Author's Note: Yo chapter 7 here for you.
As you may have noticed, I only update once a week now. This is to ensure that I have sufficient time to update all of my stories.
As to the new stories I uploaded four days ago…until they gain story pictures rather than my profile pic, they are on fourth tier priority. Meaning that they will be updated at most once every couple of months. This will change if I finish other stories.
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Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DXD.
"Rias" - Speech
'Issei' - Thought
[BOOST!] - Sacred Gear Ability/ Ddraig and Albion Speech
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Power in exchange for nothing? What foolishness are you talking about? One can never gain power without sacrificing something. Time, blood, health…all of these are possible as equivalent exchange for power.
Hmm? Was it worth it? An interesting question. On one hand, I need the power. On the other…no. You don't need to know that. All you need to know is that while I am here, I will not hesitate to sacrifice something in exchange for power.
-Mei Schwarzwald, the Queen of Blood and Betrayal
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The Seventh Move: Artificial Castling
Mei Schwarzwald's Bedroom, Secret Base, Unknown Location
The screaming and weeping had died down and Mei cradled her sniffling sister in her arms, the black scythe that had caused it all lying discarded on the floor nearby, forgotten and ignored.
The older devil gently stroked Chiaki's hair and hummed a soothing tune as the girl recovered herself. She hated this; hated hurting those she cared for, but she couldn't refuse the request of her last living sister.
"Are you in control again, little one?" she asked gently.
Chiaki nodded, her face still buried into the crook of Mei's neck.
"You now know everything. What really happened that night, my goals…everything." the Queen of Blood and Betrayal said quietly, "You can probably guess what I must now do in order to fulfil them."
"I do." Chiaki said hoarsely.
"This leaves a question….what will you do?" Mei asked softly, "If you wish, I can use the [Memoriam Blade] to restore the memory block and return you to Lord Bael's Peerage. You could remain here, safe until my plan comes to fruition. Or…"
The masked woman hesitated before continuing. "Or you could help me. I have no right to ask you to help me, none whatsoever. Regardless of what happened, I failed you and the rest of our sisters. I would understand completely if you didn't want anything to do with me."
"I want to help you." Chiaki raised her head and stared Mei in the area where eye eyes were behind her mask, "Three years ago, I was a coward who begged you to remove my memories because I couldn't handle what happened. Now that I have matured and accepted everything that happened that night, I am suited to stand with you once again."
"It won't be easy." Mei warned her, "You'll be cast out as a Stray Devil and cursed as either a traitor or as someone I brainwashed. You will never be able to return to devil society without the stigma of being associated with me looming over you."
"I don't care." Chiaki replied firmly, "You are all I have left and I will not leave you, not again."
"In which case…welcome home, Chiaki-chan." Mei said gently as she dismissed the [Memoriam Blade] with a wave of her hand.
"Glad to be back…Mei-nee-sama." Chiaki replied happily.
"Good, now -!" Mei started to speak before a shudder ran up her body. She quickly tapped one side of her mask, causing the lower section to retract up, revealing her mouth.
Chiaki watched in fright as her sister was wracked by a series of strong coughs that sounded rather…wet. When the older devil removed her hand from her mouth, Chiaki was horrified to see blood coating her hand.
"Don't be…don't be concerned about this, little one." Mei rasped, "I deserve it."
"What…how…what's wrong with you?" the flaxen-haired devil asked in fear.
"I have ten Sacred Gears inside me, Chiaki-chan." Mei replied tiredly, "At most, humans are able to have two without suffering ill effects. The wielder of four of Vritra's Sacred Gears, [Absorption Line], [Blaze Black Flare], [Delete Field] and [Shadow Prison], is a Devil in Sona Sitri's Peerage and he could only have one further implanted inside him without adverse effects on his health. Ten is far beyond what most could manage for even a short period of time."
"Wait…so you have all of our sisters' Sacred Gears inside you…that means…!" Chiaki realised with a dawning horror.
"Yes. I am a candle burning at both ends." Mei smiled wryly, "The more I use the power of my Sacred Gears, the more ill my body becomes and the more frequent these accursed coughing fits become. Even [Twilight Healing] is not absolute. With all the use I got out of the Gears over the last three years, I have…decades left, and that is being optimistic."
"A devil's lifetime is supposed to be counted in the millennia!" Chiaki yelped in shock, "How could you only have decades left?!"
"Regular use wouldn't wear my lifetime down that much." Mei conceded, "What really shaves time off my life is using the Balance Breakers. The strain is pretty bad, to the point where I can only maintain them for up to ten minutes at a time. My own Sacred Gear and Balance Breaker are exempt from that, thankfully."
Catching the tears that were now streaming from Chiaki's eyes, Mei told her, "Don't be sad for me, Chiaki-chan. I am happy with my life, despite the way things have been for the last three years. Whatever fate awaits me, I will accept it. For all my failures, it is what I deserve."
With a wail of sadness, Chiaki threw her arms around her sister and started to cry anew.
'It looks as if no matter what I do, I always make those close to me suffer.' Mei thought sadly, as she hugged her only remaining sister to her chest.
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Three Days Later
Occult Research Clubroom, Old School Building, Kuō Academy
"Ten Sacred Gears?" Issei gaped at Azazel in disbelief, "You have to be kidding!"
"Unfortunately not." the Fallen Angel replied seriously. Arrayed on a board on the small table in front of them were floating images of the Sacred Gears that Mei Schwarzwald's Peerage had possessed.
"How can someone hold that many inside of them?" Kiba asked. The Knight was seated on one of the two sofas, along with Koneko, Irina and Xenovia. Rias sat behind her desk, while Akeno and Rossweisse stood next to her. Asia was on the other couch alongside Issei, Ravel, Gaspar and Azazel standing off to one side.
"That is an excellent question, one I would dearly like to ask her." Azazel admitted, "I could only hazard a guess at this point. Nevertheless, what we must focus on are the Sacred Gears and their abilities."
With a wave of his hand, all but one of the images vanished and that one grew to a life-sized image.
"The Sacred Gear [Fatal Attraction],otherwise known as the [Staff of Gravity Dominion]." Azazel said seriously, "One of the rare gravity-type Sacred Gears and one of the most highly regarded. Powerful, versatile and, in Mei's hands, a very deadly weapon. It possesses three main abilities. First, it can act as an amplifier to regular gravity magic, magnifying its effects by twofold. Second, it can store gravity magic within itself, acting as a reservoir. And third, it can use a powerful built-in spell that allows the wielder to absolutely control the gravity within a set area."
"She took down a berserk [Pawn] with only the power amplification section!" the Dhampir said shrilly.
"What about its Balance Breaker?" Xenovia asked, her mind working through the implications of the staff weapon.
"Mei referred to it as [Supreme Queen's Final Gambit], from what Sairaorg can recall." Azazel said with a frown, "She only ever used it exactly once, when an assassin snuck into Amadeus Bael's castle. There…wasn't much left of him. And we know nothing about what it does or even what it looks like."
"So completely unknown." Kiba frowned.
"Aside from being gravity based, yes." Azazel replied before he changed the image to the image of a silver and blue necklace.
"The [Fangs of the Blue Dragon], otherwise known as the [Fangs of Frozen Purgatory], formerly belonging to Takanome Arisu." the man continued, "Grants the wielder power over ice magic. Its main weakness is that it requires water to be used, whether it be ice, a nearby stream or even the water in the air around the wielder. The Balance Breaker, [Heart of Frozen Purgatory], takes the form of a collar of silver with a sapphire dragonhead, as well as a cape and armour of silver. It removes the limitation on water being needed, as well as increasing the power, precision and scope of the basic magic. The cape and armour also absorb any water or ice based attacks, regardless of origin, aside from water from the river Cocytus."
"The first part of that sounds similar to the [Katars of Vāyu]." Rias observed.
"From what I have gathered, that is where the idea came from." Azazel replied, "This is from talking to a couple of former colleagues of Amadeus Bael. Mei stole most of his research when she slew him."
The necklace was replaced by a black bow.
"The [Hunter's Chance], also known as [Creation of the Demonic Arrow], formerly the Sacred Gear belonging to Morisato Natsuko." he continued, "Pretty much a bow version of Kiba-kun's [Sword Birth]. It can create arrows with any attribute other than light. The Subspecies Balance Breaker Mei can use is [Raiding Rangers of the Queen], which creates up to ten cloaked rangers able to move independently and use the basic capabilities of the [Hunter's Chance] with the same skill as the wielder."
"She won't be able to sprout arrows from the ground like I can with my swords." Kiba theorised.
"She can't, but she can fire an arrow into the air and create a rain of arrows to fall on her foes." Azazel replied dryly before he waved his hand again.
A black scythe appeared above the table this time.
"This is the [Memoriam Blade], otherwise known as the [Scythe of Amnesia] and [Mnemosyne's Bane], formerly belonging to Makimoto Aria." Azazel said, "Issei-kun, it is imperative that you avoid getting hit by this Sacred Gear."
"What does it do?" the Sekiryūtei asked with a feeling of dread.
"It can't actually cause physical harm." Azazel said seriously, "It allows the user to cut the connection between the target and a specific memory. It can be something as simple as what you had for breakfast this morning to the fact you are a devil. The cascade effect means that anything related to that memory will also be severed. The scythe ripples gold when it is near someone who is under its effects."
"OK, so definitely keep well away from that thing!" Issei said, shaken.
"If she uses the Balance Breaker, you might not have a choice in the matter." Azazel warned, "It's called [Memories of Nobody Belong to All]. The scythe becomes double-headed and can fire energy blades that have the same function as the original form. In addition, the user can copy and store memories to view later."
"With that weapon, I'm surprised she didn't wipe out everyone's memories of what she did." Rias stated in shock.
"That puzzles me as well, but I suspect she couldn't use the Sacred Gears she stole until much later." Azazel shrugged before changing the image from a scythe to a sword that was silver and white and somewhat resembled the hour hand of a clock.
"This is the [Second Hand of Time], also known as [The Sword that Time Forgot], formerly belonging to Morisaki Reo. It allows the wielder to wind time back by ten seconds. After that it cannot be used for a further thirty seconds."
"Even ten seconds can be effective for a skilled swordsman." Kiba said with narrowed eyes.
"True. The Balance Breaker, [Wages of Sin], encases the arms of the wielder in light plate mail and changes the form of the sword to that of a longsword. It retains the normal ability of the weapon and gains the ability to age non-Sacred Gear fabric, weapons and armour." Azazel said.
"Not flesh?" Akeno asked.
"Nope." Azazel replied flippantly.
The sword changed to a silver and gold Chinese Qiang spear.
"This is the [Wedge of Time], also known as the [Spear that Surpasses Time], once wielded by Morisaki Rika." Azazel started, only to be interrupted by Asia.
"Umm…is she…related to the wielders of the last Sacred Gear?" the blond nun asked.
"The [Wedge of Time] and the [Second Hand of Time] are sister Sacred Gears." the Fallen Angel replied, "They only ever come to reside in identical twins."
"Oh…!" Asia said with wide eyes.
"The [Wedge of Time] possesses the ability to halt time for ten seconds in a set area around the user, who is obviously immune to the effect." Azazel continued, "It then cannot be used for one minute after that. The Balance Breaker, [Hand of Fate], changes the shape of the spear to that of a Greek Doru and adds armour to the off-hand. In addition to the original ability, the off-hand can freeze the time of one person at a time for up to a minute."
"That'll be tough to fight." Irina observed.
"Range is the way to go, I'd say." Akeno said with a nod.
"This next one will be one you will be familiar with." Azazel said as he changed the image to something that was very familiar to the Gremory Group.
"She even has a [Twilight Healing]?!" Ravel shrieked.
"Yep. It formerly belonged to Kurozuka Maya." Azazel said, "You already know the basic abilities of the basic package thanks to Asia-chan here, so we'll just move on to the Balance Breaker. It is one of the only offensive Balance Breakers that [Twilight Healing] has ever had. It's called [Stigmata]."
"As in the five wounds inflicted upon Christ as he was crucified?" Xenovia asked with a frown.
"The same." Azazel nodded, "The form of [Twilight Healing] changes from one ring per hand to a ring for each finger, as well as an earring per ear. In addition, five wounds appear on the body of the user, in the same locations that the original stigmata were located. The user can transfer those wounds to anyone they can see."
"That doesn't exactly sound menacing." Issei noted.
"The wounds cannot be healed by [Twilight Healing] and are resistant to magic and Phoenix Tears." Azazel informed him, "In addition, the user can also reopen wounds healed by any [Twilight Healing], regardless of how long ago they were healed. Which also gain immunity to being healed by [Twilight Healing] and resistance to magic and Phoenix Tears."
"Damn." was all Issei could say.
"This renders Asia almost helpless." Rias brooded.
"The next one is a worrying one." Azazel changed the image from [Twilight Healing] to a crimson red cloud, "This is the aura that appears when someone activates the Sacred Gear known as [Blood of the Berserker], formerly used by Yuuki Anya. It sends the user into a berserk state, immune to pain, ultra-aggressive and with only the imperative to kill the enemy. The Balance Breaker, [Lament of the Damned], balloons the aura, making it twice the size it usually is and it acts as armour, protecting the user, who is also freed of the aggression and imperative to kill. What are also summoned are copies of those that the user has killed."
"Yikes…" Issei muttered.
"Next up is [Twice Critical]." Azazel said, a blue fingerless gauntlet replacing the aura, "A fairly weak Sacred Gear by all accounts, formerly wielded by Kawamura Aiko. The Subspecies Balance Breaker she created, [Arms of the Valiant Blue Dragon], turns the gauntlet into a pair of full-on shoulder to finger gauntlets on both arms. The special ability granted by this form is that the more wounded the wielder becomes; the more their power is raised. And, if dealt a mortal wound, it enters [Valiant Dragon Final Form], temporarily matching the baseline power of the [Boosted Gear Scale Mail] and materialising a double-headed blue energy dragon that attacks following the motions of the user's arms."
"Jeez, she has a Sacred Gear for every situation." Issei complained, "It's even more hax than Kiba's [Blade Blacksmith] and [Sword Birth]."
"The last one will probably give you trouble." Azazel said seriously, "The [Crown of Forethought]."
A golden helm replaced the bracer. It resembled a Greek Hoplite helm with a crown instead of the horsehair crest.
"It's also known as the [Gift of Prometheus] and the [Helm of Sight Beyond Sight]. It was formerly wielded by Hibiki Shinobu." the Fallen Angel informed the room at large, "The wearer of this helm can see the actions of anyone they wish up to three minutes in advance. The weakness is that the user must remain stationary while receiving the information and an inexperienced user may only receive a flash of images rather than a complete vision. The Balance Breaker, [Future Reflex Shining Armour], is a suit of golden armour. It has the original abilities of the Sacred Gear, but also allows the wearer to read the lines of the future twenty to forty seconds in advance."
"The lines of the future?" Xenovia asked in confusion.
"The wearer sees images of someone moving several seconds before they actually do so." Azazel explained, "Simply put, reading their trajectory in advance."
"That is the most hax Balance Breaker I have heard of." Issei said with a sigh.
"It is rather." Azazel agreed, "Now, that is all the information I have on the Sacred Gears that Amadeus Bael's Peerage once possessed. A lot of it was readily available, but for some of it, I had to go through Amakusa Chiaki's notes regarding her former Peerage."
"Have they determined which member of the Bael Family it was that forcibly implanted that Artificial Sacred Gear into her?" Rias asked sharply. She didn't like it that one of her distant relations had done something like that to an innocent girl.
"Sairaorg is making progress, but a couple of them are in the wind." Azazel replied with a frown, "Two fairly close confidants of Amadeus Bael to boot, so their absence is damning in my eyes. They evacuated their castles, took their Peerages and fled. If that doesn't scream 'Guilty Conscience', nothing does, wouldn't you agree?"
"Who are they?" Rias asked through narrowed eyes.
"Regalia and Roan Bael." Azazel replied.
"The so-called 'Terror Twins.'" Akeno said with distaste.
"Who?" Issei asked in confusion, echoed on the faces of Irina, Xenovia and Asia.
"Regalia and Roan are twin sisters in the Bael Family." Ravel explained, "They are very proficient with the Power of Destruction, although Rias-sama far outstrips them in power and control. They make up for it by being utterly ruthless in the Rating Games, leading to their nickname. There have been dark rumours going around about the way they treat their Peerages. They were also seen frequently in the company of Amadeus Bael, to the point that people supposed that they had a relationship of some sort with him."
"Ew…weren't they related?" Irina wrinkled her nose.
"Second cousins." Rias supplied, "But nothing was ever proven. And when Amadeus was killed…well, no one wanted to look too closely at them."
"What you have to concentrate on is defending Issei-kun from Mei." Azazel reminded them, "Leave the Terror Twins to Sirzechs and Sairaorg. Take this file. It has all the information I've given you, plus a list of all of Mei's other combat skills as of when she killed her Peerage. I have to get back to Grigori HQ to help put the place back together. After all, I designed the place."
Saying his goodbyes, Azazel vanished via a magic circle.
Rias wasted no time tearing into the file. "Ten Sacred Gears, ranging from weak to incredibly strong, Mastery of several branches of magic, including Gravity, Fire, Lightning, Thunder, Darkness and Golem Magic. Mastery of several Chinese Martial Arts styles, including several branches of the Eight Trigrams Palm. Genius level intellect, with specialty in Gravity Magic and the creation of Artificial Sacred Gears."
"Sheesh." Issei commented, "Talk about a tough opponent. Even Cao-Cao would have a hard time against her."
"Yes." Rias agreed, "Just taking the Sacred Gears into account, she has a wide variety of options available to her in combat. Just about the only one she won't use is the [Crown of Forethought] because there is no way she would let herself be vulnerable in order to use it. The Balance Breaker on the other hand…she'll likely use it to fight you, Ise."
"I think I can see a way to counter it." Xenovia said, "Issei should use his [Illegal Move Tríaina], specifically the [Welsh Sonic Boost Knight] form. That level of speed should negate the advantage that [Future Reflex Shining Armour] would give Mei."
"Excellent idea." Rias nodded approvingly, "Xenovia, you and Kiba would also be able to counter that with the speed aspect of your own [Knight] pieces."
"I'm not so good at the speed part." the bluenette confessed, "EX-Durandal isn't exactly light."
"Kiba, train her." the Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess ordered, "We only have a handful of days before Mei chooses to attack us to take Issei away. We will not let that happen."
"Hai, Buchou!" The rest chorused determinedly. The rest of the session was devoted to devising strategies against the various Sacred Gears and magic that Mei Schwarzwald had at her disposal. The biggest stumbling block came when they turned their attention to the [Fatal Attraction].
"As a Sacred Gear, it is powerful, but only in the hands of someone like Mei, with a predisposition to use Gravity Magic." Rias said with a sigh, "Combine her natural affinity for such a rare and hard to master magic with her obvious intelligence and the [Fatal Attraction] and the prospect of facing her is…daunting, to say the least."
"It doesn't help that, unlike the rest, we don't have a clue what her personal Sacred Gear's Balance Breaker is." Akeno added, "The name doesn't give any clues as to what it can do. [Supreme Queen's Final Gambit], if Sairaorg recalls the name correctly, could literally be anything. All we know is that it's gravity-based. She has that as a wild card."
"Even the regular Sacred Gear is a cause for concern." Issei said with a frown, "She took us and the Sitri Group down like we weren't even there with a single spell. Not to mention how she was even able to use those new shields of hers to completely negate Demonic and Holy magic. That means that you and Akeno-san are vulnerable to her, Rias."
His master made a face but conceded that he was right. Akeno specialised in magic, as most [Queen] pieces did and she hadn't used any physical attacks in the Rating Games thus far.
"I'll ask Otou-sama to send my sword to me ASAP." Rias said with a sigh, "Akeno, you'd better pick a weapon to learn as well."
"Ufufufufufu…I'm already rather skilled with the whip, Rias." the Priestess of Thunder giggled.
"Go with it then." Rias nodded, "The rest of you start training. Koneko, Irina, you two are on Issei guarding duty for the rest of today."
"Hai, Buchou." Irina and Koneko said with a nod.
Unbeknownst to the gathered supernatural beings, a small magic circle was present in the top corner of the room. On the other side sat Mei Schwarzwald and Amakusa Chiaki.
"The Terror Twins, eh?" the Queen of Blood and Betrayal said with a hard edge to her voice, "Looks as if we've found the next target of my wrath."
"Our wrath, Nee-sama." Chiaki said quietly, "Our wrath."
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Next Chapter: The Eighth Move: Zwischenzug
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