Chapter 8

This was nuts! Just nuts! The things he learned couldn't be true, but it was true all of it, and as much as Issei wanted to deny it Raynare and her companions told him things that were thought to only be myths, legends, and stories. Yesterday was full of surprise; first he learned his girlfriend isn't the only Fallen Angel, next there was a war fought thousands of years ago by the Angels, Fallen Angels, and Devils, two of which he learned were Rias Gremory, and Asumoto, who was her servant, and he had something called a Sacred Gear within him.

All this information was just too much to handle but he had to barrel through it. He had to focus and listen to what they had to say, unless he wished to feel their wrath for not paying attention and ogling over Raynare, Mittelt, and Kalawarner's sexy bodies. 'But what man can't be distracted by girls that hot!?" He said to himself, his eyes glazing over with a perverted glint in them before shaking his head. 'No! Bad Issei! Come on man focus, this is some serious shit you were told yesterday! Think! Remember what they told you!'

With his thought cleared of the Fallen Angel's, he focus on the information given to him. What he remembered, aside the war and the three great factions, was that there were other mythologies out there, Norse, Greek, Hindu, Youkai, and many other supernatural factions, along with its leaders, The Biblical God, Zeus, Odin, Azazel, who was the Fallen Angels leader, and Indra were all real.

A piece of him wanted to deny this but he couldn't, he should, and what about this Sacred Gear Raynare spoke of?

She said Sacred Gears were items the God from the bible created for humans to wield with powers variating from fighting to healing, and the one Issei was blessed with was said to have powers to kill gods.

The young pervert looked to his right arm, the red gauntlet covering it last night was still fresh in his mind. When he summoned it, the reactions the Angels had were quite surprising, they looked as if they were seeing a ghost. Turns out his Sacred Gear was something called the Boosted Gear and it held a dragon.

Yeah, a fucking dragon!

The fedora Fallen Angel, Dohnaseek if he remember correct, said it couldn't be but Kalawarner confirmed it was indeed the Boosted Gear, meaning Issei had great power within him. Power that he could use to protect the ones he loved and make his enemies fear him!

He was this generations Red Dragon Emperor!

'But can I live up to that title?' The human thought still looking at his hand. 'Can I really become this Red Dragon Emperor and actually use that power to protect my friends, and more importantly, build a harem?'

He trusted Raynare's words and loved her dearly, but he had to make doubly sure that what she said was correct, and if Rias Gremory said the same thing, then he could accept it.

"Good morning, Issei."

Or he could help him!

Issei spun on his heels, smiling at the greeter, "Good morning, Asumoto-san."

"There's no need to be so formal, Issei. Is something wrong, you seemed troubled?"

"Sorta of." Issei admitted rubbing the back of his head, "You see, last night I spoke with my girlfriend and she told me some crazy things. One of those things are that you and Rias Gremory are Devils, is that true?"

'He was told after all eh? That's good, he needs to know to prepare what he must face.' Asumoto nodded, "Yes, Rias Gremory, and me, are Devils. She's my master and I am her servant. However, we are not the only ones; Yuuto Kiba and Koneko Toujou, along with Asia Argento, are Devils in servitude to Rias Gremory as part of her peerage. The Occult Research Club isn't the only Devil group here, the Student Council is the peerage of Sona Sitri."

"T-the Student Council are Devil's too!?"

"Shush!" Asumoto ordered with a stern gaze, he hoped the fool hadn't alerted others of what they were talking about. "Yes, both clubs are comprised only of Devils. Everyone else at Kuoh is a human, though some humans, such as Akeno Hayashi and Kiyome Abe, know about the supernatural world."

"Hayashi-san and Abe-san know!?"

"I said shush!" Asumoto said itching to punch the boy for being so loud. "Yes there are humans who know about the supernatural world. It can be from many different ways, though the most common is through contracts with Devils or, as in Akeno's case, a priest or priestesses of Christianity or Shintoism. But sometimes it of a different reason, like Kiyome Abe being a beast tamer."

Wow. Who knew the new girl had connections about the supernatural world. And here he thought those religions were just created by some nut-jobs saying to worship god and stuff.

"Is there anything else you wish to know?"

"Could you tell me what these peerages are?"

"Certainly. High class Devils, such as Gremory and Sitri, are given a set Evil Pieces, now these Evil Pieces can turn anyone, living or dead, into a Devil, where they be human, non-human, anyone, except a god, can be reincarnated into a Devil. They build them in the shape of chess, you know what that is right?" Getting a nod from the pervert he continued, "Each piece, except the King, has an ability. Kiba is a Knight, which grants him super speed. Koneko's Gremory's Rook, that piece gives you super strength. Bishops, which is was Asia is, are highly skilled in magic, kinda like a wizard. As for me, I am the ace of the group; the Queen. Queens have the abilities of all the three previous pieces mentioned. Lastly are the Pawns, which Rias has none of, have a unique ability called promotion, this allows them to use Queen, Knight, Rook, or Bishop in enemy territory or if the King grants permission to do so."

The wielder of the Red Dragon Emperor nodded in appreciation at the information. He was lucky it wasn't Rias or Akeno explaining this to him otherwise he'd be staring at their amazing bodies. So Devils could reincarnate people and that was exactly was Rias was gonna do to him. He probably was going to be turned into her Pawn since she had none. "So, what's it like being in this peerage?" The brunette asked curious to know more about the peerage.

"Well it's a lot better than being part of a different peerage." The samurai replied with a frown, "I was lucky to be part of the Gremory household because they, and a few others, treat their servants with kindnesses. Unfortunately, not all Devil's treat there servants like that, others see them as disposable items, sex tools, or slave which results in a Devil, mostly those who are reincarnated, to ether runaway or kill their master and cause them to become a Stray, which must be terminated immediately due to their powers becoming uncontrollable."

"But why is it mostly reincarnated Devils who become Strays?"

"Because once they were all Pure-blooded. It was because of the Great War and then the Civil War that reincarnated Devils started showing up in the Devil society as a way to reproduce there numbers. Many Pure-bloods disapprove of this but repopulating pure-bloods through sex would take too long."

"How do you know so much?

"Studying. Three years of servitude under Rias and I, a reincarnated Devil, already know everything about its society. Like how the Underworld is built upon a hierarchical system, which I'm not going to explain since you're smart enough to know what that is. But I will tell you that everyone in the Gremory peerage is a low class except Rias herself since she is a pure-blood."

"Wait did you say you've been her servant for three years? That means you were reincarnated at the age of 14! Where you her first servant then?"

"No. Before Asia joined, I was Rias latest servant." Asumoto answered with a shake of his head. "She said she sensed great power in me, saying it would have been a waste to let it go. So she made me her Queen."

"I see. Thank you for telling me, Asumoto-san."

"No problem. Its best I tell you instead of Rias since she'd rather waited to explain everything to you. I'd rather have you be prepared for what you may face in the future."

The rest of the walk was silent for the brunette's until they reached school, "I'm going to meet with Rias. I hope the information you've been told will help you. Goodbye." With that the Samurai went off to the Occult Research club to see what Rias was up to. 'Hopefully those Fallen Angel's will prepare him for the destiny that awaits him.' He said to himself. When he arrived he found his master reading over some papers.

"Good morning, Asumoto. Care to explain why you were speaking with Issei?" The red head asked without bothering to look at him.

"He wanted questions, Rias. The Fallen Angels revealed to him that we are Devils, so I told him everything he needed to know. Its best he know sooner than later, especially since he holds one of the Heavenly Dragons. You know as well as I do that the wielders of the Heavenly Dragons are rivals and they will fight when the time comes. We may not be friends with the Fallen Angels, but it's for him to be prepared as best he can." When he didn't get a reply from his master he asked, "Have the Fallen Angel's spoken to you?"

"They did. Last night I was given a message requesting they be given permission to operate here and help Issei. I wanted to consult with you before giving my final decision."

"Because you'd flat out refuse the request. Rias, Issei's part of Grigori so he's gonna need their help. Besides, we already have Iwamatsu's cousin living here, I see no harm in letting them stay, as long as they don't cause trouble."

Rias sighed, "Then I guess, I will allow them to stay."

"I can't understand why you and the other factions won't just make peace?" Asumoto asked sitting on the couch and resting his feet on the table. "It'd mean no more hostilities and this damnable ceasefire can just end."

"Why are you asking me? You studied our history, Asumoto. You know why we can't have peace with the Angels and there fallen counterparts."

"And I don't care about that. This stupid Great War started for reasons I still am forbidden to know and ended on a peace treaty because Heaven and Hell lost so much, and your side's casualties increased due to your civil war. The New Satan Faction should have eradicated the Old Satan Faction, not allow them to retreat to try to start another civil war."

"You're worrying about nothing." Rias reassured with a confident smile, "The Old Satan Faction isn't a threat no more. It is Grigori and the Church we must worry about."

Asumoto sighed. The Old Satan Faction was defeated, not killed, which worried the samurai. Allowing an enemy to live was a crucial mistake, they could regroup and start another war, that is if they didn't want peace which of course they wouldn't want.. The Old Satan Faction and their allies should have been eradicated, every last one of them so old enemies wouldn't resurface to fight again. Had he been a general in that war, he'd have led the armies of hell into battles for no mercy. "Will Asia be getting her Familiar?" The brunette asked changing the subject.

"When the time comes she will."

Rias answered before rising form her seat and adjusting her clothing. "Now I believe it's time we start school."

"Winner, Asumoto!"

The girls sighed in content as the best swordsman in the Kendo club threw off his mask and brushed his hair away from his face to clear his vision then bowed to his opponent before addressing his fellow club members. Murayama and Katase were out of town today leaving him in charge of the club. "Alright, get in formation." When they did so he brought his shinai about. "Watch me closely cuz you'll only get to see this one." The Samurai moved slow for his club members to watch; slash, parry, slash, parry, dodge, thrust, slash, block. "Now show me what you remember."

He watched each girl preform the techniques movement by movement until they spotted someone struggling. "You! Step forward!" He shouted making everyone stop and stare at the girl he was pointing to who jumped in surprise at being addressed. When she did he sized her up, she was short, with shoulder length black hair, blue eyes, and a very timid expression. "What's your name?"

"Y-Y-Yui Orihana. S-second year, s-s-s-senpai!" The girl squeaked. "I-I'm trying I'm h-hardest to learn b-but I can't r-remember it t-t-that w-w-well."

The senior's expression softened before taking a few steps back. "Watch closely, Orihana-chan." He said in a gentle tone, as he performed the technique once more, this time going extra slow for the girl to watch. "Now you try." He said waiting for the freshman to give it a shot.

Yui raised her shinai and spread her legs apart, "You're legs are spread to wide, close them a little." She heard the silver eyed samurai instruct. Doing as told she began to perform the technique as best as she could remember. Strike! Parry! Strike! Block! Parry! Stri-

"No, Yui-chan, that isn't the correct pattern. Your skill with a blade is good but you must remember the pattern in which to strike." Asumoto swing the wooden sword before turning to the left with a thrust. "It is slash, parry, slash, parry, dodge, thrust, slash, and block. Try again."

"I-I'm sorry senpai! I'm trying to remember b-but…"

"Yui-chan, there is no shame in admitting your troubles. Let's do it together." He stepped toward her with his weapon ready. This caused the rest of the club to stop and watch. "Here's what will do. Listen to what I say and do those. Ready? Slash!"

The girl swung hard.

"Parry!"

She parried.

"Slash!"

Another swing.

"Parry! Then dodge and thrust your weapon forward! Slash again! Now block!" His eyes never left the second year as she followed his instructions preforming each move perfectly. Asumoto nodded in approval with a smile. "Excellent. You did very well, Yui-chan. Do not be afraid to ask for me or anyone else in the club for help. We are all family in this club." The others nodded in agreement with smiles.

"O-ok A-Asumoto-s-senpai."

Another collection of content sighs filled the building.

"Asumoto-kun is amazing."

"He's so kind."

"I'm gonna miss him when he graduates…"

"I think he's gonna own Moritsugu in the championship!"

He spared a glance to the club, these girls loved and respected him for his skill and kindness. There must be more from the many giggles and looks he gets from them, but to him, they were just friends and students all striving to become wielders of the sword.

"Now on to the next part of today's training…"

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Koneko came in. "Excuse me, but Gremory-senpai needs to see Asumoto-senpai."

Rias needed him this early? Must be important to drag him out of practice. Asumoto lowered his weapon while giving an apologetic smile to them, "I'm sorry but I must go now. Just remember what you've been taught today and keep practicing that for 10 more minutes, then pair up into groups of two and start practicing that technique on each other. I'm leaving Umichi in charge." With that said Asumoto gave a final bow to his student then went to the locker to change out of his training gear, after which he followed his fellow Devil to the Occult Research Club.

Once they were out of earshot of everyone the Queen spoke to the Rook, "So, what's on the agenda tonight? Contracts? Slaying Strays?"

"No. More important." The white haired junior answered.

If it wasn't strays or contacts then what else could it be? He'd get his answer once they met with Rias. "Then can you at least tell me what it is?"

Koneko was silent, her eyes never flickering to her senpai. But she did ask him a question in return to hers, "How did you kill the priest?"

So the little Rook wanted to know how he killed the priest huh? It would at least help them pass the time.

"Well it started when I arrived at the church…"

Asumoto looked up at the old church and snorted. If Devil's were weak against churches, shrines, and mosques, then why didn't Rias have it destroyed? She should have done so as a warning to the Church and Fallen Angels not to enter this territory. Instead she leaves it and other shrines open for people like Akeno and Raynare to visit. Speaking of Raynare, this building held the objective Raynare gave him; kill the priest and get Asia. From the power signatures he felt, everyone inside the church had power levels ranging around Kiba and Koneko's level, pretty pathetic. He could betray the Fallen Angels, kill them along with the priest and take Asia and Issei to Rias to be her new servants.

Or he could be the noble samurai his father raised him to be and uphold the honor of his people.

Shrugging he stepped forward and kicked down the doors, they fell to the floor in a loud crash that echoed throughout the building. Asumoto's body language showed he was relaxed but his mind was on high alert, ready for battle at any moment. His silver eyes looked around while his shoes kicked up dust and left faint echoes with each step taken, pillars and holy objects were broken and scattered around, the last rays of the sunlight peeking through broken windows, and the large cross that hung on the wall was broken and barley hanging on.

"Hm. Someone doesn't like the man in the yellow hat." Asumoto thought aloud, eyes alert for any sudden movement. The priest and priestess where nowhere in sight. Perhaps there was a basement, and that was where they were at. Well he wasn't gonna go to them. He'd make them come to him.

"Hello!?" He yelled aloud waiting for a reply. "Hey dose anyone live here!?"

Suddenly the sound of footsteps were heard and from out of the shadows on the far right end of the church came a man, a young man, around the age of Issei's. He had white hair, eerie red eyes that seem to glow in the slowly approaching darkness, and was draped in priest robes. This was obviously the rogue priest Raynare told him about, Freed Sellzen, yet something about him seemed awfully familiar.

"Who the fuck are you?" Freed asked sizing the elder boy up, wondering who this guy was and why he was here.

Asumoto was silent, still trying to think of where he'd seen the vulgar rouge priest before…where had he…

"I remember you." Said Asumoto pointing a figure at the priest who he now recognized. "You're that bastard who's been killing our clients." So Freed was not only the killer of the Gremory's clients but also in league with the Fallen Angels, this was pure gold, he at last found the killer and could now kill him in return and take the Twilight Healings users.

Freed blinked at the stranger, trying to decipher what he meant by killing their clients. Whose clients was he—oh…oh! At least realizing what he meant, the white haired priest burst into a fit of laughter, his cackle boomed through the church. "O-oh fuck! Jesus fucking Christ! This-this is too good to be true! It's one of you dipshit Devil's! Where the rest of your soul stealing fuckers? Hiding away or are they trailing behind?"

"Neither. It's just me, scumbag." Asumoto answered summoning a wakizashi to his hand. "And now I get to repay those you murdered with your blood. And take the nun for myself." The moment Freed reached into his jacket, Asumoto moved! With two quick steps from the Knight trait he already closed the distanced and plunged his short sword through the white haired man's throat, with his other hand having a firm grip on the rouge priest's wrist that tried to draw his gun. "You're too slow." He said to the shocked priest who could only gurgle blood as a reply. Snorting in amusement he took the gun from the priest and pressed it against his left eye, his other eye showed fear, fear that Asumoto was glad to see. "I'm gonna make sure Twilight Healing doesn't bring you back. Farewell rogue priest." With those parting words he pulled the trigger.

Flesh, blood, and bone splattered out the back of Freed's head, leaving a gaping hole in the back so big, you could see the remains of his brain. A terrified scream rent the air causing Asumoto to turn to the sound and find a young blonde with green eyes staring in horror at the gruesome sight before fainting. Asumoto withdrew the short sword to let the priest corpse collapse to the floor.

He frowned at the gun in his other hand. "Tch, guns, helpful as they are, they can be such a noises problem when trying to be stealthy." He said to himself while dropping the weapon to pick Asia up. 'This must be the nun who possesses Twilight Healing. Hmm guess she's never seen something like this…'

With his mission complete he summoned a magic circle to take him back to the Occult Research Club.

"After that I teleported back to the club with Asia." Asumoto finished just as they arrived at the entrance to the old school building.

"Good you kill him." Koneko said, unaffected at hearing the details of Freed's death. She was glad Asumoto killed him, the rogue priest got what he deserved. With him exterminated they wouldn't have to worry about turning up to murdered clients.

The two Devil's reached the clubroom and entered.

"Good evening, Asumoto-san."

Those were the first words Asumoto was greeted with as he stepped into the room. Surprise was the first emotion he felt upon seeing Raynare sitting across from Rias. So the Fallen Angels decided to pay Rias a visit.

"Good evening, Raynare-san." Asumoto returned the greeting with a bow and took his usual place behind Rias should any harm come to her.

"Now we are all here." Said Rias looking around the room to double check her whole peerage was in attendance. When the Fallen Angel showed up irritation was her first emotion, irritation that the Fallen Angel had the nerve to come to her headquarters and ask to speak. That irritation began anger once learning it was Issei who told the crow the location. As much as she wanted to scold the boy she could not, he was not her servant. Still, if the Fallen did anything funny, she would meet a quick end. Outnumbered and outmatched, this single winged Fallen wouldn't stand a chance against her Queen.

Raynare cleared her throat before addressing the red haired beauty, "As you know, a message was delivered last night requesting we be granted permission to establish a base of operations here to help Issei. Since you didn't reply I have come to ask that same request to you personally." She raised a hand to let herself finish what she wished to say before Rias could speak, "I can assure you Lady Gremory, we won't harm anyone within you or Lady Sitri's peerage, so long as you don't harm us. We only wish to help Issei, and to ensure that I have enrolled as a student for Kuoh Academy in Ise-kun's class."

Rias scowled at the Fallen, the more this woman spoke the more she wanted to hurt her for stealing Issei away, but the look Asumoto had said otherwise. She had told him her answer already and had consulted with her on this, and being the noble she was raised to be, she would keep her word. Relaxing her features she replied to the Fallen, "I am aware of your message thought I unfortunately was too busy to reply. So I shall answer your request now; yes. I will allow you permission to operate here, as well as help Issei. And yes we will stay out of your businesses, so long as you stay out of ours and don't try anything to sabotage us."

The black haired beauty nodded, "Azazel-sama, has given us strict orders to stay out of Devil business. I shall obey those orders,"

"And I assume if you hadn't you'd attacked us?" Rias asked quite hostilely which Asumoto frowned at.

"Not at all, Lady Gremory." Raynare answered in a leveled tone. "As I said before; we won't harm you if you don't harm us."

"Do you have anything else to say?" When Raynare shook her head Rias continued, "Then you may leave now. But you make sure, if any more Fallen arrive in town you will notify either me, Sona, or our Queens, Asumoto or Tsubaki." She watched the young Fallen Angels give a nod of understanding and one last look at her Queen before disappeared in a flutter of feathers.

Rias sighed, now that Raynare was attending Kuoh she'd be seeing the ravenette on a daily basis, with Issei by her side…

"Well, if we nothing else to do, I believe now we can all go home." Asumoto said breaking the silence and heading for the door.

"Not quite." Rias said rising from the couch to address her peerage. "Before that unexpected meet with our new neighbor, I was informed by the Duke that this morning two Strays, twins, were spotted in town and were last seen splitting up. Asumoto I'm sending you after one and I'll take the others to hunt down its twin, and to show our newest member how we handle Strays."

"Why am I going alone?" The samurai asked with a raised brow while Asia shook in fear since this was her first time going on a Stray hunt.

Rias smiled at her Queen, "Because you're the strongest within this peerage, and I have great confidence with your skills to exterminate this Stray. Besides, it's just a low class nothing to worry about."

"Then I shall exterminate it and return here once it's done. Where were they last seen?"

"Downtown. One heading to the outskirts, the other in the residential area."

"Then I will take the second one." With a casually wave he teleported out of the room to being the hunt for the Stray.

The citizens of Kuoh were tucked away in bed preparing for the next day to come with dreams of joy filling their heads, meaning that nobody was out on the street to notice the unusual red circle appearing on the corner of Sukowa Street and a young man stepping out of it.

Asumoto scanned the darkness for any signs of the Stray but no luck of yet. Though he just arrived, he had to hurry and find this Stray before it caused any trouble, particular within this residential area filled with families, families the samurai wished to not be harmed. Hopefully Rias would find and exterminate the other Stray quickly and help him find this one.

…

Or she'd do the usual by making her servants toy with the Stray before exterminating it herself, plus there was Asia needing the explaining on what each piece did.

Which meant Asumoto was on his own this time.

Seeing no time to waste Asumoto spread his wings and prepared to fly to a better view of the area and hopefully spot the—

"Waaaaaa! Waaaaaaaa!"

He folded his wings back in as quickly as he could, ears strained for what that noise was. It was close and coming from…

"Shhh. Don't cry Otsumichi-kun, mommy's here."

Asumoto's eyes found the source of the commotion and relaxed when realizing it was just a baby crying. He could see the mother's silhouette in the window cradling her child in her arms.

'At least he has a mother.' The samurai thought with a sad smile.

that baby's cries had made him fear the Stray had caught someone, at least people were safe, for now.

'No time to waste I gotta move." Once more he prepare to take flight, his mind set on finding the Stray.

"Asumoto?"

He spun around the moment his name was called. His silver eyed widened at the speaker.

Akeno Hayashi was standing a few feet away from the Devil, and she wasn't alone, beside the black haired beauty was a tall well build man with spiky dark brown hair and green eyes. There was a scar bellow his left eye, and another on the right side of his lip. This stranger he'd never seen before, but he had a good guess of who he might me. "Akeno, what are you doing out this late and who's that?"

The priestess gestured to the tall man beside her, "This is Hayashi Tetsuishi, son of Hayashi Iwamatsu, and my cousin." The green eyed human bowed to the Devils when he was introduced, "Tetsuishi, this is Asumoto-kun, my fellow classmate, and Rias Queen."

The scared man smiled kindly, "I'm honored to meet you Asumoto-san. I've heard much about you, such as how you're the best swordsman in the Kendo Club. However, my adorable little cousin was waiting to surprise me with the information that you were a Devil." Tetsuishi said rustling Akeno's hair while she swatted his hand away with a giggle. "As for why we are out is because we were on our way home after visiting one of the shrines. Perhaps you can tell us why you are out so late?"

"I'm hunting a Stray Devil that was last spotted entering this area. Which means I must be off to stop it." Before the young Devil could take flight Akeno once again spoke to him. "Let us help you." He heard her say making him stumble a bit at the suggestion of aiding him in exterminating a Stray. Turning round once more he stared at the two Shinto's, "I appreciate your assistance but I can handle this, Akeno. There's no point in you and your cousin dragging yourself into Devil businesses."

Akeno frowned, "It may be Devil businesses but I too would like to make sure this town is safe. If you recall, I told Rias that my enemies are those who harm this town, such as Stray Devils, like the one you're hunting now. Besides, you'll have better help finding it with us"

Asumoto looked between the relatives with curiosity, Devils forged contracts with clients, not alliances with other factions, in fact no faction ever allied with one another, they distrusted each another for good and bad reasons, yet here were two humans offering to help a Devil exterminate a stray. Asumoto had little time to think about it, the Stray was still at large and he alone would never find it.

Deciding on his answer he spoke, Very well, if you're to help then we must move fast and stop this Stray before it does something bad. I'll search from the sky while you cover the ground." With those orders given, the samurai took flight, soaring into the starry sky.

At last final having a birds eye view he started scanning the streets for the Stray, Rias hadn't explained what it look like or if it was a male or female, one more problem to add to this hunt. Not just that but it could be hiding by using a human disguise.

Rias had given zero detail about the mission, which was something he disliked about all Devils, from the times he went hunting down Strays, he was given little information about the target. Only what class it was and where it was seen. What about its age, its gender, and most importantly what did it look like? This was the 21st century, surely they'd have advanced in technology as humanity had right?

Wrong.

The Underworld stilled lived in a hierarchical system, they still used servants to do there bidding, and still utilized melee weapons. In fact, the only faction to utilize firearms was the Church, and even then they were rarely used.

While Asumoto said guns were noises, they were still valuable weapons to have handy, such as allowing one to keep their distance from an opponent, but once ammo ran out and the opponent was a fast melee user, your fucked. In the history of the Samurai, they used firearms in combat, however, if Asumoto got his hands on a gun, he'd only know how to point and shoot, he didn't know how to reload or put the safety on, meaning he would have to rely on archery, not that he was complaining. Archery was used long before firearms came to be, and still used today in warfare.

This made the samurai start to wonder how to engage the Stray once he finally confronted it? Archery, swordsmanship, or—

Asumoto stopped, his wings holding him in mid-air as he looked to the eastern residential area. Something was going on over there by the great buildup of magic power he sensed, did the Hayashi relatives find the Stray? Needing answers Asumoto flew in that direction hoping his question was correct.

'This town seems to have a special place in the supernatural world' He thought. He was right, Devils, Fallen Angels, Strays, priest, and anything else that was supernatural was drawn to this town for unknown reasons. But now was not the time to think of that, he had a Stray to kill.

Akeno dodged a punch, a punch that belonged to a giant, naked, woman. Once she may have been beautiful, but now she was a horrible site to look upon with aqua colored scales covering her previously smooth skin, eerie yellow reptilian eyes glaring angrily at the priestess who she tried to attack again with a swipe from her long sharp claws and spiked tail that swung wildly about. All that remained of her former self was her long blonde hair but even with that she was not who she was long ago. Opening her mouth wide, which held rows of teeth that looked like swords ready to tear into the black haired beauty's flesh, she threw her head forward, not to bite, but to spit a stream of vomit green liquid that barely missed Akeno, singing the edge of her miko robes.

"Ara ara. You almost got me. Ufufu." Akeno teased, quickly glancing at the damage done to her attire. She was lucky it hadn't touched her skin, otherwise she'd be a lot of pain, or dead. Glad she was unharmed for now, she refocused her attention back on the Stray.

After Asumoto took off she and her nephew split up to cover more ground. It took the miko a good fifteen minutes before finding the Stray lurking outside a house on the edge of the east residential area, eyes focused on the house, focused on the children that were playing with their parents. Akeno knew at once was what the Stray was planning and took action.

Stepping out of the shadows she blasted the Stray in the back knocking her into the forest before enacting a barrier to prevent her for escaping and attacking citizens. She had two options at the moment; toy with the Stray till Tetsuishi and Asumoto arrive, or kill the Stray now because compared to her, this Stray was nothing, she could obliterate it in an instant.

"You think you can defeat me, silly girl? You underestimate my power!" Roared the Stray unleashing a flurry of strikes with her arms and tail, hoping to cut this foolish Shinto to pieces. While she was not a Devil, this human would dare intrude on her hunting? She would make a perfect snack before digging into the main course, if she could just hit the damn woman first! She was fast, but eventually she would fall like all those who came before!

"Ara ara. So confident you are, but can you really defeat me?" Akeno asked side stepping another swing from the tail. She found it quite amusing this Stray believed herself stronger than her, a mistake she would regret. Deciding to toy with the enemy, Akeno raised a hand to release a stream of thunder at the Stray, but the enemy swiftly dodged the attack. "It's my turn to hurt you. Ufufuf~"

Bolts of thunder hurled down from the heavens, making it harder for the Stray to dodge. The closer she got to almost hitting her target the more excited Akeno became. "You're getting closer to being hit. I can't wait to hear your screams. Ufufuf~"

"You'll regret facing me you little brat! I'll take my time ripping you to pieces!" The Stray growled before firing another blast of acid that Akeno countered with a magic barrier made of ice.

Akeno quickly went back on the offense by changing the barrier into a wave of icicle's that flew right at the Stray, who smash them to pieces by using her tail like a flail. Seeing that ice would do no good against her, Akeno cast a blast of fire that, like all her attacks before, didn't make contact with the Stray.

'For a low class she's fast.' Akeno said to herself, as she keep a close eye on the Stray to try predicting where she'd go, left, right, left again, her zigzag movements were making it hard to follow and get a clear shot. If she was to hit the Stray she'd have to aim carefully.

'This tactic has always won me battles many times, and will do so again against this little bitch.' The Stray thought, her claws open wide to rip into Akeno's flesh. It was true, she used this every time whenever she was in a tight spot and allowed her to turn the tables on everyone she fought. She's rush her opponents zigzagging toward them, then lung forward spewing acid in the face, and digging her claws into her prey's body before sinking her teeth into her neck to ensure they'd stay dead. The violet eyed girl was trying to keep an eye on her but she was moving too quickly, once she was close enough she'd attack and kill her slowly. There was no way this little miko bitch could beat her!

Seeing the right moment, she lunged forward spitting acid to—

ZAP!

The Stray grunted as she was thrown several feet before digging her feet into the dirt to halt her movement. Very clever of the miko girl to use a thunderbolt to put distance between them, but had been rash as well, she too had been knocked over from the blast allowing the Stray to charge, close the distance, and pin the girl to the ground before she could get up.

Their eyes locked, yellow staring at violet.

"My, what pretty eyes you have. Perhaps I should take your eyes to replace these hideous ones I own." The Stray purred tightening her grip to prevent Akeno from escaping. Instead of fear, the human girl simply smiled, a smile that made a shiver run down her spin.

"Are you sure about that?"

ZAP!

The Stray screamed in agony as electricity coursed through her body, while Akeno continued to smile.

This idea of releasing her thunder magic directly out her body worked perfectly, she knew the stray would close the distance allowing her to channel electricity directly into the start upon contact, and it helped that the Stay believed herself the victor only to fall for this trap.

"Hahaha! Scream! I wanna hear your screams of pain~! They are music to my ears~!" Akeno moaned as she unleashed more thunder into the Stray. Feeling her captive release her hold, she threw her hands forward blasting the Stray off her and through several tress. The Priestess of Thunder ceased her assault but kept her smile plastered on her face as she looked at the pile of trees the Stray was buried under. Those were the best screams she had ever heard and that made her body hot.

The pile of trees quivered as a long growl emanated beneath them before a long, scaly, and mildly burnt, tail came bursting out of the tree trunks follow by arms, head, body, and legs, all sporting burnt marks ranging from first to third degree burns.

Seeing this Akeno's smile widened more, "Ara ara. You're not dead Stray devil...that's good, we still have more time to play~ Ufufuf~"

"Akeno-chan, as much as you enjoy tormenting your enemies, we have to allow Asumoto-san to end this Stray."

Akeno turned to the speakers a hand touching her blushing checks. "Ara ara. And here I was hoping I'd get to have all the fun."

"But it's his job to kill it. Remember, he asked for our help." Tetsuishi smiled at his sadistic cousin, Asumoto following behind. Akeno was always a tough fighter and never showed mercy to anyone, and loved to torture her opponents before killing them. When he felt Akeno cast a spell he rushed to where she was to assist her, instead, found a barrier with Asumoto looking at it, which he realized Akeno had cast to contain the Stray. As for Asumoto being outside, he couldn't past through without Iwamatsu allowing him to due to the samurai being Rias Queen.

"And you have done terrific work in defeating this Stray, Akeno. Now allow me to put it out of its misery." Asumoto thanked with a tiny bow.

Akeno watched the samurai with kneed interest, wondering how he would end the Stray. Her eyes flickered to his hand that he outstretched, perhaps he was summoning a weapon? Her question was correct, within its grasp appeared a Katana with a circular guard and black handle wrappings.

Now she was getting excited to see just what kind of—

SHLINK!

Asumoto disappeared and the sound of flesh being cut followed afterwards before he reappeared with blood on his sword.

As for the Stray, she was silent for a good two seconds before her head rolled off her shoulders with blood spewing out of her necks like a fountain coating the green grass red.

Akeno was in awe at the speed Asumoto displayed. She knew he was fast, but that was so fast that she, as well as the Stray, didn't see him. Guess those were the traits of training every day and the Knight trait from the Queen piece.

"Akeno, could you remove the evidence please?"

Hearing the Devil's words, the shrine maiden obliterated the Stray's corpse leaving no trace of anything unusual. With the task done, Akeno turned to the men smiling, "Ara. That was fun."

Asumoto wiped the blood off his blade before it disappeared in a burst of light. This Stray, like every Stray, was weak, he never had an issue in dealing with them, this of course was due to him being a Queen, and skills. In fact, his only issue tonight was searching for the damn thing, something he had to extend his thanks to the Hayashi's for, specifically Akeno, since she found and fought the beast. Had they not helped in the hunt, it have taken the brunette longer to find the Stray which definitely would have led to civilian deaths.

Turning to the Hayashi relatives he bowed to them. "Thanks for helping me exterminate this Stray."

Tetsuishi returned the bow to Rias' Queen. "Think nothing of it. It was Akeno-chan who wanted to help after all. Now with this threat dealt with, it's time to return home."

"Again I thank you both for helping me." Asumoto sent a tiny smile to Akeno which she returned. Casting the teleportation spell, the Gremory symbol appeared below his feet before he was enveloped in a bright light leaving the Hayashi relatives alone.

"Did you see how fast he was?" Hayashi asked his cousin.

Akeno nodded yes as she followed her uncle's son back to her home. She was glad the Devil was her friend and not her enemy, the speed he possessed was much greater both her and Tetsuishi combined, she was sure if they were to fight him it would end either in his victory or to a draw, the latter would be the most definite outcome, unless it was her uncle. Even in his old age, Iwamatsu was still someone not to trifle with. Thinking about her uncle made the young shrine maiden remember the way he acted when she told him about Asumoto, something she chose to bring up with her cousin.

"Tetsuishi-kun, dose uncle know anything about Asumoto-kun? The way he was acted when I talked to him seemed very suspicious."

Tetsuishi spared a glance to Akeno, "If my father dose know something about him, then he will tell you when the time is right. It is not my place to tell, even if I knew."

Akeno was disappointed in the answer she received. However, this meant Iwamatsu did know something about Asumoto, but what exactly she wasn't sure. Akeno made sure next the time she spoke to him she would get the answers she deserved.

The old school building was empty when Asumoto returned, either the Stray Rias was hunting was giving her a harder time than his did, or the more obvious one being she was teaching Asia about Stray's and Evil Pieces. A King, Knight, Rook, and Bishop could handle a simple Stray, and even if Kiba or Koneko couldn't handle it, Rias would obliterate it with her Power of Destruction.

She was lucky to inherit the Bael clan's signature move unlike her cousin who was to be the next heir to the clan. However Sairaorg didn't need destruction magic to beat his enemies, his bare fists where enough to make him the strongest heir among the rookie six.

His relations with Rias was clearly from how he treated her, she was kind, which he gave her points for, however her pride and arrogance outweigh it which made him dislike his master.

Sona and Sairaorg, on the other hand, got along well with the Samurai, they never argued or disagreed with his point of view on the Underworld's society. Something they both wished to change, the old nobles still wanted the old ways to stay but if they did, nothing would change for the better.

Seekvaira he only knew as an acquaintance but was on good terms with her.

Astaroth and Glaysa-Labolas…

The samurai's face scrunched up into one of hate, his hands balling into first.

He detested those two the most, Diodora never ceased that creepy ass smile of his, and Zephyr was a foul mouthed punk who couldn't just the fuck up. Oh how Asumoto wanted to kill those two.

Unfortunately, five of the six rookies were related to one of the Four Great Satans. Sirzechs was Rias' sister and Sairaorg's uncle, Serafall was Sona's sister, Ajuka was Diodora's brother, and Falbium was Zephyr's brother, this meant if any harm were to come to them, even by fellow Devils, there would be severe consequences which Asumoto did not want to face. So with great regret, and annoyance, the young samurai had to let the two Devil's he hated more than Rias to live.

Five minutes passed before his master at last returned.

"I see you've taken care of the Stray. Good work, Asumoto. Though I knew the Stray would be easy for you." Rias congratulated with a smile. "The Stray we encountered was no trouble."

"Then what took you so long?" Asumoto asked as he stifled a yawn.

"Asia needed a good explanation of how we deal with Strays. Something she learned rather quickly, which I'm proud of. Now that this threat has be exterminated, you may leave."

"Good. I'm dying to get some sleep." Asumoto said teleporting out of the clubroom before anyone could stop him making Rias sigh but smile.

"That boy I swear…"

"Buchou, forgive me for asking, but why exactly did you revive Asumoto-kun? He doesn't seem to enjoy being a Devil, let alone a servant." Kiba asked.

Rias smiled sadly at her blonde Knight, her mind wondering back to the day she first meet Asumoto…the red haired beauty was silent for a good while before replying to her Knight, "That, Kiba, is a story I will tell when the time is right."