Prologue 2: New Love and Friendship
It's been 90 years since the world entered the first decade of the 21st century. Ever since his banishment to the Land of the Rising Sun, he has earned enough yen for private land.
Prior to the year 2010, he has been buying equipment or requirements for building said community and takes about a year and a half to build the community that is hidden from the humans (or any other species). The reason for this is that ever since his banishment, there have been several banishments from Adriel.
From what he could infer that his banishment generated the Champions to have a tighter hold over their underlings. Regardless of them getting caught and punished or fleeing from Adriel, they left a dent in the Adrielites forces leaving the Federation to fill in most of the shoes. Even the others who are equals to the Champion also chose exalted and leave with the others to regroup with Issei.
After they had found Issei, they organized themselves in order to continue the fight and survive should the Void's forces or Adrielites attempted to wipe them out. Hiding in plain sight does have its advantages as the newly formed Darklighter faction split themselves to different locations where the Lords' recruitment are at work.
Being made into a leader of the Darklighters was tough in all regards. Having meetings on a daily basis about what to do, how to proceed into things, and whether or not we should interfere in the affairs of the Supernatural, and anything else in between. To further his stress, he has to teach all non-human Dark Adreilite to take on human forms. Covering the tracks of themselves outside their safe zones from any enemies. Trying to figure out a way to develop a similar converting system to the Adreilites.
To ease his burdens, he spends his time with Tamamo-No-Mae, Kuroka, Esdeath, or Mordred Pendragon. When they are busy, then he spends his time with what might considers to be one-night stands or sex friends. Due to continuing activities like that, he has adopted a slightly above average amount of perversity into his behavior.
"It been long since the last time I'm in a city," said Issei as he explored a human city since well a long time. He is dressed in slim back colored jeans, sneakers, and a black hoodie masking his upper face while using some kind of bracelet on his right wrist which is called the Hiddener.
It was created to hide our "scent" completely while out of the community. Apparently, losing our wings not just weakened the Darklighters, but it unleashed a "scent" for the Lords' forces or supernatural individuals. They would figure that out the hard way repeatedly until the Hiddener was developed and successfully tested. The only thing they can't count on for times are the advanced systems of the Federation that can identify their facial features.
"Admit it, friend. You're not fit for the commander-in-chief business!" says a voice in his head that causes Issei's eye twitches.
'What do you mean by that,' Issei says to the voice in thought.
"What I mean by that is that you're more used to fighting a war, instead of leading them. You basically have difficulty dealing with issues that involve further deep thinking of your actions. Added to the fact that you needed a cat, a fox, a knight, and a sadist to lower your stress down a notch that was gathered from your role. Furthermore, you are basically walking around possible enemy territory without guards." The voice explains the errors of Issei's apparent leadership.
'What do you expect of me, Godzilla? They just gave me this role because I survived being on the run for the past 90 years. I'm at least still not ready for leading a platoon then, and still not ready to lead the entire system. Besides, I'm 95% convinced that it happens uncontrollably.'
"So you said, yet you show your colors."
Issei raised an eyebrow at that, 'What do you mean by that, Godzilla?'
"Oh, pretending to be ignorant at this. You can only trick those who aren't a part of your essence. I, on the other hand, am a part of your essence that knows you from the inside and out."
When hearing that in his mind, Issei felt an urge to either disgust or puke at him. 'I don't know how to react to that statement.'
"And that is my cue to explain that further. Ever since your banishment, you have been showing advanced signs of 'hot-blooded.'"
'Now I know you're making this up…'
"Don't interrupt me, Friend! The term 'hot-blooded' refers to the youth."
'You do know that I consider being more ancient than any other human.'
"Yet you're trapped in a teenager's body ever since she brings you back from the dead," Without thinking, Godzilla reminds Issei of the woman he once loved. The latter stopped walking bearing a grim expression as a tear surfaced and his hands were clenching as if his hands carried a pair of weapons.
Realizing his mistake, Godzilla says, "Sorry, I didn't mean it, Issei. I was trying to prove a point."
'It's fine! Could you, for now, take a nap? I would like to be alone for a while. You could say what you are trying to prove later on,' Issei thought in a demanding tone.
"Very well, Issei. Wake me up if something happens or we're back home," said Godzilla before taking a nap leaving Issei alone to wander the human city.
After the exploration of the city, Issei was about to head back to the hidden community until he sensed something! Although, his senses have been weakened due to circumstances. He closes his eyes and empties his mind as his senses gain significant strength. Enough strength to find what exactly he sensed.
It is uniquely close to his land, meaning that it could be of supernatural origins. It would expose the Darklighters faster than Bruce Wayne's prediction. In his senses, he was able to identify it as some sort of barrier that has a diameter of 25-30 feet.
Outside, he had a grim expression, but on the inside, he was panicking. The reason why is that the barrier's aura is made out of greed. In other words, a User from the Lord of Greed is in danger close to a Darklighter's base. A Supernatural User sparks questions like what species does this user belong to and what are they doing here.
Further focusing on a part of the barrier, he was able to peek through it. From his perspective, there are only two energy signatures. The first one he sees appears to be a womanly figure with dim light surrounding her. There was one feature that easily identifies her species; five pairs of bird-like wings. He remembers Kuroka and Gaeriel telling him of what they know of the Supernatural before his banishment. This feminine figure is a fallen angel, a being that falls from Heaven by committing sins of (from Issei's perspective) any kind. The figure seems to be a leader class known as what Gaeriel tells him that the leaders of the Fallen Angels are Ca-cad. Cades! No, it is the Cadre. This Cadre seems to be wounded or beaten due to her lying down on the ground while her head is facing her opponent.
At first glance, the other seems to be a male fallen angel as well. This one seems to have four pairs of wings marking him to be not far off from being a Cadre. However, in an aural sense, he is emitting the same aura as the barrier but less thick and easily recognizable. On the right hand of this fallen angel lies the center of the aura; the Greed Ring.
He fully knows what happens when an individual accepts a Void's ring. When accepted, they became a puppet for the Lords as they accepted all commands from their Lords even though they still retained their personality.
His senses returned to its original set as he opened his eyes. His eyes show hints of conflict. The reason why is that he is deciding whether to ignore this or to intervene. After all, his duty as a Darklighter is to keep hidden because staying in the shadows is their only strength against anyone that is a threat to the humans. Losing that meant losing their edge as it is easily broken.
Then again, this User is supernatural in origins and having supernatural beings in the Lords' side is disastrous. Since, the supernatural beings are stronger than humans and being recruited by a lantern make them stronger than a standard thrall.
Luckily for the Cadre, Issei isn't someone who would abandon those who can't fight back especially if the figure is female. He put on a serious expression as he raised his left hand in the air like a fighter who wins a fight. Suddenly, he bent down like kneeling in front of loyalty and bang his fist into the ground creating a tiny crater as he said, "Core Breaker!"
In an instant, his entire body was engulfed in the brightest orange glow. When the glow fades, Issei is in his Core Breaker armor. It has undergone great changes to the armor he wears. His once all-white tactician dragon armor became black semi-heavy duty dragon armor. The orbs are in fire-like colors. What was used to be twin blades attached to the wrist is no longer part of the armor. His helmet used to have wing-shaped horns on the sides. Now, they are gone and on the top of the helmet are three horns; two of them are small while the one in front of them is like a sickle blade. These horns that replaced the wing horns are in the formation of an arrow. One of the Helmet Visors became flaming eyes while the other is regular orange. His tail is now thicker and has enough force to tripped giants. His back is smooth and heavily armored while a single yet smaller row of spikes is located where his spine. On the shoulder blades, arch-like lines are located at both sides of the spines. Unlike the colors of the orbs, the lines are dying red. The lines serve as a reminder of the cause of the changes of the armor which is the loss of his wings. The feet are heavy duty and resemble those of an actual western type dragon.
He, then, started to run with his heavy armored boots heading towards the dangers to handle this rare threat. Although he may lose his wings and the armor feels a bit heavier, he has enough training to move at sufficient speed. He just hoped that he made it in time.
While Issei in his legendary combat attire on the way to the rescue, things were not going so well in the barrier.
Inside the barrier, it was like walking into a war zone. The ground burned as pieces of lumber are found almost everywhere within the barrier. The only signs of life are two winged figures; one who was in the ground breathing as hard as she could do while the other who was on the air wasn't any worse than his opponent. In fact, he has almost no injuries whatsoever.
The feminine figure is a young woman, drop-dead gorgeous, that looked no older than her late 20s. She had long flowing navy blue hair that reached down past her posterior (which is plump and firm) She had side bangs that reached down to her midriff and front bangs that reached her nose and dirty cheeks only showing off her bright violet eyes. Her skin is slightly pale so it seems easy to get her skin dirty. She had a curvaceous body that personally voiced the word meaning of sexy. Her bust is practically one of the biggest sets that a woman is blessed with and her hips were wide giving her a jaw-dropping hourglass figure. Her flat stomach was easily exposed, showing off more of her flawless skin (even though it is currently dirty or somewhat bruised/cut), as well as her perfect back arch.
Before the battle even started, her attire consisted of a black, sleeveless, tight fit top that stopped before stomach, looking to enhance her breasts size. With it, she wore a double slitted black skirt that showed off her long, slender legs and thick thighs, with black high heel boots that reached up to her mid thighs. Now, some aspects of her attire were shredded off of her completely her glory as the some exposed areas have been cut such as on her thighs, back, stomach, and arms. She is currently breathless as she glares at her opponent and her wings are prepared to take flight at once.
Her opponent is a young man that looks in his teens. He has red eyes and yellow hair that is spiked up. He seems to be wearing some sort of deepest green academy uniform that has a tattered collar and lacks the tie. The cuffs of his sleeves are designed to look like the kanji for king. He wears red earrings, a green stone necklace, and a purple band around his neck. On the right hand, there is a glowing dark green ring. Both the ring and the center of the uniform have a symbol; it's the symbol for one of the seven deadly sins. He is currently in the air with his wings stretched to its edges and has an arrogant smirk.
The female says, "How is it possible for you to beat me? You only have four wings while I have ten! It's completely impossible for a Cadre to be beaten like this!"
The male says with a complete sense of arrogance, "Perhaps, It's because I'm a man and you a woman. Unlike you, Penemue, I'm actively in combat while you as a woman do best in your status as a Chief Secretary do the advice and paperwork. In other words, you haven't been in combat ever since the Great War. Other than that, this battle proved that men are superior over women and that women should be their toys…"
The now named Penemue interrupted, "And this is the reason why you attack me, Nerius. Understand the actions you're committing? You have betrayed Grigori for such a weak cause to attack a cadre. Azazel will have you imprisoned in the Cocytus!"
What shocked Penemue is that the now named Nerius laughed at this so hard that he hurt his stomach. When Nerius calmed down, he smirks and says, "As if! Ever since the Great War, Azazel has been focusing more on Sacred Gears than on our kind. For many years, I forced myself to be loyal to that Bastard! But now, …"
Before he could finish, he gently lands on the ground and says, "…With this gift, I will relieve Azazel from his command and I want you, Penemue, to join me."
This caused Penemue to widen her eyes because she was sure that Nerius would kill her after saying that. She says as she was prepared to attack at the right moment, "Why?"
He answers, "Ever since, I was assigned to you, I've been having certain thoughts about you. At times, those thoughts turned into desire as I started to crave for you. You're by far the most beautiful woman I ever came across and wanted you to be mine. It was my desires and thoughts of you that granted me; the Gift. So, join me to overthrow our pathetic excuse of a leader."
Penemue says, "As much as Azazel's interests are in Sacred Gears and women, but he does prove to have the capabilities as a leader."
Once that was finished, she was about to attack Nerius. The keyword was the word ABOUT. The reason is that Penemue was hit into the ground by what is described to be a green energy blast. She is on the ground and about to get up when a second energy blast that turns into halos and bars trapped her by the wings, arms, and legs to the ground on her back. She was struggling to get free, but it was futile.
She, then, heard Nerius as he said, "Guess I should see that coming. I give you a proposal and you reject it. Lucky for me that I won't take no as an answer from you. Don't blame me but yourself as you choose a hard way."
"Wwww-What are you going to do?" asks Penemue with a hint of fear as Nerius stands in front of her.
"Isn't it obvious!" Said Nerius as he tore Penemue's skirt off revealing her panties as he grabbed one of her fleshy orbs; the one that is exposed. Nerius smiled creepily as his eyes were clouded in lust and a tent appeared, scaring Penemue as she has nothing to stop him from doing whatever he's planning to do to her body.
"If I remember correctly, you haven't had a taste of men in a long time. I'm going to make you submit and be loyal only to me. Let's see how strong you're when I plow you until you're just screaming my name out." said Nerius as he was about to get off his pants and her panties.
Before he could do as he promised, the ring makes a sound as the light turns off and on confusing both as to why the ring is acting like this. It was still alive as the barrier was broken in by a figure. Once the figure sees Nerius and Penemue' states, the figure quickly shoves Nerius away from Penemue.
(Issei's Pov) Thanks to the Abyss that I've chosen to intervene! Attacking a woman regardless she's a supernatural, human or otherwise is one thing, but going to rape her is a line that shouldn't be cross.
Thankful for the Forgotten Supreme Gear is greatly famous for having what might be considered an overwhelming advantage over the enemy. Voice commanded abilities such as [Adapt] which grants leg's boosters and [Superpower] which allows me to have unbelievable strength and endurance. Even though my Nexus Breaker's armor is like the skin of Godzilla, I have an ability called [Reborn] which heals my injuries and repairs my armor no matter how bad the damage is. These three abilities are (in my opinion) my strongest of all my unlocked or created abilities combined.
"Enough chat-chit, Brat. We have a battle to win!" Godzilla says with a battle-hungry tone. In truth, Godzilla is more than staying focused on battles. In fact, that saved me from countless times of service as a Great Protector.
'I thought you were sleeping,' I mentally said.
"Actually, when you entered the Core Breaker, I was awake at that time. Besides, we couldn't miss this opportunity," said a confident Kajiu.
'What do you mean by that, Godzilla?' I asked.
Godzilla answers, "We're fighting a type of enemy that will test your worth as a Leader. You should know firsthand that Supernatural beings that turned into Users cause more damage than the average Users."
'Fine, at the very least. Let me handle this situation my own way!' I say this with such tone that I know that Godzilla knows that there's no change in strategy at this soon-to-be fight.
"Just this once! I don't want to be blamed by others for sending you into the hands of death nor I don't want to die with my first Wielder."
I only nod at this with a relaxing smile underneath the armor. Eventually, the Fallen Greed User gets on his feet and shrugs off his wounds (if he has any).
He heard the User in the hints of outrage, "What are you to prevent me from claiming my earned price?"
My hands clench and unclench as my body shook into battle at what he said. How dare he treat her like a trophy or reward of his work. But, I managed to control my anger and ignored it by turning around with intentions to help the female of the current User's species. Besides, I'm stronger to resist the thirst for women most of the time, I can resist one look of this Fallen Angel.
That was before I turned around and looked straight at her. When I did, I felt like time had stopped or my heart had stopped beating for several moments as I looked at this Cadre. There was something about her that drew me to this woman like Honey attracting the Bears or the Bees. Apart from that, I couldn't help myself from this feeling. It was so familiar to me a lifetime ago that I spent time with her. I could tell that I'm standing like awestruck in her views but that look she gives me made me blush like a tomato at the sight of this woman- NO, THIS GODDESS. Not to mention, the perfection of this woman's body triggers my perverted thoughts to surface. It was at that moment, I wanted to ensure her safety and happiness.
I approached the woman and bent down as I broke the circle by crushing it and the bars by snapping them. This deeply angered male because he was being ignored but the User instincts have prevented him from carrying out his anger.
'Dammit, what's happening to me?' Issei thought as his heart was still beating at a very fast rate. It had been like that since he had seen the female Cadre.
"I think that you have fallen in love with this Fallen Angel. To my surprise, I got to admit that she is the crown jewel among jewels," Godzilla chimed in.
'How can you suggest that even after all I have been through,' Issei asked back.
"That was different as your emotions were contained then. Now, your emotions are unleashed as they guide you. Just think of it this way in a room full of your women, only this one affected you the most. That speaks quality in itself does it not?" Godzilla replied.
'I guess, it does. All right, this is my chance to talk to her and my chance to get rid of my opponent.' Issei thought as he looked deeply into her eyes as one of his hands began to fix the clothing as well as creating a new skirt for her to cover her cave of wonders further.
As the woman's eyes widened of this as she gazed into the eyes of her hero and sensed the anxious sweeping out of armor. Issei takes this as a sign to say something, "IIIIIIIII wwwwwas in the area when I sensed this. You are by far the most beautiful woman I've stumbled across. Your beauty surpassed that of Helen who launched a thousand ships into war."
This causes Issei to mentally cursed at this, Godzilla laughs in amusement at this, and the woman to blush at such words. Issei prayed for something or someone to interrupt this moment.
Thankfully, someone has answered his prayer as the male fallen ignored his User instincts and launched himself at the being. Nerius is deeply mad at the thought of this Sacred Gear user trying to steal what is rightfully his. He was close as he created a greenish light spear ready to slain Issei.
However, Issei just turned around and punched him to avoid being speared. The punch sends Nerius a few steps away. Then, Issei faced the female Cadre trying very hard to ignore being trapped by her luscious beauty. "Let me handle this matter, first!"
The woman nodded as she looked away to hide her blush and wonder of who her savior is and his purpose of being here.
Issei has completely focused on the Fallen User who is getting back up. He could see the anger in Nerius. He could guess that he became a puppet of Gtnnanth because he wanted the female Cadre all to himself. Perhaps the fallen User couldn't listen to reason and will be forced to kill him.
However, he has a try or risk conflict with the fallen angels when one of their kind is killed by his own hands. This fallen might be a subordinate to a more powerful cadre or the female one. After all, the Darklighters and the Fallen are alike as they are targeted by both sides of the coin.
Gathering his thoughts and having his body ready to be attacked by the Fallen User should reasoning fail, "What is your name, User?"
"Tsk, I'm not a user, low life. I'M Nerius of the Fallen Angels, trash. You shall know your betters better."
"Then, why did you have a Greed ring in the first place?"
"What, this?" said Nerius as he shows it to Issei the ring as Penemue gains her attention hoping to find the cause of Nerius' betrayal. "This is the Gift which bestows itself unto me. Is this what you're referring to?"
Issei nodded before further interrogating his possible opponent, "So, the ring just comes to you and you accept it just like that?"
"Correct on that," said Nerius as he stood like a conqueror ignoring Issei who looked at the ground.
"No one else gives this to you?"
"No one else!"
Now Issei knows that the Lords updated those rings to search out their host rather than Lords giving rings to their thralls. Pretty Smart move since Lords have to expose themselves to do so. Whatever the case, he needs to slay him before he could bear fruit to the plans of the Void Lords. "Before we fight, I have two last questions," says as Issei enters into his combat pose.
Nerius became even angrier at this weakling thinking that the armored sacred gear user is stalling. "What are they, scum?"
"The First Question is with the ring, what changes do you want to bring to your kin?"
This question caused the woman to look at him strangely at the Sacred Gear User as well as Nerius does. Within a moment, Nerius says as he acts high and mighty, "To ensure that we, the Fallen Angels, are superior among all races by whatever the means and to put women in their places as nothing but breeding stock."
This caused disgust from Penemue, and even greater disgust for Issei and Godzilla. In his mind, Godzilla says, "You know what, just kill him! You will be doing a great service towards the Fallen Angels."
Issei snorted and narrowed his eyes at Nerius as he commended, "I see! What is your name, Fallen?"
Nerius laughed as he said, "Trash like you don't deserve names of your better." Then, he was about to launch a similar attack that stops Penemue.
He saw his opponent's left-hand shape into a U aiming at the ground and heard a darker voice, [Wave Blaster]. An energy ball slams the ground violently from the U shaped hand as the arm recoils like a gun. After that, an energy wave emerges from that slams and is coming straight towards Nerius as he uses the Greed Ring to create a barrier.
He remembers when Penemue was launching light spears onto him when he was down. He punches the fist that has his Gift in the air about to curse and about to face his death when the energy from the ring blast out and protect like a mother would protect its young. However, it didn't happen this time as the energy wave struck the barrier and managed to break the barrier, surprising Nerius, but the barrier managed to save him from the wrath of the wave.
Unknown to Nerius, Issei has taken advantage of the barrier being destroyed by his energy wave as he used what remained of his adreilte speed to appear in front of the Greed Fallen. Once Nerius' eyes widened in shock as Issei was in front of him as he realized his mistake or two. Issei immediately kicks him off the ground and uses the tail to swipe him into the chunks of woods that used to be a bunch of trees with enough force for Nerius to form a crater.
Before Penemue warmed Issei, Nerius was airborne and about to strike him with a light spear. That was in vain as Issei broke the spear before it could damage him and after he grabbed it. Then, Issei quickly throws a fury of punches and kicks on the front and sides of Nerius as he was unable to stop even a single one in his dazed state.
Nerius heard the voice saying [Spiral Burst] and he was hit by what feels like a fireball to his back. Lucky the ring creates a smaller barrier that sends him near the barrier he created as it trickled from below to the top of the dome. He suddenly gets up and about to launch green energy to his opponent, only to find Issei nowhere to be seen.
"Is that the best you got, Greed User!"
Issei was on Nerius, announcing his presence via a brutal uppercut that sent Issei into the air once more. This time, Nerius managed to block the follow-up kick, if only just barely. The force behind it still him careening backward though. By the time he'd recovered, Issei turned his back to go to the surprised woman as she watched the fight.
Issei says to Nerius, "This? Is this what you wanted? Does everything you have done, everything you compromise worth it? You aren't worthy of Her. Not even worthy of your Gift, User."
This triggers the anger of Nerius greatly as he creates a barrage of light spears and uses the Gift to summon more light spears and launch it to Issei. During that time, Issei who looked uncaring as the voice says once more, [Spiral breathe] as his mouthguard and blast nearest light spears before it struck him. The result was a shockwave and smoke emerged to cover Issei completely.
Finally, stopping after nearly a full minute of creating barriers of light spears and launching them at Issei, Issei was breathing hard as he waited for the smoke to clear. When nothing rushed out at him, Nerius allowed himself to heave a sigh of relief… only to freeze in place immediately after as Issei spoke up right next to him, "Not bad boy, it's my time now!"
"FUCK!" As Nerius spun to address the threat, he came up empty, spinning around in search of his opponent, he came up blank each time.
"Are you looking for me, User?" Once more turning to face the voice, this time he was met with the sight of a completely undamaged armored Issei bringing his heel down on his face. "AAARRRGGHH!" With a scream, Nerius was thrown into the ground by Issei, forming a crater as Issei leaped back.
Pulling himself out of the crater, Nerius was in bad shape. His clothing was dirty as he could feel that few of his bones were broken. Coughing, Nerius painted the ground he spat at with his own blood. 'Wha-what the hell is he?' Crawling on all fours, Nerius was trying his best to stand when he was forced back to the ground courtesy of Issei's punch to his back.
Smashed back onto the ground once more, Nerius' vision faded in and out of focus. Even more of his bones were broken as somehow Issei's fist dealt some damage to his organs. At that time, Nerius didn't know if any of the wounds were fatal. The only reason why he was still awake and coherent despite the pain was that his body is supernatural in origin.
Issei removed his fist and replaced it with one of his feet as he says, "You know, Godzilla was expecting you might give me a challenge… instead, you disappoint him. Oh well, a battle is a battle."
Reaching down, Issei grabbed Nerius by the neck and lifted him up. "There are stronger beings out there that will erase you should you either prove your uselessness or otherwise. Unfortunately, you're dealing with a stronger being that knows better."
"Fu-fuck y-you," Nerius managed to spit out despite the pain and the chokehold.
Issei wasn't amused, "you think that was funny, boy! Well, do you?" Punctuating each word with a powerful blow to the stomach, he left Nerius a coughing mess as even more of his sight was blurry with blood. "You wanted to blame someone, blame yourself for this, Boy! Did you really think you could upset the way things are as it is with your master Gtnnanth's plans and get away with it?"
"Wh-who the hell is Gtnnanth? I have never met him and what are you talking about!"
Issei blinked at this as Godzilla said, "A user that doesn't know his place within the Void's armies. Now, I hear everything!" Nevertheless, Issei answers, "Gtnnanth is better known as the Lord of Greed that served the Void. Your 'Gift' is actually meant that you're a slave to Gtnnanth force to fight against the forces of the Abyss."
"I ain't no slave to anyone! What are the forces of the Abyss?"
"Did your 'Gift' light brighter and dim for seconds before I came here?"
Nerius nodded slowly due to the pain. Issei continues, "Did your instincts scream at you when you see me or something stops you from attacking me for a while?"
Nerius' eyes widen at this for knowing what's to stop him from attacking Issei as Penemue listens to this. The former slowly asks due to his conditions, "How do you know about that?"
The response of Issei is informational as he lowers his warrior behavior as a mentor behavior kick in, "it's standard behavior of Users. In general, those serve as a warning that your true enemy has revealed themselves to you."
"What's the enemy?"
"Let me introduce myself! I'm Issei, a Darklighter and bearer of the title, Fallen Guardian Dragon,'" said Issei as he sent an energy pulse to confirm it.
While Issei focuses only on the user's face, Penemue notices something and yells at Issei. Too late to react, Issei was stabbed at his lower left rib by a light spear created by Nerius. He released Nerius as he gasped his wound and fell down. Penemue widens her eyes in horror as her savior needs help and she barely has enough energy to save both him and herself from the traitor.
Ever since his appearance and his words to her, Penemue has gained interest in the now named Issei. When he turned to look at her, she could tell that he was checking her out. But, she felt his feelings that really captured her eyes. In the beginning, she could sense the love at first signs, but it slowly turns into feelings of sorrow, anger, and betrayal. She didn't know that he knew or unknowing that she could sense it.
Her thirst to know Issei has grown to new heights as he explains to his opponents. He announces that he's the enemy of the ring and calls himself a Darklighter and Fallen Guardian Dragon. Unknowingly to the combatants, she could feel more negative feelings from Issei as she wanted to comfort him.
Now, Penemue wanted to join the fight as Issei's fall to the ground. Although Issei heals her and repairs her clothing, he didn't regain her the standmia to create light spears or fly to save him. Her only hope is for Azazel to notice her delay to the meeting.
Then, she saw Nerius slowly getting up and walking to Issei, she heard him saying, You hurt me! For that, I'm going to make sure you die a horrible death." Surprising to her, Nerius kicked Issei in the chin as he humped into the ground. He lay in pain as Nerius continued to stomp on his chest.
That inhumane moment is the last straw for Penemue as she struggles to stand up and save Issei from that fate. In her past, she witnessed someone take her pain as uselessness forced her to do nothing to stop it. Watching this caused a flashback of that moment caused her to do this. Consequences be damned, if her equals scolded her for this, she wouldn't let no one scapegoat her in the pain.
She walked like a child that walked for the first time towards this poor excuse of tide-turning the battle. After the stomping, Nerius creates an enchanted light spear, contrary to the ring, ready to slew Issei as he struggles to get on his knees as he spits out blood to the ground getting ready to look up. Seeing this, she picked up the pace to stop Issei from getting killed. However, Penemue falls to the ground as she looks to the scene hoping that she has time.
Nerius sends the spear to deliver the final blow. Lucky for Issei, his reaction has saved him as the spear stabbed him by his raised hand only. His stabbed hand holds the spear from earning a head-kill.
Annoyed at this, Nerius aims the hand that holds his Gift ready to send a lethal attack when Issei's free hand has grabbed his hand. Issei, then, took this moment to stand up as his wound made him wince in pain as blood flowed out. Once, he stands tall and strong, surprising Penemue and angering Nerius. With enough force, he headbutted Nerius to a fair distance.
That was a mistake in terms of battle and warfare. As Issei headbutted Nerius in a distance giving the latter an advantage to using his ring to blast and kill Issei. Not wasting this opportunity, Nerius throws his fist, that holds his ring, to finish his interference once and for all.
However, the mistake wasn't issued, as nothing was happening that caused fatal injuries to the interference. Issei huffs a puff as if suppressing a chuckle as he raises a closed fist. It was intense when he opened it. In the hand lies the Greed Ring, shocking both Nerius and Penemue seeing nothing that involves Issei taking off the ring from Nerius. It was at that moment, the barrier vanished into thin air and the clothing that Nerius wears went to its original color of Grigori. It was a mistake indeed but it was unexpecting mistake.
To finish this, Issei, despite his injury, uses the Adreilite speed to close the distance between himself and Nerius after he destroys the Greed Ring. With one act, he sent the same hand that crashed the ring like a missile. The hand went through the body like paper and seemed to be holding the still-beating heart of his opponent.
He said to his opponent with no remorse, "Those who make people slaves for their pleasure should die like the scum they are." With that, he crushed the heart like gloo and retracted, dropping the mess of the heart as well as pushing the body of the now dead Nerius.
It was at that moment, she knew the battle was won before the finishing blow. The barrier was disabled as her senses came back with a vengeance. She could hear the animals of the forest or see the trees and the sky, but she focuses on Issei as her interest and worry increases the sight of him as he drops to his knees and his hands seem to try lessening the pain. The sign of the tail swinging rough, even banging the ground and her senses allowing her to feel living creatures' emotions depict some form of anger. This ponders her as to why Issei is angry at this victory.
Unless he is angry towards himself because of the cost of victory. Isn't it insane to be angry for being careless in a battle? Of course, people would scold in such a case, but it is unlikely. Could it be that he's an expert combatant? Due to a certain battle maniac, some expert combatants have the tenacity to outrage themselves if they make a mistake or receive a wound, sometimes both. If left unchecked, it led to self-destruction.
Finally with strength returned, Penemue stood up and walked slowly towards Issei. If he's here alone and she leaves him, there's no doubt that he will die without help. In her best interest, she would help Issei until help arrived. Then, she felt his emotions as he looked at, no into her. Those feelings made her blush and her words died in her mind.
After what seemed like hours, Issei broke the silence, "Are you alright, Cadre?"
Penemue blinked at this, "How do you know that I'm a cadre?"
"Someone I know educates me on the ranks of some factions including your, Miss…"
Penemue quickly says, "It's Penemue. Just Penemue. This someone must be wise to inform you of potential allies."
"She is hardly someone that I go to for advice, but she is important to me. It is more like potential enemies instead of potential allies," said Issei as he only thinks of Kuroka as he got up before he clutched due to the wound.
She gasped and immediately went to his side, surprising both Issei and Godzilla at this. She placed one of his arms around her neck and wrapped her right around his waist. She says in concern, "You shouldn't force yourself when you're gravely injured!"
His heart was beating faster and harder as he thought his blood was rushing to his head instead of out of the wound and he felt her bosom touching his armored torso.
He says once he no longer feels the blood rushing his head, "I have people who can heal me."
"Yeah, if you can reach them…" said Penemue as she put a hand on his wound. "... What about Grigori? There's no doubt that my allies will be here any moment now."
Thoughts filled Issei's mind of whether or not to accept help from Grigori. On one hand, his friends and loved ones will misunderstand that kind act as kidnapping and will make Grigori bleed as they "rescue" him. Then again, if he doesn't find help quick, his faction will be missing a leader.
He looked into the eyes of Penemue as his sights were starting to get blurry. It was at that moment, he said, "Penemue, I'm in your debt."
Before Penemue could respond, Issei placed a hand on his forehead while his legs felt heavy to stand as his eyes felt heavy to stay open. Suddenly his Core Breaker armor disappears in fireflies, whitish lights falling to the ground exposing his identity to Penemue. The last things he heard and felt are Penemue yelling his name, the presence of fallen angels as well as hearing their wings flapping before darkness claimed him.
When he came around, Issei bolted upright, once he noticed the ceiling differ from his room, to find himself in a dark colored bedroom. He looks around and finds the necessary objects needed in the bedroom. This room contained dark furniture as well as two doors and two faces of the room. The bed he lay and sat at has white sheets that seem to be strained with some of his blood.
Out of instinct, his left-hand assault where he took a light spear. Feeling bandages covering it, he looks down as he was chest stripped of his clothing and replaced with bandage wrapping around his ribs.
Confused about how he got here, he contacts the spirit within him, 'Godzilla? Godzilla! If you can hear me and I'm pretty sure that you hear me, please respond at this moment.'
It was long that the spirit responded, "You know that you're very annoyed like this when something happens without your knowledge."
This caused Issei to roll his eyes, 'Godzilla, what happens when I collapse!'
"Pretty much the same. More Fallen Angels came and helped both you and Penemue to their headquarters. They treated you first because of Penemue's orders."
This caused a pause in his heartbeat, 'Penemue orders her subordinates to treat me instead of herself?'
"Yes, since you healed her. There was no need for medical attention to her except rest."
'What happens to her.'
"No doubt talking or reporting to her equals about her encounter with a User and you or whatever Cadres do. Before, she was checking on you and was the one to change your bandages with new ones."
Again, he touches the wound feeling that it has gotten smaller, but still, there's a hole. He mentally says in frustration, 'What taking it so long to be fully healed?'
"Well, it's not my fault that your regeneration ability is affected because your wings were ripped apart."
'That was a rhetorical question, Godzilla!'
"And that was a rhetorical answer, Old Brat!"
'Don't you get smart with me!'
"I'm not getting smart. I just got there."
'Say one more thing'
"Go to Hell!"
With that, Issei severed his contract with Godzilla. He sighed as he got up and walked to what seemed to be window blind. He was about to remove the blind to see outside when he heard his door opening and see towards the source. He found Penemue, still wearing the same outfit, walking in holding a tray of food.
Penemue said she was embarrassed, "Hello, Issei. I brought some food for you."
Issei blinks, "How do you know my name?"
Penemue giggled at this after she got the food tray on a piece of furniture, "I overheard you saying your name while you held Nerius and as for knowing you were alive."
'I shouldn't underestimate some supernatural's abilities,' thought Issei as he sat down on the bed and found the tray containing three pancakes with syrup on them, a few portions of bacon, hash browns, and some eggs as well as a set of a fork, spoon, and knife. He uses a knife and fork to acquire a piece of the pancakes and takes a bite of it. He says in blessing, "This is very good. Do you cook this?"
Penemue replied, "Yes, thank you for your modesty."
After he finished the meal at a slow pace, he turned to Penemue who seemed to act almost like a maid. He says, "I'd take it that I'm in Grigori HQ."
Penemue nodded, "When you collapse, a search team has found us and I explain everything to them. As well, I've ensured that you're treated first due to your wound. Although you seem to be in perfect health elsewhere and you're healing, the healing is too slow even for a human."
Issei gave her a sad smile, "You could say that my healing is severely weakened."
"Do you know the cause of it?"
"Unfornaturely, I do!"
Penemue holds in her concern and curiosity towards Issei for she's afraid that he might think that she is doing that for her faction. She asks to make sure, "Does this have something to do with what you are?"
Only his eyes show surprise, but his face didn't match his eyes for it grace Penemue with a smile. His eyes soon follow as he utters, "I shouldn't compare the senses between humans and the supernatural."
Penemue blinked at this as confusion set in. He makes it sound like he's beyond humanity and the factions of the supernatural. She wanted to voice this but settled with silence instead. Once she maintains control in her mind, she poses, "What do you know about Azazel?"
He answers with some difficulty, "Azazel? According to the book of Enoch, Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Bible, Azazel is one of the fallen angels that fell from Heaven before the time of the Flood. He is the leader of the Fallen Angels. He taught men; the art of warfare and of making weapons and armor. He taught women; the art of deception of appearance. He was captured by the Archangel Raphael and chained Azazel to Dudael. I heard a rumor that he has escaped Dudael and somehow made himself a scapegoat to the people. Azazel is a master tactician who studies his opponents and the situation before making a move. Besides that, there are many rumors about him."
Penemue is shocked beyond relief that Issei is very informative about her friend and leader. She fake cough, "You learned all that from your friend? What about the rumors about him?"
He answers honestly, "Actually, my friend only said that he is a leader of the fallen angels. Anything else I learn about him is the main source and the rumors talk to him. Besides the rumor of his escape and status as a scapegoat, he became a fallen because of his lust over women, a research fanatic, loves to collect things, and a pacifist despite another rumor stating that he's the most sinister of the Fallen Angels."
Penemue sweatdropped at this while she titters. Most of it hit the spot on Azazel, however, the rumor of his sinisterness is hardly true. "What do you think about him, Issei?"
"Based on what I've learned is that Azazel is a dangerous enemy that must require a calm mind and caution to watch out for him. However, should Azazel disprove his vault as a threat, then I'll count him as a valuable ally as well as a true friend."
Penemue's mood lightens at what she wanted to hear, "Glad to hear this! Issei, would you like to meet Azazel?"
Issei looks straight into Penemue, "Does he know?"
"Yes."
"He won't try anything against me due to what happened?"
"As I say, I explain everything to them and vouch for you that he won't do anything wrong."
"Only him?"
"No, there are other leaders, as well as some special ones, who wanted to meet you."
"Are you going to be there?"
Penemue paused at this question as no one asked about her personally being in a meeting before. She blushed deeper as she said in a shy manner, "Yes, I'll be in it!"
"Do you have a shirt ready for me?"
Penemue nodded as she gave a Grigori male uniform shirt and Issei accepted with care as he slowly put it on. He walks to her side, "Will you escort me to meet Azazel?"
To those who have read Chapter 2 before 2022, I have decided to reedit the chapter as well as keeping author's notes short and brief. If you have any questions about this DXD story of mine or suggestions to make more entertainment-able, please click on the link on my profile page and search for Rise of the Fallen Guardian Dragon section. For any information seemingly missing, please check on Legend Resurgence (which is undergoing rewrite) to fills in the gaps.
Jumping off!