Another chapter coming right up! And it's a long one so enjoy!
Disclaimer: High School DxD is owned and created by Ichiei Ishibumi, Illustrated by Fujimi Shobo and published by Dragon Magazine
Daniel then began to place down chess pieces on the board. "Riser seems to have a full set of 16, while Rias only has the 6 pieces on her side." Daniel stated out as he picked up the pawn and knight on Rias' side. "I'd wager that Issei and Kiba are going to be the key factors for her victory. Over the last 10 days I spent the most time training them. Issei's improved so much in that short time."
"How much?" Sona asked as she moved to face the floating screen.
"Hopefully enough." Daniel replied as he done the same.
"Hello everyone. I am Grayfia, a maid from the House of Gremory and today I will be the arbiter of the Rating game between Rias Gremory of the House of Gremory and Riser Phenex the House of Phenex." Grayfia's voice called out from the screen as the Rating game was about to begin.
The Born Again Fate of DxD - Chapter 11: Crashing a Wedding
(Saturday 19th May - Morning)
Daniel didn't get any sleep after the Rating Game with Riser. It seemed that even after the extra training he had given Issei and the little bit he gave to Kiba, it wasn't enough.
He's efforts didn't even matter. And if anything, he felt like he had made things much worse. While Kiba had been able to survive Yubelluna's sneak attack and beat her, he thought it would work out. Instead it only got worse.
Asia in an attempt to protect Issei casted Rho Aias and the toll it took on her body was heavy, and she was yet to wake up. He knew in the Anime that Asia was able to heal the majority of Issei's wounds so he was able to wake up in time. But that was no longer possible.
While Issei was able to push Riser much further than in their first fight he could remember. At one stage it even looked like he might've won. However his body wasn't yet capable of pushing itself any farther as Riser nearly killed him. In the end, Riser had ben more brutal than what he was before with Issei. He was burnt, bloodied and beaten within an inch of his life.
The Rating Game ended with Riser slamming Issei onto the ground after flying up from the school roof, he was shocked to see the kid stand up again. But was horrified when he noticed that Issei was already out cold when he was standing up. His will to win for Rias pushed him that far.
It was only when Rias held onto him, that he collapsed into her arms as Riser was announced the winner. Moments later Riser appeared with the Student Council's room and personally invited Daniel.
Riser even held a smug grin as he done so. Daniel held himself back as best as he could but Sona called Sera the moment Riser arrived. She didn't even say anything as he just laughed and left.
"I still can't believe the bastard invited me to this fucking farce." Daniel groaned out as Sera helped him with his shirt tie.
"I know how you feel." Sera replied with a sombre tone. "Have you heard anymore news about Issei and Asia?"
"Both of them are still out cold. And eve if Asia woke up this instant. I don't think Issei will be waking up for at least a few more days." Daniel answered as he went to put on his grey suit jacket.
The two were then silent as they prepared for Rias' wedding with Riser. Sera was in a long dark green dress that flowed down to her ankles while Daniel's suit was a light grey with matching trousers, waist coat and jacket. Underneath was a black shirt matched with a dark green tie.
"We'll be visiting Rias before we go to the reception." Sera stated before she left Daniel alone with his thoughts.
(Midday)
When Daniel and Sera first walked into the Gremory Mansion that was hosting the Wedding, he felt a tug on his sleeve. Looking down he found Koneko staring up at him. "Follow." Koneko stated as she began leading Daniel through the mansion.
Soon they arrived outside of a room where the rest of Rias' Peerage minus Issei and Asia were standing.
"What's going on?" Daniel asked to which Akeno walked up to him.
"Rias is refusing to leave her room Sensei." Akneo was the only one that responded to his question.
"Please help her if you can Sensei. All of us have tried." Akeno softly asked before Daniel silently made his way into Rias' room.
The first thing he noticed about the room was how much manga and anime DVD's Rias owned. And then he noticed Rias in a stunning yellow and white wedding dress. But he couldn't help but noticed the streaks in her makeup, the poor girl must've been crying her eyes out. She looked up at him, as he noticed her bloodshot eyes, she must've only recently stopped.
'What the hell can I even say?' Daniel thought to himself as he sat down beside her. The pair remained in silence as Daniel took out his hidden hip flask and took a mouthful from it.
"Don't tell Sera I have this." Daniel softly stated with a smirk, his only response was a single chuckle from the red head.
As they went back to being silent once more, Daniel remembered something and began to chuckle to himself. "What so funny?" Rias asked in confusion.
"Oh, its just." Daniel cut himself short as he kept chuckling. "I've never been to a wedding before, and my first event is between two devils so I doubt there will be any holy matrimony... So I'm wondering if I'll see a goat being sacrificed or something."
Daniel laughter at his own joke caused Rias to chuckle along with him. "No, it's nothing like that."
As their laughter died down Daniel offered Rias the hip flask he had hidden from Sera. "Here, it'll help a bit."
Rias looked concerned as she took the flask. "I know I shouldn't be offering alcohol to a minor. But considering what happening today. A little drink won't be the worst thing that'll happen to you in the next few hours."
"Besides, aren't Devils meant to break the rules?" Daniel asked with a smirk.
Hesitantly Rias took a sip from the flask. "It's nice. Fruity even."
Daniel scoffed as he took a sip of his own. "It should be... It's an aged Bushmills Black Bush, 21 years so it's older than you. The bottle cost me over 200 USD's."
"How much did you bring?" Rias asked with a smirk.
"Trace on." Daniel softly stated as he created two crystal glasses. "Oh, just enough." Daniel replied as he poured into the two glasses. "I can create more than just weapons y'know. But these can be used as one if your desperate enough." Daniel stated with a smirk as he handed Rias her glass.
As the two silently drank from their glasses, Daniel soured. "I'm sorry Rias... I guess I wasn't much help in the end of things. And I feel like I've only made things worse."
"Please don't. I'm grateful for the help you've given me and my Peerage." Rias replied as she finished her drink. Once she had done so the glass from her hands vanished in a blue light.
Daniel lightly chuckled from Rias answer as he smiled back at her. "Thanks kid." Daniel replied as he stood up and made his way over to the door. "But don't worry about your wedding. Something tells me it isn't going to be completed... So for now I'll go and tell Akeno to come on in here for you. I know this'll be tough to ask but bare with it for the moment."
However before he left, Daniel turned around to face Rias once more. "And for what it's worth kid. You look Beautiful, and I'm sure Issei would be saying the same thing if he were awake to see you. I promise everything will be fine."
Once outside she was meet with the concerned looks of Akeno and Koneko. "She's all yours." Daniel replied as he moved past the two girls. He didn't know if they replied to him or not as he kept walking, his mind was on one thought.
'If Issei can't stop this wedding. Looks like I'm gonna have to step up and correct my mistakes.' Daniel thought to himself as he seen Sera talking with both Sirzechs and Grayfia.
Grayfia was the first to notice him as she called out. "How is she Cole-sama?"
"A bit better, I hope." Daniel solemnly replied before he glance over at Sera. "Would I be able to talk to you in private for a moment?"
Sera looked concerned at Daniel's soft tone and nodded in reply before leading Daniel away from the other Devil's nearby. "What's wrong?"
"Sera... I'm about do something stupid, and I can't stop myself from doing it." Daniel softly replied as he held onto her for support. "And I know what I'm about to do will cause only more issues for you and Rias."
"You plan on stopping the wedding don't you?" Sera asked with a soft smile as he held onto Daniel's face.
"For the last three or two weeks. My guts been telling me to protect Rias. I don't really understand what's been happening with me so I can't really explain it. But when I was sitting beside her, it felt as if my soul was screaming out to me." Daniel responded as he closed his eyes. "But I'm scared of what might happen to you if I did anything."
"Is it because you might love her?" Sera asked in concern.
"No... I don't." Daniel answered truthfully as he shook his head.
"Good... Let's just say it would've been a little awkward if you did... But I understand what you're saying." Sera replied with a soft smile. "I had a feeling you might've done something like this. So It's a good thing I brought this with me."
Sera then placed a seal formula in Daniel's hands. "Is this?"
"No, it's a different one. It's based off the one you designed. I had it made for you whenever Rias lost the Rating Game last night." Sera replied as she took the seal from Daniel's hand and placed in the inside pocket of his suit. "You can say that my gut feeling was you'd do something like this."
"No matter what happens Sera, I'll always be with you." Daniel smiled down at Sera and he softly kissed her.
As they parted their kiss, Grayfia to the side lightly coughed to get their attention. "Rias is ready." She stated in her normal stoic tone before turning and leaving.
(The Wedding)
As Daniel silently watched the events of the weeding unfold, he waited for the moment to properly object. He was thankful that Sera informed him that some customs of Marriage remained the same between Humans and Devils.
"Does anyone object to this marriage of these two Houses?" The Priest asked out loud to all the witnesses.
"I object to this marriage." Daniel stated out as he stood up. Rias watched, along with her peerage in shock as they looked at their Sensei.
"Oh please, a human such as you has no place to stop a marriage between Riser and my lovely Rias." Riser spat out with little concern.
"I think I do." Daniel replied back with a snarl. "I have a few bones to pick with you and this sham of a marriage."
Rias looked like she was about to say something, but the voices of the other Devils in attendance cut her off. "Silence human!"
"How dare you speak to Lord Riser in that way!"
"Watch your tongue!"
"What is a human even doing at this event!?"
"Why are we even listening to this thing!?" Many of the High Class Devils shouted out in unison but they were all silenced when Sirzechs raised his hand.
"Are you sure about taking this action?" Sirzechs asked with little emotion being displayed.
"I'm positive. And if my student was here, he'd be crying out the same thing as well." Daniel replied as he kept his eyes solely fixed on Riser.
Sirzechs was silent before he nodded at Daniel. "Then I request that you make your challenge official."
"Sensei?" Rias softly spoke but Daniel just passed her as he moved up onto the stage. As Daniel stood in front of Riser, he activated the Formula seal that Sera had given to him moments before.
In a flash of red light, Daniel was no longer in his suit. His outfit now now a Black tight and sleeveless shirt with Silver accents which outlined his muscles. Black pants that had two black straps on his thighs, and another two strapped around his shins separate from each other. This was matched with a pair of black metal plated shoes, which appeared to be attached to his trousers.
On his hands were two fingerless gloves that extended up to cover his entire forearms. The design on the sleeved gloves matched the design of his sleeveless shirt. And finally, tied around his waist was a Silver open skirt which ended above his shins. It was held up by a Black belt with a Silver buckle.
He pulled his hair back as he glared at Riser. "I, Daniel Cole. Freelance Mage, hereby challenge Riser of the House of Phenex to Bellum Magicis."
"Oh." Riser grin turned vicious as he pointed his finger at Serafall sitting beside where Daniel was sitting in the audience. "And does your contracted Devil have anything she wishes to add."
"Lady Serfall Leviathan is not contracted to me." Daniel stated out in Sera's behalf. "I am a Mage, not a Magician, I'm not obliged to be contracted with a Devil to use my Magic. My actions are independent of any Guild and are my own."
"You do not hold a high enough prestige to interfere then if you are just a Freelance!" A random Devil shouted out from the crowd.
"Agreed, Riser will not play with such a weak and pathetic creature such as yourself." Riser spat out in disgust as he glared at Daniel.
"Even if I'm wanted by Grauzauberer, Golden Dawn and Rosenkreuzer? All three of these Guilds have marked me as an S Ranked Mage." Daniel replied back with a smirk before he looked over towards the crowd. "In fact there are a few high members of those Guilds here. And I've yet to here them say anything to dispute my claims."
"Is this true MacGregor?" Sirzechs asked his Bishop.
"While I've never meet him in person, Daniel Cole has been given the rank of S class." MacGregor replied before he continued. "He earned this rank after defeating my predecessor in Golden Dawn, Meredith Ordinton in combat 9 years ago when she asked him to join and he refused."
The High Class devils in the room became silent as they stared at Daniel. "What wrong? Scared? Or are you a Chicken after all?" Daniel asked in a mocking tone with matching smirk.
"Then Riser shall agree under one rule. This shall be a battle to the Death. Riser will not have his honour slandered in such a way." Riser stated out to the crowd with a mocking tone. The crowd laughed along with Riser but were silenced when Daniel responded.
"Funny I was about to say the same thing. Because I fully intend on killing the Devil known as Riser Phenex." A pin drop could've been heard from the back of the room when Daniel accepted Riser's terms. Even Riser himself was stunned silent.
"What? Did you forget that I was the one who killed your pet? I've already killed one immortal being, what's another?" Daniel asked with a wicked grin that slightly unnerved some of the Devils.
"Still want those terms?" Daniel asked once more but was only meet by more silence.
"Then let us not waste more time." Sirzechs stated out loud as two transportation circles appeared below both Riser and Daniel.
(Riser vs Daniel)
When Daniel first arrived at the Arena he and Riser had been transported to, he noticed it felt like a Roman Colosseum. Only to find that the that the seats were empty. Turning around he noticed that Riser was preparing himself for combat.
(Insert Song: Back from the Dead by Skillet)
"Riser will destroy you human!" Riser growled as he burnt off his shirt, revealing his Devil wings of fire.
"Impressive." Daniel replied as mana started to flow through through his body. He was pumping that much that his open skirt began to flow upwards from the pressure. "Trace on."
Creating Archer's signature swords Kanshou and Bakuya, Daniel stood perfectly still. "Ah weapons. This seems to be your only forte." Riser smirked as he created a sword made of fire.
"En garde." Riser mocked Daniel as he took a fencing stance.
Daniel's response was a smirk in return before he vanished from Riser's view. Shocked at Daniel's sudden speed, Riser didn't have any time to react as Daniel stabbed both Kanshou and Bakuya into Riser's back. Letting go of his grip, he left the penetrated blades in Riser's back causing Riser to scream out in pain.
Moving away from Riser, Daniel watched to see if his wounds would heal with the blades lodge within Riser's back. And he nearly laughed out loudly when they weren't, as Riser dropped the blade of fire.
Daniel quickly created another pair of married swords. Over and over again Daniel repeated the steps of stabbing Riser and leaving Kanshou and Bakuya inside of Riser's body. Each time he had done this, Riser was becoming slower. His screams of pain becoming quieter each time.
'This is too easy.' Daniel thought to himself as the blades pierced into Riser's shoulders. This was the fifteenth pair he had created. 'He's either playing dumb with me and allowing this to happen or he's about to die.'
Stabbing two more blades pointing downwards into Riser's neck Daniel smirked as he exclaimed out. "Burst, Overedge!" Pumping his mana into the blades, They expanded out into their Overedged forms. This caused Riser's body to be ripped apart as it feel into pieces.
As the Overedged swords slowly disappeared, Riser's body was cut up into over 40 pieces, all lumped together. Daniel was silent as like a Pheonix of legend, Riser's body turned to ashes as a new body was created from those ashes.
"Hurts my neck every time that happens." Riser complained as he held onto his neck.
"Quit playing games Riser." Daniel shouted out as Riser smirked back in response. "Acting like this with me won't cause me to drop my guard."
"And here Riser thought you were a fool." Riser replied as he pulled the blades from his body. "You'll have to try something else."
"Trace on." Daniel called out as he summoned Clarent to his hands. "I'm the one in control here brat. So let's try a little experimentation." Holding Clarent back like a batsman would a Baseball bat, Daniel pumped as much of his anger and mana that he could muster into the Blade.
'He called Sera a tramp, he called Sera a tramp, he called Sera a tramp.' Daniel thoughts continuously looped in his mind. The Red mana of Clarent turned more Crimson as it increased in it's power as Daniel was able to push his link with Clarent to a higher degree.
"Clarent." Daniel began growling before he lunched directly at Riser.
"Phenex Flame Wall!" Riser smugly called out as his defensive spell but it didn't matter to Daniel.
"BLOOD ARTHUR!" Daniel roared out as he swung Clarent with everything he had. Slicing through the flames with ease, the now crimson mana slashed through Riser's torso, cutting the young devil in half.
The attack didn't just stop at Riser though. The attack completely destroyed the Bound Field surrounding both fighters as well as an entire section of stands that was behind Riser. But Daniel didn't care about that. His eyes were focused only on Riser himself and his slowly healing body.
As slow as his healing was, Riser's body was able to recover from the attack but it did leave it's mark. Well, it was more like a large scar over his entire torso and back, Right over where the Clarent Blood Arthur mana burst attack had struck. "Well, well, well. Looks like I can can leave some scars. So much for your healing factor." Daniel chuckled as he dispelled Clarent.
"How did you do this to Riser?" Riser asked in shock as he touched his scar.
"Well, Clarent once was a Holy sword before it became a Demonic one. Looks like it still had some juice left in it." Daniel replied as he held onto his stomach.
"You... YOU BASTARD!" Riser roared out as his body became surrounded in flames. Riser the raised his hand and focused the flames around his body into a large ball of flames. The fire grew from the size of a tennis ball to twice the size of Riser himself. "Take this and die! Phenex Ashes!"
Ever so calmly, Daniel raised his right arm. "Those flames won't be enough."
"Rho Aias!" Creating the plasma shield, Daniel took on the brunt of Riser's flames. The flames fully engulfed Daniel and Rho Aias as the onlookers supporting Daniel watched in anticipation.
Daniel noticed that while the shield wasn't being destroyed, the petals were starting to melt. 'The petals are melting from the heat he's creating.'
'I'm not feeling any of the damage on me though, so he's not actually able to destroying them. Which means his flames aren't really all that powerful, just more intense than normal.' Daniel thought to himself as he pumped more mana into Rho Aias to slow down it's petals from melting.
In response to this the Petals of Rho Aias thickened and became larger, completely surrounding Daniel in a semi circle. It seemed to have lasted long enough as by the time the flames finally subsided, the shield held up.
Riser then tried to take control of the fight and flew up above Daniel. Creating smaller balls of fire he began to throw fireball after fireball at the Mage. "Phenex Barrage!"
'With Reinforce and Mind's Eye, these attacks are far too slow to be of any concern. And he seriously needs to work on naming his attacks.' Daniel thought to himself as he side stepped each attack that was sent his way.
Riser became from frustrated as Daniel looked like he was dancing around the flames he was creating. "Damn human." Keeping his attacks going, Riser flew down to the ground.
"Trace on!" But the moment he done so Daniel took his own action. Creating a golden spears that was Gáe Buidhe for each hand, Daniel leaned forward and burst towards Riser. Fortunately for Riser, Daniel had easily shown his attack pattern so he was able to avoid any killing blow.
However the Gáe Buidhe that was in his left hand, did manage to just scrape his nose. Riser held onto it and was shocked that he wasn't healing. "Wh... What's going on?" Riser asked out loud as he looked over nervously towards Daniel.
"What sort of Holy magic did you use on Riser!?" Riser demanded as his body burst into flames.
"I've yet to use a true Holy Weapon brat. After seeing what a converted weapon can do, that'll be too easy for me." Daniel replied as he glared at Riser. He lifted up one of the Gáe Buidhe spears and aimed it towards Riseer. "These spears are known as Gáe Buidhe, the Golden Rose of Mortality. And it is a cursed Spear not a Holy one. But it's a spear that'll inflicts wounds that cannot be healed naturally or even with magic, no incantation needed. And as you can see, I can create more than just one at a time."
"You cannot be serious!" Riser shouted out in horror.
"Oh, I am Riser. I've been serious from the start. Sword Barrel: Full Open" Upon Daniel's summons 20 other versions of Gáe Buidhe appeared around Daniel, their spear heads pointed directly at Riser. "Now... Surrender the fight or I will deliver on my earlier promise."
"You're bluffing." Riser countered, gaining some confidence back as he flew into the air.
"You know by now that I'm not. Fire!" As Daniel lowered the Gáe Buidhe in his left hand, the remaining copies launched themselves at Riser.
With his greater speed in the air, Riser managed to dodge all but one that struck his left leg. Screaming out from the pain, Riser tried to pull the spear from his leg but it wasn't moving.
"You worthless piece of human trash! You would dare hurt me, your better! I'll fucking end you!" Riser shouted out, for once not referring to himself in third person.
(Song End)
(Fate/Stay Night UBW OST: Archer's Theme)
"Fly all you want little bird. I'll just keep shooting at you." Daniel replied as he unsummoned all of the weapons he had already created. And replaced them with the longbow Fail-not.
"Do you have any idea how important this marriage is to Devil kind!? How much damage your actions are causing!?" Riser shouted out as he once more created another large ball of flames. This time the flames were a different colour. The flames were now a mix of red and black flames.
"I don't care Riser. All I care about is a little girl who being forced into a loveless marriage that she can never be happy in. But if you still think those little flames of yours puts you on a higher playing field than me. Then you can forget it... I'm ending this. Trace on." Daniel replied as he summoned the sword Caladbolg into his hands.
"No, no... NO!.. You'll perish!" Riser roared at Daniel as he launched his attack from the skies above. "YOUR SWORDS AND SPEARS WON'T HELP YOU NOW! AND NEITHER WILL THAT SHIELD! EXTINCTION HELLFIRE!"
As the large ball of flames moved towards Daniel, he calmly locked the now drill shaped sword in place. "You don't get it Riser. I'm not a Lancer... Or a Swordsman." Daniel started off softly explaining to Riser as he pumped as much mana as he could into Caladbolg.
The more he pumped in, the more red lighting that began to arc around his body. The lightning danced around Daniel and the area around him as he narrowed his eyes on his target. "I'm a fucking Archer! Calad... BOLG!"
Breaking the sound barrier upon firing, the rainbow arrow was moving directly to the centre of the large ball of red and black flames. Daniel watched on as the Caladbolg arrow passed through and destroyed Riser's attack as if it was nothing.
The arrow did not even slow down as his aim remained true after as the Caladbolg arrow impacted Riser's gut creating a large explosion of multicoloured flames and blinding lights. From the light and flames, Riser's body fell down to the Arena's floor, creating a large dust cloud upon impact.
Waiting for the dust to settle, Daniel kept himself on edge just in case. However it wasn't needed as when he seen Riser's shadowy figure, he was struggling to get to his knee, let alone stand. "It's time I delivered on my promise" Daniel stated as he slowly began walking towards Riser.
"Wh.. What have you done?" Riser asked in fear. "I can't move, I... I can't heal myself." He then noticed the condition Riser's body was in.
Most of his body was now covered in burns and scars that weren't healing as Riser said. If it wasn't for the fact he was already a high class Devil, Daniel knew that he would be dead. "I struck you with a Holy weapon." Daniel's simple answer brought realisation to Riser's face.
"Most of you Devils are the same. You happily sit back on your pride. Never testing yourself, Never training to push yourselves to being better. Years ago Humans like me were able to defeat Devils. According to Sera it's why Devils like her are wary of Human's like me. Now, if you find someone with even a hint of power, they're part of your peerage."
"And don't even get me started on Longinus' users as well." Daniel stated out as he smirked at the downed Riser. "They aren't all that great y'know. In fact, trace on."
Creating Gáe Bolg in his hand, Daniel pointed the bone headed spear at Riser. "I have countless weapons that can kill a god. But I prefer to call them Noble Phantasms. This spear is one one them. You already know it as I've shown it to you before. But for those watching, it's called Gáe Bolg."
"Are all humans as terrifying as you?" Riser asked in fear.
"Not anymore... I'm just the modern exception." Daniel replied as Daniel pumped some of his mana into Gáe Bolg. A red arua appeared around the spear as Riser could feel the bloodlust.
"Do you have any last words?" Daniel asked but never got a response as Riser lowered his head. "Then so be it."
As Daniel was about to deliver the killing blow the voice of a girl cried out. "Stop! Please don't hurt him!"
In a brief flash of flames a small girl appeared with her arms held out in front of Daniel, her eyes and hair colour matched Riser's own as she protected the older Devil. "Please I beg you, don't kill my brother."
Daniel silently glared back at the small girl, who done her best to act tough in front of him. After a few seconds, Daniel unsummoned Gáe Bolg from his hands as he sighed. "Be grateful you have a sister like her. Next time she won't be enough to save you." Daniel stated to Riser and turned his back on him.
"The match is over. Riser has lost by forfeit. His life has been spared due to a family request. Rias is now free from her marriage with Riser Phenex!" Daniel exclaimed out to all those watching as Rias and her supported either cheered or smiled.
(My Hero Academia OST: Mind of Evil)
But before they could celebrate, they witnessed Riser push his little sister out of the way and fire a point blank attack at Daniel. "DIE! PHENEX HELLFIRE OF DESTRUCTION!"
Noticing the attack at the last second, Daniel knew he couldn't dodge it. Nor could he summon Rho Aias in time. 'Shit.' He thought to himself as he done the only thing he could do to protect himself, overload his body with mana in hope that'll be enough along with protection rune.. And raise his arms up to try and protect himself.
As Sera watched on from the reception she along with the rest of the other Devils around her screamed out his name. "DANIEL!" As the flames engulfed his upper body as Riser poured everything he had into his final attack.
Once he had finally stopped the smoke rising from Daniel's body made everyone unable to see if he was still alive or not. But they were all shocked to hear that he was still breathing. It was clear he was in great deal of pain as his breathing sounded more like he was hissing. That and it was extremely heavy, almost laboured.
When they finally seen the shape his body was in, they gasped in horror. All the clothes above his waist had all been burnt away by the flames, but what shocked the older Devils in particular was the now clearly seen mark on his right forearm. Exposed for the entire Underworld to see.
But his physical body was now littered with deep and heavy third degree burn marks along with melted skin, but covering over those marks were small and thin lines that appeared like circuits. Their neon green glow littered Daniel's body. Small amounts of mana were even dripping out from the magic circuits. They could see he was gritting his teeth to help deal with the pain as he glared back at Riser with blood shot eyes.
'Fuck, this huuuuuurts!... He over powered the protection Rune.' Daniel thought to himself as he fought through the irrepressible pain his body was experiencing.
Slowly the burns began to heal as a rune over his left shoulder began to glow. However it appeared to be acting oddly. It was stopping and started irregularly. It was clear to the other Devils this wasn't meant to be the case.
"How are you still fucking alive!?" Riser asked out loud but never got a response.
"T... Trace... On!" Creating a single dagger, Daniel staggered over to Riser before slamming the dagger into the young Devil's chest. The young Devil screamed out in pain as lightning and demonic energy arced around were he was stabbed. "You're... Gonna... Pay... For that!"
After a minute, Riser's screamed stopped as Daniel pulled out the dagger. He tightly gripped his other hand. "There... Riser Phenex is now dead... I think I've... Delivered on my... Promise." Daniel stated out through his gritting teeth.
"What do you mean? I'm still alive!?" Riser pointed out.
"I offered you a chance to surrender... You turned it down... Your sister surrendered for you... And you attacked me from behind... Death was too good for you." Daniel stated out to Riser as he knelt down to him.
"So I done... The one thing that'll make every Devil... Fear me... That'll make the entire supernatural world... Fear me." Daniel growled out as he showed Riser what was in his other hand.
"And I done what should... Be impossible." Lifting it up for those watching to see as well, it was a King Chess piece. "I made you... Human."
"I'm/He's what?" Riser and his sister both asked at the same time as Daniel began laughing.
"You're another piece of human trash... Just like me." Daniel answered as he smirked. "This piece contains everything you've ever held dear... Your immortality... Your powers... Your peerage... Even your Devilhood."
(OST End)
"Death would've been too good... For someone like you." Daniel finished as he pocked the King Piece. "I'll be handing this over to the Four Satans... They'll be the one's to decide wither... You're fit enough to become a Devil ever again."
"Can I go now?" Daniel asked out loud. "I need help... And fast." Within a moment both Sera and Rias arrived in front of Daniel.
They both went to check on him but the moment they made any contact with him. His body heavily spasmed from the pain. He done his best to hold back his own scream, clamping his jaw tightly so no sound could escape. But as best as he tried to stay awake from the pain for any longer, he soon passed out in their arms.
(Monday 21st May - Morning)
It had been two whole days since Daniel had passed out after his fight with Riser. As he slowly opened his eyes he was thankful that his body was no longer in a great deal of pain, instead it now felt numb with barely enough strength to move. Looking down he noticed that his arms were covered in bandages. Taking a peak under the wraps he seen that his burn marks were recovering, but he didn't know if was due to Sera healing him or the Rune doing it's work.
As he looked around the room he noticed that their were three others in the room with him, Sera, Rias and another woman who looked like Rias but had light brown hair. They all appeared to be sleeping like he was. 'I'm guess that's Rais' mother, maybe?'
But he brought his hand over to Sera who was sitting beside him by his bedside. After putting her hand over her head, he began stoking it, slowly waking Sera up. "Hey." Daniel smirked as he greeted the waking Sera.
"Thank the Lords below your awake." Sera sighed as brought her hands up and held onto Daniel's hand.
"Long was I out?" Daniel asked as he grunted as he slowly sat up on the bed.
"Take your time. We were able to help with your wounds but they'll need time to heal properly." Sera softly stated as she did her best to help Daniel move. "You've been sleeping for two days."
"That long?" Daniel asked with a raised eyebrow. "It only felt like a short nap."
"It's good to see that you're awake." A voice didn't recognise spoke out to Daniel. "Hello dear, I'm Venelana Gremory. Rias' mother."
"It's nice to meet you Lady Gremory." Daniel replied with a smile as Sera bowed lightly to her.
"Believe me when I say that the pleasure is all mine dear. Thank you for taking care of Rias' marriage." Venelana responded with a smile of her own as he stood over by Rias. "Tell me, Daniel Cole, do you have any feelings for my little Rias?"
Daniel shook his head before he responded. "I don't Lady Gremory, I just couldn't let something like that happen. Not when I know my own student would've done the same thing if he was awake."
With Daniel answer Venelana smile grew as she sighed in relief. "That's good. If you did then it would've certainly made the following conversation with our family a little bit more difficult."
Daniel was confused by her words but didn't voice any concerns as Venelana placed a hand on Rias' shoulder and slowly began to shake Rias awake. "Rias dear, it's time to wake up."
"Five more minutes." Rias groaned out as she toss and turned on her chair.
"Rias dear. Wake up." Venelana repeated her words again, this time a little bit more forceful.
Rias' reaction was instant was she quickly stood up to her feet. When she noticed Daniel was awake she rushed over a tightly hugged him. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou." Rias swiftly stated as he hugged a stunned Daniel.
"No problem kid." Daniel grunted in his reply as he patted her back.
As Rias let go of Daniel, she moved over beside her mother. "I'll see you later Sensei." Rias stated as she bowed lightly before leaving with her mother.
Once alone, Sera held onto Daniel's hand once more. "The whole Underworld's been talking about your fight with Riser, and what you had done after."
"I take it a lot of them want me dead then?" Daniel asked with a grim grin. But Sera solemnly shook her head in response.
"It's a little bit more complicated than that. Although you'd like to know that Ajuka said he was going to hold onto Riser's Chess piece at the moment, but I want you to get some rest Dan." Sera stated to Daniel with a sad smile.
"I know something's bothering you Sera. What is it?" Daniel asked in concern but Sera just shook her head.
"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine... We'll be fine." Sera replied before she kissed his forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too." Daniel whispered the same words back as he watched Sera leave the room. 'Is it though. I now no longer have any idea of what to expect in this world. And it was meant to be Issei that defeated Riser, not me... I might've really fucked things up.'
(Evening)
When Daniel entered the dining hall along with Sera he was meet with Rias, Sirzechs, Grayfia, Venelana, another red haired man who Daniel knew as one of the members of the School's board of Directors and a small red haired kid around 8 or 9 years old. But what Daniel found odd was that Grayfia was sitting down along with everyone else and not standing beside or behind Sirzechs.
'So this is Grayfia the Wife I'm meeting, instead of Grayfia the Maid.' Daniel thought to himself.
"It's a pleasure to that you're awake and well Cole-Sensei. We've already meet once before but allow me to properly reintroduce myself, I'm Rias' father, Lord Zeoticus Gremory." Zeoticus smiled as he offered Daniel his hand, to which Daniel shook.
"It's a pleasure to see you again as well Director." Daniel replied.
"Please, I'm not a broad member while we are here. Call me Zeo." Zeo replied back with a smile as he pulled back a chair for Daniel and Sera. "Please, both you and Lady Leviathan take a seat."
As Daniel sat down he noticed the mixture of different emotions showing from everyone in the room. Sirzechs, Grayfia and Sera were looking nervous. Rias and the kid were looking confused while both Venelana and Zeo were both warmly smiling at him.
"I'm sorry if I'm reading the room wrong but, I take it something's happened? Most likely by something I've caused." Daniel asked to which Venelana and Zeo both chuckled.
"Daniel. Would you be able to tell me about your parents?" Venelana asked in response to Daniel's question.
"My parents?" Daniel stated out in confusion. "I... I haven't thought about them since my final year in Uni."
"So you don't know anything about them?" Venelana asked once more.
"No." Daniel answered. "All that I know about them is that they left me outside the orphanage in Derry where I grew up."
"There wasn't even a note near me when the Nun's found me. They were the ones who named and registered me." Daniel finished with a sad smile on his face.
"What if I told you that we know your parents?" Zeo asked as he leaned forwards from his chair.
"You know Sensei's parents?" Rias asked in shock.
"Of course we do. Lady Leviathan was the first to uncover this. My Son and Daughter-in-law discovered it after. And on your wedding day we along with the rest of the Underworld discovered the truth." Venelana responded as she looked over to her son and Sera.
Daniel looked to his left and seen that Sera was on the verge of tears. "The Underworld knows?.." Glancing over to Sirzechs and Grayfia, they both weren't able to look at him. "You all knew my parents?"
"Yes." Sirzechs nervously answered before he looked over at Grayfia, who tightly held onto his hand. "That's because both Grayfia and I are your parents."
Sirzechs' answered shocked Daniel to his core. "This isn't some joke here y'know." Daniel stated out in English as he started to shake. "This isn't some far off fantasy world like fucking Star Wars!"
Daniel's switch to his native English wasn't a surprise to the Devils after hearing this news. The only ones who appeared to be showing any signs of Shock were Daniel, Rias and the kid beside Grayfia.
"Daniel, I know that you're confused." Sirzechs began his attempt to explain but was cut short.
"Confused!?" Daniel snapped back.
"Of course I'm confused!" Daniel breathing started to become heavy as he held onto his head. "All my life I've been proud of who I am, now I don't even know what I am! This doesn't make any sense! I'm a human, not a Devil! How!?"
"Daniel." Sirzechs called out getting his attention. "I know this might be hard to believe but look at Grayfia, and then me. You have her hair and my eyes."
Daniel done as he was asked and upon looking at Grayfia and the colour of her hair, his eyes started to swell up. "I need a minute to get my head straight." Daniel stated before quickly leaving the room.
Once he was gone Sirzechs held onto Grayfia while Sera silently began to cry only to be comforted by Venelana. "Where's Millicas?" Rias asked as she couldn't see him.
(Daniel)
As Daniel tired to catch his breath outside on a balcony overlooking the back garden of the Gremory Mansion he held onto his head once more. 'I was born a Devil in this world... Dear God I was born a Devil.' Daniel thought to himself until he heard a voice call out to him.
"Does this mean that you're my big Brother then?"
And Cut!
*BOOM* Bet ye didn't see that coming.
Updated Character Facts:
Name - Daniel Cole
Age - 28 (Previous Life -28 at time of death)
Height - 188cm/6ft 2ins
Race - Human
Nicknames - Dan-tan - by Serafall Leviathan,
Hair Colour - Silver Grey (Previous Life - Brown)
Eye Colour - Blue (Previous Life - Hazel)
Equipment - Gáe Bulg,
Caladbolg,
Fail-not,
Moralltach,
Beagalltach,
Honjō Masamune,
Gáe Buidhe,
Black Keys,
Excalibur,
Excalibur Destruction (Secace),
Excalibur Mimic (Galuth),
Excalibur Rapidly (Laevatein),
Excalibur Nightmare (Coreiseuse),
Excalibur Transparency (Red Hilt),
Excalibur Blessing (Galatine),
Excalibur Ruler (Caledfwlch),
Clarent
& Countless other Sword, Spears and Bows.
AN - Daniel can create these swords after witnessing Excalibur Transparency or Red Hilt's history.
Abilities - Projection and Tracing,
Reinforcement,
Structural Analysis
and Unlimited Blade Works
Relatives - Sirzechs Lucifer (Father),
Grayfia Lucifuge (Mother),
Millicas Gremory (Little Brother),
Rias Gremory (Aunt),
Zeoticus Gremory (Grandfather),
Venelana Gremory (Grandmother),
Killian Cole (Blood Brother).
Affiliations - Kuoh Academy (English Teacher & Class 2-B Homeroom Teacher),
Occult Research Club (Adviser)
Status - Alive
Ranking - Academy Teacher (Previous Life - Teacher)
Few things I want to say before we start. This was actually planned form the start but was planned to be revealed at this time. And if you read previous chapters it was hinted at just like Excalibur was. (Chapter 8 and her reaction at the beginning of the chapter IE poking Daniel for Dating Sera)
Seeing those comments about her personality did make me laugh as I knew this was the pay off lol. Her initial reaction to Daniel and Sera's relationship wasn't from Grayfia the maid but Grayfia the mother.
Secondly is over not posting the Rating Game itself and skipping over it. Honestly, I wasn't happy enough with it to post it. This was meant to be the 12th chapter, but I ended up scrapping the original chapter 11 after writing it six times and not being happy with any of them. That chapter was the bane of my existence for two non-stop bloody weeks.
So since I skipped that one I decided to make this one a little bit longer to make up for it.
But without any more delay, here's this chapter's Q&A!
1) Out of curiosity, did you base Scathach's appearance on another character, or is purely original? It was based off two characters Anko from Naruto in physical form and the scar off Rider (Francis Drake) from Fate/Extra Last Encore. The hair and eye colour though were my own choice.
2) So when is Daniel gonna use Unlimited Blade Works? Not for a while. UBW isn't something that is just used all the time.
3) If Cole can trace a fake Avalon, he should know where the real one is. Will he be getting it? This would be possible but I won't have Daniel leave to find Avalon sorry.
4) Back in early chapters, did Issei's instinct to trust Cole come from his dragon instinct? If so, is it because Cole has an affinity to dragons? it was a mixture of both his dragon, new devil instinct and his own. Cole won't have an affinity to dragons though. That'll still be Asia.
5) Can you make a flashback to when Cole first show his Reality Marble to Serafall? Sure I'll be able to do that. Although it will be a while as it will be after I debut Unlimited Blade Works within the story first.
6) Will there be any more interactions with Great Red and does Ophis know his secret? With Great Red, no. However there will be one with Ophis in a far later chapter I have planned out.
7) In this story how does Excalibur stack up to Caliburn and if Excalibur is weaker would having Avalon even thing out? In this story Excalibur stands head and shoulders above every other sword. I know there are a lot of Excalibur level swords in DxD however, they are comparing those swords to the 'broken' Excalibur which is not so broken in this story.
Also the DxD version of Caliburn is going to be weaker but I'll explain that when the Pendragons appear.
So that's all for this chapter folks. If you have a question do feel free to post a review or PM myself. If I don't answer your question on next chapter's Q&A I will try to reply via PM. No spoiler question though. they won't be given full answers. But anyway thank you for reading this chapter. I hope you've all enjoyed it. Till next time!