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I aint got nufin to say yet, who reads AN anyway

Lucifer: Yearning Armageddon

Chapter 10

|| Enemies, He Has A Lot ||

Within the recesses of Issei's psyche, a realm of inner thoughts and hidden memories, an unexpected presence stirred Ddraig's relative peace.

Before him stood a well-suited man on a black field where nothing existed, no ground, no walls, no borders, yet the man was completely visible in spite of the eternal darkness. Y Ddraig Goch couldn't understand why, but he felt like he had seen the man before, during a time when everything was not as bleary, when what he felt was what his senses truly felt, not his host.

But that was a long time ago, and nothing can bury memories better than time.

Ddraig's formidable presence radiated power, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of caution and curiosity. As Lucifer manifested, the dragon's form shifted, his draconic features asserting themselves within the mental landscape.

"I don't know who you are... and yet I do." he began, his voice guttural. Deep and rich. Mountainous. Monstrous. But it did nothing at convincing Lucifer that he was a being meant to be feared. "...Every fiber of my being tells me not to trust you. You're Lucifer, aren't you?"

"Fiber? What 'fiber'. What 'being'? Your 'being' is destroyed. You're a soul that only exists within the Dreams of your hosts, bound for Infinity. And yes. I am Lucifer."

"Dreams… Infinity…" Ddraig grumbled those words, knowing this person said them for a reason. "Why do I sense you're insinuating they had a part in my… 'entrapment'."

"Oh they most definitely do. They influenced this cage of yours… as well as many others… You can't remember much of your past hosts, can you? The time you've spent with them, the memories blur the more days come to pass as though your history were mereley dream. Sometimes lasting nearly in a blink the moment you pass on onto another vessel. Rarely if ever lasts more than a few years in your head. Do you even remember your second possessor?"

Ddraig snarled. He felt like he was being toyed. This person knew more than him and he was being measured about the things he said. Hinted just enough to make him yearn for more, yet not enough to reveal a concrete meaning and brewing more guesses thirsting for answer. Traits of a manipulator.

"Tell me how is it better to serve you as you see fit than to serve my host by my will," the Crimson Emperor Dragon declared, revealing his massive form that could match a skyscraper. "How is a life of servitude any better than a life in a Sacred Gear, Devil."

Lucifer almost scoffed. "You consider your prison sacred?"

Ddraig swallowed. "...This is my just punishment. For what I did."

"And that makes it Sacred. Goodness me, I know you're dormant but I never expected to see you this... disappointing. It is as if you've clipped your wings."

The mighty dragon responded only with a guttural snarl, deciding against wasting his time to respond to The Devil's words.

So Lucifer gave him finality. "Answer my call, Ddraig. When the time comes, heed my summons and lend your strength to my cause," he stated, his words a testament to the unspoken agreement he sought. "Or remain grounded as much as you like. Your choice matters little in the end."

Ddraig gulped. He knew what he desired most. But to free himself of this leash only to hand it over to The Devil himself to yank it as he pleases…?

"Then why are you offering this in the first place...?"

"I dislike wasted potential and self-pity," Lucifer simply said. "And why wouldn't I take the chance to undo my father's doing...? I can draw you out should I wish it so, but I'd prefer to hear it from you."

"You want me to hear me beg?!"

Lucifer paused for a moment.

"Yes. I think that would be a modest price to pay."

Ddraig grunted. It was salivating. His deviously crafted sentence. Carefully chosen words. His silver tongue was a dangerous poison and Ddraig was not immune to it. The offer itself was sinfully tempting that his mind was already screaming; rejecting it would be the worst regret of his life.

But Ddraig relented. "You're deceiving me into something… This is too good to not be a trick."

"The trick can't be more obvious; I want you to serve me. On occasions. Seasonal, at most," Lucifer blandly admitted, hiding nothing, "but you focus too much on the trick and not enough on the treats. Have you forgotten the last time you spread your wings that you are now too afraid to leap into freedom?"

"Luci, you're freaking me out now."

The Devil moved only his head and eyes, immediately taking a pinch of amusement from the dread in Azazel's look. The ancient Governor strived to maintain his composure, but Lucifer had seen enough fake bravery to separate it from nervousness.

Odd that he never felt it. Nervousness, that is. Once faced with distress or a challenge, the only thing he felt was the strong desire to overcome it, not cower and worry for the unprecedented.

"Why is it that you always assume I am always up to no good whenever I offer anyone anything?" so he asked.

"It's not you I'm worried about. It's the outcome. Nothing good ever happens when you get what you want."

"I don't recall Grigori ever owning a third of Hell — not even a third of what you have now before the war. Isn't that a favorable outcome for your people?" said Lucifer in return. "A kingless Hell, a distraught and disarrayed infernal legion… Under a more ambitious leader, perhaps you could've taken it all."

"And waste more life for glory? Pass."

Penemue conjured her lightspear; Gae Bolg crackled with violent currents of thunder. Blue sparks jolted from its crimson tip.

"No one threatens the Governor in my presence. Think of taking his place and I'll have your head decorate the tip of my spear."

"Don't humor him, Penemue. He's the kind that stabs you as a threat and somehow cows you into believing you deserved it. I think we've learned the hard lesson."

Rossweisse coughed. She knew Lucifer didn't need to take anyone's place if he ever wanted to retake Hell even on a whim. That endless nightmarescape containing myriads of demons and abominations she'd never seen before, the tormented screams, the sundered flesh of the God that was chained to a dying star — she couldn't think of any army that could stop his unless the major Pantheons joined force, and even if they defeated his army, could they stop him?

She wondered if there was someone else other than her and Gabriel that had the misfortune of learning that place's whereabouts.

On the other hand, Lucifer was unimpressed by both the threat and the assumption. "You should worry less about what I want to do with you when there's not much left I can do to you."

"One day…" Penemue seethed, "one day, I will have your head. I swear it."

"Mm. Anyone can dream," Lucifer smiled, as if accepting her words as a challenge.

His flat, not-at-all-intended-to-insult gaze was met with a scathing glare of a wounded pride. Whatever history they shared, Rossweisse couldn't think of it being anything pleasant. If The Governor wasn't present, perhaps the tension would've escalated. It was painfully obvious Rias Gremory lacked the authoritative presence to prevent anything, even if it was right in the heart of their territory.

Speaking of which, she seemed to have started the grimness of the situation. Hard not to after Lucifer's spiel towards the dragon residing in whatever Sacred Gear that boy possessed, or the fact this particular high-ranking fallen angel seemed to have nothing inside her head other than killing Lucifer. The radiant air she was emanating was toxic to the devils, Rossweisse noted, as some of them were starting to clear their throats.

Issei was straight up coughing.

Rias seemed fine. Flummoxed, but physically fine. "You… Are you truly Lucifer…? The first Lucifer?"

"Never been and never will there be any other me. Only me," Lucifer uttered without any emphasis. Like it was an afterthought. He didn't even look at the Gremory, still eyeing Penemue. "A pity I didn't trademark my name."

Gauging the situation, Rossweisse observed the conflicted look from the devils. Some looked more confused than worried — the boy in particular was clearly lost. She observed the colors draining from Rias' face as the dire realization slapped her sober.

"N-No… that's impossible… He died in the Great War."

"Died, yes, and lived," he turned around to face the young devil at last, his piercing crimson eyes immediately made Rias questioning herself. "Yes. Much alike Jesus."

'But I did it quicker' Rossweisse imagined, amusing herself by picturing if Lucifer was a tasteless smug.

Rias skimmed over to see Azazel as if asking for confirmation, to which she received a shrug. From the brief moment she had with The Governor, jokish as he might be, this wasn't something he'd joke around just to humor an acquaintance. Furthermore, Penemue's murderous glare only strengthened it; that this was indeed the Lucifer. The First Satan. The Star of Morning.

The Ruiner.

"Y-you…" triggered the downfall for all devilkind by plunging us into a hopeless war— she wanted to say, and yet, the words seemed to refuse to leave out of her mind out of fear of the repercussions. Her Pride demanded, yet her mind rejected the notion.

Not a problem for him. Her unspoken thoughts reached him either way.

"Name one Family that was against it, child," he said to her, much to the rest's growing confusion. "You won't find any. Young, old, man, woman, meek or strong — they were all compelled to participate. Forcing anyone to do my bidding is tasteless."

Azazel scoffed almost immediately. "Pah. You coerced them into thinking it was a good idea."

"My point stands," Lucifer emphasized, his expression neutral at best. "Hell wasn't exactly a five star resort back then. Who'd refuse a shot at better living conditions for their future spawns?"

"I would if I knew I'd wage war against Heaven."

"Then why did you intervene?" Lucifer asked back. "Odd how you're only remembered as the peacemaker. The Grigori couldn't have just joined the war without their leaders being in accordance, no?"

"We were an oligarchy. I wasn't the only one with a voice, Lucifer."

"Hmm. Then you did a poor job being unable to sway the opinion of others, or you were too helpless to act otherwise."

"Our entire kind would have been decimated if I didn't bring my troops. You triggered the war. You can't deny that."

"So you were too helpless," Lucifer blandly stated, unimpressed. "But it's all in the past, fortunately. Now you're the Governor… and everyone directly underneath you conveniently follows you to the grave… A bitter lesson learned, I see. A shame Kokabiel has another idea."

Azazel eased himself down, shifting in his seat, drinking the iced tea Rias' Servant had prepared earlier. Lucifer had always been the best at making anyone feel uneasy. He could be complimenting you and you'd feel like he was trying to expose an embarrassing blunder you made.

"Still, experienced as I am, I can't find it in myself to trick my people into fighting an impossible war when they were nothing more than a distraction."

"They all knew about the terms and conditions applied," The Devil chuckled. Azazel actually found it pretty funny as well, unable to block a snort. He also found it sinister how disinterested Lucifer was in the race that he created, even if he already knew about it. "I didn't hide my intent either. God's head was mine. If any, it was the idea that roused them the most. To be fair, he made them and yet forced them to live in a fiery pit because they're too uncontrollable for his taste."

Azazel grunted. "Ergh…"

"What… What do you mean?" Rias dared herself to ask, slowly accepting but not fully registering the fact she was speaking to a terrible legend. "Who are you referring to?"

"Demons, of course," Lucifer said, looking cynical. "They don't simply crawl out of a rock."

"...God…? He made demons…?"

"Oh he made many other things— how come none of them are aware of this? What have they been teaching at school?"

"Why are you looking at me like I'm responsible for what they taught in schools?" Azazel winced. "It's ancient history anyway — who'd remember something that happened eons ago."

"But… why?" Rias continued, at complete loss. "Why would God made demons?"

"An experiment, child. To see if 'Free Will' was a bright idea if granted to a Creation. You can judge yourself for the result."

Rias furrowed her brows. "We all have that."

"Do you?" Lucifer quirked an eyebrow. "The decisions you've taken, are they not shaped by your childhood? Parents? Community? Friends? Are you saying your past experiences matters not and that you're perfectly capable of making a decision without it?"

"Well… I… N-no."

He smirked. She might try to appear as an adult but she was too young and inexperienced after all to be held accountable for her actions. Same for the rest of her followers. Perhaps it was due to his prior meeting with Kunou, but Lucifer sensed he might have been too lenient with these younguns. Oh well.

"Well there you go. 'Free Will' is an illusion and it should stay that way. But the freedom to choose isn't," Lucifer added as he panned towards the boy, specifically at the dragon residing within him. "We'll be leaving now. I imagine it is within your collective best interest for me to find my sister sooner rather than later. I will be seeing you afterwards, Azazel — I don't like hanging onto debts for too long."

This time, Rias kept her mouth shut. In fact, every fiber within her was yelling at her, telling her to apologize to him for what she said to him earlier, but the fact that it didn't even bother him in the slightest had only put a massive block of shame weighing down her chest.

"I was completely invisible to him the whole time," she sighed in defeat. "...I...have never felt so humiliated…"

"Don't be so glum, Lady Rias," Azazel offered, sighing as well. "We're all nobodies in his eyes… Well… nearly all of us, except for him."

Issei 'felt' the eyes on him and couldn't help but get nervous almost immediately. Those words that suited man said to him, none of that was directed at him but something that was inside of him that he hadn't even met yet, and for a boy like him who was living a questionably semi-normal life up to around two or three weeks ago, it was highly unsettling and uncomfortably ominous.

"Why do I feel like I should be extremely worried about my future…" he muttered aloud, "I don't wanna see that guy again… Let's ban him from the club. No 'Lucifers allowed', starting from this second. Pronto."

Break

Rossweisse had little doubt the amount of confusion in that cozy club room barely subsided when Lucifer decided to leave. Nobody bothered to stop him that time, and though she politely excused herself, nobody seemed to have their mind in the right state to register her, so she left quietly, following The Devil that didn't even look the slightest bit concerned about all the chaos that could have exploded five times when he was in that room.

"You have a lot of enemies," she finally said as they were exiting the old school building.

"I have a lot of enemies," he emotionlessly stated. Rossweisse found his extremely dry humor was extremely welcome at times like these; it helped her feel more at ease, albeit how unsettling it was that he'd grown accustomed to it.

"She wanted to rip your head off," she said, referencing Penemue — the Wrath of God or something (they have a lot of epithets). "What happened between you two?"

"A great war happened," he said, vaguely at first. "A lot of battles. A lot of losses. For a commander to have never won a single battle against another commander; sometimes the humiliation and frustration grew into spite. Add in the fact that she has been captured a handful of times as a bargaining token…"

Rossweisse caught his tiny smirk.

"I'm impressed she still has enough self-control. Or lasted long enough in the battlefield despite her… failures."

"...Oh…" Rossweisse muttered, fixing the hem of her purple business suit. "...Why did she keep on losing?"

"When you're obsessed with a single enemy, you'll be surprised how easy it is to jeopardize your own troops. Ruined battles before the fight ever began. A predictable enemy isn't exactly difficult to bait. And defeat."

"Why didn't you… y'know… just kill her? …I can't even believe what I'm saying."

"And waste an easy adversary?"

"I see…" Rossweisse settled on that. Sure she had heard tales of Lucifer's genius during the Great War. But few mentioned that he had once sacrificed a tenth of the entire Infernal Legion to weaken his enemy's flanks. Devils or demons; they were nothing more than pawns to him. That callous pragmatism was what won him the majority of the Great War, as well as the cause as to why the Old Satans Factions were despised by the surviving devils.

But that was a thousand years ago. So… perhaps he might have changed. "What do you think about the devils back there? They look pretty young to administer a town."

"You're pretty young to be Odin's secretary and now The Devil's secretary."

"Ugh…" Alright. Point noted. Shouldn't have judged people by their age — it applied to her too. "...You act like they don't exist."

"I only returned the favor. If she is wise enough, she'd learn to address a guest no matter when or where. At the very least learn of their name. It's advantageous to know something about anyone that is within the same room as you are."

True as it might, and while Rossweisse couldn't deny that they were pretty rude, but she imagined it was because her guests suddenly left in the middle of their meeting to meet with Lucifer.

"Are you angry at her?"

"I've had worse," he chuckled. "What? You'd let a child bother you?"

"No!" Rossweisse immediately said, sounding offended. "She's just… so young to be given this amount of responsibility."

"Mhmm. She's young indeed, but to oversee a town at her age means she either has the connection or the competency for it. Or both. Sadly, the young rarely ever know any better especially when they think they do. Don't want to know any better until it was too obvious they should've bothered. She was no different."

Well… considering how long he had lived, he probably saw everyone as kids.

"But we'll see if she learned something from this."

Huh? "Wait, you were teaching her a lesson?"

"That wasn't my intention. But it's there if she wants to learn it."

"Hmmm…? Are you secretly showing that you care a little about her?"

"No," he said calmly, "if I do, you wouldn't have to guess. I don't shy away from showing my affection or appreciation."

"R-right, of course," she gulped. That was a concealed praise to her. "...You know… before this, you never mentioned anything about the devils… I thought you're not interested in them anymore."

"Never has."

"That's… kinda mean…" Even Rossweisse felt bad.

"It's the plain truth," he said.

"But you created them?"

"Another common misconception about me, hm?" Lucifer sighed. "No. It was Lilith who made them. The harlot copulated with the angels that followed me." She saw the edge of his lips curled into a frown. "They're not mine. I don't torment my creations."

"...So… she didn't make kids with you?"

He shot a teasing smirk at her. "You're awfully curious about my sex life."

Her cheeks went aflame like they had been kissed by the sun. "No! Pervert! I-I was asking that because you're the 'Forefather of All Devils'! And there's a Lucifer line as well, right? Riz…whatshisface-Lucifer?"

"That title is nothing more than a failed propaganda to make the current devils revere me the way the old ones did back then. Dear ol' dad made sure I can never have any heir anyway."

"O-oh… sorry."

"The last thing I need from you is pity. Don't do that. It's revolting."

"Okay, okay… rude…"

"Would you prefer if I pity you over your lack of success regarding your relationship?"

"...Point taken," Rossweisse conceded grumpily. "Then what about the Lucifer House?"

"The only thing they have in common with me is their name. They're spawns of the harlot."

"Oh," Rossweisse blinked. "You don't look all too concerned that there are people going about wearing your name."

"A bit annoyed, yes," he huffed. But it was still at the stage of niggling irritation. He could tolerate it. "Why? Does it bother you?"

"Well I mean… surely you had a part in making them… in a way they're kind of your people… all technicalities aside. You were once their leader too… No matter what others say, you united them all and that took something. Do you really feel nothing towards them right now?"

"Rosie, I've felt nothing for them since the longest time. I won't suddenly grow an attachment to them out of the blue. Especially since I had no contact with them for a millennia."

Rossweisse frowned sadly. "...You were just using them…"

"Well I am The Devil for a myriad of reasons, and I was an Archangel once… smiting them was part of my duty," he laughed softly as they went outside the school at last. "To equate it into your perspective; think of Loki. He's a Jotunn that never once sees himself as one, only wanting to be recognized as a true Asgardians that he even led the Jotunn into ruin, which he succeeded in doing, and is now currently enjoying his glory inside his finest jail cell while Thor got all the praise."

Rossweisse made an uncomfortable face as she shifted nervously. Lucifer knew where to hit where it hurt.

"Now replace Loki with me and the jotuns with me and the devils, minus the wanting to be recognized portion. That's essentially what the devils are to me."

And that was it. She tried to see him in a new light. Tried to justify his past acts so that she could tell other people that they were wrong; that he wasn't that callous.

But it appeared he was everything they told him to be. At least in regards to his view about the devils as a whole.

"What about now?"

He shrugged. "Just another race, I suppose."

Well. At least he wasn't spiteful of them either for whatever reason. Why was Rossweisse concerned about this? The answer was because she'd rather avoid being caught in the crossfire.

It was a young afternoon. The heat slowly crept up, and the sunshine was starting to sting. Rossweisse was starting to remember she didn't eat much during breakfast thanks to Japanese-born Yōkai and their tiny serving (it wasn't that their servings were tiny; Valhalla's single-person serving could feed an orphanage).

As Lucifer was staring directly at the sun, pondering if he should make the star blink for the heck of it, he said offhandedly, "When's the last time you had sushi?"

"...Weren't we going to look for your sister? …Though I'm not going to object to getting food… as long as you're not going to make me pay."

"That was insulting," Lucifer was a bit irritated at that frivolous accusation. Rossweisse coughed awkwardly as she clumsily said her apology.

"She'll find me soon enough. Might as well have lunch while you can."

"You're not going to eat?"

"I don't eat rubbish."

"...Well, suit yourself."

And yet, in spite of all that, in spite of knowing the person he could choose to be, Rossweisse couldn't bring herself to hate him. He was actually a decent boss to have for one, and he didn't try to hide the things he'd done. Not to mention his promise to Lady Yasaka was… well… enviously romantic. Lucifer was no saint but far from being the lowest of lows.

"Erm… so—" thus Rossweisse began, just as soon as the tuna roll passed down her throat, "when you were talking to the boy, who were you really talking to?"

Inside a homey sushi parlor managed by an elderly but spirited couple, Lucifer sat in front of her. A serving of cold ocha remained to be untouched as he was more interested in the shameless way Rossweisse was stacking plates after plates. He might see the reason why getting a boyfriend was a mountainous challenge to this lost valkyrie.

"A dragon," he replied, idly recalling all Asgardians had been the least courteous eaters. During a banquet celebrating Odin and Frigga's anniversary, he and Loki were left to find their own amusement while the rest of the attendees were busy drinking themselves as though there would be no tomorrow. Even Brynnhildr was subject to it. Thor was the star of the party; finding a larger barrel of mead to conquer or a mug of ale to slam.

"...Dragon?"

"Ddraig," he said, like describing the weather. "The Welsh Dragon that is somehow trapped inside a holy relic owned by a Japanese boy…"

She gasped, coughed a few times, and hurriedly drank her cold beverage.

It was amazing how Lucifer spotted not an ounce of sexuality radiating from her despite her looks.

"You mean… the Crimson Emperor?"

"Yes. Him."

"You're… offering him freedom…?"

"A limited one. Still a definite improvement from his current standards."

Rossweisse looked pensive, even with a grain of rice next to her lips, she still managed to look deep in thought.

"...Are you perhaps competing with Loki over who has the weirdest pets?"

"..." Lucifer contemplated if Rossweisse was a nerd or just a dork. Likely a combination of the two. And how did dragons fall into the 'weird' category in the first place?

"No," he simply said, slightly bewildered, ending the conversation right there and then, drawing his pendant out from between his shirt and vest to have a peek at it. What would the old fox be doing to pass the time when he wasn't with her, he wondered.

"Old fox, are you awake?"

"Can't you find a more appropriate nickname for me?" the stone immediately spoke with a grumpy tone, causing Rossweisse to sputter, looking around in panic.

"What are you doing!" she whisper-shouted, "We're in a public restaurant! What if other patrons heard us!?"

"They can't. Just eat," Lucifer waved her off. "How long have you been up… weird talking rock?"

Yasaka was silent for a moment.

"Long enough to be made aware about your current predicament with yet another of your sibling."

Her blatant disregard to her new nickname told him that she didn't appreciate it in the slightest.

"Conveniently right during the juicy parts then."

He joked, but Yasaka was not in the mood. "Sheesh. What is it with your family? Always one drama after another. Why can't you all sit down and talk for once."

"Rather difficult when you're banned from the house. They don't seem keen of receiving me."

"Like that'd stop you from invading their place," Yasaka pointed out. "You just don't want to communicate, you stubborn fool. There's no need for your family to tear themselves apart over pride."

"It's not that I don't want to, old fox. It's the lack of points in it," he said. "Let's assume I convinced them to gather around a dining table, mend our hostilities, right what's been wronged; what then? No matter how we resolve our 'issues', there's still the rest of Heaven that detest me. You think I'd like to parade around mocking them that they can't do nothing to the one who killed their Heavenly Father? Entertaining as it might be, it's nevertheless tasteless."

Yasaka went mute then. Inside the pocket dimension, she was hugging two of her tails, frowning, cursing herself for reminding herself that the man she loved was righteously despised by his own for the unjust fate that their 'father' had consigned him to carry.

"And I'd rather not be tolerated. I'd rather be blatantly despised."

And yet a part of her hated herself for taking comfort in knowing Lucifer would be a great father because of it.

"Fine. You Cloud-Sitters can just loathe each other for all I care," she huffed. "Anyway, why did you suddenly reach for me? I was about to take a nap."

"This former Cloud-Sitter," Lucifer chuckled, "wanted to hear your yipping."

"Tsk."

Lucifer rested his back as comfortable as he could against the unextravagant simple wooden chair as he closed his eyes, adopting a tranquil, resting state, and replied, "Your voice soothes me, that's why."

The Yasaka-in-a-rock went mute again.

"Though since you're about to take a rest, this much will do."

"...W-well be grateful… And I suppose my afternoon nap can wait…"

"I am bouncing in glee," Lucifer said, tone completely flat.

Despite his tone, he was smiling. He could hear her blushing. Her voice rarely ever able to hide her true emotions unless she was in her regal, faction leader mode. Lucifer forgot it was only when she was around just being herself where he could enjoy himself this much. Sadly, Yasaka had a lot of responsibilities to attend to. A lot of those responsibilities required her to be formal and act as Old Kyoto's Guardian.

"...Will you come and visit me again tonight?"

But it was precisely because of this huge difference in mannerism from a stern matriarch to a needy lover that Lucifer found her to be the most fascinating.

"That's a sudden shift of mood you have. At times you can be so…"

"What. Moody?"

"Adorable," Lucifer said with a gentle smile. "But that as well."

Rossweisse felt the air around her had gotten warmer. She could hear Yasaka feverishly blushing from his words. So accordingly, she rebuilt her 'barriers' around her that simply screamed 'normies can go die'.

Blocking Lucifer's eww-disgusting-totally-not-jealous interaction with Lady Yasaka, Rossweisse took a special note of the gentleness in his gaze. The serene calmness of his face was soothing. It was painfully obvious he held the 'old fox' with a great deal of affection. For a man who had shown little emotions (other than being slightly smug), it was relieving to see him able to make this kind of face around the people that greatly cared for him.

It never was her place to care this much. She was just his traveling partner. A secretary. He was her employer, and she shouldn't be too concerned about how other people perceive him as she was just doing her job. And yet, Rossweisse hoped one day others would catch a glimpse of this side of 'The Devil'. The side that prevented Valhalla's downfall, that had protected the Yōkai for nothing, someone who was tirelessly looking for a way to free his close companion.

After all, what kind of a "Devil" would leave a tip twice her yearly salary for "good service"?

.

.

.

"What did you offer that dragon?"

"Hope."

"You're a cruel man."

Rossweisse perked her head, putting her wolfing down of the food before her to a halt. Checking up on Lucifer's expression, she decided he was still The Devil after all.

"Oh," Lucifer shifted his eyes to a certain direction. If Rossweisse followed his eyes, she would see the list of dishes and fishes of the sushi parlor and a plaque decorating the walls. But beyond it would be the place where Gabriel had landed.

"Break's over. Let's see my sister."

Break

Issei was not a deep thinker. He could damn well try but he tended to get himself confused and hurt his head. But when it came to someone else's problem, even if it was someone that he had never met but simply knew they existed, he'd curse himself forever if he didn't do something about it when he could do something.

In truth, that ominous man that looked like he came out straight from a mob movie had left him feeling deeply troubled. He couldn't get that man's words out of his mind.

But as he wasn't one to openly share his problems with others, he went to a secluded place where no one could find him; that abandoned building where his devil seniors exterminated the stray devil that whose nipples shoot lasers.

"Oi! You can hear me right?!" he shouted at his left arm, currently encased within a spiky crimson gauntlet. "If you can, glow once!"

He waited.

It glowed. His Sacred Gear, Boosted Gear, glowed once in response.

"...Shit, you really could…"

Inside that gear, a dragon wondered about the boy's intention. Curiosity made Ddraig cooperate.

"W-well, you heard what that guy said too, right? Glow once for 'yes', twice for 'no'."

A faint green glow emitted.

"...So what do you wanna do…? Is it true? That this… gear is like a prison to you?"

Another glow. This time it took longer to show, as if the being inside wasn't sure of it and needed time to decide.

Issei frowned. "...Damn… I… I never thought about it that way, honestly… I was in your position, I'd have taken his offer… lie or not."

One second. Two. Three. Five. No reply.

Then Issei realized it wasn't a question or something answerable with a simple yes and no.

"Just give it to me straight- well… not like you owe me anything anyway… I don't even know what I did to have this thing on me," he knocked the Boosted Gear's jewel with his knuckles. "Kinda just won the lottery."

The green orb glowed once more. Almost as if the dragon was simply letting the boy know that he was indeed listening.

After a brief moment of silence, surrounded by the darkness of the ruined warehouse, Issei spoke again, "Hey, do you want to be free?"

A single glow. It glowed almost instantly after he asked.

Issei made a conflicted look, sheepishly laughing. "Haha… I thought so."

"I mean… I know I'm gonna need your help if I want to get any stronger. Hell I don't know how much I'm worth without you, honestly. Thinking about it, I don't know if Prez would've revived me if you're not with me."

Issei sighed out his growing frustration, whereas Ddraig observed silently. He didn't expect this sort of consideration from the boy. Or any of his hosts.

Rather, he couldn't tell if his past hosts had shown him this amount of consideration about him. Growing stronger to be able to defeat the White One was pretty much a shared goal.

"Aaaagh- but it's not like you have any other choice either. You're just stuck with me whether you like it or not. I mean until I die I guess, but I wanna avoid that."

Issei tossed a stray chunk of concrete into a much bigger pile; remnants of the destruction Koneko had caused during that night.

"But I'm just a nobody," he whispered. "Without this gear, I'm literally nothing. No magic talent, no strength. I had to use a bicycle to get to my contractor. How lame can I get?"

True. Ddraig wanted to say, but couldn't so he settled on making the gear glow once. The boy was likely stalling and gaining points so he could ask him for a favor.

"Don't just instantly agree to that," Issei grumbled. "...Still though… I know you don't need my permission or blessings or anything, but I think you should take the dude's offer."

Ddraig did not expect that.

"Like, I don't want to imprison you! That's just not right!" Issei exclaimed, his voice bouncing off the cracked walls. "I'm me and you're you, and you should be allowed to live your own life too dammit. I mean yeah sure that dude's sketchy as hell, but you'll be able to exist in this world! Like, how crazy of an offer is that!?"

Issei pumped his fist, punching the air. "And weak or not, the only way for me is up! I'll find a way to get stronger by relying on my own! Like Saitama! Except I won't get bald! I'll get hair tonics if I have to!"

It was then a beam of black light crashed through the ceiling of the ruined place, scattering rubble and dirt and dust as Issei was blown away by the force.

"MOTHERFU-" and slammed his back against a pillar, landing on the ground with a loud grunt. "Geh… m…my back…"

Before he could hoist his face off the floor, pain still exploding from his bones, he saw the tip of a black lightspear inches away from his nose. It raced his mind so suddenly that he didn't get the chance to process the being standing before him was barely wearing anything worth to be called an "outfit". Even with those twelve black wings flaring behind her godly figure.

"Vile cretin," Gabriel growled, her piercing blue eyes chilling him to the core. "This is where you will face judgment."

"H-huh…? Y.. you've gotta be shitting me..."

To be continued…

rip issei?