Here I am with a new translated chapter!
We already started with a new arc where for my taste everything starts to get better and better. Once again it's another long chapter, so I apologize in advance if there are more translation errors than usual, you know that I usually speed up the translation a bit when the chapters are long because of my lack of free time.
Now it's time to answer some reviews:
Wolfman9623: I think it's kind of obvious that Issei is a Dragon God, since the title confirms it. You only got a couple of guesses wrong about Issei's birth, but by now it's all deductible.
Rain: Actually, he would not be the Third Dragon God, Issei would be the Fourth. And yes, there will still be quite a few mysteries surrounding Issei regarding that. The fact that Ophis called him "brother" is because of her generally carefree attitude and I wanted to attribute it as that first impression. I partly wanted to make Penemue's reaction look like she was initially just in shock, but then tried to protect him (admittedly it was also to deliver a much stronger first impression to Great Red, I won't deny it hahahaha).
Now we can start with this new arc.
Enjoy it!
Issei's eyes contorted because of the annoying stimulation produced by the light on him.
Wait...
Light?
Issei's eyes snapped open, and his suspicions were instantly answered when he looked at the alarm clock.
"11Am."
"Oh, shit..." He thought with a roll of his eyes. "I overslept."
The moment Issei tried to move, he only got a small groan from someone who didn't seem too pleased with such a sudden movement.
Tiamat emerged from under the sheets and hugged him even tighter, snuggling into Issei as much as possible, as if looking for the ideal position to continue sleeping. Just looking at the beautiful face of that dragoness, the brown's mind automatically remembered everything that had happened yesterday.
"Well, I guess no one will be angry after all that we had to endure..." Issei thought carefully, then turned his gaze back to Tiamat. That simple fact caused a warm smile to expand on his face.
"She always sleeps with me, but I can't get used to this..." Issei raised his only free hand, as the other was being held by the dragoness.
Issei's hand ended up on her cheek.
"Your skin is so soft..." Issei slid his hand down, beginning to caress her cheek tenderly.
That simple movement made the dragoness' calm expression turn into a cute smile as she felt the loving touches that only a person could give her.
Issei's eyes widened slightly as the dragoness took her hand and brought it to one of her breasts. The brown would go completely still at that moment, not because of such an act from the dragoness, but because of what he was feeling through her breasts.
Her heartbeat seemed to be combining with some sort of vibration, and shortly after that, Tiamat's purring came to the fore.
"She's purring?" Issei couldn't help but look at her in surprise. "Now that I remember, she had been doing it when we first met too..." The brown-haired man wandered in his thoughts for a short period of time.
He came back to reality quickly, as he knew his hand was in a somewhat delicate position. Issei moved his hand behind the dragoness' back, caressing her as he listened to that purr intensify.
"She's very cute..." Issei thought as a tender smile rose to his lips.
His hand continued down until it reached the start of her white panties, and that's when he got nervous.
"I think I'm getting caught up in the moment..." He whispered to himself with a nervous smile, bringing his hand back to the dragoness' cheek.
Issei's eyes strayed back to the alarm clock, his gaze turning serious after that action.
"If I remember correctly, the meeting had been set for after swimming lessons..." That thought made Issei very nervous. "I hope Ross isn't too angry to notice that I missed one of her classes."
The brown-haired man's goofy expression didn't last much longer, as his mind was spinning a hundred revolutions per second at the moment, even if it didn't seem to be true.
"We're meeting at 17, and I have to be careful with my words..." At that moment, Issei's mind recalled that small but intense, really intense conversation with Great Red.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"You want to talk? Then let's talk."
"Very well." Great Red nodded, breaking away from the brown to let him relax a bit. "Don't worry about her, she's just unconscious." He commented, noticing how Issei was very worried.
"Okay." Was the young man's simple, curt reply, turning away.
"I'm all ears."
Great Red stared at him for a couple of seconds, as if studying him with his eyes. That simple fact made Issei start to get nervous, more so than he already was.
"You are exactly as he described you." Great Red fixed his gaze on Issei, getting Issei to look at him with genuine confusion.
"Wait, there's someone who told you about me?" At that moment, Issei realized something even more intriguing. "Do you even get involved with others?"
"I only get involved with other entities when it's vitally important, just like I'm doing right now." Issei's doubts only increased upon receiving that answer. "And to answer your first question, you should already know who it is." Great Red's eyes narrowed. "By now, I'm sure you've already received the message of the Prophecy..." At that moment, Issei's eyes widened beyond measure.
"You're talking about God?" Issei couldn't help but take a step back. "He's not dead?"
"God is dead, only that he entrusted me with the future of this world and told me everything I had to do to save it." Was the answer of Great Red, who looked at Issei with absolute seriousness, that made it more than clear that he was not joking, although the idea of Great Red joking with someone was really absurd. "Perhaps it's been a while since you received Elohim's message, so I'm going to remind you..." The Dragon God commented, moving a little closer to the brown-haired man. "Somewhere in the message, I'm sure he warned you of the existence of two entities that would support you when the crucial moment began to approach."
Issei's mind clicked a little after remembering that fact, so he could only look at Great Red with even more disbelief.
"So, does that mean that I will be the last Sekiryuutei?"
"If it didn't, I wouldn't be here right now." Great Red bowed his shoulders, making it clear that this answer was more than obvious.
"Does that mean I will live for these two thousand years?" Issei pointed to himself, looking for an immediate answer.
"Yes and no." That was definitely an answer he wasn't expecting.
"Hey, what do you mean by that?" He inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"It's too complicated to explain, the right time for revelations hasn't come yet, so you must understand that I can't answer those questions or you might screw up the whole future." The dragon stated as he folded his arms.
"But you said earlier that you would come forward when the time was near..." The brown commented, holding up one of his fingers for emphasis on his words.
"This is an exception to our future meeting." Clarified the dragon quickly. "It is not yet the right time, but the reality is that the event that occurred on this day could decide whether or not that time comes."
"This is very confusing to me..." Whispered the brown-haired man to himself as he rubbed his hair with some frustration.
"You shouldn't ask yourself questions right now, let everything flow naturally. I want you to pretend this encounter never happened, same goes for Ddraig." Great Red narrowed his eyes. "But, I want you to remember what I'm going to tell you right now."
At that comment, Issei seemed to show an attentiveness seldom seen in him.
"Everything that happened with you today, the explosion of power inside your body..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Issei awoke from his thoughts as he felt someone land on his waist in a playful manner.
The dragoness' small protruding fangs flashed at his mischievous smile.
"Good morning!" She exclaimed, then raised both her hands, still holding that suggestive smile on her face.
"Now, it's time for war!"
Poor Issei couldn't even respond to the first tickle attack the dragoness gave him, so it took almost no time at all for her victory to decant.
Still, it didn't take any more time before the whole room was a mess with sheets hanging over the top of the closet and others scattered on the floor.
Now only a somewhat misaligned blanket covered the two of them as they still lay there.
"No fair, you caught me off guard!" Issei exclaimed as he stroked the hair of the dragoness, who had her head resting on his chest.
"It's not my fault you rested on your laurels..." Tiamat laughed softly, managing to spread that laughter to her beloved.
They both closed their eyes, several seconds passed in which Issei just stroked the dragoness' hair while she just listened to her future lover's heartbeat.
"Shouldn't we get up?" Issei asked, feeling the dragoness snuggle even closer to him.
"Five minutes more..."
BEGINNING OF ARC-CHAPTER 48: THE INFATUATED GODDESS.
"We will be leaving for two weeks on a business trip. Make sure Issei continues to go to the Academy in our absence." Said the small paper note crumpled in the trash can.
"In the end, those five minutes stretched to two hours..." Issei thought with his eyes rolling as he cut off the chicken legs.
Issei handed it to the person next to him, who was Tiamat. The Dragoness was humming a little tune as she introduced the legs into a large pot that had a sauce that smelled extremely delicious.
At first glance, they looked like a couple preparing lunch together. The only somewhat curious thing about the moment was that Issei was in just a pair of shorts, while Tiamat was still in her underwear.
"She's gotten so much better at this than me." Issei couldn't help but admire her as the dragoness focused on stirring the sauce, continuing with that beautiful smile and humming.
That moment of admiration was cut short when Tiamat gave a small whimper, due to a large drop of boiling sauce falling between her breasts.
"Are you okay?" Without her even being able to do anything, Issei placed a cloth between her breasts and began to wipe her.
"It's nothing." The dragoness stated, then blushed slightly.
"Thank you."
"That's why I told you that you should wear clothes..." Issei scolded her. "Being so exposed while cooking can be dangerous." He concluded, pushing the cloth away from the dragoness's breasts.
"But it's so hot today!" She quickly grumbled, then smiled. "Besides..." Issei couldn't help but widen his eyes a little when the dragoness hugged him tightly and buried his head between her breasts. "It's just the two of us, so there's no problem!"
"As you wish." He replied with a small smile, hugging her back. "But don't squeal again if you get burned again."
"Do you want to annoy me?" The dragoness challenged him, sketching a mischievous grin. "You know very well it's not a good idea to provoke me."
"I'd like to play with you, but we don't have much time." He replied, pulling away from the dragoness to her chagrin. "We still have to bathe, and after that..." Issei waited quietly, knowing what would happen.
Tiamat immediately turned serious, indicating that she already knew what her future lover was talking about.
"I still find it strange that they scheduled a reunion..." The dragoness stated, receiving a confirming nod from the young man.
"Why would he have asked me such a thing...?" Issei thought to himself, being distracted when Tiamat clicked her tongue as she felt a drop of sauce jump between her breasts again.
"Now we have to let it be." Declared the dragoness as she wiped her large cleavage. "Taking advantage of that time, what do you say we take a bath?" She asked him with a beautiful smile.
"Together?" Issei couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he pointed between him and her.
"Yes!" She exclaimed with great joy. "It's been a long time since we've done that!"
A moment later...
"This brings back so many memories!" The dragoness exclaimed as she stroked the hair of an Issei who was sitting on her lap.
"Yeah, me too..." Issei stated, remembering with some amusement how it was the first time they had bathed together, and how embarrassed he was.
The only thing that could be heard was the movement of the water. They were both covered with towels that were not very large, so Tiamat's large cleavage was pressed against Issei's back, although this did not seem to bother him.
It was probably because he was sunk in his memories and the satisfaction of being treated so lovingly by the woman with him.
That nice silence between the two was broken when Tiamat's hands stopped stroking his hair.
Issei opened his eyes, being able to notice how the dragoness' hands slid over his shoulders slowly.
"Earlier, you said you couldn't live without me..." Issei could feel her resting her forehead on his head. "To be honest with you, I also think I couldn't live without you..." She concluded, her hands lowering further to enclose him in a tight, tender embrace.
"What I said that time, I think you should forget it." Tiamat couldn't help but raise her gaze in much confusion after hearing such words. "I think forgetting wouldn't be the right word..." Issei whispered to himself, not realizing that Tiamat managed to hear him.
"If anything ever happened to me..."
"Nothing is going happen to you!" Issei couldn't help but blink in utter astonishment, not only at her shout, but also at the fact that she had hugged him much tighter.
"I'm not saying anything is going to happen to me, just listen to me." Issei instantly reassured her, the technique of stroking the dragoness' head serving to make that process go even faster. "We're just talking about a case far removed from reality, almost impossible..."
"Impossible!" She quickly corrected him, getting Issei to chuckle a little.
"Yes, completely impossible..." Issei decided to play along, since he knew the other way she was never going to let him finish. "Of anything happening to me, now you're not alone..." Tiamat's eyes slowly widened after those words. "You know a lot more people now, you've reconciled with Tannin, and you even have two friends who support you in everything." Issei turned his face slightly, giving her a toothy smile. "So, if I were to leave, I'm sure you wouldn't stop being happy, especially since there are so many people who support you." The dragoness's face would lower a little, denoting a sad look.
"You're right, my life has changed a lot since I had the chance to meet you." She commented, that sadness on her face mixed with a wistful smile.
"Tiamat?" Issei couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty after seeing the dragoness' very sad expression. "Did I say something wrong?" He thought to himself, only to feel the dragoness' embrace tighten even more.
He turned his face away in search of answers.
"But nothing is going happen to you, so put those silly speculations aside!" She exclaimed, giving him a big kiss on the forehead. "I'll be with you always, so I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you!" she concluded, to then start rubbing her cheek against her beloved's with great enthusiasm and love.
That action made Issei giggle a little. Remembering that she used to always act a bit curt and cold when they barely knew each other.
Now she seems like a completely different person.
"That's her true personality."
Memories of the talk he had had with Tannin came to his mind, managing to make his cheerful expression change a bit. That change intensified even more as he felt the dragoness kept rubbing her cheek against his as she hugged him lovingly, as if she was trying to share all those pent up feelings and emotions with the person she loved so much.
"Actually, she was always like that. When I first met her, there was only a shell left, because they had broken her completely..." That thought made Issei look off into nothingness as his face became completely serious.
"I've already asked myself that many times, but I can never manage to find an answer..."
Issei's thoughts drifted to all those treasured memories he had with the woman who now found herself giving him so much love.
It had been no more than about 6 months since he had met her, but he felt that his true life had begun right from that moment on.
Why?
The answer was simple.
In his 17 years of life he had not experienced half as many good memories as he had created in these last 6 months with her.
So...
If a woman, if a dragoness, if a person like her could convey so much happiness to you...
"Why did her ex-fiancé treat her like dirt?" That question came to his mind again.
By now it was kind of silly for him to keep asking such a thing, especially since Tiamat had already answered him a long time ago that that idiot had only wanted her for the power she represented and for the voluptuous body she had.
Power and beauty...
These were certainly two attractions that Tiamat possessed, and she did so with an unparalleled abundance.
Still, it was something that still made no sense to him.
Because, even if you took those two things away, she was still so...
Tiamat's smile changed drastically as she felt the connection between her and him activate upon her chest, delivering some rather peculiar emotions to her.
There were two of them.
Distress and distaste, a lot of both.
"If instead of that guy it had been me..." Issei's fists clenched tightly, though he could quickly tell what he was doing. "What am I thinking?" A bitter smile appeared on his face as he dropped his shoulders.
"That's what I'm wondering myself..." The words swirling very close to his ear made it quite clear that he had said that question out loud without his noticing.
"Don't worry, I was just thinking about..." At that moment Issei widened his eyes, realizing that for some reason he didn't want to tell her the real reason. "Uh...it was just what happened yesterday..." The brown-haired man came up with a rather flimsy excuse, though Tiamat seemed to believe him.
"Is it about that?" Tiamat couldn't help but smile as she snuggled as much as possible on her crush's body. "Don't worry..." She whispered in his ear in a very pleasant voice covered with affection. "I'm not going anywhere, I'll always be by your side..." She concluded, then kissed him on the cheek.
At that moment, Issei's mind started to behave really strange, more than it was already doing.
That's why he couldn't control his next words:
"If it had been me, I would have made you the happiest woman in the world."
"Hum, what do you mean by that?" Tiamat broke away from the brown, giving him a quizzical look.
That simple gesture made him realize that the phrase hadn't just stayed inside his mind.
"Uh..." Issei started to think, at the moment he didn't know if he should think of an excuse or find the real answer.
But find was the real key word, since he didn't even know why he was acting and thinking that way.
"Would you believe me if I told you that even I don't understand what I said?" Issei commented with a nervous smile, only to be surprised by Tiamat as she hugged him tightly.
"Anyway, you don't have to worry!" The dragoness exclaimed with a beautiful smile as she began to rub her cheek against Issei's again. "I mean, I've been the happiest woman in the world for a while now!" Those words only made Issei's body and mind go even more crazy.
Perfect wife...
Those words echoed in his mind with unparalleled force, making this one look at himself in utter confusion.
"Why am I thinking about these things?"
The noise from the door caused them both to become distracted, so it didn't take long for them to divert their gaze to the new source of sound.
"So here they were..." The figure of the Cadre came into view as she looked completely menacing with her nearly six foot height, pale skin, and crimson eyes that glowed with great intensity.
That simple fact made the two's bathing look completely ruined by the fear that was flooding their bodies.
That look that seemed to deliver a thousand years of pain changed drastically as she watched them with great concern.
"Are you all right?" Cadre's question unsettled both Tiamat and Issei.
"So you were just worried, hehe..." Tiamat commented as she rubbed her hair with a toothy grin. "For a moment there I thought I'd eat the scolding of my life." She said to herself inwardly with a pouty face as she watched the confused look Penemue gave them.
A moment later...
"How have you been feeling?" Asked the Cadre, who was turned around as Issei was putting on his pants.
"You mean your arm?" He asked her, getting up. "It doesn't hurt anymore, but it feels pretty weird." Issei replied, shaking the affected arm.
"Then maybe it's not that bad." Penemue half-turned around to face him, moving closer to him to take his arm. "What feels strange?"
"I wouldn't know how to explain it exactly..." Issei replied, placing a hand on his chin. "I would describe it more as discomfort. It feels too heavy, plus it..."
"You feel a higher than normal body heat in the area." Penemue stole the words off his tongue. "I can feel it by touch." She answered him as she continued to study the arm meticulously. "But if it's just that, maybe there's not much of a problem." She concluded, releasing him. "If it's still bothering you tomorrow, come to me."
"Okay." Issei nodded in response, then smiled. "By the way, thanks for keeping that secret." He concluded, rubbing his hair with a discreet smile.
"No problem." Cadre replied immediately. Her hands rested on her waist as she opted for a look mixed between weariness and annoyance. "I already have too much on my plate with all of Grigori's chores. Imagine the extra work I should have if news spreads that Great Red and Ophis showed up in the Demonic Realm."
"Heh, I hadn't thought about that." Issei stated as he rubbed his cheek with a finger. "By the way, what were you thinking about when you tried to stand up to Great Red?" Both of their expressions changed after the brown-haired man's question. "If he had bothered a little, you might have died." He commented with great seriousness, only to be completely taken aback when Penemue caught his cheeks with both of her hands.
"I would do it as many times as it takes." Cadre commented with great seriousness.
"Why?" Issei could barely speak as his cheeks were being tightly squeezed.
The Cadre's serious look would change drastically.
"Because I care so much about you." Was her reply as she began to pull at his cheeks, getting Issei to start moaning, though he couldn't help but smile at the response he received.
She also...
"You know something?" Penemue stopped as she noticed a rather peculiar glow on Issei's face, though she was still still holding his cheeks.
"You'd make a perfect wife too!"
Penemue's eyes widened beyond measure after that response, and she didn't realize she had let go of the young man.
"Since you're here, would you like to eat with us?" He questioned, being about to leave the bathroom.
"Uh, yeah..." Penemue was reactive enough to look at Issei and hand him the answer, though he was a bit clumsy in doing so. To her luck, the brown didn't seem to notice.
Issei simply raised his hand in response as he left her alone in the bathroom.
Penemue looked at where the figure of her secret love once stood for a few seconds. Her cheeks began to turn a shade of red as her usually serious expression changed to that of a cute, shy blushing woman.
"What did those words come to?" She couldn't help but wonder as she covered her cheeks with both her hands.
She was quick to shake her head to get those strange thoughts out of her head, then exit the bathroom.
Penemue walked down the stairs, watching strangely as Issei had stood at the bottom of them, holding a poker face.
"What's wrong with him?" She wondered internally, then looked straight ahead.
An indescribable expression came over her face as she witnessed such a display of hot cooking.
In fact, it was very, very hot.
"Here we go!" Tiamat roared with her wild grin as she spun the pot at a 45-degree tilt at the same time the ladle was in charge of mixing all the sauce.
What was really admirable was not the skill she was demonstrating, that was completely overshadowed because of her current attire.
"Put some clothes on..." Penemue thought, seeing how the dragoness was only wearing a towel decorating her figure, and since she was quite bent over, much of her voluptuous ass was visible.
"¡And...!" The dragoness roared, sending the pot flying as she scooped out all the chicken legs at a great speed, placing them on top of a large plate.
"Ready!" She concluded with great energy, laying out some napkins. "I hope you like it!"
Issei's poker face was broken as he smelled the pleasant and delicious aroma coming from the food.
"This looks great!" Issei sat down without either of them noticing.
A few hours later...
The brown-haired man was settled in the armchair while watching his favorite program with great calmness. The clock showed 16:00, so there was only one hour left for the meeting.
Meanwhile, Tiamat was making some chocolates with funny shapes being helped by Penemue, who seemed to show more and more interest in cooking as the days went by.
Issei turned around to sneak a peek at them. This one couldn't help but smile at the sight of them, as they both looked really happy as they chatted with each other. Well, Penemue had hardly any change in her expressions, so anyone else who didn't know her would think she was bored.
"It's not like I liked cooking..." Issei thought to himself, remembering how his instructions had made the two women find a hobby. "I had to cook to survive. But, I'm glad my teachings made it so they could find something to distract themselves with besides fighting or training." Issei looked straight ahead again, feeling as if he had committed the good deed of the year.
His eyes widened again, and just then...
"Hi." It was the simple greeting from Ophis, who was floating headfirst in front of him.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Issei's shout caused Issei himself to take a big leap on the couch and fall behind it.
His two female companions heard it, so they quickly came to his aid and were completely paralyzed when they saw who it was.
Issei stood up, peeking half of his face over the top of the couch.
"Shit, I almost scared the shit out of myself!" He exclaimed, getting Ophis to blink and tilt her head to the side.
It didn't take long for Ophis' attention to be diverted to a certain woman, as her aura caught her attention so much.
Tiamat couldn't help but get a little nervous as she watched Ophis float over to where she stood. Once she had her in front of her, the Dragon Goddess began to study her thoroughly with her eyes.
"You are a dragoness." Was her comment, opting for a more normal pose, though she still continued to levitate.
"Uh, yeah?" Was the only answer that crossed her mind, and Ophis's intense gaze only made her thinking even less clear.
The Goddess's attention seemed to be quite volatile, as her nose wrinkled, averting her gaze out of pure instinct to the fountain Tiamat carried in her hands.
"What is that?" She asked her, bringing her face a little closer to get a better feel for its fragrance.
"It smells good."
"It's just some chocolate..." Tiamat answered her, seeing how Ophis' intense gaze was still fixed on the candy.
"Chocolate..." She said to herself, leaving more than one confused.
Had she never tasted chocolate before?
"Hum, would you like to try one?" Tiamat consulted her, taking Ophis' attention.
"May I?" The Goddess' eyes fixed on the other dragoness.
"Of course." Was her quick reply, watching as Ophis took one of the smaller ones. "They're freshly made, ideally eaten when they're cold..." She commented with her eyes rolling, as Ophis was blowing out her hands due to it burning a bit.
"Oh, wait a second!" Issei moved at a great speed, returning with a small napkin. "Use this." Ophis took the napkin, causing her gaze to relax considerably.
"Thank you." Again, a curt and simple answer, but one that was straight to the point.
The Dragon Goddess took the small chocolate in the shape of a chibi Issei into her mouth. Her gaze would fall to the floor as she tasted the dessert. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking, so everyone was already somewhat nervous and impatient for the outcome this could have.
After a few seconds, the dragoness' gaze lifted, and the three couldn't help but be surprised when they witnessed an extremely intense gleam in her eyes.
"What kind of exquisite delicacy is this?" Ophis flew up until she was inches away from Tiamat's face, managing to make Tiamat a little nervous. "How come I've never tasted it before?"
"You don't usually live with others much, do you?" Issei's question caused Ophis' attention to shift to him.
She shook her head, it being more than enough of an answer for everyone.
"Come to think of it, it's kind of normal." Issei thought inwardly. "Otherwise, Ophis and Great Red would be seen with much more regularity..."
"Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but why did you come here?" The Cadre questioned.
"I told him I was coming today." Ophis pointed at the brown as she took another chocolate, this time in the shape of a chibi Rossweisse.
"Oh, right..." Issei couldn't help but deliver an apologetic look to the two, as they clearly didn't look too happy to find out this way.
"I had completely forgotten about it."
"Wait a minute, how long have you two known each other?" Tiamat questioned him, getting Ophis' attention.
"All your questions will be answered at the reunion." Was the dragoness' half-hearted answer, getting all three of them impressed.
"What do you mean by that?" Issei inquired with a puzzled look.
"Isn't it obvious?" She would answer him with another question, taking another chocolate.
"I came for the reunion."
"Actually, that's really far from obvious!" Issei thought with his eyes rolling, and his future wives seemed to find themselves just like him.
"I don't understand, why would you be interested in going to a Factions Reunion?" The question was asked by the Cadre, receiving a nod from Issei and Tiamat, who also wanted to have an answer.
Ophis looked at her, her gaze twisting to a slightly confused one.
"What? I can't?" The questions managed to make all three of them almost fall backwards.
"That's not really the problem..." They all commented at the same time, managing to make Ophis tilt her head to the side.
"I'm also here to talk to Hyoudou." Everyone's attention landed on Issei, who couldn't help but sweat at such intense stares.
"Alright, we'll put the dessert to cool while we prepare more." Penemue declared, achieving an incredulous look from Tiamat.
"But...!" Before she could complain, she could feel the Cadre grab her shoulder tightly. She would slowly shake her head, giving her to understand that it was not good to interrupt them at this time, and the dragoness seemed to get the message, though she reluctantly accepted it.
Just before they left for the kitchen, Tiamat delivered one last glance to her beloved.
"Call us if you need help." Her voice was laced with unparalleled concern.
"Don't worry." Issei delivered a reassuring smile, causing the dragoness to smile.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Issei settled back into the couch, watching as Ophis continued to stare at the two women.
"About that..." She commented, turning her attention back to Issei.
She flew up to sit on his lap to he's surprise.
"I'd like you to help me get my home back when the time is right." She explained, peering over her shoulder as Issei was almost a head taller than her.
At the moment, Issei had many doubts. But there was one that resonated much more in his head than all the others.
The brown-haired man searched well for his choice of words before answering her:
"And when would that time be right?"
"I can't answer that for you." Was the Dragon Goddess' simple reply.
"I knew it, you are the second entity mentioned in the Prophecy." Issei seemed to have jumped to somewhat quick conclusions at that moment, but it was apparent that this was not the case when Ophis gave him a small smile covered in complicity.
"I see you have a good ability to analyze." The dragoness stated, managing to make Issei rub his hair somewhat chagrined after the praise.
"Actually, that's not so. It was very easy to guess." Was the brown-haired man's reply.
"I see." Was her simple reply, causing her typical expression to return to her face. "So, are you going to help me or not?"
"Considering that you created the Chaos Brigade, well I wouldn't know what to answer you..." Was Issei's honest answer, being an obvious reasoning due to the fact that that group always represented the main problems nowadays.
"The Chaos Brigade was created to carry out my objective." Ophis replied. "I don't care what they do or don't do, as long as they help me when the time comes."
"I see..." Was Issei's reply. "Now that I remember, Ddraig had told me that she was someone who was rather carefree and didn't think that much about the repercussions of her actions. That's just how he had described her..." He thought, and that small moment of silence caused Ophis to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Do you have another question?" The dragoness's voice brought Issei out of his thoughts.
"If you want your home back, is that to say that you want to wrest the domain of the Twelve Gates of Hell from the Demonic Realm?" He asked her, then raising both of his hands to emphasize his next words. "As far as I know, you were born in that place, so I guess that's your home, right?"
"It isn't." Ophis couldn't help but draw a tired look on her face. "That place is too noisy, so it didn't take me long to leave it. My home is the Dimensional Breach, a completely silent and peaceful place that I loved, but Great Red snatched my precious home from me and forced me to live among the torment." In the end, Ophis' look was really noticeably annoyed, though that expression was more tender than anything else, and the fact that her last words she added them with great drama only made that opinion stronger.
"The Dimensional Breach..." Issei couldn't help but rub his chin as he thought carefully. "So, you're just looking for a place where you can be in complete silence without anyone disturbing you?" The question caused Ophis to nod immediately, getting the brown-haired man to smile.
Ophis couldn't help but feel strange when Issei grabbed her waist and lifted her up, as no one dared to touch her because of the fear she unconsciously instilled upon everyone.
"Wait for me here a moment." Issei stated as he set her aside, earning a very confused look from the dragoness.
Issei didn't take long to arrive, carrying an object in his hand that Ophis didn't recognize.
"What's that?" She landed back on his lap as she looked at the strange and curious instrument Issei held in his hands.
"These are soundproof headphones. I got them at a fair with a friend." The brown-haired man stated, then gave her a toothy smile.
"Now, close your eyes."
Ophis didn't understand the reason for asking her that, but she was quick to comply with his orders.
When the dragoness closed her eyes, everything went completely dark. Still, the irritating sounds of animals and other things continued to irritate her patience as they had done throughout all these hundreds of years.
Until...
She could feel something being placed over her ears and head, only to have the sound disappear out of nowhere.
Ophis' eyes squeezed shut and her face got an artistic expression as she felt a peace she didn't even remember anymore.
It didn't take her long to open her eyes. Her gaze automatically drifted to Issei in search of answers. She opened her lips, and it didn't take her long to grab them with her small hands as she noticed that she couldn't even hear her own voice.
That reaction only made Issei give her a toothy grin, as she looked quite tender at the moment, as if she were a child who had discovered the best toy store on the planet.
Issei decided that he had had too much fun with her already, so he removed the headphones, getting the dragoness to look at him with a completely indecipherable expression on her face.
"What was it you did to me?" She was quick to incriminate him as she cupped her ears that were now listening again.
"It's because of this." Issei moved the headphones in front of her. "The headphones prevent any sound from coming in or going out."
"That..." Ophis's eyes shone with a breathtaking intensity.
"That's amazing!"
Issei had really been impressed at her for the first time, as this is the first time he had heard her say a few words with such energy, and, above all, happiness.
In fact, now that he thought about it, Ophis didn't seem to have shown any kind of emotion during the whole conversation, as if she was empty inside.
"I'm glad you liked it." Issei stated, to then do something common for him, but which would be something totally new to Ophis.
The dragoness' eyes widened slightly at the sudden touch on her head. She could feel the whole world stop around them as she felt and received the first token of affection she had ever had in her entire life.
When Issei's hand left her, she brought her hands to that spot out of pure instinct, getting Issei to look at her with great confusion as he noticed that Ophis seemed to be debating with herself with great intensity.
Before he could ask what was wrong with her, something happened...
"WHAT?!" The shout of the easily recognizable voice made Issei turn around and Ophis became quite annoyed, after all, that voice had turned out to be very irritating to her ears.
"I told you to wait..." Penemue couldn't help but slap his face at the stupidity of Rias, who had stormed into the place without even paying attention to the two women.
"They had told me that Issei was with a woman, but I never expected to see something like this..." Rias thought, not knowing whether she should be relaxed or splitting with fear when she found out who it was.
Relaxed by the fact that she knew well that Ophis Ouroboros was not capable of containing feelings, so it was impossible for her to have any kind of attraction towards Issei. The problem was that it was about the fucking Dragon Goddess of Infinity.
Yeah, the problem would be a lot easier to fix if it was just a woman who was interested in Issei.
"Wh-what's-what's going on?!" Another redhead scream, another scream that crumpled Ophis' face.
"What does that matter to you?" it was Ophis who answered, getting Rias to take a step back.
"He's my pawn! Of course I care!" Rias quickly defended herself, causing Ophis to bring both hands to her ears. "Are you planning to do something bad to him?"
The Dragon Goddess uncovered her ears, giving her a tired look.
"Wrong."
"So, do you want to attack this Demon possession?"
"No."
"Don't tell me you're here because you want to kill the faction leaders!"
"Negative."
"Then what are you looking for in a place like this? Something evil?"
"Affirmatively negative."
"Wait, what does that mean?" Rias had to rub her temple to understand the answer.
"I'll answer all the questions during the reunion."
"You'll go to the reunion!"
Everyone's gaze twisted to a confused one as Ophis pointed towards Rias with one of her hands, forming a pistol gesture with her fingers.
"Boom, boom..." She said, getting everyone even more confused.
"What the hell does that mean?" Rias couldn't help but ask, causing Ophis to frown slightly.
"If you keep squealing like a bitch..." A small purple orb appeared on the tip of her finger.
"I'm going to kill you."
At that moment, Rias felt the real terror.
She was going to apologize, but quickly remembered what Ophis had said, so she could only give a deep bow in apology as she disappeared through a magic circle.
"Hey, don't do that!" Issei exclaimed in genuine alarm as he used all his strength to pull her arm down, unable to even move her an inch.
"Why not?" Ophis inquired with a poker face. "She was annoying me."
"Hmmmm, this could get very interesting..." Penemue thought as she watched the interaction between Issei and Ophis, who was still pointing towards the missing figure of Rias.
A few minutes later...
"Why don't we just teleport?" Ophis was riding on Issei's back, who were on their way to the academy.
"I'd like to talk some things over with you." Replied the young man, who already seemed to have gotten used to being carrying the Goddess on his back.
"What's it about?" He could tell how Ophis' curiosity was growing.
"It's about what happened recently." Issei replied. "You know, you can't just kill anyone just because they annoy you."
"Ah, can't I?" Ophis' innocent tone shone over his ear, getting Issei's eyes to roll.
"Of course not!" The Goddess couldn't help but cover her ears after Issei's outburst. "You should only kill those who really deserve it. You know, like bad people or that..."
"Bad people..." Issei's explanation had been rather clumsy, but Ophis seemed to have understood.
Seemed...
The dragoness' gaze drifted to the side, watching as a fireman was trying to get a cat down from a tree. The cat was really scared, and by the man's annoyed face, she was sure he was hurting it.
She raised one of her hands and again crossed her fingers to resemble a gun as a small purple orb appeared above her index finger.
Issei looked at her with genuine confusion, only to be alarmed beyond belief after learning what she was about to do.
"Boom."
"Wait...!" Issei staggered just in time, managing to get the shot to deflect and pass inches from the firefighter's face, who fell out of the tree after such a scare.
"Why?" Ophis couldn't help but tilt her head to the side once again.
"We really don't understand each other..." Issei thought aloud while drawing a shaky smile.
That only made the Goddess even more confused.
A moment later, in the Old Building of the academy...
There was an air of tension in the place. Under a normal point of view, one would think that this was completely natural, since there were almost all the most influential and powerful entities gathered in a single room.
The problem is that this kind of tension should have been settled by now after the treaty that all the Factions had signed.
So...
Why were they meeting like this?
The answer lay on Issei's lap.
Ophis found herself sucking on a popsicle with her typical neutral, empty stare, being completely shut out of whatever she was feeling right now.
"I thought my sister might have been mistaken, but I see that she is not..." Sirzechs thought, unable to help but sweat at the presence of the second most powerful entity in all the Realms.
All the other Faction Leaders seemed to be thinking exactly the same as Sirzechs, as Rias arrived on the scene and announced to the four winds that Ophis Ouroboros was going to accompany Issei to the meeting.
"She said she would answer all our questions, so..." Michael closed his eyes to relax.
"Stop with those long faces, they make me sick..." The only Leader of one of the Factions who was calm blurted out, placing his two legs on the table as he leaned back on the couch. "If she wanted us dead, we'd be dead already." Azazel's words relaxed everyone in the room, as they knew he was right.
"First, we should talk about what happened yesterday." Sirzechs settled back in his seat, looking a much more relaxed face. "As you already know, we received another attack from the Chaos Brigade. That's what we least want to talk about now, due to the fact that we all know the outcome." Everyone nodded at his words, except for Ophis who was in her own world as she enjoyed the paddle. "Apparently, the previous attack by the Demons of the former reign had also been influenced by the same target. It is my understanding that it is an object found in our vault."
"Have you found it yet?" questioned Odin, receiving a shake of the head from Sirzechs.
"The vault has existed since the origin of the Demons. As you might imagine, it holds a great deal of treasure." Explained the Demon King. "We don't know how long it might take to find it, but I have Ajuka Beelzebub in charge of the search, he has the best eye for finding rare and extremely valuable things, so I'm sure he'll be able to find it." Sirzechs paused slightly to see if anyone had a question, but seeing that they didn't, he continued. "I summoned you here to see if anyone had any idea what this is all about, that way we could speed up the search quite a bit."
"From what you told me, it was clear that Rizevim wanted that artifact no matter what, so it would be really strange if anyone else knew about it. If it were me, I'd say that's knowledge that only the direct descendants of the Ancient Demon King had. Otherwise, it wouldn't make any sense that everything would have been kept secret even from the Demons themselves." Michael gave his point, and everyone had to agree.
"I know Vali quite well." Azazel's comment made everyone look at him. "If he would know anything about it, he would have told me about it by now. It wouldn't seem strange to me that it's some kind of secret between Rizevim and the Old Demon King, especially that we now have the knowledge that the Old Demon King hadn't actually died sealing the Trihexa." Everyone nodded their heads, noting that trying to contact the pelibranch would also be a waste of time.
"I had already thought about this, but I thought with a little luck I might find more answers..." Sirzechs stated as he rubbed his chin. "Anyway, there's nothing else to do but wait." The Demon bowed his shoulders, then put on his serious look once more. "Now, there's a reason that's also been bothering me lately..." Sirzechs fixed his gaze on the Gremory sequitur and his sister, then glanced at the brown-haired man.
"Do either of you know where that source of such powerful magic and energy came from?"
"Oh, it had been Issei!" Gasper exclaimed, being the only one who had been conscious at the time.
But apparently he had not been quite aware of his own words, as everyone was now looking at Issei with great curiosity, especially those who had been involved in everything that had happened at that moment.
"That's right, I hadn't wondered until now how you were able to cure me of a deadly poison..." Declared Tiamat, who was also very interested in that answer.
At everyone's attention, that classic friendly look of Issei's changed to a more serious one, remembering Great Red's request.
"Everything that happened with you today, the explosion of power inside your body..."
"You have to keep everything a secret, or the consequences could be very serious."
Issei's gaze returned to its usual look, opting for an innocent smile as he rubbed his hair.
"Actually, that power wasn't mine." He replied as he chuckled. "I borrowed it."
That answer seemed to settle almost everyone's doubts, but there was someone who wasn't satisfied with the answer.
"Who was the one who lent it to you?" Sirzechs tried to probe even further, and after that question, Issei could find out in the worst way that he was not a good liar.
In fact, he was really lousy.
"What a bullshit excuse..." He thought to himself, starting to turn pale. "I should have thought of a better excuse when I had the time, I'm such a fucking idiot..."
"Hyoudou?" Michael couldn't help but look at him with great confusion, as the boy didn't answer.
"I...uh, hehe...you see..." All of his words happened to come out of his lips with great awkwardness, managing to raise more than one eyebrow.
Before Issei could come up with an even less thought out excuse than the previous one, a voice echoed throughout the room.
"I did it."
Everyone brought their gaze to Ophis, who seemed to finally be paying attention to the meeting, and the fact that the paddle had left her mouth was proof of that.
At that moment, Sirzechs became really serious.
"Why did you lend him your power?"
"Because yes."
"How long have you known each other?"
"Time is relative."
"How is it that you were able to give him your power?"
"By a method."
"What method?"
"One I know."
"You haven't answered any of the questions..." Sirzechs couldn't help but sketch a rather fake smile, getting Ophis to look at him with a tiny grin.
"I answered them all." She replied in an innocent manner. "They're just not the answers you want."
"May I ask a question?" Azazel held up one of his hands, gaining the Goddess' attention.
"Speak." Was her simple reply, bringing the paddle back to her mouth.
"Why did you notice Issei?" This question seemed much harder for her to twist, still, this time she had no intentions of doing so.
"I want him to join me." That comment made everyone's eyes widen beyond belief.
"I-I'm sorry, Miss Ophis, but you can't do that..." Sirzechs declared with a shaky smile as sweat ran down his face.
"I can't?" Ophis tilted her head to the side.
"Why can't I?"
"You see, Issei is affiliated with my sister's Nobility, and as such already belongs to the Demons."
"Does he belong to the Demons? Are you serious?" The atmosphere became tense out of nowhere, as Ophis' eyes became quite ominous. "How can someone belong to something that didn't even give them a chance to choose? After all, it's obvious that they waited for Issei to die so that he would have no choice but to enter the peerage of the squealing bitch." That comment made Issei's eyes widen in shock, while certain Demons became really nervous. "Unlike you guys, I do give him chances and I don't mind if he decides to turn me down."
"Hehehe, I think we should relax a bit..." Sirzechs stated, doing his best to deflect the topic. "By the way, does anyone know why Yasaka was absent?" That comment seemed to distract everyone's attention, as they looked at the Yokai woman's empty seat.
"As far as I know, she was having some trouble with some troublemakers. She says she's got it under control." Odin would reply, receiving a nod from everyone.
"I guess there's nothing more to talk about..." Sirzechs stood up from his seat, looking around at everyone with a smile. "The last thing left for me to say is that, if some of you run into problems related to the Chaos Brigade, from now on you can call for reinforcements if you see the need."
"I feel the same way." Michael rose from his seat.
"You know I wouldn't have a problem with that." Azazel was next to affirm as he waved his hand dismissively.
"I say the same as the Fallen Angel." Odin followed Michael's lead, only to give a small nod at the end.
"I hope you're not angry, Ophis." Sirzechs stated, fixing his gaze on Ophis, who wasn't even paying attention to him.
"If they're asking for trouble themselves, then they'll have to face the consequences." Was the Goddess' curt reply, indicating that she cared little and nothing for all the casualties her group had suffered these past few days.
"Thank you for understanding." Sirzechs gave a small bow, then raised his hands to emphasize his next words:
"The reunion is over."
END OF CHAPTER!
I hope you enjoyed it. I promise to bring the next chapter as soon as possible.
If you have any criticism or questions about the translation or the story, don't hesitate to ask. I will always answer.
Thank you very much for reading!