I don't own Highschool DXD! Only OC's and all the bullshit I come up with!
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When Flames Rise – Chapter 10
A new Hero
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Saji was a really patient person.
At least that was what his parents had always told him. That he was a patient-friendly boy who was ready to help out if needed.
Yet it didn't change the fact that everybody had a point where they just couldn't keep going, a point where all hope seems lost with no way out, a point where most would give up.
He was close to that point.
He's searching for the damn Phoenix felt like it had started an eternity ago and he had yet to find as much as a clue.
To be fair the only help he was getting until now was an insane Dragon inside of his left arm whose personality could switch faster than it probably should.
He had gone to almost every corner of Kuoh trying to find any signs of a big red-orange firebird. He had no idea if the Phoenix actually looked like what he imagined it would. After all, Sona was a devil and she didn't even have horns, only batwings that she could retract, everything else looked perfectly human.
From what the Dragon had told him he should be able to sense the Phoenix if it wasn't hiding its presence, but even if it wasn't hiding its presence, Saji was so inexperienced with the art of sensing other beings that he would barely be able to notice if he passed said Phoenix.
The Dragon had also told him that it itself could sense from within his arm or something, but even if the Dragon had far greater experience with such things, Saji couldn't fully rely on him for the simple reason of the Dragon just being straight-up insane.
He could have passed the Phoenix a few times by now and the Dragon could have not noticed because it was distracted by… anything really.
It was frustrating and eating away at his patient.
Thankfully there were ways to recharge his patient.
The best one was talking with Issei and Mio, well more talking with Mio and sitting while Issei just sat there with them. And even though Issei seemed to be more of an extra element of the conversations they had, he was the reason why those conversations even worked.
Saji had heard of Issei before as the Evil of Kuoh, but after meeting him in person he seemed like a really nice and friendly guy who everyone just stayed away from with the only exception being Tiamat who consistently stayed at his side. And while he didn't really talk it was his sheer presence that calmed Saji and at the same time made him fear that he might be gay. Nothing bad with being gay just if he was gay, he couldn't have anything with Sona.
Sona…
Oh, how he missed his princess.
She was the closest anyone has come to perfect, and he wanted nothing more than to be hers and hers alone.
Sadly she had left after the Phoenix had destroyed something really valuable to her.
It frustrated him that he never got the details of what had fully happened, but he was fine working with the basics.
And the basics said that he should kill the Phoenix.
It sounded like pure bullshit.
Kill a creature that was famous for the fact that it could not be killed via simple means. And Saji was very aware of that, but he had a method that should, probably, work.
[Absorption Line]. His Holy Gear. No, wait, it's called Sacred Gear.
It has the power to absorb an enemy's energy and even though he had never tested it, he was confident that it wouldn't be that hard.
{You seem very confident in your ability to wield my power. Arrogance is a weakness, not a strength!}
The voice inside his head startled him, making him almost trip over his own feet. Saji still isn't used to a random voice popping into his head and making comments about what he was thinking.
Sometimes he wished that he could simply remove the insane Dragon from his arm, but then he was reminded by the fact that without the Dragon Sona wouldn't even have noticed him, and thus he was in dept of said Dragon even if he wasn't fully sane.
{Oh no no no! I don't want to hear that from the guy who is obsessed with a devil girl on a way too creepy level!}
'Oh shut up! You aren't even sane.'
{Wrong! I'm just… just… what was it again?}
'See!'
{No you lowly fool! I am not… wait what?}
What neither the insane Dragon with memory loss nor the yandere boy conversing with said Dragon realized was that they were being stalked.
Stalked by who?
By Dante of course!
The Soulbound Reaper was no one to laze around and since Ophis had literally attached a part of herself towards Ravel he didn't have to babysit her while Issei and Tiamat were going around just having fun.
Talking about Ophis, the loli Dragon God's 'main body' was currently seated upon his shoulders watching him do his work and observing Saji rambling with his inner Dragon.
Normally the Prison Dragon trapped in the blonds Sacred Gear would have already shit his metaphorical pants once he noticed the Dragon God's overwhelming presence, but Dante had convinced Ophis to hide her energy so he could do his job unnoticed, thankfully she complied with no resistance.
Saji was actually quite lucky that he was only stalked by the two.
If it wasn't for his harmless level of power, the nonexistence of his supernatural connections, and his relationship with Issei, Dante would have assassinated him a long time ago.
Oh yeah, and there were also the intentions Issei had with him.
Something small fell onto Dante's head, making him freeze, it was followed by a few more objects falling onto his head and when he took one for inspection, it turned out that what had dropped onto him was popcorn. Looking up he saw Ophis literally devouring said popcorn from a container that she had manifested out of seemingly nowhere.
Her astonishing speed suggested that the dialogue between Saji and the Dragon was reaching its climax.
A climax that would just end with Saji continuing his futile search.
==X==X==
Raynare was confused.
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
No response.
No new orders.
No nothing.
Her last report seemed to just have evaporated into nothingness.
No worries about this 'Issei' guy.
No question about Dohnaseek's disappearance.
No commands to go on or change the plan.
It was like they have been… forgotten…
No… No no nononono… Azazel was a busy man, but he would never never just forget his loyal subjects.
Would he?
No nono it wasn't possible that someone like him would ever leave them behind to rot in an abandoned church for no reason whatsoever.
But maybe there was a reason.
Yes… Yes! That was it! Something really really important must have happened, distracting Azazel, and making him unable to respond to their report in any way.
Then why weren't they back at Grigori helping him?
…
Raynare didn't know.
==X==X==
Sirzechs took a deep breath.
Today was the day.
The day where Falbium would officially be replaced and a new Asmodeus would take the title as one of the four Satans.
While it didn't seem like it, Falbium had actually been the most important Satan of them all in devil society.
Lucifer had the role of leader and head of the species, making the big decisions and leading the devil race towards wherever he decided it shall go.
Beelzebub was responsible for the development of new technology and also took the title of head scientist of the entirety of devil kind.
Leviathan was required to handle all foreign relationships and also the general mood of devil kind, needing to make sure that everyone was happy with their life.
And Asmodeus was everything else. Not only was he in charge of controlling the entire economy of all of devil kind, but he also had to look into all the small things, like city planning, power regulation of the pillars, and all other sorts of things.
There was a reason as to why Falbium always slept when he had time to.
He never valued anything over his work, keeping himself awake at devilish times, just to complete the last of his work. He refused to rest until he was fully done with all of his work. Never leave a single piece of paper for 'tomorrow' or 'later'. To be fair, he didn't really have any other options. In contrast to the other Satans was it impossible for him to leave a few papers for the next day, as they would pile up and grow to such heights that once it escalated it wouldn't stop escalating.
Sirzechs could not imagine living like that and he himself already was in paperwork hell.
But that was beside the current point.
He was in one of his fanciest outfits that took him 1 hour to fully put on, even with magic.
On both of his sides were the other two Satans, his close friends, Serafall and Ajuka. Both like him were dressed over the top and both also had a cloud of depression around them.
Even Serafall the cheery, easygoing, happy Satan who only really got angry when her sister was in danger was silently glancing into nothingness, her eyes dead and cold, her expression stoic and distant.
All of them feared taking their seats in front of all the high-ranking devils of their society.
Not because they didn't feel ready to speak, but because of what they would see. They would be met face to face with a crowd of people who mostly didn't care about Falbium and whose only reason for being here was seeing who the new Satan would be.
If they could most of them cut this meeting short into just the declaration of a new Satan with no mention of Falbium.
It was in their nature.
But even with all the anonymous requests he got, he would not drop the speech for Falbium, he refused to just let one of his best friends be forgotten as nothing had happened.
He was hoping that not the same could be said about the one he himself has chosen to be the next Asmodeus.
Well, sadly not chosen, but rather voted for. He like all others had no access to the numbers.
That role was given to Mephisto, as he was not only an elder devil but also a very close friend to Falbium and someone who the Satans deemed to be highly trustworthy.
Being the strict man he is, Mephisto didn't give them the slightest of hints of who the winner of the vote would be, remaining completely silent to everybody about the topic, proofing once again that he was highly trustworthy.
He was a bit frustrated and stressed about the fact that the entire thing would still take until 14:00 to start and yet it was barely 13:00.
A familiar presence entered the Grand Hall.
Normally Sirzechs would have jumped and immediately rushed towards said presence, catching her in a bear hug and not letting her go for at least ten minutes.
But.
He hesitated.
Not because of the current situation.
But.
Because of the aura, his little sister was giving off.
Anger. Depression. Sadness. Hatred.
It was all well-hidden, but as her older brother, he could easily sense the feelings that she was harbori-
Regret.
…
What?
Why was there regret?
What did that mean?
Had something happened?
…
Was she somehow… no… NO NO NO… Rias could never do something like that!
…
But then why-
No! Sirzechs you are worrying too much! Your little sister has an entire life on her own, maybe something happened due to her actions that she regrets, the regret doesn't have to be linked with Falbium's death! Maybe she just has that typical main character regret! That she wished to have been powerful enough to somehow stop those cursed flames from killing so many, even though it was not her fault! There is no way that she has anything to do with Falbium's death!
He took a deep breath after finally convincing himself that his sister had had no hand in the extermination of thousands upon thousands of devils.
But even so, it didn't feel right to talk to her now. Not only were both of them weren't really emotionally stable enough to talk with one another, but one hour was not enough for both of them to just… talk.
He needed to make time for that, and he would… later.
For now, he needed to mentally prepare himself for what would happen in an hour and just let the staff lead Rias to her place.
==X==X==
Cao Cao was casually strolling through the streets of Kuoh.
He had no idea why or how, but some of their sources reported that they had heard that someone had felt a bit of the Dragon God's energy somewhere around the area of Kuoh.
It was a very thin and unreliable lead, but the best one they have had so far.
He had barely been here for more than an hour, but he was already annoyed for not finding anything related to the supernatural.
He looked around the crowd of normal people.
All of them, weak and defenseless.
Apart from him wanted to laugh about it and embrace his superiority, but he despised that part of himself. It wasn't even his true self; it was a personality forced upon him by the people who had given him the powers he now possessed.
He did not know how they did so, but somehow, they managed to manipulate God's System to give him of all people the True Longinus. This combined with the fact that the original Cao Cao was his ancestor made him one of the if not the most powerful pure-blooded human alive.
They had told him that he was superior, that he was a higher being.
Back then he had accepted said reality and did as it demanded he does.
But then he saved someone for the first time out of sheer instinct. The girl had no significance to the Clan who had given him his powers, nor was she powerful in any kind of way, but he still had saved her.
And at exactly that moment he had figured out his true purpose.
Being a hero.
A hero for those who could not fend for themselves, a hero who people could rely on, a hero for everyone who needed one.
The weakness that humans had was unfair. It made them more fragile than all other species and caused them to be helpless in the face of any danger.
He didn't want that.
He knew that however many people he could gather to protect those in need wouldn't be enough. It would never be enough to truly help all. So he went for the next best thing.
Trying to make humans more powerful.
If the average human would be capable of fending themselves off against the supernatural, there would be no need for him to be a hero, death rates through supernatural creatures would plummet into the ground like meteorites.
He wanted to strengthen the human to the point where heroes were not needed.
He would still be there for them, a protector against all the monsters out there, but for now, he plays the great hero that stands above them all to protect them all. He would risk his life for all the people on this street if anything were to attack them right now.
A demonic presence entered his sensing range.
Cao Cao twitched. Wasn't it for the crowd around him, he would have dashed towards the source to see if the demon or devil was causing problems. If it was, he would immediately proceed to kill it. If not, well he'll see once he gets there.
His walk turned into a power walk and soon after into a sprint, which was fast but slow enough to be considered normal among average humans. He reached a pretty abandoned street with only two other people and slowed down as he was closing in on the demon.
He turned the corner and was surprised by what he saw.
It was another empty street with abandoned buildings to both sides and a single boy walking between them looking for something. At first, he thought the boy to be a young hunter or something along those lines, but he quickly realized that the boy was the devil he had been sensing. And now that he was closer, he also noticed that this was no average devil, this was a reincarnated one. A human whose humanity had been revoked only for them to become a slave to someone more powerful than themselves.
The Evil Pieces.
The main reason why he preferred the Old Satan faction over the new one.
This poor soul was probably wandering the streets as a patrol under the command of one of the two 'owners' of this territory.
Apart from him wanted to just pull out the True Longinus and stab the poor boy through the heart, ending his suffering.
But.
He if he did so he might eliminate a source of information. And he could not take such a risk.
With silent steps, he walked up to the boy.
{Something isn't right…}
Saji immediately tensed when the Dragon's word reached his mind. Normally he would dismiss the comment like every other, but this time the Dragon sounded extremely serious. And after pushing his senses a bit, he also felt it.
A power that felt like suffocating poison that would burn his skin.
A power that seemed like it could rip through him in mere seconds if he were to let it.
A power he could not compare to, one that greatly outmatched him.
Then a hand was placed on his shoulder.
{Don't do anything! If it wants you dead, then you're already dead, if it does not, do NOT provoke it!}
Cao Cao looked down at the frozen in shock devil. His power level proved just how little chance the devil would have against him, which made him question why this one was turned into a slave.
Then Cao Cao felt the Sacred Gear and it clicked. He was used for his curse. Like he himself, the devil had been prioritized over all the other humans just for one of those pesky curses that God has given them.
|Please don't call us-|
'Quiet!'
How did that guy manage to speak up? Normally Cao Cao could keep him silent 24/7, but very rarely he would come out and speak, it annoyed him.
But right now, there were more important matters at hand.
"What are you doing?"
{Do NOT lie!}
Saji was overwhelmed for a second before answering.
"I-I just were, uh, was-was searching for the… uh, the Phoenix…?"
Cao Cao blinked twice and looked at the boy who still had his back turned to him. The amounts of stuttering weren't what had caught his attention, but rather this so-called 'Phoenix'.
"Who or what do you mean by Phoenix."
"Uhm… Shitori-senpai has been hurt very badly by the Phoenix, uh, in an emotional way, and I thought that, maybe, if I could, maybe, defeat it, that then maybe, she would come back."
Cao Cao took a moment, but soon built himself a picture of the situation.
This Shitori person was probably either his master or a person very close to him, it couldn't be a close friend or lover of his master, cause if that would be the case then he wouldn't have formulated it like he was doing this on his own accord and Cao Cao didn't believe that a devil would do such a thing for another random devil.
"Now that you told me why you are searching this Phoenix, can you tell me who or what it is?"
His voice was calm, but he kept enough authority in it to make it clear to the devil that he still was in full control.
"Uhm… this is going to sound stupid… but… I really have no… I don't know…"
What?
"Then how do you intend on finding it?"
The devil visibly shrank into himself.
"I… I thought that I might find it through… searching… I… I don't know… I just wanted to help her, but… I don't know how, so I just went for it, hoping to find it… hoping to help her."
The answer genuinely surprised Cao Cao. He had not expected so much of the kid's humanity to remain after being turned into a creature of the Underworld. Subconsciously his aura lowered in pressure and his grip lost a bit of strength.
"I never… saw her so sad… so destroyed… so broken… I wanted to fix her… but I barely know how all of this happened… I remember strolling through the park when everything went black only to then wake up in the Student Council room… with her there… she explained that I was now ok and something more about that I am now a devil, but then there was this broadcast on TV, I was too dizzy to see what happened… but later one of the others told me that a… no the Phoenix had killed someone really close to her… More I didn't get out and I didn't want to push them, so I started scouting Kuoh for this damn Phoenix, as they told me that he was somewhere here… I planned to use my Sacred Gear… [Absorption Line]… to simply… suck out all his energy… even though I never used it before… but even with the little chance I have, I will keep going, until I find him, and then I will eliminate him…"
Cao Cao looked back down at the devil and their eyes met.
"So even if you kill me, I will find a way back to eliminate this damn firebird… I will not give up no matter what happens… I am ready for whatever you have in store for me."
Cao Cao was a little bit more than startled and showed it by just silently starring down at the devil without saying a word for quite a while as his brain needed a bit of time to work through all the information.
He sighed deeply as he realized just what the Phoenix was revering to.
"You know what… Let's find that guy together, but first, you need to learn to fully use your abilities, without them you are practically useless."
Saji blinked multiple times, his bravery and determination retreating to make space for the confusion…
"You heard me right, we are going to train you."
Cao Cao started creating a magic circle.
"But why?"
The blue-haired man turned his head back to the devil.
"Previously I believed that devils are always selfish and uncaring creatures, you're a unique exception, someone who fights for those they love without needing to be asked to do so, a hero, and I can't leave a young inexperienced hero out here on a search that he will most definitely fail, the least I can do is make you strong enough to find what you're looking for."
Saji looked at Cao Cao with amazement. He had expected certain death, yet he got something far better, a chance, a chance at saving Souna, at saving the one he loved.
He then noticed Cao Cao's outstretched hand, offering him that chance.
He didn't hesitate.
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A/N:
I'M BACK BABY!
Sorry for being gone for so long hope you enjoyed this 4k chapter from me.
Have fun breathing and pray that I don't go missing again.
Also Review pls.
