Doing her best not to daydream as she watched her newest club members go through a set of highly advanced katas, Murayama turned to face her pink haired comrade, who like the rest of assembled members of the previously all female club, was staring at the sword swinging males in a manner that was eerily similar to the accursed trio.
"Not that I have a problem with it, but care to tell me why our newest members are currently warming up for a practice duel? Cause the last time I checked, they weren't supposed to duel each other until they've successfully completed the club's safety exercises".
Flashing her friend an embarrassed smile that was oddly reminiscent of how the perverts looked after being caught, Katase quickly proceeded to explain the highly entertaining spectacle to the leader of the Kendo Club.
"Well...since we've already established that Dante isn't a beginner when it comes to the art of sword fighting, not to mention that it's a widely known fact that Kiba is already well versed in the forms of dueling, the girls voted that instead of having them waste their time completing the mandatory written tests and safety drills, it would be far more entertaining...I mean efficient, to have them face off against each other in a friendly match".
Watching the hakama wearing blonde male rapidly, yet flawlessly perform a series of highly advanced over head strikes, Murayama couldn't help but chastise herself for continuing to uphold the club's gender specific membership rules ever since she discovered that one of the academy's highly sought after males was a dedicated student of the sword.
"You know its truly a pity that Kiba wasn't like Dante when he first applied to join our club. I remember that our previous leaders wanted to over turn the policy, but since nearly all of the male applicants at the time only wanted to join because they had perverted thoughts about us, they refused him. And since Kiba is such a perfect gentleman, he merely accepted their rejection with good grace, though I think that if he tried to fight their decision, he would have been accepted.
Since the same though had crossed her mind, Katase merely nodded her head in agreement before she cast her admiring gaze towards the other male member of their club, taking note of not only how effortlessly he controlled his blade with a series of fluid movement, but also how attractive he was in the black colored robes that helped to emphasize his uniqueness within the club.
"You have a point their. Thankfully our other new member takes a more..forceful approach when it comes to obtaining what he wants. And a good thing too, because I think it would have been a waste to reject such handso...I mean skilled individual from joining our club. I'm sure that if we ask him nicely, he might be persuaded to teach us more advanced techniques, cause it's quite obvious he's a talented swordsman".
Blushing at the double meaning of the pinkette's words, for the idea had crossed her mind ever since she became aware of Dante's talents, Murayama was prevented from admonishing her friend by the sudden excited whisperings of the gathered club members.
"Oh boy their gonna start"
"Who do you think is going to win"
"We will because we get to see two hot boys fight each other"
Turning her head in the direction of her two newest members, the brunette leader reaised that the two boys had finished their warming up exercises, and were now facing each other with their swords in the ready position. Doing her best to retain the proper attitude of a dignified club leader, even if she was desperately trying to reign in her excitement at being able to witness the two handsome males fight each other, Murayama and quickly proceeded to explain the rules for the developing match.
"Ok guys, I know your both highly skilled in our art, but it is my responsibility as club leader to go over the rules of this match before you begin. The first person to score 3 hits on his opponent is the winner, and since you both lack protective headgear, your not allowed to aim for your opponent's head unless you want to be disqualified. Also, if your weapon is forced out of your hand, that means you've lost the duel. Now do either you have any problems with these rules before you begin"?
Receiving a nod from the smiling blonde to confirm that he agreed with her terms, Murayama turned to face the other opponent of the match, only to discover that instead of his usual confident smirk, Dante had a thoughtful expression on his face as he mulled over the rules of engagement.
"Just for curiosity sake, but would it be possible to amend the rule that covers the amount of points it takes to achieve victory? Because I don't know about you, but I think we can make this a little more interesting if we choose a far more difficult number".
Conscious of the excited whispering's of the club, and well aware of her own rising curisoity, the brunette adopted thoughtful expression as she considered the foreign boy's request.
"Mmmm...I don't see why not. So long as your dueling partner agrees to it, I have no problem with this alteration. Provided of course you choose a number that is actually obtainable without having to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to reach it ".
Flashing an appreciative smile towards the now blushing club leader, Dante turned his attention towards his opponent, not bothering to hide the developing smirk that was spreading across his face as he stared at the inquisitive expression of his fellow Devil.
"What do you say Kiba? First person to score a SINGLE hit is the victor. If it's too advanced for you, I suppose we can make it so its the best of two hits".
Ignoring the excited squealing of his fan girls, something that had become second nature to him ever since he entered puberty, Kiba stared at his fellow Devil with a look of amusement on his normally friendly face.
"On the contrary Dante, I was about to extend that same offer to you myself. But since you appear to be eager to finish this duel as quickly as possible, then I have no complaints for changing the rules of our match. That is of course if Ms. Katase and Ms Murayama agree to these conditions, since it is their club after all".
Doing his best not to laugh at the almost pitiful way in which the girl's hurried to show that they agreed with the blonde knight's proposal, Dante turned his attention back to the upcoming fight, taking the time to go over what he already knew about his opponent before their match started, and how this would effect his own combat strategy. While he was fully aware that both of them would have to hold back a good portion of their abilities so that they could pass themselves off as humans, albeit gifted ones, Dante knew that the innate skills of their evil pieces would still heavily influence their individual combat styles, thus making it possible to form some kind of plan on how to exploit his opponent's weaknesses.
"Since Blondie's a knight, that means he's more likely to rely on tactis that primarily focus on speed and agility, rather than strength which has become my primary advantage. However, since I'm still adapting my fighting style to properly meld with my new found abilities, I'm at a bit of a disadvantage since Kiba's had years to develop fighting skills that are well suited to his evil piece. Which means that my only hope for victory lies in close quarter combat, where is speed advantage is nulliefed by my superior strength".
Smirking at his opponent, who no doubt was also mentally going over the assumed strength's and weaknesses of his fellow Devil, Dante merely waited for the signal to begin what he hoped would become a regular distraction from his otherwise irritating life as a servant.
"Since both of you agree to the revised terms, you can begin".
Dipping his head to acknowledge the brunette's command, Dante held his bokken in front of him as he waited for Kiba to make the first move. He didn't have to wait long, and even though they had agreed before hand to limit their abilities before hand, Dante was still mildly impressed by how fast Kiba was moving, and it was only by quickly raising his own weapon that he was able to block his agile opponent's blow, causing the blonde Devil to stare at him in slight bewilderment..
Smirking at the expression on his opponent's face, Dante quickly utilized his greater strength to push the slightly shocked knight back a few steps before swiftly following up his repulse with an attack of his own. And even though Kiba was able to catch the blow, though he was hard pressed to keep his sword more than a couple of inches from his torso, Dante could tell that he managed to catch the blonde Devil off guard, not only by the unexpected swiftness of the attack, but by the amount of power put behind it.
Judging that his current position was untenable due to the superior strength of his opponent, Kiba quickly jumped back in order to recreate an opportunity that would allow him to utilize his superior speed. However as he launched himself at the waiting Devil, intending to launch a strike at his unguarded knee, the blonde knight was surprised by when his blade was intercepted at the last second by his black haired opponent. And while normally he would have been able to quickly recover from that attack and launch a second one, Kiba once again found his own blade being pushed towards his body.
'Even though I'm his superior when it comes to agility, Dante's able to catch my blade before it delivers the finish blow, which means that our fight quickly becomes a matter of strength, and even if I'm a stronger than the average human, as a rook Dante has me beat if it comes to a trial of strength. My only hope is to keep him off balance in the hopes that he'll make a mistake.This is going to be tougher than I thought, but still an enjoyable experience. It's been a while since I've face an opponent who was able to give me a challenge, and even if I loose, I can always learn from the experience and emerge even stronger'.
Determination now filling him as he prepared himself to give it his all, and doing his best to tune out the cheers that were springing not only from the Kendo Club but also the crowd of onlookers who somehow discovered the duel between the academy's white and dark knight, Kiba quickly disengaged from his opponent, enjoying the short breather his move have granted him before resuming his attack.
Feigning an attack to the rook's left side, Kiba quickly changed the direction of his attack, hoping to catch Dante off guard as he moved to block a blow that would in fact be delivered to his more exposed sight. Surprisingly, the black haired Devil was able to maneuverer his sword in a manner that caught the knight's weapon before he struck him, but feeling that he had stumbled upon a way in which to achieve victory, Kiba decided to continue this strategy of feinting before quickly moving to strike a blow.
Quickly catching on to the change of his opponent's tactics, Dante adjusted his own accordingly, since he had come to realize that while he was able to act fast enough to respond to Kiba's attacks, he was too slow to launch his own attacks without leaving himself open for a counter maneruvre, thus the only way to achieve victory would be to either force Kiba into a position where he couldn't utilize his superior agility, or to wear down his opponent by putting more force into his counter blows, thus causing the knight to expend more energy than he could afford.
While the fight between the two Devil's raged, with Kiba being constantly forced to adjust his attacks to compensate for his opponent's superior strength, while Dante did his best to ensure that Kiba was constantly on the defensive in order to negate his speed advantage, an increasingly excited crowd set about placing wagers on which one of the combatants would emerge victorious".
"Dude...20 bucks says Inumbro will kick the shit out of the blonde prince of Kuoh".
"I'll take that bet. Even though he's putting up a good fight, a foreginer can't stand up to Japanese swordsman".
"I don't know guys. Dante has a bit of a mean streak to him, and I don't think Kiba ever had to face someone who had the skills AND the desire to harm him".
Doing her best to contain the excitement she felt as she watched the two newest member's of the club rapidly strike at each other, Katase gave her brunette superior a sly glance as she tried to decided which one of the two equally impressive duelists would win the match.
"I don't suppose you want to place a wager as well Mura? Even though those two appear to be equally matched, you and I both know that in duel's like, it only takes one little mistakes to determine whether an opponent is going to win the match, or lose it. And since those two have been at it for a while now, I think its only a matter of time before one of them slip up".
Agreeing with her pink haired subordinate, even though she felt it was unseemly for the leader of a club to purposefully favor one of its members over another, Murayama was prevented from answering the smiling pinkette by the sudden cheering of the crowd. Expecting to see either the agile blonde or the relentless foreigner standing above their defeated opponent, the leader of the Kendo club was surprised to see that neither of them had won the duel, as both of them had shockingly been able to deliver a hit towards an unprotective part of their opponents body at the same time.
Ignoring the wooden sword that was currently being pressed into his side while keeping his own weapon against his opponent's shoulder, the black haired Devil gave the blonde knight a slight nod to demonstrate his genuine respect for his teammate's skills, only to have it quickly returned as a now smiling Kiba bowed at the waist to his equally skilled opponent.
However before they could lend words to their mutual shows of respect, though Kiba suspected that Dante would combine his word's of courtesy with a demand for a rematch, of the two Devils quickly found themselves swamped by the remaining members of the Kendo club, who rapidly began to express their admiration for the spectacle they had just witnessed.
"Oh My god that was amazing"
"Did you see how fast they were moving"?
"I wonder if their swordsmanship extends to other useful abilities"
"Dante and Kiba shipping forever"
Doing her best not to laugh at the highly amusing spectacle of the two boy's being mobbed by a horde of energetic girls, Muryama approached her newest members with a look of approval on her face.
"That was terrific work you two. I can honestly say I've never would have expected the newest member's of the club to put on such an incredible display of swordsmanship in my life. With you two helping to train the girls in more advanced techniques. I think we'll actually have a chance to win the national competition this year".
Ignoring the slightly confused expressions of the two boys, the brunette quickily turned around to face her teammates, who were all eagerly staring at the male duo with looks that would have given the perverted trio a run for their money.
"Ok girls listen up. Thanks to our newest members, we're going to be training twice as hard as we normally do. Within a month, I want you all to be able to match not only the speed, but also the level of endurance these two possess. And to ensure that you're properly motivated, I should tell you that the first one to reach this goal will be paired with either of them in the upcoming tournament. So train hard".
Doing his best to hide the annoyance he felt at once again having a decision made for him without his input, Dante was about to voice his dissatisfaction with the brunette's decision when the cheerful voice of his fellow Devil interrupted his chain of thought.
"Well I must say, I can't recall the last time I faced an opponent that was able to fight me to a stand still. Your instructor must have been exceptionally skilled in teaching you the ways of the sword if your able to quickly adapt to styles you haven't faced before. I don't suppose you can tell me who you trained you? Because I wouldn't mind losing to the person who managed to turn you into a such a capable opponent."
Even though he sensed that Kiba had asked the question without any malicious intent behind it, Dante couldn't help but shoot the blonde knight a venoumous glare. And even though he was aware of the consquences of what would happen if he resorted to using his more violent ways of expressing his displeasure in public , it was only with the greatest of will power that the black haired Devil resisted the impulse to treat his fellow servant in the same manner that he dealt with Issei's stupidity.
"Unfortunately, my sister is in no condition to take on another pupil. And if you know whats good for you, you'll never bring this up again".
Suprised as he was by the rook's response, Kiba sensed that it would be unwise to ask further questions since he suspected that like him, Dante would react violently if he was forced to dredge up memories of his past. Understanding his fellow Devil in a way that nobody else could, and knowing that any direct apology would only serve to sour the cordial relationship that was slowly developing between the two of them, Kiba proceeded to do the only thing that could possibly alleviate Dante's temper, and that was shift the entirety of their fan club onto himself.
"It would be my pleasure to help you all improve your skills as swordsman, or swordswoman as the case maybe. In fact why don't we start now and go through some advanced opening kata's that my old master taught me when I was finished learning the basics? I gurantee that you'll improve in no time. Dante, while your more than welcome to stick around, I feel I should tell you that these execerises are for those who tend to favor speed over strength, so I don't think you'll be able to get anything out of them. So if you want, you can go, and I'll see you tomorrow".
Raising an eyebrow at the blonde's not so subtle attempt to apologize for unknowingly prying into his past, Dante nevertheless excepted the offer with a slight nod of his head, ensuring that an apologetic expression was firmly set upon his face as he sought to placate the visibly disappointed group of sword wielding females.
"Now now. Theirs no reason for you to get upset. Kiba is probably more suited to group instruction than I am. However at a later date I would be happy to teach any of you on an individual basis, or even as pairs. Though I confess I don't have too much experienced when it comes to dealing with two aggressive females at the same time, but I'm sure it will prove to be an interesting learning experience for all of us".
Smiling innocently as his words had the intended reaction of causing the now blushing sword wielding females to forget his departure, Dante quickly left his fellow Devil to the mercy of their ever growing crowd of fans, choosing to make his escape by taking the path that led through the forest that had always remained on the edge of the school grounds.
Enjoying his newfound solitude since it gave him the opportunity to freely use his powers without attracting unwanted attention, and checking to ensure that he hadn't been followed into the now darkening woods, Dante closed his eye's as he focused on using his shadow conjuring abilities for the practical purpose of transforming his black kendo robes into his usual black overcoat and pants before giving physical form to the emotions that always always threatened to consume him every time he was forced to speak about his family.
Judging that he was deep enough in the forest to avoid evidence of his therapudic session from coming to light until the morning, Dante willed the shadows to respond to his command, and watched impassively as one tree after another was reduced to splinters by the multitudes of his shadow like tendrils.
Having rid himself of a good portion of his rage, not that it would ever completely fade, and to be honest he wasn't sure if he wanted it to, the black haired Devil reached into his shirt for the sole memento he had left that served to remind him that he had once been a normal cheerful child before the actions of others shaped him into the violent being he was today. Holding the crudely forged, but immensely precious locket in his hand, Dante opened it with his finger to witness the only thing that was able to bring a genuine, if slightly melancholy, smile to his face.
"Meowwww".
Looking up from his treasured possession, the no previously reflecting Devil found himself staring into a pair of questioning hazel eyes that had, despite his best efforts, become a regular fixture in his life. And while he would never admit to anyone since he was loath to admit it to even himself, he had slowly started to welcome the sole being in his life who demanded nothing of him except the occasional scratch behind the ears.
"Oh its you. You know, I'm not sure its true for all cats, but you have impeccable timing. If you had arrived here just a little earlier, it is more than likely that you would have shared the fate of those trees".
Seeing that his black furred companion was interested in surveying the damage he caused, Dante mindlessly extended his hand to scratch behind the feline's ears, adopting a slightly pensive expression as he felt his hazel eyed acquaintance purr beneath his fingertips.
"Not that I expect you to understand, even if you sometimes give me the odd feeling that you do understand what I'm saying, but their is something gratifying in being able to express your more turbulent emotions in a violent manner".
Feeling the purring cat give a nod to his musing, Dante was caught off guard when the feline suddenly jumped into his lap, and was now lightly batting at the locket that resting on his upper leg. Seeing now harm in satisfying the curiosity of his suddenly invasive companion, the black haired Devil carefully held the open locket so that they both could see it's contents.
"I hope you appreciate the significance of what I'm showing you cat. You're the only one who gets to see any evidence of a time when I was actually happy and not pretending to be. It truly is a great honor cat. So you better be grateful".
"Nyah".
Chuckling a bit at the indiginant, yet oddly agreeable sound of his companion, Dante proceeded to explain to the hazel eyed feline just what she was looking at.
"That smiling, gangly looking 12 year old is my older brother Argento. He was always using his powers to pull pranks on the members of our villiage, not that he ever managed to pull one over on the women of my family, but that never stopped him from trying. That smirking black haired girl on his right is our older sister Adrienne, who was always trying to learn new ways on how to use our natural abilities for combative purposes. She's the one who taught me how to use a sword, and even though her methods were at times brutal, I could tell that she genuinely enjoyed our time together".
Taking a moment to reflect on those happy bygone days, Dante missed the saddened, yet empathetic look that appeared over the feline's face as he explained his past relationship with his siblings before moving onto the other 3 figures in the portrait.
"The tall regal looking woman with shoulder length black is my mother. And though you wouldn't guess it at first glance, but beneath that stern expression was a woman who would do anything for children, even if she had the annoying tendency to be overly protective of me since I was her youngest child at the time. And the goofy looking guy with his arm around her shoulders is my father, who despite his somewhat foolish appearance, nevertheless had a will of steel when it came to looking after the well being of his family. And of course, that grinning boy on his shoulders is m..".
I'M ON THE HIGGGGHHH WAYYY TO HELLL
HIIIIGH WAY TO HELLL
Scowling at the unforeseen interruption of his alone time, but knowing that he didn't have the option of ignoring it since his master would make it her life's mission to properly punish him for his attempt at rebellion, the black haired Devil quickly hid the now closed locked under his clothes before he reluctantly answered the most visible example of his servitude.
"Yes Rias what is it"?
...
Despite the intial joy he felt at completing his first solo mission , Issei desperately wished that he had swallowed his pride and had accepted his master's offer of having something accompany him. When he was told that he was being sent to deal with a client without supervision, the brunette had been excited, and even though he was forced to use his bike to get to the client's location, he bore it with good spiritis since he felt that he was finally making noticeable progress towards achieving his dream of assembling a harem.
However as soon as he got to the client's house, things had begun to go wrong for him. His client's mutilated body had been the first sign that something had gone seriously wrong with his contract collecting, but as he was to discover, he had worse problems to deal with when he finally came face to face with the person responsible for this gruesome crime.
"Do you like what I've done with the place little Devil? I didn't have much time to prepare it for you, but since your going to be dead soon, I didn't see the need to put in the effort. A shitty Devil like you should be happy enough that I, the boy priest Freed Sellzen, was the one to end your shitty existence ".
Despite the fear he felt for being in close proximity with the clearly psychotic priest, Issei couldn't help voicing his disgust with what the deranged human had done.
"How could you have done something like this? I thought members of the Church only went after Devils and monsters. But that guy was only human".
His question only served to amuse the red eyed boy, who promptly broke down into a fit of hysterics.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAA. Are you kidding me with this? A shitty Devil like you is actually lecturing me on morals. Oh man this is too funny".
Recovering his composure with a speed that was highly unnatural, Freed began to explain to the terrified Issei his twisted reasoning for butchering the Devil summoning human.
"You see shitty Devil, your kind is only able to exist because you pray on the weaknesses of humans, therefore when a human summons you to make a deal, they are in fact betraying the rest of humiaty by allowing scum sucking parasites like yourself to get stronger. So since this guy was willing to make a deal with a Devil, that means he forfeited any rights to continue living".
Seeing that his explanation was producing a look of disgust on the brunette's face, Freed bowed his head in mock apology as he pulled from his coat a deadly looking blade and gun.
"Oh but I forget that theirs no real reason to explain this all to you since your about to be dead in the next few seconds. Or perhaps I'll extend your suffering since you made me waste my time by explainging to you my methods. Either way, this is your last night on earth shitty Devil".
Moving with a speed that should have been impossible for a mere human, Freed quickly slashed at Issei's legs with the intention of cutting them off, but the brunette Devil was able to jump out of the way at the last second, though he was unable to prevent his knee from being sliced into.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. You have an amusing desire to to live Devil scum. But don't worry, once I'm done with you, your going to be begging for me to end your existence, and being the merciful exorcist that I am, I may even grant you your request".
Grinning mannically as he aimed his pistol at the limping Devil, the crazed priest was prevented from firing by the horrifed gasping of his partner.
"Ah if it isnt my new assistant. Did you finish casting the barrier so we can continue our business in peace"?
Instead of answering him, the blonde nun looked on the grissly scene in front of her with a developing expression of horror, only to find the courage to speak as she stared wide eyed at the similarily shocked Issei.
"Father Freed, wh..what is this? I..I thought we were here to help someone seek the lord's forgiveness, not to.."
Sighing at Asia's obvious timidity, Freed adopted a look of patinece as he proceeded to explain the true purpose for their visist.
"Your new at this, so it's somewhat understandable if your dont fully grasp the importance of our mission. This scumbag" Here he pointed his sword at the wall. "Is responsible for the continued survival of such insects like the shitty Devil over there. So it is our holy duty to ensure that all those who deal with the forces are hell are punished. That being said, I think you just helped me make up my mind about something"
Aiming the pistol at the Devil, Freed was somewhat surprised when the previosuly timid nun decided to user her body to shield the limping Devil from harm.
"Noo.. I wont let yoyu hurt him. Even if he is a Devil, Issei is a kind hearted boy and I won't let you..gahhh"
Staring with disgust as he witnseed the nun collapse to the ground after being smacked in the face, Freed turned towards the horrified Devil with an apologetic look.
"Can you excuse us one moment Devil Scum? I'll be with you in just a sec, right after I finish dealing with my troublesome assitnat".
Flashing the schocked brunette a grin, Freed quickly turned back to the frightened blonde, teasingly running his blade around the torn portions of her clothing that gave a him a decsent look at her developing chest.
"Hmmm...It's a shame that our superiors gave me strict orders not to kill you Sister. Otherwise I'd stick this blade right into your heart for daring to stick up for a Devil. However there's nothing to prevent me from having a bit of fun with you, and since you seem to care about this Devil, I'll even do something nice for him and let him watch as I test just how pure a maiden you are".
Eye's widening in shock, and doing her best not to shiver in frightened disgust as she felt the crazed priest's blade play with her bra strap, Asia prayed for her ordeal to be over quickly, and that Issei's life would be spared. For even though he was a Devil, the blonde nun couldn't bring herself to hate the kind hearted boy who not only helped her when no one else would, but also treated her like a normal girl instead of a holy idol.
However just as she expected that there was nothing to prevent the crazed excorist from having his way with her body before he decided to kill the first person who treated her like a normal girl instead of a holy idol, a slightly mocking voice that seem to spring from the shadows themselves echoed around the room. Causing the brunette Devil to adopt a look of relief, while Freed lost his usual crazed expression, only to replace it with a look that could only be described as euphoric.
"You know Hyoudou, if your going to keep walking into potentially lethal situations, the least you could do is inform me before hand since I always seem to be in the middle of something when I get the call to come save your ass. I mean their I was, enjoying a nice relaxing conversation after having just finished a rigorous sparring session with our fellow Devil, when our master calls to tell me that your in trouble again. And I don't know about you, but I'm getting sick and tired of having to come to your rescue because you were stupid enough to ignore the obvious signs of danger".
And although he did his best to ignore the feelings of embarrassment that stemmed from the casual, yet truthfull, description of the nature of their somewhat brutal relationship, Issei could only give a sigh of relief as his black haired comrade decided to make himself known by materializing from the shadows, looking at the brunette with a slightly annoyed look before he turned his narrowed gaze to the flamboyant exorcist and the dishelved nun.
"Hello Freed".
And I think that's enough for. Leaving you a nice cliff hangar to get you all interested in what happens next :P
Apologises for how long this took. Rewrite of another story, and other issues in my life have taken up good amounts of my time, but since Everyone prefers long chapters to short ones (apologies if I cant do multiple lengthy chapters of a story in a day by day basis like some people...tho I wish I could :D) figured I'd work to ensure that this chapter was done properly before I released it for general consumption.
It has been brought to my attention that their is a shadow controlling sacred gear. I assure you, what Dante has is not that, tho the idea that it could be related to it is a possibility in future. And since I've only read up to the beating Loki chapter in the manga (and the beating the dragon Rias in the anime) my knowledge of the series only extends that far as of now, but will recfitiy that soon. That being said, will not be changing any aspects of Dante's powers, since I already had a full list of what he could do, so want people to know that I came up with the Idea without knowing about the Night Reflector, so if theirs any similarities...not copying since I don't own Highschool DXD lol.
Anyways...this chapter deals with more interactions between the OC and the canon peerage. Think its safe to say that Kiba would be able to pick up on Dante's unwillingness to talk about his past, since he doesn't say anything about it until it becomes nesserary for him to discuss it.
Also have more details on Dante's non shadow using skills. I confess that I always wanted him to be a swordsman..but the style was never going to rely on agility. Rather the inspiration came from another physically strong, but somewhat slow, swordsman, who nevertheless manages to be a complete badass with his red light saber and cybernetic limbs (Hopefully you all get the reference lol).
In addition to that, we see a certain feline get a tad closer to the moody Devil, who accepts it as an odd, but somewhat welcome presence in his life. Will steadily be developed until I decide to do the not so secret reveal lol.
And of course, we see the introduction of everyone's favorite psycho priest. I think I managed to get his attitude spot on. AND ever since I watched the other popular anime about a Devil/Demon servant and a crazed flamboyant killer, I always imagined Freed acting like a certain crimson haired reaper.
Surprised how long its taken me to actually reach the end of the first volume of the series, but hey, provides more reading material.
Hopefully your all not too annoyed with the cliffhanger...still working on what the nature of Freed and Dante's past relationship will be (not to mention how Dante will treat the innocent ex holy maiden once she becomes a regular presence in his new life)...but it will be entertaining.
and as it stands...here is the always changing harem pairings.
Issei: Asia, Irina, Xenovia, Ravel, Kunou, Yasaka, Rossweisse, Gabriel, Kiyome. Yuebella. Female Gasper.
Dante: Akeno, Raynare, Serafall, Kuroka, Sona, Ophis, Koneko. female Vali. And...I'm starting to think of placing Rias with Dante, though not complelty sold on the idea (even though their are tons of OC stories where she ends up with Issei and the others end up with the OC)
ANWAYS...REVIEWS ARE A MUST (preferably ones about the story not the authors notes :P). NO FLAMES
And new Poll is up on profile page asking what you want added to the story.
til next time