Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DXD.

"Rias" - Speech

'Issei' - Thought

[BOOST!] - Sacred Gear Ability/ Ddraig and Albion Speech

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To know Pain and to know Hatred are requirements of being alive. This much I know for a fact. I have borne the hatred of Heaven, the Underworld and those who reside on Earth for Four years and yet I still move on.

I have felt the pain of loss more often than I care to remember, as well as more mundane physical pain. Yet I still advance. Why, you might ask. Why put myself through such torment?

Because I must. Because those that have gone before me will not allow me to rest until I have completed my goals. And I will complete them, come hell or high-water.

-Mei Schwarzwald, the Queen of Blood and Betrayal.

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Chapter 1: The First Turn

One Month Previously, Three Weeks after Shalba Beelzebub's Attempt to Destroy the Underworld

After School…

Occult Research Club's Clubroom, Old School Building, Kuō Academy

"We're all here, Buchou." Akeno announced as the members of the Occult Research Club settled down into the chairs and sofas scattered around the room.

"I think Rias-Buchou's a bit busy, Akeno-sama." Ravel pointed at one Rias Gremory sitting and holding one Hyōdō Issei whilst staring into his eyes. It should be noted that the young Phenex scion was looking at Issei wistfully as she spoke.

"Ara, ara." the Vice-President smiled, "Rias, you can make-out with Issei-kun later. Your Onii-sama is due to arrive any minute now, remember?"

"Spoilsport." the Gremory Heiress pouted at her Queen, "Very well. Now, my adorable servants, my Onii-sama, Sirzechs Lucifer, is going to drop by to inform us of something. The Sitri Group will be joining us, as will Sona's Nee-sama, the Maō Serafall Leviathan. Where is Azazel-sensei?"

"He said something about having to go to Grigori HQ." Kiba volunteered, "He looked pretty worried."

"Damn, don't tell me that the Khaos Brigade is gearing up for another attack." Issei groaned, "Seriously, we've beaten Vali's group, the Old Maō Faction and the Hero Faction! Why can't they take a hint!?"

"Some people are idiots, Issei." Rias said comfortingly, "Hopefully, it isn't the Khaos Brigade. Maybe a particularly strong Fallen Angel has gone rogue?"

"Michael-sama hasn't mentioned anything to me about anything like that." Irina piped up.

"…self-proclaimed Angel." Xenovia muttered just loud enough for Irina to hear.

"I'm a real Angel! I'm Michael-sama's [Ace]!" Irina wailed, "Issei-kun, Xenovia's being mean!"

"N-Now Xenovia, Irina, calm down." Issei calmed them both down at length.

"Still…why would Serafall-sama be coming along?" Asia asked as she sat next to Issei, lightly flushing at being so close to her.

"Who knows." the Gremory Princess replied with a shrug as she retook her own seat on Issei's other side, "Issei, is there any problems with the [Boosted Gear] with Ddraig asleep?"

"I can use the basic abilities of the [Boosted Gear], as well as the basic Balance Breaker, but [Illegal Move Tríaina], as well as [Cardinal Crimson Promotion] are beyond me right now." Issei replied, "Ddraig put too much of himself into keeping my soul inside of the [Boosted Gear], as well as the energy we expended combining with Great Red."

"Well, now that you have overcome the need for a countdown to activate it, as well as the time limit, the [Boosted Gear: Scale Mail] will be plenty strong enough to fend off any but the strongest enemies, Issei-sama." Ravel put in.

"Arigato, Ravel-chan." Issei smiled at her, making the High-Class Devil flush bright red.

"Humph. I-It isn't like I needed to tell you that." the girl muttered, showing exactly why she was classed as a Tsundere by her brother, Riser.

"Ah, there's my brother's Magic Circle now." Rias said in relief as the magic circle of the Gremory Family appeared in the space set aside for such things.

Grayfia, Sirzechs' Queen and wife, appeared in the circle before stepping out and nodded a greeting to the Gremory Group.

"Rias-sama, it is good to see you well." she said with a calm look on her face, "Hyōdō Issei, have you recovered from your exertions in the Dimensional Gap?"

"Not fully; Ddraig is still down for the count." Issei said with a gesture at his left arm, where his Sacred Gear appeared from.

"I see…where is the former Governor-General of the Fallen Angels?" she asked as her eyes darted around the room.

"He's gone to Grigori HQ." Kiba informed her, "He looked very serious."

"Hardly surprising." Grayfia said with a sigh, "The meeting will be held in the Student Council Office. Sirzechs' Peerage are setting up a barrier around the school as we speak, so we should be secure. Follow me and keep together."

"Grayfia, is there something wrong?" Rias asked her sister-in-law in concern.

"Grigori HQ was attacked yesterday by a Stray Devil of immense power." the grey-haired woman replied, "We should start moving now."

The Gremory Group was shocked. A Stray Devil had attacked the Headquarters of the Fallen Angels? How was that possible? Stray Devils had no control over their powers, having betrayed and killed their Masters. Fallen Angels, with their power to create weapons of Light, should be able to handle one without any kind of trouble.

They followed Grayfia from the building and they noticed the telltale signs that a powerful barrier was in place, keeping any regular human out of the campus, as well as obscuring the happenings within the campus from sight.

"That is a far more powerful barrier than what was used for the Three Factions Peace Conference." Rias said in an undertone to Issei.

"What reason would they have for using a barrier more powerful than that one?" Issei asked with a frown.

There was no answer to be had as they entered the main school building and headed towards the Student Council Room. Grayfia rapped on the door smartly and was let in by Sōji Okita, Sirzechs' Knight and Kiba's former Sword Instructor.

"Any trouble?" he asked quietly.

"None." Grayfia replied with a shake of her head, "Has everyone arrived?"

"Hai, although Serafall-dono is…somewhat overly concerned for Sona-sama's safety." Sōji replied quietly.

As the Gremory Group entered the room, they saw Serafall Leviathan, one of the Four Maō, standing over her sweatdropping little sister, Sona Sitri, with her staff out and ready to blast whoever came near the Kuō Academy Student Council President with her powerful Ice Magic.

"Looks like whatever's going on has Serafall-sama worried." Rias mused, "Onii-sama!"

Sirzechs Lucifer, Rias' elder brother looked up from the conversation he was having with his Bishop, MacGregor Mathers and looked relieved to see his little sister.

"Rias. Good to see that you're alright." he said with a relieved smile on his face, "Hyōdō Issei. Akeno. Good to see that you are both alright as well."

"Sirzechs-sama, what's going on?" Issei asked.

"As I'm sure Grayfia informed you, the Grigori Headquarters was attacked yesterday by a Stray Devil of immense strength." the Maō Lucifer stated grimly, "This would ordinarily not be an issue, were it not for two factors. First, the Headquarters Complex was almost empty, barring a skeleton staff. Secondly, the Stray Devil in question was no ordinary Stray Devil."

"Huh?" was all Issei could say to that.

"As you might imagine, most Stray Devils are [Pawns], [Knights], [Bishops] and [Rooks]." Sirzechs said, "Ones who sought greater power and slew their master in order to obtain it. The Evil Piece within them then goes berserk after a certain period of time without a master, mutating their body to reflect the darkness within them."

The Gremory Group nodded. This was common knowledge they had all learned shortly after being reincarnated as Devils.

"Tell me, how many cases of Stray Devils have you ever heard of that were formerly [Queen] pieces?" Sirzechs asked.

"None." Rias replied, "[Queen] pieces are chosen with greater care than most of the other Evil Pieces. Usually, a Devil's [Queen] is the single most loyal member of their Peerage and one that is in turn trusted far above the others…although I trust all of my adorable servants equally. I'd be happy to leave my life in any of their hands."

"Buchou…!" Gasper teared up at this declaration.

"An admirable sentiment." her older brother said with a nod, "Sadly, there is one. A [Queen] who slew not only her master, but almost the entirety of the rest of her peerage at the same time."

A horrified gasp erupted from the members of the Gremory Group.

"Wh…why…?" Rias gasped in horror, her hands flying to Issei's seeking comfort, which he willingly gave his girlfriend and master.

"We don't know." the elder Gremory shook his head sadly. "She didn't stick around after killing them. She did steal the bodies of her former Peerage mates though. Later, we discovered that she stole their Sacred Gears and took them for herself somehow."

Asia squeaked and trembled as she remembered being killed by the Fallen Angel Raynare for exactly that purpose, so the cruel Fallen Angel could use her [Twilight Healing] Sacred Gear for her own ends.

Issei's hand snaked around her waist, pulling her close to him and the blond ex-nun sighed contentedly as she felt the familiar sensation of safety that Issei always projected to her. As long as he was around, no one would kill her for her Sacred Gear ever again.

"But…once its wielder dies, the Sacred Gear should move on to its next host!" Rias protested in confusion, "How could she have gotten her hands on them after they died?!"

"She was a powerful magician and a genius prodigy at magic before she was reincarnated as a Devil." Sirzechs replied, "If anyone could figure it out, she could."

"What…what happened at the Grigori HQ?" Gasper asked shakily. He had spent some time there and hoped all the people who had tried to help him with his Sacred Gear, [Forbidden Balor View] before Issei-senpai returned from the Dimensional Gap.

"The building itself has been brought to the point of structural collapse, according to Governor-General Shemhazai." Grayfia reported, "We have not received any casualty reports as of yet, however."

"What we do know is disturbing and more than slightly puzzling." Sirzechs added, "She somehow infiltrated the Underworld, bypassed the barrier surrounding the HQ complex and wreaked havoc in the complex before she escaped, stealing something from the Grigori in the process."

Before he could elaborate, Azazel appeared in a flash of light from a magic circle. The usually laid back man was grim and haggard.

"Azazel-sensei." Issei looked at him in concern, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Issei-kun." the former Governor-General of Grigori said with a tight smile, "My former subordinates are not doing so well, however."

"What are the casualties?" Sirzechs asked intently.

"All Fallen Angels who were within the HQ have suffered at least one broken bone in combat with the Stray Devil with some, the actual guards, suffering multiple breaks as well as concussions." Azazel growled, "Remarkably, there were no fatalities. Most of the personnel will need some help to fully recover. Rias, might I borrow the powers of your [Bishop], Asia Argento?"

"Of course." Rias said with a nod, "Akeno-"

"I'm afraid that neither your [Queen] nor Issei-kun will be permitted to leave, Rias." Sirzechs said firmly, "You can't go either."

"…Fine. Rossweisse?" the Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess directed her former Val Kyrie [Rook], "Kiba, you go as well. Render what aid you can, but guarding Asia is your top priority."

"Hai Buchou/Rias-sama." the two she named responded immediately.

"Asia, go but be careful." Rias continued, "No running off. Go there, heal them and come back to me, alright?"

"Hai, Buchou." Asia nodded determinedly.

Azazel empowered a magic circle to take them to Grigori HQ and the three vanished in a flash of light.

"Why is it that you are acting hyper protective of me, Onii-sama?" Rias asked with a frown, "Even Serafall-sama is going above and beyond her usual level of devotion to Sona here."

"Thank you for noticing, Rias." Sona deadpanned. Her Peerage chuckled in the background. Even they weren't allowed near their Master with Serafall on guard.

Sirzechs sighed. "The Stray Devil that is at the heart of this incident was once considered as a candidate for being a [Queen] for one of you two."

Sona and Rias' eyes widened at this revelation.

"Fortunately, you both acquired suitable [Queens] by the time she was reincarnated into a Devil, so it was a moot point." Sirzechs said grimly, "The girl had nowhere to go, so she was put into the Peerage of a researcher of the Bael Family. Roll on six years and she kills him and the rest of her peerage before fleeing. A day later, she returns and slays the guards at the Bael Family Mausoleum before stealing the corpses of all of her former Peerage barring the King. Then…she all but vanished. That was three years ago."

"We imposed a media blackout of what happened." Grayfia said softly, "Only the Four Maō, their peerages, as well as the Heads of the Seventy-Two Pillars Families, even know about the incident. The sole person outside of that circle who knows about the details of the incident is Sairaorg Bael, and that is because he attempted to stop her from fleeing the first time."

"Attempted to stop her? You don't mean…?" Issei said with disbelief.

"That's right. Three years ago, Sairaorg fought against her…and lost." Grayfia said gravely.

This revelation took Issei aback. He and Sairaorg had had to go all out in order to determine the victor between them and Issei could safely say that he had only fought stronger opponents when it was Sirzechs or Tannin. That this Stray Devil had defeated him just after murdering her Peerage and Master…was more than slightly worrisome.

"Do we know what it was she stole?" Rias asked quietly.

"We're a little too debilitated to check the records." Azazel replied, "Hopefully Rossweisse will be able to help strengthen the building before it collapses. Then we'll be able to search through the records for what it was that was stolen."

"But…why now? Why attack the Fallen Angels now of all times?" Issei asked in confusion, "They didn't suffer any casualties in that idiot Shalba's rampage. They're as strong as they've ever been, so why attack them?"

"Because we've been running low on personnel." Azazel snorted, "The HQ has never been so undermanned in centuries. We've been sending teams all across the Underworld to help recover from the Bandersnatches and Jabberwocky attacks. She just took advantage of our good will. She's just as cunning as I remember her being."

"Eh? Azazel-sensei, you know her." Irina asked.

"Indeed. Mei Schwarzwald. The Queen of Blood and Betrayal, the only SSS-class Stray Devil in the history of the Rating Game." Azazel said with a shake of his head, "I met her two and a half years ago while I was conducting a recon of a city in Okinawa. She was…sad. Sad and somber. Wore a mask that covered her entire face. Black and white, split down the middle vertically."

"Did you fight?" Koneko asked quietly.

"No, we agreed that fighting in the middle of a human city was just begging for collateral damage." the Fallen Angel said with a sigh, "She did say that she would like to fight me at some point, if only because she had promised someone close to her that she would do so. She didn't say who and I didn't think it politic to ask."

"The name sounds Chinese AND German." Xenovia muttered.

"Before she was reincarnated as a Devil, Mei was a Chinese/German human, who lived in Nagoya with her mother." Sirzechs said quietly, "She witnessed her mother's murder and awoke her Sacred Gear, slaughtering all of the people who killed her mother."

"Such a thing…" Rias was appalled.

"I suspect that that incident contributed to her descent into insanity." Sirzechs sighed, "Sadly, it seems insanity has not dulled her intellect by any degree."

"Quite." Grayfia said, "Over the past three years, there have been a few sightings of her, flitting between China, Germany and Japan, as well as a couple of times in the Underworld. Never before has she revealed herself quite so openly. Not only that, she has stated her eventual goal…the [Boosted Gear]."

"WHAT!?" Rias snarled, an aura of demonic energy surrounding her as she clung to Issei, "She dares to target my darling Issei?! I will not permit it!"

The faces of the rest of the Gremory Group took on expressions of steely determination as they nodded in agreement. Irina had to clamp down on her holy aura, otherwise it would hurt her friends. Xenovia felt EX-Durandal shiver as it felt her own bloodlust rise. Small tendrils of lightning crawled across Akeno's body as she felt her anger spike. Ravel started muttering under her breath and flexing her hands as if she were throttling someone. Koneko merely walked over to the unoccupied side of Issei and clung to him lightly with a muttered, "Senpai isn't going anywhere."

"As I said, her goal isn't Issei-san in and of himself, it is his Sacred Gear." Grayfia said softly, "Likely she will attempt to extract it should she capture him."

"That shall not come to pass." Rias Gremory had never spoken like that to her sister-in-law, but the dark, angry tone was clearly directed at Mei Schwarzwald rather than Grayfia.

"That's why we are here, Rias." Sirzechs said comfortingly, "All we can do right now is wait to be told what it was that she stole. Azazel, is there any security camera footage of her attack?"

"Thought you'd never ask, Sirzechs." the Occult Research Club Advisor said. He raised the artificial arm that had replaced his left arm after sacrificing it against Katerea Leviathan and ejected a disk from the palm of his hand and passed it to Grayfia, "I think we should show Rias' group exactly what we're up against."

In short order, a large-screen TV was pulled from somewhere (What kind of budget did the student council have? Issei was forced to wonder) and soon, the disc was showing the relevant camera images of the attack from the previous day.

It was unreal. One minute, the corridors of the Grigori HQ were empty, the guards bored and the few personnel busy with paperwork, the next minute a tall black-haired girl wearing pitch-black robes and a black and white mask was striding down the corridors of the building and smashing the Fallen Angel guards and personnel as if they were ordinary humans. She barely even moved her hands, and she put down three guards like they were nothing.

"How is she doing that?" Issei muttered, "It looks…familiar, somehow…"

"Gravity Magic." Serafall said, "She is capable of using extremely powerful Gravity Magic on a more powerful scale to the Sacred Gear [Gravity Jail]. While that Sacred Gear requires line-of-sight in order to work, Mei's magic has no such limitation. Look."

On the screen, a Fallen Angel tried to attack the masked girl from behind, with a spear of light, only to be crushed to the ground with a negligent jerk of her head.

"Her control is excellent." Sirzechs commented, "She has come a long way in just three years."

"Truly." Grayfia agreed, "I wonder why she wears the mask though? That display of Gravity Magic leaves no doubt as to who she is, so why?"

"What do you mean, Grayfia-san?" asked Issei, "Is Gravity Magic so rare?"

"In the last millennium, less than a dozen Devils have mastered Gravity Magic." MacGregor said quietly, "In this world, three attributes reign supreme over all of the others, other than demonic and holy power. In order of strongest to weakest these three are Time, Space and Gravity. Sacred Gears such as [Dimension Lost] and [Gravity Jail] are highly prized because they bypass the need to study the related magics. Devils and Angels can use the Dimensional magic with ease because we possess incredible longevity and have the time to study them completely. For a human magician to master Gravity Magic is the next best thing to impossible, for a Devil it is possible, but most prefer flashier magic like lightning or fire. And yet…"

Grayfia took it from here. "…and yet Mei was well on the way to mastering Gravity Magic before she was reincarnated. She is what most would refer to as a prodigy among prodigies. Had she not gone insane, she would be a High-Class Devil right now."

"Eeeeeeh?!" most of the Gremory Group was shocked at this. Promoting from a Low-Class Devil to a Mid-Class was one thing, but this was another!

"You'll want to hear this part." Azazel said grimly. He fiddled with the control as the woman on screen licked up one of the badly beaten guards.

"Tell me what I wish to know and I will let you and your men live." the voice of the girl was icy and blunt, but at the same time distorted, as if she wore a voice changer of some sort.

"Damn…Devil…!" the hapless Fallen Angel struggled fruitlessly in her hands.

"Stray Devil." the girl corrected, "Now. Where is Project Fallen Terra?"

"Wh…how do you…?" the Fallen Angel gasped in shock.

"Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies." the girl sounded amused, "Now, tell me where it is?"

"Like…I'd know!" the guard gasped, "I'm a guard!"

"True enough." she acknowledged, "You do know all of the high security areas in this building, however, being the Guard Commander. Tell me that knowledge and you and your men shall live. Decide now."

The conflict on the man's face was plain, but he eventually gave in and told her the three High Security locations in the buildings that only the leaders of the Grigori, the Cadre, could access.

"Not that you'll be able to get in!" he finished with a snarl.

The masked visage of the Stray Devil tilted to one side slightly as if to consider this. "Perhaps, perhaps not. I must commend you for your common sense. Not many would consider their subordinates lives to be worth more than what they guard. Now, I bid you goodnight."

She released the man and then smashed him to the ground with another blast of Gravity Magic, making the poor man slip into merciful unconsciousness.

"That was…brutal." Akeno shook her head. She was a Sadist, but what the girl had done was just outright cruelty, forcing him to choose between his duty and the lives of his subordinates.

"Now then…first Project Fallen Terra…" the girl said aloud, "Then the Sekiryūtei's [Boosted Gear]. Once I have those, I can finally fulfil my heart's desire…"

She walked off the camera and the image abruptly cut out.

"That's all we have." Azazel said with a frustrated sigh, "The battle that the guards of the restricted sections waged against her damaged the surveillance systems. All three secure areas are in such a mess that we don't even know what was taken and what was just messed up. Chazaqiel was organising the clean-up when I left."

"Doesn't the Project name ring a bell?" Sirzechs asked.

"Just that the one responsible for it was one of Kokabiel's subordinates that perished not long ago." Azazel shrugged, "He was a warmonger, so it was likely something deadly, defective or both."

"And for all we know, she took it. Great." Sirzechs said with a sigh.

"Oh, Kokabiel and his supporters had a separate Lab Complex for their experiments." the former Governor-General replied, "Once he was consigned to Cocytus, Kokabiel's followers abandoned their research and returned to the Grigori HQ. For all we know, Project Fallen Terra might still be there."

"Where is the facility?" Sirzechs asked, "Whatever it is that Mei seeks must be kept out of her hands at all costs."

"Well…that's the thing. It's a flying airship of some sort that flies at completely random paths in the Human World." Azazel chuckled nervously, "All those so-called UFO sightings that were reported? That's the airship. After it was abandoned, it maintains a holding pattern at the very center of the Geomagnetic North Pole."

"But…that changes position every year." Rias put in, "Do you mean the place where the Pole was when the airship was abandoned or the current location of the Geomagnetic North Pole?"

"Yes." Azazel said blandly.

"You haven't a clue, do you Azazel-sensei?" Issei asked rhetorically.

"Well…I suppose it doesn't matter much." Rias sighed, "It ought to be easy to discover the location of the Geomagnetic Pole at the time Kokabiel was incarcerated. It only shifts between thirty-seven and fifty-five miles a year, so if we find the spot where it was, the airship should be within a few miles of it."

"…did I mention the optical camouflage and the spell arrays that attack all non-Fallen Angel presences that approach it?" Azazel asked sheepishly.

"You did leave that part out." Sirzechs remarked dryly, "Any other titbits of information that might have fallen by the wayside?"

"No, not at this moment." Azazel said whimsically.

Just then, a magic circle appeared, making Sōji, silent until then, to place his hand on his katana's hilt, ready to draw his blade in case it was an intruder. Seeing that it was a Gremory magic circle did nothing to make him lower his guard.

Only after Asia, Rossweisse and Kiba appeared, with no other people with them did the master swordsman remove his hand from his blade.

"Buchou! Azazel-sensei!" Kiba said urgently, "One of the Grigori's mobile research labs in Canada has been attacked!"

Rias sighed. "The Canadian Artic, I presume?"

Kiba was taken aback by this. "Y-Yes. How did you-?"

"A previous discussion." Azazel said with a sigh, "Now then, I had better go and have a word with the rampaging Ojou-sama."

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Next Chapter: The Second Move: Gambit

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