there was a lecture was coming his way, and he wasn't disappointed, "What in the ancestors' names were you thinking, you idiot," Chris growled at Minx.

"But boss~, I was so bored just waiting," Minx groaned as he then nuzzled Koneko's cheek with a smile. He was finding teasing the kitten enjoyable along with nuzzling and being around her. She was much more interesting than Kuroka had ever been, and with the white-haired girl being the little sister Kuroka would talk about, she wasn't what Minx expected. Perhaps it was her innocence that made her more attractive than Kuroka, but then the older nekomata was a serious flirt, and Minx wasn't as fond of that personality type. Kuroka wanted to be the one directing the interactions and Minx didn't like that at all. He preferred to be the one in charge of what way a relationship he had went.

Koneko blushed again at what Minx was doing, but she made no action to stop him as something within her wouldn't allow that. Secretly, Koneko liked what Minx was doing, yet she couldn't voice the feelings that were coming to her. In fact, Koneko let out a small purr that was barely noticeable at the nuzzling that Minx did. She hoped that no one else in the room heard the purr she had attempted to hold back that escaped her. The noise was embarrassing more so that she couldn't help that it came out of her from the nuzzling.

Chris just watched the two before shaking his head and sighing at Minx's actions since it was clear that the boy was attracted to the girl. He knew that Minx and likely the girl he was teasing were at the age where mating could happen. It was a tad odd as he had quite a different reaction with Kuroka, he hadn't wanted much if anything to do with her. Chris could only guess that something about Kuroka's personality rubbed Minx the wrong way. Chris himself had made it clear to Kuroka he wouldn't flirt or mate with her as he had Aria. The girl had taken a few times to understand Chris's statement of not doing sensual things with him. She had mentioned something about wanting to bear the child of a dragon, but Chris said firmly it wouldn't be him.

Ayano remained indifferent to Minx's response though he had proven he could be flippant on occasion and it could cause issues as it was right now. Minx was among those of Chris's friends/family that could be troublemakers and one of the younger ones. His attitude of waving things off could sometimes be helpful, but normally hindered things in the end. She was really waiting for an order to drag Minx back to the house for some punishment from Chris. With what he had gone and done, it was the logical outcome and Minx should have known that. Minx wouldn't be able to get away from her, Senjutsu would never work against herself or Alternes.

Rias and her peerage members just remained on the sidelines, not really sure what to make of this situation playing out in front of them. It was clear that Chris had an issue with this Minx and him enrolling in the school, but none could figure out why. Then again, none of them could figure out the connection between the two either. And then this boy looked to have a thing for Koneko, though what that interest could be, none could say for sure. Akeno would have normally made a teasing comment to Koneko, but a quick yet stern look from Ayano surprisingly kept her quiet. The woman with Chris just gave off a strange feeling that kept the devils quiet and to not interfere.

Ayano felt it would be best that the devils stay out of this business and not make it worse since Minx had already complicated things. The young nekomata had gotten himself involved with the devils who were causing issues with Chris currently, that was a no-no and Minx knew that. Devils complicating things was bad enough without a team member doing so as well. And while it was an expectation of devils that they would complicate things they got into, some were just better at the point than others. Sometimes they didn't mean to interfere, but more often than not, devils stuck their noses into business that didn't concern them. History made interference from the biblical factions clear it was normally messy in some way.

Added to that, not that there was any need to add to the standing issue with the devils for Chris, the redhead was related to Sirzechs. With the Crimson Satan being a friend, dealing with his younger sister in a way that didn't estrange Sirzechs was difficult. Plus, the redhead's insistence only hurt her case on getting what she wanted whatever that was. A lesson that Ayano wished the redheaded devil would learn, "don't push dragons to do things for you". And Ayano doubted the she-devil would comprehend any better making a deal with a dragon was done with the understanding that you were true to your word period. Chris didn't want to compromise or damage his friendship with Sirzechs it could be helped.

Chris on the other hand was about to continue chastising Minx, the kid needed reproach and chewing out for this stunt. He liked Minx, the kid had a good heart even if it was hard to see sometimes, Chris had seen it. However, should this stunt go on without chastisement, then the bad behavior would be encouraged. No, Chris didn't intend to do anything physically harmful to Minx, more because that wouldn't help teach the lesson. It was more likely to be some form of grounding that Chris would need to do, limiting time Minx had to his own devices. Nonetheless, before Chris could inform and educate Minx properly, a magic seal appeared on the clubroom's floor.

The sudden appearance of the seal took the devils by surprise since Rias wasn't expecting anyone. With the seal's color being flame orange, Rias feared for a moment that Riser had decided to visit unannounced. That was the last thing Rias needed, her pompous so-called "fiancée" showing up and antagonizing a dragon. Rias wouldn't say no should Chris do "something" to Riser that would get him to leave her alone, but that would be merely a temporary solution. Yet, a moment of study told Rias that the seal was not the one used by the Phenex clan. Still, all devils took some steps back, though Chris stayed where he was as the seal was one he knew well.

The seal shinned brighter for a moment before the light died down revealing a figure that had appeared during the glow. Phina's red-orange eyes swept around the room for a moment taking in the devils present. Chris had mentioned that he would be meeting with them briefly before snagging Asia and heading off to see Tiamat. Having to see them wasn't pleasant for Phina, more like bringing up bad memories from her past. Devils were among some of those that hunted "unusual/rare" creatures for sport and Phina could technically be considered a member of that category. Her race was close to wiped out because of hunting and though devils weren't the only ones that did such, they did the idea as often as humans used to if not more so than them. It was why she wasn't the fondest of devils much like Chris, they were more trouble than they were worth.

The appearance of the "woman" was strange to Rias and her peerage, more than most things that had happened over the last month other than Maxwell popping up. She had dark skin and appeared to be physically in her early twenties. She had a voluptuous figure that was contained in a Kenpo GI that was white with red trim and a black and gold sash around the waist. Her hair was off-white in color while tied up into a neat ponytail that reached her mid-back but the hair appeared to be silkier than Akeno's was. The woman's appearance was so odd that it made the devils wonder how she and Maxwell could have crossed paths.

Asia knew the woman as Phina, Chris's friend she had met earlier, she was nice and listened to what Asia had told her about her past. But Asia didn't know what Phina could be doing here, she tended to watch over Chris's children when he wasn't around. Issei, on the other hand, gawked at the woman that had appeared in the room. Granted, she wasn't as busty as Rias or Akeno, but she certainly wasn't flat. The woman had an exotic beauty to her that one didn't find around Kouh often if at all. Her gaze made Issei feel looked down upon, and when that came from a woman, it was fine half the time.

Phina took in the reactions of the devils to her appearance but kept her face blank of expression. What the devils here thought of her didn't matter to Phina in the slightest, their opinions were of no interest. Phina didn't mess the perverted gawk the brown-haired kid had given her though it felt disgusting. The boy was supposed to be the Welsh Dragon's current wielder by what Chris said. The boy was supposed to be the Welsh Dragon's current wielder by what Chris said and he would know better than anyone if that was true or not. Now that Phina saw him in person, she agreed with Chris that Ddraig had gotten a bad exchange from Marcus Lune. Marcus had been an upstanding individual as well as a strong fighter, and Phina doubted the kid in front of her had any of those types of qualities. Yet, she ignored the reactions of the devils, instead of turning back to face her friend, "Chris, everything has been packed and the children are ready to go as per your request," she stated. "You asked that I inform you as soon as preparations were done and so I came here for that."

Chris's entire mood changed at Phina's message as it reminded him of what he had to look forward to. He smiled as he planned to be absent for a few days from school to see family and get a much-needed vacation. Chris missed spending time with his children like he had been able to before moving around here. School cut down the time that Chris used to spend around family and friends and it was one of the reasons he cursed the idea of school. Thus, he planned on enjoying the vacation he was going to have with his family instead of attending school in Kouh. So, he would deal with the crap Minx had brought more thoroughly after he got back from the trip. "Thanks for informing me Phina, I've been looking forward to the vacation," Chris returned before he turned his head towards Asia, "Come on Asia, time to go."

Asia blinked in surprise at being addressed along with the subject matter Chris was talking about. While she had been listening to Chris a bit, the conversation had been about Chris's friend Minx before now. Asia didn't understand why Chris was unhappy about what Minx did, but he was clearly mad about it. Then Phina had appeared mentioning Chris's kids and them being ready for something that she didn't say. There had certainly not been any mention of the word "vacation" until Chris had said it. Yet now that she thought back, his kids had been excited about something recently, but none of them had said exactly what about. To tell the truth, Chris's children were extremely cute and Asia liked being around them as it brought warm feelings to her heart. However, Asia still couldn't figure out what Chris was talking about, "Um, where are we going Nii-san," she asked having started calling Chris "Nii-san" since shortly after he took her into his home and family.

All the devils in the room were listening in as they were still curious about Chris as an individual. Truthfully, they still had little creditable information on or about Maxwell after the time he had been around Kouh. Rias especially wanted to know more as she hadn't gotten anything out of Sirzechs or Grayfia. All they kept saying to her was that "it was best that she didn't get involved with Christopher Maxwell". And she still couldn't figure out any reason why they would say that other than Maxwell was a dragon. Rias's parents when she asked about Maxwell said they didn't even know the name and were kind of surprised Zechs did.

From all of that, the only thing that Rias had been able to determine was whether Chris or someone he knew had gone through the trouble to hide facts about himself. Regardless of who it was that did the point, they had done beyond an amazing job of hiding any real info about the dragon. And she couldn't figure out any reason as to why any would go to the lengths they could have in Maxwell's case. Dragons rarely came out into the open these days, even the dragon kings kept to themselves. Maxwell was the only dragon Rias had encountered aside from meeting Tanin once when she was very young. So, she was going on the few stories that she could recall hearing as a child which wasn't much.

Then, by what Chris just said, he was planning to disappear for a period of time from school and likely be unreachable. Maxwell had shown that he was extremely good at vanishing and not being available to be found when he didn't want to be. The last week and been undeniable proof of his capability as he had been glimpsed in class but that was all. His avoidance made talking to him harder, and Asia would only say that he wanted time with "family". But even Asia hadn't said or even hinted Maxwell would be vanishing from Kouh Academy for a time. Not that Rias would refuse a break from the irritating behavior that Maxwell had around her and her peerage. Yet, by the sound of it, he was intending to take Asia with him which would mean that she would be absent too. To be short one of her bishops when the issue with Riser was looming was very unwise, so Rias wasn't inclined to let Asia be gone for too long.

Chris didn't pay attention to the devils in the room as he continued, he more appreciated their silence rather than the usual interruptions. "We're going to visit my aunt since I promised I'd to take the kids to see her too and so. I figure that I would introduce the newest member of the family at the same time."

It was a form of logic that Chris used to justify his actions and on the surface, it sounded reasonable. Perhaps it was the simple-sounding logic that made it so hard to argue or counter the dragon's reasoning. Stories did mention that arguing with dragons was "utterly pointless" but it didn't imply that it may be for their simple logic. And Rias was frustrated that she once again had little she could counter Maxwell with. Nor had Maxwell hinted who this "aunt" of his was, so who knew if they were dangerous and could attack Asia.

It had Rias of two minds about this development, which was that Asia would be away if nothing changed and that this could be an opportunity. It could be a chance to get more information on Chris should she play her cards right. She still wanted Maxwell's help with Riser if she could possibly get it. However, it is obvious now that such wouldn't come in the form of him being a member of her peerage. Yet there were still one or two ways that Rias could think of that Maxwell could still assist with her Riser problem. Who knows, if Maxwell stepped in, he may humble Riser an amount and the guy certainly needed that. Dragons were powerful, fights with them were rare but the few historical ones made it clear that fighting them was not simple.

Rias had at least learned a lesson with the dragon while he had been around Kouh, Maxwell was powerful. She didn't know to what extent his power went since he wouldn't show off for some reason. It was even possible if not kind of likely that Maxwell could match Rias's brother Sirzechs in a fight. In conjuncture, those who were Chris's friends could be powerful individuals in their own right if Lance and Minx were good examples to go by. And even after just seeing them for a short amount of time, the Gremory heiress guessed that Ayano and Phina were also quite strong. Thus, gaining favor or something like that with Maxwell would do great for Rias in terms of her current predicament and beyond. Granted, some could call it cruel and devious, but Rias was a devil and she was naturally attracted to power and wanted it to help her with her problems.

Nevertheless, the potential issue with getting Chris's help was if Rias didn't tread carefully, then she would risk Chris lashing out at her. She had little to nothing to offer in order to make some sort of deal with the dragon that Rias could think of. And Rias didn't want his wrath directed at her so she had to deal with this situation delicately. The stories of dragons being extremely dangerous had been proven to Rias by Maxwell already. The boy had made it clear that the way that Rias and the majority of her peers would work with wouldn't work at all. Maxwell could somehow tell when another was attempting to manipulate or trick him, whether that came from experience or some ability. Thus, different tactics were required, and even then odds of getting his help were slim at best.

There was one "trump card" for Rias as she saw it, she had made Asia Argento a member of her peerage. Asia appeared to be able to influence Maxwell to an extent and that could be possibly employed. Also, the addition of Asia had come with some perks as the girl's healing abilities were great would be a huge help in rating games. But Rias saw her connection with Maxwell and potentially his companions as a more interesting benefit. The dragon seemed to have opened to the girl at least, more than he had to Rias or any other in her peerage. However, he had made a point to not allow any to follow Asia when she left school or where she started when she came to the academy. She nor any in her peerage besides Asia knew where Chris lived or had been there, and Akeno saying that it was "somewhere" near the shrine wasn't enough. Rias strongly suspected that he planned for that which was admittedly smart, but also quite impressive even if annoying. So, convincing Asia in a non-obvious way to help Rias and her peerage get a chance to meet with Maxwell outside of school was one of the few viable options.

The other "odd" change was Issei had begun looking up to Maxwell, admiring the second-year's strength among other qualities Maxwell possessed. According to Issei himself, he was grateful that Maxwell had helped Asia when Issei himself could not. And Rias couldn't exactly blame her pawn for admiring the dragon even if it irked her a bit. Maxwell was probably one of the politest guys in this school along with Kiba which most girls would rave about when they weren't around. However, those "manners" seemed to change noticeably when around devils to ignoring and waving them off. That behavior had been frustrating, more so as she couldn't get it to change with any method she had tried. Sona hadn't said anything specifically, but Rias assumed that Maxwell was much the same around her and her peerage.

The only other fact that Rias had on the dragon was him mentioning that he had "children" but little other than that which had been to Asia. It had really highlighted Rias couldn't even begin to guess Maxwell's age. He could be hundreds if not thousands of years old and she wouldn't be able to honestly tell the difference with his behavior or appearance. She'd had to change her assumptions on the "girlfriend" that the dragon talked about with children being revealed. It was likely the female whoever they were was the mother of the unknown number of children Chris had. Although, Rias was extremely curious about what kind of female of whatever race could attract the interests of a dragon.

Even with all that in mind, it didn't stop Rias from speaking her mind to Chris, for she wouldn't stay silent. Maxwell, dragon or not did not control, manage, or have to say what happened with the members of her peerage. And Asia was her Bishop and she was already going to be doing something else thus wouldn't be going with Maxwell. Him having Asia during the weekends was already hitting her bottom line with contract quotas, the dragon would stop interfering. Rias had planned to take Issei and Asia to the Familiar Forest today and get them familiars of their own. "While I do not wish to sound rude Maxwell," Rias started, "I actually intended to bring Asia-chan and Issei to the Familiar Forest to find them, familiars."

Chris didn't care at all if Gremory planned to take Asia and Issei over to the Familiar Forest, Asia would be coming with him. Granted, he was going that way with his family already but that had nothing to do with Gremory or her "club". It was no more his business what the redhead did than it was hers what he did, they were just not to cross if it could be prevented. The crossover came with Asia as she was family to Chris but was also Gremory's Bishop. His kids had been chattering about seeing Tiamat and having fun with Asia as well, so Chris couldn't forget taking her along. He didn't want to see his children with sad faces, it tore at his heart each time he saw his joyous children sad in some way. So, Asia would be coming whether Gremory had problems with the idea or not, Chris would end any argument that could come up.

Then Gremory had been toeing the line of going beyond annoying recently and that had come with other consequences. Chris's sugar intake had been getting higher than it should though it wouldn't affect his health for a while. That was one advantage dragons had, sugar did little to nothing to their health as it would for humans and many non-humans. The reason Chris cared about his sugar consumption was it was a sign to him that his stress levels were rising. Increasing stress levels would translate to resorting to old and problematic habits of dealing with the sources of the stress. So, the vacation was not only a means to get time with family but also a break and winddown time from the sources of stress. Thus, Chris gave Rias an almost bored look in response to her statements which was one of the two normal responses he spared her.

At the same time, Sona and her peerage were heading to the Occult Research Clubroom so that she could talk to Rias. Sona wanted to discuss one of their peerages going to the Familiar Forest since it hadn't officially been decided. Rias had just said she would go and Sona could go later and hadn't given Sona the time to argue. Sona had her two newest peerage members that needed familiars just as Rias did. It was a tradition that one devil "king" at a time would get the help of the familiar master. So, she and Rias needed to discuss who would go first though Sona had a feeling Rias would try asserting herself as the one that should go. As much as Sona considered Rias a friend, she could be tough to deal with her spoiled attitude sometimes.

However, as Sona and her group approached their destination, Sona heard Rias talking to another. The reply was made by Maxwell's voice in the normal calm indifference that he always seemed to have with her, Rias, or any member of their peerages. It was odd for Maxwell to be meeting with Rias, she had mentioned nothing as to an arranged meeting. And Maxwell had been keeping a low profile along with vanishing from school during the last week. Sona was doing what she could to respect the dragon's clear wish to be left alone, unlike Rias. Her friend may be willing to pester a dragon in the hopes of having help with a problem, but Sona wasn't as unwise. The best way to find out what was going on would be to enter and ask, so that's what Sona did. The moment she was in the clubroom Sona spoke, "Excuse me, are we interrupting something," she asked in greeting.

Sona scanned over the two women and halted on anything else she was going to say to Rias of Maxwell. There were two unfamiliar women in the room and were unlike any that Sona had encountered before. Both like Maxwell gave off no energy or hints of anything about them, which inferred they were not human like Maxwell himself. There was the new transfer student in the room as well, but Sona wasn't as concerned about him at the moment. The boy was sitting beside Koneko appearing to be happy being next to her as he was very close and "cuddling" her. Still, the dragon Maxwell had two others here and Sona doubted it was just because he could bring them here. Maxwell was still a mystery even with the time that had passed thus far and nothing had been learned.

Chris had been about to tell Gremory that she could shush as Asia would be going with him, but the door to the clubroom had opened before he could do that. He'd sensed the other group of devils approaching, so he wasn't surprised when Sona entered along with the rest of the Student Council behind her. Chris had just wanted to wrap up things and be on his way to start his vacation and get away from the devils. And he wouldn't let devils pestering him or doing other things prevent him from heading out.

Rias looked over at Sona when she and her peerage came into the room wondering what she was doing here at this time. Granted, Rias had kind of pushed to have her way and go to the Familiar Forest before Sona. However, the matter, in the end, should have been settled already so there was no need for further discussion. And Rias preferred to handle the dragon herself and not owe more favors to Sona than she already did. "Not really, what are you doing here Sona," Rias asked curiously, "We already settled who will go to the Familiar Forest first."

Sona was more interested in what Maxwell was doing seeing Rias than the argument as to who would go to the Familiar Forest. The dragon had shown that he acted with purpose and not on whims so he would have a reason being here. Sona could respect acting for a purpose, not wasting time or effort was admirable. It would be nicer if Maxwell would just state his reasons outright, but Sona assumed that he kept his business to himself. That tendency would fit what some vague stories mentioned about dragons as a race, they kept to themselves most of the time unless they had a reason not to.

Her best guess as to Maxwell's presence was it having something to do with Asia Argento, Rias's newest peerage member. Sona was surprised that Maxwell had "permitted" the girl to be reincarnated as a devil by Rias. The dragon could have said no, and Rias would have to either accept that or deal with a dragon's wrath. It brought forth the question if Maxwell had a reason as to allowing it or if Argento had convinced the dragon to let it happen. If Argento had persuaded the dragon, that was a feat in itself. If true, then Rias's Bishop had much more potential than either Rias or Sona realized. Sona came out of her thoughts and answered Rias's question, "We both have new servants, so we should introduce everyone properly."

Rias felt that Sona had more of a reason to be here than just introduction, but she would defer at the moment and not press. She had enough frustration and stress from the dragon in the room without adding to it arguing with Sona. However, the introduction would also require a bit of an explanation to Issei and Asia as they were not aware of how devils did things. Rias glanced to Akeno and inclined her head telling her friend silently to give some background to the room at large. Akeno got the message and gave a short summary of who Sona was and a general idea of devil pillars.

Chris on the other hand, held in the sigh of irritation and of boredom that would come to him having to wait and thus, listen to the stuff he already knew. He knew enough about how the devil faction was modeled and how it was "supposed" to work. Simply put, their ranking system they had given power, privilege, and influence to pure-blooded devils. They essentially said how things went in the long run, though the "Satans" who was the most powerful were the technical leaders of the faction. Chris had seen the class system that made nobles on top in various forms over his lifetime, and pretty much all of them failed in the end. It came down to those abused by "nobles" rising up against their oppressors and Chris assumed that it would be the same for devils at some point. Not that he would do anything to stop such from happening, the majority of devils would deserve being brought down by those they abuse and use.

However, Chris exerted and showed patience by not interrupting or just snatching Asia and leaving. The explanation would at least help Asia learn a bit, though Chris could give a better one or have Zechs do it too. But to show respect to Zechs and even Serafall, Chris let the two devil heiresses do the job. Chris respected Zechs now as he'd proven he was extremely different than most devils that had come before him. Zechs was as much a "black sheep" to what one would expect an average devil to be like as Chris's friends were misfits to the non-human world. It was one of the reasons that Chris felt that Zechs became a friend, he actually cared what happened to those beyond his own family, position and prestige meant little to nothing to Zechs. Serafall Chris more tolerated than liked, and it was mostly due to her personality than anything else about her. Serafall was a child in an adult body, and Chris didn't like one who wasn't a child acting like one, it irritated him. However, Chris found dealing with Zechs and even Serafall preferable to tolerating their siblings.

If not for Asia being involved in this, Chris wouldn't be here at all. He would have had Asia stay at home and leave with him and his family going to see Tiamat and waste no more time with the matter. Then Aria had done wonders for Chris in helping him expand his patience and tolerance with those that annoyed him. And disappointing Aria was something that Chris wouldn't do if there was literally any way to avoid it. So, for Asia's sake, he would be quiet and wait for these devils to go through their "manners" routine even when it irked him. Although, Chirs hadn't figured he would be amused by the exchange as it kept going.

After the background on the devil faction was done, the introductions began, Rias going first before Sona did the same. The meeting between the two peerages went fine with most, overall both knew each other if not in-person, by reputation. The student council oversaw the management of school clubs loosely, mostly keeping an eye on them. Thus, most students in the academy knew the names of those on the student council. Yet on Rias's side, Issei had a reputation around the school as did his two best friends which made him stand out. Issei was a member of what had been dubbed the "perverted trio" seen as the three most lecherous and sickening individuals the academy hadn't kicked out yet. But on the opposite end, Asia was referred to as the "pure maiden" by the boys of the school. Most of the girls would block any that approached Asia with the exception of Kiba and Chris.

Hence, why the meeting between Issei and Sona's new pawn Saji and Issei started off on the wrong foot to put it mildly. Issei was kind of happy to meet another pawn like himself, Rias had told him he would be her only one. The fact hadn't made sense to Issei as if the devil's "evil piece" system was based on the game chess, there should be eight pawns. However, Issei hadn't asked Rias for more detail as to why she said he was her only pawn yet. Still, Issei would do his best to represent Rias as she didn't look at him with disgust like most girls in the school did. Heck, Issei had received a great deal of flak from both the girls and boys of the academy when he just talked to Asia most of the time. That showed the point that Issei was despised by most in the school, not that Issei didn't understand why to an extent. He was a pervert, he didn't deny that, peeking in on girls was something he couldn't say no to. "Wow so you're a pawn like me," Issei remarked to Saji with a smile and a friendly air, "We're so similar."

Chris was slightly impressed that Issei was being friendly with the guy he was facing. The kid was a degenerate pervert, the signs were clear as day and Issei hadn't shown any form of remorse or regret about his actions. The reputation that Issei had along with two other guys that were supposed to be friends of his was horrible. The three were classic-case perverts, Chris could get most psychologists to vouch for him on that fact. And yet, the greeting showed that at least Hyoudou could have good qualities in him which were buried by his lechery even if the same couldn't be said about his friends. It was actually kind of sad in several ways in Chris's opinion, the kid could be a good person, but let his urges dictate otherwise. Chris figured that the kid's habits had formed due to no one being firm and telling him no and hadn't stopped him with the development.

With that in mind, those with actual morals that rightfully kept carnal urges in check saw those like Hyoudou as horrible individual that was close to if not criminal. Thus, the kid was shunned in several forms by his peers, and others around him tended to do the same. The treatment in Chris's opinion was deserved and should be taken as motivation to change for the better by the recipients. Chris used to think that perverts should be castrated without hesitation, but after meeting a few perverts that had redeeming qualities in them, he'd changed that view. However, he knew that most didn't tolerate any perverts as Chris did for some of them. And as Chris expected, the only guy with the Student Council glanced at Issei with clear disgust.

Saji glanced at Hyoudou with revulsion and well-deserved the idea was with the guy being a serious pervert. He knew Hyoudou by reputation as pretty much the whole academy did, he was a member of the horrible "Perverted Trio". Hyoudou and his two cohorts had attempted to peek in on every club in the school at least once, more than once for most of them. The only reason he and his two perverted friends hadn't been expelled from the academy was there was technically no rule in place to punish their actions. His attempt to be "friendly" was as unwanted as a horrible cleaning job, Saji would even take cleaning the school's bathrooms over dealing with the trio. "Hmph, to be called 'similar' to one of the three most perverted students in this school," Saji paused, "my pride has been deeply wounded."

Issei was instantly irked at the reply when he had been being nice to the guy and got insulted in response. Granted, many in the school would give disgusted looks to Issei and his two friends Matsuda and Motohama, and they had gotten used to that. However, Issei had been showing good manners in spite of the flak he normally received. "What was that punk," Issei snapped.

Chris was trying to decide whether to laugh at this scene or tell the two to stop being such idiots and embarrassing themselves. Their argument was pointless and the judgment they had of each other was ridiculous in truth. It was yet another reason that Chris loathed the school environment, it taught to judge shallowly. Although this was making the wait for Chris somewhat better as he was getting bored of the current situation. Boys fighting with each other to "one-up" the other was one of those things that had survived the test of time and were still funny to Chris. It was one of the few things that dragons could understand, proving you can outdo another, it was a central idea for dragons, the "pecking order". For dragons, you either worked to get and keep your position in that order or you respected those in it and followed their instructions.

At the same time, Ayano was observing Chris watching the scene while still paying attention to the scene herself. She was honestly somewhat surprised that her friend would just sit and tolerate the devils as they went through their routine. He wasn't involved in the conversation and clearly had no interest to be. Ayano didn't blame Chris for wanting to avoid interaction with devils and members of other non-human factions. Most of his past experiences with such had been examples of disrespect for dragons and wish to use them as animals that could be set loose. Plus, Chris had been looking forward to the vacation he'd planned with the kids, Aria and even Asia. And yet, Chris was tolerating this when he normally wouldn't, and Ayano attributed it to being nice to Asia. The blonde girl was ignorant of how lucky she was that a dragon was watching over and protecting her.

Saji smirked a bit at Issei snapping back at him for telling the truth, it was to be expected from the horndog. The whole school knew he was one of the worst three degenerates, their actions over the last year and close to a half had pretty much spoken for them. The beatings and chastising they had gotten hadn't helped as the trio kept doing what they did. That Issei Hyoudou believed that he could challenge Saji was laughable. Saji had taken four of his king's pawns which showed his potential and Saji was proud of that. "Oh you want to fight? I might be a beginner, but I took up four pawn pieces under my belt," Saji said with a smirk.

As amusing as the fight was to Chris, he wanted to be on his way and start his vacation with his family. The boys could keep going with barking who was better as long as they wanted for all Chris cared, he would find out how it ended later. He had been nice and let the devils do their thing and not interrupt and get down to the business he was here to do. Chris would give them the time to these devils if he felt like it later when he got back from vacation which was unlikely. So, Chris let out a yawn catching everyone's attention so that he could say his piece. "Well, as nice as the introduction session is for you lot, it has gotten fairly boring for me," Chris stated, then looked towards Asia, "Come on Asia, let's get going."

After Chris had spoken, Saji twisted around to face the guy who had just spoken and saw it was the "student" Maxwell. Maxwell was known to the school staff and the student council more because he was troublesome since he didn't follow school rules all the time among other things. Some teachers had complained about Mr. Maxwell as he appeared to not pay attention to the lessons and yet could answer any question posed to him they asked. The student body was different, the girls liked him as he was polite to them while the boys were jealous of him. However, he was not a member of any club and only seemed to be around during the hours of school.

Yet, Sona hadn't done much about him and the behavior that the teachers were complaining about. She said something to the effect of it not being worth the effort that would be put into doing something about him. When Saji asked for some detail, the explanation hadn't made much sense to him. He couldn't figure out what was so different about the guy from others that would have Sona's hands tied. Granted, the last time there had been the other guy that had likely been a fallen who had used holy energy, but he wasn't here now. There was no power coming from Maxwell so there was little to nothing to worry about from him. So, as Maxwell rose from his seat, Saji took a step forward, "Hey, don't think you can just leave when you want!" Saji would discipline this guy since no one else seemed to be willing, "You're the one who disrespected Kaichou before and that guy who was with you the last time isn't here to get you out of this. So, you'd better apologize or else-"

Chris's gaze fell on Saji for a moment before moving to Sona who froze when Chris glared at her. The boy had no idea he was being completely stupid trying to tell Chris what to do. A weakling did not tell a dragon what to do, the dragon either waved them off or punished them. And as Chris didn't feel like taking the time to whip the kid, he would tell him to mind his own business this time. He didn't need anyone else to handle the trouble that came his way, though Chris's friends were more than willing to handle issues for him. And then, if Chris did something that someone else didn't like or took insult to, that was their issue, not his. Chris was going to tell the kid off before he got into the position to do himself serious harm he was unknowingly heading towards.

With the things that Saji had said to and about Chris, Ayano wouldn't let that slide without proper consequences. Chris was her friend, and her master and creator gave her along with Alternes explicit instructions to defend him when necessary. And defending Chris's honor was no different than protecting him or his family to Ayano and Alternes. A lowly devil had no business nor position to challenge or threaten a dragon. And while Ayano doubted the boy had a death wish, his actions shouted that he did. Ayano wouldn't kill the devil unless they insisted that would be required, but the boy would be punished. So, Ayano vanished in an instant and reappeared in front of Saji with an expressionless face. This devil would be an example to the rest, she would make sure of that, "Or else what," she posed coldly.

The sudden "movement" of the woman seriously startled Saji and the other devils in the room. None had seen, registered, or let alone been able to follow the incredible speed the woman had just displayed. It had been more like she teleported from one place to the other but there had been no hint of magic. Saji's head reached to just above where Ayano's chin was now that they were so close to one another. The deadpanned expression was very similar to what Chris gave them when they annoyed him. "Any attempts to harm or insult Chris shall be dealt with proficiently and with the necessary force immediately," Ayano explained flatly.

Ayano's eyes gained a dim glow which was blue while there were also sounds of humming heard from under her blouse. Ayano had brought her systems off of standby and readied them for use as was part of the combat protocol her creator had given her to employ when needed. None of the devils in this room would be a match for her, Ayano knew even all of them attacking at once wouldn't be enough to overwhelm her. It was now up to the devils how things would go from where they were forward.

Chris was aware Ayano could whip the devils in the room without breaking a sweat even if she couldn't sweat technically. And he appreciated that his friend would do this for him even when his father had created her this way. He knew that Ayano and Alternes would choose to defend him by their own will which had developed and not just due to programming his father had given them. However, to punish devils would take time which Chris had no interest in spending, so it was the devil's lucky day. So, Chris spoke up to deescalate the situation, "Hey kid, before you go and get yourself hurt trying to order me around or while boasting about taking four pawn pieces, you should know the perverted idiot here has more pieces in him than you," he commented as he pointed his thumb towards Issei. "Couldn't tell you how many, but it is more than four."

Issei sent a small glare towards Chris for the 'idiot' part as he may admit to being a pervert, but he wasn't dumb. Saji wanted to say that Chris was lying about Issei, but with the lady in front of him, he couldn't do that. The lady truthfully scared Saji as she had moved crazy fast, and she was just odd in a way that set off alarm bells in his head. It didn't feel like she had any magic capability or any power at all, yet she did something that should require such. Chris continued, "Second unless you want to spend some serious time in a hospital, I would highly recommend you close your mouth and keep it that way around me unless spoken to directly. My friend in front of you can put you in the condition you would need a hospital faster than you would be able to say 'what the heck is going on'," Chris warned shrugging his shoulders, "It's your choice if that is required."

There was an uncomfortable awkward silence for a full minute after Chris had finished his warning/challenge. For Sona and Rias, they didn't want to find out how far Maxwell would go to be true to his word. Saji was left to consider what to do in this as something in him said that Maxwell was not joking at all. How the woman in front of him could injure him to the point of Saji needing to go to a hospital, he couldn't say. Eventually, after a few moments, he stepped back a bit, still intimidated by Ayano's gaze on him. Fortunately, Sona moved in to save her foolish pawn, "Maxwell-san, please forgive Saji for his actions. He's rather," Sona hesitated to search for the right words, "impulsive sometimes when it comes to respecting for authority."

Chris was aware that Ayano could be intimidating even when she was nice most of the time. She could give the average angel a run for their money on politeness and being kind to others. It wasn't as bad as when Chris intimidated another whether intentionally done or not as most were terrified and that caused other issues. The effects with Ayano and her partner Alternes were due to them being protective of and loyal to him. They didn't hesitate to show their dedication to him and his family over the years they had existed. Chris's father had invented both Ayano and Alternes when Chris had been a "child". He'd created them to be there for Chris and help him in any way they could and even after they had developed their own will and personality they remained so.

All in the room were relieved when Chris sent Ayano a look that made her stand down and take a few steps back towards him. Sona was glad that Maxwell's acquaintance wouldn't hurt her pawn since she'd been growing kind of fond of him. Saji had shown promise before she'd reincarnated him and she wanted to see where that would go which required him to be alive. And as dragons weren't known for showing kindness or generosity to others often if stories about them were to be believed Saji was daring one of them unwisely. Maxwell was the first dragon that Sona had met and dealt with face-to-face personally, so she couldn't say how true the stories were, but she didn't want to find out. Also, Saji had been rude to Rias's newest peerage members and that needed correction. Sona wouldn't have a servant of hers be accused of forgoing manners so, Sona looked towards Issei and Asia. "I apologize for my pawn's behavior Hyoudou-kun, Argento-san. I do hope you don't judge him harshly as he does have good manners I assure you." Sona sent a cold expression towards her pawn, "Right Saji?"

Saji got the message Sona was sending him, apologize and be nice, including to the perverted idiot. And he didn't want to disappoint her even when he believed Hyoudou deserved the treatment he got. "Yes Kaichou," Saji grumbled swallowing his pride for his king and putting his hand out for Issei to shake. He still didn't like the pervert nor would he accept his actions around the school, but that was a different point. However, Saji's gaze then shifted towards Asia and a sweet smile came to his face. The blonde girl was the talk of the school lately, she was beautiful and innocent, what more could a guy ask for? So, he clasped Asia's hands with both of his. "Ah, the pleasure and honor is all mine to meet such a beautiful golden-haired maiden. I've heard about you from classmates and am pleased to meet you," Saji said cheerfully.

Issei didn't like the way that this guy was acting with Asia, not one bit. He couldn't explain what exactly irked him the most, but Issei didn't want Saji to be so friendly with Asia. And while he was a pervert which he admitted to, Asia was different than other girls, almost like a younger sister. So, he moved forward and ripped Saji's hands from Asia's and squeezed them with his own. The fake smile was on Issei's face made it obvious that the two would unlikely get along but would put up a show of doing so. "I am pleased to meet you too Saji-san, I hope we get along well! But if you don't want to die, I suggest you stay away from Asia," Issei said.

Saji had a hard time not laughing at the threat that the pervert was making to him. "Is that a threat I hear," Saji asked while adjusting his grip and squeezing Issei's hand just as hard, "Though I expect nothing less from a horny beast like yourself!"

The scene had been amusing up till a minute ago or so and if it had stayed that way it would have been fine. However, with the two boys fighting over who would say Asia would be around, the humorous piece had vanished. These boys had no more business deciding who and who didn't spend time around Asia. If anyone had that privilege, it was Chris himself as he actually had the girl's best interests in mind and not what one could get from her. The boy's argument was simple and would be easy to settle, it was what could come in the future that concerned Chris for Asia's sake. He foresaw devils trying to charm and control her and Chris would not leave one like Asia to that doomed existence. Chris didn't trust that Gremory would protect Asia, she was too tradition-bound to be firm and do the job right.

Thus, Chris summoned two of his shadow puppets to not only move this along but also make a point. With the shadow puppets came a drop in room temperature, a side-effect of Chris's aura starting to slowly leak out. It wasn't enough to make those in the room collapse, but it was able to drop the temperature. With the drop in temperature, all turned to face Chris stiffening at seeing his expression. The ironic thing that Chris saw in this was the puppets were both former knights that had fought during King Arthur's Crusades. They like many crusaders, felt honor and justice were to be put before all else and that was not as common in current times. Chris motioned the puppets forward towards the two foolish males in the room.

Issei and Saji had been staring frozen to the floor at Maxwell, rather scared of the guy glaring at them with clear non-nice intent. But upon feeling something touching them, they looked down and found black claws grabbing one of their legs. The "creatures" that materialized next to them appeared to be black shapes that looked vaguely humanoid for half while the lower parts just came out of the floor. The glowing eyes were unsettling but the cold grip of the claws was just as unsettling. However, the other set of claws each creature had moved to be around their groins which worried both boys far more.

The scene as Chris saw it would have been amusing to most as two crusade knights were threatening the boys. With one hand on a leg and long swords in the other hand ready to use on the boys' male dignity. "Master, give us the command and we will teach these young fools a much-needed lesson by relieving them of their dignity," said one in an Irish accent.

"Aye," remarked the other in a similar accent, "Their lack of honor and lechery towards women should be justly punished. These boys should have been disciplined before now by others so they wouldn't fall prey to temptation. Let us circumcise them and then perhaps they can be humbled and saved from the evil that has crept into their hearts."

All in the room with the exception of Chris heard the puppets growling whereas Chris heard what they were saying. But that fact didn't occupy the devils for long as the cold air pretty much forced them to focus on the dragon. Rias and Sona were quickly beyond worry as they saw the gold eyes lack any sign of emotion, positive or negative. Then the aura of Maxwell's power was filling the room and it was what drove the temperature down to where it was. The best description they could apply to Maxwell's eyes at the moment was that they were the eyes of a cold predator or monster. It along with his aura produced serious chills through them and brought thoughts of horrible things that the dragon could do. The only people who were seemingly unaffected by Chris's aura were Minx, Ayano, and Phina. "Both you will watch your behavior around Asia," Chris began coldly, "and it is to be nothing less than your best formal behavior."

Issei and Saji paled at Chris's statement as it was clearly a warning to take seriously, the tone left no doubt. Yet, Maxwell's eyes drove the point home more and were beyond scary to both boys. Where Maxwell was normally polite, it made the complete change all the starker and all the more frightening. However, both Issei and Saji were terrified more as the puppets shifted their claws towards their groins and their claws lengthened. Whether those claws were made of magic or some sharp material, neither boy wanted to find out how they could potentially cut off what they valued.

"Your kindness is that of a saint master, but it is wasted on these curs," said the first puppet setting his sword right below Saji's groin.

"Nay brother, let these fools tremble with the fear of the wicked, tis a magnificent motivator," snickered the second puppet with his sword ready to slice off Issei's dignity with a single stroke.

If Chris wasn't trying to get a serious message across to Issei and Saji, then he would be laughing at with the threats that his two shadow puppets made. Some of those from the past had much more interesting and amusing views of the modern world. However, Chris had other things to do and so needed to get this business done and not have to deal with it again. And the message was to not do anything uncomfortable to Asia or they would lose their male dignity. If that meant that Chris removed them from the boy personally, then he would in a most painful way to make sure the lesson wasn't forgotten. He had learned the art of torture over the time of his existence, just didn't practice it as often as he once did since meeting Aria. "Otherwise, you will lose something important to yourself and future, that isn't a threat, but a promise," Chris stated, "am I clear?"

Both Issei and Saji were scared at the threat posed by Maxwell, not that because they thought it an empty one as they didn't doubt the guy would do what he said. It was the imagination of Maxwell actually removing part of them that was terrifying them the most. The stories of dragons pretty much never painted them to be "nice" to those that they saw as prey or enemies. So they fully believed that Chris meant what he said about taking something important to them should they make Asia uncomfortable. The specific part that was implied would be taken neither was going to say, but each had what was important to them in mind. So, they were quick to respond, "U-understood sempai," Saji and Issei replied immediately at the same time.

The second puppet chuckled at the boys' fear-filled answer, "Like I said brother, the fear of the wicked does wonders," it said before dispersing into wisps of energy as it vanished.

The first puppet scoffed at the others remark, "Aye brother, but tis not only that, they are lucky fools that our master is as kind as a saint," it remarked before disappearing in the same way as the other.

Chris nodded as his puppets dispersed agreeing with their comments as the first was right that fear could be quite the motivator. The second's comment was more a compliment as it said how far Chris had come with Aria's help. And most of all, Chris knew he'd gotten the point across that he had wanted to, that Asia was to be treated with the utmost respect period. With Asia as innocent as she was, Chris would look out for her and protect her from unseen dangers.

There was but one thing left to deal with before he and Asia could leave, dealing with Minx and his actions. Minx going and "enrolling" in Kouh academy complicated things as then he got more involved with the "devil issue". Taking into account the kid's behavior with the white-haired girl, it was obvious to Chris Minx was attracted to the girl. Chris had seen Youki attraction was strong idea for them and hard to resist, though in general, they normally didn't resist. He would have assumed Minx would control himself as Chris knew the kid had self-control. Yet, with what Minx did, Chris would give him a lecture about employing self-control after getting back from vacation. However, Chris would have Minx under "house arrest" while he was gone meaning he wouldn't be around the white-haired devil. That was to be punishment for Minx and get him to reflect on his actions and not be so flippant next time.

So, Chris shifted his gaze to Minx before snapping his fingers summoning his magic seal which had the symbol of infinity along with ancient draconic runes weaved within the seal. The seal was gold instead of the flame orange that Phina had arrived by, but the same appearance otherwise. "You are to be on standby until I say otherwise Minx," Chris stated firmly leaving no room for argument. Phina and Ayano grabbed Minx before he could reply or potentially get away from this punishment. The two women started dragging the nekomata towards the circle after Chris had made his command. Minx quickly struggled against the women, but he couldn't get free of their hold on him which he knew he couldn't. He also began cursing about being separated from the kitten and saying he hadn't done anything that earned him this, but others in the room didn't catch. "Anyway Asia, we need to get ready to go," Chris told the blonde Bishop.

The scene of the transfer boy being "dealt with" had been kind of interesting as well as somewhat educational. Rias still couldn't figure out why the boy would have an interest in Koneko, nor what type of interest it really was. It seemed that he had more than just a passing one with the flirting he was going with Rias's rook. The scene was educational as Rias had just seen how the dragon Maxwell dealt with "those who worked" for him in some way. Maxwell appeared to be fair but also firm about those that made things harder in some fashion. It was a respectable quality for any Rias would admit, and one that she didn't expect from a dragon. However, Maxwell had returned back to taking Asia away and ignoring her point that she had said over her peerage. Rias doubted Chris had forgotten what she already said about taking Asia and Issei to the Familiar Forest. The dragon had shown he had a rather good memory before now, merely ignored what others said.

Then she wasn't fond of those shadow creatures that Chris could summon when he liked to do tasks for him. Rias had no idea nor information on what the creatures actually were, they were unlike anything she had encountered before. And that one of them had threatened Issei wasn't nice nor appreciated, but that wasn't the irked her most. No, it was Chris as usual who was ignoring her and frustratingly there was nothing that she could do to change she'd found effective yet. "Maxwell, I already told you, I am going to bring Asia and Issei to get Familiars," Rias began.

Chris's irritation was reaching a somewhat dangerous level, so he knew that he needed to finish this quickly. If he didn't then old habits came to mind and were tempting to resort to which he knew he should avoid. With that in mind, Chris cut Rias off, "My aunt who I'm going to go see happens to live around the Familiar Forest as she's a dragon herself." Chris paused as he didn't want to do what he was about to as it put his family in an unwanted position. "So, you lot can just come with us and get your familiars while my family goes to visit her, so quit your whining before it gets you into trouble." Chris hadn't liked the compromise as it would put them around his children, but it would get the devils to shush and moving along. Plus, should they try anything with his children let alone Aria, then he would make them regret it before apologizing to their siblings afterward. Serafall would be simple since if he promised time with his kids for her, she would be happy as could be and forgive him. Zechs would be more difficult to convince to forgive Chris for what he might do to Rias should she cross a line.

Rias and Sona blinked at what Chris had just said, not expecting to be offered what he had. Maxwell had been rather particular about not letting them near those close to him, those that he considered "family". Going with Maxwell would be the closest any of them other than Asia had gotten to those close to the dragon. Of course, that had Sona and Rias coincidentally thinking the same thing in this situation and what could come from it. The two devil heiresses had little to no information on Chris besides what they already had on him which was little. Rias still wanted Maxwell's help with Riser, so some information she could use to convince him was something she wouldn't say no to. Sona on the other hand wondered why the dragon would change his stubborn stand on not letting them around those close to him. Dragons weren't known for changing their views or behavior often unless they saw a reason to. Nonetheless, this could be a good chance at acquiring new information on Maxwell and the opportunity was not to be waived off. "I suppose we could both go," Rias said evenly keeping her excitement down as she looked at Sona.

Sona could hear the hidden excitement in Rias's voice and she couldn't help but worry about her friend. Rias had already done something that had gotten Maxwell to flex his power a tiny margin. Apparently, that experienced hadn't taught Rias much if anything about not prodding a dragon needlessly. Neither of them had found out the power Maxwell had nor his unique ability he could use, which made him dangerous still. "Yes, I suppose that the Familiar Master can help both our servants in finding familiars," Sona added as she adjusted glasses. "Nice of you to suggest it, Maxwell."

Chris shook his head slightly, not for a moment fooled by the devils' attempt to get info on him. The redhead hid her excitement poorly, it was so easy to see through and Chris would make sure she didn't get near his kids. Sitri had done a little better, but she seemed to be more cautious about being around him. He could respect the caution and it did raise his estimation a tiny bit with the girl, unlike her friend which the view of her was still low. Honestly, Chris knew their siblings were better at hiding their intentions including Serafall. And that woman wore her intentions on her sleeves displaying them proudly thinking they were the best quality she had. Where Chris appreciated honesty rather than false manners and formalities, Serafall took blunt honesty to a different level.

But it really wasn't worth pointing out the girls were not helping themselves in his estimations. It wouldn't help them since they wouldn't listen to his advice to improve themselves even when it would benefit them. So, Chris didn't waste the time to say anything in reply to their statements, instead he merely nodded. Then he turned to Phina so that the situation with Minx could be wrapped up as much it could be right now. "Could you head back to the house and get the others after dropping Minx off to contemplate what he's done? Asia and I will meet you in the forest."

"As you wish Chris," Phina said bowing before taking Minx from Ayano even as Minx struggled to no avail.

The devils had been glancing intermittently at the magic circle trying to figure it out since it was not like any they had seen before. There was what looked like an 8 or maybe it was the symbol for infinity, it was hard to tell. That was before the odd-looking runes that were in the circle which neither Rias nor Sona had ever seen the runes. Sona knew a couple of runic languages enough to be able to identify them, but the runes in the circle matched nothing she'd seen. It made Sona wonder if perhaps dragons may have some sort of runic language of their own. If they did, then few outside their species had mentioned a hint of that potentially being the case. Still, it was yet another mystery with Chris Maxwell that they had no answers to.

Chris paid them no heed to the curious looks he got nor the glances towards his magic seal being used. Not his business what they thought about him or what pointless questions they could have which he had no reason to answer. Chris instead looked back at Minx since the kid was the reason he was in this room in the first place. He'd planned to fetch Asia after class before she got to the clubroom before heading out, but Minx had changed that plan. The kid had crossed a line that he should have known better than to do. "And you Minx will take the time to seriously consider what you were thinking pulling the stunt you did," Chris iterated.

Minx didn't want to go and wait for a lecture from Chris later on which was why he'd been struggling hard even when it was in vain. Not only would the lecture be a horrible one that Minx didn't want to get, but he would be separated from the kitten. Minx didn't want Chris to be mad at him either as he was Minx's friend, and he didn't want that to change. Nor did Minx want to be incarcerated and deprived of time with the kitten that he'd been thoroughly enjoying. And though Minx was aware that arguing with Chris was as good as pointless, he had to try and plead his case. So, Minx struggled harder against Phina who was holding him, and made his desperate cry. "Chris please, don't do this to me," he exclaimed, I didn't mean anything bad by this, I swear! Let me explain!"

Chris sighed since it was now even more obvious that Minx was very attracted to the white-haired girl. But it was more than just normal attraction, it was attraction with the interest of having a mate. As far as Chris knew, they were both around the age that mating and all it involved came in for Youkai. Chris himself saw nothing wrong with two getting intimate with each other should it be consensual, that was their business. Yet there was a time and a place for such things and here at the school wasn't one of those these days. Then, Minx was still his friend and he liked the kid so didn't want to be mean to him or make him afraid. And so, he just said what he knew would get Minx to do what he was asked, "You can have a chance to mate with Toujou later if you reflect properly, let that be motivation for you."

The one line from Chris caused Koneko's cheeks to flush deep red in response to the very thought suggested. Sure, Koneko was just coming to the age that she was mature enough for the act of mating to take place, but she had never considered it. Granted, the gestures the boy had been doing had been more than just pleasant she admitted though not out loud to anyone. But she hadn't thought of mating with the boy at all yet and it was a large step from the small gestures he had been showing. And yet, Koneko couldn't help some erotic images flashing through her mind. However, Koneko hadn't really been around other Youkai much and she suppressed that side of herself. After what Kuroka had done, Koneko's nekomata side scared her since that could happen if she lost control.

Chris did not even spare a look at the blushing face of Koneko, if she hadn't thought about mating, then she would have to soon enough if Minx had any say. Nor was it a surprise that most of the she-devils in the room were either blushing or not looking in the white-hair's direction. It was a tad amusing that there was a jealous look from Issei likely due to the kid wanting to be in Minx's position. What Minx had been doing reflected on Chris as he kept an eye on him since they had met. So, the kid needed someone keeping an eye on him to keep him out of trouble that would be more harmful.

Minx could tell that he couldn't say anything to Chris that would change his mind about Minx being "grounded". And should he cooperate with Chris, there was the chance he could spend time with the kitten again. Sure, thoughts of having quality time alone with the kitten had already crossed Minx's mind by this point. His unwanted experience with Kuroka had taught him a few things, not in the way he wanted, but still. No, he'd not gone the whole way with the kitten's older sister and Minx was glad that hadn't happened. So, after a moment, Minx seemed to accept what he had to do, "Aw, alright fine," he said in defeat.

Phina took that as the situation was done and so she and Minx vanished through the magic seal leaving the devils and Chris in the room. With what Chris saw as distractions taken care of, he waited for the devils to gather themselves which took a bit. But as time ticked on, Chris's annoyance began rising again. And just as they seemed to be getting close to ready, Chris simply took Asia by her hand and pulled her along. His magic seal appeared on the floor and before any of the devils could do anything the two vanished.

A/n

And I'll leave off there for this chapter. Now, I think that this chapter proves that my main character Christopher Maxwell can whip another when he wants. However, I don't want any to cry that my MC is overpowered for his is as stated an equal to Ddraig and Albion, so not invincible. As to the nature of his power, it is what I would call "negation" or that he can make another's power not work. The limitation is that he doesn't effect the what come from the effects from a power. For example, let's say Albion's divides power, Chris can stop the divided from working but can't affect the power gained from it.

The other things I would like to point out from this chapter is about Ayano and Alternes. They were created by Chris's father who was a Nephilim and so has knowledge of both angelic and demonic energies. And hence "Spoiler Alert" Ayano has angelic energy flowing within her while Alternes has Demonic running in him. Then as learned from chapter three, Phina is a Phoenix so her power isn't surprising. That is all for this ending note on this chapter, some of you readers please take the time to write a review and tell me what you think. See you all in the next chapter!