Here I am with another translated chapter!

Well, there are several reviews to answer, so I'll try to be as concise and direct as possible:

Ancient Dragonic God: Personally, those words mean a lot to me. The goal I have is to transmit my ideas to other people so that they can enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. I hope you continue to enjoy it as much as the story progresses.

simplereader9907: After listening to the song, I realized that you were absolutely right. Thank you very much for your help, although unfortunately at this point it doesn't help much.

Wolfman9623: Thank you very much for your comments. I have to say that most of them were translation errors, although I added the "protagonist" unconsciously when I noticed that Issei's name was repeated too much (you know, sometimes it's a little difficult to stop habits). The idea of differentiating thoughts with italics is not bad, but personally I prefer to keep this process.

The Beast of Sanity: I'm glad you liked all the chapters. I hope you like the next chapters as well.

Rain: Basically Penemue took advantage of Azazel's proposal to stay alone with Issei so she can train him and spend more time alone without the Gremorys bothering hahaha. In part, the nobility error is a rather annoying translation error, since in Spanish there is no correct word for "peerage". Still, I'm aware of it and it was a bit annoying to see that such an easy to notice correction was overlooked. I will try to be more attentive about it.

With nothing more to answer, it's time to begin.

Enjoy!

"Why didn't we come with the others?" Issei asked, as he rode on one of the Hell trains along with Azazel, Tannin, Penemue and Tiamat.

"You start earlier." Was Azazel's simple reply, settling his feet on the seat in front. " They should be thankful to get a little more sleep this weekend." He added, in a rather nonchalant tone.

"You'd better prepare yourself mentally, Issei." Penemue commented, causing the aforementioned to look at her. "The training will be even more suffocating than before." This made Issei swallow deeply.

"But what will I train my body for?" Issei asked. "I mean, it was my understanding that I was almost at the limit of my capabilities..."

"Almost, but you're still a little short." Cadre clarified. "In order to release your first evolution, you need to be at your full potential." She concluded, causing Issei's face to take on great interest from one second to the next. "Also, you must train with your katana. If you noticed, Vali's Divide can become very annoying, but you won't be able to activate it unless you take a magical or physical hit from your opponent." Issei nodded, indicating that he had understood where the whole thing was going. "But, obviously you'll have to get a lot more power to make Vali fail to touch you with any kind of attack, at least in the first minute of the fight. That will give you some advantage." He finished, receiving another nod from his pupil.

"To release my first evolution, I'll also need a very strong emotional trigger. Like when I managed to use my ultimate ability..." Issei commented, remembering everything that had happened.

"You're right..." Penemue commented with a slight blush on her cheeks, as she too remembered very well what happened.

"Changing the subject, I still can't believe that Tannin agreed to train them..." Issei stated with genuine astonishment.

"I agree to the peace treaty as well." Commented the Dragon King. "I wanted to show my attachment to the cause somehow, and this is the best one I could find." Tiamat couldn't help but frown at this, but didn't voice her displeasure. "Obviously, that doesn't take away from the fact of everything the Demons did, and the other Two Factions. But, the fact remains that they are threatening a friend of mine. And not only that, you are one of the few remaining vestiges of the Dragons, Issei. I cannot allow your companions to be a great burden, rather than a support."

"I appreciate that you consider me a friend. But..." Issei lowered his gaze slightly. "I am a Demon, not a Dragon."

"Having Ddraig's respect makes you a Dragon." Tannin's comment made the young man look at him with great astonishment. "Having such an excitement and passion for fighting makes you a Dragon. Not letting anyone control you and trample your pride makes you a Dragon. To have been trained by a Dragon Queen makes you a Dragon." Tannin stood up from his seat in the eyes of everyone. "Having all the characteristics of a Dragon, that's what makes you a Dragon." Tannin folded his arms, unable to help but smile. "In my view, you're not a Demon and never were."

"Were you able to see all that from the beginning?" Tiamat asked, somewhat impressed at her friend's words.

"Of course not." He replied quickly, making the dragoness look at him like he was an idiot. "I only saw her eyes." Everyone looked at him quizzically at his words.

"What's wrong with my eyes?" Issei asked, causing Tannin to sit up and look at him with a sideways grin.

"Your eyes scream that you are not what you appear to be." He replied, causing everyone to look at him with slight confusion.

"Uh, okay..." The boy commented, not knowing how to respond to that, then jumped up. "I'll go to the bathroom." He stated, closing one of the nearby doors.

"Don't you think you're being reckless?"

"It didn't take you long at all to ask me that. Just as I expected from your troublesome character, Tiamat." Tannin stated, unable to help but opt for an amused look when the dragoness delivered an evil glare. "Strengthening the Demons won't be a problem." The dragon commented, as Azazel and Penemue listened intently to the chatter. "They will never try anything against the famous Sekiryuutei who is a Demon." Tannin chuckled lightly at his own words, then gave him a very sharp look.

"And if they plan to do anything to him, they must remember that the Dragon Queen will not be the sole cause of their extinction..."

CHAPTER 36: PREPARING FOR THE RATING GAMES!

"Shall we train in the Cursed Forest?" Sona asked, as she surveyed the vast majority of the forest on the nearby mountain.

"No." Azazel replied quickly, appearing next to Sona, Rias and their servants. "I brought you here so you can understand why Penemue discarded you."

Hearing this, they all looked at the forest with great attention, seeing how in a small treeless area stood Issei and Penemue.

"Before we begin, I would like to clarify a couple of things." Cadre stated, receiving a quick nod from her pupil. "The training consists mostly of the use of your katana. You are allowed to use your Dragon Shot, but not as regularly as you use it." She commented, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Is that clear?"

Issei nodded quickly, unsheathing his katana.

"You explained the reasons to me as we traveled here. I have no objection." He concluded, receiving a satisfied nod from the Cadre.

"The second thing I wanted to tell you, is rather something that will help you to know where you position is." Hearing this, Issei couldn't help but lower his katana with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, causing Penemue to raise a finger.

"I mean your power scale." She commented, causing Issei to look at her with great interest. "Level 1 is where the Lower Class Demons, the weaker Fallen Angels and Angels, and others..." Penemue waved her hand, indicating that the list was quite long. "Those found in 2, are Middle and Upper Class Demons, or similar to that power." Cadre added, then slightly widened her gaze. "You are in 3, along with the High Class Demons, the strongest Angels and Fallen Angels. Obviously, you're in this position if you don't use your Explosion."

"Hum, but I can use it..." Issei commented, causing Penemue to squint slightly.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes." He commented as if it was the most normal thing in the world, clenching his fists tightly and activating his armor in progress. After a second, his eyes widened in disbelief. "I can't do it!" Issei exclaimed in great surprise.

"You've already forgotten the feeling." Cadre replied, causing Issei to look at her intently. "But don't worry, you'll regain it in this training..." She concluded, then turned serious again. "As I was saying..." Penemue held up six of her fingers. "If you use Blast, you would reach 6. One level behind the strongest Supreme Demons and Cadres, such as Sirzechs, Azazel, Beelzebub, among others..." Penemue finally cracked her neck, then glared at him. "For starters, I'll adjust to your current level, putting me just one level above. That way, you'll know how much difference there is between one level and the other."

"That is, you'll start with 4..." Issei commented, as he held tightly to his katana.

A storm of violet lightning violently swirled around Penemue as she violently drew her katana.

"Don't disappoint me." Were the Cadre's last words, before the combat began.

Penemue's katana soared through the air, then headed for full speed.

After the battle against Vali, that speed was very easy for Issei to follow. It was another thing if his body responded as fast as that time...

Numerous thrusts and swords clashed together, creating numerous metallic sounds. The violet rays emitted by Penemue's katana fell to the ground, without doing any damage to Issei. Finally, the clanking of the metal stopped for a moment as Issei covered her last swing of the katana, smiling a small smile. According to him, he was keeping up with the Cadre perfectly.

From one second to the next, Penemue frowned slightly and the thrusts took on double speed, making her movements a slight blur. Issei's eyes widened immensely at the increased speed. In fact, the surprise was so great that he had no choice but to leap to the side to dodge the Cadre's final attack, which produced a deep crater in the ground.

Issei lowered his gaze slightly, seeing that his armor had heavy damage in the center, indicating that the attack had passed closer than it appeared.

"That's it?" Penemue asked, as her hair fluttered freely from her flashing aura.

Before he could even answer, Issei's eyes widened as Penemue disappeared in a blur. The brown began to sweat as he heard sounds from different directions rushing through the surrounding trees.

After a few seconds with nothing happening, Issei held tightly to his katana and turned around, throwing a sword at a violet beam that was about to hit him. The brown turned his body again at high speed, blocking another beam with his katana. In this way he blocked all the attacks successively at a great speed.

Tired of this, Issei raised his hand and quickly turned around, creating a small orb.

"DRAGON SHOT!"

The small beam was disintegrated, and the crimson attack continued its assault into one of the nearest trees. Once the attack passed through the tree, Issei quickly followed Penemue's figure that had escaped from its hiding place. Just as he was about to cut her down, Penemue flipped her katana and took on a large, electrifying violet glow. A large amount of lightning bolts shot out of the ground immediately after, creating small cracks and causing Issei to close one of his eyes from the electrifying pain, as well as being thrown backwards by the same lightning bolts.

"I still have many tricks I haven't taught you." Cadre declared, as she watched Issei land forcibly.

"That doesn't change anything!" The young man exclaimed, pouncing on top of Penemue.

The Cadre parried his lunge dryly without any difficulty, causing Issei to blink slightly in disbelief at the ease. Penemue deflected Issei's katana with great ease, only to unleash multiple thrusts that went at an impressive speed:

"DANCE OF THE 11 BLOODY HILTS!"

"... Is this the training?" Rias wondered with wide eyes, watching as Issei blocked the deadly attacks with the metal of his katana.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Azazel scoffed, waiting for the fight to advance to the next phase.

Finally, Issei was able to break Penemue's continuous attacks, knocking her back with his katana. When he wanted to attack her again, the woman disappeared again.

Issei wasted no time and quickly ran into the trees, dodging and blocking the lightning bolts in the form of . When he finally arrived at where Penemue, he tried to cut her down with a downward attack, but the Cadre dodged it with great ease and slipped away into another tree. Issei quickly followed her, causing their swords to clash a couple of times in the air, generating small sparks.

In one of the many attacks, Issei blocked one of his teacher's swing, only to see Penemue's katana turn a violet color, at the same time it began to flash. The brown gave a small sigh to relax, just at the same time he twisted his katana to the side, blocking and deflecting Penemue's attack, causing a large wave of lightning to shoot to Issei's side, causing a large number of trees to be destroyed.

Penemue couldn't help but widen her eyes slightly at the demonstration.

"This is very easy." He stated with a smile, as he dodged and blocked all of Penemue's attacks.

"I don't think you understand." She stated, taking a small hop backwards. "You still didn't have a clear chance to attack me."

Instead of answering him, the chestnut focused on the gleam of metal on his katana, being able to see that a magic circle was created behind him, probably placed during the battle. Issei jumped just in time to the side, dodging the lightning bolt that shot out, impressing Penemue again.

"Can't say you're doing badly, though!" Cadre exclaimed, blocking her beloved's katana, then taking a big leap backwards.

Penemue glared at him, then gave him a small smile.

"So, let's see how you handle the 5."

A large amount of flashing energy surrounded Penemue, causing a small smile to appear on Issei's face.

"That's what I've been waiting for..." He whispered, only to widen his eyes in shock as Penemue created a large stream of air that carried a lightning bolt of considerable size.

Issei was reactive enough to jump as high as possible, causing the attack to pass underneath. His eyes grew wide as the attack sliced through four trees in a clean cut.

That distraction almost cost him dearly, as Penemue rushed towards him, delivering a massive attack. Issei was barely able to dodge the killing blow, as Penemue's katana only grazed his hand, giving him a small cut.

"LIGHTNING EXPANSION!"

Issei's eyes widened in disbelief as the blade of the katana received a large spread through solid, united lightning, which pierced through the rest of his armor and delivered a very deep cut along the length of his entire arm.

Issei couldn't help but grit his teeth at the immense pain of feeling the light magic and lightning penetrate deep into his arm, though he didn't have time to wail.

The boy hit numerous jumps backwards, dodging not only Penemue's katana, but also that strange addition that gave an extra meter to the metal of the katana.

Issei continued to dodge and jump, until he was forced to block an attack, gritting his teeth hard at the radical change in difficulty.

The brown's eyes widened as Penemue disappeared again. This time, however, Penemue's position was almost indecipherable, for she was going so fast that the sounds of her footsteps through the trees could be heard from everywhere and at all times.

His eyes widened even more when a bolt of lightning appeared just inches from him, shocking him dryly and causing him to let out a great scream as he fell to his knees. Issei removed his hand from his abdomen, only to see how there was a small hole in his armor, in addition to the amount of blood he began to spill.

"AAAARRGGG!" Issei screamed again as another bolt went through his shoulder, and then his leg, culminating in his chest, causing his eyes to widen beyond measure from the enormous pain, as he vomited a large amount of blood.

He fell to the ground in a thud, causing the attacks to stop.

"Do you intend to kill him!" Rias exclaimed in horror.

"Shut up and watch." Azazel ordered with a grin.

"You really can't take it anymore?" Penemue appeared at the top of a tree. "I guess I overestimated you..." She declared, closing her eyes regretfully.

Those words were like an awl in the man's chest.

He didn't want to disappoint her...

Penemue opened one of her eyes as she heard Issei clutch his katana tightly, startling slightly as he stood up.

"Now I know..." Issei spat out a small amount of blood. "Where are you..." He concluded, staggering slightly.

Penemue couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"Does that change anything?"

The Cadre's eyes widened in an overdrive as Issei's staggering body moved at a great speed to where she was, causing the Cadre to take a great leap.

"That's my running form!" The Cadre thought wide-eyed, unable to believe he was trying to mimic her speed.

As she prepared to land on the ground, Penemue created numerous magic circles that went straight towards the brown.

Issei raced down the tree at full speed, smashing the magic circles and lightning bolts that managed to activate, receiving only one or two attacks.

Penemue landed and somersaulted backwards. She quickly positioned herself and swung her katana backwards, engulfing it in magical power and lightning. She waved sharply to the front, causing that strange large lightning accompanied by the air current to go straight to her beloved.

Issei stabbed his katana deep into the ground, generating a huge line of destruction as he continued to run without stopping. Just before the attack hit him, the brown raised his weapon with all his might and sliced the lightning bolt in two, generating a huge explosion of small lightning bolts next to him.

"I'll try this last thing..." Cadre whispered, swinging her katana again.

The ground was cracked even more violently than the previous time, causing larger, more forceful bolts of lightning to erupt from the ground.

Though far from being harassed again by the same attack, Issei went through all the lightning bolts, regardless of the fact that it did great damage to his armor.

Penemue couldn't help but smile as she flipped her katana, jumping into the final confrontation against Issei.

They both extended their katanas, causing a huge explosion of violet lightning and crimson energy to shoot into the area, generating a small tremor.

"How is it that such a battle can only be training!" Gasper exclaimed with wide eyes, seeing the explosion of energy that had been released.

"That's what Penemue training is like." Azazel replied, unable to help but to slightly darken his gaze.

It only took a couple of seconds for the energy to dissipate.

They both stood on either end, their katanas still tilted to one side after the attack.

"You managed to give me a wound." Cadre stated, seeing the thin gash running the length of her torso. "You were just as I expected, Issei..." She concluded with a small smile.

"I'm glad..." Were Issei's last words, before a large gush of blood spewed out of his torso, falling to the ground completely unconscious.

"Now you guys get it, right?" Azazel declared with an unusually serious face. "How many of you could withstand such brutal training?"

"How insane..." Saji commented, blinking several times, thoroughly impressed. "I thought he was the weakest Sekiryuutei..."

"It is, but it's still the Sekiryuutei." Sona stated, adjusting her glasses seriously. "And besides, it looks like Penemue will see to it that no one else recognizes him by that title."

"That's why we should make an effort." Tsubaki stated, then handed a small smile to the redhead. "You were very lucky, Rias."

"What can I say?" She commented, turning away from the spot along with everyone else.

Azazel delivered one last glance to the two, unable to help but smile as Penemue hugged him tightly, at the same time Tiamat appeared with a clearly desperate face.

"Good thing you two are best friends, otherwise she would have killed you by now..." Azazel thought graciously, leaving the place.

The next day, at night...

"You should have seen everyone's faces when Tannin showed up and started attacking them." Azazel stated graciously, causing Penemue to cross her arms.

"I don't care." She replied, as she watched from the mountain as Issei was sparring with Tiamat.

"Come on, you only have another two thousand repetitions to go!" The dragoness exclaimed excitedly, making Issei sweat.

"You just make me want to die right here..." He commented, seeing that he was wearing the ultra heavy robe, while using Tiamat's ice sword, which was also known for its weight.

"Remember to complete it, or I will have to give you a punishment." Tiamat declared with a slight frown.

Issei shivered at the thought. If Penemue was already so strict with punishments, what would the dragoness be like?

Obviously, it was impossible for him to decipher...

"I came here to tell you that there will be a reunion of all the Factions in a week's time." The boss declared, as he watched Issei barely able to lift his sword.

"Another reunion?" Penemue asked, looking sideways at him.

"It's Odin. He wants to sign a much deeper Covenant treaty in the face of the threats that have recently appeared." Azazel explained. "He didn't say much more, he just wanted us to be present."

"We won't go." Cadre replied, causing Azazel to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"It could be considered an insult. Not so much for you, but mostly for Issei." He stated, causing Penemue to glare at him for the first time so far in their talk.

"I'm not going to be able to protect him forever." The Cadre's response astonished Azazel. "Tiamat won't be able to either, as much as it pains her to admit it..." She added, lowering her gaze with some regret. "I have to prepare him as soon as possible so he can defend himself on his own." Penemue fixed her gaze on Issei, unable to help but look at him with great concern. "That's why I'm so strict. That's why I never let him have a moment's rest..."

Azazel shifted his startled gaze to a smile, half understanding what the Cadre was feeling.

"When you accepted my proposal to train them all on the condition that you split the work on Grigori, you never intended to train them all, did you?" he asked, glancing sideways at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on, you can fool them, but I know your strength very well." He commented, then looked at her with a mischievous grin. "Did you think that much weaker blow you gave Issei would go unnoticed in my eyes?"

Penemue turned her face and gave him a fierce look.

"Don't tell him!"

"Calm down!" Azazel raised his hands in defense. "I wasn't planning on it." He explained, defusing the situation.

The two of them stood there for a few seconds, watching as Issei continued with his training.

"I understand why you do it." Azazel broke the silence, though it didn't disturb Penemue's gaze. "You love him as much as you love her..." He stated, causing Penemue to give him a sidelong glance.

"I understand what you mean, but I don't." He commented, then closed his eyes deeply at the memories of his past. "I mean, I love Issei with the same intensity or even more than Ludmiel. But, the feeling is totally different..."

Azazel just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, unable to decipher her friend's thoughts.

After all, Azazel could never imagine that someone like Penemue was talking about love...

END OF CHAPTER!

As you can already see, this arc will be quite shorter than the previous one, since I don't want to focus in such a direct way on Issei's training as I have done before. The following chapters will show how Rossweisse slowly begins to intrude into the story to befriend the main characters.

As I always say, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

See you soon!

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Wait, I almost forgot to add this last scene.

"Not in a thousand years..."

Issei thought, seeing that his face was sideways as he looked like being crushed by something.

"Not in a thousand years would I have imagined this would be the punishment..."

Issei concluded his thoughts, as he felt his neck about to burst from Tiamat's butt.

"Maybe it will be more painful than I first thought." The dragoness thought aloud, with slight concern, as she remained seated on her future lover.

"I'm not going to take advantage of this situation, I'm not going to take advantage of this situation..." Issei thought, as he felt Tiamat's hands were very close to his waist. That is, of the mini-Issei.

"But what are they doing?" Penemue appeared through the trees, with an indecipherable look at what she was witnessing.

"It's punishment!" Tiamat exclaimed with a smile. "Isn't that a good thing?" She asked with an innocent look.

Penemue proceeded to fold her arms, as she continued with that indecipherable look.

"As usual, you're too soft."

"What?" Tiamat couldn't help but frown slightly at what she heard.

"Don't you understand?" Tiamat's frown changed to a curious look after the Cadre's question. "There are thousands upon thousands of men who would kill to be in Issei's position." She commented, then glanced at the brown-haired man. "It's only being a real punishment, because Issei is noble enough not to take advantage." She stated, then closing her eyes.

"Though his neck must be at its limit by now..."

"Tiamat, I'm sorry!" Issei shouted, turning his face to the front.

A huge blush appeared on the dragoness' face as she felt Issei's face slip very easily between her buttocks.

"Much better..." Issei thought relieved as he felt the pain in his neck go away, although he didn't have much time to think about it...

"Smells like soap..." Thought the brown, completely surprised. "How clean..."

Issei couldn't think much more about it, as his face quickly turned purple from lack of air.

The brown began to move frantically, causing the blush on Tiamat's face to increase as she tried to keep her balance. Issei's movements became even more violent, so that his fingers sank into the dragoness' ass, causing her to cover her mouth so that not even a moan would escape her lips.

Penemue simply patted her face at her best friend's antics.

"I'm beginning to suspect she really wanted this..."