Chapter 3: Different Kinds of Gold
Such tranquil sky, he was mesmerized by its beauty. The calmness that it brought was enough to bring a smile on his face.
Blood
His back was resting on the concrete ground, trying to move yet his muscles denied it as he was forced to endure the uncomfortable hardness of the floor. It seemed sleeping too much was really not good for his health, he should've listened to Sona sometimes.
The bluenette had no idea how he reached the rooftop without noticing, it might be because of his habit to use the area to hide from the majority of the student body. Or maybe he was so used to it that it became a muscle memory, he shook his head.
No doubt Hannibal would reprimand him with his action… speaking of Hannibal… where is he?
Blood
He did not know how it had happened but suddenly everything changed in just a blink of an eye. Field of endless blood roses replaced the cold cement floor as the blue sky became reddish orange. The young man was so captivated with the scenery and his mind was full of questions, he had completely forgotten about the lack of voice from his Sacred Gear.
Blood
"Finally… you have successfully broken the wall between us."
After he heard a soft voice behind him, he decided to look at where the feminine voice had originated from. His eyes widened. Not because of her unearthly beauty or any of her physical assets but the fact that he could feel something— a strong raw aura that almost akin to a god or goddess— from her made him cautious. But the cautiousness had quickly melted away after the young woman smiled at him. Something from that smile warmed his chest, and for as long as he remembered, it only had happened when her mother was still around and whenever Esdeath brought him into the city when he was still a child.
And it was rare for him to feel that sensation, not only because of his cold and stoic personality and him being a practitioner and user of Ice magic, he had long forgotten that kind of warmness after he was forced to take lives.
Some masked their guilt by diverting their attention into some lighter things, others were seeking for redemption, while some took pleasure in it. But there were few who felt almost nothing about it, like him. It was the most disgusting for him, no matter how much his enemies bled, his eyes wouldn't show any emotion. No matter how much his targets begged, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from finishing them off even though he could have spared them.
He was the worst. Those eyes of her were making him self-conscious.
The woman had a pair of forest-green eyes, Minato could see the concern in her eyes and it wasn't that hard to see. Her eyes were opposite of his, it was too expressive. Her very long beautiful curly blonde hair were being blown by the warm breeze, fluttering in the wind. What she was wearing was just a simple white dress that greatly emphasized her voluptuous figure.
The appearance of the stranger could be compared to Akeno's but at the same time could not. Physically, they almost have the same body, but Akeno's had a rough and mischievous one aura and the one with him right now only showed softness. Akeno was called nadeshiko, but this woman could be as elegant as the black-haired could be. The playfulness that Akeno had was like a polar opposite of the blonde's genuine expression.
Her gentle smile almost had broken his emotionless face. "I… am completely surprised that you have succeeded from breaking the barrier between this place and your mind." The young woman placed her both hands on her chest as she tilted her head to the side. She smiled again, but this time her eyes were starting to let out tears, "I am happy that I wouldn't be alone now… but it seems we don't have the luxury of time to converse with each other for now."
Confused by her words, Minato was about to ask what she meant when suddenly his vision of the surroundings started to fade. He stared at his own palm as it slowly disintegrated, "What is happening?"
"Do not worry, there will be no permanent damage to you." The bluenette turned his head as he stared at her green eyes. "While I am anticipating for our next meeting, you really should lessen on sleeping in different kind of places. Especially when you have no pillow to use for your head. It is not healthy for you," the beautiful woman giggled that made him to chuckle a little bit. "I will see you later then, Minato Arisato."
"You know my name," he slowly stated while his body began to be transparent, "but I don't know yours."
"Oh!" The girl suddenly looked ashamed, "I forgot to introduce myself earlier, I am sorry for that." She slightly bowed her head towards him, he immediately turned his face and looked away after her action allowed him to see her cleavage and majority of her… thankfully the woman retreated back, "My name is Margueritte Breuil, but you can call me Marie if you will allow me to call you by your first name!" The smile became cheekily as she finished quite childishly.
He could merely nodded.
And it was enough for the girl as she waved her hand to say farewell to the boy who had completely entered her realm through by using his own dreams. The boy returned the gesture as the light completely engulfed him but before he could lose his vision, he had seen the scar across her neck.
Inside of the Disciplinary Committee's room, there were three person. Rias, who was sitting on the couch with a disturbed look and a sheepish smile. Esdeath, who have chosen to pour her time on staring at her little brother while said brother was having the time of his life as he sleep throughout the time the two women were there as his face planted on the desk.
It was kind of funny how her childhood friend could literally sleep anywhere.
"Ano… Esdeath-sama?" The red-haired heiress had been staring at the two for quite a while now as the older of the two Partas kept on caressing Minato's blue locks. "I don't mean to... interrupt this heartwarming family bonding but I think we have already wasted a lot of time." Rias flinched when she caught the sharp gaze of the older woman.
"My brother seems tired so we will wait for him to wake up," Esdeath's returned her focus on Minato. "Do you understand, Gremory?"
"H-hai, Esdeath-sama," Rias sighed. Who would have imagined that someone could see their own death in the form of words? She swore that her heart had stopped from beating for a moment when Esdeath called her with her last name.
Thankfully, the boy suddenly stood up, taking them both in surprise. Minato was looking straight at the wall, while his face was still stoic it didn't hide the sweats on his face as his breathing were quite ragged. Rias was in motion of standing from her seat to close her distance to support Minato when Esdeath took him in a tight hug.
"Nee-san?" Unsure of why they were here, Minato finally registered Rias' presence as he was trapped in an affectionate hug. "Rias-san?"
The red-haired girl slowly shook her head and mouthed 'I don't know why.'
Minato came face to face with his sister as Esdeath gently pushed his shoulders to create a distance between them. "My dear little brother, I am happy to see that you haven't changed at all!"
He was still confused. Despite of Esdeath's overprotective nature, she will never used that just to see him and trouble herself to enter the realm of humans. That was why he couldn't remove the feeling that something came up— so important that it forced Esdeath to personally came to him.
Catching the confusion in Minato's face, Esdeath didn't waste any more time as she straightened her posture and pointed at Rias. "I am here to stop you from taking this woman as your wife!"
"Eh?" Minato smiled weakly, showing it obviously that Esdeath's proclamation didn't register.
Meanwhile…
"EEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?" Rias shouted so loud that the birds outside of the window flew away.
Esdeath tapped her chin. She could have worded it with more finesse but looking at her little brother's reaction, it was really priceless.
Rossweisse, after the conversation with the head of the Disciplinary Committee, found herself watching some beauty shows that would give her some tips to how look younger.
She sighed. It seemed finishing the lesson plans she was going to use for the entire school year was a terrible idea. While it was not a problem at the beginning, being in standby for a half of month was undesirable for anyone… well, maybe not for that blue-haired kid.
If her eyesight did not fool her that time after he knocked the three students down from the tree with crumpled papers, she was sure that Minato dropped his face onto the wooden desk and completely ignored her existence.
"That was rude of him," she murmured as she hugged her knees.
"Oh~?"
Her eyes shot opened when she heard a familiar voice from her back.
"Who is this person who made my friend sulky," automatically, it forced her to turn around just to see an old friend. Rossweisse didn't notice the gleam in her visitor's eyes and the almost-perverted smirk on her face. "Rose, I didn't know that you are not fond of bras."
Her cheeks flared up. She hugged her body as she jumped away from the cheap chair to create a separation from the threat to her body. It didn't help that she was only wearing a loose shirt without sleeves and a very short shorts.
Rossweisse's eyes wondered around the newcomer before dropping a cold sweat at her friend's appearance.
"Why are you here!? Beatrice?"
"Why, of course to see you!" The toothy-grin did not support her claim. "Without Lord Odin and Lord Thor around, Asgard is pretty boring." She shrugged her shoulders, "And I am here to see the boy who holds the soul of the Great King of Fiends." The woman named Beatrice rested her palm on the handle of her sword, "I heard he is pretty good despite of his age. I'm little itchy for a fight."
"Did Lord Odin send you here too?"
"Yup."
She groaned. Why did she feel like he was removing all of the people assigned by the other Nordic Gods and Goddesses to keep him out of trouble. And then realization hit her. There was a huge chance that this knucklehead would attack the heir of Partas Clan without any warning. It would be a one-way ticket to a war against the Devil Faction.
Despite of not being present, the All-Father seemed did not stop on making her life miserable!
"So can you be a darling and bring me to him?" Beatrice let out a dark chuckle as she raised both her palms, pointed at her assets and made a gesture that Rossweisse did not appreciate ever since, "If not then I will just enjoy fondling those soft marshmallows."
Her entire body was shaking at this point as she remained undecided whether sacrificing her body was more important preventing a war between her people and the Devils.
Minato, nonetheless, fixed his composure. The older Partas had explained what she knew about the topic of their supposedly arranged marriage. He couldn't believe that both his father and the leader of the Satans conspired with each other just for the sake of their own gains.
Now that he thought about it, it was in their nature anyway. He would be more surprised if Sirzechs stayed neutral in Rias' predicament and his father didn't accept the offer of the Crimson Lucifer. They were devils after all, and despite of how they looked like, they were pretty much older than all of them by a huge margin. But that wouldn't mean he was obligated to follow them and whatever they were planning. It would no doubt invite another problematic event into his peaceful life. The last time he checked, he was certain that majority of the High-Class Devils were very much loathing him after that match between him and the only member of his Peerage against Sairaorg and his entire peerage in an official Rating Game.
While they both lost in that Rating Game, it was a close one where they both eliminated Sairaorg's peerage and came to a one on one brawl fight. The mere fact that he almost have pulled a victory against the one they called the Strongest Youth and the most powerful devil among their generation didn't sit well in their minds.
Ironically, even though they hated Sairaorg for not acquiring the Power of Destruction, they still had supported Sairaorg because he have a human blood.
The disdain was not really subtle, not when his name was removed in some of the important gatherings. Not that he minded it, aside from Rias, Sona, Sairaorg, and Seekvaira, no one really had tried to associate with him. He wouldn't count Riser, that man had annoyed him ever since they met. They saw him as a lower class and weaker than them because of him being a hybrid.
Maybe that was the reason why no one approached him and his clan for a marriage proposal despite of their mastery over their Demonic energy.
While he didn't like Rias being trapped in that forced engagement, politics was something he would like to avoid.
He sighed. Why couldn't he just have a normal life? He was aware that was completely unattainable, thanks to his ever so amazing Sacred Gear.
[You are welcome.] Hannibal laughed proudly, unaware that Minato was being sarcastic.
"W-wait, so that is why Onii-sama kept on calling me," Rias groaned as she stared at the countless missed calls that she ignored. "I have no idea that he would involve you in my situation, Minato-kun." Her voice was quite low, he knew she really wouldn't like to trouble him with her clan's affair with the Phenex. Her territory, which was the Kuoh Town was like her little safe haven, even though she didn't say it, he knew that she was pressured by the numerous expectations of the society for being a heiress and being a sister of the Strongest Devil.
Not just her, but also Sona. Those two were constantly persuaded by their peers to be better and live up to expectations just because they were heiresses and younger siblings of the two Satans.
They had gained his sympathy. Maybe being hated by those Pure-Blooded Devils had some perks.
He shook his head to deny her worries. "Don't worry about it. We have responsibilities that we have no choice but to accept, it's not your fault, Rias-san." The redhead girl smiled lightly as she just remained quiet while staring at him. Minato decided to pay attention to his older sister before she could knock Rias by just her presence. "So is it a Rating Game?"
Esdeath forced herself to ignore the young Gremory, who was now just staring at her little brother. "I do not know, it could be a duel for all I care. We both know that it will be an easy win for you even without your Balance Breaker. And that is not the reason why I am here."
"Nee-san-" he was about to reason her when suddenly the temperature dropped to the point Rias hugged herself while summoning a small magic circle to warm herself, while Minato just shrugged the cold sensation. He was more concerned that Esdeath was now fully glaring at him. Luckily, he knew her like the back of his hand and assured that Esdeath will not harm him. If not then he would've escaped immediately.
"You will contact father and tell him that you do not want any part of this."
In most scenarios, he would no doubt drop the topic and follow her just to spare himself to any more problems but there was something he really couldn't accept. Even if he decided to interfere and successfully saved Rias from the fixed marriage he could probably find some loopholes to their agreement and call their arrangements off.
He looked at Rias and her unreadable expression as if she was undecided. The girl must be thinking about everyone else than herself. For a devil, she was really not used to using people.
God bless her heart. Rias shook her head to remove the uncomfortable sensation and gave him a dirty stare.
Minato then stared at his sister once again, she was frowning at him, staring directly into his eyes. It was as if she already knew he wasn't going to follow her. Well, she was his sister after all.
He let out a small smile, "I apologise, Onee-san but I need to think more about this before-"
"Do not open that mouth of yours anymore," Esdeath huffed and crossed her arms under her breasts, she cut off their staring contest and avoid any eye contact, "I was wrong… you have changed. For you to finally learn disobedience, especially when it comes to your sister… I do not know whether to feel proud for you to finally grow a spine or mad because I could not punish you."
Minato deadpanned at her. He clearly disagreed with what she just said because of the fact he disobeyed a lot of things. But knowing her, pushing it would only end for him to be with her side with ice chain around his neck and wrists tied in her bed.
She truly loved her chains after all. He forced the uncomfortable feeling that quickly sprouted when he had thought about Esdeath's unhealthy obsession of putting him into… embarrassing situations.
"So there is really nothing I can do just to change your mind?"
Minato rose an eyebrow, "I said I will think about it."
Esdeath sighed, "Reading you is not really that hard, seems like my business here is done. I will leave now, my little brother." After she saw her brother nodded and leaned back into his chair she stood and looked at the crimson haired girl who was no longer in discomfort. "I will take my leave now, Rias Gremory."
Rias snapped and would have given her farewells if only not for Esdeath disappeared without sparing her any real attention. She was not offended by Esdeath's behavior towards her, the [Queen of Sadasm] was infamous in that aspect. Even her brother wasn't safe from her attitude.
"Hm, I wonder…"
Rias blinked confusedly at Minato. "What is it, Minato-kun?"
"I am just wondering if your name is already in the list."
"L-list?"
Minato nodded. "It is some sort of a diary where Onee-san writes the names who…" he paused, trying to make his words more lighter, but decided to keep his mouth shut, "nevermind."
"Am I safe?" Rias managed to ask him. It was, of course, a rhetorical one.
"Well, she will not stab you in the eye or kill you with bread knife so you can rest assured that you will still live."
Rias chuckled nervously, "I am dead."
As much as he wanted to tease Rias and her obvious fear of Esdeath, he needed time to think about the deal between his father and Sirzechs. Luckily, they were disturbed by a knock and a familiar voice.
"Excuse me for disturbing, Arisato-senpai, Buchou, but the club meeting is about to start."
Rias sighed as she walked towards the door, "I'm sorry for dragging you into this, and excuse me for leaving, this meeting is quite urgent."
Minato just nodded before she opened the door she spared him a one more glance then left him in the room alone.
"Speaking of meeting," Minato stared at the ceiling, "Where did Chloe go?" He shrugged his shoulders that girl must have finally learned to enjoy her time without him. Good for he-
"Senpai!" The door would have flew if not for the fact it was modified. "You need to hear this!"
He sighed.
Chloe O'Bell; a petite young girl with black hair and a pair of black eyes was retelling everything happened earlier when she and Koneko brought some food and sweets. The girl was hoping that she wasn't late to notify her senpai about what happened and the weirdest intuition that she got after seeing Koneko's eyes that time. As time was her enemy, she just kinda dumped all of the information without care, she believed someone like her senpai will, no doubt, understand it.
Her attire was the ordinary uniform of Kuoh Academy, albeit with some minor changes like black stockings and longer shoulder cape. In her arm, the yellow band was wrapped around.
"So to summarize…" Her senpai was looking at her while his chin was rested upon his palm, "you wasted our savings with your date with Koneko and when you both passed by you saw Hyoudou Issei with an attractive young woman. You told Koneko how weird it was for Issei to have a proper conversation with a 'sexy woman' after being unresponsive, you looked at Koneko and your intuition ran wildly."
Eh? Senpai?
"I was a little bit disappointed that you've used our money to satisfy that girl's black hole of a stomach," Minato shook his head as he leaned towards her and gently ruffled her hair, his action caused her to blush, "But I am happy for you, don't mind Koneko, she must be weirded out about our resident pervert's behavior but I think you are just jealous."
Nani?
"Knowing Koneko," her senpai withdrew his hand from her head and checked his wallet as he clicked his tongue, "We need to tighten our budget for the whole week, are you okay with instant noodles?"
"SENPAI!" She stood up and clinched her hand as the other one was pointed at the blue-haired boy, "I don't know how did you end up with that conclusion but you got it all wrong!" Her cheeks were fully red now, embarrassment and confusion was causing her to throw a tantrum. Confusion, because she didn't even know if her senpai was just teasing her or not. His blank expression really did worsen it.
"Really?" Minato asked as he tilted his head to the side.
"SENPAI!" She dropped her hands as she puffed her cheeks.
"Don't blame me," he shrugged his shoulders, "you were the one who was dancing while shouting about your date-"
"I wasn't dancing nor it was a date! I just saw Koneko in the same store and shopping alone was boring!" Chloe sent Minato a dirty look, "Senpai should be the one with me that time but noooooo, he was caught up with three ladies with incredible womanly charms," she huffed.
While she was jealous and mad that she couldn't invite her senpai to spend some time with her, even though majority of the time they were with together, she knew Sona had asked Minato to assist the new teacher. And the mere presence of Lady Esdeath was enough for her to abandon her idea to nag her senpai.
Those sharp eyes that could torn you apart. Nope, she didn't want to make her King's older sister mad at her.
"I think I know why Issei caught the attention of Koneko."
He changed the topic way faster than she expected! She was about to do a counterattack and tease him back but her senpai was too fast!
"Not just Koneko's, but the entire Occult Club's attention are solely focused on Hyoudou these past few days." Her senpai leaned back and stared at the ceiling. It was one of the few weird antics of Minato whenever he was thinking or remembering something important. Well, it was way better than staring at something without blinking or moving. Honestly, almost everyone were unnerved whenever he was doing that. "I remembered Kiba was having a conversation with Hyoudou, it was subtle but he was inspecting Hyoudou." Minato momentarily hummed, "I think some members of the Student Council were keeping an eye for him. Hard to say because it could be their way to prevent those three to do something indecent."
Chloe looked at her senpai as she began to understand, "Senpai, do you think he has a Sacred Gear like us?"
"Maybe."
Well, that was weird. Minato-senpai had ways to identify someone if they have Sacred Gear inside of them or not. Something was fishy… "So what's the plan, senpai?"
He just yawned and dropped his face onto the desk, "Let them do whatever they want. If they want to convert him then he would be their responsibility."
She knew her senpai like the back of her hand, he must be thinking that if they turned Hyoudou Issei into a devil, his workload would drastically decrease. Chloe pouted, "You're just too lazy, senpai. Aren't you gonna investigate this one? That woman, there's something about her that I don't like…"
Minato just waved it off with his hand, "If we're correct to assume that Hyoudou possess Sacred Gear then she must be a Fallen Angel."
Fallen Angel? In a Devil territory, if she didn't know her senpai that well, she would've said that he was just trying to get a reaction from her again like earlier. "Fallen Angel?"
"I sensed them last week in the outskirt, near the abandoned church." Minato sighed, "It was just a small amount, but I was sure that it was tainted holy energy and Hannibal confirmed it."
"Aren't we gonna stop them or wreck their plans?"
"Let's just wait," Minato moved slightly so his face was visible to her, "Hannibal and I decided to watch for now, hopefully Rias will handle this one in her own. It is her territory after all. If I would have to do everything, then might as well take Kuoh as my own territory."
However, Chloe knew that he was not going to do it. Her senpai seemed fond of his freedom and slow-paced living.
"Well, as your most favorite Kouhai, I'm gonna support your decisions, no matter how lazy they are!" She said as she puffed her chest out with pride. Bright sparkles surrounded her while she stood there oozing with positive aura.
Minato gave her a thumbs up and stood up, "Let's go home then, I need to talk to some people."
The pawn nodded quite happily before following the blue-haired man walked out of the room.
He was currently standing in front of his apartment in the middle of the night as a bright blue magical circle was visible near his right ear. That pawn of his… she called him lazy but she was the one who slept after filling her stomach. He swore, she might be a panda or something in her past life. After finishing the chores, he did contact someone who, he was sure, that had knowledge about the Fallen Angels that blissfully trespassed a Devil's territory.
It was no other than the leader of Fallen Angels himself; Azazel, the founder of the Grigori.
"Yup, I tasked Raynare to monitor a boy named Hyoudou Issei." Loud noises from the other side had overtaken their time once again. The man seemed was in the middle of his project, Minato heard a familiar voice but ignored completely. "Sorry, quite noisy here but I really wanna finish this one. Anyways, back to the topic, I made my order clearly so Raynare and her lackeys won't do anything stupid. So rest assured that they are not there to harm anyone."
Even though Azazel was infamous of spouting lies because of his past, Minato accepted it without a single doubt. Azazel, while a pervert and childish, had helped him to completely master his Sacred Gear. The Partas Clan trained him physically and mentally, but their knowledge about Sacred Gears was next to nothing. Some events in the past had led him to meet the Fallen Lord in person, events that he didn't really want to remember.
"I see…"
Azazel was whistling, before letting a curse out loud. "Damn it! I thought the energy output was in the green light!" After a few seconds, he heard fire extinguisher was being used, "Shem's not gonna like this, burned some important documents."
He dropped a cold sweat. Leave it to Azazel to annoy his friends. "It looks like you are quite busy."
Azazel chuckled, "Not that busy but you got the gist of it, I really wanna finish my inventions before handling some problems in my faction."
… Shouldn't it be the other way around?
"So~ is that the only reason of this call?"
He had other reasons, some questions to ask but he stopped himself. No need to get the man feel bad, if they had news he would be the one first to hear it from them. Unconsciously, he disabled the communication spell before letting a sigh.
A world without strife and war. Azazel was pushing the peace talks between the three biblical Factions, in order to achieve that dream that was not his.
[Boy…] the fiend slowly took his attention. He waited if his Sacred Gear would continue, it seemed Hannibal didn't know how to.
He smiled inwardly. 'Don't worry about me, not the first time.'
[I see…]
Both of them merely enjoyed the silence as Minato fixed his gaze on the moon and let out a small smile.
The people inside of the room was quiet. They were waiting the murderous aura to dissipate, not wanting to earn the ire of the strongest in the army. Every eyes were currently focused on Esdeath, whose eyes were closed and her face was showing no emotion yet everyone around her could sense that she was in a bad mood.
The atmosphere around the room was like breathing in the sea, it was so suffocating that they couldn't produce any noises.
Except for one.
"Does no one has the courage to speak up," a certain girl spoke softly as she stuffed her mouth with sweets. "Run, you are her adviser, go."
The man who was sitting near the one who whispered dropped a cold sweat. "I don't have a death wish so… no."
Run was a young man with fair blond hair and golden eyes. He wore a white robe on top of a black shirt and pants with a brown belt, a feather pin behind his ear and a collar-like accessory on his neck.
"But you are an angel so, go."
"Please do not ask for the impossible, Kurome-san. And besides, I am not a real angel. That is only my Sacred Gear."
The one with the named Kurome had short black hair in a twintail style and black eyes. She wore a black sailor uniform and a red belt that had a red side skirt cover.
Kurome shrugged her shoulders as she ignored the heavy presence of her boss and continued her focus on her treats.
The blonde sighed and shook his head. "I was busy in the meeting with Asmodeus-sama so I do not know what had transpired-"
"It was Minato-dono." Whispered by the masked man near him.
The one who had interrupted him was Bols. A closed friend of his and despite of his intimidating look, he was such a kind and well-mannered to the point Kurome gave him a nickname "Softie".
Run raised an eyebrow, clearly confused with the reason. "Huh? Then why could I feel death radiating from her then? Usually, if it was the young master, she would be blushing and-"
"He is currently engaged with Ria-" Bols was about to explain it further when he had felt Esdeath's attention was now fixed on him. He suddenly bowed his head and kept his mouth shut.
"He is not." Esdeath corrected him. "That woman is still engaged with that infuriating kid from the Phenex Clan." Esdeath sighed as she massaged her temple, "But my brother was selected to be a part of those bastards' scheme to void the agreement between the Gremory Clan and Phenex Clan."
"On what manner?"
"A Rating Game or a duel."
"So Minato-niichan will be a husband huh…" Kurome commented while munching the cookies on her hand.
"Who said he will be?" Esdeath's glare was not effective as Kurome remained stoic.
"Minato-niichan is the strongest among us who are labeled as [New Generation] so it is already given that he will win against Riser Phenex. The odds were against Minato-niichan and Chloe-san back then but somehow they almost have pulled a win against a stacked peerage of Sairaorg."
Run was amazed that Kurome completely shrugged Esdeath's glare. He had no idea how Minato, Kurome, and her older sister, Akame could shrug Esdeath's murderous aura but he was thankful to Kurome that he was spared from the duty of handling a pissed Esdeath.
On the other hand, the little girl was right. Whether it was a Rating Game or just a plain duel, Minato would no doubt emerge as the victor against Riser Phenex. The gap between Minato and Riser was too wide that even those old relics had acknowledged his potential. Even without the Longinus-class Sacred Gear, the heir of the Partas Clan was an experienced fighter who had fought AAA-rank and S-rank Stray Devils in the human world without any support.
While Minato could not wield [Slayer Form] which was the signature ability of the Partas Clan or use Esdeath's owned technique [Mahapdama], the young man was simply natural. He was aware of it because one of his duty together with Najenda—who oddly was not currently present— was to look after Minato whenever he was being task on a dangerous missions.
He was not like majority of the devils in the clan. Everyone, especially the current head of the clan and his master, were ferocious to the point that they were called the Berserkers of the Battlefield. The young heir was like a machine. He was amazed at the proficiency of the young master.
The world was truly unfair. Run shuddered at the thought of Minato Partas being able to use [Slayer Form], [Mahapdama], and his Longinus-class Sacred Gear [Vicious Blade]. Sadly, because of the [Slayer Form]'s Anti-Fiend Aura, Minato couldn't use it because of Hannibal's influence. [Mahapdama] had other issues. Esdeath had mentioned that it required a huge amount of demonic energy which Minato didn't have because of being a hybrid.
The only advantage that Minato had was his lack of weaknesses towards holy artifacts and armaments and light-based weapons.
"Run-dono, are you okay?" Bols had placed his hand on Run's shoulder.
Run chuckled, "Yes, I just lost in my own thoughts." A drop of cold sweat ran through his cheek when he found out that both Kurome and Esdeath were still arguing.
"Minato-niichan has blue hair and Rias Gremory-san has red hair. Does that mean their children will have purple hair?"
"No, it wont. You know well that they won't even get married."
"Blue and red are such nice color. It was like Yin and Yang."
"No, it isn't. Red isn't the opposite color of blue."
"They compliment each other."
"If you continue this," Esdeath, deciding to finish the nonsense argument, "I will ban you to all sweet stores in the Underworld."
Kurome's eyes slightly sharpened, "You won't do that."
"Ho?" Esdeath had shown her infamous smile. Kurome avoided eye contact and wisely stop on challenging their General.
Run sighed. Kurome was clearly teasing Esdeath, the little girl was the only one who could afford to do that without losing a finger. Bols was staring at them while smiling.
Minato had explained it to Hannibal what happened to his dream, the fiend had no explanation but he agreed that it was not just a normal dream or illusion. Hannibal said that his connection to the Sacred Gear was momentarily cut off. Because of his strong will, he could able block Hannibal's senses and completely shut him off, at that time when he was dreaming, Hannibal merely thought he was just trying to fake his sleep and was trying to think a way to handle the situation because Esdeath and Rias were inside of the Disciplinary Room.
*CLANG~!*
[So you were saying there was a blonde woman in your dream who could converse with you?] Hannibal let out a snort. [Are you sure it wasn't just a wet dream.]
*CLANG~!*
"I have never, even once, had a wet dream in my entire life," Minato deadpanned at the question.
*CLANG~!*
[Kid…] Hannibal's tone was full of sympathy. It somehow annoyed him. [That is not healthy from what I have heard in the past from my former host.]
*CLANG~!*
He was too lazy to retort back as he put both of his hands inside of his pockets and let his back rest on the wall. His eyes were closed, trying to think a way to win the duel without getting engaged with Rias. Well, they could just pretend or tell to all those old devils that they would marry after nine thousand years.
[Oi… aren't you going to stop those two from killing each other.]
Ah… yes. Minato's eyes opened as he saw Chloe's sword was locked with a certain blonde's famous saber.
Beatrice Waltrud von Kircheisen; a famous warrior and Einherjar. He was not even surprised that an Einherjar showed up after his meeting with his teacher that turned out to be a Valkyrie. What he couldn't fathom was why a caliber of someone who held one of the Legendary-tier weapons; Thrud Walküre was sent into a Devil Territory. It could be interpreted by others, especially those who sat in position in the Underworld as a sign that the Norse faction was provoking the current society of Devils.
And the fact that she had attacked him without any warning, he was thankful that his sister was not in the area. He was lucky that he had been able to place a strong barrier around them before his Pawn escalated everything by attacking his assailant.
"My, color me impressed, kiddo. It seems that you are not lacking when it comes to sword training and I am surprised that you could follow my movements," Beatrice Waltrud von Kircheisen gave Chloe a toothy grin. "Say, say, have you learned how to fight because of the current wielder of Vicious Blade?" Did he train you?" The Einherjar added some weight to her blade as she overpowered the smaller woman.
But of course, Chloe did the same as she stood on her ground. "I apologise if this seem kind of rude, but exchanging words with the one who'd attacked my Senpai from behind will leave a bad taste to my mouth."
Rather than being offended, Beatrice's expression showed that she was enjoying Chloe's reaction. "My, what a passionate child! You truly adore your superior eh?"
Chloe decided to not answer and pushed her opponent by swinging her blade horizontally. But of course, the Einherjar who had the upper hand when it came to speed had easily avoided the sharp Katana.
Minato, who was quietly listening to their conversation, decided it was for the best if he won't disturb them. For Chloe's sake also, this fight would benefit her more than anything as her experience with enemies' who were using swords were quite few. Maybe he was giving his assailant a lot of credit, but he was aware of the fact that currently, Chloe had no chance on winning this battle.
That was only if the other one won't take over.
The blonde woman have not just outclassed Chloe in terms of raw strength, in terms of battle experience and weapon, the woman who was called Beatrice had the upper hand in every aspect.
[The kid could even the match with her Sacred Gear…] Hannibal paused before shooting down his own idea. [But that would be unwise of her to rely on it, it looks she is aware that even with her ability to predict her opponent's movement, she doesn't have the speed to react on time. And it is not that reliable because her ability is to calculate using limited information that her Sacred Gear have provided. The results could be easily manipulated by much more experienced combatant.]
That, and the fact that he was still unassured whether she could handle the other abilities of her [Mathematician] without taxing her too much, besides, this battle was not a fight to the death scenario so he warned her not to use *her*. While the Sacred Gear itself wasn't that rare, it was Chloe's who was not normal… no. He was no expert on these things. Better to ask Azazel whether he have finished on studying the information about Chloe's Sacred Gear.
"The initial ability of my Sacred Gear is quite useless when it comes to you…" Chloe said in a low voice but Beatrice heard it.
"Mah, mah~ thank you for the compliment!" Beatrice smiled as she tilted her head to the side, "I have fought a lot of enemies who also had [Mathematician]. Quite problematic because of its precognition capability, but with my speed and experience, I could have manipulated the information that your Sacred Gear was sending to you by moving faster and creating bunch of afterimages."
[See?] Hannibal would have puffed his chest if he had one right now. [Shut it.]
Minato raised his hand to get both of their attention, "This might be rude of me but-"
He was interrupted by a loud shout as he sighed when the source of the noise suddenly appeared behind Beatrice and smacked the blonde's head. The warning that he was about to give was too late when the woman fell onto the ground while clutching the back of her head.
'Well, that is one way to stop them,' Such a waste of opportunity. Minato had been waiting for someone like her so Chloe could train her swordsmanship and not waste her time hanging around him.
[Says the one who would rather sleep the entire time than actually attending his class.]
Minato ignored him entirely.
"What in the world were you thinking?!" Rossweisse, who seemed agitated asked the woman who was on her knees. Chloe, who was in surprised withdrew her sword and pointed her finger at Beatrice.
"You know her…? Weiss-sensei?"
"… Unfortunately-"
"Hey!"
"Yes, by the way... who are you?"
Chloe's stance became more prideful. "Chloe O'Bell, Minato-senpai's most favorite Kouhai. Nice to meet you, Sensei!"
The only underclassmen he knew of were those three perverts, that glutton, that annoying knight, and those devils in the Student Council. So she was kind of correct to assume that she was his favorite Kouhai. By elimination, that was.
[Pitiful.]
"I see," it seemed Rossweisse was taken aback about the boast and was loss of words how to continue.
"How do you know of this Einherjar?"
"She is assigned to be my partner." The valkyrie stated it straightforwardly.
"Eh?" Chloe tilted her head to the side. Her confusion made the teacher smiled awkwardly.
"Most of the times Valkyries are required to be partnered with an Einharjar. Especially if said task was ordered by a God or Goddess." Rossweisse explained, completely misunderstood Chloe's reaction.
"A… Valkyrie?" She turned around while pointing at Rossweisse. Her shocked face was amusing that it made Beatrice, who was still sitting on the ground, giggled. "S-S-S-Senpai, an enemy."
Ah… he had forgotten to mention about Rossweisse's true identify.
"It must have been slipped out my mind, but yeah, she's a Valkyrie."
[Well, I won't blame you. That vixen is forgettable.]
'Your unwanted hatred is leaking.' Rossweisse's body had stiffened. She could, no doubt, feel the strong murderous that was radiating around him.
Minato had no clue how to continue. His Pawn was out of it due to shock. The Valkyrie was showing a pair of watery eyes, and the last one was enjoying the awkward moment or she just didn't care at all.
[The awkwardness is killing me…]
Without any distraction, the young man with blue hair found himself once again on the rooftop. The class had went through perfectly, and when he said perfectly, it meant that nobody didn't interrupt his nap. It was not that surprising, especially when his teacher had given him some leeway. He guessed that it was some sort of a payment for the trouble that Beatrice had given them. While he mentioned that she shouldn't shoulder the blame, it seemed the valkyrie was dead set on not making the incident known to the other devils inside of the Kuoh Academy.
[Minato, some annoying crow has shown up. The person is near the entrance of this school.]
He shook his head in resignation. The fact that the Fallen Angels were foolish enough to came in front of the school that was owned by the family of the strongest Satan was enough to make his head hurt. If his father or the Satan found out that he was aware that there were some pests in the city and he didn't take care said pests right away, he would be reprimanded.
Getting chew out by an overprotective brother and an ambitious man, it was going to be a major pain in the neck for him.
Minato hopped onto the railings as he focus his gaze on the two person, who were linked together by the arms of the black-haired woman. The boy was smiling with his perverted nature plastered on his face.
[That boy is a goner.] Minato simply nodded. There was naivety and there was this. He was surprised that Issei couldn't feel the murderous aura around that girl, well he couldn't blame him though. The brown-haired boy was raised in a loving family and peaceful place.
If he wasn't a hybrid and just a mere human, he thought that he might be a kind of an Issei. Minus the perversion, of course. He wasn't the kind of guy who would chase skirts after all.
'Might as well sleep this one through,' Minato shrugged his shoulders after he saw that Koneko was going to trail Issei.
And besides, he was hoping to meet the woman of his dreams.
[HA! All of this time, being stoic and laid-back, your wet dream is the-]
Minato completely cut Hannibal off as he closed his eyes.
"Oh~? You came by once again?"
The soft tone managed to caught him off guard, which was unnerving because nobody had caught him unprepared. Was it because of the lack of negative thoughts towards him, or because this place was her domain? Indeed, Hannibal's warnings have helped him many times, but his instincts were sharpened by his own father and sister. Including that since he was a child, he could feel someone's gaze so it was surprising that he failed to notice her presence.
Deciding to stop his thoughts about that matter, Minato nodded his head. He wasn't sure how to converse with the woman who could lower his guard. Especially after what he had seen with Issei and that raven-haired woman.
"You do not have to be so… stern, you know," the blonde let out a small smile, "If you are worry about something, please say it. I do not want to offend you nor I want to harm you, when I am in your debt."
Minato stared at her with confusion clear on his face. "Debt? I do not remember doing something."
Marie tilted her head to the side as she tapped her finger on her chin, "You have… hmmm… removed my loneliness."
He wasn't sure how to reply on that particular word, so he simply accepted her answer. He have some questions that were needed to be answered after all. These dreams might affect his life outside, he wasn't sure if time run differently in this place and outside world. He couldn't afford to stay in this place if that was the case.
"What are you?"
It seemed the straightforwardness of his question was quite accepted when the woman giggled.
"A human…" Marie's smile wavered for a moment, "maybe. But after what had happened when I was still in the human world, I've become one with this domain; I have become one with my Sacred Gear."
Minato was surprised to hear her answer. Azazel had told him that there were some bugs in the Sacred Gear System because of the God's unforseen demise, like Chloe's [Mathematician], that allowed events that wasn't written in the system to happen. The leader of the Fallen Angels had theories, some of them were plausible to believe. There were three who were labeled as [Three Supreme Bugs]. But only one had the information, said information was limited to the point it drove Azazel in a blink of depression. From what he have heard from Azazel, one of them was able to create an Alter-Ego that had some rare abilities from the unfinished project of the God of the Bible.
That was why that irredeemable pervert was a keen on studying Chloe and her Sacred Gear.
"From what had happened?"
Marie nodded, her smile became melancholic. "I am not aware how much time have passed since my death, but you see… this place is called [Twilight Beach] this is where my soul went after I died in Eighteenth Century."
"That is…" Minato found it odd that no Gods or Goddesses of Life, Death, Reincarnation or Afterlife took her soul. Surveying the endless golden area, it seemed she was imprisoned.
Eighteenth Century…? Her real name was Marguerite Breuil if he was not mistaken… was she perhaps the cursed girl in France's Reign of Terror?
His thoughts was cut off by Marie who seemly found his face interesting. His eyebrow rose when the young woman touched his hair.
"Why are you hiding such a cute face behind these blue locks?" Her question had no tone of teasing nor her question was to ridicule his hairstyle.
Minato deadpanned. He had enough of love letters everyday, and rejecting all of them was quite hard and annoying. The confessions and love letters would multiply if he decided to showcase his entire face.
And did she just flirt with him?
'Why did I even got the face of my mother?' Minato lamented as he took a step back. He needed to bring the topic back, because if not— Marie blinked in surprised and smiled gently before closing the gap between them— the blonde woman might retake the advantage and tease him without realizing that she was teasing him!
"Then we can assume that you are a Pseudo-Sacred Gear, am I right?"
His question made Marie to tilt her head once again. "Does it bother you?
It was a simple question, yet somehow it made him paused for a moment. Was she trying to search for acceptance? Or was she trying to test him if her identity unnerved him?
Minato let out a small smile. "No, not in a slightest." He turned around, facing the golden clouds. "I am a Hybrid. A Devil and Human Hybrid…" Something must be in his tone that made Marie to frown.
Seeing a way to lighten the mood, Minato used her question against her. "Does it bother you?"
Marie's frown disappeared as she blushed. Her hands rose before waving it, "N-No! Of course not! I was merely saddened at the fact that your voice was carrying such heavy emotion."
… Was Esdeath's statement about his emotion really right? It seemed that some people could read him like an opened book. But he didn't want to dawdle on that matter, when he still have some questions. Hopefully, with enough time, he finished everything that he had to do in the outside world. And surely his teacher won't dare to ask someone to bring him back to her subject, especially when Hannibal had been flaunting his hatred towards the poor woman whenever he have the chance to do so.
"So, am I correct to assume that you are a Pseudo-Sacred Gear?"
Marie simply nodded.
"So someone can wield you?"
She nodded once again.
Minato smiled, "Do you want to be wielded though?" A simple question without any hidden motive. He was simply curious if the woman was just waiting someone to break her away from this place.
"That is… not really the question." Minato was caught off guard with her answer. Marie raised her hand and pointed at a direction, he followed it when he was surprised to see a golden guillotine. "In order to have a complete synchronization between someone and I, they must have survived being beheaded."
"Excuse me?" Minato stared at her, unaware that she was being serious. He was proud to say that he wouldn't live after getting beheaded, if he have some godlike regeneration, maybe, but being a half-Devil and half-Human? He will die.
"Oh, forgive me if I've produced such misunderstanding." She giggled, "You see, you are existing in this domain, not physically but spiritually. That guillotine will test your soul if it is strong enough to negate my curse."
"Curse?"
"I have a curse that will cut someone's head if I touch them. Since I was a child, people with weak soul couldn't endure any physical movement from me. Whether it was just a mere touch nor a mere accidental bump, because their souls couldn't take the power of my curse, their heads had fallen off." Marie's melancholic smile returned while remembering her past, "It was one of the reason why I was beheaded."
"Then how could they even put you in a guillotine if they couldn't touch you?"
"Because I've placed myself voluntarily."
Minato wasn't sure how to proceed. He didn't even know how to react when Marie decided to share some of her past and the information about her curse. He wanted to ask further, but it was insensitive of him if he did that, especially when the young woman was staring at her feet as if she was disgusted.
"Then let's do it." He simply shrugged his shoulders when Marie snapped at him, ready to turn him down. "I mean, are you okay on being trapped here? It has been like two hundred years or so, don't you want to enjoy life once more? If you are worried about that I am just going to use for my own sake then don't." He raised his thumb, "I have an annoying Sacred Gear after all, don't tell him about this but Hannibal is a pretty emotional guy despite of his blatant animalistic tendencies. He might get jealous if I use you rather than him."
"Wait-" She couldn't finish what she was trying to say when Minato placed his hands inside of his pockets.
"But you have to join my Peerage as my [Queen] so no idiots would attempt to harm you." Minato shrugged his shoulders, "My father has been nagging me to fill my Peerage after all."
"Wait, I do not know-" she was cut off again.
"Oh, yes. You have no knowledge what a Peerage is, right?" Minato rhetorically asked the woman as he continued on, "I will explain it to you if you-"
Two hands gently grabbed his shoulders as he realized that he was acting out of ordinary. Since when did he become a talkative person? It was strange moment for him that he completely forgotten what he was saying.
Was that him? He could clearly see his expression on her green eyes. Both of his cheeks were flushed, whether it was because of embarrassment or something foreign emotion that wasn't fully explored. Oddly, it was not that bad but the warmness inside of him was quite unbearable for him to handle. It was something foreign.
It felt like he was standing in front of someone who would've accepted him even if he did something worse than any being could have.
"I am happy that you would prioritize my freedom but are you sure?"
Even though she was supposed to be serious and worried, her face still have shown softness and reluctantness. He wondered how could she managed to fit numerous expressions at the same time.
Minato nodded. "Do not worry, I was raised to survive countless battles that defeat equals to death. My instinct does not warning that my life is in danger at all."
Hopefully, that instinct he was talking about will not betray him.
A/N: It's been a while, right? This chapter had been sitting around for a year or two, I just can't find the strength to post it. My plan was to only post a chapter after I've created the next chapter but I couldn't do it because of the pandemic, continuous storms that's been hitting my place, I've lost my part-time jobs. It has been a sucky year for me, so forgive me, that and the fact that FF had been going crazy this past few days prevented me from updating this story. But hey, better than nothing, am I right?
So Minato's childhood friend and first member, a pawn of his Peerage finally showed up. And another two who would be included, which is Beatrice and Marie. Thanks to NewbieFanficter for giving me some ideas. I have another one, this time, yeah, it is a male. But I am still planning for his mini-Arc. Don't know if I am gonna write an entire arc or not but hey, we can't have a peerage full of females, if that happens, I am sure Minato's life would be in danger. His life and his balls.
It will take a long time before his Peerage gets full. I already have a plan for his second knight, which will be introduced together with Minato's mother. It's gonna be hectic of an Arc, that I can assure all of you.
About Rias, yeah, I know that's going to get a lot of hatred but can you hear me first? I know this hatred towards Rias is infamous to the fact that it became a semi-canon here in FF. However, I think that hatred is unfounded when you think about it. Rias leaving Issei to his fate? No, Rias, while she knew there were Fallen Angels that were targeting Issei, she couldn't do anything. I won't even do that, putting my life and my friends' life just to save a stranger. Both Rias and Issei didn't have any direct conversation, well, if you are going to count her familiar then so be it.
Rias did great as a leader of her Peerage that time, sending her Peerage against a group of Fallen Angels without knowing how many or how strong they were could put Akeno's, Kiba's and Koneko's life in danger. She didn't know if Raynare had a back-up, and sacrificing her Peerage for a kid that she really didn't know back then is simply stupid.
Even if she did leave Issei to his death and her plan was to reincarnate him into being a devil, well, at the very least she still saved his life and gave him another chance. For being a devil, that was too nice of her, she doesn't have any assurance that Issei was going to have a Longinus-class Sacred Gear. Yeah, we can argue that, she might have an idea that Issei's Sacred Gear was powerful but powerful does not equal to being a Longinus, yet she still used up all of her Pawn pieces just to save his ass.
Oh well, that's my opinion towards Rias. She is a likable character in DxD, and even my top 5 most favorite in this series. Vali, Azazel, Ophis, Kuroka, and Rias. In terms of overall, they are my favorites. Like character designs, personalities, potentials, abilities, et cetera.
Oh, Esdeath's group has been finally introduced. But sadly, yeah, Wave is not going to be here. Nor that disgusting Puppy and the owner of said Teigu, Seryu Ubiquitous. She is the reason why Chelsea, which is my favorite character besides Esdeath, became a freaking lollipop. It was ironic how she became a lollipop when almost all of the time she was sucking her lollipops, lol.
About Slayer Form and Mahapdama, yeah, Minato is too "human" for him to activate Mahapdama and he is too "Fiendish" for him to use Slayer Form without greatly weakening himself.
By the way, I have a new story, check it in my profile. Black In Blues is the title, so see you next time.
Minato's Peerage:
Queen: Margueritte Breuil (Dies Irae)
Knight: Beatrice Waltrud von Kircheisen (Dies Irae), ?
Bishop: ?, ?
Rook: ?, ?
Pawn: Chloe O'Bell x2 Mutated Piece (Slime Tensei)