Hey guys, kurama here with another chapter of DXD: Like A Shadow and I hope you will enjoy this as much as I will.

"Talk," someone says

"Dragon, Game Talk/thought/spells, Quest/Rewards! Someone says.

"Thoughts," Someone says

Disclaimer: I do not own this story if I did, I would be sleeping in a bed full of money.

Let's begin!

-Irina-

"Xenovia... where are we?" Irina asked, sitting up on the bed, her amputated arm now restored, which shouldn't be possible.

"I... do not know. The last thing I remember is..." Xenovia tried to finish her sentence, the words dying as she remembered the Fallen Angel's shocking revelation.

"It's alright Xenovia. The situation could've been a lot worse." Irina told her.

"'Could be a lot worse?' Do you have any idea of what we just learned?! We learned that God is dead! This isn't something that we can tread lightly with." Xenovia yelled the questions at her.

"I-I'm not sure if I... even want to believe in God anymore..." Xenovia said, seemingly deep in thought.

"WHAT?! How can you even say that with a straight face?!" Irina yelled out.

"Think about it, God is dead and it wouldn't make sense to worship someone dead. What was the point of us praying, fasting, and killing Stray Devils-! What was the whole point of doing this?! What's the whole point of dedicating my life to a dead god?" She ranted, tears escaping her eyes as she looked away from her partner, choosing to look at the scenery outside.

This...

This wasn't supposed to happen...

Xenovia wasn't supposed to lose her faith that easily.

Maybe there was a chance that she couuld be saved

"I-I don't know Xenovia but all I know is... we can't give up on our faith, not after what we've been through. That Fallen Angel that attacked us is a threat to the Church and needs to be dealt with. We can continue this discussion after, okay?" Irina said, a thoughtful expression on her face, choosing her words carefully so that her partner wouldn't lose faith in herself.

"That's the thing, Irina... I need to find myself in all of this. For now, finding the other swords is your priority 'cause I quit."

Xenovia would then stand up and walk out of the room, leaving Irina alone.

'Oh God, what am I going to do now?' Irina thought solemnly, letting her head rest on the soft pillow as she soon drifted back to sleep.

-Jin-

"So, what do you want to do now?" Rias asks, hugging me from behind.

The two of us were in my office, Rias on my lap as I did some paperwork but a pout from her was all I needed to shift my focus to her.

"Hmm, there's not much that I can do apart from training Ravel and Sona's Peerages," I answer, pecking her on her cheek as my hands grope her breasts, a moan escaping from her mouth as she begins to blush heavily.

"Y-you want to do this, here and now?" She asks, blushing deeply as I respond by continuing my actions and adding a little spice by kissing her neck, getting another moan from her.

While we're doing this, let's test something out.

[Skill Create: Dress Break].

Skill gained

Dress Break (Active) LVL: MAX

Description: Dress Break can strip women of their clothing by touching the clothes. Aside from clothing, it can also remove any magic or techniques covering the female body as well, as shown when Issei removed the restraints binding Asia Argento or removed the poison from Jeanne's body. Dress Break can also be used to solely "strip" women of the effects of spells or abilities that have been used against them, such as mind manipulation.

MP cost varies.

I immediately use my newfound [Skill] to destroy Rias' clothes and stash mine in my [Inventory, leaving us both naked I then put her on my desk and spread her legs wide, revealing her pussy.

Pumping my shaft for a few seconds, I shove my cock deep inside her entrance once I'm hard enough, earning yet another moan from her as I let out a groan due to the tightness of her pussy.

We kiss each other, passion and desire in our eyes as I continue to thrust inside of her.

"F-fuck, I'm gonna cum!" Rias exclaims, pulling from the kiss after a couple of moments.

"I'm close. Let's do it together." I tell her as she gives me a nod in response to my request.

Giving out a last, loud, long roar in response to her moaning, I cum inside of her, making her belly look a bit bloated.

I take my dick out of Rias as cum starts to come out of her pussy.

"I can go a few rounds, you?" She says while panting slightly, her eyes seem to have hearts in them but maybe that's just me.

"Don't even need to ask." I would then re-enter her pussy and begin thrusting in and out of it without missing a beat.

Sometime later, I would eventually let Rias sleep after managing to out fuck her on round 10.

I'm gonna go grind for a while.

I select the Angel [Dungeon] and begin my weekly massacre of angels.

-Timeskip-

Skills upgraded

[Physical Resistance (Legendary)]

Description: You are 100% resistant to Physical damage

[Spear Proficiency (Legendary)] (Passive)

[Axe Proficiency (Legendary)] (Passive)

[Riding Proficiency (Legendary)] (Passive)

Gained knowledge on how to ride a beast with great skill

[Warhammer Proficiency (Legendary)] (Passive)

Gained knowledge on how to use Warhammer with great skill

[Shield Proficiency (Legendary)] (Passive)

Gained knowledge on how to use a shield with great skill

Reduces blocked damage by 100%

[Mace Proficiency (Legendary)] (Apprentice)

Gained knowledge on how to use a mace with great skill

[Axe Proficiency (Legendary)] (Passive)

Gained knowledge on how to use an axe with great skill

Increases axe damage by 100%

Attacks from an axe cause bleeding damage

[Shield Proficiency (Legendary)] (Passive)

Gained knowledge on how to use a shield with great skill

Reduces blocked damage by 100%

Skills gained

[Age Manipulation] (Active)

Description: Alter the target's age to the users' whims, add years, take them away or just freeze their age forever.

Cost: MP Cost Varies

[Fertility Manipulation] (Active)

Description: Allows the user to increase or decrease the fertility levels of both themselves and others

Allows the user to control the gender and race (when the parents are of a different race) of any children born to the target

You have maxed out your Primary Class!

Select a n-!

I shut off the screen, content with all that's happened but I'll take a look at the other [Classes].

With that over with, I walk towards the chest and kick it open to see what rewards I get.

Items added.

5 Gacha Token

[Companion gem: Sophia Karen (I'm a Spider, so what?)]

Hearts Crystals x15

And it looks like that's all for today so I use [ID: Escape] to go back to the living world.

I should probably go to school and get some [REP] out of Sona since I'm almost done with her.

With that plan made, I set off for Kuoh Academy.

-Timeskip-

Perk upgraded

[Chess Grandmaster] - Sona Sitri

Description: As a Chess Grandmaster you can beat anyone at chess, regardless of the INT difference, and people will almost always agree to bet against you, no matter the bet

Gain 10 INT for every chess game won (Triggers once per day)

I'm quite proud of this.

All I need is 10 points and her [REP] will be maxed out which means I get Serafall as a bonus.

Like I said, this is great progress, because I'm not even using my Eromancer [Skills] on her.

Something I'm gonna have to remedy shortly.

Anyway, I think it's about time that I take care of our two resident Exorcists since they appear to be okay from what I was able to sense from that argument earlier today.

I pull out my phone and select Isane's phone number since I have a plan for making my conversation with Irina a bit smoother.

'Isane, I need you to be in front of my house in 5 minutes. It's important.' I text before closing my phone and putting it back in my pocket.

The plan is simple, I'll just use Irina's friendship with Isane to make her more compliant with my wishes.

All I need from her is information about Azriel and since she and Xenovia are the only ones who fought and survived the encounter, it stands to reason why I would talk to them.

Not sensing anyone nearby, I use [Shadow Drive] and go back home.

Once I'm in, I head to the guest room and step inside, only to find a depressed Irina looking at the window.

"Looks like you're awake," I say, sitting on the edge of her bed.

First Impressions Perk activated.

25 REP with Irina Shidou.

Irina Shidou [25/100]

"Ah, I'm sorry! I didn't notice you. I was... thinking." She replies, looking back at the window with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Mind if I ask what is it about? Does it have something to do with your partner not being here?" I ask, using [Induce Peacfulness] on her to ease her troubles and make her confession a bit smoother.

"I-I got into a fight with my partner, Xenovia Quarta on our shared beliefs and I don't know what I can say to help her see my point of view." She says, still staring out the window.

"I think you should give her some time to process things. You two did just come out of a fight against Cadre Fallen Angel, who scarred you both physically and mentally. Give her some time and maybe she'll come around. " I reply.

"I-I guess you're right. I should... leave her alone now but once I'm fully rested, I'm gonna go look for her!"

She sure is an eccentric one, huh?

"Alright but first, I want you to say hello to an old friend of yours," I tell her, sensing Isane's mana outside the room.

I open the door and then step out of the room, a smile on my face as I leave them to talk.

I headed off to my office and began powering through the paperwork.

God of Paperwork, your days are officially numbered.

-Isane-

"So... how have you been, Irina?" Isane asked as she sat on the edge of the bed, flashing a nervous smile at her childhood friend.

"You know partner, I believe it to be wise for you not to be well... you for the next few minutes." Ddraig voiced out in her head, turning her smile into a frown.

'What the hell is that supposed to mean? I was already gonna suppress my perverted side but you butting in like this is pissing me off more than it is helping me.' Isane replied mentally, her eyes flashing green for a few seconds before going back to normal.

"Fine but who are you and how do you know my name?" Irina asked in rapid succession, pulling out both Hauteclaire and Clarent from her pocket dimension.

Hauteclaire is another Holy Sword that Irina inherited from her father when she completed her Exorcist training almost a year ago.

Irina kept it just in case someone ever knocked her out and stole it away from her but as she kept using Clarent the Coward, she eventually forgot about the other Holy Sword's existence.

What luck it did her.

It cost her now restored arm and her friendship with Xenovia.

Never again.

Never will she allow herself to forget something important about herself, whether it's in battle or her social life ever again.

"I'm Isane Hyoudou, the Red Dragon Empress and part of Rias Gremory's Peerage. Pleased to meet you!" Isane introduced herself, now sporting a cheshire grin as she then activated the Boosted Gear.

"W-wait what?! You're saying that not only are you saying that you're my childhood friend from a long time ago, you're also the Red Dragon Empress of this generation and a Devil?!" Irina asked in total disbelief.

"Yep, that's the gist of it."

"How can you be so accepting about becoming a Devil? Didn't we always go to Church and prayed and fastened together? How could you do this? How could you betray God's teachings and become the very thing that we swore to protect the world from? ANSWER ME!" The Exorcist ranted, tears of anger escaping her eyes as she clutched the sheets of the bed, restraining herself from attacking her childhood friend.

"I'm sorry but the choices that I make are my own and shouldn't have to change just 'cause you don't like them. Plus, you can't really tell me what to do when you didn't even try to make our friendship work." Isane explained non-chalantly.

"What is that supposed 'I didn't try to make our friendship work'? I did everything possible to make it work. I always prayed that you'd be safe no matter the circumstances and always sent you letters." Irina explained angrily, removing the sheets and stood in front of Isane, who scoffed at her.

"That's exactly what I mean, Irina. You have done nothing to make our supposed friendship work." Isane said coldly, standing up to look into Irina's eyes, whom the latter takes a step back in fear.

"I... I thought you'd be okay and I've been busy dealing with tougher missions that came from the Church itself. I-I couldn't refuse it." She said weakly, to which the Red Dragon Empress threw a scowl at her before releasing it in a sigh.

"I suppose I can understand your point of view, there are some things you grow out of and I guess our friendship was one of them. My friend will make sure that all of your needs are met but don't expect me to do the same for you. Good day, Exorcist." Isane told the Exorcist harshly before pushing her against the wall without saying another word.

"Why God... why must this happen to me? Please answer my prayer, oh lord God. Why did this happen? WHY?!" Irina yelled the final question out loud, throwing her back as tears fell down her face and she cried herself to sleep, blaming herself for the loss of two friends all in the same day.

Outside the door, Isane heard Irina's cries of sorrow but before a wave of empathy could rush through her heart and compel her to go back into that room, she took a deep breath and released it.

It would do her no good to go back in there 'cause it would show Irina that she was essentially a doormat and Isane Hyoudou was no damn doormat.

"Are you sure you're doing the right thing?" Ddraig asked from within her subconscious.

'Not really but it's my choice and I have to move forward, knowing that I made that decision.' Isane answered mentally, accepting what just happened.

That feeling she felt when Irina berated her for becoming a Devil.

It wasn't normal.

It wasn't some regular anger she felt like when she lost on Mario Kart against Asia or when she had to endure Ddraig's snarky remarks.

She felt like killing Irina despite the fact that they were childhood friends.

Though if she had to guess, it was because it was Jin's decision for both her and Aika to become Devils and join Rias' Peerage, something that she didn't regret doing because it resulted in her getting closer to the Vrirtra Sacred Gear user and developping a relationship with him and get a few sisters in his expanding harem.

She then left the house in a hurry.

Her new goal was simple.

Get stronger so she could protect Jin Kageyami and her harem sisters at all costs.

-Jin-

REP increased with Irina Shidou for freeing her of her worries concerning Xenovia and

Irina Shidou [40/100]

I use a [Heart Crystal] on her reputation window, bringing it to 50, which gives me a new [Perk] to look at.

Perk gained for reaching 50 with Irina Shidou.

[Exorcist Friendly]- Irina Shidou [50]

Description: REP, Affection and Obedience increased faster with exorcists.

That's a pretty good [Perk, especially since the Heaven Faction is going to ally themselves with the Grigori and the Devils Faction pretty soon.

Allying myself with both Heaven and the Church will allow me to gain more political power, which is something that can be appreciated since I'm already powerful enough to defeat some of the strongest Sacred Gear users and maybe some Minor Gods if I go all out from the start.

But just to be sure about that one, I'll grind to reach the [Rank] which should be Champion if I remember correctly.

With how my [Stats] and [Level] are right now, it's only a matter of time before I reach that level of power.

I go lie in my bed and soon enough, I fall asleep like a light.

END!

Trying to improve story and that means reducing the Gaming aspect of things, which should remind me that I'm writing a story and not one of my previous works.

Response to reviews.

c3Guest: I'll explain it in the nearby future.

c29Guest: Thank you for believing in me and I'll try to live to both of our expectations.

SMB: Thanks for pointing somethings out but I'm being payed to write this.

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KURAMA OUT!