Chapter 3: Breaking the Chain
-Okita Souji POV-
Walking in a long, grandiose hall while occasionally replying when other devil staff greet me. Making my way to meet my Lord to inform him about the newest circumstances that happened just now.
It was just a usual morning in the underworld. I was about to do my duty as a temporary Regent of the Bune Household when the remaining maid had informed me about the Bune heir, who suddenly disappeared while only leaving a single letter for me. Naturally I started intrograting the maid about the circumstances and learned that apparently the future lord of Bune left for a journey with his new teacher.
It seems that his decision was due to the possible cure for his weak constitution which had been offered by this mysterious figure.
Naturally when I learned about this, I asked the maid why she didn't stop him. But apparently it was his decision to prohibit her from interfering. Seeing that I don't have much choice, I quickly returned to the capital to inform my Lord about the situation.
Having an heir and future lord of the near extinct Bune house go missing is unpleasant news for not just me but also for my Lord. The political backlash would put him in a tight position.
Reaching my Lord's office, I opened the lavious door. Sirzechs was currently dealing with mountains of paperwork while under the care of his wife-turned-maid.
His eyes immediately turned towards me.
"Oh, Okita? Didn't you have your daily visit to the Bune household as his temporary regent?" asked Sirzechs when he saw me arrive. I shuddered at his wife, Grayfia Lucifuge, who stared at me with a cold expression plastered on her face.
Calm down, Onee-san. I am not here because I am slacking on my job here!
Taking a breath, I quickly explained my arrival. "Well, the thing is Sirzechs-sama, there have been unexpected circumstances which made me return to report it to you."
I can see Sirzechs are looking at me with confusion. "What kind of circumstances? Is it about the heir's condition again? Then you can just take a few Phenex Tears for that." I could only shake my head at his response.
I decided to immediately tell both of them the news."The Bune heir apparently just left by his own accord last night." Immediately after I informed them, I saw both Sirzechs and his wife's expressions change instantly.
"How did that happen?" he asked in a serious tone, completely changing his demeanor compared to previously laxing manner. "Did you find any suspicious activity or anything that related to the Bune heir's disappearance?"
I can only scratch my forehead while thinking briefly about how to explain this situation to him. "Yes, Sirzechs-sama. I did intrograte the only maid that works in the Bune household, given she's also the one that informed me about his status.
Hearing that, he seems to be in deep thought. Well, the situation is quite unprecedented given this is the first time an heir from one of the 34 pillars suddenly goes missing. Leaving nothing but a formal letter for his departure.
If this news is somehow leaked outside of this room, the amount of complaints would be substantial. That will put a lot of pressure on my Lord for leaving the Bune heir unsupervised. And he will have to deal with a decent amount of repercussions, especially from the Great King faction.
After the devils government was taken over by the new Satans, one of the first things they did is to gather the remaining pillars that had been exiled, or being considered extinct due to circumstances. Giving them the necessity to reinstall their household.
Sirzechs probably would prefer to dispatch his peerage including me as a search team to find the child's location rather than contacting the officials for this matter. From the corner, I can see that Onee-san is using a magic circle beside her left ear. Seems like she's working fast with contacting the rest of our members.
It doesn't take long for my remaining teammates to arrive after being contacted by Onee-san. Aside from Enki, who is currently taking care of young mistress Rias, and also Bahamut, who is staying in his domain, the other members of the peerage are swiftly responding and currently contacting us using a magical projector.
Sirzechs started to talk. "First, I apologize for suddenly calling all of you without further notice. Currently, there is a bit of a problem that I cannot handle directly. So, I'm resorting to contacting all of you."
[Why so formal, Zechs. It's not like you need to do it since you are our leader after all!]
The first person is an imposing, muscular figure wearing an orange-themed suit which is covered by a thick coat. He also seemed to hold a bottle of sake which he occasionally chugged. The man is no other than the clone of a legendary fire giant Surtr who rules over Muspelheim, Surtr Second. And also known as the strongest rook in the underworld.
[I agree with Second here, no need to apologize at all. You are my Lord, hereby I will always answer your call.] The second person is a brown-haired man wearing a business suit. Unlike Surtr Second, he's taking this conversation with a firm attitude. He is a descendant of the legendary hero, carrying its name and legacy on himself to prove his worth, Beowulf.
[So, my Lord, what is the matter that troubles you enough to contact all of us?] The third person is a scrawny man wearing a crimson robe. The slit on his eyes glanced at us with boredom. This man is known as a legendary magician who is also one of the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, MacGregor Mathers.
The three people who are currently speaking with us are the rest of Sirzechs' peerage members. Also known as the peerage of Satan Lucifer.
"I have called all of you to discuss a matter that Okita just informed me about." Said Sirzechs as he began to explain the circumstances of Bune heir's sudden disappearance. After he explained it to those three, I can see they have varied reactions to the situation.
[Meh, just let Okita go searching for him.]
[I have the same opinion as the Second here.]
[You had contacted us just to deal with a child in his rebellious phase. Really, my Lord?]
Hold on just a minute here, really? I am a busy man my friends, I don't have time to play hide-and-seek with a child.
And Macgregor, you can't just complain about that. You're not the one dealing with it now.
"Wait just a moment, why are all of you suddenly dropping the matter here and why am I the one who has to deal with his disappearance?"
[Well, 'cuz it's ez' mate, 'da Bune heir is 'ya responsibility.] Said Surtr Second while nonchalantly chugging another sip.
"Wait-"
[Yes, you are appointed as his temporary Regent until he's old enough to be taking over of his family lordship. Therefore, he's your responsibility.] Added Beowulf while nodding his head.
"Just a minute-"
[Deal with it by yourself, you saddle-goose.] Even Macgregor is directly insulting me while sipping on his wine!
"Can I even have any objection to this?"
[Nope!]
[No.]
[No, you bollock.]
Their rejection of my plea feels like a direct stab at my heart. I could only hang my head in depression for this betrayal from my fellow peerage comrades while glancing at Sirzechs for help.
He just laughed wryly while scratching his chin while in the corner, Onee-san just sighed.
"Well, let's give Okita some help. After all, I still prefer for us to find the Bune heir before this news goes to the Great King faction's ears. They will surely make a fuss about letting an heir go unsupervised.
I understand what Sirzechs is talking about. I also can see those three are also nodding in agreement.
[Welp, just send Okita to seek that lad. I'll help somewhat if I get time for 'ya.]
[I agree, just send Okita for a search mission while we will help whenever we can.]
[Just go already, lazy bastard.]
'And those three are still giving the same opinion for telling me to go find that kid, damn it!'
"Then it is decided." Said Sirzechs while turning his attention towards me. "Okita will be going to search for the Bune heir's location, while all of us will be also helping him with any information that we can get. Other than that, we'll do our usual responsibility."
['Aye.]
[Understood my Lord.]
[Very well. I will help this fool if I have time to spare. Now go, 'yer fool.]
I could only sigh in depression from this situation. Why can't I just do my daily job in peace then return home to enjoy my sweet free time. Now instead, I have to go outside to search for one heir that runs away from his responsibility.
I swear I will pay them back for this betrayal someday!
-Line Break-
I landed painfully on the ground as my body spiraled across the brown dirt. But I had no time to think about the pain as I forced myself to evade another strike from my teac-Torturer.
The blunt force behind Crom Cruach's strength slammed the dirt nearing me, creating another crater several meters deep as rocks and sands went flying everywhere. I was barely able to react as another punch suddenly slammed into my cheek, throwing me several yards.
Gritting my teeth, I shakily stood. Glaring at Crom Cruach who stared at me with a flat expression.
"Focus brat. You are slowing down," spoke Crom Cruach with a domineering tone as his heterochromatic eyes bore a dangerous glint towards me.
"I am trying here. I'm almost at my limit for today." I speak through the pain. All my muscles are aching so much that I barely feel it. Even standing alone is already difficult.
"It's already been a week and you have barely improved yourself." Said Crom Cruach with annoyance for the lack of progress despite the training already started a while ago. "It's unacceptable, I will not allow anyone who bores my blood inside their veins to be this weak."
I glared at him.
"Easy for you to say that while I am here, fighting for my life due to what you did."
I can see Crom Cruach frowned at my words but didn't say anything.
After I accepted his offer to let him train me, Crom Cruach did a check-up about my condition and how unstable my demonic power is after receiving his blood.
The result is almost making me physically attack him for a second time if not due to his cold glare that stopped me on my feet.
Apparently, due to his dragon blood being more dominant than my devil genes, it is trying to devour my genes, acting as a catalyst that slowly turns me into a literal dragon.
Initially, it seemed good to me. Having blood from an extremely powerful dragon in your body and turning yourself into a dragon-like him surely will benefit me for getting stronger in the future.
But that is the main part of the problem.
First, the blood from Crom Cruach is highly corrosive. Even the tiniest amount of it was very dangerous to my body. Second, the more I am letting this process happen, the weaker my body will be. And if the process reachs its final stage, it will reconstruct all my organs into dragon ones. The process is incredibly painful and will eventually kill me. Leaving my body as just a fucking dragon corpse.
I have been giving Crom Cruach a stink eye ever since learning this.
When Crom Cruach learned about this, he reacted quite badly as he stood still while emitting a monstrous amount of aura due to his apparent rage.
His plan of training me is on the verge of failure due to my condition.
He deduces with the amount of demonic power that I have left, that it will take less than a year before the blood corrosion fully changes my body, which means taking my life in the process. With my limited time, both of us quickly formed a training plan. The goal is to strengthen my body as fast as possible so the blood corrosion effect gets reduced and later merge with my devil genes to enhance my body as initially planned.
Easier said to be done.
A week has passed since then, and yet despite that, I have barely made any progress at all.
The first time I tried to increase my stamina with a long run, I only managed to constantly run for a mere 3 minutes before my body gave in.
The second progress is training to stabilize my mutated demonic power. Crom Cruach is instructing me to constantly enhance my physique with my demonic power while sparring.
He theorizes that by using my demonic power to strengthen myself, I can last longer in sparring. And it also will serve as a progressive conservative to infuse my demonic power to adapt with my mutation.
It didn't happen as we had hoped.
The second I started using my demonic power to cover my entire body, I immediately get assaulted by numerous amounts of pain that took my consciousness immediately.
With how limited our options are to train, Crom Cruach's frustration is also growing bigger as each day passes. He showed me how harsh he is in today's sparring.
"Training is done for today." Crom Cruach states, refusing to even look at me. He turned his body while releasing his wings. "I am going out for a bit, stay here until I return."
"Wait, where are you going? What about the training?"
He silently took off and went flying somewhere, while completely ignoring my protest.
I stared at the figure of Crom Cruach as it quickly disappeared due to how fast he was flying. Unsure of what I'm supposed to do for today since he's suddenly going somewhere.
"Guess I will grab some food and then take a break for today." I sighed while returning back to our residence, which is one of the abandoned houses in this abandoned village. Apparently from what I know from Crom Cruach, the place is used as a small village for low-class devils who decided to live outside of the city until it got abandoned after the village was attacked by a horde of demon beasts.
After that, the villagers decided to abandon this place and move to a safer zone outside city parameters.
Luckily despite being abandoned for some time, most of the furniture is still usable for living. The only problem is that we need to find food on our own. I also cannot simply return to the Bune household to simply ask for food stocks with Crom Cruach adamantly telling me to not make any necessary contact with devil society until my training is done.
Honestly, this reminds me of my days in high school when I was active in the boy scouts.
Returning to my temporary residence, I walked towards the food warehouse to grab myself some meat, vegetables, and spices to cook. I planned to simply make roasted meat with vegetable soup for my lunch while thinking later about what I wanted to make for dinner.
At least it's way better than the first day. I am still shuddering at the thing that Crom called food.
-Flashback-
I stared at Crom Cruach incredulously. "Crom Cruach, What is this?"
"Dinner." Crom Cruach simply said while sitting on the opposite side of me. Seems not bothered with whatever abomination that he calls it food.
What lies before me and Crom Cruach, is a stack of bloodied corpses of demonic beasts that resemble a wild boar back in the real world. It still has the fur, while the blood is flowing freely from the part of the body where it has a massive cut embedded in it. Probably from Crom Cruach where he simply butchered them with his partially transformed claws.
I stared at him.
He stared back at me. "What?"
"Define something like this one as dinner."
Crom Cruach just huffed. "Dragons don't really care about what they eat. With the exception of a few species, most of us can easily digest any food and pretty much can eat anything."
"I am proud to be myself living in a modern civilization, and I refuse to eat something as barbaric as eating raw." My eyes twitched in annoyance at his nonchalantly remarks about most dragons eating habits. Especially HIS eating habit.
There's no way that I will let myself eat raw meat, especially with how the smell of blood is churning my stomach.
Crom Cruach only gave a huff. "You have dragon blood running in your veins. It should've already changed your taste buds to match mine. Go ahead, try it."
Somehow, I really doubt it. But we don't have any necessity to properly cook this boar meat, and I am already very hungry.
"If you've say so." I stared at Crom Cruach suspiciously while taking a little piece of meat given by him, while watching him silently devour the raw meat with his sharp teeth.
Glancing at the raw, uncooked meat in front of me, I gulped loudly while steeling myself. Crom Cruach said he is capable of eating almost everything due to his dragon biology. Considering I am also slowly being turned into the same being, maybe I can eat this meat.
"Okay, here I go."
I gripped the meat tightly, taking a small bite as I could feel the texture of the meat inside my mouth along with the taste of it.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I didn't know that I could puke a rainbow from inside my stomach.
-End flashback-
After that incident, I adamantly refused to let Crom Cruach touch or try to take turns making any food.
He's been sulking for half of the day after that and makes my training rougher.
-Line Break-
I am staring at Crom Cruach. Specifically, I am staring at the item that he is currently holding with many questions starting to form in my head.
"... How did you even get that?" I ask Crom Cruach, who only huffs at my question.
"Got this from a bunch of crows. They had been extracting it from the owner before I met them by coincidence. After that, I've been keeping this in my treasure chamber." Crom Cruach just shrugged like it was nothing. So, he got it from a bunch of Fallen Angels. That makes sense, given that they're the only ones that I know of who can forcefully extract the item itself by a kind of ritual which only those Fallen Angels know.
"So this is the reason why you're suddenly going somewhere to grab a [Twice Critical]? And you never told me of having a treasure chamber." I said while eyeing Crom with interest when he mentions his treasure room.
Crom Cruach apparently realized my intention as he just stared at me flatly.
He likely didn't want to explain further about his apparent special room. Kind of what dragons normally are protective of with their treasures in stories.
Honestly, I think that is kinda cute.
And suddenly out of nowhere, Crom's fists landed on my head.
"What was that for!?" I angrily asked Crom Cruach who stared at me.
"I just feel like it." Crom Cruach said while handing the Twice Critical to me.
'Are you secretly a psychic!?' I thought while staring at Crom Cruach in disbelief. Can he read my intention like an open book?
While I am distracted on my thoughts, the Twice Critical glowed for a bit before it merged with my right hand.
"Did this permanently merge with me?" I asked him, thinking about the possibility of someone stealing it from me.
"I read the manual left by those crows on how to merge it permanently." Crom Cruach just casually answered my question.
I was taken aback for a bit, there's a manual about how to use Sacred Gears that have been extracted?
That's new information for me. I guess not everything is properly explained in the series.
I am pretty sure I can use Twice Critical as my own. Given it has already been extracted before like how Raynare can use Asia's Twilight Healing after extracting it. It still makes me wonder why Crom even bothered returning to his den to grab Twice Critical for me.
Crom Cruach must know what I am thinking as he explained it to me. "While I don't usually give out my treasure for free, your condition right now is a priority for me to fix. Using this probably can possibly lessen the corrosion, which also makes the process of my blood merging with your genes smoother."
I'm nodding after hearing Crom's explanation. Practically, it's still uncertain whether what Crom theorizes will work as he expected. But it is still better than nothing.
I decide to test Twice Critical while using a mental command to summon it, promptly making the gear appear on my right hand in the form of a red gauntlet which resembles Boosted Gear's initial state.
[Boost!]
It can even do a boost like Boosted Gear did, albeit only once. I also can feel my body grow stronger after getting a boost from Twice Critical.
"Alright, let's continue our training." Crom said while seemingly satisfied with my sudden growing power thanks to Twice Critical's ability.
I am nodding excitedly, while quickly taking a stance for our daily spar.
I can only hope Crom's theory will work, as I quickly dashed forward. Starting our sparring.
-Line Break-
It didn't work as well as we expected.
It's been three days since Crom gave me the Twice Critical while hoping it would improve my condition.
And the result is disappointing.
While it did lessen the pain that occasionally happens during sparring and improved my physique to the point where I can do much better than weeks ago, it didn't stop or decrease the blood corrosion.
Crom himself took another flight to go somewhere today, probably to let go of his frustration.
I can understand if he left to calm his nerves. After all, I would do the same after a repeating failure like this. While cooking myself more roasted meat, I can only sigh while chewing my perfectly cooked meal.
At this point, I'm already accepting my condition. It is very frustrating for me that my progress at this point is just delaying my inevitable death. The more I think about it, the more my anger grows.
But I am too tired to even throw fits of rage due to recent sparring where Crom took it too seriously. The force behind his punches is more painful for me to take compared to our usual training, which is leaving a bunch of swollen skin all over my body. Not to mention he dragged our sparring on for almost an hour long, leaving me exhausted beyond anything that I can tolerate.
Honestly, I suspect Crom is also growing frustrated at this and has been using me as his punching bag without realizing it.
It's no wonder he just suddenly left after our latest sparring session.
While grilling the meat, I'm starting to recollect various things that happened in my life.
Getting reincarnated to the world of DxD into the body of a dying young boy. The world where the protagonist literally gains powers from his obsession due to the blessing of an extraterrestrial being.
Trying to improve your new body with various physical training but to no avail.
Then later being dragged away by an insanely powerful dragon who is directly responsible for the condition of your body. Who also at least tries to be responsible for by offering to train you as his protege.
And finally until now, where all of your efforts didn't bear any fruit at all. Getting stagnated due to your own limitations.
Honestly, if I was mentally ten years younger, I would already be crying a lot due to my frustration. But instead, I am here alone, cooking my own food and also my teacher's food while waiting for him to return.
I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the sound of wings flapping from outside. It did not take long for the familiar figure of my black-coated teacher to enter our temporary residence.
"You returned faster than last time." I greeted him while preparing our lunch. Crom just snorted and was about to reply when someone/ people did it before him.
[He's the one? The hatchling that you took as a disciple?]
[Not impressed at all.]
[Hello little one!~]
I stopped myself from taking a bite of my meal and sharply turned my head in astonishment. Especially after I am paying more attention to what Crom is currently holding now. It is a tennis-sized purple orb with a figure of a golden three-headed dragon coiling around it. I truly cannot believe my eyes at how Crom ever managed to obtain something like that.
While technically I never heard his voice, I can immediately guess who the one that replied to my sentence is.
It is the same being as the one that currently stood in front of me.
"A-Azi Dahaka?" I asked, totally flabbergasted by the arrival of another Evil Dragon inside this house.
[Hoh, at least he immediately recognized my glorious splendor!]
[Slightly impressed, yet still not impressed enough!]
[Guess what, you are right lil' hatchling!~]
I am staring at both Crom and Azi Dahaka (the orb) in stunned silence, before replying automatically what is the first thing that crossed my mind.
"Azi Dahaka is still alive?"
A snort reverberates from the inside of the orb when the entity inside of it hears my question. As if It took offense to my statement.
[Dead? Sealed, yes. But not dead, o' foolish hatchling!]
[What the hell are you smoking fools! Dragon weed?]
[Still alive bitch! ]
Crom explained it to me. "While I don't know how you immediately recognized these fools, he never truly dies during his battle against the army of Zoroastrianism gods. After they destroyed his body, their hero sealed his soul in this purple orb and hid it in a secluded temple in a country that I don't remember the name of."
Azi Dahaka just scoffed at Crom Cruach's explanation.
[It was in Northern Iran, you stupid Dragon!]
[Hah! The fact that you directly flew from the underworld to the real world is mind-boggling!]
[Kekeke! Never would I have imagined that the greatest Evil Dragon would grace me with his presence!]
It also never crossed my mind that Crom Cruach would fly that far just to search for the location where Azi Dahaka is sealed. "And why did you suddenly bring Azi Dahaka here? I doubt he will be useful in his sealed state."
Azi Dahaka just laughed out loud after hearing my question. Honestly, having three laughing people reverberating in this small, cramped house is hurting my head.
[He didn't know!]
[Oh, you better be grateful for my presence, you foolish hatchling!]
[Pain! Here comes the pain!]
Ignoring Azi Dahaka's annoying laugh, Crom just walks toward me and yanks my right hand in a rough manner while ignoring my protest in pain. "Bring out your Gear."
I glared at him. "For what?"
"Just bring out your Gear, boy." Crom ordered me with a stern glare. Promptly doing so I huff and bring out my Twice Critical.
"Good. Now, prepare yourself," said Crom in a serious tone, which is odd for me since he rarely does that.
I have a bad feeling right now.
Suddenly, I feel like I got a rough idea of what Crom Cruach is about to do. And it's greatly freaking me out.
"Prepare for wha-"
Before I even finished my words, Crom suddenly pushed the purple orb in which Azi Dahaka resides to the orb of my Twice Critical without warning. The orb is quickly absorbed into my Twice Critical, as I watch the whole thing with an appalled expression, horrified.
"What are you doing! Suddenly inserting Azi Dahaka's orb inside Twice Criti-" I stopped my rant on Crom.
No. A better explanation is that I stopped because my body told me to do it. Because I suddenly felt it.
It quickly spread across my entire body in a flash. And as the sensation emerges, my brain also swiftly responds by transmitting the entire sensation into my whole body.
Pain.
An Otherworldly pain.
Tremendous pain that I can't hold it at all. Thus, I began to scream.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The pain is too much!
Pain! The only pain that I now feel!
It is like my whole body is being thrown towards molten lava!
"Arrrghhh! S-stop it-! Plea-ARRGGGHHHH!"
Yet despite that I keep thrashing, yanking, screaming from the top of my lungs, Crom just stands there holding my right hand with an impassive expression while ignoring my pleas.
"How's the process?"
I can barely hear Crom speaking while he's doing something with Azi due to the immense pain.
[This is a piece of the cake for the great me! I will give you instructions during the process so make sure you do it correctly since you are in charge of this fusing process!]
[You are truly stupid for giving this chirping hatchling a dose lethal enough to kill him from the inside, hah!]
[His scream is annoying! Just shut him up!]
The last thing that I saw was just the figure of Crom's impassive expression as his thumb touched my head.
And the next thing, I don't know anything as everything goes dark.
-Line Break-
My eyelid twitches for a second before I slowly open my eyes. The first thing that welcomes my gaze is a familiar cracked ceiling. Slowly I raise my body before a sharp pain hits my head, which makes me growl in pain as I wait for the headache to disappear.
For some reason, I feel lighter than normal. Although my body feels a bit exhausted, I can still wake and stand up.
"Did I get taller? The ceiling feels smaller than usual." I mused to myself before jolting in shock when voices suddenly echo inside my head.
[Finally awake lil' hatchling?]
[Awaking from your beauty sleep?!]
[Hello again! ]
My right hand suddenly glowed with purple light before my Twice Critical appeared in an entirely new form.
It still resembles a normal Twice Critical. But the design is changing to be slimmer and extended up my entire right arm. Across the entire arm, there are three parts of serpentine armaments circling from the upper arm down into my wrist, where the purple orb is. Where the heads resemble the head of a western dragon is formed into a whirlpool around the orb. The color of the gauntlet is changed from red into wine with a black pattern, making it more ominous than a normal Twice Critical.
"What is this?" I asked bewildered as I quickly remembered about the prior event. Crom Returned while bringing a purple orb from where Azi Dahaka got sealed.
Which he suddenly proceeded to fuse with my Twice Critical
Which also caused enormous pain for me that I was barely able to handle. And then everything went black after that.
[It is still a surprise that Crom Cruach, who is notoriously infamous for being a lone Dragon, suddenly appears in the temple where I got sealed!]
[And he even demanded me to cooperate by agreeing to be a catalyst to empower your Twice Critical in exchange for my temporary freedom so you didn't die due to corrosion from his blood!]
[Now you are stuck with me kid! Maybe forever~! ]
I am honestly speechless from everything that just happened and also seriously
underestimating how crazy Crom can be with his desire to make someone his equal foe.
I mean, he's literally just granting me a semi-artificial Sacred Gear that is capable of reaching a Longinus level with how strong Azi Dahaka is.
[Praise me more bitch!]
[Heed upon my splendor!]
[Yeah, you got it right, hatchling! ]
Well, honestly Boosted Gear is still more broken though.
[Oi!]
[Heresy!]
[Blasphemous!]
"I don't think that's a suitable word from you given you are the bane of the Zoroastrianism pantheon," I said while smiling in satisfaction after hearing quiet sulking from all three heads. Finally, I got some after this new entity inside my soul keeps roasting me without mercy.
Honestly, it's really testing my patience.
The door opened which made me turn my head as I saw Crom enter the bedroom. He seemed oddly satisfied when he saw me.
A bit let down, but acceptable." Crom Cruach states while gazing at me. "After a complete merging, I can feel that your demonic power grew quite a lot. I can estimate it is on the same level as a middle-class adult Dragon."
My eyes widened in shock. If I remember correctly, a low-class dragon is equal to a middle-class devil. Having my demonic power equal to an average middle-class adult dragon means that my demonic power instantly skyrocketed from a low to high-class.
I cannot help but smile as I begin to draw on my demonic power, unleashing it like a tidal wave that generates a rush of air that blows every single piece of furniture everywhere.
But I don't really pay any attention to my surroundings as my smile widens when I realize something more important.
I didn't feel any pain during the time I drew forth my demonic power.
It's not like before when I can just draw small amounts to avoid any sort of pain, now there's nothing that hinders me from fully using my power anymore.
[Your problem with Crom's blood still exists brat.]
[But with my awesome magic, it is currently healing at a rapid pace!]
[In a few months, say goodbye to your stupid illness!]
"Ok, I may admit that Azi Dahaka as a Sacred Gear is better than the Boosted Gear." I said while staring at my newest Sacred Gear in amazement.
[Damn right!]
[Exactly!]
[You have received enlightenment!]
"Maybe just slightly better." I added with a deadpanned tone.
[[[Oi!]]]
While I am still rejoicing to finally get rid of my weak constitution self, Crom decides to chime in. "Good, now your real training will begin. I will teach you how to properly control your demonic power while Azi will take charge of teaching you many spells from his arsenal."
[Wait, hold on just a minute here!]
[Since when is it decided that I will become his second instructor?!]
[I am here just to fix this hatching's condition and that's the deal!]
Azi Dahaka interrupted our conversation with a protest. Seems like Crom is deciding things on his own without telling his fellow Evil Dragons at all.
"I forgot to say this, Azi. But I did a quick check-up on the brat's Sacred Gear and found something interesting. Apparently, your seal is designed to be compatible with any Sacred Gear that you could be fused with."
I looked at Crom Cruach with interest.
So, it means that this evolved Twice Critical is now truly a genuine Sacred Gear, not just an artificial one. Seems like those deities from Zoroastrianism were anticipating Azi Dahaka being able to break out of his seal. That's why they modeled it a bit similar to the Sacred Gear system.
Azi Dahaka sounds genuinely furious at this development. I am just standing here while watching these two Evil Dragons get into a heated debate. It lasted quite a while until Azi finally just gave up and begrudgingly accepted his current condition.
Well, I'll just call him Azi since it's short and simpler.
[Fine, you win Crom. I will accept to be a damn instructor.]
[The great Azi Dahaka is being reduced into a damn caretaker...]
[I can't stand this! But I don't have much choice...]
Nodding to himself with satisfaction, Crom then resumed his instructions to me. "Tomorrow we will start the training. Azi and I will take turns teaching you to control your demonic power."
[Don't forget to teach him the basis of dragon magic first, you stupid Dragon.]
[Unlike us, he's still a devil despite his complete mutation.]
[But still a dragon nonetheless.]
"I know, that's why I am focusing on controlling his inner energy first." Replied Crom to Azi as both of them are now engaged in another conversation of methods to train me.
While both of them are into their conversation, I begin to think about what I can do for my training.
The first thing that crossed my mind is to increase my stamina so I can train longer and increase its efficiency. Training in my Demonic power alone is sufficient to increase my physique, given it directly correlates with each other.
Given the ability of the Bune clan trait combined with Crom's blood which is now being stabilized by Azi, I will surely be able to transform into a Dragon someday. And I am not just aiming for a normal dragonification that Ladora Bune had shown during the match between Rias and Sairarog.
His dragonification honestly is not impressive at all, with only having an average height and average abilities that most dragons have.
I even dare to say that Ladora Bune's transformation during that time can be comparable with a normal middle-rank dragon.
Another reason why I am focusing on strengthening my base form is that I don't want to end up in a state like Issei is during a particular event in the Azazel cup.
It happened during the match between Issei's peerage against Rias' peerage. During that match, there's one moment during the early part of the match where it revealed a crucial part of Issei's weakness.
His reliance on his Sacred Gear and its evolved version makes him not develop his base form properly.
I am pretty sure if Rias manages to catch Issei off-guard while he still hasn't transformed yet, the time-stopping effect of Forbidden Balor Invade the Princess will freeze him and instantly end the match.
[Alright, it's decided.]
[Have you prepared yourself for a long-ass torture session brat?]
[It will be very fun~!]
"I have the same opinion as Azi Dahaka. What you will experience later on is a long term intensive amount of training. It will take much longer for you to train and it will also affect the time you will be back to your precious house." States Crom with a cold tone. But despite his exterior, I can see the hidden glint beneath his gleaming eyes. He's actually interested in my training prospects. But, still asking myself to test my resolve and whether I will accept this path.
Both dragons understood that the path that I choose is a long, painful path that will take years, unlike most common training that devils normally do. Not to mention it will take me longer to finally go back home.
"Have you prepared for your real training?"
But I decided that I will need every single bit of training if I want to survive in this world, so I am shaking my head, signaling that I will not back down from my own choice.
This is also a chance for me to get stronger.
Getting a Sacred Gear, especially having a dragon-type that is considered new gear is something that I could never think about. And I have just gained a strong one that will evolve into a Longinus someday.
But I will not let myself become overly reliant on my new Sacred Gear.
Balancing the training of my demonic power and also my physique is now my main priority. After all, I also need to get stronger as fast as possible if I want to target Ingvild to be a member of my peerage.
"Bring it on." I smiled with confidence, accepting their challenge fearlessly.
Crom cracked his knuckles while giving a smile that promised pain. "You better be prepared, brat. Because now I will not be as lenient as before."
"I wouldn't expect you to do that. After all, you are pretty damn demanding for being a teacher." I fired back at him while glaring at him with renewed determination.
After all, I still have a score to settle with him.
…But for now, I probably need some food.
I was so damn hungry.
"Will catch you later, Crom," I will call him Crom from now on. Calling him Crom Cruach is honestly pretty long for my tongue to roll. "I need to make breakfast first. Don't worry, I will be making yours as well."
With that, I turned my body and walked outside the bedroom, completely missing the looks that Crom gave to me while holding his left arm.
What I didn't realize until much later, hidden beneath his long sleeve coat, is three long lines of fresh, jagged reddish scar at Crom's lower arm.
The scar that I gave him from my second outrage that happened during my unconscious state.
_x_x_
Beta Reader: LuluViBritania(FF.N, SB and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord)
Authors Note: Hello guys, it's been a month since last time I am updating this fic. And we have another player here. Azi Dahaka is always been planned since beginning to be a part of his Sacred Gear.
OP magic is OP
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it and I will see you guys in next chapter.