"... Flames don't become stronger they are from the beginning Flames that could erase Gods and God-Class beings in an instant or in seconds. So your way is not logical."

Those are Ddraig's flames. Issei's will be only a fraction of that for the foreseeable future (like all of his abilities compared to Ddraig)

I added a little bit to the end of the last chapter, because i realized how bare it was. I'd recommend checking out the last part of it.

Rias Gremory, sitting at her desk in the Occult Research Club room, trying her best not to freak out, could only think of one thing.

Those shadows...

She had heard stories of a power that gave the user control of the shadows, along with a frightening aura. It was so rare that she had not even thought of it when she came across Issei. Especially since the last user anyone had heard of was well over a century ago.

Though it had been far longer than that since there was a user capable of handling the power for more than a few minutes before going completely insane.

No wonder she couldn't find it in the main Sacred Gear books, none of them included it. So little was known about it that it was disputed in the supernatural community whether it was a Sacred Gear or not.

None of this boded well for Issei Hyoudou.

One of the first few recorded - and by far the strongest - user had killed a lot of devil's in it's time. Several of the Pillar families would want Issei's head. For crimes he did not commit.

She knew she should call her brother and get help. That would by far be the best course of action. But she refused to.

Let it be known that Rias Gremory, for all her kindness and empathy, was still a devil. A very young, high class devil. As such, she was insanely prideful.

In the end, she decided she would decide what to do next based on Issei's state when he wakes up.

Once again, Issei found himself waking up on a couch. He didn't have to look around to know he was in the clubroom again.

Ddraig?

[You're awake.]

Yeah… What happened?

[Do you not remember?]

Clearly not.

[You were torturing the Fallen Angel before you collapsed. You appear to have a new power.]

What was it?

[I do not know.]

How could you not know? Haven't you seen all of these before?

[Not this one.]

How is that-

[Because it is not of the Boosted Gear. You appear to have a seperate power entirely, Hyoudou.]

Is that even possible?

[In theory, yes. It is best if you talk to Gremory about it further.]

Memories from the night flooded back into Issei's mind.

He shot up.

Thankfully, there wasn't any pain in his side this time when he stood up.

He took a few steps, and a splitting headache made itself known, the effect of it almost knocking him off his feet. He put his hand on the wall to steady himself.

When he got to the door and opened it, Rias wasn't the only one there this time. The entire Occult Research Club were there with her. They were all enjoying tea.

With someone else.

"Asia!"

Asia Argento barely had time to stand up before she was engulfed in a hug.

"You're alive!... How are you alive?" He asked.

"Rias brought me back." Her response was muffled by Issei's shirt. There was a heavy blush on her face that Issei could not see.

It was then when it fully dawned on the brown haired devil that everyone else was there. He released Asia immediately and took a step back.

Akeno giggled.

Rias cleared her throat. She sat at her desk, a book open in front of her. "Seeing how she has Twilight Healing, I figured she would make a good addition."

Her words would have annoyed Issei just yesterday, but right now he was too happy about Asia being alive for a negative thought of any kind.

"Now, I believe one of my regulars is expecting me." Kiba said.

"Ditto" Koneko spoke up.

They were both gone a moment later.

Rias didn't acknowledge their departure. Rather, she turned to her Queen. "Akeno, could you please help Asia with her schedule?"

"Of course," Said Queen replied with a smile.

Issei and Rias were now alone.

In the back of his mind, Issei wondered if she had planned that.

"We were all very worried when you collapsed after your… fight." Rias still didn't think that was the right thing to call it.

That made Issei remember. He was so distracted that he had completely forgotten about the biggest part of last night. "Raynare… What happened to her?" He asked.

"I eliminated her. Honestly, I think it was mercy, considering what she was going through."

"Oh."

"Are you okay with that?"

The brunette didn't answer for a moment.

"Yes. She had to be killed." He would be lying if he said he didn't wish that he was the one to do it.

Rias didn't look like she quite believed him. "Good. Now that we're alone, I need to talk to you about a few things."

"Okay..." Issei wasn't entirely sure he liked where this was going.

"Now that Asia is a devil, she will need a more permanent place to stay. When I asked her about where she would like to live, her first idea was with you. Would you be okay with that?"

"Of course. Just let me call my parents-"

"No need. I can take care of it." She gave him that smile that never failed to make him uneasy. Though he was more concerned about what she had said before that.

"Wait... did you say I was the first person that she thought of?"

"Yes. It seems you've made quite the impression on her in your short time together. She really appreciated you coming to save her."

Issei looked away, a slight blush on his face. "The others did more than me…"

"Maybe so, but they would not have even been there if it wasn't for you."

"Speaking of that," Issei said, happy to change the subject. "What exactly happened at the end? It's all pretty fuzzy after Asia… you know,"

Rias's face darkened.

"Issei… I'm sure you're aware of the effect you have on people."

Issei didn't respond verbally.

"I think I know why now."

"You do?" The brunette devil couldn't hide his eagerness.

"Yes." She sighed. "It's been called many names throughout history, but the one that seemed to stick is Corrupt Eternity. You seem to be the most likely candidate for the latest user. The 'Infinite Void of Ruin' is the source of your frightening aura, Issei. Or was, rather."

[That makes sense.]

You've heard of this too, Ddraig?

[Just by name. One of my hosts has never come into contact with it, thankfully.]

Issei was going to ask the dragon what he meant but the crimson haired devil began talking again.

"I wish I could be certain before telling you all of this, but until you try to use it further, there isn't much I can do. Corrupt Eternity manifests itself in different ways, and there aren't even many to compare you to in the first place."

"Why not?"

"Because, Issei, most who have this power don't survive nearly as long as you have. Most go insane almost directly after using it for the first time, going on a rampage before eventually being put down.'

Upon seeing his startled expression, Rias continued in a futile attempt to calm her Pawn down. "But that isn't all of them, and you have already proved to be different. For now, we should remain optimistic."

[Foolish.]

Issei chose not to answer the dragon.

"Wait, why did you mean by it 'was' the source of the aura?"

Rias smirked. "Don't tell me you didn't notice that nobody was affected by you when you walked in."

Issei's eyes slightly widened. "You mean…"

"Yes. It seems that your aura is gone. For now, at least. You should be able to have a more normal school life going forward.

Now, I want you to go home and get some rest. We'll discuss this more later." She said, right back to her normal demeanor.

Issei would be more than happy to oblige that request. He opened the door, before stopping and turning back to his 'Master'.

"Rias?" He called.

"Yes?"

"Thank you, for saving Asia." After I failed.

"Don't worry about it Issei… Oh! And one more thing." The Pawn looked back at her. "I wanted to say I'm sorry for- "

Issei cut her off with a hand. Rias, temporarily stunned by the action, actually stopped talking.

He sighed. "I don't want an apology, Rias."

Her response of "What do you want then?" died on her tongue when he closed the door.

On a tree outside of the old school building, a red and yellow bird was perched, piercing blue eyes staring into the room from a window.

Once Issei had left, it flew away.

Rias sighed as she sat down at her desk.

There would be even more problems for Issei Hyoudou as a devil going forward, ones that Rias had failed to warn him of.

The most well known wielder of Corrupt Eternity was from the Great War period. It executed thousands of Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels in its time. It had to be responsible for wiping out at least three of the Pillar families single handedly.

The rest of the surviving devil families will not look favorably on Issei Hyoudou.

And she had no idea how to prepare for that.

Of all the things to happen on his way home, Ddraig talking to him wasn't one that Issei expected.

[Are you sure about this, Hyoudou?]

Sure about what?

[Letting this girl close to the people you care about.]

Yes... Why wouldn't i be?

[This wouldn't be the first time the Church used an innocent looking nun to kill someone.]

Asia wouldn't do that.

[I'm sure you thought the same thing about the Fallen Angel. Tell me, how did that turn out?]

Issei ground his teeth in an attempt to stop the anger.

This is different.

[How so?]

Asia saved my life by jumping in front of Freed. She put herself in danger for me. Why would she do that if the end goal is to kill me?

[It could have been an act for this very purpose. She might also need information on your Master. There are countless explanations.]

You aren't changing my mind on this. Asia is a good person.

[I am aware. You throw all logic out when you get attached to someone. For someone so recently murdered for trusting someone you knew nothing about, you seem eager to let it happen again.]

Issei did not respond.

A surprisingly mundane life carried on for the next few weeks, even with a new person he still barely knew in his house. Issei was focused on recovering for the first few days, but after that he returned to the same routine he had since becoming a devil.

Though now he had Asia with him to hand out flyers. Despite his aura being under control now, she still had much more success approaching people than he did.

Thankfully, his parents were receptive to Asia right away, they had always wanted a girl anyway, so he supposed that wasn't surprising.

As had become normal recently, he and Asia were preparing to hand out flyers in the hopes of getting contracts.

In the few short weeks since becoming a devil, Asia had already passed Issei in contracts.

"We're going to hand out flyers now." Issei announced as he handed a bag of flyers over to Asia, keeping one for himself.

"Actually Issei," Rias said. "I think you'll be glad to hear that your days of handing out flyers are over."

"Really?"

"Yes. I think you have a good enough idea of how the job works. And handing out flyers is usually the role of a familiar anyway."

"What's a familiar?"