Chapter 14

Raynare was scared. No, she was terrified. No, what was beyond terrified? She didn't know the proper word but something had to be worse than being terrified. Whatever the case may be, she was beyond terrified as she flew toward the old abandoned church. She had to get as far from the monster she'd awoken as she could. She needed to warn her companions and then they all needed to flee for their lives. Fuck any orders they had, their lives were more important!

Raynare stumbled and nearly fell as she landed in front of the main doors to the old previously abandoned church. Her terrible landing was just further proof of how much chaos her mind was currently in. She'd been able to fly perfectly since the moment of her creation! Any kind of the created angels not being able to fly properly was a ridiculous thought. Only the fallen born from human women ever had such pathetic issues!

Raynare stumbled up to the doors and pushed them open violently, gathering the attention of everyone inside of the building's main floor. A few exorcists and the remaining two fallen angels turned to look at her. The two fallen were instantly concerned and made their way toward her.

The first to arrive was Kalawarna, a tall and very buxom woman with brown eyes and long blue hair. She was wearing a maroon jacket top and matching miniskirt, though the jacket was left wide open with only the two lowest buttons done showing off a large amount of cleavage. Her black heels clicked loudly on the floor as she approached Raynare.

The second, Mittelt, was a much different looking fallen angel being the only one to look like a young girl instead of a woman. She was short and petite with blonde hair done up in a twin tail style and blue eyes. Her somewhat childish appearance was further enhanced by the Gothic Lolita style clothing she was wearing, including white stockings and black shoes.

When the pair arrived in front of Raynare, Kalawarna was the first to speak, "What happened, Raynare? You look like shit!"

Raynare felt a surge of panic and quickly blurted out, "We need to leave!"

The other two looked at each other before focusing on Raynare. This time Mittelt spoke up, "Why? Those two devil bimbos don't even realize we're here. Or did you fuck up and get caught murdering that kid?"

A shudder of fear ran through Raynare's body at the mention of Junichiro. She quickly forced herself to calm down a little and opened her mouth to explain. However, no sound escaped her. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly as she tried to voice the reasons she was so terrified. She tried to explain how dangerous Junichiro was. It was with dawning horror that she realized she couldn't say a word about Junichiro out loud. Truth or lie didn't matter, if she tried to speak about Junichiro, even in general, she couldn't get a word to come out of her mouth.

Kalawarna and Mittelt stared at Raynare for a time and she stood saying nothing to them. Both quickly grew annoyed with the shorter tempered Mittelt being the one to speak, "Fine! Don't say shit to us. You know we can't just abandon our jobs without a damned good reason. If you have one, speak up! I want to leave this shitty hole-in-the-wall place!"

Raynare fell down to her knees with tears streaming from her eyes. Nothing she tried would let her explain why they needed to leave. She wanted to flee but knew she couldn't. If she couldn't explain why she abandoned her assignment, she would be labeled a stray. She would be hunted down by everyone, especially her fellow fallen angels. She would become a traitor and that was something she couldn't countenance! She was loyal and would never betray Azazel-sama! Azazel would forgive her for making a mistake, but he would never forgive a traitor.

Kalawarna knelt down next to Raynare, "Speak to us, what's going on?"

Raynare looked directly into Kalawarna's eyes, "It's..." horrifying! I awoke a terrible monster and set him against us! We need to flee for our lives and report to Azazel-sama! He's the Red Dragon Emperor and already so strong! It's..., "Nothing." Oh, she could lie, "For a moment, I thought the little bitches spotted me. They might be weak but their older siblings certainly are not."

Kalawarna and Mittelt's expressions instantly changed from concerned and worried to disgusted. The disgust aimed at Raynare for her apparent cowardice. Sure, none of them could handle the current Satan's, Lucifer or Leviathan, but the odds of them appearing were minimal at best. To be scared of just the possibility reeked of weakness.

Seeing their expressions made Raynare want to cry in despair. She was stuck now. She could run, become a traitor and be hunted down without mercy. Or, she could stay and pray to God that they never met with Junichiro again. If she saw him again, she would run. Traitor or not, she wasn't so eager to die instantly. At least while on the run she could live a little longer. She would stay, for now. Hopefully, whatever was blocking her from speaking about Junichiro would fade and she could deliver a proper warning.

Junichiro watched the drama unfold on his computer screen and cackled like a madman. Watching Raynare have a panic attack as she failed to tell her compatriots about him was the funniest thing! Ddraig spoke up inside of his mind, 'Interesting punishment.'

'Yeah, I didn't feel like killing her just yet. Using the Psionic gem to mess with her mind and make it impossible for her to even talk about me is far more entertaining! I've put her into a no-win situation. On one side there's us, the invincible Red Dragon Emperor, the Dragon of Domination! On the other is her loyalty to Grigori and the consequences of being seen as a traitor. I just wonder which means more to her, her life or her loyalty?'

Ddraig hummed noncommittally. It didn't matter to him what his partner did. He'd been partnered with the best and worst of humanity in his time stuck in the Boosted Gear. Junichiro's little play with the fallen wasn't all that bad, in his opinion. Honestly, he was just surprised and happy at the display of sheer dominance when he crushed the fallen with just his aura. It reminded him of good times doing the same to weaker dragons.

Once the show was finished, Junichiro got ready for bed. As he sat on his mattress, he retrieved the black metal choker he'd made previously, "Okay Ddraig, I really wish I didn't have to do this part, but Rias is just too weak."

Ddraig grumbled as the Boosted Gear appeared, "I understand your desire to become a race stronger than humans. What I don't understand is your desire to be a servant to someone so much weaker than you."

Junichiro sighed but nodded his head, "I know she's so much weaker than us, but she has potential. With my help I can make her stronger, not stronger than us combined, but stronger. As for serving her... Frankly, if I do things right she'll go from being my boss to being my mate." He chose mate for Ddraig's benefit, "She's a good woman and we do share interests. She's a bit of a spoiled brat, but she can grow past that and become a worthy partner in life. Just take a nap for now Ddraig. When it's done I'll awaken you and things will start to get interesting. We have battles coming and I am looking forward to showing the world our might and reminding them why the Heavenly Dragons were so feared."

Ddraig laughed for a while before letting out a sigh and speaking, "I'll take a nap for a while, Partner."

Junichiro nodded and once the Boosted Gear faded from his arms, he lifted up the choker. He slowly wrapped it around his neck until it gently clicked closed in a perfect fit. As soon as it did, he felt his power greatly weaken and his connection to Ddraig vanish. He hadn't even realized that last one was there until it was gone. His mana pool shrank and with a thought, he disabled his mana generator. All-in-all, he was suddenly what he'd been pretending to be all along, a human with a growing but unimpressive mana pool and a mid-tier sacred gear.

He hadn't felt like this since his first day in this world. He hated it. Tomorrow afternoon couldn't come fast enough!

The school day felt like it was dragging on and taking forever. Even his silent and peaceful lunch with Koneko had seemed to last hours instead of the usual forty-five minutes. The only thing that he had found entertaining was a specific rumor going around. Apparently the perverted trio had all earned detentions over sexual harassment.

Rumor was they'd been thoroughly chewed out by Sona and warned that if their behavior didn't change immediately, not only would they be expelled but the police would be called so sexual harassment and peeping charges could be filed against them. They would all end up with criminal records as sexual predators, it would destroy any chance of them having a normal life.

Junichiro, for his part, was apathetic to the change in Sona's attitude. Just the fact that he had to point the situation out to her made any changes she went through with seem... fickle. He was relatively certain that it had nothing to do with the trio being criminals. If he had to guess, she was doing it because of his comment on her being a shitty leader and basically taking a steaming dump on her dream. In all fairness, he did think she would make a shitty school director if she couldn't put her students first.

When the final bell rang, he practically jumped out of his seat. It was only through a force of will that he didn't run out of the school building to head to the ORC building. He was that excited about finally becoming a devil. Despite that excitement, he needed to calm down and make sure he went through with his plan. He definitely wanted to reincarnate into a devil and Rias was by far the best choice of someone to follow for that.

However, he wanted some guarantees before he took the final plunge to join her peerage. Once she understood his full power, he feared that she would do something stupid. He couldn't have that happen so he needed to make sure some preventative measures were in place. Keeping that in mind, he calmly walked to the ORC building and forced his face into a flat neutral expression.

Despite taking his time, he quickly came to the door on the second floor of the ORC building and gently knocked on it. Once he heard a simple, 'com in' from inside, he did just that. He found Koneko and Rias inside of the room. Akeno and Kiba must not have arrived yet. When Rias spotted him, she smiled brightly, "Ah! Arai-san, it's good to see you. Have you made a decision?"

Junichiro walked over to the love seat Koneko was sitting on and sat next to her. He was honestly the most comfortable around her. Once he settled down, he gave Rias a nod, "I have. I am willing to become a devil, but I have a few requirements that I want in writing before I'm willing to become your servant."

Rias blinked and sat back in her chair to study him, "An improved lifespan of potentially thousands of years along with power and access to devil magic isn't enough?"

Junichiro smirked, "From what I understand, that's nothing special and is simply a part of becoming a devil. In other words, you're not actually giving me anything special and I'm becoming your servant. So, no. What you listed are not, in fact, an offer but are simply what everyone gets for signing up."

Unmentioned was that he was one hundred percent certain that he could give himself those benefits whenever he wanted. No, for him joining Rias was about gaining a devil physiology and falling under the protective umbrella that her name could provide. As strong as he was quickly becoming, he would soon draw attention and he honestly had no idea what the absolute maximum level of danger people like Sirzechs and the various gods of the world presented. That also only covered power levels. It was entirely possible that even if he had double the power of someone like Sirzechs that he would still lose badly. Why? A simply lack of experience. Even perfectly matched in power with all the same abilities as the leading Lucifer, he was still certain he would lose, and badly. Being the pawn piece of Rias would make it so that Sirzechs wouldn't see him as a threat but rather an asset to be protected... he hoped.

Rias cocked an eyebrow at that but couldn't really argue with him. All the 'benefits' she mentioned were just a part of being a devil, "State your terms."

"I have a few, though they shouldn't be all that hard to accommodate. First and foremost, I will be your servant and yours alone, period. No matter what you cannot trade me, sell me, give me away, or anything similar that makes me a servant of another, even temporarily. If you no longer wish for me to serve you, or something else happens to you, such as death, then I am to be set free to be on my own."

Rias bristled, "I would never sell or trade a member of my peerage!"

Junichiro just shrugged, "I still want it in writing. You seem like a decent person and maybe you're telling the truth. Or, maybe you're lying and are a complete tyrant who has told her peerage to act otherwise. How am I to know the truth? Time will tell but this is non-negotiable."

Rias looked a little put out by that but was willing to admit it was reasonable. She'd never had to actually negotiate a reincarnation before. All of her members had either been near death, dead, or, in the case of Koneko, given to her for their protection. She nodded, "Fine, that's acceptable. What else?"

Junichiro smiled, "Second, while I am more than willing to help you, and the other members of your peerage out, with the things I can do and make, I am not a slave. If you have requests, or even wish for me to make things for people outside of your peerage, I expect proper compensation. And no, someone saying how I should be honored to make something for them is not proper compensation. If I feel like gifting someone something, that's my business, but if it's a request there will be a proper payment. I also want the right to refuse requests and for you to back up those refusals. If you fail at this, I want to be freed with no consequences so that I may protect myself."

Rias nodded along, "Makes sense and with what you showed yesterday, there's clearly more to The Workshop than I expected. Anything else?"

Junichiro nodded, "Third, you will not order me to do anything against my morals. I want it to be my morals because they could change over the centuries. Right now I might find the prospect of murdering someone amoral, but in five hundred years? Who knows. That's just an example. For the most part, as long as you're a descent person this shouldn't be an issue. I am willing to explain why something you order is against my morals if we do have a clash. If necessary, I'm willing to allow a third neutral party mediate any disagreements we have. If such a disagreement can't be overcome, I am to be freed with no consequences once again."

"Perfectly acceptable, anything else?"

Junichiro nodded, "This last one is a deal breaker and if you can't agree to it we'll go our separate ways. If I ask you and slash or your peerage members to keep something secret, I expect it to be kept secret from everyone. You can only share my secrets with those I either share the secret with or that I give you permission to share it with."

He leaned forward and gave her a deadly serious look, "I have some ideas and experiments I want to conduct that are mindbogglingly powerful, if I can pull them off. They have the potential to make your peerage the most powerful in the underworld and I will not risk my life by having my secrets spilled."

Now Rias was extremely excited. If even one of his ideas was strong enough to defeat Riser... She had to have him in her peerage! She might not like some of his demands, and was actually a little insulted by them, it would all be worth it. She gave Junichiro a nod and pulled out an actual piece of parchment from her desk. Official contracts should be done properly, after all. She gestured for Junichiro to join her at her desk, "We'll write up the contract together to make sure it's to both our satisfaction."

As he joined her at the desk, Akeno and Kiba both arrived at the clubhouse. Kiba sat at a chair and got to work on his homework. Akeno, meanwhile, went into the small kitchen area and got to work on her somewhat famous tea. Junichiro ignored them and focused on working though the contract with Rias.

It took three hours and a dozen cups of Akeno's rather delicious tea for the contract to be finalized. The two of them both looked it over one last time for any mistakes. Once it was deemed perfect, it was time to finalize it. Rias and Junichiro both signed their names, using a quill of all things, then pricked their fingers and dripped a single drop of blood on their signed names. As their blood soaked into the parchment it began to glow brightly until it burst into flames.

Rias smiled as the contract seemed to burn into nothing, "There, done. The contract will remain in effect until the terms to cancel it are enacted or one of us breaks the terms. If the terms are broken, the contract will appear in front of the party that didn't violate the contract." She turned to follow Junichiro with her eyes as he walked to the front of her desk to more easily face her, "It's time for you to fulfill your portion of the contract."

Rias held her hand up to create a magic circle above her palm. The magic circle summoned a small wooden box closed with a clasp. She set the box down and flipped it open. Inside rested a partial set of chess pieces. It was currently missing the Queen piece, one Rook piece, one Knight piece, and one Bishop piece. Rias plucked the remaining Bishop piece out of the box with a smile, "Given the magical nature of your sacred gear, I think you would do best as a Bishop. This piece will enhance your growing magical power and make magic easier for you."

Junichiro had no doubt that the Bishop piece would have worked... on his first day before he did anything else to himself. Now? He was certain that even with almost all of his strength and Ddraig sealed, it would still take all eight of her pawn pieces. True to his expectation, the moment Rias held the Bishop piece up to his chest, nothing happened.

Rias's eyes widened at the surprise but it quickly morphed to delight. The failure of the Bishop piece meant he had more potential that she expected. She put the Bishop piece back and selected four of her pawn pieces. As she held them close they gave off only the barest of glows. A sign that they could work, but that four wasn't enough. Slowly, she added one pawn piece at a time. With each piece she added she became both excited and confused.

Historically speaking, The Workshop was a mid-tier sacred gear that was most often used to produce weapons and armor. Sometimes magical versions of such things were made. However, the weapons always seemed to fall short of the specialized power of similar sacred gears such as Sword Birth. The advantage of The Workshop was the range of weapons and armor that could be made. Sword Birth could make powerful magical swords, but it could only make swords. Sword Birth could give an army a collection of magical swords. The Workshop could give an army a supply of weapons and armor. There was one final difference of The Workshop though, it needed materials to make items from. The Workshop make permanent items whereas Sword Birth made temporary items. Once a sword from Sword Birth shattered, it faded away. A broken item made by The Workshop could be repaired like any other item of a similar type.

As Rias held up the seventh pawn in her set and saw it still wasn't enough, silence descended in the room. She looked up into Junichiro's eyes to convey her building excitement, and a bit of trepidation. If she understood this right, Junichiro had the potential of a Longinus! With a shaking hand, she retrieved the last pawn piece, "If this doesn't work, it means I'm actually too weak to reincarnate you, that your potential is too far above my strength to bind, for now."

Junichiro was silently hoping that his sealing item was working perfectly because if this didn't work he was going to kick his own ass! Both of them let out a sigh of relief as Rias held up the eighth and final pawn piece to his chest. All eight pieces began to brightly glow and with an application of her magical power, sank into his chest through his clothing. Rias let out a deep breath and then smiled brightly at Junichiro, "Since the piece don't have to heal you or bring you back from death, the transformation process should be rather quick. You might want to sit down for it. I've heard the change from regular Magical Power to Demonic Power can be a bit of a head rush."

Junichiro nodded and sat himself back down next to Koneko on the love seat. He closed his eyes and focused on the changes happening to his body. The nanites meant to improve and heal his body had their primary function disabled for the moment to allow the change to happen. They were, however, recording the changes as they happened. With the data he was gathering, it would be a pretty easy process to reverse the changes and return to being a human, if he ever needed to.

As far as he could tell, the change seemed to happen almost like a virus was rewriting his genetic code, though it was more mystical and less scientific than that. Thanks to his body being so efficient and at the level of a peak human, the changes were rapid. He was especially impressed with the changes to his muscles. Their density increased by several magnitudes while not increasing in size, he was pretty sure that was impossible. Then the tensile strength of each individual muscle strand was further enhanced by several magnitudes. Also seemingly impossible. All these changes meant that no matter how physically powerful he grew, he wouldn't grow much bigger.

Well, unless he wanted to thanks to the self actualization of a devils looks. Their perceptions of themselves could change their appearance over time. Why else are there no really ugly devils? He was looking forward to making some changes to his own appearance. Yes, this was coming along nicely and soon he would have everything he needed to become a true monster in this world.