Outsider Chronicles: Demon Magus

Its one thing to discover that reincarnation is an actual thing, but its quite another to find out that Gods are very much real as well. It certainly doesn't help that I ended up getting dragged head first into a fight between two of them, found myself with a ridiculously hot stalker and labeled as a Demon King. Add in a Grail War and you have the makings of a truly humongous headache.

And we are back! Nothing to say, other than enjoy!

Chapter 3

I was laying back on a surface that was neither hot nor cold, hard nor soft. It simply existed, supporting my body. Speaking of which, my body no longer hurt. In fact, I felt more at peace and comfortable than ever before, even more so than my own bed.

"The black Art that Epimetheus and I left behind, the Sacred birth of an Illegitimate child, shrouded in darkness, born of a Fool and a Witch," said a childish voice, cutting through the peaceful silence, "A secret right of Usurpation, only possible through the sacrifice of a God."

I opened my eyes and found myself staring up into a pair of bright green eyes set into a beautiful, if child-like, face.

"In other words, all of the conditions have been met," said Pandora, smiling down at me, "And you shall receive a gift from the Heavens. But you already knew that. Right, little Outsider?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Well to put it simply, the sacrificing of your life in order to slay Verethragna has succeeded," said Pandora.

"Thats not what I meant," I said, "Why did you call me an Outsider? Verethragna called me that as well."

Pandora just smiled.

"You will find out in time," she said, "But for now, I welcome you to this new world, Kariya Ishida, as a Campione, a God-Slayer, a King among Kings, a Campione…"

I groaned as I opened my eyes and found myself staring up at my bedroom ceiling. That damned dream again. I thought Campione were supposed to forget about their time with Pandora! Maybe I remembered because I knew it happened…

I let out another groan and sat up, ignoring the warm body that was sharing my bed (uninvited I might add) as I did. It had been a week since I had killed Verethragna and, while I'm sure you would love nothing more than to hear of my test fights with Doni, I really don't feel like giving that moron any more page space than necessary. Suffice to say, I had discovered that my Authorities were the exact same as Godou's.

I shook my head to banish those thoughts as I opened my wardrobe and ran a hand through my hair to attempt to make it lay flat. Looking back at me in the mirror attached to the door was a tall, well built teenager with messy, black hair and dark purple eyes. The impressive muscle tone was new, a result of becoming a Campione.

"So, is there any particular reason you've migrated to my bed?" I asked as I started getting dressed.

"Well, where else would I sleep?" asked Erica as she sat up, "We love each other after all."

I gave her a flat look.

"Speak for yourself," I said, "I didn't invite you to stay with me because I've randomly fallen for you, I just knew there was no way you'd leave me be once you showed up at my doorstep. Might as well cut out the middleman and keep you from getting in trouble for breaking and entering."

"My, how cold," said Erica, leaning forwards slightly so I got an excellent view of her cleavage.

True, she slept in the nude, but she had wrapped my sheets around herself when she'd sat up. Somehow, the entire set up looked so much sexier than if she was just nude. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my wardrobe.

"Erica, I do like you," I said, "But I certainly don't love you...yet."

"Oh really?" asked Erica, "In that case, I guess I should just try harder…"

I stiffened slightly as Erica's arms looped around my neck and she molded her soft body against my back. I gulped at the feeling of her soft breasts against my back, even through my uniform.

"I can be very...persuasive," she breathed in my ear, making me shiver.

"A-anyway, I need to get breakfast before school," I said quickly, stepping out of her embrace.

Erica just giggled as I fled the room.

"Man, that is not good for my blood pressure," I muttered as I headed downstairs, "Hmm, now how should I return fire?"

In the past week, Erica and I had been playing at trying to get the other to blush, resulting in some pretty interesting exchanges of flirting and outrageous comments. As a result, I was actually a lot more comfortable with the idea of being with the blond than Godou was at this point. The main problem was that I was extremely likely to end up with more girls trying to get into my pants and I really didn't know how it was going to make me react.

I paused when the sound of humming floating out of my kitchen filtered into my brain. I blinked and stuck my head into the living room, which was connected to my kitchen. Stood with her back to me, chopping something on the side, was a girl with long, violet hair tied up with a pink ribbon, wearing a frilly apron over her school uniform. She also happened to be part of the reason I never twigged that Campione is a thing, despite the fact I quite literally had it staring me in the face in the form of a photo of Grandpa and Lucretia and the Prometheus Grimoire in my possession. What do I mean by that? Well, you know how my Parents died in a fire? Well, that fire happened to have a few other survivors, one of whom I happened to attend school with and had a hero complex on par with Batman and Harry Potter combined. For those not keeping up, it was Fate and the girl happened to be Sakura Matou.

Yeah, I had somehow ended up taking Shirou's place as her rock in this reality after I happened upon Shinji shouting at her in an alleyway after school one day. Since I hate bullies and the seaweed haired moron, I stepped in and kicked the bastards arse. As a result, I ended up taking her under my wing as it were, helped greatly by the fact we were in the same class. About a year ago, after I was injured in an accident and broke my arm, she started coming over to help me around the house and hadn't stopped since, despite my half hearted protests. Frankly, it was hard to do anything to stop her when I knew how she was treated at home. And I'm sure the fact that I had a pretty girl fixing me food had nothing to do with it either.

Due to my trip abroad and the chaos caused by Erica showing up and moving in, I hadn't had chance to do more than leave her a message on her phone that I was back home.

"Well, you certainly didn't waste any time," I said as I walked over and lent against the counter.

Sakura looked up and smiled at me.

"Good morning Kariya," she said, "And I happen to like cooking for you."

"And I love eating your cooking," I said, "Still, you don't need to come over every day."

Sakura's smile faulted and I had to hide a wince. Yeah, she technically did if she wanted to get away from Zouken and Shinji.

"Never mind, you can come whenever you want," I said, "I just meant you don't need to cook and clean when you do."

Sakura gave me a look that suggested she thought I was being an idiot.

"But I like doing it," she said, "And besides, if I don't cook for you, you always end up eating nothing but those frozen meals."

I opened my mouth to protest, but closed it again a moment later. I couldn't really say anything since it was true. Cooking was...not one of my talents.

"Fine," I grumbled.

At that moment, there was the sound of socked feet on the stairs and we both looked up.

"Kariya, is someone here?" asked Sakura.

I winced. This was not going to end well for me. I was proven right a moment later when Erica emerged from the hall in nothing but a rather sheer nightdress and a pair of white stockings.

"Kariya, would you mind…" she said, but stopped when she saw Sakura.

For a moment, there was silence as the two girls stared at each other, before two glares turned on me, making me want to do nothing more than cower under the table. Devil King I may be, but that didn't mean I wasn't scared shitless of angry women, particularly those out to defend their territory.

"Kariya, who is this?" asked both girls at the exact same time.

I winced.

"Er, Sakura, this is Erica Blandelli, a friend I met in Italy," I said, "Erica, this is Sakura Matou, a friend from school..."

I trailed off as both girls seemed to up their glares. I think breakfast was going to be rather awkward…

I was completely correct. After managing to convince Erica to go and put some proper clothes on and Sakura to finish breakfast, we all ended up sitting in a very tense silence around the dinner table. Naturally, Erica had claimed the seat next to me and was sitting close enough that she was nearly in my lap while Sakura glowered at the blond.

"So, you two met in Italy?" asked Sakura at length.

"Thats right," I said, "Actually, I didn't even know that Erica had come to Japan until she showed up last night."

"Is that so?" said Sakura as Arianna (and I had no idea where she had come from) appeared from the kitchen and put a cup in front of Erica.

"Pretty much," I said.

"Thats rather cold, don't you think?" asked the Knight, "I simply feel like accepting your love now, thats all."

I groaned as Sakura's glare cranked up to eleven.

"Is this payback for the Tsundere act?" I muttered.

"Oh, don't you remember?" asked Erica with a smirk, "We shared a bed together at Lucretia's house and the day after we shared a hot bacio…"

She blushed slightly as she smiled at the memory.

"A k-k-k-kiss?!" spluttered Sakura, "Y-you and…"

She somehow managed to both pale in horror and blush brightly at the same time, resulting in her going a rather interesting purple colour. However, I was too busy trying to stem the headache that was beginning to pound behind my eyes.

"Erica, that was because we were facing a God," I growled without thinking.

Sakura blinked.

"Wait, what?" she said.

"Oh, um, never mind," I said quickly.

I really didn't want word of me being a Campione getting back to Zouken somehow.

"But its true we shared a kiss, is it not?" asked Erica.

"That it is," I said immediately, "However, its also true that you nearly killed me after that 'night together' since it was a result of you drinking far too much and Lucretia's idea of either a joke or matchmaking."

Erica blushed at the mention of what actually happened with that incident while Sakura looked somewhere between relevant and annoyed at the revelation.

"Anyway, we should be going," I said as I got to my feet and took my plate to the sink, "Erica, try not to make a mess of my sheets and if you go out, lock up after yourself. Later!"

Erica let out a scandalized yelp at the insinuation as Sakura and I headed out for school.

"Hey Kariya," said the purple haired girl as we walked towards the school.

"Hmm?"

"Was what she said...true?" she asked in a small voice.

"Eh, sort of," I said, "She was twisting the facts somewhat though."

"I see," she mumbled, "So you are dating her?"

I grunted and made a so-so gesture with my hand.

"Not really," I said, "More like she's decided she's in love with me and I have no idea how to tell her to get lost."

Or inclination for that matter. Seriously, Erica was hotter than hell and I knew it would take a lot to get her to bugger off. As such, I had very few incentives to actually try. Sakura looked a little pleased at that revelation.

"Thats good," she muttered, quietly enough that I nearly missed it.

"Hmm? What was that?" I asked.

"Nothing. Come on, lets hurry or we'll be late," said Sakura with a smile, grabbing my hand and pulling me along as she sped up.

We arrived in school and immediately headed to our classroom where our classmates greeted me.

"Hey Kariya, how was Italy?" asked the boy sitting next to me...who happened to be Kusanagi Godou.

How the fuck did I miss that?

"Lets see, gorgeous weather, views and women...it was great!" I said with a grin, "I did nearly get caught up in a freak hurricane though…"

"Speaking of Italy, did you guys hear we're getting a new transfer student?" asked the guy behind Godou, "I hear shes Italian, really pretty and of noble lineage!"

"I bet shes really a Devil in disguise," I deadpanned, already preparing for the inevitable chaos that would come from Erica's introduction.

"Alright everyone, settle down," said the teacher as she entered, followed by Erica, "I will now introduce our new Transfer student…"

"Hi everyone, Bongiorno," said Erica, cutting off the teacher, "There is something I must explain to all of you. You see, I have already promised my future to someone…"

The class lit up with whispers and I flinched slightly as I felt Sakura's glare burning a hole in the back of my head from across the classroom.

"And that person...is Kariya Ishida!"

I let my head fall to the desk in front of me with a thump as everyone looked between the two of us in shock. I tilted my head up as I sensed Erica step up beside my desk and fixed the blond Knight with a half hearted glare.

"Really?" I growled.

Erica just smirked.

"Now we can be together all the time Kariya," she said loudly and airily, before kissing me on the cheek.

I let out another groan of annoyance as Erica hypnotised the girl next to me to give up her seat. She was definitely doing this on purpose. It really didn't help that I could feel Sakura's glare increase in intensity. This was really gonna blow…

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," said Erica and I knew she was about to make things worse for me, "I rented a new apartment earlier. We can break it in later."

I shuddered under the Killing Intent that had just settled onto my shoulders from every other male in the classroom.

"Right, thats it!" I snapped, surging to my feet and grabbing Erica by the hand, "We need to talk!"

I dragged her outside, only to pause as I realized that I hadn't grabbed Erica and had instead somehow managed to snag Yuri. I'm pretty sure there must have been some magic involved, although how I don't know. I sighed and let go of her wrist.

"Neat trick," I said to the nervous looking girl, "And you are…?"

"My name is Mariya Yuri," she said softly, "And...um, I need to talk to you."

I huffed.

"Well then, meet me outside the gates after school," I said, "Right now, its time for class."

I was proven right as the bell rang. Yuri nodded and walked away. As she did, I let my face shift into a scowl of annoyance. Throughout the entire conversation, I could see that Yuri was trembling in fear. I'd need to do something about that. Yuri didn't deserve to live in fear of attending school with a Campione.

"That'll be a fun conversation," I muttered as I returned to class.

And done. Well, that was a fun chapter. And to think, I planned for this to be the classroom scene and the conversation with Yuri. Guess my plan to introduce Sakura a little differently really threw off my plans...eh, it was fun to write.

So, here we meet the 'secret' addition I have planned, none other than Sakura Matou! That should be fun in the future…

Yeah, Kariya is in the same class as Godou and Sakura. That was mostly just because I wanted to make a jab at his observational skills. I doubt he'll have much of a role.

And done. Don't forget to leave a review on your way out!