Author's Note: Hello, and welcome to Chapter Eighteen of Pain and Hatred.
This author's note is a bit more serious this time. It has come to my attention that there is a site called Fanfic . me, a Russian site where stories are being plagiarized...including ALL of MY stories. Literally all of them. I went and checked it. Ordinarily, I would be indifferent, but apparently Fanfic . me is a monetised site, meaning that the fake 'SeerKing' that has stolen my stories is earning money from people reading them.
This does not make me at all happy, so I want the word spread to be aware of that site. Fellow authors, go there and check to see that YOUR stories haven't been stolen as well. If you know how to complain to for plagiarism, then I encourage you to do so on behalf of me, and any other author that you know has had their story ripped off like this.
So again, the 'SeerKing' on the site Fanfic . me IS. NOT. ME. Do not support him/her and do not hesitate to report them for plagiarism. And if the one behind that is reading this...you really are in need of help.
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Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DXD.
"Rias" - Speech
'Issei' - Thought
[BOOST!] - Sacred Gear Ability/ Ddraig and Albion Speech
Beta'd by BigCC
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"The truth…ha! Everyone, from the Four Maō to the Hero Faction to the Greek Gods, believes that by controlling the idea known as 'the truth' that they can control this world…hardly. I am the one who knows the knowledge of the truth of my life, and it is I who shall return that knowledge to the world. My vengeance has only just begun…what was done shall be undone!"
- Attributed to Mei Schwarzwald.
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The Eighteenth Move: Back-rank Mate
Mei's Throne Room
The communications magic circle appearing in front of appearing in front of her honestly didn't surprise her. She'd made it a point of studying the personalities and…quirks of all four of the Maō long before she'd become a Stray Devil, and in her exile she had had made it a point to study Azazel and the other Faction leaders that could become involved in her final movements. She'd honestly expected Azazel and Ajuka to take a bit longer root through Amadeus' castle, but it was still well within her predictions.
With a twitch of her fingers, she cast a soundproof barrier between herself and Hyōdō Issei before speaking softly. "Hello Sirzechs. I take it you know the truth now."
"Mei…why?" Sirzechs' voice was still sounding shell-shocked from the revelation.
"On the battlefield, the Four Maō are absolute existences." A tired sigh escaped her lips, before she continued. "In the field of politics, no one is absolute."
"Sera and I want to stop this." The Maō Lucifer stated. "It isn't right."
"No, I'm afraid that I cannot allow that." the Stray Devil smiled sadly, although it couldn't be seen on the other side. "A performance must be seen to the end, farcical and pointless as it must seem to you, Sirzechs. Alea iacta est, I am afraid. What will be, will be. I hope that at some point you'll forgive me for what I must do. But please…look after Chiaki-chan when this is all over. She'll be inconsolable once she learns the truth."
"Mei, you don't have to-!" Sirzechs tried to speak, but a flex of magic from Mei destroyed the magic circle in an instant. With a single movement she activated a subsidiary set of wards, completely isolating her base from any form of communication magic aside from the ongoing stream that was broadcasting the Gremory Group's quest.
"A villain in the eyes of the public must remain one for the tale to make sense, Sirzechs." She whispered tiredly before negating the barrier around herself and refocusing on watching the Gremory Group cut a swathe through her army of gargoyles. Despite what she had said to Rias Gremory, she wasn't going to send all of her gargoyles at them; that would be a force numbering in the thousands and wouldn't be fair in even the slightest of senses. Quality may rule over Quantity but Quantity had a Quality all its own, after all.
Instead, she would merely unleash the remaining four-to-five hundred gargoyle golems she had allocated for this Rating Game.
She winced as she watched Xenovia bisect one of her poor golems from groin to crown with a single swipe of EX-Durandal. She might have miscalculated a bit when she was measuring the Gremory's strength, or simply underestimated how much stronger pissing them off would make them. Her golems were completely outmatched even with the numbers she'd provided. She really should have settled for something a bit more powerful as a basic unit in her little army.
Her free hand clenched the armrest of her throne as she observed the [Power of Destruction] being wielded by Rias Gremory. Every time she saw someone wielding it, the red-black magic reminded her too much of her former [King] and that just brought forth a surge of hatred and self-recrimination bubbling up from her guts. But she had no time for such things, not when she was so close to the end, so she firmly pushed it down.
There would be time to well and truly vent her spleen when all was said and done.
"Troubled?" Hyōdō Issei asked from his position leaning in the shadow of a nearby pillar. Glancing at him, she could see the curiosity and thoughtfulness in his eyes. Another miscalculation on her part; she'd severely underestimated how intelligent the unabashedly perverted boy was. It made her worry about just what he might be able to deduce by keeping him at her side. Still, at this late stage in the game, there was little he could do to influence the outcome and he had even agreed to aid her.
"No, merely…vexed with myself." Mei replied with a sigh as she flicked one idle hand at the screen as she returned her attention to it and then winced again as Ravel burned several gargoyle golems into ashes with her fire.
"I knew that the Gremory Group was immensely powerful." She said and mentally scoffed at that masterful understatement. Of course they were powerful. They had managed to face down several supernaturals that were strong enough to make most average members of the hidden world run in terror. She knew that even at her best, she would have been hard pressed to fight Kokabiel, for example, without any sort of extensive prior preparations or at least some form of advanced warning. She flicked her free hand at the screen again as she continued. "I knew my gargoyles would only be capable of slowing their advance, but it honestly surprises me how…insufficient they are at doing so. I should have strengthened them before carrying out my plan, because this is somewhat embarrassing for me."
Seriously, having her mighty army of gargoyle golems ground into dust like grinding trash mobs in an RPG did not represent her well in the eyes of those watching this broadcast.
"Then again, you ended up not needing to do that, ne…Mei-chan?" the Sekiryūtei smirked at her, his tone teasing.
She glowered at him through her mask. She had never been attracted to males, not since that bunch of mercenary scum had murdered her mother and she hated it, normally, when males flirted with her; yet Issei's casual flirtations merely annoyed her rather than disgusted her. Perhaps it was because she knew that he wasn't being anything but teasing that she wasn't disgusted by him?
Returning her attention to the screen again, Mei pursed her lips, unseen by the boy watching her. At this rate…
"At this rate, they'll be here in less than five minutes." She said aloud as the last gargoyle in that room was destroyed in an explosion of Power of Destruction. "Time to get set up then."
She looked at the Sekiryūtei seriously. A lot of her plan depended on him, so she had to make certain that he was prepared.
"Ready?" she asked, the tone of her voice implying more than she said.
"I am." Issei conformed, eyes resigned, but also determined.
"Then let's get to it." Mei said. She snapped her fingers and pulled a case out of a magic circle before tossing it to him. "Head down to your designated location and then put on the item inside that case. Remember, until the end, no one from your little harem must suspect a thing."
"So long as this thing does its job, they shouldn't be able to." The Sekiryūtei replied, tapping the box in his hands with one finger before heading off to his assigned area.
Waiting until after he was far enough away, Mei slumped slightly in her throne, exhaustion finally managing to overwhelm her stoic guard ever so slightly. She was burning out quicker than she had anticipated. The number of Sacred Gears in her body was a part of it, but most of it came from a bargain that she had made in the past three years in order to attain the knowledge and power that she needed to accomplish her goal.
It was a bargain she didn't regret, even now, but the effects of it could be felt throughout her body and it was really distracting.
"Just a little more…a little more to go." She whispered. "Then I'll be with you all again, my sisters."
That verbal affirmation of her goal was enough to push back the aches and pains of her body and made her focus on the present once again. Her goal was so, so, so close to being fulfilled. All she had to do was allow this last part to play out as it need do and she would be able to do what many thought impossible.
The minutes ticked by and Mei observed the Gremory Group as they literally tore through her army like a scythe through a field of wheat. The last room was cleared even quicker than the previous four had been, despite the fact that the golems in that room were more powerful than the rest. Not by much, but still, there should have been some sort of reaction.
'They have fought and defeated foes so far above them in strength that minor power gaps no longer faze them.' She thought with an approving smile. 'You have a good peerage, Rias-sama.'
She blinked when they reached the doors and then deadpanned behind her mask as Rias Gremory stepped forwards and charged a spell. "She isn't…!"
As the doors disintegrated in a flash of red and black energy, Mei was very glad for her mask as it kept her expressionless even as she scowled. The doors hadn't even been locked. All any of the Gremory Group would have had to do was touch them and they would have swung open in a grand fashion. One bit of theatrics ruined by Rias Gremory's anger.
As the Gremory Group, plus extras, charged in, weapons raised and ready, Mei forced herself to remain calm in spite of the death glares that they were sending her. She had endured far worse looks in her lifetime, although to be honest, these were harder to ignore because she had in fact done something worthy of being glared at, unlike the other times.
"Mei Schwarzwald!" the Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess snarled as Power of Destruction pooled in her hands.
"Was there really a need for you to destroy my doors, Rias-sama?" Mei asked laconically. "They weren't even locked. It should be obvious to you by this point, but I was expecting you to make it past all of my traps, tricks and golems the entire time. And you made it in record time too; a full fifteen minutes before your time would have run out. Congratulations."
"Then where is Issei-kun?!" Irina demanded, her Holy-Demonic Sword pointed at the Stray Devil threateningly.
Raising one hand, Mei clicked her fingers, illuminating the far right of the throne room and revealing…
"Issei!" Rias screamed.
Suspended from the cross-device that had formerly been used to extract Asia's [Twilight Healing] was Hyōdō Issei, his head slumped forward in unconsciousness. That wasn't what made the Gremory Heiress cry out in alarm, however.
"I would advise that none of you approach." Amakusa Chiaki warned with a scowl on her face. She had her devil wings deployed and she was using them to hover near Issei, one of her [Katars of Vāyu] hovering a millimetre from his carotenoid artery. "I may do something that you regret."
"Why you…!" Rias hissed before swinging around to glare at Mei. "What is the meaning of this?!"
"This is simply me getting your attention." The Stray Devil [Queen] replied smoothly as she plucked something out of a transportation circle. It was a plain silver ring, which shimmered with a dark aura as she used some basic telekinesis magic to slip it onto her free hand. "I promised you that when you got to me, I would release Hyōdō Issei from the Sacred Gear Extraction Device. I said nothing about returning him."
"You…!" Kiba growled.
"Artificial Gear [Ring of Solomon]!" Mei raised her hand, displaying the ring. "Bind and control the mid-class Devil Hyōdō Issei!"
The black aura around the ring deepened and expelled dark chains that shot from it to speed towards Issei. Chiaki withdrew her blade and fell back, hitting the release system on the device as she did so. Issei's body slumped forwards just in time to be caught by the chains, which wrapped around him and made him wake up, shouting in pain.
"You bitch!" Xenovia screamed, slashing at Mei with EX-Durandal and firing off an energy slash. It flew at the Untouchable Queen before slamming into a dome shield that crackled with power around the throne.
"What?!" the bluenette looked shock that her sword's attack was stopped cold.
"EX-Durandal is indeed an exceptionally powerful weapon, combining the Peerless Holy Sword with the Excalibur Cores, and you are an equally ferocious and skilled swordswoman more than worthy of wielding it." Mei said lightly. "However, this throne of mine has the ability to absolutely protect the one sitting in it from magic, chi and Tōki attacks so long as I have updated it with the magical and spiritual signatures of the ones who may attack me. If nothing else, then you fighting through my maze and tower have allowed me to get very solid readings on all of you. So long as I remain seated on this throne, none of you, even Rias-sama, can so much as scratch me with your magic. Here, Xenovia Quarta…have your attack back. [Reflect Bounder]!"
In a flash of light, the energy slash of EX-Durandal was reversed, being flung right back at its origin point…right at Xenovia.
"Like we'll let you!" Irina and Kiba shouted. They swung their Holy-Demonic Swords as one, their energy slashes leaping from their blades and slamming into the reflected energy slash from Xenovia, the clash destroying all three in a large explosion.
"Very well done." Mei said honestly. Not many people could counter a reflected attack with such skill and speed, let alone powerfully enough to destruct an attack as powerful as the one that Xenovia had tried to attack with. "But it's already too late, Rias-sama. The Sekiryūtei is no longer your servant…he's mine."
The black chains had finished pouring out of the aura surrounding the silver ring on Mei's hand and were binding Issei where he stood. Abruptly, he stopped screaming and the chains gathered and compressed themselves around his neck, ending up resembling a thick collar with the mark of the Queen emblazoned into the central part of the neck that glowed crimson red.
"I-Issei…?" Rias managed to get out.
Issei looked up, his eyes utterly blank and non-responsive.
"What have you done to him?!" Ravel screamed at Mei in a fury.
"I simply made best use of my abilities in Sacred Gear creation. So long as the target is a Devil and not above High-Class, the [Ring of Solomon] can bind the body of the target into servitude to whosoever holds it, locking out the mind completely." Mei replied coldly as Amakusa Chiaki landed next to her. "As the system of the God of the Bible is designed specifically to give humans a chance to stand against the supernatural, and especially devils, this ring was fairly easy to complete. As its creator, I am the only Devil that can wield it, so the only way you have of freeing your paramour, Rias-sama, is to defeat him, defeat Chiaki-chan and then defeat me before giving the ring to Shidō Irina."
A smirk was in her voice as she continued. "Accomplishing just one of those things would be hard enough, but all three? This game was won by me before you ever even set foot on the field."
"I-Issei-san…!" Asia whimpered and wasn't that a sight? The little Italian blonde had tears in her eyes as she looked at her beloved, and it was almost enough to make Mei's heart twinge to see someone so innocent and adorable look so sad, but she wasn't known as the Queen of Blood and Betrayal for nothing! She steeled her soul and mind before issuing an order that made the Gremory Group gape in disbelief.
"Hyōdō Issei…punch Asia Argento in the face." She said casually.
With Rias Gremory
The world seemed to tilt to one side for Rias at Mei's words. Issei, hurt Asia? The idea was utterly impossible and incomprehensible. He cared for and loved Asia to a degree that was no less than how he felt for Rias herself. The idea that Issei would-!
"By your command." Issei said in a cold monotone that made jaws drop, not only in the room, but among those who watched the broadcast that knew of the bond between the Sekiryūtei and the former Nun.
[Boost!]
Then he moved, summoning his Sacred Gear as he charged straight towards a frozen Asia, her eyes wide with horror and disbelief.
"KIBA!" Rias shouted as she interposed himself between Issei and Asia.
The [Knight] was already moving, his blade slicing at his friend. "Snap out of it, Issei-kun!" Kiba barked as the Sekiryūtei caught his weapon in his gauntlet's claw. "You're stronger than this!"
"Shift targets to Yuuto Kiba." Mei ordered from the side calmly, her voice almost bored. "Use your sword."
"Ascalon." Issei said flatly.
[Blade!]
As the Dragon-Slaying Holy Sword shot out of the [Boosted Gear], Kiba had to dodge back to avoid being stabbed by it. Focussed towards dragon slaying or not, it was still a Holy Sword and could still affect him, as he was still a devil.
[Boost!]
Kiba grunted as Issei's speed, strength and everything else doubled again during their next clash. He had only sparred against Issei without using the [Boosted Gear] aside from tests against his Balance Breaker. The gradual uptick of his fighting ability while under the effect of the Longinus Sacred Gear was actually a dangerous deception, forcing him to constantly adjust to an ever-increasing level of speed and power. If he wasn't careful, he'd underestimate Issei and get hit, regardless of his own far greater skill at swordsmanship.
Rias cursed under her breath. "Irina, lock down Ise, he's under that woman's control! Everyone else use physical attacks against Mei!"
She hated to do this, but between Kiba's speed and Irina's Light attacks and binding abilities, they should be able to hold Ise back long enough for them to get to grips with Mei.
"Chiaki-chan, go." Mei directed her sole remaining [Pawn] as a counter. "Run wild to your heart's content."
"Hai, nee-sama!" Chiaki replied, a snarl emerging on her face as she stepped away from the throne. "[Balance Break]!"
In a flash, the [Pawn] was wearing her [Armed Asura of Vātāvaran] and glaring down the remaining members of the Gremory Group, almost daring them to move even a step closer to her sister.
"[Gravity Bullets]!" Mei chanted, sending a spell into the mix did not make it any easier on them.
Koneko weaved in and out of the barrage of purplish projectiles, in no small part due to her small size, and continued her fight against Chiaki where it had left off two floors down. She had been tasked to defeat the [Pawn] and the girl had retreated before Koneko had been able to do that. Not this time.
Starting off with a barrage of bluebell flames, the Nekoshō barely reacted when the girl reacted with the uttering of a single word.
"[Tanun]!"
In a blink, she vanished, reappearing above Koneko with another word.
"[Gadadhara]!" Chiaki shouted, the mace-arm of her Balance Breaker slamming down. Koneko leapt back to avoid it before kicking off of the ground to leap in again for a counter-attack. It looked as if she would manage to land a blow when…
"Spin and fly, oh mighty chakram! In Vāyu's name, devour all that lies in your path, shred and tear my enemies to pieces!" Chiaki snarled. "[Vrikodara]!"
The arm with the chakram glowed and vanished, leaving the thrown weapon itself to fly at Koneko, the shriek of wind surrounding it signalling it was a weapon intended to use the very air as a blade.
Her danger sense shrieking, the Reincarnated Nekoshō leapt into the air…only for a miniature tornado to erupt around the chakram, catching her in its grasp. Koneko was unable to resist letting out a cry of panic at the feeling of total helplessness that being trapped in a funnel of wind brought. She couldn't deploy her wings, because they would be torn to pieces by the wind, manifestation of magic or not.
Seconds later, she flew from the wind funnel and slammed into the wall, spittle flying from her mouth from the impact.
"Koneko!" Rias shouted and blasted at Chiaki with her Power of Destruction.
"Oh mighty shield, I call upon thee!" the [Pawn] Stray Devil chanted. "Envelop me in thine aegis and protect me from the might of Indra! [Jihmayodhin]!"
The shield arm and chakram vanished, but instead of a shield materialising, Chiaki's body turned the same bronze colour of her Balance Breaker. The [Power of Destruction] washed over her with no harm to her, making the Gremory Heiress gape in shock.
"How?!" she exclaimed.
"[Jihmayodhin] is the strongest of the six abilities of [Armed Asura of Vātāvaran]. Its defence is the next best thing to impenetrable." Chiaki replied as she raised her fists. "At least to someone on your level of power. It would take an Ultimate-Class Devil to breach my defences so long as it's active."
"We'll see about that!" Xenovia roared, charging in with EX-Durandal raised, only for Mei to act again.
"Gravity Orb!"
The purple sphere slammed into Xenovia and sent her flying before she could react. Koneko, recovered from her own flight time, leapt up and caught her.
"That is more than enough!" Rossweisse growled and used her [Gleipnir] spell to bind both Issei and Chiaki in an instant.
"I suppose I shall have to get serious now…" Mei drawled and stood from her throne.
Unknown Location
The being, trapped within his prison, struggled feebly. More power came to it by the second and he could tell that the event he was waiting for, whatever it was, was due to happen soon.
'That…bitch...that…lowly…bitch...!' the being seethed. All he had to go on was the only memory he had, that of a face, a woman's face. Forest-green eyes filled with tears and emitting hatred for him. Black hair dripping with blood. A pretty mouth screaming his name in a voice weighed down in hatred.
For whatever the reason, the girl in his memory was furious at him for something, and he remembered the sensation of hands gripping his neck in a strangling grip. She had…killed him.
'I know her…I KNOW her…why do I feel that she is beneath me?' the being growled. 'Whatever reason she had to kill me, I was above her! Superior to her! I had the right!'
His power roiled in fury at the thought of that woman not knowing her place and thinking herself above him. And yet, because he lacked memories other than that last one, he had to wonder why it was he thought that.
Regardless, he would get out of here soon…and the bitch would face his wrath!
A sudden surge of power sent reverberations around his prison and for the first time, he saw a crack in his prison. Knowledge came to him and he now knew who he was…and why he was above that filthy, ungrateful Reincarnated bitch!
"Mei Schwarzwald!" he roared and black-lined red power surged around to smash against the prison that bound him
With Rias
Mei had taken but one step before she started to scream in agony, clutching at her chest and staggering slightly, held up only by the hastily positioned [Fatal Attraction] she had clutched in one hand.
"Nee-sama!? What's the matter?!" Chiaki yelled in fright. "Let me go, dammit! NEE-SAMA!"
"What's the meaning of this, Mei?" Rias demanded. "What trick are you pulling?!"
Mei either didn't hear her or she was in too much pain to answer as she just screamed again. The raw pain in her voice was too genuine to be faked. Something was seriously wrong with her.
Another bout of whatever was wrong with her made Mei's back arc in agony and a magic circle appeared on her chest. Rather than having Mei's [Queen] symbol in the centre, it had the Bael family crest on it. Something flew from it and floated in the air above them as Mei collapsed to one knee in agony.
"…the [King] Piece?" Ravel said blankly.
Indeed, it was the [King] Piece that Mei had shown them back at Kuō Academy. But unlike back then, this time it was surrounded in a red and black aura and cracks were forming up and down the piece's body.
"I-Impossible…how could I have…that bastard…!" Mei croaked out, looking up at the Evil Piece. "He had a fall-back plan this entire time…and I fell for it!"
In an explosion of power, the [King] Piece shattered and temporarily blinded everyone present. When everyone's vision came back, a male Devil floated there in its place. His black hair was long, reaching down to his knees. Wearing expensive-looking clothes typical of young devils of the Pillar Families, he was of average build and androgynously handsome…or he would have been had it not been for the manic sneer and insane expression in his eyes.
"Haha…hahaha….HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he cackled madly. "I'm baaack, bitch!"
The aura of intimidation from Mei redoubled as she glared back at the Devil, swiftly joined by Chiaki from her bindings.
"AMADEUS BAEL!" they screamed in hatred.
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Next Chapter: The Nineteenth Move: King
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