Breaking the Bad: DxD (OC - Meta Essence)
By: PurpleStorm
How can someone change so much in the span of a few hours? There are many answers swirling in my…
Status: ongoing
Published: 2023-07-03
Updated: 2023-08-01
Words: 64977
Chapters: 16
Original source: https/forum./threads/22979
Exported with the assistance of
Breaking the Bad: DxD (OC - Meta Essence)
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Interlude 1
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Interlude 2
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 1
How can someone change so much in the span of a few hours? There are many answers swirling in my head, but none of them can explain exactly what happened to me.
I woke up as a completely ordinary teenager in the morning. There was nothing special about me earlier today, and yet, right now I'm someone that could take over the world in a couple of years at most. And if I have the right equipment, I can probably do it in a month.
That would've been nothing more than a random daydream of mine before. Now it's not even close to some of the absurd things that I know of. Some of them are so crazy that I still find them hard to believe. Yet, I have no choice but to believe.
I still keep coming back to the fact that I can take over the world and no one will-
"Son?" My thoughts are interrupted by my father entering the kitchen. I turn to look at him, but my hands continue working, doing the motions as if I have done this action thousands of times before.
My father, Andrea Drakos, is a big portly man with a slightly tanned skin and a balding head. I can't help but think that I can fix all of that as thousands of ways to do that pop up in my head. It won't even take me more than a few hours.
"What is going on? What are you doing?" He asks, head reeling back and nose scrunching up from the smell.
"I can explain," I hurriedly say before focusing on the pot and the healthy brown liquid bubbling inside it. I gave it one last swirl with my spatula before moving it from the stove and turning the thing off.
"You better explain why our house smells so rotten!" He huffs and puffs his chest. An intimidating sight due to his size to anyone other than me. He has and will never hit me, no matter how much I deserve it at times.
"I'm making magical drugs," I say and watch as his pupils dilate, anger bubbling inside him.
"You're making drugs!" He's huffing and puffing at this point, and I can see that for the first time in his life, he's actually considering the thought of hitting me. That's understandable since drugs aren't a safe topic in our household. That word might as well be the biggest taboo due to what it means for us.
"Not drugs as you think of them," I carefully explain as I move over to take a seat on one of the chairs.
My father looks at the pot on the counter and the various jars filled with different colored liquids. The sight doesn't placate him in any way, and I can feel he's about to erupt.
"When I say magical, I truly mean magical, and I'm not trying to use some metaphor," I say before he can start shouting, which stops him only for a scant few seconds.
I use that moment to grab a discarded spoon on the table and lift it up before slamming it hard on my hand.
"Jason!" He yells before his mouth opens wide as he stares in disbelief after witnessing the shimmering blue forcefield that prevented me from harm.
"Ah, ugh… what?" Stupefied, he continues to stare, trying to come up with a plausible answer to what just happened. I allow him the time to think and stay silent.
Moments later, he snaps out of it and takes one of the other chairs for himself, deciding to give me the benefit of the doubt. He still looks like he's having a hard time believing what he just saw as he speaks, "What? How? Since when?"
"Since this morning. Went to grab a soda from the fridge and took one of the cokes. It smelled kind of weird when I opened it, but I figured I was just imagining it. Took a sip and it was the worst thing I've ever tasted in my life, but for some reason, I couldn't stop drinking it. Next thing I know, my vision is going dark and I fell, hitting my head on the table."
Father jumps on his feet in a second, all of his anger now replaced by worry as he rushes over to inspect me. "Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital for someone to check you?"
I resist the urge to scoff. There is no doctor better than me in existence. "I'm fine. That was the first thing I took care of when I woke up."
He still comes over to make sure of that, inspecting my head from every angle for any possible injury. There is none, of course. The simple healing potion was more than enough to heal me completely.
"So… how?" Father says after seeing I'm perfectly fine, though he looks lost and out of his depth, not even knowing what to ask at this moment.
"I do not truly know," I start, being completely honest with him. Despite all of the absurd things in my head, none could explain this specifically. Some of the recipes and ingredients come close to being this ridiculous, but my ability trumps them due to the simple fact that I can now make them all.
"But ever since I woke up, I've had an uncountable amount of recipes and ingredients in my head. Some are quite simple and I'd even call them mundane, but others… others completely flipped my perspective on life."
"Like what?" Father asks, but I can see he did it just to keep the conversation going.
I tapped my chin, thinking of what to use as an example before coming to a decision. "There's a potion that can turn me into a real-life game character, giving me the ability to increase my level and stats, gain skills and quests, you get the idea."
I used this as an example since we both enjoyed playing games and it got the desired effect. His eyes open wide in disbelief after seeing that I'm entirely serious.
"There are actually a few different variations for this potion, and I obviously wanted the best one for myself," I continue with my explanation.
"You made it?" He asks, coming to the wrong conclusion.
"I wish," I instantly reply. "See, the main ingredient of the potion is the core of a Chief Outer God. And before you ask what that is… well, it's apparently a Multiversal entity, whose presence can corrupt and twist even Gods. The same goes for its core as well."
Just the description alone gave me a glimpse of how little I know of reality. Multiverse, Gods, Outer Gods, so many things I've barely put any thoughts into before today.
"What did you make then?" Father asks as he motions to the counter, deciding to ignore what he just heard and pretend it never happened.
"In the pot there's a very basic body enhancing potion. Nothing that great, but it will push someone to their peak physical capabilities as long as they drink it every day for two weeks."
"Nothing that great?" Father quietly repeats, looking at me weirdly.
I just shrug since it's the truth. This potion is literally trash compared to all the crazy others I know of. Some can even work in a couple of hours at most, like the Super Soldier Serum, though I don't have the necessary equipment or abilities to make it.
Plus, that one in particular has the downside of boosting everything to the peak, including personality traits, be they good or bad. Something I'd rather not play around with until I edit the formula, but by that point I'll already be at the peak with my current potion.
"As for the liquid in the jars, the red ones are healing potions and the green ones are stamina potions." I didn't need to explain more than that since my father knew game terminology.
"But that's not all you made," he rightfully accuses me.
"Yes, I brewed three more. The first one awakened the Aura of my Soul, which gave me the forcefield you saw earlier. That one blocks pretty much all physical damage. It also boosted my physical abilities a bit and it will provide me with a personalized ability down the line," I cheerfully explain and am about to move on when he interrupts me.
"Wait, wait, wait! The Aura of your Soul? Souls are real?" He asks something that many have asked before him, though none could ever give a definite answer to said question. Not until me that is.
"Yep," I smugly reply. "There's even a potion that can awaken the Aura of the Body, buuuut our stove actually can't brew that one. Needs a lot more heat to make it."
"And the other two?" He asks, bulldozing his way through any topic he doesn't want to dwell too much on, which works against me since I want him distracted. However, I also refuse to even consider lying to him, so I have only one option.
"The other two… one of them is a basic potion meant to prevent low level mental corruption."
My father isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he isn't dumb. It doesn't take him long to make the connection that there's something wrong with the last one.
"Jason, for the love of God, please tell me that it's not dangerous, please," he begs me, and I wince since this is the first time in a long time I've seen him look this… fragile.
"It's not!" I quickly say to try and relieve him, not that it helps much. "As long as I make the potion that prevents mental corruption every week, everything will be fine! Plus, as long as I have the right equipment or abilities, I can make a more permanent version!"
He still looks worried, but he pushes his feelings down to ask, "And what does it do? The last potion."
"It turned me into a Beyonder," I say, taking a moment to consider how to properly explain that before deciding, "Basically, it sets me on a path to Godhood."
I have many ways to achieve the same and do it even faster, but the problem is, again, that I lack the necessary equipment or abilities to create such miracles. This is one of the safest methods, excluding the mental corruption, of course. Thought that's something easily solvable even with my current capabilities. And by the time I'm strong enough or have the proper equipment, I'll nearly be at the end of the Sequence and practically a God-like being.
"God… you are on the path of becoming a God." Father looks so lost and slumps on his chair, but I really didn't want to hide this from him. I care too much about him to keep him in the dark.
At the very least, he isn't dismissing my claims, so that's a small win for me. Now he just needs to accept the fact that, given enough time, I will ascend as a God.
"And a… Dragon," I add as an afterthought, looking sheepish as I do.
"What?" He straightens up and takes a moment to process my words before he erupts in laughter.
"A Dragon?" He asks but clearly doesn't expect an answer as he continues to laugh. "You really… please tell me you didn't make this decision because of our family name."
"A little bit," I answer, allowing a small smile to form on my face. "All of the options came along with a mythical form down the line, and I just had to choose the one with a Dragon."
Father continues to laugh and that makes me feel a little better. Moments later, he stops and begins massaging his temples as he looks at the ceiling, "God… I thought the supernatural was nothing more than a hoax."
I freeze after hearing that. Before, I might've missed or dismissed it, but with my new abilities as a Spectator, I caught something in his words. He wasn't talking about me or my craziness. No, he was referring to something else entirely.
"Father… does the supernatural exist in our world?" I ask, almost dreading the answer. I'll have to change up my plans for the future depending on what exists here. Maybe I'll even have to scrap my world domination plan, which will suck since that would've solved one of the rituals I'll have to do in the future.
"I'm not sure," he answers as he narrows his eyes. "Maybe? Look, after your mother left us… "
Father pauses and takes a deep breath. That's a topic neither of us like talking about, especially with the way she almost left us homeless after the divorce. And for what? To hook up with her dealer to get easier access to… I follow his example and take a deep breath of my own.
"After that, I was in a really bad place and I saw an ad on the web that promised to fulfill my wishes. I thought it was a hoax, yet I still clicked on it and was directed to a chatroom with someone who claimed to be a Devil." Father lets out a chuckle before shaking his head.
"I figured they were just having fun at the expense of others, but I still told of my situation and that I wished to start anew somewhere else. They promised to help me, help us, start a new life somewhere else, but I didn't believe them. It just sounded so outrageous to me."
He huffs and shakes his head. "The next day, I was hand delivered two tickets to Japan, alongside the deeds for the house and the gyros store downtown."
That explains a lot and why we so suddenly moved to Kuoh. A nice town, if I do say so myself, though having to learn Japanese was a bitch and a half. Still…
"What did they ask for in return for this?" I ask in worry. I know that Devils exist somewhere out there, and I'm quite surprised that my world might have such beings hiding among us.
However, I'm more worried about the price Father might have to pay. Because if they ask for his soul… I will annihilate every single one of them and burn their very souls!
"They asked for me to play games with them and to distribute fliers with my deliveries," Father answers and I sigh in relief.
"So that's how you got into video games," I say, calming down from my near panic attack. Not that I'm still not worried, but this makes me feel slightly better. Only slightly.
Father nods in agreement. "I honestly thought it was someone rich playing the Saint while acting like a Devil, but now? After seeing this?" He points at the potions on the counter first then at me. "I'm starting to think they might really be a Devil."
"Have you met them in person?" I ask quietly.
"No." He shakes his head. "Asked them plenty of times to meet up, so I can thank them in person for what they did for us, but they always refused. Though I did learn they are based in Kuoh."
And that right there is a problem. There are multiple different types of Devils according to my knowledge of ingredients. Some are relatively weak, so much so that I might stand a chance against them with my current capabilities. However, there are others that I wouldn't even consider attacking even if I attain my mythical form.
Either way, I will have to create some deterrents, though I won't know how useful they will be unless I know more about the nature of the Devil. The worst part is that I can't make the truly dangerous concoction with my current capabilities. It seems I need to advance my Sequence faster than I planned. And also…
"What kind of buffs do you want?" I ask with a cheeky smile, trying to distract myself from the Devil problem. Might as well give my old man ways to protect himself.
"I…" He looks surprised as if he didn't think this was on the table.
"Perhaps something to help with your hair problem?" I continue, grinning at him as he narrows his eyes at me.
"You can do that?" He asks with hidden hope in his eyes.
I shoot him a look and tap my head. "I have ways here to make you a Dragon, a God, or even give you reality warping powers, and you think I can't do something as simple as restoring your hair?"
"Might as well try it out then," he says and offers me a weak smile. "What do you need?"
"Absolutely nothing," I say and stand up, holding back my cackling to the best of my abilities.
"What do you mean?" He asks as he stands up, following me to the stove as I turn it on.
"As long as it's an ingredient and I plan to use it for making a potion-or any other type of medicine for that matter-I can conjure it out of thin air," I answer and this time I begin cackling like a madman.
"Though they disappear the moment I decide to use them for something else." I showcase this by summoning a bar of gold, which disappears a second later since I didn't actually plan to use it as an ingredient.
"Bull fucking shit!"
Jason is an OC and not a SI. He has a slighly nerfed Mad Doctor Essence, only keeping the encyclopedia of ingredients and potions and the ability to conjure ingredients. Mostly, because the super intelligence and immunity to poison/diseases should be something he can gain on his own.
As for the ability to make perfect homunculi and the like, I don't really like this one. Because I feel like it will deter him from interacting with others since he can make his own entourage.
And one last thing, since my imagination is quite limited, feel free to suggest interesting potions or the like, be they real in some fiction or just something you thought of on the spot.
Last edited: Jul 3, 2023
Chapter 2
Father refused any other potions except the one that restored his hair at first, saying that he was content with his lot in life. He is happy with his current situation, being the owner of one of the most popular fast-food restaurants in town, and that's enough for him. I did, however, manage to convince him to take the Aura and physical enhancing potions since their effects aren't very noticeable. He will thank me soon enough when he gets into shape.
I don't blame him for his choice since I would've most likely followed in his footsteps after this school year even though he wanted me to go to University and find a better paying job. However, I lacked the ambition for that. Perhaps I could've tried getting into streaming since that has been becoming popular as of late. Getting paid for playing games sounds like my kind of thing.
Now that doesn't matter anymore since my ambition was ignited the moment I received my power. There is a saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and maybe there is some truth to that. Like how I decided to take over the world no more than a few hours after gaining my ability.
Though if someone ever points this out to me, I have the excuse of needing to become the shadow behind the scenes who controls the fate of the world for my future ritual and eventual Godhood. Still, rituals aren't something I have to think about right now and my focus should be on digesting my current potion.
Beyonders have, dare I say, one of the easiest methods of progressing in power. As long as they have the ingredients to brew their potions, that is. But if they do, they just have to act according to the potion/Sequence's name.
In my case, I am a Spectator. As such, I have to simply observe and not enter the main stage, so to say. This is excruciatingly easy for someone like me since I didn't have many friends around here. Who would've thought that getting to know others is hard when you barely speak their language? I'm quite fluent in Japanese now, but by the time this happened, my position as a loner had solidified. Plus, the school was and still is filled with mostly females, and I wasn't in the best of spots back then.
Honestly, I don't mind my lack of friends too much since this works perfectly for my current situation. My potion has been digesting quite a bit faster than I expected and I found a few ways to speed up the process even more.
Watching television, videos online, and even live streams helps a lot. The last one specifically is the best out of the three. Going to a theater to see a play is even better, but I was bored out of my mind there. Despite that, I still plan to go another time or two since I wanted to progress to the next Sequence already.
You see, Spectator is the weakest of the lowest Sequences I could've picked from. Since a Spectator is not someone meant to play on the main stage, they don't gain any special physical or magical abilities. The only benefits they get are; better eyesight to see the play no matter how far their seat is, an improved memory to remember every single detail they see, and a keen observation ability to understand people's thoughts from their expressions and actions alone.
Nothing special in the grand scheme of things, but I already learned so much due to my weak abilities. Like how there are a dozen supernatural beings in my school, for example. I have to say, this was a big eye-opener for me because I didn't even consider it as a possibility.
Can I be blamed for that? They look and act like normal everyday teenagers. I wouldn't have even suspected a thing if I hadn't seen how they move with such grace that's borderline supernatural. Though what confirmed my suspicion happened during PE when I saw that they weren't sweating, they weren't breathing hard, and didn't even look even a little bit tired.
Oh, and also one of them carries the name of Gremory. Gremory! A name I would've dismissed before, but I have an encyclopedia of every ingredient in my head, and I know that's the name of a Demon Duke!
I'm so fucked if the girl is the original, but I can't say for certain if she is. Rias is a kind girl from what I've seen during the past three years, though that can easily be an act, which I strongly believe because she appears to be happy going to school.
Who the hell -pun intended- is happy going to school?! I refuse to believe it. Unless she finds joy or even gains power from the miserable feeling of the rest of us there. I won't dismiss that until I know more about her and the rest of the supernatural beings there.
My lack of information on their part has been driving me nuts because I don't know what precautions to take against them. I have started dousing myself with a cleansing potion to remove all scents from myself before taking a shower and scrubbing my body with a shower gel. Having no scent at all is a clear sign of something suspicious going on, and I don't know how far their enhanced physical abilities extend.
I just hope that they don't have a passive ability to read minds because then I'm already fucked and they know about me. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst -as the saying goes- is my current motto.
Father and I had to go on quite the shopping spree for jars and vials since I brewed plenty of dangerous potions and poisons during the week. Of course, I didn't forget to make the antidotes for them in case I fumble them or something stupid like that. I don't dare bring them all with me to school, but I always have at least something dangerous in my backpack.
And should my precautions prove ineffective… I can always summon the core of an Outer God for a suicidal move, damming everyone in the vicinity for the split second that it exists. I'm hesitant to do something like that since it might even affect my father, but I won't hesitate if pushed into a corner.
Like this, nearly two weeks passed and nothing happened at all. Those guys have continued to act like normal teenagers and it doesn't seem like they suspect me at all. This has relieved me greatly, though I'm still on edge with so many of them being so close to me.
The physical enhancing potion did its job, a bit faster than I expected, but it made me feel a bit safer. Thankfully, it didn't change my appearance by much, nothing that can't be explained with a good excuse. The best part is that I managed to hide my improvements by copying and acting like the other supernatural beings do.
Okay, that's a lie. That most definitely isn't the best part because I just felt my Spectator potion fully digest itself. It's an odd feeling, best described as something slotting in place.
I breathe out quietly, barely paying attention to the teacher. I used to have a hard time before, what with it all being in Japanese, but everything is now so easy. My memory is good enough that as long as I hear it once, I won't forget it no matter what.
The rest of the classes pass so slowly, but I push through, no matter how much I want to rush home to brew my next potion. Despite my feelings, I stay calm once school finishes and pick up my stuff to leave. No point in outing myself now, especially when the Demon is in my class!
I still think Rias derives her power from the misery of others, and I don't buy her upbeat and happy attitude. Unless she's a sadist like her friend Akeno or maybe even a masochist. That girl hides it well with her act, but I've seen some signs of her inner personality.
"I swear, guys! She asked me out on a date!" One of the more famous-or should I say infamous-lower classmen screams his lungs out just as I'm about to leave the school.
"No way! You must be lying!" His two friends are just as loud as him, yelling at the top of their lungs.
Some of the people around pretend they don't exist, but the majority look at them with disgust. Those guys call themselves the Perverted Trio and somehow even take pride in that? I'm honestly surprised that they haven't been expelled after hearing some of the stories about them.
Then again, Japan is weird when it comes to stuff like this. Like, I've seen a man grope a female on the bus and nothing happened. Sure, she walked away, but that's all she did. She didn't even call the police on him!
This is something I've seen multiple times and… I have to admit I've been tempted to try my luck as well. Though I never acted on my urges due to how things like that work back in the States. If someone dared to do something like that-especially in public-they'll be fined out of their asses.
"I'm serious! And she has huge tits! I could tell even through her uniform!"
"No way! No way! No way!"
I ignore the Perverted Trio, their antics mean nothing to me, even if one of them supposedly got asked out. Whoever is brave enough to do that must have really low standards if she chose one of them. Oh, well, not my business.
I reach home shortly after and carefully place my bag down. No need to start a house fire just because I'm excited about what's to come.
After turning on the stove, I make sure the pot is clean before I even consider using it. I refuse to contaminate the potion and fuck myself up due to rushing. For good measure, I even take one of the anti-mental corruption potions even though I drank one a few days ago. I can never be too safe, especially with the ingredients that I use.
Then I summon the ingredients, and since I fully plan to use them all, they don't instantly disappear. What follows is a display of skill that even a Master Alchemist won't find any mistakes in as my body automatically begins working on the potion.
The Phantom Netherdrake's pituitary gland and the spinal fluid from a Half Specter Rabbit are the first to be processed. I then conjure exactly one hundred milliliters of Pure Water and toss them in before adding the rest of the ingredients, a small amount of Chestnut Spores, a bit of Dragon Tooth Grass Powder, and finally, three petals of Pure White Elf Flowers. Now I only have to stir and wait as my body vibrates in excitement.
I don't immediately drink the potion, no matter how much I want to since I promised Father I'll do it in front of him, just to show him it's not dangerous. Thankfully, I don't have to wait long for him to come home from his restaurant.
As per usual as of late, the first thing he does is to immediately go to the hallway mirror before removing his shirt to stare at his current physique. He wasn't fat per se, but he had become a bit pudgy during the last couple of years. His appearance is still roughly the same-minus the newly grown hair-but all the unnecessary fat has been purged out of his body, and he looks like someone who regularly exercises.
An expression of amazement and wonder colors his face as he sits there and pokes at his muscles. Then he spots me watching him and immediately puts on a fake frown.
"You said there will be no visible changes," he grumbles at me, for the fifth time this week, but he can't hide his inner happiness. Like almost any other person, he enjoys looking good, so he finds his current appearance to his liking.
I wonder if he'll perhaps try dating again? He still carries the marks from when he was last burned, but maybe he'll give it another go in the future? Thankfully, I'll be able to vet out any rotten apples this time around.
"You wanted your hair back," I say with a cheeky smile.
"I'm talking about this!" He waves his hand at his body.
I tilt my head and narrow my eyes as if I'm inspecting him. "I don't know what you are talking about? Did you get more hairy? I can promise you that's not because of my potion."
Father only grumbles at me, but I can see him trying to hide his smile. If he gains some more confidence, I can really see him giving dating another chance. He'll definitely be more wary, but I'll support him as long as it makes him happy.
"I've digested the potion and am ready for the next one," I say since I can barely restrain myself.
"Already?" He asks, looking worried. He's not exactly comfortable with the path I've chosen for myself, but he believes I know what I'm doing and has decided to support me no matter what.
"Yup." I nod and enter the living room as he follows after me.
"This it?" He asks, looking at the vial with silvery liquid on the table.
"Mhm." I hum as I grab it.
"And it does what?" He probs, even though he's asked me this a few times already.
"It will… ascend me to a Telepathist and grant me the ability to hear the superficial thoughts of others," I answer. "Oh, and make me a bit better at socializing with others."
"I still don't see how this has anything to do with Godhood," he says as he sits down on the sofa.
"It follows a natural progression and will spike in power soon enough. It's just that the lower Sequences of this path aren't that great. But I will become really scary when I get my mythical form."
He scoffs and shakes his head as he whispers under his breath, "Dragon."
Father still thinks I chose this path because of that. And although I admit that it did play a small part in my decision, it wasn't what made me choose it. I picked the Visionary path because I won't have to actively put myself in danger to complete it.
"Down it goes," I say and gulp the potion, instantly feeling its effect.
"How are you feeling?" Father asks, and I can hear something else as well. It's barely a whisper, but it sounds like, 'I worry for him.'
This will take some getting used to. Though I can stop this ability quite easily if I so desire.
"I'm fine," I assure him with a smile. "Honestly, it feels like I just put on some invisible clothes that are a size bigger. Just have to grow into them by acting as a Telepathist."
"And how will you do that?" He asks, though his mental voice still remains the same.
"I…" I pause, thinking it over. "I'm actually not too sure. I guess I'll just listen to others' thoughts and go from there."
Father frowns, clearly unhappy with where this is going.
"Their superficial thoughts, things like "I'm hungry," "I'm tired," and the like, you know?" He still doesn't look satisfied with my answer, but he lets out a sigh, accepting the fact that it's necessary for me to use my abilities to develop them further. Something that I need to do if I want to walk further down this path I've taken.
"I'll just take a walk around town tomorrow, what's the worst that can happen?"
I shouldn't have opened my big stupid mouth! I'll take a walk around town, what's the worst that can happen? I just had to bait Murphy by saying this.
After half a day of walking around and using my ability, I got quite used to it, to the point of me being able to clearly hear the thoughts of those near me. I'm satisfied with my progress, especially because I felt the potion digest faster as I did this.
However, I ended up stumbling upon the pervert's date. The girl is surprisingly beautiful for someone who lowered herself to ask him out. That caught me off guard, but then I heard their thoughts.
'Boobs! Boobs! Boobs!' No surprise with that one. It's what I expected from him.
The girl, on the other hand. 'Die! Die! Die!' That one is an entirely different story. More so when I noticed that she's moving with barely hidden grace, just like the ones from my school.
This piqued my interest, and I decided to follow after them from a safe distance. They haven't noticed me yet since I can easily blend in with a crowd thanks to my abilities.
Now, the pervert has surprised me so far. Despite his thoughts, he has acted almost like a gentleman, though that has only made the girl with him angrier.
What is going on here? I have no idea why someone like her is doing this? She obviously hates every second of this date, yet she keeps on putting on an act of enjoyment.
Why though? I can't help but ask myself this. It makes no sense. She is clearly from the supernatural side of the world, and the pervert is… complete trash. There is literally nothing special about him at all. So why is she doing this?
I keep following them from a safe distance despite the potential danger I'm putting myself in. Because this is a prime opportunity for me to learn more about the supernatural of my world and because they haven't noticed me yet.
The date continues on for a bit longer until they enter a park. This makes it harder for me to follow them, but both of them aren't really paying that much attention so I manage to stay out of sight.
'Happy ending! Happy ending! Happy ending!'
Yeah, I don't think you're getting a happy ending. My heart starts beating loudly in both fear and anticipation. What exactly will happen now? And so the girl answers my questions.
'I'm sick of this!' Her thoughts hit me first, followed by her real voice. "I've had enough of this!"
And then black-feathered wings sprout from her back, ripping her clothes in the process, and revealing a bdsm outfit underneath. What the fuck? This escalated quickly.
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The girl then proceeds to smack the pervert on the neck, knocking him out before he could say a word. She grabs his unconscious body as if she is holding a trash bag and just flies away with him
What the hell? I'm so confused. What happened? The only thing I picked up at the end there is, 'Better have a useful Sacred Gear.' And I have no idea what that even means.
And what I'm supposed to do now? Call the police and tell them some kind of creature just kidpanned a kid? Hell no! Not only will they not believe me, but I might expose myself to even more danger if that girl has some connections with them.
No, I decide to stay where I am and wait until I think the coast is clear. I hear no thoughts near me, but it's better to be safe than sorry and I use this chance to think it over.
I would've assumed that maybe someone from school finally snapped and, I don't know, got in touch with the supernatural and ordered the pervert's death. But I heard her think about a Sacred Gear at the end.
What is that? Is that what I have? For some reason, I don't think my ability is a Sacred Gear. If there are more people like me running around, then I don't see how the world hasn't collapsed yet. I shudder, just considering that thought.
Thinking that the coast is clear, I carefully go to the scene of the crime, finding a few black feathers lying around. I pick up one of them and my ability gets to work.
Fallen Angel? The world just keeps on getting bigger and bigger. How am I supposed to take over the world if new beings constantly keep on popping out of the woodwork?
First a Devil, followed by a Demon, though those two might be the same. The jury is still out on that. Then there are the other people from my school, and now a Fallen Angel appeared as well. At least I know what one of them is for certain, so I can start preparing for that.
Issei has no plot armor.
Last edited: Jul 4, 2023
Chapter 3
The information from the feathers hidden under my clothes tells me an interesting story. My ability calls them, Feathers from a Generic Two-Winged Fallen Angel. This is both good and bad at the same time.
Good because the Fallen Angel is at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to her race. I'm even confident in taking her on with just a few potions, though I'll be stumped if she's smart and decides to fly away. Or if she just stays in the air and uses her wings to her advantage, sniping me from a position where I can't do anything to her.
And it's bad for the same reason, she's at the bottom of the totem pole. That means there are much scarier monsters that go bump in the night. According to my information, her race goes up to twelve wings, and I can only assume that's a representation of their power, considering I can make stronger potions with their ingredients.
But what can I do with the first ingredients that I gathered on my own? A poison of the Light element, one that can even be applied to a weapon or an object. And a pair of potions that slightly raise the affinity and resistance for Light Magic. Both ones that I've already been making for myself, including others, just for different elements.
I can't currently use Magic, but that doesn't mean I'll sit on my ass and only start preparing when I reach that point. Plus, increasing my various resistances seems like the obvious course of action. Even more so after learning about the supernatural.
So then why am I bringing those feathers with me when I can already conjure my own? Well, it's because they come specifically from that Fallen Angel and that's something I can work with. The result is a potion that creates a mental compass, pointing in her direction for its duration.
Not that impressive, but I'll know where her base of operation is and be aware if she's ever near me. I'd rather not get ambushed and kidnapped like the pervert, so I begin working on this as soon as I return home.
"Hey, Dad." I enter the living room where he's just watching some drama show. "I think I'm gonna go meet those guys at school."
This is… a calculated risk on my part. Oh, this is extremely dangerous, there is no doubt about that since I'll be meeting with a possible Demon Duke. Which might be exactly what she's been waiting for if she is already aware of me, something I'd rather not think about.
However, my lack of information of exactly how big this world is scares me even more than that. I don't know who the big players are and what they are capable of. Like, do they know if someone says their name out loud? Do they get informed if someone thinks of them?
There's so much I don't know, so… I'll go and make a deal with the Devil. Obviously not as myself, and I will bring plenty of deterrents with me, though I don't know how useful they'll be.
And I also wish to give them the benefit of the doubt. The first thought that comes to mind when thinking of a Devil or Demon is an evil and malevolent creature. But Gremory doesn't act like one, though this could all be some elaborate plan of hers.
However, the real reason is that Gremory might be why Father and I were given a second chance. She might have given us an opportunity to start anew somewhere else, and I'm willing to extend an olive branch to her due to this. Though I definitely won't show up with my own face, that's for sure.
"Why? What brought this on? I thought you wanted to keep your distance? What changed?"
I don't need my mind reading ability to know he's worried. His expression and barrage of questions are enough to tell me how he feels.
"It's because of what happened today." I proceed to explain the events that I witnessed earlier and give him a brief description of my plans.
"I will come with you," he says, mentally preparing himself for what's to come.
Taking my father with me-under a disguise, of course-will be perfect, allowing me to present a better image of myself. A lone wandering Alchemist can be seen as a sign of weakness while having a bodyguard will be proof enough of my skills or resources. Taking him with me is the better option.
"No." I shake my head.
"It will be better if I go on my own. You don't have my social abilities and might give away exactly how out of our depths we are." I throw an excuse that's flimsy at best.
"Plus, if things go south, I will have an easier time escaping on my own." I use a few more similar excuses, but he refuses to budge, and we finally settle on him waiting for me nearby in his car.
The conversation then moves to another topic afterward, namely the Fallen Angel. I drank the potion earlier, so I have a rough estimation of where she is, and I point in that direction. "What's in that direction? Around the edge of the town?"
"I have no idea," he helplessly says but offers after, "We can check on the map?"
And so we did. "A church? That seems… thematic?"
Father says nothing, but I'm already starting to get ideas. There is a very high chance that the Demon and the Fallen Angel aren't allies, and I can use this to my advantage to start trouble between the two.
Time to start preparing now. We move over to the small underground basement in our house. My father absolutely loves this place, using it to store all kinds of preserved foods, including pickled products and even jelly he personally makes. He told me this is something almost all families have back in his hometown in Greece, and he seems quite proud of our basement.
Father's stuff has all been moved to one side while I use the rest to store my potions and some of my poisons. I have the ability to conjure any type of ingredient, so obviously I'll make as many useful consumables as I can think of. It would've been a complete waste on my part if I didn't do so.
"Those will hit like a brick tomorrow, you sure you want to drink them?" I ask as I grab a bunch of potions that will temporarily boost our strength, durability, and stamina. Those are the best I currently have, and they come with their own downsides.
"If you are drinking them, so will I," he says, adamant to share my pain, no matter what it is.
"As you wish," I say with a sigh. "The health and stamina potions should help relieve some of our troubles."
I then gather a few more of the jars and vials, some for me to use if the situation escalates, and others for me to present as my merchandise. Just a few of the weaker healing potions since I don't want to be seen as a golden goose.
My eyes drift over to the two that unlock the Aura of the Soul. The batch I brewed resulted in four of those, two of each we drank already. This isn't that strong of a power, so I decide to grab one, figuring I might get something good in return if everything goes well.
We return to the living room and begin taking our buffs after that.
"Woah! This is… a rush," Father exclaims after drinking the potions.
"Yeah," I agree with him. "We'll have to drink some sleeping poison later, else we'll be awake till morning."
"Now this is the important part," I say as I take one of the last two remaining vials. "You have to have a precise mental image of exactly what you want to look like while drinking it. Otherwise, it won't have any effect."
"I understand." He nods but makes no move to reach for the vial.
"Let me show you." I close my eyes to focus better and drink the potion. The effect is instant since I already have a mental image in my mind. My height shortens by a bit-quite the weird feeling-my hair goes from nearly jet black to golden blonde, and my facial structure changes just enough for me to look like someone else.
Just with different clothes
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"I look like a dashing prince, don't I?" I ask with a grin as some of the tension leaves his body
from seeing me joke around.
"So I just imagine what I need to look like?" He asks, holding the vial and waiting for my answer.
"Yep." I nod.
"What has my life become?" He shakes his head and looks at the ceiling.
"Exciting is perhaps the word you're looking for," I tell him with a cheeky grin.
"I feel like I'm gonna lose my hair… again!" He stares at me in exasperation.
"And I'll make sure to bring it back," I say with a wink, and he scoffs before rolling his eyes and drinking the potion.
He goes with an image opposite to mine, growing more than a few inches in both height and weight, turning into a giant of a man. And his face…
"Did you make yourself look like Brad Pitt?" I ask, chuckling at his choice. Father looks away, embarrassment bleeding out of his body.
"Can you even fit in the car looking like that?" I continue ribbing at him to lighten the mood even more.
"It's a truck, I'll just have to move the seat." Something that he really hates doing.
"Alright." I chuckle. "We should spend a bit getting used to our bodies before moving out."
I'm terrified about what I'll do later today, but why does my heart keep beating in excitement despite that?
About an hour later, Father dropped me off a distance away from school.
"If anything happens, I'll shoot you a text. Just bear in mind I'll be invisible when I come back," I say as I leave.
"Got it." He nods before frowning in worry. "Stay safe, alright?"
"I will," I say with a confident smile, one quite fitting for my current mask.
Father lets out a sigh of relief but says nothing else as he drives away to a nearby parking lot. It's where we agreed for him to wait for me.
With a satchel on my waist and a rugged backpack on my back, I march on, using my ability to make myself appear as confident and easygoing. I don't know if they have any ways of spying on the school's surrounding area, but I have to assume that they do as that's their base of operation.
As for how I know that? I've heard from quite a few people that the members of the Student Council and the Occult Research Club-a bit on the nose, that one-tend to stay way past school hours. Some have even seen them go there during the weekend, despite there being very little reason for them to be there.
My theory is proven right as I near the school, spotting a white cat cutely licking its paw while sitting on top of the gate.
Is this the Koneko girl? I think at first after sensing that the cat is far more intelligent than any animal should be. It's a sensible theory since one of them openly carries the name of a Demon Duke. So why shouldn't one of them be named "cat" and be capable of transforming into one?
However, I quickly dismiss that theory since the cat is at most as intelligent as a seven year old kid. I've never spoken with Koneko, but I don't think she's that dumb. Perhaps…
"Greetings," I address the cat, which stops licking her paw and uncannily focuses on me. "I would like to arrange a meeting with Gremory if she's available to see me."
The cat continues to stare at me, unmoving from its spot, but I sense something happening. What I felt can only be described as the feline creature sending a telepathic message to someone else.
How fascinating! I can't help but think that as I feel my potion digest a little bit from this simple event. Despite that, my expression doesn't change, still keeping an easygoing smile on my face as I patiently wait there.
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It doesn't take long for Koneko to appear, walking towards me with an expressionless look on her face. Her mind isn't an open book to me as there is some kind of… static noise-perhaps a defense mechanism of sorts? Though I can still hear through it, not that it helps much.
'Huh?'
Huh, what? Give me something to work with here? Did she sense my ability? Can she even do that? I don't show any of my inner thoughts as I greet her with a smile.
"Buchou will see you now," she says, her voice bereft of any emotion. "Follow."
"As you wish," I reply and comply, picking up boredom and a bit of annoyance from her. I say nothing more since she doesn't seem interested in talking with me, so I simply follow after her quietly.
Koneko leads me to the abandoned school dormitory-the location of their club-and enters inside, not even looking back to check if I'm following her. I mentally take a deep breath before stepping inside the den of monsters.
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I end up walking into a wood-paneled room with Victorian-style couches and chairs along the wall. Koneko just sits down on one of them and begins to snack on some sweets, completely ignoring my presence.
My eyes spot a bath in the back-why the fuck is there a bath there?-but the clearly magical circle on the ground is what really worries me. I glance at it for no more than a second, remembering every single detail about it. Not that it helps me understand what its purpose is. And again, they are not even trying to hide their supernatural origin…
Finally, I look at the person I came to meet with, who's sitting behind a desk and watching me with a, dare I say, kind smile. Akeno is standing behind her, like a dutiful bodyguard, and looking at me with interest and a bit of suspicion.
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What surprises me is that their thoughts are clearer than Koneko's. That's not a good sign for me since it's far more likely that they are capable of masking them and presenting only what they want me to see and hear. This… will be hard.
"Hello," Gremory greets me with a friendly tone, and her smile widens. Had any of the males from school-maybe even the females-seen this, they'd be drooling on the ground at this point.
"Greetings," I say, bowing with my chest in a sign of respect. "It's a pleasure to meet a Duke from Hell."
A wave of displeasure radiates out of Gremory, proving that I already fucked up. Her expression tightened after I mentioned her position. It's so subtle, I wouldn't have noticed without my improved eyesight.
Has she perhaps risen in the ranks and is displeased that I'm not aware of that? Or even worse, has she lost her rank and took my words as a slight?
Though there's always the chance that she doesn't like others pointing out her point of origin? If so, then WHY THE FUCK DOES SHE KEEP USING THE NAME GREMORY?!
I show none of this on my face as I continue, "I go by Dio." Short for Diomedes. A bit on the nose, but I've decided to hide in plain sight. "And I'm a wandering Alchemist."
The previous displeasure disappears in a snap, replaced by a feeling of joy and a bit of mischief. Her eyes light up, and I can't help but wonder what the fuck is going on?
'The roles are reversed, but…'
What roles? What is she thinking about? Damn it! I have no idea what's going on.
Gremory straightens her back and takes a deep breath before puffing her bountiful breasts. She then puts on a serious but playful expression before speaking, "Oh? You're approaching me? Instead of running away, you come right to me?"
What is going on? What am I missing? What is this? Someone, please help me!
"I'm sorry?" I tilt my head in a sign of confusion, and she deflates with a sad frown.
"Ufufu." Akeno chuckles with amusement. "Do forgive our lovable Master, but she has… some peculiar tastes."
I nod silently, noting that I missed the chance to earn bonus points with Gremory. But hey! At least I learned that she holds the leash on the rest of her club members. Though it doesn't seem to be that tight of a leash if they can joke around like this.
"Akenoo," Gremory whines with a pitiful expression as she looks at her… servant?
"I'm… sorry!" Gremory says, embarrassment radiating out of her in waves. "Please forget you saw or heard anything!"
"As you wish," I reply with a smile while panicking internally.
They must be playing me, right? Right?! They must be, because there's no way a Devil or a Demon acts like this. I refuse to believe that! They must be toying with me and having fun at my expense. Of course, I don't show any of that on my face.
"As I mentioned, I'm a traveling Alchemist," I say, returning us back on topic, and I sense a feeling of interest from both of the girls.
"And I'm wondering what I'll have to do if I want to set up shop around here? See, I'm self-taught and not that familiar with the supernatural world," I say, giving her an opportunity to milk me dry and not in the way I'll enjoy it.
"As long as you don't do anything dangerous, I don't see why you can't set up a shop in Kuoh," Gremory says easily with a wave of her hand, and I almost break character, though I patiently wait for her to finish and for the shoe to drop.
"And if you have any questions about the supernatural, I'll be happy to answer them for you," Gremory finishes with a blinding smile.
"I see." I nod, pretending to think of such questions while screaming internally.
Hello, is this Hell's customer service? I would like to report that my Demon is broken and I want a ref… No scratch that, I don't want a refund. Keep her as she is!
Like, this must be a trap, right? I'm just not seeing it. But where's the trap? No matter how hard I think, I can't figure it out.
"Would you mind telling me about your products?" Gremory asks with undisguised interest in both her expression and her emotions.
"Nothing special, to be honest," I say with fake embarrassment. "Just some weak restorative potions for healing, stamina, and magic. I can do a demonstration for you if you don't mind."
And her interest is suddenly piqued, her eyes opening wide while she begins planning something that has to do with me. Her thoughts are too fast for me to pick up exactly what she's thinking, but I catch something about me potentially being able to help her.
"Can you please show me?" Gremory practically begs me, her eyes pleading with hope.
Shit! I can't back out of this now, can I? So, I smile and say, "Of course. May I have a knife for the demonstration?"
"Hero you go." Akeno walks over, handing me the knife I asked for after taking it from one of the tables. She stays close, watching me in anticipation.
"Thank you," I say as I take the knife before showing them my uninjured left hand. Afterward, I focus, doing my best to suppress my Aura as I begin pushing the blade against my skin.
Shit! I realize this is harder to do due to my buffs, and I feel the knife begin to bend from the force. Thankfully, I do manage to pierce my skin before it breaks and slowly draw a line with it.
A wave of arousal slaps me hard from beside me, and I spot Akeno rubbing her beautiful tights out of the corner of my eye. I make no mention of that as I show them my new wound and even Koneko peeks at it for a second. After they've all seen it, I take a potion from my satchel and drink it
"Ta-da," I say as my wound heals in seconds.
"That's amazing!" Gremory exclaims with sparkling eyes. Her eyes are literally sparkling!
And how is this amazing? This is one of the worst potions I can brew!
"And you said you're self-taught? Do you think you can make something better?" Gremory asks, not even hiding how much she's interested in my ability.
Of course, I can! I can make things that will blow her mind! Literally!
"I'm not sure," I say, sheepishly scratching my head. "If I have some better resources and equipment to work with…"
"No problem!" Gremory grins at me happily. "If there's anything that you need, I'll do my best to help you!"
I just stare at her in surprise, not even hiding my feelings this time. She can't be serious, right? Right?!
"If you don't mind, that is?" Now she's the one sheepishly scratching her head.
"Ufufu." Akeno just giggles at her as she walks back to stand next to her Master.
"I… umm, would like to settle down first before making a decision, if that's fine with you."
What is going on? Where's the trap? She's… is she really that kind? Is this her way of making me drop my guard? I don't understand!
"That's perfectly fine." Gremory recovers, offering me another blinding smile before changing the topic. "You said you wanted to learn more about the supernatural?"
"Yes." I nod. "Let's start with something simple, like what is your relationship with the Fallen Angels?"
"We aren't at war with them, but we aren't at peace as well," Gremory answers, but I'm far more interested in the anger radiating off of Akeno. She definitely doesn't like them, but why do I have the feeling it's also directed at herself as well?
"I see, then can I assume you have some sort of understanding with the Fallen Angel in town?" I follow up with my next question.
"What Fallen Angel?" Gremory looks confused, not even knowing of her existence. Akeno, on the other hand, is just about ready to rush and fight the Fallen Angel on her own.
Okay, okay, I can work with this!
"Oh, I spotted her earlier today. I was thinking of approaching her, but she knocked out a boy with brown hair before flying away with him. He wore a school uniform I believe, and I think I heard him say something about boobies." And so I begin stoking the fire.
"Pervert," Koneko speaks up for the first time, though I'm actually unsure if she's referring to the Fallen Angel or the kid.
"Hyoudou?" It takes Rias a moment, but she figures out the identity of the pervert. "Why would a Fallen Angel kidnap him?"
"I heard her mention something about a Sacred Gear, though I admit, I'm unsure what that is," I continue with my explanation and feel the wave of surprise from everyone in the room.
"Hyoudou has a Sacred Gear?" Gremory exclaims as she stands up and slams her hands on the desk.
"That's what I heard," I say with a nod. "Though, again, I don't know what that is."
"Sacred Gears are… tools created by God and are randomly distributed to humans so they can fight against the supernatural," Gremory explains and takes a deep breath to calm herself. "There are thirteen of them that are called the Longinus, and in the right hands, a user of them could even kill a God."
"I see." I nod while crying internally. I just want to roll up in a ball and hide under my bed covers.
Demons, Devils, and Fallen Angels-Angels as well probably-were already more than enough for me. But now there are Gods running around as well? I didn't miss the fact that Gremory implied there are multiple of them out there. Next thing I know, she'll tell me that every…
"Forgive my lack of knowledge, but how many Pantheons are there in existence?" I ask, barely holding back my tears.
I just want to take over the world from the shadows and direct how this Era progresses. Is this too much to ask for? Why are there so many obstacles on the path I chose for myself?
"All of them," she says offhandedly, her thoughts focused on something else.
I really want to cry right now.
"But that's not important right now. Do you know where she took Hyoudou? We have to go and save him," Gremory says, and I can see that she really wants to help him, but there's something more to it. She wants him for whatever reason, well, his Sacred Gear, whatever that is.
Perhaps my ability might really be a Sacred Gear, though I will refrain from asking about it. It will be much better to ask for information about all of those artifacts, especially the thirteen Longinus ones.
"I followed her to the church at the edge of town," I say and suddenly pause because I can suddenly feel the Fallen Angel in question moving in my direction. "And she's… currently flying towards our location."
"How do you know that?" Gremory asks with suspicion, and I feel that the wrong words might lose me all the bonus points I've gained so far.
Shit! Why are you making trouble for me? I'm the one that's supposed to be making trouble for you! Why did you decide to rush over now? Gah!
"I cast a tracking spell on one of her feathers since I couldn't really follow after her without the ability to fly," I calmly answer.
Please buy my excuse! Please buy my excuse!
"Smart." Surprisingly, Koneko is the one that speaks, giving me a thumbs up.
"She's… currently right above the school," I say after, keeping track of the Fallen Angel's position.
"Ufufu." Akeno giggles, but I can feel the excitement and anger bubbling inside her. "Please allow me to teach this fake bird her place." She's grinning from ear to ear, but her eyes are promising nothing but pain.
… Why am I aroused at a moment like this? I suppress my feelings as best as possible before a wave of fear washes over me, coming from Koneko of all people.
"Buchou." She looks at Gremory. "Red, draconic armor, rushing towards the school."
Both Gremory and Akeno pale, fear now radiating from them as well. I have no idea what the fuck is going on, but I'm starting to feel scared as well. I just wanted to have a peaceful talk and learn more, not to get in between the fight of Fallen Angels and Demons!
"Shit!" Gremory curses but steels herself and begins giving orders. "Koneko, call Kiba. Tell him it's urgent. Akeno, go for the Fallen Angel, we'll stall and wait for you. And you," she turns at me with a pleading look in her eyes. "Please stay safe."
"I…" I have no words. I really don't know what to say, and I don't even need to fake it. This is the Demon I've been scared about? Is there really no trap?
"The Fallen Angel just flew away," I say quickly just as they burst into action.
"Akeno, with me," Gremory orders her subordinate, not even pausing for a second as they fly out of the building…
Okay, so they have bat wings, but why do they come out of their waists? That doesn't seem very practical. Not the time to think about that, and I should probably focus on the fact that all of them have it. They are all Demons?!
As I'm trying to understand what the hell is going on, the circle on the floor lights up, and Kiba Yuuto steps out of it. The pretty boy glances at me for less than a second before he rushes out with extreme speed. My eyes can follow him, but I know for a fact that I can't react to his movements. That's… good to know, but I'll think about it later, once this shitshow ends.
If it even ends… I decide to take a small risk and poke my head outside, just to see what's going on. In just a couple of minutes at most, there has been a lot of shouting and the sounds of explosions happening outside, and I just can't keep my curiosity down.
Very carefully I leave the building and immediately spot the fighting that's happening right in front of the school building. The Student Council is also there-the other supernatural group from the school-and they also have bat wings! Seriously? All of them are Demons?
Interestingly enough, from what I'm picking on, they really want to protect the school, especially Souna, who's throwing around water magic, trying to push and pull away the angry armored guy. She's actually doing a good job from what I see, though it's obviously not enough as he just pushes through with raw physical strength alone.
Oh, and the guy from her group, Sajii, isn't fighting to protect the school but to rather impress her. And he's failing badly, not even being able to hit the guy with that wire of his.
Saji tries a more direct approach, rushing the angry dude, but… oof, I cringe as he gets punted away from a single punch.
"Saji!" A few of the girls scream in worry after witnessing that. I think I might've witnessed the death of someone.
Today is really a day of new experiences for me, huh?
Gremory's team is doing just a bit of a better job, though not by much, and a lot of it is due to Souna's ability to control the field.
Kiba keeps summoning swords that break after one or two hits against the armor of the angry dude. He doesn't seem to be doing much, but he's pretty fast! At least, he has that going for himself.
Koneko is swinging a tree around… I don't want to even think how someone so small has so much strength. She also isn't doing that much, but the other two girls are picking up the slack.
Akeno is raining justice from above, throwing lightning attacks one after the other as if there is no tomorrow. From what I can see, she's doing the most damage besides her Master, and she's being smart by staying in the air!
Gremory is firing blasts of crimson black energy that's chipping away at the red armor, being the only one to do any visible damage. Interestingly enough, she has no desire to kill this angry dude and is even trying to calm him down. Sadly, that isn't working for her.
"Please! You don't have to do this! I know you can calm yourself," she pleads while staying on the ground.
Why isn't she flying like the rest? Are the wings on her waist for decoration? Fly, you fool!
I should've screamed that because she shortly gets the Saji treatment, getting punched hard, and she ends up flying right in my direction.
Stupid fucking Angel disguised as a Demon! I curse her and my own stupidity as I rush over to her. Her uniform is ruined, and I try to ignore the sight underneath while focusing on her injuries.
"I'm fine," she says as I help her up. "Please stay safe."
"Damn it, woman! Stay still for a moment," I tell her as I rummage through my satchel, taking out a healing potion for her. My fingers touch the one that awakens the Aura of someone's Soul for a brief moment, and I decide to take it out as well.
I… honestly don't want to see her die. Unless this has all been one elaborate plan of hers. Then I'll swear vengeance on her for all eternity.
"Drink," I order as I hand her the first potion. She doesn't even question me, this stupid girl!
"And this," I say and give her the other one. Again, she takes it without a word and drinks it in one go!
I could've handed her the Light poison and maybe killed her right here and now? How can you trust someone you met no more than an hour ago so much?! This girl is driving me nuts!
Gremory gasps after drinking the potion and steps back, breathing heavily and holding a hand on her nearly exposed chest.
Oh… I might've accidentally found a way to kill Devils-I learned this from touching a bit of her blood when I helped her up. If they are creatures without souls, then… Wait, if they didn't have souls, the potion shouldn't have any effect on them at all. Obviously, that's no the case here so what is going?
My primal instincts flare up, and I immediately step back. And a good thing that I did because the crimson black energy she threw around earlier bursts out of her like a protective shield.
Gremory turns to me, her face flickering through so many emotions, I barely catch any of them, but I pick up on one that really scares me, "Thank you!"
She then rushes off, the ground around her bursting apart just from the energy she is radiating.
What have I done? The Aura of the Soul isn't supposed to do that!
Shit! I curse as Gremory now is ripping apart the angry armor guy, clearly dominating the fight. The Aura of the Soul was supposed to just give her a minor boost, not turn her into a Super Devil or whatever the fuck she is now. She is literally disintegrating the guy now while she barely damaged him earlier!
Yeah, I'm not sticking around any longer than this. Especially, after catching the pure desire aimed at me right at the end before she rushed the angry dude.
Quickly, I take an invisibility potion and then douse myself with one that removes scents. Then I run and run and run. Though I did leave a few of the minor healing potions behind. Curse my bleeding heart!
Fuck! I finally figured out the trap she laid for me. Oh, she's good! She's really, really good! Thankfully, I never plan to show myself in front of her again, and this disguise can easily be disposed of.
Also, she's a liar! She's a High Class Devil from the Bael and Gremory bloodline, according to my power. Power of Destruction and Luck? Fuck me! I don't even know which scares me more!
"What happened? I heard the sounds from here! Are you alright?" Father asks in worry as I enter the car. He can't see me and is barely holding himself back since he doesn't know my condition.
"I'm perfectly fine. The fight didn't really involve me in any way. Just… take us home, I'll try to explain everything."
"Alright."
Where do I even begin?
I hope this turned out well, and i hope it doesn't feel too rushed since I wanted to do it in one go.
And Issei is the first boss? What?! Reynare actually being smart and luring him over to the Devils? It also could've worked and they wouldn't have even known its her doing if there wasn't someone there to mess it up for her.
Devils have Souls. That was a hastily made assumption in the heat of the moment that proven wrong immediately after. Sorry if this was confusing.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this.
Last edited: Jul 7, 2023
Interlude 1
-Rias Gremory-
"Thank you."
Those barely whispered words hurt more than the punch she took earlier. Rias tried, did her best in an attempt to calm him down, but the boy had lost all of his reasoning.
Juggernaut Drive, she shuddered just thinking about what it meant and how lucky they were to survive this. There were plenty of horror stories of one of the Dragon Emperors going on a rampage and destroying everything in sight. Only stopping when they ran out of energy and expended all of their life force.
Since they were humans, it usually didn't take long for that to happen, but it was enough for them to completely destroy multiple cities before falling. That's how strong a rampaging Dragon Emperor was! And the advice others would give her if she met one of them would be to run away and wait out their death.
That's what they had survived. A grand achievement that her kind would shower her with praises for accomplishing it. Yet, this supposed victory tasted nothing but ash.
Rias looked at Issei Hyoudou and his broken form. Part of his hands were missing as he had tried to punch through her… Aura of Destruction? She wasn't sure what was going on with her power, but it protected her from harm while also damaging anything it got in touch with. In a way, it reminded her of what she'd heard about her brother's ability. Though, obviously it still paled in comparison to his.
She shook her head. Rias could think about that later when she calmed down. Focusing back on the boy, she felt her chest tighten. His helmet had opened in the end as he thanked her for putting him down, which allowed her to see his dried and wrinkly skin. One she'd expect to see on an elderly person rather than someone so young. The price he paid for his boost.
'We could've avoided this,' she bitterly thought. If only they had known he had the Boosted Gear of all things. But who could've guessed that? Issei Hyoudou barely had a magical presence to speak of, and he had never ever displayed any abnormal physical abilities.
'That's why we even survived.' His base abilities were pitiful at best, and despite that, he had been at least High Class in physical strength alone. Plus, he kept growing weaker and weaker by the moment the longer the fight went on.
She looked at him one last time before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Trying to reincarnate him… didn't seem like a good idea as much as she would've liked to have a Longinus user on her peerage. She wasn't even sure if the Evil Pieces could even heal his current state.
A pang of regret hit her at the lost opportunity, but it was overwhelmed by a wave of guilt. How would they even explain this to his parents? Would they have to completely erase their memories of their son? She felt her eyes sting just at the thought of that, so she shook her head and tried thinking of something else.
'And then there's me.' Rias had no idea what kind of potion Dio fed her, but she felt like a great weight she didn't even know existed had been lifted from her shoulders. Her physical abilities had been boosted, her Power of Destruction had improved, and she had this weird forcefield now.
Looking at her hand, she clenched her fist over and over again, materializing the familiar crimson black energy around her in rhythm with her action. She hadn't had to work on her control for years now, but it seemed she had to return back to the basics.
'Self-taught Amateur Alchemist my pale perky ass! Since when can Alchemists make such things!'
"Rias." She snapped towards the voice, finding a Sona that had her hands balled into fists and was biting her lips in worry. That's when she remembered what happened earlier.
"Sona! Is your new pawn okay?" Saji was recently recruited by Sona, and she had been acting smug about getting someone worth four pieces. But now?
"He's hurt and…" Sona bit her lips again, looking far more fragile than Rias had ever seen her.
Still, this was great! Not that Saji was hurt, but because he's still alive. And that meant. "Dio can help him!"
"Dio?" Sona asked, relaxing just a little bit.
"Yes, Dio! He's…" Rias looked over to where she last saw him, only to find that he was. "… gone."
Her heart tightened for a moment, but then she spotted the potions left on the ground. She rushed over to gather them before returning to Sona.
"Those are health potions and they are like really weak Phenex tears! Here, take them, you need them more than I do." Rias pushed them into Sona's hands, only keeping one for herself in case one of her own peerage members had gotten hurt without her noticing. She briefly checked them, only to see that they were fine and looked unharmed.
Sona wasted no time at all as she rushed over, and Rias followed after her. They found the pawn lying on the ground, surrounded by the rest of the peerage. Two of them were teary-eyed as they gently held onto the boy, who was struggling to breathe and whose chest was… caved in.
Rias was happy at the sight. Not that Saji was hurt! But because they already care so much for each other, considering he's barely been a member of Sona's peerage.
Her fellow King dropped to her knees and gently fed Saji the potions, one after the other until he stabilized. His breathing returned to normal, but his injury didn't fully heal. She considered giving him the last potion, but she decided to give one of the girls-possibly both-the chance to finish the treatment in their own way.
"How?" Sona asked as she stood up, briefly looking at… Hyoudou. "Why would he even attack us? It doesn't make any sense."
"I… might have an idea of what happened… sorta," Rias said, trying to think what exactly could have led to this. What had the Fallen Angel done to have forced him into a Juggernaut Drive of all things?
"And you didn't think to inform me before it blew right in our faces?" Sona asked with silent fury in her eyes.
"I didn't know, alright! I just learned that there was something going on in town moments before this happened!" She probably shouldn't have yelled, but she wasn't at fault here!
"Oh, yeah? And how did you learn about this?" Sona asked, gesturing at their surroundings.
"Dio told me-"
"The same Dio that's suspiciously missing? You sure he wasn't the one that led the rampaging Dragon Emperor to us?" Sona crossed the line with that one.
"No!" Rias stomped, a crater forming beneath her foot from the force. "Dio wouldn't do that! He's nice, and he even left us those potions! He wouldn't have done that if he was part of this!"
"Are you sure? Maybe he left them because he saw you…" Sona frowned and narrowed her eyes. "Do whatever you did there at the end."
"No." Rias shook her head, refusing to budge on this. Dio was nice and that was it.
The traveling Alchemist's appearance reminded her of Riser a bit, but the two were nothing alike. Dio was calm, kind, and he had a nice smile. The only time he lost his composure was when she boldly declared she'd fully support him and… when she got hurt.
'If only he got my reference.' She sighed in her mind.
Plus, if Dio was really behind this-which she refused to believe-then why would he give her that last potion? Rias could only assume that he could also brew poisons-that's how Alchemists worked in the Mangas where the main character is transported to a game-like world, right? Then he could've poisoned her right there and then!
But he didn't! Instead, he made her permanently stronger! Rias could feel it. This wasn't a temporary boost. This power was hers and hers alone. Though she didn't think it was a good idea to mention that.
If others learned he could do this, then everyone would want him! And she didn't want that. A small treacherous thought of hers even said, 'Because I want him.'
Sona hadn't said a thing for a while, simply staring at her silently. Rias suddenly felt a chill as the surrounding temperature suddenly dropped drastically.
'She isn't staring at me, is she?' Rias gulped and turned around to see Serafall and Sirzechs there. Grayfia was also next to her brother, but she barely paid attention to her. Because the two people that always had a smile on their faces were now looking deadly serious.
"So what happened here?" Serafall's words were as cold as ice, lowering the surrounding temperature even further.
Rias Aura flared around her for a moment before she could stop it, shocking the two Satans and Grayfia. "Uhm, I can explain?"
Serafall and Sirzechs glanced at each other for a split second, seemingly sharing a conversation between them in that small time frame. In the next moment, they were already in front of them, fussing over their condition, with Sirzechs covering her with his cloak.
After the two worried siblings finally calmed down, Rias managed to explain what happened and what she learned earlier. Serafall was also suspicious of Dio and how he was missing, just like Sona, but she was delighted when Sirzechs fully trusted her words.
"We can at least get some proof as long as we visit the church," Sirzechs said before glancing at Grayfia. "Keep an eye on them. We'll be back in a moment."
Serafall and Sirzechs took off, and Rias immediately flew after them, not quite keeping up with the two Satans, but she wasn't lagging behind them by too much. The only reason she followed them was because she wanted to prove to herself that Dio hadn't lied to her.
And Rias was proven right. When they landed, they found the church to be in ruins with body parts sticking out from the remains.
Her brother sighed before forming small balls made of the Power of Destruction. They flew out and, in a remarkable display of control, erased only the remains of the church and nothing else.
'I can't do that.' Rias balled her fists. Her control was a bit lacking at the moment and wasn't even close to her brother's. She'd have to work hard if she wanted to even come close to him in terms of control, but that was something she'd think about later.
There were over two dozen death exorcists underneath the ruins and even two Fallen Angels among them. A gruesome sight, but she wanted to gloat that she was right, that Dio wasn't an enemy.
Though he did run away at the end… but that was fine because she was sure he'd come back! And when he did? Rias would give him a fierce hug and maybe a kiss on the cheek.
"What a mess." For some reason, Rias felt that Serafall wasn't referring to the current scene in front of them.
-Azazel-
"What a fucking mess."
Kuoh was a powder keg that could result in a terrifying explosion. He knew that, so he sent a bunch of weaklings there, grunts that just couldn't harm any of the two Devil Princesses staying in that town.
They had one simple fucking job. Keep an eye on a few targets. Recruit them if given the opportunity, or just kill them before any of the Devils could reincarnate them. Simple and easy! They couldn't possibly fuck that up, right?
Wrong!
Azazel couldn't believe it when two of the grunts returned, proudly boasting of what they had done. They had captured one of the targets and attempted to extract his Sacred Gear, only to fail because he had the Boosted Gear.
Of course it fucking failed! The extractor barely worked on some of the stronger Sacred Gears, let alone on one of the Longinus.
The only thing they achieved was waking up the Dragon inside the gear. And everyone knows that YOU. DON'T. POKE. A. SLEEPING. DRAGON!
Those idiots did exactly that, which resulted in a premature Juggernaut Drive. They then had the brilliant idea of luring the rampaging Dragon Emperor to the Devils.
Azazel had to admit that it was actually smart of them to do that. If the Devils in question weren't the sisters of two of the Satans! He asked to confirm if they hadn't been spotted and then promptly killed them when they said they hadn't been seen.
After all, dead men tell no tales.
Then he realized he hadn't asked them if they had actually cleaned up after themselves. So, he discreetly went to check on Kuoh, only to find the town still standing.
That was good? Azazel wasn't sure yet. He checked the abandoned church they used as a base and found that it had been cleaned up. Good on them for wiping their asses!
Everything seemed to be in order and no one should know this was their doing since all the witnesses were dead.
'So then why are an angry Serafall and Sirzechs on my doorstep?!'
Serafall was manageable. She was as strong as him, yes, but she was manageable. A problem for sure, but not that big of a deal.
But Sirzech? That fucking abomination? Fuck no! He could probably crush the entire Grigori on his own. And they had multiple Ultimate Class members, including three Longinus users!
Azazel wanted to cry. Why? Why was he surrounded by idiots that didn't know how to clean their asses? He wasn't sure he'd be surviving today and even considered praying for the first time in hundreds of years. Too bad his Father kicked the bucket a long time ago.
'Now how the fuck am I supposed to placate a bunch of overpowered angry siscons? I'm royally fucked, aren't I?'
I guessed I fucked up last chapter a bit. Sorry, will try to do better. Wanted to post this yesterday, but I managed to catch a fever.
Last edited: Jul 7, 2023
Chapter 4
I arrived at school today with nervous trepidation, expecting the worst situation to happen despite the talk with my old man. He's of the opinion that I'm overthinking it. That I should trust their actions rather than what every type of media or legend says about Devils.
Considering that every Pantheon exists-I'm still not over this-I can see this being done in an attempt to slander them for one reason or another. Though they must've done something to earn this kind of treatment if that is the case.
Or I just stumbled upon one of their outliers. That's a likely scenario because her thoughts and actions-if they are to be believed-are something I'd have expected from an Angel, not a Devil.
To be fair, Koneko really spooked me. I don't know what's going on with her, but her weirdness made me feel paranoid. I thought they'd have ways to protect their minds, perhaps even show only what they want others to see, like how I will be able to do once I advance further down my path.
Maybe I was wrong?
I still don't know for sure, but they haven't jumped or confronted me yet. Hell, they haven't even glanced in my direction during classes or even the breaks.
Akeno has been practically oozing satisfaction the entire day. I've caught her thinking on multiple occasions, 'Serves them right!' That particular thought has been directed towards the Fallen Angels, not just the one I spotted.
Perhaps there were more in town and they got caught? I don't know and I'm too afraid to check the church to learn more about this. Though I don't think they would've left any clues behind for me to figure it out.
I do, however, know for a fact that the one I saw is already dead. I was clued in on that when her presence disappeared from my mind and recreating the potion with her feathers just didn't work anymore.
As for Ri… Gremory, she's a bundle of emotions. Though she might be fucking with me if she knows that I'm the Alchemist. I'm really confused by her.
For starters, there's a little bit of pride, but I don't exactly know why. There's some worry about what might happen soon, which I really don't like the sound of.
Do I have to figure out an excuse to get my father and me out of town? Maybe even permanently? But where will we even go? We might step on someone's toes without even knowing, so better the Devil you know. Quite the appropriate saying for our situation.
Back to Gremory, the strongest emotions coming from her are guilt and sadness about what happened two days ago. Namely, Issei Hyoudou's death. It wasn't hard to connect the dots and figure out that the angry armored dude was the pervert. Especially when I heard that he had suffered a tragic accident during the weekend.
I don't know what to think about this. He was many things, perhaps even a sexual predator in the making, but did he deserve to die? No, I don't think so.
If he had attacked that night out of pure malice, then maybe. But what I sensed back then was anger and rage directed at nothing in particular. It was artificial in a way, reminding me of one of the abilities that awaited me on the next stage of my path.
A part of me blames me for what happened. Could I have potentially saved him from his fate if had immediately gotten in touch with the Devils after he got kidnapped? That would depend on the way he was forced into his berserk state.
I learned so much from the meeting, but I still lack so much critical information. I'm even considering reaching out to Gremory again, despite my prior decision of killing off Dio. I could try with another disguise, though pulling off another entirely different identity will be hard for me at the moment.
Meeting with them again seems to be a must at this point, but the last thing I picked from Gremory makes me hesitant. A small bit of longing accompanied by, 'I hope he's okay and returns soon.'
Is she fucking with me? Because this thing always comes up whenever I'm focusing on her emotions and thoughts. Haaa, I don't know if she's a schoolgirl with a crush or just acting like one. What a troublesome girl.
By the end of classes, none of them had called me out or shown signs of suspecting me, so I have to assume that they lack a way of identifying me. I would feel a bit safer if I had the chance to check on Koneko and whatever is going on with her, but I don't want to act suspicious by snooping around the lower classmen.
I leave school while thinking about what excuse I will use for leaving early that night. Idly, I notice that the front yard looks pristine despite what happened here, though one of the trees is missing. This does give me some understanding of their abilities.
On the way home, I quickly call my father to talk over my decision.
"You should go. If they know, they know. But I think they are good people from what you told me."
Father trusts that they are, that's plainly clear to me, especially because he doesn't even offer to come as a backup this time. I bite my lip as I think it over.
They aren't… Devils on the Abyss pathway. I confirmed that much when I touched Rias' blood. And that's relieving because I really don't want to mess with creatures that can corrupt nearly everything on a conceptual level. If anything, they seem like magical humans more than anything else.
"Alright, I guess I'll prepare some gifts then," I say, resisting the urge to sigh.
"Call me when you're done if you want me to pick you up."
"Got it."
And with that, the call ends. I return home shortly after and start preparing some new potions. Nothing too special or too different from what I've already shown, just something to give the impression that I haven't been biding my time.
Once I'm done, I take all my precautionary potions, including the invisibility and stench removal ones. I leave my house unseen by anyone and arrive near school soon after. It takes me a moment to find a spot between two buildings that's suitably out of sight and wait until my invisibility runs out.
Taking a deep breath, I enter my Dio persona just as I become visible and walk out. And I'm immediately caught off guard because it's not an unusually smart cat that greets me this time, but rather a beautiful silver haired maid. One that happens to have exceptional control over her thoughts and emotions.
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
I'm off to a really bad start already.
"You must be Dio," she says, looking me over with a critical eye and finding me wanting. The clothes and my bags look old and worn out. Not exactly the well-traveled look I'm going for, but it's the best I can do.
"I am," I confirm with a nod. "And you are?"
"Grayfia Lucifuge," she introduces herself with a bow of her head, her expression remaining the same, but I catch a flicker of expectation from her. Her mind is like a fortified castle, but I can still see glimpses of what's inside through the various windows.
What is she expecting though? I make a quick scan of my ingredients list and find that her lineage isn't part of the seventy-two pillars. I can make some good potions for ice affinity and resistance with their blood though. I don't get it, am I supposed to look down on her because her family isn't part of the pillars?
"A pleasure to meet you," I reply, mimicking her own bow, and barely catching a muted surprise from her.
"Lady Gremory has been expecting you. Please follow me," she says and turns around, clearly expecting me to comply.
I do, but I can't help but sigh in my mind since I really hate not knowing what's going on.
-Grayfia-
She expected more from this Dio, considering how much Rias hyped him up. If he or his clothes were dirty, he could've even passed for a beggar. Not off to a great start, but she knew not to judge a book by its cover.
His presence wasn't anything to speak of, though he carried himself as stronger than a regular human. The faint Light energy she sensed in his backpack was slightly worrisome. It didn't feel that strong or even threatening, but it was suspicious.
Not that she'd call him out on it since they were to give him the benefit of the doubt, despite his possible involvement with the incident two days ago. His mysterious disappearance was questionable and suspicious from their perspective.
They might've even gone out to search for him if he hadn't left those healing potions behind. Serafall had certainly been ready to chase him down even despite that. Sirzechs would've considered allowing her to do that, but Rias convinced him otherwise, by telling him something outrageous.
The reason why she'd become an Ultimate Class Devil-albeit a weak one since she lacks experience and the necessary skills-was because of this self proclaimed Alchemist. And Rias only shared that with her brother because she didn't want them to be suspicious of this Dio, or else she would've kept this for herself.
Grayfia found this hard to believe. It was far more likely that Rias was just like her brother. Lord and Lady Gremory were already lucky enough to get a son like Sirzechs, so why couldn't this occur with their next child as well?
Despite what that would mean for their kind, most Devils dreaded the thought of another Super Devil popping out of the same family. Many had been relieved when Rias had a much steadier and normal growth, but perhaps she just needed a bit of a push?
However, if Dio was really the cause of this development? And if he could consistently replicate this? Grayfia couldn't even imagine what that would mean for their kind.
Sirzechs and Ajuka were two figures that no one wanted to mess with. The creation of the Evil Pieces should've earned them a lot of enemies, but all they got was a few complaints here and there.
Because the Devils had the two bulwark shields known as Sirzechs and Ajuka, they were safe. One of them could bulldoze his way through any obstacle on his path while the other could twist common sense until it was to his liking. Two Devils that stood far above any other of their own kind.
'Is there really a method to reproduce this?' Grayfia would hopefully find out this soon enough as the two just entered the ORC building to find only a single person there.
"Grayfia?" Rias saw her first and looked confused as to why she was there. But then she saw who was falling behind the maid and a bright smile blossomed on her face.
"Dio!" Rias jumped up to rush over and enveloped him in a crushing hug. Not acting like a proper Lady should act. However, it wasn't Grayfia's place to reprimand her, especially not in front of someone else.
"Um?" Dio for his part looked lost, standing still like a statue.
"I knew you'd return!" Rias hugged him even tighter, and he awkwardly hugged her back, looking like he didn't know where to place his hands, so he settled on patting her back.
"Ah, I ran out of health potions, so I rushed out to make more and a few others," he explained himself.
'A likely story.' Though if true, it did give some insight into his abilities.
Rias giggled and gave him one last squeeze before releasing him and turning to her with a small frown. "I understand why you're here, but…"
"Your brother wished to have someone here until matters with the Grigori are settled," Grayfia said, keeping an eye on Dio, but he didn't react to her words.
Rias didn't seem happy with her presence there, but she knew it wasn't for no reason. She got over it quickly, shaking her head once before smiling brightly.
"Anyway. Dio, this is my sister-in-law," Rias introduced her with loving pride. "Grayfia, the wife and Queen of my brother."
They nodded to each other even though she already introduced herself to him moments ago. Dio did, however, tilt his head in confusion. "Ah, your brother is a King?"
Grayfia stared at him, finding it hard to believe that he didn't know that. There's no way, right?
"Oh, you did mention that you're unfamiliar with the supernatural world," Rias whispered, frowning slightly in thought.
"He is a King in regards to his peerage," Grayfia answered, noticing his obvious confusion at her words. She still continued on, "He could also be considered a King due to being Satan Lucifer."
Rias didn't appear too happy at Grayfia stealing her the chance of explaining, but she was more focused on Dio's reaction. He blinked a few times, clearly thinking this over.
"Lucifer? Like, Lucifer Lucifer? How does this work?" He asked, gesturing at Rias and looking confused.
'He really doesn't know.' Grayfia concluded, not even considering the thought that someone so young could be good enough to fake his expression and reactions to fool her.
"I can explain!" Rias happily exclaimed, glancing at Grayfia once to make sure she wouldn't steal her spotlight, before going into a lengthy explanation of their race's history.
Grayfia served them tea during that time, as a proper maid should in that situation. She did notice that Dio touched the liquid with his finger for a split second-something she might've missed if she wasn't paying attention-though she had no idea why he did that.
"That's… a lot to take in," he said after patiently hearing Rias' explanation. "So those Evil Pieces, you can transform someone into a Devil with them?"
"Yes," Rias confirmed, glad to have an opportunity to advertise the advantages of being a Devil. Like an immortal lifespan, an increase in physical strength, and an easier method of using Magic.
It was painfully obvious what Rias was doing here, and Dio listened patiently, but Grayfia noticed he wasn't considering it at the moment. At the very least, he didn't look interested in becoming a Devil right now, though he was intrigued by their miraculous ability.
"I have a question about your… potions, if you don't mind," Grayfia interjected, earning a small glare from Rias for ruining her opportunity to recruit Dio. She wasn't going anywhere at the moment. Unless she planned to forcefully reincarnate him into a Devil. Something which she knew Rias would never do.
"I don't," Dio replied, finally giving the chance to steer the conversation in the direction she wanted.
"Your… health potions were already proven to be effective, however Rias mentioned two others. Would it be possible to see them?" Grayfia inquired gently, without trying to sound forceful.
"Sure," Dio agreed easily as he reached into his satchel.
"I even made a new health potion that heals slower but lasts for much longer. Already tested it to make sure it works properly," he explained as he took three vials out, and Grayfia heard an inkling of familiarity in his tone.
"Wow!" Rias was giddy with excitement.
"This is the stamina potion." He picked up the vial with green liquid. "It basically restores your energy. I could've called it an energy potion, but I feel that stamina suits it better. If that makes sense?"
"It makes perfect sense." Rias nodded sagely, and Grayfia felt that she wasn't saying that just because, though she had no idea why.
"May I try it?" Instead, she asked to test it out.
"Yeah, sure." Dio handed it over without hesitation.
Grayfia took it and opened it up, her enhanced sense picking up a weird flowery scent from it. She didn't waste any time at all and drank it in one go.
The effect was almost instantaneous, and she felt her body surge with energy. It wasn't that much, but she couldn't call it a minor amount either. One of those would be more than enough to rejuvenate someone on the brink of exhaustion if she wasn't wrong.
"It works exactly as you said." Grayfia nodded at him, slowly starting to realize that this guy might really be the real deal.
"And this is the magic potion, which restores someone's magical energy." He picked up the vial with blue liquid. "I'm… not entirely sure how it will work for you, but there shouldn't be any issues."
A bit worrisome, but Grayfia was willing to test it out, so she drank it all in one go just like the last one. She felt a surge of energy course through her body, seemingly trying to latch onto something but finding no purchase as her Demonic Power was at full capacity. The energy then harmlessly got expunged from her body, leaving no traces behind.
'Or did it?' At the end, it lightly pushed against her limits if she wasn't wrong.
'Perhaps if someone drinks a bunch of those magic potions, they can slightly increase their energy reserves?' Ajuka would be able to tell for certain if this could happen.
Nevertheless, Dio had proven that his products worked precisely as advertised. And Grayfia had been given permission to make certain promises in this situation. However, there was one last thing she needed to know about.
"Could you please tell us about… the potion you gave Rias and if there are any side effects to it?" She had to word it in a way that it wouldn't show exactly how interested they were in that particular potion.
"Alright, but I'd like to say that this is purely a conjecture on my part after testing it on myself," Dio agreed easily, and Rias perked up, attentively listening to his explanation.
"The potion provides an overall boost to whoever drinks it, but that seems to be a by-product of what it actually does." He took one of the cutlery from the table before slamming it against his hand, only for a blue Aura to flicker in existence and protect him from harm. It was eerily similar to Touki, but Grayfia could tell it was something else.
"This protective… Aura is also a by-product of what it does, and I've tried finding out where it draws its energy from to figure it out. It's not physical or magical because those two potions don't help with recharging it." Grayfia nodded, finding his reasoning easy to understand.
"So, I can only go a step further and deduce that it draws its power from the Soul. Before you ask, it's not harmful. I have expended all of the energy before and only felt slightly tired after that, and it recharged back to full capacity within a couple of hours. There have been no other side effects other than that. So my conclusion on what the potion does is that it awakens the Soul of someone."
They had no reason before, but Grayfia felt that they should get Rias checked to be sure there's nothing wrong. Preferably by Ajuka since he does have some understanding in regards to Souls.
"The reason why its effect is so pronounced within Rias might be due to the difference between humans and Devils. Since you guys can live forever and are far stronger magically, you probably have far stronger Souls to support all of that."
Grayfia could see the reason behind that. She'd still urge for Rias to get checked, but this could possibly shed some light on why Sirzechs and Ajuka were just so different from every other Devil. If Dio was correct, then perhaps they were just born with awakened Souls?
While Rias seemed to be deep in thought, Grayfia quickly asked, "Do you perhaps have any more of those potions?"
"Sadly, no," Dio said with a sigh. "The potion was made with a singular ingredient that I've found only one of in my life. From what I managed to figure out, it's called a Rainbow Clover and it supposedly requires to be bathed in the Divine Power of a God of Light to fully blossom. I thought it was a metaphor or a joke back when I read it, but now I'm not so sure."
Dio shrugged helplessly while Grayfia tried to remember if she had ever heard or seen such a thing. Either way, they at least knew what to search for and who to contact if they wanted to acquire this Rainbow Clover.
Rias, on the other hand, whispered, "You gave me something so priceless?"
Grayfia had to admit that if its effects were exactly as he described them-and she had no reason to doubt his words at this point-then it could really be described as priceless. It also spoke of his character since he hadn't asked for anything in return for it.
"Well." He scratched his head. "I didn't want to see you get hurt."
There was a blur and suddenly Rias was hugging him again while sitting on his lap. She was someone that showed her affection through her actions, just like she was doing now.
Grayfia frowned slightly at the sight. 'This… could be a problem… for the Phenex Family.' However, she had no right to comment on this matter, so she didn't.
"How?" Rias asked in a few moments, still holding onto him while gesturing with one hand at the potions. "How did you come up with all of this?"
Grayfia was also interested in knowing since Alchemists, as she knew then, weren't capable of this. They could synthesize objects-golems being their most famous creations-but nothing like this.
"It's a funny story. One day, I fell down, hit my head, and got a nasty wound from it." He tapped the left side of his head, though there wasn't even a scar there from what she could see.
"And instead of doing the smart thing of going to the doctor, I decided I'm going to make something to heal myself. So, I went out, grabbed whatever ingredients felt right, and ended up making my first health potion."
Rias stared at him with sparkling eyes, but Grayfia only felt a growing headache as she realized why she had a sense of familiarity earlier. It's because he reminded her of someone else she knew.
'He's another Ajuka, isn't he?' Someone who looked at common sense and decided they didn't like it. So they went ahead and made their own common sense because why not? Who goes and creates an entirely new branch of Alchemy just because they felt like it? Or more like, because they didn't want to go to the doctor?
Hmm, comparing him to Ajuka might be too much. Merlin might be more accurate, but he was still someone that completely revolutionized Magic for humans!
Grayfia sighed internally and prepared herself for the next topic. Rias had mentioned he wanted to set up shop in Kuoh so that played heavily in their favor. Hopefully, they would come to an agreement, and they were willing to do a lot for this. And how could they not?
'If he has achieved all of this on his own without any help or support, then what can he create when he has their backing and connections?'
The Rainbow Clover isn't the main ingredient, but the flower in question does need to be bathed in the Divine Power of a God of Light.
Also, Grayfia -I hate writing her name so mucb because I always write Grafiya- completly forgot about the little bit of Light energy she sensed earlier.
Anyway, hope you liked this one.
Last edited: Jul 8, 2023
Chapter 5
-Sirzechs-
His brain felt like mush. It's what usually happened when his best friend got really technical in his talk and began explaining things with terms only he seemed to understand.
Something, something about mortal souls passing to the afterlife of their religion? Something, something about their immortalization? That and how it worked while still having a mortal shell?
"So she's fine?" Sirzechs asked, just to be sure.
"More than fine. Her Soul isn't getting depleted in any meaningful way, and it will only continue to grow stronger," Ajuka explained, dumbing it down for him.
"Alright." Sirzechs smiled, feeling more than relieved from the confirmation. He then pointed to the vials next to them. "And those… potions? Can they be reproduced?"
"Oh, yeah, definitely," his best friend replied, sounding dismissive. After knowing Ajuka for so long, he understood what that meant.
"But you won't even try."
"Why would I?" Ajuka looked almost offended at the thought of that.
'Because it will greatly help our kind?' Sirzechs kept that to himself, fully knowing that his friend couldn't be convinced to do something if he didn't want to. 'And Rias… without me openly interfering.'
"This right here?" Ajuka took one of the vials. "Even though it's clearly in its initial stage, it is still impressive. Mostly because it's created with ingredients that can be commonly found in the human world."
So Ajuka already had an idea of how those potions were made and with what, yet he refused to even consider making them on his own.
"He had achieved this on his own without any proper equipment or guidance, so he's clearly far more suited than me to further develop this branch of Alchemy."
It wasn't about developing it further. It was about learning it for their own use. Sirzechs wasn't the smartest among the four Satans-he was the battering ram if anything else-but even he could see how much this could benefit them.
"He will continue to push and refine his craft even further, I have no doubt about that after hearing his requests."
A place to set up shop, alongside all the equipment he could possibly need. Cauldrons of various sizes and made of different materials, a bunch of distinct chemistry sets of his specifications, furnaces both small and big, and a whole lot of ingredients they could throw at him, didn't even matter what they were. Plus, a few books about Fire Magic and the general situation of the supernatural world.
All things they could and would easily provide him. His wife noted that he didn't appear interested in becoming a Devil yet, but this was still fine since they were earning his favor when he was still starting off. And that didn't mean he wouldn't change his mind in the future. His adorable little sister could be very persuasive whenever she wanted to-he couldn't ever say no to her, for example.
"And once he develops his craft into something complete, I will take some time to study it more." Ajuka paused and cupped his chin. "Perhaps I can even sit down with him for an in-depth discussion at that time. Maybe we'll even both benefit from such a conversation."
"Nevertheless." Ajuka picked up the notes he wrote down after examining his adorable Rias. "He can already be considered someone of note with this alone even if a large part of his achievement can be attributed to luck."
"Do you think this can be replicated?" Sirzechs asked before remembering what his wife mentioned. "And do you think this is why we are…?"
"I cannot be too sure. It is nothing but a theory, and I will need to do an in-depth examination of both of us to confirm it." Ajuka closed his eyes for a moment, and Sirzechs feared he might get lost in his thoughts, but his friend quickly got over his moment.
"As for replicating it? We can try finding that Rainbow Clover he mentioned, but I've personally never heard of such a thing."
Sirzechs hadn't heard of such a thing as well. Though it could just have a different name, one that Dio wasn't aware of.
"At least we know that it could be found somewhere in Europe most likely. Around the regions of the Celtic and Norse Pantheons to be more precise."
He wouldn't even ask how Ajuka already figured this out. He was the most intelligent of the four Satans, after all.
"But we don't need to worry even if we don't find it. He will try to replicate it on his own even if he has to do it through other means," Ajuka said with complete confidence.
"Are you sure?" Sirzechs didn't know why his friend sounded so certain of that.
"Of course! I would do that if I was in his shoes," Ajuka explained his reasoning.
Sirzechs considered mentioning that not everyone was as smart as his best friend, but he decided to keep quiet and trust his judgment. Though his wife did mention that she found this Dio somewhat similar to Ajuka.
"Alright then." Sirzechs offered him a thankful smile. "Thanks for taking your time to help with this."
"No need to thank me for this." Ajuka waved him off. "You know I don't mind you visiting me."
"I'll try visiting more often in the future." Sirzechs gave him a thumbs up before sighing as his shoulders slumped in defeat. "But I have to get back to dealing with the Grigori before Sera gets even angrier at me for leaving her alone."
"I will be waiting," Ajuka replied and his focus returned to whatever he was working on earlier, showing no signs of even considering coming along. Which was to be expected since he hated politics even more than Sirzechs did.
'Ahhh, I just want to spend time with my family and spoil my adorable son and lovely sister.' Sirzechs wasn't fond of his position, but he was saddled with it for a reason. So despite how little he liked it, he had no other option than to push through and continue with his… job.
-Jason-
"So you got another house?" Father asks, looking amassed more than anything else as he waves his hands around. "Was this not enough for you? Or are you already planning to move out?"
"More like a workplace than anything else." I roll my eyes at him. There's no way I'll be spending my nights there.
Unless I decide I want to work throughout the entire night. A few stamina potions should help with that. And now that I'm thinking about it, I will probably end up sleepless in the next few days because I'll get lost in all of the new things I can finally make.
"I told you they are good people," Father tells me with a smug look.
"No." I stop him right there and then. "Rias and her group might be good people, but I can't say the same about the rest of the Devils."
"Why?" Father asks, now looking worried.
"Because they earned their reputation. Things only started to change after they ended up as the biggest losers during the three-way war between the Angels, Fallen Angels, and Devils."
I'm really curious how the original Lucifer ended up as a Devil, considering that Angels turn into Fallen Angels when they fall. Was he cursed by the Big Guy in Heaven? Or did He change how Angels work after Lucifer fell?
"They lost all four of their Satans-yes there are four of them-and a bunch of their Pillar Families. The descendants of those Satans wished to continue the war, but a lot of Devils disagreed with them, which resulted in a Civil War. The descendants and their supporters lost, but the Devils ended up in an even worse spot, especially since they have an extremely low fertility rate."
I can easily fix this problem of theirs. In fact, I can do it the moment I get to my new workplace. But I won't. This will definitely earn me their gratitude, but I plan to use this for myself. Not that I'm planning to impregnate a bunch of Devils! Though… never mind that.
One of my future potions has to be drunk during a great event with at least ten thousand people being present. I will have to take the potion after having a great resonance with their emotions. And what better way to do that than revealing I can fix their fertility problems?
"Due to their low numbers at that time, one of the new Satans ended up creating the Evil Pieces. An exceptionally easy to abuse system since they can forcefully reincarnate others without their consent."
I pause, allowing this to sink in. The Evil Pieces are the perfect way to incite Devils into going out and collecting the best team they can find. I know I would've done that, treating it like a Pokemon game-I'm still pretending that ingredients from them don't exist in my mental encyclopedia. Or if I was a horny little shit, I'd go out to collect myself a harem of the most beautiful girls I could find.
"That…" Father has no words, finally starting to realize how big the world is and the implications of that.
A massive war had happened in the past between those three factions, and we-the stupid little humans-knew nothing about it. And this is just one Pantheon! How much shit has happened in the past with humans being none the wiser?
I need more strength to ensure our survival if something on that scale happens again. I also need more allies, though I can't be openly too friendly with any group, in order to not alienate others.
The best scenario is for me to be a completely neutral party. So if someone targets me, the rest will get pissy since they'll want to keep their little Alchemist safe. Especially with how rare my products turned out to be. I honestly thought potions would be a thing here, but I was very wrong about that.
There will be plenty that will try to steal my products and learn how to produce them on their own. And they are free to try. I will just make my products with ingredients not found on this Earth. Let's see how they'll replicate them then.
Those Devils work really fast. Not even a day has passed since my talk with them, yet the building they promised me is already standing tall. Just like they said, the key is right under the fake rock, so I unlock the door and enter inside.
There is no "shop" area, but I guess I don't really need it. Instead, the ground floor consists of rooms all filled with the equipment I requested. My fingers itch to immediately start playing around with them, but I manage to control myself.
I check the underground first, finding multiple large storage rooms and a big walk-in freezer. There are plenty of ingredients inside stored there, but I ignore them for the time being. One of the storages is filled to the brim with vials of all sizes, from small to large, which is perfect.
On the second floor, I find a large living room with comfortable-looking furniture and a large bookshelf that covers an entire wall, next to an equally large flatscreen. Though the bookshelf is mostly empty except for the few books I requested.
For a moment, there's only one thing going through my mind. Magic! Real, local Magic! I really hope I'm compatible with it, but even if I'm not, it's not that big of a deal. Worst case scenario, I can solve that issue in due time.
There's also a fancy phone on the table, one I'm supposed to use when contacting the Devils. That thing won't be leaving the house, and I leave it there for the time being.
The bathroom is to my liking as it isn't in the typical Japanese style but rather in one I'm more comfortable with. The bedroom is the last place I check, and I ignore the fluffy and comfortable-looking King-size bed, briefly considering finding a way to take it with me somehow.
I opened the wardrobe out of curiosity, only to find a lot of fancy clothes. They aren't really my style, but I did take one set out just to see if they fit me, and they turn out to be a perfect fit for my disguised form. You know what? I'm not even going to question how they got the size just right.
With my inspection done, I rush downstairs, quickly passing through the storage area to take some of the ingredients there. I won't really use them, but I do this for appearance's sake.
So now I find myself standing in the hallway between the rooms, unable to decide what I want to do first. There are so many options available to me right now! Especially since some specifically need to be brewed in a cauldron or a furnace.
Agh! I'm spoiled for choice. I guess I'll start with the batch for the Devils. They get this one in return for all of this, but I have to figure out what to ask for the future batches since I don't really need money.
Since I have so much more room and better equipment to work with, I finish them in record time. After setting them aside, I begin making some for my personal use. The first that gets done is one I believe will synergize with what I already have.
My body shakes once I drink the potion and a sense of euphoria follows after. Then the Aura of my Body bursts out as if trying to run away. However, the Aura of my Soul materializes as well and stops it from escaping. The two then begin intermingling with one another, and I definitely don't let out a moan from the experience!
It takes a few minutes for them to settle down, and I feel better than ever! This is great! I feel like I can punch through a steel wall as if it's made out of cardboard.
However, there is one little problem. I've turned myself into a light bulb as my Aura is now permanently active. This… is an issue. I don't want to be boldly declaring that I'm the Alchemist!
I begin to panic since this is an unexpected development. It takes me a couple of minutes of fighting with my new Aura, but I manage to draw it back into myself. I feel slightly weaker like this, but I can pull it out with but a thought.
Alright, problem solved, now to make even more potions!
-Rias-
Should she go and visit him now? Dio should've found his new home by now.
'No, no.' Rias shook her head. She might appear too needy or pushy if she went right now. She could wait for a few days… maybe just one day.
But should she go alone? Or would it be better to take her peerage with her? Maybe even use this chance to introduce Sona to him?
'Grr. Why is this so hard?'
Alright! Rias would visit him with the rest first to introduce Dio to everyone else. Then, she would return the next day on her own. And maybe bring some anime with her? She could say that it's for inspiration and the two could cuddle on the couch while watching it!
'Alright! That sounds like a plan!'
A few days later.
-Azazel-
He idly sat in the kitchen-the only place with actual furniture on the first floor-while staring at the three vials on the table. Interesting little things, though sadly, they were the only ones he found around here.
Azazel would've showered their creator with praises had he not connected the dots and figured out that he was the reason everything blew up in his face. Serafall and Sirzechs didn't outright say it, but he read between the lines that someone had seen the grunt kidnap the Boosted Gear user and somehow knew she had lured him to the Devils afterward.
Then lo and behold, his few remaining spies informed him there was a cute little guy in Kuoh now, one that had earned the protection of the Devils. He really wouldn't have minded talking shop with him, but he had to teach him a lesson or two first. Then they could bargain.
'Finally! Took him long enough.' Azazel smirked as he heard the front door opening. Moments later, he got to see this Alchemist and he was awfully disappointed. The blonde guy was no different than a regular human. His presence was as ordinary as it could possibly get.
The Alchemist looked at him with a raised eyebrow before promptly ignoring Azazel as he went over to wash his hands. He frowned, not pleased with that reaction.
"You know, I was expecting something more, but you look really disappointing," Azazel said lazily as he stretched and put on a bored look.
"Really?" The blondy asked him as he sat down in front of him, looking calm and peaceful. Did he not understand who Azazel was?
"I should probably kill you for all the trouble you caused me." He wouldn't, but the guy didn't know that, so he released a bit of his power to frighten the kid.
Azazel had just finished the negotiations with the Devils and Serafall had wrung him dry. He had no desire to go through that again.
"You can try," the blondy replied, his expression not even changing for a second.
What? Had he somehow figured out that Azazel had broken into his home and contacted the Devils? But how? There were no bugs or cameras inside the building, he had checked!
"Nothing like that," the blondy said, his expression as serene as it had been from the start.
'Can he read my mind?' Azazel narrowed his eyes.
"I can't," he answered, which didn't help at all. "You just keep talking out loud."
That wasn't possible! Azazel might've been tired and exhausted from the negotiations, but not enough for something like this!
"It seems the poison is more effective for your kind." Blondy nodded to himself, and he felt his heart skip a beat. Had he really been poisoned without knowing?
"It's supposed to degrade your mind and slowly turn you insane. Though the first symptom is usually visual hallucination." Just as the last word left his mouth, Azazel saw something for a split second. It looked like the tip of a tentacle that was almost entirely covered with eyes.
Azazel jumped from his seat, his breathing getting heavier by the moment as he realized how much he'd messed up by entering the paranoid bastard's house. Who the fuck spreads poison in their own home?
"What follows after is hearing incomprehensible voices." His words acted like a trigger, and Azazel began hearing murmurs of an unknown language. They were accompanied by a piercing headache, which intensified with each word whispered to him.
They were telling him to bow down and worship them, ordering him to sacrifice an entire world to please them. How did he even know what they were saying?
"And then you'll finally lose your mind, turning into a complete madman."
No!
"Please make it stop," Azazel begged-actually begged for a mortal's help-as he clutched his head. He could feel those whispers slowly drilling into his head, surgically removing his sanity with each word.
"Please," he pleaded again and looked up at the Alchemist, only to see that the skin on the left side of his face had peeled off, revealing gray scales hiding underneath it.
"Alright!" He smiled at him, showing the razor-sharp teeth he hid inside his mouth.
"Just make sure you don't go insane while I make the cure, okay?" He tapped him on the shoulder as he walked past him, and Azazel flinched, feeling something sharp poke him. He peeked at the Alchemist and saw that his nails were long, almost looking like tiny claws.
'What the fuck is going on?' He was really losing his mind! Fuck! The guy had said that the poison was more effective than he believed! Would he even prepare the cure on time?
As luck would have it, the Alchemist made it on time, and he returned with a vial filled with murky white liquid.
"Here you go." Azazel took it and drank it in one go, praying that this was actually a cure. It took a few moments, but. 'They stopped! I can't hear them any longer!'
Azazel opened his eyes to see that the Alchemist was back to normal. His skin wasn't falling off, his teeth looked like a human's, and his nails were short and nicely trimmed.
"And this." He handed Azazel a piece of paper with a number linked to a Devil phone.
For a moment, he considered just turning him and this entire place to ashes, but he hesitated. He didn't know what other countermeasures were in place. Surely, this paranoid fucker wouldn't have healed him if he wasn't sure of his safety. So instead, he just walked away without saying a word.
"Call me or send a message if you are interested in any of my products!" Azazel walked away faster. "It was a pleasure doing business with you!"
'Pleasure my fucking ass! Fuck this place! I'm not stepping foot in Kuoh if I can help it!' He flew away at top speed, not even looking back at that nightmarish town.
Azazel felt a desperate need for a vacation, so he could relax and try to forget all of this shit! Though he first needed to go and examine himself, to ensure the Alchemist hadn't left any nasty surprises for him.
It took him half a day since he didn't want to miss anything, and he looked perfectly fine for the most part. Except that he now had A FUCKING EYE GROWING FROM HIS BRAIN!
Why? How? What does it mean?
Azazel tried calling the number, but the fucker wasn't picking up. So, he settled with sending a few messages and praying he'd reply soon enough. As for going there personally? He didn't even consider it for a moment after what happened earlier.
-Jason-
That was so close. My back is drenched in sweat, and I can barely keep my body from shaking like a leaf. I can't believe this!
I slump down on the floor with my back against the wall and I begin laughing like a deranged madman. I can't fucking believe I pulled this out! Especially against someone like that!
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
I think that was Azazel, but I'm not too sure. He at least looked like him. And if he really is Azazel? I managed to scare him out of his mind! Him! Someone who can kill me almost in an instant, and I made him run away!
This entire experience terrified me and I barely held it together, but I at least learned that the people here are really bad at protecting their minds, even the big shots. Granted, he felt tired and exhausted, so that helped me a lot.
I was so so lucky, but I now know I can bullshit myself out of situations if the stars align in my favor. What an experience… and hey, my potion is almost fully digested now due to that. Using my abilities in stressful situations seems to help a lot.
Ah, I better get cleaned up. Rias did call me to say she'd like to introduce me to the rest of the Devils in town later today.
I hope this turned out well?
And this is the time where you really start throwing suggestions for potions, pills, poisons, or anything remotely similar.
For the Aura of the Body, I settled down on the HxH version for one specific reason, Zetsu, the ability to hide their presence and appear no different than normal. It can be taken a step further, but it's enough for now.
Again, hope this turned out well.
Last edited: Jul 10, 2023
Chapter 6
-Sona Sitri-
She didn't know what to expect from this meeting. Dio… he was someone Sona was wary of, but he did help heal Saji, which she was more than thankful for. Plus, he had been vetted by Grayfia of all people. He couldn't possibly be a dangerous enemy if he passed her scrutiny.
Rias spoke fondly of him, and she was a good judge of character. Though it was painfully obvious that her best friend and rival was developing a crush on him. How she managed that within a few days of meeting him was lost on Sona, but she figured she'd find out why today.
Hopefully, this meeting wouldn't end on a bad note. She had to meet with her lovable sister afterward, and she was told to bring her peerage with her. Now that would be disastrously embarrassing, and she was certain of that. Serafall had promised she had gifts for her and her peerage, and Sona was afraid to even ponder what those might be.
'Please! Please let it not be an entire set of magical girl outfits!' Oh, who was she kidding? What else could Serafall have prepared for them? Just because Sona was fond of them as a kid didn't mean she liked them now!
…
She didn't! Those outfits were for kids! Not someone who was trying to build an image of professionalism for the sake of their dream!
"How do I look?" Rias asked, straightening her clothes with one hand while holding a small bag in the other.
Apparently, her rival had decided they needed to bring a gift with them, forcing Sona to scramble to figure out something at the last minute. Thankfully, she had a few finely crafted chess sets lying around. Not the best gift, she had to admit, but you could never go wrong with such a present.
"You look great," her Queen told her with a little giggle, receiving a thankful smile in return.
Sona subtly glanced at her own Queen, and she gave her a small barely noticeable nod. Good! It wouldn't do to present a bad image on their first meeting.
Moments later, she got to see him for the first time as he opened the door, dressed in fine clothes and with a kind smile on his face.
"Hello." He offered a small wave. "It's a pleasure to meet you all, but how about we enter inside before introducing each other?"
It was a good suggestion since they were attracting a bit too much attention at that moment. A dozen teenagers dressed in school uniforms standing outside his home? Not a good image for those discreetly watching them.
They entered inside, and Sona had to admit that the place smelled better than she expected. Especially after learning what his craft was. She thought the place might have a more bitter scent lingering around, but it was a more soothing and pleasing one. Though she couldn't quite say what it was.
They were led to the second floor and into a living room that had just enough space for them to all comfortably sit down. She first noticed the empty bookshelf, feeling a slight annoyance at its state. The bite-sized food on the table was the next thing she focused on, noticing they all looked well made, though his presentation could use some work.
"I hope you enjoy this." He gestured at the food. "I recently discovered that I have a bit of skill with preparing food."
At that moment, the difference between her peerage and Rias' was made clear as Koneko immediately picked one and threw it in her mouth. She nodded to herself with a pleasing hum and gave him a thumbs up.
Sona's peerage, on the other hand, would never show such… Saji just picked one, and she had to restrain herself from yelling at him as he popped it in his mouth.
"Those are really good!" Saji complimented with his mouth still full.
Sona raged in her mind, yelling promises of pain to her newest member. Saji was due a lesson of proper behavior after this, and she would spank him until he learned!
"I'm glad you like them." Dio didn't seem to mind, still smiling kindly at them.
They then introduced each other, starting with Rias presenting her peerage since she was a klutz and had forgotten to do it the previous time. Sona was next, starting with herself, followed by her Queen up until her newest Pawn.
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
"So, um, thanks for the help! With the potions, I mean," Saji said, awkwardly scratching his head and looking away, his gaze momentarily stopping on Nimura, her other Pawn who ended up personally healing him after the incident. Both blushed bright red before looking away.
'You just earned yourself even more lessons!'
"Nonsense! There's no need to thank me. I'm just happy you are all safe," Dio said, his face showing he truly meant it, and Sona could somewhat see why Rias said he had a nice smile.
"Again, it's a pleasure to meet you all." Dio slightly bowed his head. "And I have to say, I like you far more than my earlier uninvited guest."
"Someone was here earlier?" Rias asked, tilting her head in curiosity.
"Indeed. Tall, with a goatee, and brown hair with blonde bangs. Oh, and he had twelve jet-black wings, can't forget that."
What? What was that man doing here? The negotiations between their two factions had just finished, and he had immediately rushed over to cause trouble? That… surprisingly sounded just like him, from what she'd heard from her sister.
"I think that was Azazel, but I'm not too sure. He never introduced himself and left in quite the rush. Didn't seem too fond of my poison," Dio said with nonchalance, and Sona felt her heart stop beating for a moment at the implication.
"What? Are you okay?" Rias was already on her feet and beside him, fussing over him like a worried wife.
'Rias! You are not focusing on the right thing!'
Sona looked at the rest of Rias' peerage. Akeno looked pleased, Koneko offered him a thumbs up as she continued snacking on the food, and only Kiba seemed to understand the situation. Her own peerage wasn't any better, with only Tsubaki and Momo having grasped what Dio had just told them. She'd… she would need to spare some time to teach them better.
However, now wasn't the time for that. Sona looked back at what she assumed to be a fairly harmless Alchemist. How? He was supposed to be a simple-albeit unique-healer!
She has to admit that he was skilled and intelligent to be capable of creating his potions. But how did he go from making that to creating a poison that could affect an Satan Class being?
And not just any Satan Class being, but a faction leader at that? How did he even manage to poison Azazel without getting killed in the process? It didn't make sense!
Sona silently took a deep breath to compose herself. But she couldn't stop thinking about this. How? Dio had shown nothing like this prior to…
'Unless he created it within a few days of getting proper support?' Sona was glad they managed to form a good relationship with him before. His potions could be a lifesaver in the right situation. Not as good as Phenex Tears, but more tha enough to save people in the right cases.
'How talented is he?'
Now though? She couldn't even explain how she felt knowing that someone like him wasn't their enemy.
Of course, Dio could be lying, but she didn't think he was. A lie like this wouldn't last for long and it would only come to bite him back later down the line.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said, gently taking Rias' hand for a brief moment before letting her go. "Though I learned quite a bit from the encounter. I'd even say I'm closer to completing my next project thanks to that."
"Oh? What are you working on? If you don't mind sharing?" Tsubaki enquired, directing the conversation to something else.
Though Sona wasn't sure she wanted to know. Would it be some kind of poison that could work on Satan Class beings and above? Something even more dangerous?
"Well, I have potions that can restore someone's stamina, magical energy, and even heal their physical injuries, but I have nothing that can deal with other health problems. So I'm working on a potion that can cure all diseases, illnesses, and poisons." He casually dropped another bombshell on them.
"You're trying to create a panacea?" Sona couldn't stop herself from asking, feeling slightly ashamed that she might've misjudged him with her earlier thoughts.
Dio seemed to be a healer first and foremost, but he clearly had ways to protect himself. 'Even against Satan Class beings!' She still had trouble getting over that.
"Ah, kind of? I'm having a bit of trouble since I'm not very familiar with all magical poisons and diseases-I guess I'll need a book on those-but I've already cobbled up something that can cure all mundane types of illnesses," Dio informed them, scratching his head and looking embarrassed at his lack of progress.
Embarrassed? He had already created something incredible, and he looked embarrassed that it wasn't good enough?
Rias suddenly gasped and looked at him with hope. "Do you… do you think you can make something that can cure the sleeping sickness?"
'Her cousin.' Sona figured out why she asked in a second. Though it wasn't that hard considering everyone in the Underworld knew Sairaorg's mother had permanently fallen asleep. And Rias was a bleeding heart that would try to help anyone she could-especially those she cared about.
"Maybe?" Dio replied, though he didn't sound uncertain. "I'll have to know what exactly is this sleeping sickness and possibly get the blood of someone with it. Then I can try figuring it out from there."
Rias nodded with determination, promising to get his requests as soon as possible. She was sure that Dio would succeed, fully trusting in his capabilities.
And Sona? If someone had told her they could cure the sleeping sickness before today, she would've applauded them for their noble dream. However, she wouldn't have expected them to succeed.
Sona didn't think so anymore because Dio was a true savant. Within a few days, he created a poison that could scare someone like Azazel and cobbled up-couldn't he have phrased it better?-a medicine that could cure any mundane disease or poison. He had a really high chance of succeeding and would earn the favor of the entire Devil race in the process.
Thankfully, they moved on to lighter conversations afterward, and they talked about mundane things, such as what they normally did as Devils and the contracts they formed with humans. Though they did end up rounding back to his potions since she was interested in those.
"Have you decided on the price for your products yet?"
Dio proved to be intelligent as he immediately caught on to what Sona was after. He pulled out two packages from behind his seat and showed them what was inside.
"I prepared one for each of your groups as a gift." He handed them the packages, and Sona began to understand why Rias was developing a crush on him. He was kind, intelligent, caring, and had a nice smile.
"But as for selling prices? I'm honestly not sure." He cupped his chin and tapped his cheek with a finger. "I don't necessarily need or want money. I'd much rather trade them for more ingredients, Magic books, or anything else related to the supernatural world."
This earned her respect, and Sona had to add ' driven' to his good traits. Instead of asking for money, he wanted things that could help him further refine and develop his craft. Yeah, she could understand why Rias was so interested in him.
'I really want to try recruiting him as well.' He would be a perfect fit for her peerage, but she wouldn't try stealing him away from Rias. '… Unless she fails in her recruitment.'
In the end, they left on a good note, and Sona was more than satisfied with the meeting. Perhaps she might even return on a later day and play a game of chess with him? That sounded like a plan.
-Jason-
This ended better than I expected. I also have a really nice view of them walking away… in their really short skirts. Can you blame me for looking? It's not my fault! It's their fault for having nice legs and wearing skirts as short as those!
I sigh and walk away, immediately going into one of my crafting rooms. My potion finished digesting at the end of the meeting, so it was time to move on to the next stage.
Using my abilities in stressful situations is really helpful, but I'd rather not go through such circumstances if possible. I will be more than happy if I don't ever see another Satan Class being in my life.
As I work on my potion, I think about Rias. I hate her-I really don't-and I have no idea what to do with her. She's clearly interested in my Dio persona, and I can't even pretend that's not case, especially when I can feel her emotions and thoughts.
But what do I do now?
Do I push her away and gently let her down? That's the smartest move on my part, but I don't want to do that because I'm starting to get attached to her. And that kind of scares me.
What will she think when she learns that Dio is nothing more than a disguise? Because she will figure it out if we enter a relationship. There's only so long I can keep this disguise up, unless I decide to permanently change my body into this image. I really don't know what to do, but I'll have to make a decision soon enough.
But not now because I have something more important at the moment, my advancement. My potion is ready and I drink it alongside a sanity one, to keep myself from going crazy. I barely held myself together during the Azazel encounter, and I really don't want a repeat of that.
My body shudders as a new set of invisible clothes wrap around me. They are accompanied by multiple mind abilities that will allow me to fuck with people hard. My ability to use Magic had finally manifested and… I also feel physically stronger?
That's a surprise, to be sure, but welcome one. I chuckle as I reach for the empty vials and they shatter at my touch. But I barely even pinched them?
Now I'm really surprised. I know the potion was supposed to grant me a physical boost, but I thought it really wouldn't work on me since I was already plenty strong. This will take some getting used to.
Still, who would've thought that a Psychiatrist would be physically strong? We are just a bundle of surprises, aren't we?
The best part is that I have the perfect people around me to play the part of a Psychiatrist. Sona's group doesn't seem to have many issues-except for Saji… he's still terrified due to nearly dying.
But I found out quite a few issues in Rias' group. I won't mind helping them solve their problems, even if I have to use some… questionable ways to achieve that. It will be for their own good! I swear!
I sigh as I'm back to thinking about Rias again. What do I do?
A bit shorter and not as eventful, but I'm really tired from the heat today.
Last edited: Jul 12, 2023
Chapter 7
-Azazel-
The little bastard had let him stew for an entire day! He was on edge the entire time, and he couldn't even get a wink of sleep since the thing in his head worried him to no ends. He had an eye growing out of his brain and had no idea what it meant and how dangerous it was!
On the bright side, Azazel managed to distract himself with some tinkering, even making some progress with some projects he'd been stuck on previously. He did always perform best when stressed, after all.
That didn't mean he still wasn't freaked out though! So when his phone rang and he saw the number, he immediately picked up.
"Hello, who is this?"
"It's Azazel." You little shit, acting as if you don't know.
"Oh, I recognize the voice. You're the man from yesterday. You never really introduced yourself."
"Maybe I would've if you hadn't poisoned me? Did you think about that?" There was an edge in his tone, proving exactly how fond he was of this Alchemist.
"To be fair, it wasn't my fault or intention to do that. If you hadn't broken in, we could've avoided all of that. We could've even talked it out and solved any issues between us."
Azazel hated him even more because his words did make sense. But how was he to know that the bastard had filled his entire house with poison? And he must've done that because Azazel hadn't drunk or touched anything suspicious while he waited for him
Haaa, Azazel just wanted to teach him a little lesson. Really. He considered himself as one of the kindest among his race, but he couldn't let someone tattling on him just slide by. There were some people that one just didn't mess with, and he considered himself one of those people. He just wanted to let the little guy know his place.
'And how did that turn out for me?'
"You know what? Let's just forget about that." Azazel would rather not think about it any longer.
"But why? Mistakes should be remembered and noted down, so we don't repeat them again and learn what we did wrong."
"Kid, who are you trying to give life lessons to?" The guy wasn't even one-tenth of Azazel's age, and he was trying to spout this bullshit to him?
Who did he think he was? His Father? If he was thousands of years older, changed his tone a bit, and kept spouting made-up life lessons he himself didn't abide by, maybe he could've passed for Him.
"Nothing like that. This is just my methodology and the way I'm developing my type of Alchemy. What little success I've had so far has been built on the back of thousands of mistakes. I wouldn't have developed my potions If I hadn't cut the ingredients wrong, messed up the temperature of the fire, or even didn't clean my container properly thousands of times."
It irked him how similar this sounded to his own methodology when researching Sacred Gears. If the situation was any different, he could even see himself becoming, dare he say, friends with the Alchemist before inviting him to join his faction, gaining another like-minded individual in his group of misfits. Azazel hated him even more due to this.
'Wait, wait, wait! Why and how did we even end up talking about this?'
"You know what? You're right. But we can talk about this at a later date, and I might even enjoy it at that time. However, there is something far more urgent to discuss right now, namely the EYE IN MY HEAD!"
"Just to be sure, that's not a metaphor for you hallucinating or something like that?"
"No! I have an actual fucking EYE on my brain! I checked myself over and over again, and it's still there!" Had the little shit not read even a single one of his messages?
"Huh." And then silence followed.
"Huh, what?! Talk to me!"
Azazel did note that he didn't sound that surprised. His response didn't feel like, "How is such a thing even possible?" But more like, "So it actually happened?" And this did relieve him… somewhat.
"Alright, so this seems to be an unintended side effect-"
"No shit?"
"-but not necessarily a bad one. I'm even considering dousing myself with the poison to replicate this."
'He really knows about this?' It was relieving to hear.
"Go on," Azazel urged him, eager to hear what could make this madman consider going through that. And a part of him really hoped this… eye could be beneficial since he didn't really have anyone he'd willingly ask to remove it for him. It was far more likely that the other person would use that chance to just kill him.
"Your… inner eye should make you more insightful and allow you to see the unseen-"
"' Should' doesn't sound very confident to me."
The little shit continued on as if he hadn't heard him.
"-you should experience more bouts of inspiration, you should also have a slightly better intuition, and again, you should see what you were previously unable to."
"Right… are you fucking with me?" Azazel asked while considering how truthful this was. He did have one of his most productive nights, but was it really due to that?
"No, not at all," he answers easily. "Though there is one little problem."
"What?" And there it was! Azazel knew this was coming.
"You should be more prone to madness, but that's not too bad as it's easily solvable by regularly drinking a cure. Once a week should be good enough."
'Should this, should that, how about I shove that 'should' up your ass?' This guy was definitely doing it on purpose. He had no doubt about that.
"Hmm." Azazel could see what this guy was doing. He was making himself appear invaluable as he was probably the only one that could create the cure. Truthfully, not a bad strategy since he was considering taking him up on the offer.
"Of course, we can try removing it as well. I don't have the necessary skill to surgically remove it without harming you, so you'll have to find someone else to do that for you."
'As if. I don't have anyone I can trust with my open skull. I'll just be giving them the perfect opportunity to end me.'
"The other option is for me to try and create a potion that will do that for you. That will take time, however. I'll have to first douse myself with the poison before I start experimenting on myself."
'At least this confirms that he's a madman.' Azazel bit his lips as he considered those three bad options. The second option was a no-go, so that left him with only two choices. Though…
"I'll take you up on your last offer, but I'll buy those cures from you as well." That was the best of both worlds. And should the eye prove to be beneficial to him-he wasn't quite sure if it would-then he could always decide to… keep it.
"That works for me. You already took the cure once, so it should last you for a bit. You can visit next week and I'll have a batch ready for new."
'Visit? No way, I'll be sending someone to pick it up for me.'
"Good enough. What do you want in return?" Azazel asked the important question, only to receive silence in response. "I'm listening."
"I'm not too sure what to ask for."
'Ask for the ingredients so I can try figuring out the cure on my own!' He didn't think it would be that easy, but it didn't hurt to hope for something to finally go his way.
"How about a Sacred Gear? Want one of those?" Apparently, he was giving those away, so why not continue the trend? That damned Serafall had negotiated for an entire set for her precious So-tan when he wasn't even at fault! He really wasn't!
"Maybe a Twice Critical or even a Twilight Healing?" Preferably he would choose the first one.
"Eh, they don't sound that useful. Honestly, I'd prefer more books about human Magic, a lot of ingredients I can work with, or some specialized equipment."
"So that's what you want?" Azazel was a bit disappointed since he couldn't figure out if the guy had his own Sacred Gear or not.
"How about we table this for time being, and I'll give you a call in a few days once I make a decision? Worse comes to worse, you can always owe me a favor."
"I'll be expecting your call." His favor was a lot more valuable, and he wasn't willing to give it away like that.
"Alright."
A comfortable silence followed. Azazel considered dropping the call then, but he figured he could get to know this guy better and figure out his personality from a safe distance. He never really got the chance to do that in their last meeting. This worked well enough for him and he knew the perfect question to ask.
"Boobs or ass?"
"What?"
"It's a simple question. Boobs or ass? Which one do you prefer?"
"That's a stupid question."
'What?!' Azazel felt the urge to fly over and kill him, damn the consequences!
"What do you mean? This is one of, if not the most important question in life! It is the basis of how men build their friendships!" Azazel was getting heated over this, but he paused for a moment. 'Unless?'
"It's a stupid question because why would I pick between those two great things? Why should I limit myself to just one of them? Obviously, I'll choose both."
"You know what? I think you and I can be good friends." He was officially a great guy in Azazel's book! In fact, he wouldn't mind even sharing a drink with him!
"I'll give you a call next time I go drinking with Odin, and I know the perfect place to bring you to."
"That… certainly sounds like it will be fun."
"Oh, you will love it! The girls there are just perfect. Though the alcohol…" Azazel paused. Didn't this guy brew his potions? He saw some of the equipment Dio had in his house.
"Hey, you think you can make some good alcohol? One that will blow Odin's mind?" Azazel thought about what he just asked, so he quickly added, "But not literally since he could be really scary if he wanted to."
"I can try. After all, alcohol is poison at the end of the day, so-"
"Stop! You shut the fuck up! Don't ruin alcohol for me! It's one of the last good things left in life! I don't want to hear anything about this poison nonsense!"
"I'll keep my thoughts to myself." Dio chuckled. "Though I'll have to figure out how good the constitution of a God is to make something that will work."
"What's there to figure out?" Azazel scoffed. "Just take a normal human's constitution, increase it by a billionfold, and add in some natural resistances to most shit. Then boom, you got a God. They are really not that special."
"Huh… Well, that's enlightening. And if this is the case, then I can definitely prepare something. However, I will need the necessary equipment to make it."
"Done!" Azazel didn't hesitate even for a second. "I'll send someone to enlarge your underground area overnight and install all the equipment that you'll need to make any type of alcohol!"
"Then I don't see why I shouldn't be able to create something good with it. It won't even take that long."
"Nice! I can't wait." Azazel was actually getting really excited about this and could barely wait. There just wasn't enough good alcohol that worked on beings at his level.
Man, he really hoped this guy could pull through, and if he did? He just might earn the favor of almost all the Norse Gods. Dio should owe him a favor for giving him this opportunity! He'd mention that to him at a later date.
"Alright, call me if you need anything, and I will make sure to deliver, but I gotta go now." Azazel did actually have work to do, and he hated it with a passion.
"Goodbye."
Dealing with Fallen Angels wasn't easy! It was harder than herding cats even. Some people called him a lax and lazy ruler, but what could he do about it? Most Fallen Angels hated authority with a passion-it was one of the more common reasons for their fall-so if he was stricter with them, then they'd rebel even more often!
Azazel threw his phone away, feeling a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It wasn't the perfect solution to his problem, but he felt satisfied after the call.
He grabbed a few reports he'd practically ignored during the night, and his eyes caught one that he would've dismissed. It wasn't one that really mattered much to him or his organization, but he found the perfect use for it.
"Ha! I'll send him a cute nun! Ain't no way he's gonna be unhappy with that! Who's gonna say no to a cute nun dressed like a maid?" Azazel smirked, feeling satisfied with his decision. And even if Dio wasn't happy with it, it wasn't that big of a deal.
"I should also try to set up a deal for those other potions of his… bah, I'll do that after he calls."
'I wonder whose reincarnation he is?' Great people were born every generation and there was a chance that Dio wasn't a reincarnation. However, this Alchemy of his seemed a bit too refined for that.
It definitely wasn't Merlin since he wouldn't have asked for Magic books. It could be Nicholas Flamel, but Azazel thought he'd be chasing after his vaunted Philosopher's Stone rather than doing this. Unless he has figured it out already and this was how he developed his own type of Alchemy?
'No.' It was a possibility, but Azazel didn't think this was the case here. All of Dio's products had a miraculous quality to them that couldn't easily be explained even with a Philosopher's Stone-not that anyone knew what such an object could do. In a way, it almost reminded him of…
'Could it be?' There was an itch in the back of his head, and he really hoped it wasn't from another eye growing there-he'd have to check himself just to be sure. He should've reformed ages ago if it was within His capabilities, right?
'No, no, it's not possible… but what if?' Azazel just had to ask himself, 'What would He have done if I was at His mercy? Would He have cured me or let me die from the madness?
Azazel knew the answer. He would've healed him and then proceeded to give him a life lesson He made up on the spot.
But didn't that kind of happen?
Shit! If this was actually the case… then what was he supposed to even do with this information. Should he just notify the rest and have Him killed? But Azazel kind of liked this… new version of Him-if it was really Him. Plus, he wanted to taste some good alcohol.
'I can lord it over Michael that I was the first to discover Him.' That.. didn't sound very satisfying though.
'I can lord over Michael that I got dead drunk with Him!' That sounded like a plan, but only if this Dio was actually His reincarnation. Azazel would have to gather some concrete proof despite their many similarities. He actually wasn't sure if he would prefer Dio to be His reincarnation or not…
-Jason-
I thought Azazel would've been harder to deal with, but he's kind of cool. And I'm not saying this just because my potion progressed a bit during our talk. I really expected something else from him-especially after our first meeting-but he turned out to be… a very old manchild.
The inner eye is a slight issue, but it's not really bad, just like I told Azazel. I'll have to find a way to check myself to see if I also got it since I was also exposed to the madness, but it's really not that big of a deal. I already drink Sanity potions, after all.
This world just keeps blowing my expectations right out the window. Rather than higher beings, all of them seem to be more like really powerful humans than anything else. That's how Azazel even described the Gods.
I'm honestly happy to know that. Because that means that I will reach their level very soon. I won't even need to reach the very end of my path. Just getting to Sequence 4 will-if I'm forced-allow me to fight on equal grounds with most of the Gods. As long as they don't wield some conceptual power because then I'll be fucked.
Either way, that's for future me to think about while current me has some experiments to do. I've been playing around with the various ingredients the Devils gave me. But instead of making potions with them, I'm using them for practice as I'm trying to turn some of my recipes into pills.
Potions are great and all, but there are plenty of downsides to them. Like, they are hard to carry around in bulk, their containers are easily breakable, and aren't easy to use in the heat of the moment. Pills, on the other hand, have none of those issues.
It only makes sense for me to try and convert most of my recipes to something better. Of course, I won't be selling or offering those pills to others. I will keep them for my father and me to use.
My success rate so far is fifty-fifty, but I'm making progress and I'm having fun using one of my new abilities. The Telekinesis I gave myself isn't the best or the strongest out there, but it's perfect for what I need it… Well. Want is a better word since I don't really need it. I just want to control everything without using my hands.
There is a small downside to it though. I need to consume a bit more salt than usual. Honestly, not a big deal, especially after I figured out I can use my ability to cook as well. Not to mention that my Mana/Magic restoration potions also helps with it.
This discovery quite literally opened up an entirely new world for me. There are some ingredients that can only be used for cooking and nothing else. Some dishes even have the same effects or even better than the current potions I'm selling to the Devils.
Speaking of them, some of my recipes are to be made with something called Devil Fruits. Despite their names, they don't really have anything to do with Devils. They do, however, grant some amazing and some… funny abilities to whoever eats them. And if they are properly prepared, they don't even have downsides.
I'm tempted to make one for myself, but I'm a bit wary of them since they change the eater on both a biological and metaphysical level. The latter is what worries me since I'm already going through a metaphysical change, and I don't want to fuck with that yet. In the future, I'll definitely eat one once I've finished my transformation.
I'm even considering giving some away for fun. The useless ones, of course. Like turning someone into a Fork-Human or a Jacket-Human. Hah, that will be fun, but I'll have to carefully pick my target.
The current batch of pills I'm working on finally gets done, and I carefully levitate them out of the cauldron right into a tiny pouch. There are already a few dozen more of them inside despite the pouch clearly not being big enough for that.
It's surprisingly easy to make those. I just have to create the solution and then layer it on the inside of a leather container. That's all it takes for me to create my very own Bag of Holdings. Nifty little things.
I have a bunch of those pouches tied on my waist. Some have restorative pills inside while the rest are filled with ones that have a bit more varied effects. Like going boom when hit with enough force.
That will normally be a problem since someone can just hit the pouch and light me up like it's the fourth of July. However, another mixture solved that issue for the most part. It can only be applied to cloth or leather, but it greatly increases the durability of the object. The only downside is that it needs to be applied regularly or it will lose its effect.
With this last batch of pills finished, I'm done for the time being. I won't mind making more, but I'm expecting a visitor, so I go and clean up a bit.
After fixing myself up-and perhaps applying something that made me smell good-I go to the front door and enter my persona as Dio. I'm a bit surprised that I feel two people outside-both easily recognizable due to one reason or another-but I don't let that bother me.
"Hello," I greet the two as I open the door.
Rias is wearing her school uniform, but she has put on some black stockings that… do things to me. She should definitely wear those more often. Definitely not because I like how she looks with them.
Koneko is also there with her, staring at me with hope. It's easier to get a read on her now that I've advanced a stage further and am currently picking a lot of 'food' from her mind. There's still that weird static there, but I'm starting to understand it better. And it doesn't seems that she's doing it with the intent to protect her mind. Interesting.
"Hi." Rias nervously waves at me. "I hope you don't mind that Koneko came along as well. She really wanted to visit after hearing that I was coming here."
'I wanted to come alone, but how can I say no to her?' Rias continues to prove to me that she's the exception to the rule. It's almost hard to believe that she's really this nice of a person, err, Devil.
Koneko puts on an awkward smile and says only one word, "Food?"
"I don't mind at all, and yes, I do have some food prepared," I say and watch as Koneko does a barely noticeable fist pump in her excitement. I wouldn't have caught that without my improved eyesight.
"Thanks!" Rias shows me that smile of hers that can lighten up a room on its own, as she is more than happy that I didn't chase them away.
They enter and we move upstairs to the living room. Koneko gets a serving of bite-sized snacks that literally has her drooling. Damn, she really loves my food, doesn't she?
Rias, on the other hand, is vibrating in excitement about what's to come. See, the reason for her visit is very simple. The gift she gave me is all the available seasons for JoJo's Bizarre Adventures and then she told me not to watch them without her.
This girl boggles my mind. She essentially gave herself a gift because she's more than happy to rewatch all the episodes! I wouldn't have minded something more practical, but this is fine with me. I'm not that much of an anime fan, though I can give this a chance. Plus, Rias is feeling really hopeful that I'll enjoy this.
Haa, I wonder how all the people from school will react if they learn that Rias Gremory-the girl that ninety percent of them view as a Goddess-is a weeb? Either way, it's time to see why she wants me to specifically watch this series in particular.
This became apparent early on, especially when the character Dio was introduced. I just chuckle at that while Rias watches me with a giddy smile. Koneko ignores us as she munches on the snacks, eating them as slowly as possible to extend the bliss she's feeling for as long as possible.
We continue watching, and I don't say a word when Rias slowly inches closer and closer to me with each passing minute. And if my arm suddenly found itself over her shoulders at one point? Well. That may or may not have happened. Rias also may or may not have taken hold of it at some point and never let it go afterward.
I forgot what I wanted to say… again!
EDIt: I remembered! Azazel and Jason might've had a rocky start, but they're slowly turning into bros!
Last edited: Jul 15, 2023
Chapter 8
The place the Devils gave me has greatly changed overnight. It is now larger in both width and height, standing three stories tall. Wasn't only my underground area supposed to be remodeled? What brought this on?
The three people-two men and one woman-standing in front of the building don't really know the answer to my query. Though they are nervous and tense, dearly hoping that I arrive as soon as possible. However, they also dread meeting me as well since they've been warned that I'm dangerous. Huh.
Time to meet them, I guess. After finding a suitable and unseen spot, I pop the pill to cancel my invisibility and walk out, putting on a friendly smile as I approach them.
The man pacing back and forward with a cigarette in hand spots me first, his whole body freezing on the spot. The other man who is awkwardly holding his left elbow sees me next, followed by the woman who constantly keeps checking the time every minute or so.
All of them let out sights of relief, immediately deciding that I'm not as dangerous as they were warned. In fact, just from my appearance and presence, they don't think I'm any stronger than a regular human.
"What took you so long?" The first guy flicks his cigarette and evaporates it with a light beam before taking a step toward me. He has the urge to vent a little since they've had to wait for me here since the morning. The others are also frustrated, so they don't try to stop him.
"I wasn't aware that anyone would be waiting for me," I calmly reply, not really feeling that nervous. I'm still on edge, but I've made quite a few countermeasures in the past few days, so I'm confident that I'm relatively safe.
"We were told to specifically wait for you in case we'll need something from you or whatever." He steps closer, trying to intimidate me with his size since he's a bit taller than me.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about anything," I say, ignoring him as I fling my backpack over and open it up. His anger bubbles and he's about to erupt, but pauses as I take out a vial with green liquid.
"Since I knew someone was coming, I made sure to remove all the poison in the building," I say cheerfully as I carelessly dangle the vial right in front of his face. It's just a stamina potion, but the green color really sells the image of a poison in their minds. "But I'm going to be spreading it again now."
They freeze, eyes widening at the sight of the vial that's right in front of them. The guy that tried intimidating gulps and takes a step back. "I…"
"Right." The woman decides to take charge of the situation after figuring out that I'm not dangerous due to my personal strength but due to my deadly creations. "Everything has been remodeled exactly as requested. We'll be taking our leave now."
I'm fairly confident that I can take them on if it comes to a fight. Not that I've ever been in a fight, but I trust my current capabilities to pull through. However, I'd rather avoid fighting if given the opportunity.
"Goodbye!" I cheerfully wave at them with the hand holding the vial as she grabs hold of both men and pulls them away. They then rudely disappear in a Magic circle without even saying a word.
Alright. What's going on here? Why have people been dismissing my personal strength as of late, thinking that I'm not even stronger than a regular human?
I don't mind this at all. In fact, I accept this development with open arms. People underestimating me is a good thing. Great even! But I don't understand why or how this is happening.
I take all my supplements every day; potions that increase my resistance and affinity to the various elements, enhance my physical attributes, and even ones that increase my potential for Magic. Even if I don't do anything and just laze around all day, I will still continue to grow stronger as if I have been training non-stop.
Like, I'm at minimum Mid Class in strength-I haven't gone out to test exactly how powerful I am, but I think this is a good estimation-and that's without the various enhancing drugs I can buff myself with. So why does everyone keep thinking I'm weak? Even Azaze isn't exempt from this since he also thought I'm no better than a regular human when he first saw me.
In the future, I will be capable of altering the perception of others and greatly fuck with their minds to the point where I can stand in front of them and have them completely ignore my presence. However, I cannot do that at the moment.
This is definitely not something I'm consciously doing. I'm perfectly aware of all of the things I consume every day and there isn't a potion that conceals my abilities in that list. It was supposed to be something I make in the future, just to conceal how quickly I'm growing stronger, but there doesn't appear to be a reason to make it now.
It could be my personalized ability-Semblance-from my Aura, I suppose. That will be disappointing if it turns out to be the case. Though I don't think this is my Semblance and that's not because I'm hoping for something far better. It's mostly because I don't feel any strain on my Aura reserves.
Now that I've thought about it, this started happening after I unlocked the Aura of my Body. Which doesn't make any sense since that made me stronger if anything else. Did the two mixing together cause this? Hopefully.
Sadly, I don't have a way to test it out right now. Unless I give Rias the second potion, but that's not something I'm even considering for the moment. Maybe in due time, but definitely not now.
I can try offering it to my father. Though it feels wrong to use him as an experiment. Plus, he's content with what he already has. I can still ask him later though.
So instead of bashing my head against a wall and failing to figure this out, I decide to quickly explore my remodeled place. The first floor has some additional rooms with various brewing equipment inside and a new meeting room.
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
It's a really fancy place that's nicely decorated and has a big round table in the middle of it, but there's something odd about this room. I look around carefully and inspect everything I can see. However, there is no one else here and I can't sense any minds as well.
So then why do I feel like I'm being watched?
I close my eyes and focus on this weird feeling. Due to my body constantly improving on a daily basis, I've become quite good at adapting to those changes, so it doesn't take me that long to pinpoint the location that's causing this weird feeling.
It's coming from one of the vases. Upon a closer look, I can see that the dirt is uneven and there's just a bit more of it in the back. There's a tiny, barely noticeable hole there, which I reach into and pull out a small device from before immediately crushing it.
Okay… more weird things are happening. Usually, I can feel if someone near me is looking at me since I can sense their minds. But since when can I notice that I'm being watched by a camera?
Again, it's a change I welcome with open arms since it already proved itself useful, but I don't know what's causing it. For the moment, I can only assume it's due to both of my Auras mixing together, though I can't immediately test this to confirm my theory.
Either way, I have to scour the entire building now since I'm feeling paranoid. I enter one of my working rooms and use my newfound sense to find another bug there, which quickly gets destroyed. Then I brew an x-ray potion and begin checking every room one by one.
There are bugs in every single room, all carefully hidden from sight in obscure ways. I clear the underground area and the first floor, briefly checking up on all the new things that have been added. I'm pleased with the equipment, but the cameras are infuriating, to say the least.
The second floor has been enlarged and there are two more bedrooms added to it. That's where I find the most cameras. In the bedrooms! Why there?
The new third floor is solely filled with large bedrooms, and again, all of them are filled with multiple cameras. Why are there so many of them? Both the bugs and the bedrooms. This was supposed to be my home, not a hotel!
I finally manage to clear everything there, and I'm left with only a single camera. I sigh as I look into it.
"I'm supposed to be making a batch of cures for madness, but I'm suddenly feeling nervous. I might slip up and fail the entire batch. Then I'm going to have to go out and find new ingredients and that might take me a few weeks at least. Hopefully, I won't mess up with that one as well. Otherwise…"
I say no more as I crush the last bug. I don't know if this is Azazel's doing, but he seems like the most likely suspect since he's the one that sent those guys to remodel the building. And if he isn't responsible? Well, that won't stop me from blaming him for this. He can then find the one at fault on his own.
After returning to the second floor, I'm greeted by a vibrating phone that looks like it's jumping due to all the messages it's receiving. All of them are from Azazel, of course, and they form into something like, "Please don't! I promise I won't do it again. I will send you gifts! A bunch of Sacred Gears!"
Honestly, he's acting like a kid that got caught trying to steal from the cookie jar. I'll have to figure out a way to punish him… Okay, that sounds weird, I'm not his father to be punishing him. But I still need to find a way to express how displeased I am with this while making sure not to push him too much. After all, Azazel is still a being that can fight equally against Gods, even if he acts like a complete manchild.
And why does he keep offering me Sacred Gears? I really don't need them since I can replicate most of their effects with my potions. Though I won't say no to one of the Longinus if offered. Those things seem pretty strong and useful.
I definitely won't mind Dimension Lost or Innovate Clear. Both have great abilities related to space, the first can teleport attacks and people all over the world while the other can be used to create a perfect world in a separate dimension. They seem really useful for staying safe and are exactly what I need right now.
Hmm, maybe even Annihilation Maker can be really good for me if I can empower the beings made from it with my potions. Shit… if that's actually possible, won't I be able to make my very own Pantheon?
Alright! If I find Annihilation Maker's user I will ask nicely for his Sacred Gear. Unless he's an asshole. Then I'm going to figure out a way to force it out of him.
This particular ability will become obsolete once I advance more, but this doesn't stop me from fantasizing about it while I continue practicing my Telekinesis. I'm getting quite adept with it and I've successfully turned a few more potion recipes into pills.
Though my focus for today is mostly on making alcohol since there's apparently not very much of it out there that can affect higher tier beings around here. This can be a way for me to get in the good graces of a lot of powerful figures, giving them a good reason to keep me safe.
Plus, making alcohol isn't that hard since-like I told Azazel-it's essentially poison. Now the only issue is the aging process, but that's really not that big of a problem.
Distilled spirits are stored in barrels for long periods of time in order to eliminate harsh flavors from the alcohol while giving it a distinct taste and aroma. I can get around that by using magical ingredients that are naturally better tasting. Not to mention that I can create a few mixtures that I can mix with it to add more flavor to the alcohol.
Mead is the first one I start working on for obvious reasons, and it doesn't take me that long to complete. Just a few hours, but most of it is just waiting around. Of course, I don't waste that free time and begin a few more projects, like wine-even though it's very similar to mead-and beer.
At the end, I have a few dozen large barrels all filled to the brim with different types of alcohol. It will still take at least a couple weeks for them to ferment, even if I throw in a thing or two to speed up the process.
After checking the time, I quickly clean myself and put on one of the fancy sets of clothes that I hadn't asked for. I arrive at the front door just as my phone vibrates, and I open the door only to be greeted by a smiling Rias. She's dressed in a lovely blue dress with a cardigan wrapped around her shoulder and a pair of knee-high boots.
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
"Hi." Rias greets me with a brief hug before her gaze flickers over to the building in curiosity. "What brought this on?"
"Ah, this is mostly Azazel's doing," I answer sheepishly.
"The leader of the Grigori? I thought you weren't on good terms with him?" Rias asks, feeling worried that he might've returned and forced me to work for him.
"We talked it out over the phone and solved our issues." For the most part. I'm still unhappy about the cameras. "He asked if I could make good alcohol and ended up providing me with all the equipment, though he added a few extra things I didn't ask for."
"Phew, I thought… never mind." She sighs in relief. "I'm just happy you're okay."
Stop, girl! You'll give me diabetes with your sweetness!
"I'm fine, I'm fine." I wave off her concerns as we walk away from the building.
A few steps in, and she sheepishly wraps her arms around my left one. Rias peeks at me, and I smile in response. Warm feelings begin radiating from her and she beams at me as we continue walking.
"Is there anything in particular that you want to do?" I ask since we don't have any plans for today.
"Not really. I'm fine with just walking around and talking," Rias says.
She'd prefer if we spent the time watching anime and cuddling, but she specifically asked for us to hang out outside. Mostly because Koneko would've asked to tag along if we were going to stay at my place, and Rias wants to spend some alone time with me. And, of course, saying no to her peerage member is an option she won't even consider.
"Hmm, I don't mind, but…" I say and pause for a moment. "How about we pass through one of the supermarkets, maybe grab a few snacks, and return to continue watching the show?"
"Yes!" Rias squeals and quivers in happiness for a brief moment before controlling herself. "I mean, um, I would like that."
"There we go. Then that's our plan for today," I say as her warm feelings intensify. She pulls on my arm a bit as she speeds up with a little skip in her steps.
"So how has your day been?" I ask and Rias begins telling me about her time with her peerage earlier and their daily training.
They used to regularly work out before, but things changed after the incident that night. Since then a fire has been lit under their asses since that situation with the Red Dragon Emperor could've easily ended in a very different way. Rias especially needs to practice even more often now due to her increase in power and lack of control.
We end up grabbing a ton of snacks before quickly returning to my place. Rias wastes no time at all and nestles against me, wrapping her arms around me as we continue watching from where stopped. I hug her back, and she lets out a pleased hum.
This is nice. Both cuddling with Rias and watching the show. I admit that it's a lot better than I expected it to be. Though perhaps I'm enjoying it due to the company? Either way, I have a good time.
"Hey…" Rias says a few episodes in. "You are a good cook, right?"
"I'm not a bad one," I reply.
"Can you… can you prepare a nice dinner next time? With candles?" Rias asks, not even trying to be subtle about it. I don't need my mind abilities to know where this is going.
"Yeah, I can do that," I answer without even hesitating, and she practically drowns me with the emotions she feels at that moment.
Nen has a very detailed power system, but each user still ends up developing theirs in their own unique way. Jason is essentially in a constant state of Zetsu, so he's continuously refining that particular technique even if he isn't consciously doing it.
Last edited: Jul 16, 2023
Interlude 2
-Rias Gremory-
She went over through the various reports, happily humming to herself. Life had been great for her as of late and was only getting better. Rias giggled to herself in giddy excitement just from thinking of what was to come in a couple of days. She'd have to pick a nice dress for that night.
"My, my." Akeno sauntered over with a tray in her hands. "Someone seems awfully happy as of late. Perhaps your previous date finished with a happy ending?"
"Akenooo." Rias pouted at her. It did have a happy ending, but not the one Akeno was thinking about.
"Come to think of it," Akeno continued unperturbed as she delicately placed a cup of tea in front of Rias. "Both you and Koneko seemed just as happy when you returned from your first date. Did that one also finish with a happy ending? For the both of you? My, oh, my."
"Stop teasing me." Rias kept her pout on, no matter how much her treacherous lips wanted to smile just by thinking about her dates.
"Fu fu fu. But I'm not teasing you. I'm merely being curious," Akeno said with a mischievous smirk. "Perhaps I want to experience one of those happy endings for myself? Fu fu fu. I can barely imagine all the fun things we can do with those potions of his."
"Nope! You're not allowed, you skank!" Rias shook her head and crossed her arms. "You have to get in line first!"
"Oh, my!" Akeno playfully covered her mouth. "Such uncouth words from a noble lady like yourself. What would your precious Alchemist think if he heard you?"
"He will agree with me," Rias answered while bobbing her head up and down.
"Hmm." Akeno cupped her chin delicately in a thinking pose. "Mayhaps I will even enjoy it if he used such derogatory words? We can call ourselves names while ripping our clothes off. Hmm, yes, I can see myself enjoying this."
"Grrr," Rias growled at her, but their little play was interrupted as the Magical Circle in the room lit up. She looked at it with a tilt of her head, a bit confused since they weren't really expecting visitors today.
Moments later, a tall young man stepped out of the glowing circle with a small briefcase in hand. He had messy brown hair and violet eyes, and he was dressed in casual gym clothes that showed off his impressive physique.
"Sai!" Rias' eyes lit up in joy and she jumped up from her seat to give him a hug. Her cousin deserved all the hugs he could get after everything he had to go through.
"Rias," he greeted her with a gentle pat on her back before growing slightly nervous as he lifted the briefcase. "I brought everything you asked for."
"That's great!" She happily exclaimed. "I will bring it to Dio as soon as possible."
"I want to meet with him in person. Right now if possible," Sairaorg said, and Rias looked away. She bit her lip while trying to figure out how to explain her conundrum.
"Is something wrong?" Sai asked after seeing her reaction.
"This…" How was she supposed to explain this?
"She just returned from a date with him and doesn't want to immediately run over, so she doesn't look too needy or pushy."
Akeno was right, but did she need to put it like that? Of course, she did! That was her Queen she was talking about.
Her cousin greeted Akeno with a nod before raising his brow. "Do I need to have a word with him?"
"No!" Rias was quick to say. "He's really nice, and I'm sure you two will get along."
Sai gave her a slow nod in response, but she wasn't sure if this was the end of it. Hopefully, nothing bad would happen when the two meet. 'Yeah, nothing bad will happen. Sai is a gentle giant, and Dio is Dio.'
"I suppose I can wait for a day," her cousin said as he took a deep breath before grinning at her. "And I did have another reason to visit. After all, I really wanted to meet the Strongest Devil of our generation."
"Saiii." Rias covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. This was what everyone in the Underworld called her after news had spread about her achievement.
It was so embarrassing! Even though it brought her no small amount of pride. Rias might've needed some help and a push from someone else, but she had technically reached the Ultimate Class! And she was just eighteen years old!
That was more than impressive, and it got the entire Underworld talking about her. They were even some that were comparing her to her brother. And that was big. Like, really, really big! Her brother was one of their four leaders and someone who was much stronger than even the original Lucifer!
Still-she peeked through her fingers to look at her grinning cousin-why did she feel like she didn't stand a chance against him? Rias knew that Sai was strong. He practiced more than anyone else, after all. But was he really that much stronger than everyone else in their age group?
Sai boisterously laughed before sending a challenging look her way. "I would love to go a few rounds with the Slayer of the Red Dragon Emperor!"
"You know what?" Rias stomped and pointed at her cousin, having had enough of being teased for the day. "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get! I will even use some of my potions on you after I beat you up!"
"Oh?" Sai was visibly interested in her declaration. "Potions you say? I think I heard something about that."
"Yep! Here." Rias showed off the box Dio gave her with a puffed chest as if she was the one that made them. "The red ones heal injuries, the blue ones restore magical energy, and the green ones restore stamina, err, physical energy."
"Really now?" Sai picked up the green one, looking at it with undisguised interest.
"Yep! Dio's awesome like that!" She boasted proudly.
"Then I must really meet with him. Those will be really helpful for my training," Sai said before returning the vial back into the box. "So about that fight?"
"Get ready to lose!" Rias declared as she got into character. Her instincts were telling her she didn't have a chance, but that didn't mean she couldn't have some fun, did it?
"That's the spirit!" Sai laughed out loud as he began walking toward the circle. "I know the perfect place for us to fight."
"Akeno!" Rias turned towards her Queen. "It won't take long for me to return victorious."
"Then I shall begin preparing some refreshments for you," Akeno replied with a giggle right before the two disappeared.
They appeared in a large empty building that was filled with craters. Sai looked a bit sheepish as he said, "Uh, we didn't fix it up after today's training, but this shouldn't be an issue."
"It is not. I will win no matter the circumstances!" Rias declared proudly, hoping he would play along.
"Ha!" Sai barked out a laugh as he walked a distance away to stand opposite of her.
"Rias! Do not hold back and come at me with everything you got! Because…" A pure white Aura burst out of his body. "I will not lose no matter what!"
'Gaah!' Rias had to stop herself from squealing. 'He's like a Shounen Protagonist!! This is so awesome! But… why am I playing the bad guy?'
"You think you stand a chance against me? Ha! Let me show you my true power!" Her own Aura of Destruction erupted from within her body and protectively wrapped itself around her.
"The strongest weapon turned into a defensive technique? I see. This will be fun!" Sai said, speaking exactly like a main character right before the two flew at each other in a mighty clash.
Her cousin completely outclassed her in terms of physical abilities, but Rias' massive Demonic Power leveled the playing fields. There wasn't that much of a difference in strength between the two, so then why? Why was Rias getting her ass kicked so hard?
She did her best, used all of the techniques at her disposal, and even sneaked a few nasty punches covered with her Aura of Destruction. Yet she still ended up lying on the ground in defeat while Sai still stood tall. He was hurt from some of her attacks, but he also looked so happy.
"That was great!" Sai helped her up. "If you continue growing like this, I might have to use my secret weapon next time."
Rias gasped. 'He has a secret weapon! He's really like a Shounen Protagonist!'
"You will have no choice but to use your secret weapon next time because I will come back stronger than ever!" She declared, acting like the perfect rival.
"That's the spirit! Never give up no matter what! You can do anything as long as you put your all into it!"
Rias stared at him with shining eyes. She lost, and that stung, but she had so much fun! She definitely had to do this again in the future.
"And if you continue like this, I can see you taking over one of the Satan positions alongside me!" Sai continued, and Rias had to try really hard to keep her expression from faltering.
"Yeah…" She trailed off.
'Taking over one of the Satan positions? What? No! Absolutely not! That's too much work! Nope! I want to have some fun, become a Rating Game Champion for a bit, and then retire and be a good wife. Maybe manage a few businesses to the side just to ensure my family has everything they'll ever need.'
Rias already had her plans for the future, and becoming a Satan wasn't included in them. Too much work for too little payout. She knew that very well since her brother was the current Lucifer, after all.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Sai." She waved him goodbye as she teleported back to Kuoh.
"So how did your little fight go?" Akeno asked her with a teasing smile.
"I don't want to talk about it." Rias looked away, refusing to meet her eyes.
However, that didn't stop her Queen from teasing her. "Perhaps I should call Dio to come over and kiss you better?"
'That will be really nice…'
-Zeoticus Gremory-
"Haa, this engagement is looking more and more like a bad idea," Riscal Phenex said with a sigh as the two discussed this over a drink.
"I don't necessarily agree with that," Zeoticus swirled his glass. "A union between the two would bring our houses closer together. And the children produced by the two of them would be something special."
"You're not wrong… but do you dare force the issue?" Riscal asked the important question.
Right now, if Zeoticus tried forcing the issue, he would become enemy number one to the Devils due to Rias' current popularity. Not to mention that, even though she was his heir, she was now someone on his level! He couldn't easily make this decision for her now, even if they were for her own good.
"I just want what's best for her," Zeoticus sighed. Couldn't she see how amazing of an opportunity this was? Arranged marriages weren't that bad, and his own relationship with Venelana proved as much. They created such a big and loving family, after all!
Rias wanted to naturally fall in love with her partner. That was fine. He could understand her point of view, but she hadn't even given the boy a chance. Riser wasn't even that bad. Sure, he was a bit arrogant, but he had been performing well in his Rating Games, so it was somewhat deserved.
Riser's peerage was made of his harem and his sister, but what was wrong with that? Zeoticus' own peerage was also made of his harem, and Venelana didn't mind at all, she even enjoyed managing them.
"How about we do this," Zeoticus said after taking a sip. They couldn't force this issue, so they had to take another approach. "Since she wants to naturally fall in love, Riser can go and stay in Kuoh for some time, so the two can get to know each other better."
"Riser won't be happy hearing that. He's not that big of a fan of the Human World," Riscal said and cupped his chin in thought. "But I can see this working. He can stay there for a few months or so, and if the two make no progress in growing closer, then we can cancel the marriage agreement for the time being."
"Yeah." Zeoticus sighed in defeat. "And even if it doesn't work out… well, who knows, maybe they'll fall in love in the future?"
"True, true, only time can tell how things will develop." They clinked glasses and downed their drinks in one go.
-Indra-
The future was growing muddier by the day, and he had no idea why. Someone's actions were making it harder and harder for him to observe what was to come.
So, Indra tried looking as far into the future as he could to see the root cause of all of this. That was the wrong move on his part. All he managed to glimpse was a figure shrouded in mist who-Indra still couldn't explain how they did that-slapped him right into the present.
How? No, really, how was that even possible? Who could even do that? One of the Trimurti? But they haven't shown such an ability before? If it was one of them, then what changed and how had he missed this?
Indra had a killer headache from the mental slap-he still couldn't understand how that was even possible-but that didn't stop him from looking around, trying to figure out what was messing up the future so much. He managed to find something unusual in a particular building in Kuoh, but he wasn't entirely sure this was the real cause since he didn't feel the presence of that mysterious figure there.
Nevertheless, the owner of this building was interesting because Indra couldn't find him! He had no other option than to wait and check over the place every now and then in hopes that he catched the person. And finally he did. Indra saw him working on something, and he couldn't help but clap once in appreciation.
'Good technique.' Indra gave praise where it was due. All of this guy's supernatural energy was tightly packed and concealed in such a way that almost no one would notice. Indra, however, wasn't just anybody. He was the King of Gods and the strongest God of War! There were very few beings that could hide their strength from him.
In terms of energy, the guy was High Class, and he could potentially be a good foot soldier for Indra's future army. However, he was far more valuable than that as his medicine would be…
"Why are you spying on me?" The guy asked, looking straight at him.
'How did he find out?' Now he was actually impressed! There weren't many that could catch him like this.
'Ohh! Because he has pulled all of his energy tightly inside his body, he is far more sensitive to any kind of supernatural energy!' How interesting! How novel! This ability should leave him more vulnerable to attacks if he was caught off guard, but he should be able to sense them before he was hit.
Right. Indra should probably answer. He did a quick check on the guy, and he could barely find anything about his past. This annoyed him greatly, but Indra deduced that the Alchemist wasn't a bad guy from what little he saw. So no going over and teaching him a lesson or even killing him. Indra was a just God after all and would punish only those that deserved it.
The Alchemist was mingling with the Devils, but he was mostly in touch with their rotten apples. They were naturally evil creatures, but there were a few exceptions among them. If he was in contact with the others, Indra might've ended the Alchemist.
However, he did find something interesting in his search. Indra grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down something before teleporting it in front of the Alchemist.
"You want some good whiskey?" He asked after reading the note. "Alright. Visit me in a few weeks."
Indra was satisfied with the response. Quick and to the point. Good. And if his whiskey was as good as the other alcohol he was currently making, then he would be satisfied with that as well.
In the future, Indra would request for his other services once he was prepared to wage his war. Hmm… perhaps he might even give Shiva a heads-up, so he could also supply his own men with the potions. This way, the fight would be more challenging and fair!
'Should I?' Indra thought for a moment before shaking his head and canceling his scrying spell. There was no point in warning the Alchemist of what was to come. He obviously had some potential, so he would either fully realize it when the time came or he would die-a shame, but Indra wouldn't cry over it.
The Khaos Brigade-he despised that name and wanted to rip them all limb from limb. Those annoying guys would run around causing chaos soon enough-they would all die, disgusting little things, but it wasn't the time yet, no matter how much he hated chaos. Those guys would surely target the Alchemist, either for recruitment or to eliminate him so he wouldn't end up supporting their enemies. Hopefully, he would survive and emerge better from the conflict.
If he had to, Indra would kill them personally when the time came, but they were needed for now. Their actions would shake the world and push many to step up to their challenge.
After all, hard times create strong men, and strong men was what he needed. Indra would fill his army with the best of the best, and then he would wage war against Shiva!
First, Indra would outmaneuver and outwit him. He would lead his army like a true General and prove himself superior to his foe.
Then, as a final showdown, he would personally battle against Shiva! It would be a difficult fight, one that would push him to his limits, but he would emerge victorious!
And after he had proven to be the best, he would go after the one that mentally back slapped him! Did that person seriously think they could get away with that? So what if they had some mysterious abilities? Indra would still have his revenge, one way or another!
For he was Indra, the Strongest God of War and King of the Gods!
Hopefully, this turned out well.
Zeoticus and Riscal aren't maliciously evil in their desire for the marriage. They just look at it from entirely different perspective.
Indra also isn't maliciously evil. He doesn't want to inflict pain and suffering to others--only to those he thinks they deserve it--but he also wants an army full of people that can step up to the challenge.
Those are my interpretations of those characters, and hopefully I didn't miss too hard with them.
Last edited: Jul 21, 2023
Chapter 9
-Andrea-
Life had taken a strange turn for him and his family. Every new bit of information that his son shared with him was simply outrageous and so hard to believe, completely changing his perspective and going against everything he used to regard as the truth.
Monsters. Angels. Devils. Dragons. Gods.
The world was so much bigger than Andrea ever thought, and Jason jumped into it with both feet. His son had expressed how much the supernatural scared him on multiple occasions, especially since he had an entire encyclopedia in his head that was filled with even crazier things. Yet Jason clearly loved every second of this new reality.
Andrea worried for him, but he didn't even think about forcing him away from this. After three years, Jason was finally regaining some of his old self, after all. He used to be a charismatic kid that brought others around him, but he shut off the rest of the world and lost all of his ambition after Maria left them-it still pained him just thinking about that.
It only took something completely outrageous for him to start regaining some of that life he used to have. Andrea still didn't understand how all of this started. Jason also wasn't sure despite everything he now knew, but that didn't stop him from exploring the supernatural with undisguised interest.
His son took to all of this like a fish in the water. Even deciding to become a Dragon God of all things just because he could do it. All of this was so crazy!
Andrea was content with his current lot in life and honestly had no desire to do anything with the supernatural. That was all just too much for him.
However, his son intended to fully integrate himself with the supernatural, so Andrea had to support him. Even though there wasn't much he could do for Jason other than just being there for him when he was needed. And honestly, that's all his son really needed from him.
Jason was already eighteen and would've already been considered an adult back in Andrea's time. He was at the point where he would've had to already have a plan for his future and a way to support his family. However, his son didn't need to worry about any of that since he already had people willing to give him almost anything he asked for.
He already had his own house! It was already even renovated once to be made even bigger! This brought Andrea no small amount of pride. Back in his days, anyone that could afford to own their own house could stand proud knowing that their future was set in stone. And he was only eighteen!
Andrea was truly happy for him, even though Jason was spending less and less time in their own home. He honestly didn't mind since his kid had regained his spark of life in his eyes and that's all that really mattered to him.
"Order for three large ones with everything and three sets of big fries," Takao called out to him after putting down the phone.
He was a good kid, just like the rest he hired to help him out. All of them had come to Kuoh to study-the University was apparently a big deal-and were quickly met with the harsh realization of how hard it was to live on their own without the full support of their parents.
"Got it," Andrea replied and began preparing the order.
He was once like them, so he didn't hesitate to offer them the job opportunity, even allowing them to figure out their own schedule so they didn't miss out on school. The kids discussed it among themselves and didn't even try to cheat him. They really were a good bunch.
The three gyros were quickly filled up and wrapped before he stored them in their boxes. Andrea stepped towards the fries section and paused as he suddenly felt something flow out of him.
"What?" Andrea blinked as he was suddenly holding onto a set of large fries, packaging and all.
This development was more than puzzling and he picked one of the fries, trying it for himself. It tasted precisely how he liked them, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They were perfect, but he knew for a fact that he hadn't scooped them up. So how did they appear in his grasp?
Andrea set them aside and tried doing it again, just to see if he could replicate whatever had happened. It turned out he could and it was exceptionally easy to do so. He just had to visualize what he wanted and he would experience that feeling of something flowing out of him before the fries materialized in his hands.
"Huh." He set those aside as well and finished the order before focusing back on them.
'Am I like my son?' Andrea thought and tried testing a few things out. He couldn't materialize whatever he wished to, but he figured he could make any type of food he had previously cooked himself.
'I'll have to ask Jason about this.' His son would definitely know what was going on. But all things considered, he didn't mind this development that much-even if it freaked him a bit. Especially if the food didn't disappear after a certain period of time.
-Jason-
I admit, I was a little jealous at first when I saw Rias coming over with another man. He is tall, handsome, and absolutely ripped. Thankfully, I know for a fact, that although they care for each other, it isn't in a romantic way.
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Plus, Rias is excited to introduce me to the big guy, whose emotions are very conflicting, to say the least. He wants to threaten that he will fold me like a pretzel should I ever hurt her, but he isn't sure how to express that since he also desperately hopes I can help him.
"Dio." Rias hops over to give me a hug before looking at the guy. "This is my cousin, Sairaorg!"
"It's nice to meet you," Sairaorg says as he offers me a handshake. "Rias has told me a lot about you."
"Hopefully only good things." I take his hand with a friendly smile.
"Indeed, indeed," he says as he begins squeezing hard and slowly increasing the pressure.
"That's relieving to hear," I say, my smile never faltering even for a second as we continue shaking hands.
Sairaorg is momentarily surprised as I don't immediately begin squealing like a pig. Yeah, that's right buddy, I'm not that weak! My physical strength isn't as bad as all of you seem to think.
This useless posturing is normally something I would try to avoid, but I still have some manly pride in me! And there's also the fact that I don't want to look bad in front of Rias.
However, his grip is rapidly beginning to increase in pressure and it's starting to hurt a bit. Alright, buddy! You made your point. You can stop now!
His eyes light up, and he's suddenly excited since I'm seemingly quite strong? Oh, this guy is a complete battle maniac. I should stop this before he decides I'm some worthy adversary or something stupid like that.
"Shall we enter inside to discuss your reason for the visit in private?" I ask, and he immediately releases my hand.
"Yeah, uh, that will be nice," Sairaorg says, feeling ashamed and nervous since I can chase him away if I feel offended by his actions.
Rias is giddy in excitement. She's not blind and realized what happened, but she thinks we had an amazing "bro" moment, from which we will become the best of friends. I have literal mind reading powers, and she still confuses me at times.
We enter inside, and I lead them to the meeting room. Might as well use it now that I have it.
"I…" Sairaorg takes a deep breath and his body tenses up slightly, but his mind turns so fragile. The emotions that hit me make me sympathize with him, especially as I pick up on what's troubling him so much.
"I don't know if you can help-"
"He can," Rias chips in with complete confidence.
"But I really hope that you can because you might as well be my last chance," he says as he places the briefcase he brought onto the table before clicking it open. Inside, there are a bunch of papers written in a language I don't recognize and samples of hair, skin, and blood.
"Someone very important to me caught the Sleeping Disease." My mother. "And I'm willing to do anything… Anything as long as you can figure out a way to help."
I feel the urge to immediately create the cure and to just hand it to Sairaorg. Sure, he's a Devil, but he's a good guy from what I'm picking on from his thoughts. Plus, he reminds me of myself in a way. If Father ever got sick with an incurable disease, I would be willing to do anything to help him, just like Sairaorg.
But I can't do that right now. I'm still a bit too vulnerable at the moment, so I can't truly show what I'm capable of. Instead, I will do the next best thing I can and walk over to stand in front of him.
"It might take some time, but I promise you that I will help you no matter what," I state, staring him in the eyes to express that I truly mean my words.
I'm then emotionally assaulted from two fronts. Rias is just full of joy and happiness. While Sairaorg is just a bundle of emotions, composed of a little bit of everything.
But most of all, he's just happy that there's someone willing to help him of all people . Someone that won't just push him away or laugh at him. Because apparently, there are barely any people that care about him and are willing to assist him in any shape or form.
The big guy might have a scary appearance, but he's such a gentle soul. His situation is sad, even though I'm not fully aware of what exactly it is. Nevertheless, I still feel the urge to extend a helping hand to him.
"I… and the payment?" He asks with a sense of trepidation as a little voice in his head is telling him this can't possibly be happening.
"Don't want it, don't need it," I reply and walk away, though that maybe wasn't the right thing to say.
"I… but…" because Sairaorg now looks like he's about to cry.
No! Stop it, big guy! You'll ruin your manly image! Please don't cry!
"Look, I'm already trying to create a cure for all diseases," I say, trying to stop the floodgates. "Your payment is the fact that you're helping me speed up the process."
Alright, mission failed. His eyes are now trembling and he's on the verge of crying. How much has Sairaorg been mistreated if he reacts like this to just a little bit of kindness?
"On a second thought, I might actually need something," I say and I can feel him grow wary. "I'm assuming the person you want to help is your relative, so your blood might be useful."
"Done!" There isn't even a moment of hesitation on his part.
"Do you need my blood?" Rias asks from the side, willing to help in any way she can.
"Nope," I say before turning to Sairaorg. "I'll be right back."
After grabbing some empty vials and a couple of healing potions, I return to a happily smiling Rias and a Sairaorg that has slightly calmed himself.
"You can fill those up." I push the empty vials to him, and he just rips a chunk of his flesh from his arm as if it's no big deal.
It's a good thing I brought the healing potions because he's a crazy one. Though my thoughts are immediately proven wrong as a white Aura-eerily similar to mine-bursts out from his body and heals his wound in a split second.
"Huh. What's that?" I ask curiously.
"Touki," Sairaorg replies. "It's essentially the external manifestation of your life force and can be used for various effects such as increasing your physical abilities or even healing yourself."
"Interesting." I also have that after unlocking the Aura of my Body, though mine is slightly different from what I can tell.
"Guess you don't need those." I point at the healing potions.
"No, but I'm still interested in them, specifically those that restore physical energy. Even if they don't restore my Touki, I will still be able to train that much longer with their help."
Right, he's definitely a battle and training maniac. Asking for his blood was a good decision on my part even if I feel slightly guilty for what I'm going to use it for.
"Hmm, I have a few extra cases I can spare," I say as I tap my chin, thinking of what to ask for them. Sairaorg says nothing and patiently waits for my decision.
I already messaged the Devils that I want more Magic books in return for the next batch of potions. Even though I absolutely loath the human Magic System! I can use it-I tested this already-but who the fuck decided to make it so complicated?
Again, I can use it, and it's not even that hard, but I find it stupid and annoying. All those needless calculations sucked all the fun from Magic! It's supposed to be something mystical and magical! Not some boring calculations!
"I'm interested in some good daggers," I finally say. I have a bunch of poison prepared, but I don't really have a way to use it on others. Coating a weapon with it is a good way to get around that.
"Magical ones preferably," I add after.
"Naturally," Sairaorg says. "Your potions are worth far more than simple steel daggers."
"Alright, it's settled then!" I clap and stand up. "I'll be right back!"
"What?" I hear him say as I run out of the room before shortly returning with a bunch of crates floating behind me, which I shove right at Sairaorg.
"But I haven't paid yet," Sairaorg says as he struggles to hold them all. Not because they are heavy but because I caught him off guard again.
"Rias trusts you, so I trust you." Plus, I can feel that both of you are made of the same cloth! A bunch of fakers calling themselves Devils. That's what you two are. Just a bunch of fakers.
Rias begins rocking left and right with a huge smile on her face while Sairaorg just stands there, not knowing what to say. He takes a deep breath and whispers, "Thank you."
"I will get you the best magical daggers I can find!" He promises with a fire in his eyes. "It won't take me more than a few days. No, just give me a day!"
"Don't worry about it too much." And now he's determined to get me a set of good daggers by the end of today.
I didn't even do that intentionally! I'm not trying to manipulate him, you know. I'm just being kind and he's reacting like that… I really feel sad for the big guy.
"I… I should go," he says before growing nervous. "And the payment about the cure."
"Don't want, don't need. Don't make me repeat myself!" I point at Sairaorg, daring him to ask again.
He smartly doesn't bring up that topic again. "Thank you. I will return with your payment as soon as possible."
"Give me a moment, Sai, I'll be right there," Rias says as her cousin walks away. The moment he leaves the room, she instantly jumps at me with a hungry look and wraps her arms around me in a crushing hug.
"Thank you," she whispers, her hot breath tickling my neck and causing me to shiver.
"What you did means a lot to me and Sai." Rias pulls back a little to lovingly stare at me with a bright smile. "I'm really happy that you two got along so well."
"Mhm." I just nod as I stare into her pretty blue eyes.
"I can't wait for tomorrow night," she says and leans over to gently kiss me on the cheek that lasts for more than a few seconds. After pulling back, Rias offers me a lovely smile as she shows off her rosy cheeks.
"Me too," I say as she releases the hug, her cheeks turning more and more like her crimson hair.
Rias nods sheepishly before walking away with a swing in her hips as she goes after her cousin. Moments later, their minds disappear from my senses as they teleport away.
Tomorrow night will be… something alright. It will either go really bad or really good. Hopefully, the latter because I really like this stupid girl…
Whatever is meant to happen will happen and there's no point to fuss about it. Instead, I might as well make use of the blood donated by Sairaorg. The guy is obviously a training and fighting maniac, and I can make a potion that will absorb some of his fighting skills.
I feel slightly guilty about this, but I really need to know how to fight. Not that I'm planning to get into fights in the future, but I don't even know how to properly throw a punch. I'd rather know how to fight but never need to do it than the other way around. Better be safe than sorry, and all that jazz.
After apologizing one last time to Sairaorg, I go and begin brewing the potion. The amount of blood he donated is more than enough for me to create more than a dozen of those potions. I should be able to absorb all of his fighting skills after drinking half of those.
Though this process will take a few days for me since those potions have to be consumed right before sleeping. The absorption of skills happens subconsciously overnight in the form of dreams. It's not an entirely safe process since some of his personality can bleed into mine, but I'm confident I can isolate it with my abilities.
Just as I wrap up everything here I receive a message from my father, informing me that something weird has happened to him. I quickly clean up around and grab everything that I need before popping a pill. I disappear and promptly appear back in our house.
I'm so happy I turned those potions of Mark and Recall into pill recipes. Those are oh so useful, though setting them up is a bit of a hassle. Plus, I have to remember which pill is for which location, which really isn't that hard since I have only two teleportation marks set up at the moment.
The Father is the first to get his Semblance. It has absolutely no fighting use, but I feel it fits well. It also feels thematic with Jason's own abilities.
If you have any suggestions for Rias' Semblance, you are free to share them. Actually, please share them! I have a couple of ideas for her, but I don't know how good they are.
Chapter 10
I'm still surprised that my father was the first to get his Aura ability since he is the one that uses his Aura the least out of the three of us. Not that I'm much better, but I should've formed mine before him if it took a certain amount of time. Obviously, this is not the case here.
It's also not dependent on how much someone uses their Aura since Rias would've gotten her ability already. The strength of one's Soul could have something to do with it since Father has the weakest one of the three of us. Or it could be random. I don't know for sure since I don't have an exact guide for it.
Either way, Father got something that could be potentially really good even if his ability has no uses in combat. At the moment, he can only conjure mundane meals, but what if he got the chance to prepare something with magical ingredients?
I'll have to request something like that for my next batch of potions. Or I can try to make my own. Just need to gather some mundane ingredients and begin modifying them. A few serums made with Gourmet Cells should do the job.
Though I do have to be careful with those since they can mutate organisms unbelievably fast in the right circumstances. Creating a world-destroying abomination isn't out of the question if I'm not careful with them. Gourmet Cells are really dangerous if used improperly, but the benefits of eating them are incredible.
Either way, this isn't important for the time being. Right now, I'm distracting myself with the three daggers that were delivered to my doorstep. They look exactly like I expected magical daggers to look, having uneven and jagged blades and small purple crystals embedded in their handles.
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Two of them I'm dipping inside a couple of basins filled with sleeping and paralysis poisons. It will take some time for them to fully absorb the liquid and gain its properties. Though I will still have to regularly dip them in the poison from time to time to ensure the effect doesn't wear off.
I'm not sure what to do with the last one. A fast-acting lethal poison perhaps? Or something that drains magical power? I can't decide since I want them all.
That's a problem I can easily solve. I just need to ask for more… a lot more of them for my potions. But not just daggers. I want swords, spears, axes, bows, shields, armor…
My instincts to hoard every single piece of equipment are acting up! I know this is not a game, but I really want an entire treasury room that's filled to the brim with all the magical items out there. I won't even use ninety-nine percent of them, but they'll be nice to look at!
I guess it's decided then. At least, I won't have to think too hard about what to ask for from now on. Though I first have to complete my collection of magical books. Better finish with what I've already started collecting before moving on to the next.
The two daggers finish absorbing the poison and I finally decide on coating the last one with a fast-acting and deadly toxin. One lethal one and two neutralizing weapons should do the job for now.
I've never killed someone and I don't know how I will react when I do so, but I'm certain that I will be forced into that situation sooner or later. Even if I try to make friends with everyone, someone is bound to get pissy for one reason or another. However, I will be prepared for when that time comes and that's the best I can do at the moment.
Once I'm done with the last dagger, my thoughts move on to the date. There are still a few hours until Rias arrives, but I'm nervous since I'm not entirely sure how it will go. Hopefully, everything will turn out well, but I will prepare a thing or two for the worst-case scenario.
So after finishing all the preparations, I'm left sitting there and just thinking. Will it go well? Will I fuck it up hard? I have literal mind powers, allowing me to know what to say and which buttons to push, but I also don't want to use them on Rias, like how I don't use them on my father.
It just feels wrong. He's family and not an enemy. I don't need to be paranoid around him, constantly reading his mind to know what he's thinking. Rias isn't family, but she's the closest friend I have, which is kind of sad now that I think about it.
I needed a disguise to finally get close to someone else. Pathetic. I was-still am-afraid that anyone I get close to will end up leaving me at some point. My abilities as a Psychiatrist are supposed to be used on others, though nothing is stopping me from evaluating myself with them.
It's how I found out I have a fear of abandonment even if it should've been painfully obvious. The best way to get over it is to simply relax and just make friends with others while ensuring I don't get attached to the wrong people. Simple and easy, especially with my powers, but I still find myself feeling nervous.
Rias finally arrives a few hours later and my heart speeds up rapidly, feeling like it's about to jump out of my chest any moment now. I can still delay this meeting, or even just push her away and be done with this, but I've already made my decision.
After taking a deep breath, I walk over to the front door and open it up. A shy and nervous Rias is standing there, wearing a low-cut red dress. She's absolutely stunning.
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"Hi," Rias shyly says as she comes over to hug me, briefly pecking me on the cheek. I have the urge to slightly tilt my head to turn that peck into something far more intimate, but I manage to resist.
"You look amazing," I say, taking one of her hands and giving it a gentle squeeze.
"You don't look bad yourself," she says, her smile stretching from ear to ear as she wiggles her hand a bit, so we end up interlocking fingers.
Rias is making this so much harder! And I'm not talking about how tight my pants are beginning to feel. Because not only is she extremely beautiful, but she's ticking off all the right boxes.
"I hope you'll enjoy what I prepared," I say as I begin to lead her upstairs.
"I'm sure I will."
Rias, you aren't helping! You're just making me feel more anxious about what's to come!
"But before we get to that, there's something that I wish to tell you," I say as we enter the living room. I set it up earlier, doing my best to make it as romantic as possible.
"Mhm." Rias nods after briefly looking around. She's more than pleased, but she's starting to feel anxious as well.
I still have the chance to delay or even end this, but I don't. So I lead her over to the couch and sit down next to her.
"Alright." There are many ways I can start this talk, but I know the perfect way that will have the best results.
"You thought it was Dio, but…" I take the pill that will cancel my disguise and my form shifts. "It was me, Jason."
"What?" There's a bit of happiness at first due to me using a reference, but it quickly changes to surprise and confusion with a little bit of hurt. "But… you're my classmate!"
There's a lot going on in her mind, and Rias inches just a bit away from me. It hurts, but I did somewhat expect this.
"I don't want to lie to you, so please give me the chance to explain first," I say, taking a deep breath.
"This… have you lied to me the entire time?" Rias asks, her eyes trembling as she clutches her hands into fists. I didn't want to make her sad, but this is unavoidable. Unless I decide to alter her mind once I grow stronger, giving her the impression that she always knew, but I don't want to do that.
"No! Not necessarily. I twisted the truth a bit, but I've tried avoiding lying as much as possible." It was because I was afraid that they'd have ways to detect lies, but it doesn't change the fact that I've barely lied up until now.
"Then why?" Rias asks, waving her hands at me. "Why all of this?"
"Because I was afraid… I was scared, alright?" I quickly answer. She's still on the verge of tears, but she's at least willing to hear me out.
"Remember how I told you about how I started making potions?" Rias nods but says nothing else.
"That's how it all started about a month ago. I drank something foul, lost my consciousness and fell down, hitting my head in the process. I woke up after and made my first potion," I repeat what I told her before, just to assure her that I hadn't lied. She nods slowly in response and waits for me to continue.
"I made a bunch of different ones, and one of them made me more observant. That's how I noticed that some of you at school were more than what you appeared to be."
"Why didn't you just come to talk with us? Talk with m-me?" Rias asks, voice hitching at the end.
"Because I was afraid. I didn't know anything about the existence of the supernatural world. All of you were unknown to me. Except for you due to your name. And before you say anything about that, most normal people don't think of Devils as the good guys," I say even though I'm sure she's the exception to the rule.
Rias opens her mouth to reply, but stops herself a moment later, remembering a few contractors she's had in the past that had thought of her as evil just because she is a Devil. Though that doesn't really make her feel better.
"I was fine with just keeping my distance until I learned more about what's going on. But then I saw Hyoudou getting kidnapped in broad daylight. I panicked back then since a part of me thought, 'what if I'm next?' That Fallen Angel was after his Sacred Gear, and I didn't know if I had one myself." Rias is still hurt by all of this even if she can somewhat understand me.
"I decided to meet with you then to obtain more information, but not before making a few preparations, one of them being the disguise." Her eyes turn wet after hearing the last word, and the sight of that breaks my heart.
"But please understand that I had to do it. I… worst-case scenario, I can protect myself. But my father can't. The disguise is mostly for his sake since I don't want to endanger him. I can't lose him as well. He is… was the only person I cared about."
This is what calms Rias down, my family. And due to what I implied at the end there. But mostly the former since family is one of the most important things for her. I'm not manipulating her on purpose since I'm being truthful, but it stings because it sure feels like it.
"I remember now," she says, trying to distract herself for a moment so she can calm down.
"Your father was Gasper's first contract. He panicked and forgot how to properly evaluate the price of a request, so he ended up asking for way too little. But that was fine. It was his first time and I didn't mind covering for him."
Gasper isn't someone I've met or even heard about until now, but he's part of her peerage if I got that right. At least, I now know who we are to thank for the chance to start all over from scratch. I'll have to find a way to make it up to him, but only after solving this issue.
"I… I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you. I really didn't," I say, gently taking her hand and she doesn't pull away, which is a good sign. "I could've continued wearing this disguise, but I don't want to lie to you. You're one of the few people I care about."
"I really hope you can forgive me for this… I really didn't mean to hurt you." This is getting harder and harder since a lot of her sadness has bled into me.
"You really haven't lied to me about anything else other than your disguise?" She asks, mostly for confirmation as she reaches over, gently placing her hand on my cheek.
"To you specifically? No. It's hard to lie to the people you care about," I say, watching her lighten up a bit. I still have some secrets, but I can't reveal them yet.
"I wish you hadn't used a disguise at all," Rias says as she gently rubs my cheek. "I like your current appearance way more."
My heart skips a beat at that moment. I don't think she realizes how much that means to me.
"I wish I didn't need to, but I had to for my father's sake. I don't want others to use him to get to me." I'm a lot more valuable than I thought, even with what little I've shown so far.
"I understand that, even if I don't like it, I understand." Rias takes a deep breath, her mind struggling to come to a decision.
I give her a moment as she goes through all of our interactions so far and everything we've done together. She's still sad, but there is a sense of longing and desire there.
"Is there anything I can do for you to forgive me?" I really don't want to use any of the things I prepared earlier today. "I really don't want to lose you…"
"I want you to promise that you won't lie to me," Rias says as she comes to a decision.
"Easily," I reply without hesitation. "I loathe lying to my close ones."
Rias' breath hitches as her eyes water a bit, but this time it's not because she's hurt or sad. She moves closer and climbs in my lap as she wraps her arms around me with an intense look in her eyes.
"And… and I want whatever you used for your disguise!" She requests even though she already made her decision.
At this point, I just stop using my mind reading abilities since I don't need them anymore. So I'm a bit confused about why she wants that. "Why that?"
"Because we will go to anime conventions together and we will be the best cosplayers ever!" Rias declares, her eyes burning with passion. "I will make our outfits by hand if I have to, but we will be the best cosplayers ever!"
"I will even help you with the outfits if I have to." If that's what she wants, then that's what she wants. I'll support her passions, just like how I know she will support mine.
That's all Rias needed to hear and she leaned in. Her soft lips met mine and my world flipped. It's a rough and messy kiss, and she's clearly inexperienced, but her enthusiasm is unmatched.
I gently squeeze her bare tights, slowly moving up as I read her body language to know how far to push this. The kiss continues and she gets better and better by the moment.
I push it a little bit further by deepening the kiss as my tongue pries open her mouth and intertwines with hers. My hands continue their journey until they finally reach the Holy Grail
Soft yet firm. It is absolutely perfect in any way, shape or form. She moans into my mouth as I squeeze her amazing ass and pushes up against me with her large breasts.
Rias pauses for a moment to take a deep breath and looks at me with pure desire. Her hips keep hungrily grinding against my erection, but I can feel she isn't ready for that yet.
"Bedroom?" I ask as I lean in, layering her neck with kisses. Rias moans and pulls my head against her as her fingers grip my hair.
"Yeah," she whispers in a moment with some hesitation.
I lift her up, my hands firmly holding her ass as I quickly make haste toward the bedroom. We were meant to have a romantic dinner, but I can always prepare another one in the future. This seems far more important.
As I reach the bed, Rias spins me around and ends up pushing me down on it. She takes off her dress in one quick swing before leaning down to continue kissing me.
My hands immediately begin exploring as they trail up and down her waist, making her shiver in delight. Her hands don't stay idle and she begins pulling on my clothes.
I take this as a sign and reach over to unclasp her bra. Rias pulls back so she can remove my clothes and I'm met with the sight of her glorious breasts. They really have no right to be this big and perky at the same time, but I'm not complaining.
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"You are by far the most beautiful woman," I say as I cup her breasts, gently kneading them. Rias full-on blushes, not because she's almost completely naked, but due to the compliment.
Whatever she's about to say is lost to her loud moan as I lean in and capture one of her erect nipples, my tongue playfully swirling around it. My hands continue kneading her breasts and I pinch her other nipple, twisting it a bit without causing her pain.
"Just like that," Rias moans, drawing my head against her breasts while grinding against me.
My free hand slowly begins trailing down her stomach, giving her all the time in the world to stop it. She doesn't, and I slip past her panties, finding her nether region puffed up and moist.
Rias flinches for a moment, but I don't push it and simply massage her clitoris with circular motions. As she gets used to it, my finger trails down and I slowly push it inside her while continuing to run circles with my thumb.
"Yeah," Rias moans lewdly, her breath growing faster by the second. I continue what I'm doing, kneading and sucking on her tits while pumping my finger in her hot insides.
Rias' entire body convulses as she moans out loudly. She continues shaking for a moment before weakly slumping against me. After pushing herself slightly to the side, she begins kissing my neck while her hands start undoing my pants.
It takes her a moment, but she finally gets there. My dick pops out, and I can feel her surprise as she slowly feels it up, her hand trailing up and down in wonder. Rias peeks at it for a second before looking at me. I just cup her chin and draw her for a kiss while her hand begins pumping my dick. It doesn't take her long to finish me off in this situation and my seed spurts out, landing on both of us.
"Want to clean up and continue for a bit longer?" I ask, feeling she isn't ready to push it further today. Though that doesn't mean she isn't interested in continuing this.
"Yeah." Rias grabs my hand and jumps from the bed, pulling me towards the bathroom with a skip in her steps. She pauses only for a second to drop her wet panties and turns to look at me teasingly as she shakes her ass.
"Yeep!" She jumps up as I give it a good smack, watching it jiggle in appreciation.
Rias' response is to turn around and slap my own butt before giving me a challenging look. Does she really think I'll back down here? She realizes I won't and tries to run, but I follow after her into the bathroom, so we can continue with our game.
Meh, I tried.
Last edited: Jul 22, 2023
Chapter 11
The feeling I have upon waking up can only be described as pure bliss as Rias' soft body is draped all over me, using me like a full-body pillow. My hand idly caresses her nude form, and she snuggles against me with a dreamy hum.
It's the first time I've spent the night here, but I can say that it was worth it. Even if we didn't end up going all the way, we still had a lot of fun just exploring what the other liked.
It turned out that I'm relatively easy to please. Though I suspect that Rias being exceptionally beautiful helped a lot. I've had a few girlfriends in the past, but they really can't compare to her.
Overall, I'm happy and content. It will take something special to ruin my good mood today. What are even the chances of that happening? Right, there's no point in thinking about that, lest I end up jinxing myself.
I take a deep breath, and with great reluctance, wiggle myself out of her grip. I used to love lazing around and would've stayed in bed the entire day if given the chance-especially if Rias is also there. However, this changed after I got my powers.
It just feels like I'm wasting my time if I'm not working on something, be it brewing potions for whoever is willing to purchase them, creating countermeasures for any situation I could think of, or just practicing my abilities. After all, time is a resource I can't conjure on demand, and I have only so much of it every day.
After quickly cleaning up and putting on something simple to wear, I start with my day by first making breakfast, using only some basic ingredients. Once done, I go downstairs to start making a few potions that can be left to brew without supervision before returning to the living room.
I find a comfortable spot on the couch and continue reading the book about Fire Magic since I never finished it. I actually have to force myself into doing it since it's boring. There's nothing magical about it, just pure stupid calculations.
They aren't even hard to do. I can easily do the calculations and cast the spells. My brain can absorb and process information far faster than any normal human. But this just isn't fun.
I'll still read through it all and I'll go over all the other Magic books I asked for. It will be stupid to dismiss them just because I don't like how Magic works here. I won't enjoy reading them, but I will do it.
Shortly after finishing the book, a blurry-eyed Rias walks in, not wearing even a single piece of clothing. She yawns and rubs her eyes before noticing me staring at her nude form.
"Morning~." There's not even a bit of shame-she even enjoys me looking at her-as she hops over to peck me on the lips. Devils are something else alright as there's not even a hint of morning breath.
"Morning," I reply, enjoying the sight offered to me, and she proudly puffs her bountiful chest.
"I made breakfast if you're hungry," I say after.
"I am," Rias says, doing a little twirl in happiness, enjoying that I'm spoiling her, even though it's nothing special. I mean, it's just breakfast.
"Thank you for the food!" She says like a traditional Japanese person before digging in. Rias honestly loves everything about this country, the people, the media-especially this one-the history, everything.
I don't personally get it. My stay here hasn't been bad. I can even say that I've enjoyed it, but I don't worship the country like her.
"That was really good," Rias compliments me sincerely after eating her fill.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it." I really am. It just feels nice to be appreciated for a simple gesture like this.
Rias giggles and tilts her head to the side, clearly thinking about something. I just stare at her breasts while she does that. They have the perfect shape despite how big they are. A Devil's physique really is something else.
"Noo!" Rias comically slumps in her seat with a frustrated look.
"What's wrong?" I ask curiously, though I'm sure it's nothing serious.
"I just realized we'll be seeing each other every day at school, and we'll have to pretend there's nothing going on between us, so you can keep your disguise," Rias says with a pout.
I'm glad she got over the disguise part and even takes it into account when thinking about me. I don't think I'll need it in around a year at most, but I'll keep it until I feel strong enough to discard it.
"Oh!" Her eyes light up. "We can be super sneaky about it! And meet up in secret just to share a loving kiss!"
"We'll have to be really sneaky," I say, briefly considering it as an option. It does sound somewhat exciting, and it won't be that hard to do with my powers.
Though we'll have to be very careful. Absolutely no one can see us, else the cat will be out of the bag, and I can kiss my disguise goodbye. Others might be willing to keep it a secret, but the more people know, the easier it will be for someone to slip up and reveal the secret.
"I'd say the rooftop, but that seems kind of obvious," I say, scratching my cheek in thought.
"The rooftop would've been a perfect spot, but… Koneko likes spending her breaks there." Rias frowns. "We can still meet there…"
"Let's give it some time before revealing it to others." I trust Rias, but I can't say the same for the rest. They don't seem like bad people-even if Akeno has weird preferences-but I'd rather not risk it.
We throw a few more ideas at each other, discussing how safe they are. Rias is excited about this hidden relationship and something about it really fascinates her.
Perhaps it's the thrill of not being seen? I can only guess through her body language without directly checking her thoughts. And reading her body language when she's completely naked is… distracting, to say the least.
"Huh?" Rias looks to the side. "My familiar is on its way?"
"Your familiar?" I ask curiously.
"Yeah, it's a magical bat," she briefly describes it as a crimson bat, though she seems surprised that it's coming over. "And it has a message from Akeno…"
"I'll briefly leave while you get the message," I say as I get up.
That white cat I met is Koneko's familiar, I'm sure of this now, and it's as smart as a child. I won't be surprised if it can even speak, so I'll just play it safe here.
"Alright." Rias nods with reluctance.
I wait outside for a bit and hear her open the window as I feel a surprisingly intelligent mind approach the building. It was a good decision on my part to leave because this one is as smart as an adult human. Thankfully, it leaves just moments later, allowing me to safely return to the room.
"Is there anything wrong?" I ask as Rias is clutching a piece of paper with trembling hands.
"Right…" Rias pauses, nervously looking away and not daring to even make eye contact.
I wait patiently, but I have a bad feeling about it. And I don't like it one bit. Especially because she seems so anxious about this.
"Okay, this might sound bad." Rias takes a deep breath, and I'm already not liking where this is going. "But, um, it seems that my fiance will be coming to Kuoh."
I ignore the way she growled the word and focus on what that word means in the first place. Oh, sweet betrayal, how much I've missed you… not! And to think that I thought that nothing could go wrong today. Oh, how very wrong I was.
"I think I might've misheard you," I say, trying to keep it together, or at the very least, not show everything that I'm currently feeling. "So can you repeat that?"
I finally get attached to someone and this is what happens? This is the same shit that happened with my mother all over again. It's different to be fair, but it's close enough for me to nearly lose it.
Is it too late for me to use my countermeasures? I can erase her memories of the past twenty-four hours with a potion, though there will be repercussions and someone is bound to come over to ask questions.
My memories will have to go as well. I don't want to remember any of the things we did together. Knowing all of that will make it that much harder for me to form attachments in the future. However, I'll have to write a note to myself that those memories were erased for a good reason and not to poke them with my abilities. At least for a good while.
Plus, if someone asks, I can always say we had a discussion before mutually deciding to erase both of our memories due to one reason or another. Just to cover all of my bases.
Also, is it wrong for me to think that I should've pushed past her limits and fucked her just to have at least one good thing come out of this even if I won't remember it? She is… if anything else, she's beautiful enough that I wouldn't have minded losing my virginity to her.
"I can explain," Rias says, tearing up as she notices my shift in emotions since I didn't fully hide it all.
"Please do," I say as I activate my ability at full force, looking into her head as deep as I can without getting noticed, completely ignoring my decision from last night.
"I really want to hear how you will explain this. I thought that entering a relationship through deception is bad, so I revealed myself to you," I continue and ignore the hurt look on her face. "But entering a relationship while already being in another? That's so much worse. Unless there's some cultural difference that I don't understand."
I'm beginning to question if she ever held any affection for me, even though I know for a fact that she did and still does. Unless it was all an act. Which again, I know that it isn't.
"I was never in a relationship with him!" Rias yells, tears dripping down her cheeks now. I feel a lot of disgust aimed at a blonde guy that she thinks is obnoxious, arrogant, and overall an asshole.
"Calling him your fiance would suggest otherwise." I could've worded this better or not mentioned it at all, but I'm displeased, to say the least.
"I won't ever accept t-that!" She says, sobbing a little at the end. "I wasn't given an option and was told I have an arranged marriage with him! I never wanted that!"
Truth.
I catch a scene of her throwing a fit when she was told that a few years ago. Nevertheless, that doesn't change the fact that she still has an arranged marriage and is technically in a relationship with that guy.
"What was the plan here then? Have some fun and throw me away when the time comes?" I ask.
"No!" She stands up in anger and slams her hands on the table. She hasn't considered throwing me away, as I put it, even once. "I r-really care for you!"
Truth.
I push past all of the unnecessary emotions and look only for what I want. She has a lot of affection for me and more than likes what we have going on between us. Like, the fact that I don't judge her likes and that I'm willing to indulge her hobbies. But most importantly, because I don't look at her as Rias Gremory, the heiress of her house and little sister of the current Lucifer and simply treat her like a normal girl.
"I plan to fight the engagement to the very end!" Tears are still dripping, but she's growing more determined.
"I won't accept it no matter what!" She hiccups as she stares into my eyes.
"I don't want to be with him! I… like this." She waves her hands around. "I like you… and what we have going on between us. It's been great and… and… I want to continue this."
Truth.
I've also enjoyed things so far, but this makes the situation much more complicated. What am I supposed to do here?
"What is your plan then? How are you going to fight the engagement?" I ask, giving her an olive branch.
"I will soon be eligible to participate in Rating Games and I will immediately challenge him to one with the engagement on the line!" Her eyes are still red, but they are now burning with determination.
That's it? That's her plan? It seems so stupid, but she's sure that it will succeed. Rating Games hold a lot of importance for the Devils from what I've learned, but is one enough to annul the marriage?
Maybe it isn't in normal circumstances. However, she is the sister of the current Lucifer. That will certainly put pressure on the opposite party, forcing them to accept the conditions.
But then why hasn't he already stepped in to cancel it? From what I've gathered, she greatly cares for her family, even if they had forced her into a loveless engagement. Her brother is just as important to her, and he loves spoiling her.
Lucifer is one of the leaders of their kind, arguably the most important one due to what his name signifies. He should be capable of just canceling all of this with the power he holds. So what am I missing here?
Unless he already has a plan to stop before it happens? That's the only explanation I can come up with at the moment. Otherwise, that will mean he doesn't care about her as much as Rias thinks.
"I will win for sure." A lot of gratitude accompanies her words.
Me giving her that potion has put her in a spot where she is completely confident of her victory. That's also where a lot of her affection comes from. Because I gave it to her just because I didn't want to see her get hurt and not for some other convoluted reason.
"Please." Rias nervously steps closer. "Please believe me. I-I'm sorry. I didn't plan on hiding it from you. I swear. Please."
Truth.
She didn't think it was important enough because she was promised that she would have time until the end of University. And by that point, she believes she would've already dealt with it on her own, especially because she's now strong enough to easily beat him.
It really hadn't even crossed her mind to inform me about it. Mostly because Rias had almost completely forgotten about it since it isn't hanging above her like Sword of Damocles anymore.
"I'm sorry," she apologizes again after not hearing a response from me and is about to drop to her knees to kowtow in apology.
"Don't do that." I stop her there. As angry as I'm-though I'm calming down after looking through her thoughts-I still don't want to see her degrade herself like that. Hope blossoms within her as she looks at me.
"Why do you think he's coming here now?" I ask, changing the topic for now.
"I…" Rias blinks and wipes her tears away. "I don't know. He shouldn't have a reason to come here now of all times."
Her mind gets to work, quickly coming to the conclusion that this isn't something that he would normally do as he isn't a fan of the Human World. So there must be someone else that pushed him to come here. The only ones who could've made this decision are their parents.
For a brief moment, Rias burns with righteous anger. And for that split second, she absolutely despises her parents for what they've done. For nearly ruining one of the best things that has happened to her. Despite how much she loves them, she's willing to fight them tooth and nail for this.
To be fair, I'm not sure if they succeeded or not. Haa. I like her and she likes me. It's as simple as that, but it still feels so complicated.
"I… I have someone to speak with," Rias says, and I can predict how that will go. There will be a lot of screaming and yelling involved. She wants to leave right now, but she hasn't forgotten that I haven't exactly forgiven her yet.
"I didn't mean for you to learn about it like this," she reaches over to grab my hand and I allow that to happen.
Rias would've informed me about this and even asked for my help. But she had nearly forgotten about it. Plus, she doesn't think she needs my help and wants to handle this on her own.
"Please," she says as I think this over. "I'll do anything for you to forgive me."
Rias is really willing to do a lot since she doesn't want her first real relationship to end before it even properly started. If I tell her to drop to her knees and serve me or to bend over and spread her cheeks, she will do it without hesitation. Just to prove what she's willing to do.
I'm still… unhappy with this revelation. However, it isn't as complicated as I initially thought. I like her and she likes me, it's as simple as that. There is no need to make it more convoluted than it is.
"Alright." I take a deep breath. "I believe you and I will forgive you."
For now. She forgave me for my deception, so I can at least do the same here since she hadn't done this out of malice. Or even planned to hide it from me. It's just that it came in the worst possible moment.
In a split second, Rias wraps around me like a koala and begins layering sloppy kisses all over my face.
I like her and she likes me. It's as simple as that. We might have to jump through some hoops to make this work, but we will do it together.
None of us wanted this to start off this relationship in such a way. And there are still some things we'll need to resolve, but once we do, our relationship will grow that much stronger. Or so I think.
Right, we can make this work.
"And I will support you with what I can." Her emotions reach a tipping point, and Rias begins happily sobbing as she continues to kiss me all over.
I can end this entire engagement in a moment. All it will take is for me to reveal exactly what I'm capable of. No, even a little bit more will be more than enough.
I can just offer them the cures for all of their issues, and I'll have the Devils tripping over themselves to satisfy my needs. But that will earn me quite a bit of enemies that I'm not ready to face yet.
Worst case scenario, I can just make him disappear permanently. It won't even be that hard now that he'll be in an easy to access location. Though…
"I need you to do something for me."
"Anything," Rias says, pausing only for a second.
"I want you to discreetly set up a Psychiatrist Clinic-but under a false Japanese name-and get me some clients," I explain my request. "Honestly, just a small apartment will be enough, but I need the clients."
"A Psychiatrist Clinic? Why?" She asks, having absolutely no idea why I would want that since it doesn't seem like something I would normally request for.
"Yes. Just… trust me on that. It's for my benefit." I planned on revealing some of my secrets, but I've decided to delay them for a bit. Especially after what happened earlier.
"You can even send your peerage members if you want," I suggest without pushing it too much.
"I… They…" Rias has tried helping them in any way she could. She's been there for them whenever they needed her and has done everything she could think of, but she's aware that they have their issues.
"I can't promise that they'll come, but I will ask them." Forcing them isn't even an option in her mind. "But I can get you the place, easily!"
"Alright, you can even choose the name for my fake identity. But that one won't last for long. A month or so. Maybe two at most." Hopefully, I will digest my potion far faster than that since the next advancement will greatly increase my power.
"Mhm." Rias hums in acceptance and slumps against me. I reach over to caress her back, comforting her a bit. It works because she lets out a sigh of relief.
"I… I need to leave for a bit," she says in a moment, planning to have a very detailed discussion with her parents. "But… can I come back later?"
"Yes," I reply, we still have some things to discuss.
"We could watch a movie?" Rias offers, though I can feel what she really wants.
"You can bring some of your anime." I really don't mind them and am even beginning to enjoy them.
"Thank you." I'm rewarded with another sloppy kiss. "Thank you, thank you."
Rias hops up and goes to get herself dressed before returning. Her eyes are still puffy, but she's smiling from ear to ear in happiness. She runs over to give me a kiss full of emotions before whispering one last time, "Thank you."
"I'll see you later," I say and she hums in response before teleporting away.
I sigh once she's gone and go downstairs to deal with the potions I left. After bottling them all, I set them aside and prepare to leave. I need to speak with Father about all of this, just to get another perspective on the situation and there's no one else I can ask for advice.
However, before I can leave, I hear someone knocking on the front door. Why is someone bothering me now? I'm not in the mood, but I still end up walking over to check who's there.
I have no idea how to write drama… and I'm not the biggest fan of prolonged drama due to a misunderstanding. Not that it will work here unless I purposefully ignore his abilities.
Anyway, I hope this isn't too bad, but I want to move on.
Last edited: Jul 23, 2023
Chapter 12
Beta: Old man of the mountain/Darklord331 and proofread by Gerald of Revea
-Tobio Ikuse-
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The person he was here to meet with looked exactly as Azazel described him, including the fact that he felt like an average human. Had he seen him on the street, Tobio would've dismissed him completely, thinking he was no different than the rest of the masses.
'Too normal for someone part of the supernatural.' Azazel warned him to be on guard when meeting with Dio, and he could see why. Tobio might very well have been standing in front of a God, and he would've never even known. It's not that he was scared of Gods-far from it-but a sneak attack from one at such a close range could be disastrous if he wasn't prepared for it.
Jin, his partner, was on edge as he hid inside his shadow. His instincts were telling him to be wary, though his partner didn't see Dio as a threat in particular. A bit conflicting in Tobio's opinion, but he trusted Jin with his life.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Dio asked, directing the question at him, though the Alchemist briefly glanced at his charge.
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"You must be Dio. My name is Tobio Ikuse," he said with a slight bow of his head. There used to be a time when he always introduced himself with his family name first, but that changed after going on so many missions worldwide.
"And accompanying me is Asia Argento," he introduced the blonde nun since she wasn't very proficient at speaking anything other than Italian.
"Her situation is a bit complicated, and she currently doesn't have anywhere to go," Tobio implied why she was here with him. He thought that the Grigori could've taken her in even if they already had a Twilight Healing user. From what he'd seen so far-as expected from a Holy Maiden-she was a good girl, so there was something very wrong with her excommunication.
However, Azazel seemed to think that Argento going to Dio was a good idea. Tobio could somewhat see why since the man was primarily a healer, and she would fit right in. He wasn't sure if that was the main reason for that decision though.
"Dio?" Argento asked in English with wide eyes. "Like… like… God?"
'That…' Tobio hadn't thought it at first, but the man might not have even been trying to hide it.
"Oh, no, nothing like that." Dio dismissed it with a friendly chuckle, replying in English for her sake. "The name is purely a coincidence."
'Is it now?' Tobio was starting to suspect there was more to it.
"Oh?" It took Argento a moment to translate that before she nodded. "I understand."
"May we come inside?" That was another one of Azazel's warnings. Tobio was told not to enter the building unless he was given permission. He didn't know why, but Azazel had been deadly serious when warning him.
"Just a moment, I'll be right back," Dio said before closing the door, disappearing inside for a moment.
"Did I do something wrong?" Argento-the sweetheart-turned to him, thinking it was somehow her fault since she couldn't really follow the conversation.
"Nothing like that," Tobio said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He just needs to prepare something for us."
He was proven correct since when Dio returned, he held two vials with murky white liquid. "Drink those. They are for your sake."
Tobio wasn't particularly happy to be drinking something unknown, but he wasn't stupid. This clearly explained why Azazel warned him not to enter without permission.
"Alright, come along now." Dio opened the door wide for them after they drank the potions.
"Thank you," Tobio said with a slight bow before entering inside, and Argento mimicked his gesture before waddling after him like a little duckling.
"Over here." He led them to a meeting room and held the door open for them. Tobio entered first, though Dio stopped Argento as he crouched next to her.
"Would you mind waiting upstairs for us to finish our talk?" He gently asked her in perfect Italian. "You can watch TV and eat some of the snacks I've prepared."
"I…" Argento looked at Tobio, and he nodded at her. "I promise not to cause trouble."
"I don't think you even know how to cause trouble," he chuckled with a warm smile before leading her upstairs.
Meanwhile, Tobio took a seat and placed the briefcase he brought on the table. Dio returned shortly after and his expression was no longer as friendly as it was moments ago.
"Is this a joke? Did Azazel really think it's a good idea to send me a nun?" He asked as he took a seat in front of Tobio. "One that was excommunicated due to some suspicious circumstances. And you want me to take her in?"
The man obviously had his own way of obtaining information if he already knew about Argento's situation, especially because she was excommunicated no more than a month ago.
"Yes." Tobio nodded. The Grigori were far from perfect, but they could easily take her in. Though there were probably a bunch that might try to take advantage of her innocence.
Still, Argento could've been a reserve member of his team if anything else. She couldn't come with them on missions since she wasn't suited for that, but having a healer on hand would've been useful. Even if they did have a few of them in their organization.
"Why should I?" Dio asked, his piercing gaze making Tobio feel the man was staring right into his soul. "Use your own words and don't parrot something Azazel told you."
Tobio frowned at the implication, but he schooled his expression. He was specifically sent here because he was among the calmest and more reasonable people from the Grigori.
"Argento was wronged by the Church. They call her a heretic because her Sacred Gear can also heal Devils."
Tobio knew the Church was corrupt, but did they not even hear what they were saying? That she was a heretic because her Sacred Gear could heal Devils? How did that make any sense to their ears? Granted, it wasn't supposed to do that in the past, but who was the one that created it in the first place?
"The Grigori can take her in, but that's not a suitable environment for her. She's a kind girl, too kind even, and just wants to help others in whichever way she can. Argento will have a much better time staying by the side of someone like you." It was honestly for the best now that he thought about it.
Argento liked helping others, and she could help so many more people with Dio's help. Tobio still thought the Grigori could take her in, but he could admit it was because he had gotten slightly attached to her, even if they had spent no more than a day together. That just showed what kind of person Argento was.
In a way, she reminded him of Lavinia, though less jaded. His teammate kept acting like an airhead, but he could see she was still hurt due to her abandonment.
"How low has the church fallen if the… bad guys have more compassion than them?" Dio asked with a disappointed sigh.
Tobio held his tongue. They were not the bad guys. They might have made some questionable decisions, but the supernatural world wasn't all black and white.
There was a delicate balance between the various factions, and they all did their part to keep the status quo. Even if some undesirable parties were trying to upend this… state of peace.
"And it's good and all that you decided all of this, but has anyone asked what she wants to do?" Dio asked, pointedly staring at him.
"No," Tobio tensely replied. The weak and… kind usually weren't given a choice in their world.
"Perhaps that's something we should do before coming to a decision?" It was worded like a question, but he knew better and simply nodded in agreement.
"But before that," Dio continued, looking at the briefcase.
Tobio opened it up, revealing four glistening gems inside. Those were to be given to him in a gesture of goodwill. "Four Sacred Gears. Twice Critical and its counterpart Twice Fall, plus two of Vritra's Sacred Gears, Blaze Black Flare and Delete Field."
Azazel did have an interest in gathering all four of Vritra's Gears just to see what would happen. He speculated it might turn into another Longinus. One of the weaker ones, but a Loginus nonetheless. However, that was no longer an option after Serafall took one of theirs since her sister had a peerage member who had the last one.
Dio looked at the gems with barely any interest before sighing. "I can't even complete Vritra's set. Oh, well, they'll at least look pretty on a shelf."
Many would give up an arm or a leg for a Sacred Gear since they were great strength multipliers. However, the truly strong had no need for them. Not to mention that something like a Twice Critical wouldn't even properly work in its regular state for beings that were Ultimate Class or above.
"Well, then. Is there anything else?" Dio asked as he closed the briefcase and moved it to the side.
"Yes. We are also interested in buying your potions." They were mostly interested in the healing ones, though they wouldn't mind getting some of the other two variants.
"Sure. I want a magical dagger for twenty healing potions or forty of the other two. If you don't have daggers, I also accept larger magical weapons or even pieces of armor as well."
That wasn't what Tobio expected to hear. Armor and weapons? Were they for himself or was he planning something else for them? Was he trying to arm a group of his own?
"If you don't have anything like that, I guess I can accept some Sacred Gears or just magical ingredients. Parts harvested from suitably strong creatures, plants that only grow under very specific circumstances, things like that."
That seemed more in line with his expectations. Except that he hadn't asked for money, though he seemed like he didn't need it.
"Some of those things are far more valuable than a simple magical dagger, so I will increase the number of potions depending on what you bring me."
That was to be expected.
"Oh, and before I forget, you guys get a discount for your first purchase," Dio told him with a friendly smile. That was a surprisingly nice gesture on his part. It would undoubtedly earn him-
"A two hundred percent discount," he added, interrupting Tobio's thoughts.
'That doesn't make any… Oh, I see.' Dio's smile suddenly didn't look as friendly as it did moments ago.
"Don't worry. This isn't a limited time offer. You don't have to rush."
"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Tobio asked, narrowing his eyes and frowning at the man. This would earn him no goodwill with the Grigori.
"I'm still annoyed at Azazel. He breaks into my home and then blames me for the consequences of his own actions. Not to mention that he dared to set up hidden cameras in all of the rooms," Dio said, revealing something Tobio wasn't aware of and it showed on his face.
"Don't look so surprised," Dio said with a scoff. "Why do you think he sent those Sacred Gears with you? As a gesture of goodwill? As if. If you want to blame someone for our rocky start, you can blame him."
"I…" What was he even supposed to say here?
"I apologize for the shameful conduct of our leader." There was nothing else that came to mind, so he quickly got up and bowed in apology.
"What's done is done," Dio waved him off, and Tobio wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. "If there's nothing else for us to discuss, we should go speak with the nun."
"Right." Tobio could've perhaps tried to bargain for a better price, but he didn't think it was a good idea to test his luck at this particular moment.
They found the girl sitting on a couch with a plate filled with small sandwiches in front of her. Argento was gingerly biting into one with a pleased expression while keeping an eye on the animated show on television.
"Mr. Tobio," she said with a few breadcrumbs still on her lips.
"Ar… Asia…" Tobio paused, wondering how to word this. He briefly looked at Dio, who he didn't seem interested in helping him here.
"Yes?" She looked at him with those innocent green eyes of hers.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that we never asked what you wanted to do." This seemed like a good start.
"So I'll ask you now, would you like to come to the Grigori with me or would you prefer to stay here with Dio? He's like you in a way, someone who-"
"Don't overdo it," Dio interrupted him, stopping him from continuing.
"I… um… I don't want to be a bother," Argento meekly said, withdrawing into herself defensively.
"Forget about anyone else for the moment," Dio said, impassively staring at her. "Be selfish and tell us what you want."
"I…" Argento's eyes shook, and she looked like she was about to erupt into tears for a moment. However, she suddenly mustered up her courage.
"I want to eat tasty food like this." She pointed at the sandwiches. "I want to make friends. I want to help people."
"I… I…" That's as far as she got before she ended up crying.
Tobio looked at Dio, who was still staring at her, his face empty of any emotions. Was this what he wanted to see and hear? If so…
"You're a troublesome girl," Dio said, and Tobio felt the urge to punch him.
"I-I'm s-sorry," Argento apologized as she rubbed her eyes, and he felt the urge to hug and comfort the poor girl.
"Don't be." Dio knelt next to her and gently wiped her tears. "Would you like to stay here? I don't know if I can help you make friends, but you can eat as much tasty food as you want, and you help around the house."
"I-"
"Be selfish," Dio interrupted her, repeating what he had told her earlier.
"Yes, please." Tears still dripped down her cheeks, but she looked so happy at that moment.
"Then it's settled. You'll stay with me until you decide otherwise," he said as he stood up.
"Thank the Lord. He still watches over me." Argento gripped the cross on her neck as she began praying.
It hurt seeing her like that, especially knowing the God she prayed to was already gone. However, he couldn't tell her that. That was, for the most part, a tightly guarded secret.
Dio flinched for a moment there. It happened so fast he almost missed it, but Tobio didn't get the chance to question it as the man turned to him.
"Her stuff?" He asked.
"In the car outside," Tobio quickly answered.
"Alright, let's go get them," Dio said, walking away with a cold stone expression.
No more words were exchanged between the two-Tobio could feel something was on his mind-until he handed him Argento's very small suitcase. And despite its size, it was still half empty as she barely had anything she owned.
"The Devils, then you guys," Dio said with a thoughtful expression. "Going by that, the Church will come to check out my potions some time in the future."
"I can only assume they will." Tobio nodded. The Church didn't really need additional healing methods since they were the best when it came to healing. However, they would still want a piece of this pie once they learn of it.
"I'm thinking of giving them a good discount… about five hundred percent sounds good, don't you think so?" Dio grinned.
"It's not my place to comment on that." Tobio had to be diplomatic about this. "But I'd say that any group that would throw away a kind and innocent girl deserves it."
"Alright then," Dio said, briefly looking at his shadow.
"You two have a nice day." He then walked away without waiting for a response.
Tobio should've expected as much. People knew about his Sacred Gear, though they were rarely aware that it always lingered in his shadow. The man was obviously much more than he appeared to be.
'Hopefully, Argento will be taken care of here.' He thought as he entered the car. Despite everything, Dio seemed like a good man, and Jin thought the same even if he was still wary of him.
Tobio grabbed his phone and dialed his boss to give a brief report on what happened. Azazel picked up immediately. A rare occurrence that tipped him off there was something going on here.
"So? How'd it go?"
Tobio began briefing him from the start.
"Dio? It was right in front of me the whole time! I should've known!"
It seemed Azazel had an idea about who the man was.
"That's not how disco… Ah! Still a petty asshole, eh? Should've figured."
Scratch that, Azazel seemed to know exactly who that man was.
"He flinched, huh?" Azazel said after Tobio told him about the moment Argento began praying.
Perhaps Dio was someone that had bad blood with God? There were plenty of Gods that disliked the previous Ruler of Heaven.
"Bhahaha!" His boss burst out laughing after Tobio told him about the last comment about the church.
"Repeat that again. I want to hear it one more time!" Azazel practically demanded as he laughed like a madman.
"Bahaha! Oh, this made my day! Hahaha!" Azazel laughed like crazy, and Tobio just wondered what exactly he was missing here.
-Jason-
"… and, yeah, I ended up accepting her," I end my explanation of what happened in less than a day.
Of course, I omitted the fact that God is fucking dead. That freaked the fuck out of me when I heard Tobio's thoughts. Who the hell killed God and why hadn't they taken the credit for it?
The God of Christianity is… was one of the strongest beings in existence. The other Gods gathered together and formed multiple Pantheons. He made his own by creating multiple beings that could rival the Gods. That's just nuts!
Not to mention all of the Sacred Gears he has created, especially the Longinus. He was one of the people I feared the most since he might've taken offense to my chosen path. He could've been my biggest obstacle, but thankfully, he is gone for good.
"You… certainly had an eventful day," Father says, still processing it all as he sips his beer.
"For sure."
God is dead! This is just… I can't believe how happy this makes me. Is it wrong of me to feel like that?
"Rias… don't let what happened with Maria, with your mother, stop you from pursuing a relationship with her," Father starts with this first. "She… you two like each other, right?"
"Yeah, I wouldn't have stressed so much about it otherwise," I reply, sipping on my own drink. It's just a Coke, though I'm still suspicious of this drink after what happened before and always make sure they aren't expired before opening one.
"Then I think you made the right choice." Father sighs, remembering something from his past. "There are some things that you have to fight for in life, and this seems like one of those. Be there for her, help her however you can, and I believe everything will work out in the end."
"That's the plan." I nod. "Rias wants to resolve this on her own. I will support her without interfering, but I will step in if necessary. Only if I have to."
"Good! If she's as good as you think she is, then don't let her go," he advised me.
"She is." Rias checks all of my boxes. Kind, supportive, selfless, and also sinfully beautiful. I'm not afraid to admit that her appearance is one of the reasons I'm attracted.
"And this Asia girl?" Father asks with a questioning look. "Are you sure taking her in was a good idea?"
"No. Absolutely not," I reply without hesitation before mockingly chuckling at myself.
"And yet you still did." Father frowns.
"I couldn't not do it! She's… she's… so pure, so innocent. I couldn't let her go to the Grigori, you know? That's still a faction formed by beings that have fallen from grace due to sinning. She'll be ripped apart there even if Tobio thought otherwise," I explain my reasoning, but there's more to it.
It's just hard to put into words what I felt when I peeked into Asia's mind. Pure and innocent are the two words that describe her best, but even they aren't enough. And her presence… It's so soothing. Just being near her relaxes me.
"You'll have to meet her to understand. She's a pure cinnamon roll and definitely doesn't deserve what happened to her."
Now that's actually a problem. There's obviously something going on behind the scenes, and Tobio thought the same. I'm unsure if someone will come for her in the future, but… it won't end well for them if they do.
"You have to meet her to understand. I'm telling you, you'll want to adopt her after spending less than ten minutes with her," I explain after seeing his disbelieving look.
"Oh? Is that what happened to you?" Father teasingly asks, hitting the nail right on the head.
Asia should be just a few years younger than me, but I won't mind adopting her. She's just the kind of person that you want to protect.
And the Church kicked her out? Because the Sacred Gear that was created by their dead God could heal a Devil? Imbeciles.
God-ha, I can finally think this without fearing that someone might pop up to check who is thinking about him-the Church is going to end up turning out to be the worst faction out of the three, aren't they? And the other two are composed of Devils and Fallen Angels! This world continues to subvert my expectations.
We talk for a bit longer with Father before I change my appearance to Dio and teleport back to my own building. I check up on Asia, only to find she's already asleep in her room.
Her reaction to her new bedroom-disbelief at how big it is-irked me. Especially when I glimpsed what her previous place used to be, just a small empty room with only a bed and nothing else. And she was supposed to be a Holy Maiden!
One would think that the Church will take care of their important figure, but they will be wrong. That's just so disappointing.
I really should've expected this. After all, all those stories about priests liking little boys and girls must've started due to one reason or another. At least, I don't think any of them had violated Asia.
Leaving her to rest, I go downstairs to make some potions and pills while waiting for Rias. A few hours later, my phone vibrates, and a few minutes after, she arrives.
"Hey," Rias greets me, standing awkwardly and unsure what to do.
Instead of replying, I walk over and cup her cheeks, softly kissing her on the lips. She melts against me in relief as she hugs me and deepens the kiss.
"I'm…" Rias smiles brightly, unsure what to say before showing me what she had in her bag. "I brought some anime."
"We will watch it, but…" I take her hand and lead her to the living room. "There is something I need to tell you."
"It's… nothing bad this time," I say after seeing her expression. We've had enough drama to last us for at least a few years at most-no need to add more to it.
"What is it?" Rias asks curiously as we lay on the couch, and she slumps on top of me.
"I will be housing someone for a bit," I begin and explain the situation with Asia.
Rias seems conflicted at first since. Asia was a former nun, after all. However, after learning everything that I gathered from their minds, she changed her mind.
"The Church… I won't say much since it's not my place to talk about this, but Yuuto has also suffered due to them," Rias explains, but she's still slightly skeptical. "You don't think she was sent to spy on you or something like that?"
"No." I shake my head. "Asia doesn't have an evil bone in her. She doesn't even hate the Devil that is responsible for her excommunication and is just happy that she helped him."
"Okay then. I trust you know what you're doing." Rias nods and pecks me on the lips.
"Now we can get naked," she says after and begins undressing. I like where this is going.
"And we can watch anime!"
It's… not what I expected, but I'll take it. You know, I can really see myself growing to love anime if I get to watch it with a naked Rias every time.
There are still a few things I wish to discuss with her, but we can do it later or in the morning. For now, I'll just enjoy her naked body lying on top of me.
The Tobio picture isn't the best, but I couldn't find a better one. Or one that doesn't make him look like he's fourteen.
Also, I finally have someone to tell me if I'm doing something stupid and to help with my grammar!
Last edited: Jul 25, 2023
Chapter 13
Beta: Old man of the mountain/Darklord331 Proofread by Gerald of Revea
Rias ended up falling asleep just one episode into the show since she was both mentally and physically exhausted. Sadly for me, we didn't get to do anything. Except for a little bit of groping… Okay, a lot of groping, but I can't be blamed for that! I'd have to be an idiot or impotent not to touch a sinfully beautiful girl like Rias when she is naked and literally lying on top of me.
Come morning, I dislodge myself from her and begin preparing some breakfast. Surprisingly, Rias enters the kitchen mere moments after me. And, of course, she is as naked as the day she was born. Not that I mind, of course.
"Mou~ I wanted to surprise you by making breakfast." She pouts, but her eyes are shining happily as she observes me move around the counter.
"If you want to cook for me," I say and step away. "You are free to do so."
"No, no. You don't get it." Rias shakes her body left and right, making me lick my lips at the movement of her breasts.
"I don't?" I question her.
"You have to walk in on me cooking only with an apron." Rias nods to herself.
"I don't doubt that it will be quite the sight, just as amazing as the one right in front of me," I say, and she puffs her chest at my compliment.
There's only so much I can hold myself back, so I drop what I'm doing for the moment and walk over. One of my hands cups her cheek, drawing her in for a kiss, while the other goes to her breasts, playfully pinching her nipple and making her moan in my mouth.
"Though as much as I enjoy this," I say as I pull back, barely holding back from continuing after seeing the desire in her eyes. "I'd suggest putting some clothes on. Or you just might give the nun a panic attack."
"Oh… that," Rias murmurs. She trusts my judgment but is not very happy with Asia being here mostly because she used to be from a different faction than anything else.
"Just give her a chance. Meet her once, and if you think she's bad business, we can figure out what to do with her," I say even though I'm sure Rias will like Asia despite them being from opposing factions.
"Fine, fine. I can do that," Rias says and pecks me before leaving to dress herself.
Meanwhile, I finish breakfast and use my abilities to check up on Asia. She's still in her room and is currently praying, something she has been doing for the last ten minutes. I can feel she's nearing the end, so I still have some time.
"Let me help you." Rias comes over to assist with setting the table the moment she returns. "This is the least I can do after you…"
"None of that now." I bop her nose. "I don't mind spoiling you, but I won't stop you from helping if that's what you want."
"Mou~ how much time do you think we have before she comes here?" Rias asks, breathing heavily as she plans to reward me, making it hard for me, both figuratively and literally.
"A few minutes, but there's something I wish to give you before that," I say while crying internally-I really want the reward, but I'll have to wait for it-as I grab a couple of boxes that I prepared yesterday.
"Alright. This is important." I open them both, revealing the multiple pills inside. Rias narrows her eyes in confusion and tilts her head to the side.
"The pills in the red box promote physical growth. The pills in the blue box promote magical growth." I couldn't color-code the pills, so I had to store them in separate boxes.
At least I managed to turn the original recipe into one for pills. However, that was due to necessity. I can stomach drinking a few potions a day.
But ten? Twenty? It gets really hard at that point. It's much easier to take the same number of pills.
"You can only eat one of each per day, and it will be like you've spent the entire day training even if you don't do anything. But if you do train, their effects will be doubled."
Personally, I've never experienced the doubled effect since I don't have a place to train, let alone any equipment heavy enough to work out with. Even the heaviest furniture that I own is light after all of my enhancements.
"Wait, what?" Rias blinks and reels back. She looks at the pills, then back at me with both surprise and confusion. "You can do that?:
"Rias… I can make a lot more than what I've shown." Honesty is important, and I'm willing to reveal this much without going into details about my actual capabilities.
"I want you to have those. Maybe you can even give them to your peerage if you can find a way to keep them from finding out the true details about the pills and that they come from me." I push both boxes over to her.
"And I'll make more for you, but I implore you to keep this a secret. If this gets out… Well, I'm really not strong enough to protect myself yet." A few more months, maybe a year at most, and I will be strong enough.
"I…" Rias ignores the pills and walks over to me while biting her lips. "You can… you can join my peerage if you need strength. There's a lot of benefits to being a Devil."
"I appreciate your offer, but I cannot." I caress her cheek gently. I know Rias wanted to ask me this for a while now, but she never had the courage to bring it up in fear that I'll refuse her. She looks saddened by this, so I continue.
"It's not that I don't want to, but I cannot join your peerage." I wouldn't have minded if the circumstances were different. There are a lot of benefits to being a Devil, and Rias is a great person, probably the best… Master one could ask for.
"I told you that I can make a lot more things than I've already shown, and a few of the potions have fundamentally changed me. Are still changing me. Switching my race to a Devil might not even work. It could even end in a very bad way for me." I trust her, but I don't want to go into too much detail about this.
"Oh…" Rias nods, still slightly saddened by my refusal, but she understands I have my reasons for this.
"Oh!" She suddenly looks at me with wide eyes as if she came to a realization. "You are… you are becoming a God?"
Alright… What the hell? I know Rias isn't stupid, but how did she come to this conclusion so fast? This doesn't make any sense!
"Why do you think that? How did you even come to such a conclusion?" No, really, how? I'm almost tempted to break my rule again just to figure this out.
"It makes sense!" She says with a sage nod.
No, it doesn't! It doesn't make any sense!
"Gods are the only beings that can't be reincarnated into Devils," Rias explains.
Alright, maybe it makes sense. I just didn't know the Evil Pieces had such a limitation.
"But still." Rias looks at me in a daze, her mind running a hundred miles an hour before she sighs dreamily. "Woah, you're really like a real life protagonist."
"I…" You know what? I'm not even going to deny that. "Perhaps, but I hope you understand why I want to keep this all a secret and slowly reveal what I can do as I grow more in strength."
Rias nods with a serious expression, but I can see that she's lost in her own little world. I'm proven correct as I hear her mutter, "If you are the protagonist… doesn't that make me the main love interest?"
"Alright then!" She then exclaims with excitement. "I will support you no matter what happens, and I will stand by your side through thick and thin!"
I sigh, but I can't stop myself from smiling. Do I point out how similar her words are to a marriage vow? I'll keep quiet for the moment, but I'll definitely bring it up later to tease her.
"Rias… you are an idiot-" I start.
"I resent that!" She points at me, clearly offended by my words.
"But you're my idiot."
"Hmm." Rias hums with a sweet smile, her hips swinging left and right. "I'll allow that."
"I have an… interesting project that I'm planning, one that I'm certain that you'll be overjoyed to hear about." Her eyes are growing brighter with each word she hears. "But I can feel Asia coming out of her room, so I'll save it for later."
"Damn it!" Rias pouts, aware that she'll go the entire day without knowing what this project is.
I pop a pill to quickly change my appearance, and Rias frowns ever so slightly. It really makes me happy knowing that she prefers my own looks.
"Wait!" Rias suddenly exclaims. I turn to her, thinking it's something serious, but… "If I'm the main love interest, does that make the nun my love rival?"
"No." I don't even have to think about my answer.
"Are you sure?" Rias asks, leaning forward with narrowed eyes.
"Yes, I'm sure." I'm content as I am right now. There is no need to make this more complicated due to something like that.
"I'm watching you." Rias points at her eyes before pointing at mine, but she's not actually being serious and is just playing around.
I roll my eyes and open the door, spotting Asia who's awkwardly standing in front of the living room. She wants to enter to watch television again and maybe eat some of the sandwiches if any are left. However, she is unsure if she is allowed to go into any of the rooms without my permission.
"Asia," I call out to her, and she jumps up in fright.
"My God!" Asia exclaims, taking a deep breath before calming down.
"Good morning, Mr. Dio," she greets me after, and I have to hold myself from frowning.
Dio was supposed to be short for Diomedes! Not a blatant way for me to inform everyone that I'm a God! I'm not one yet and that's the biggest problem. I wouldn't have cared otherwise.
But what if some idiot gets the wrong idea and comes to challenge me to a fight? There are plenty of people that can apparently fight on par with Gods. Tobio is one such example since he owns one of the Longinus.
But what if another Longinus user comes rolling in with the intent of making a name for themselves by slaying a God? I really don't want that. Hopefully, others not knowing exactly who I am will make them hesitate.
"Good morning to you too, Asia," I say as I step closer and crouch down to not look as intimidating in her eyes.
"I've prepared breakfast, but there is something that I have to warn you about. There is one more person here, and she… well, her name is Rias Gremory," I say at first, carefully judging her reaction.
"Gremory…" Asia says before her eyes widen in recognition.
"Yes, she is a Devil," I confirm, and I can see that she's wary. "But let me tell you a little secret. Forget everything you've heard about Devils because she's a complete fake."
"I can hear you!" Rias calls out from the kitchen.
Asia blinks in confusion as she mouths, "A complete fake?"
"She's kind, selfless, and a bit of an idiot," I explain, watching Asia grow increasingly more confused.
"I'm not an idiot!" Rias steps out of the kitchen to defend herself.
"See." I look back at my girlfriend with a playful smile, showing her that I'm just teasing. "She doesn't deny the kind and selfless part, only the idiot one."
Asia is completely out of her depth and has no idea what's going on. However, she trusts me because I took her in-someone undeserving, in her eyes-and gave her a place to stay.
"It's… a pleasure to meet you, Miss Gremory." Asia bows deeply in greeting.
Rias opens her mouth but says nothing. She briefly looks at me before sighing. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Asia."
"Now that we have this out of the way. Let's go have breakfast." I clap my hands as I stand up. They both nod, and we settle down in the kitchen.
"Thanks for the food!" Rias-as expected-happily exclaims.
Asia looks at her, unsure why she said that, but she decides that she also needs to repeat it. "Thanks for the food!"
Rias hums, narrowing her eyes as she observes Asia with a calculative look. From that alone, I already know what she's planning. Rias will do her best to corrupt Asia with her Japanophile disease, and unfortunately, I can't make a cure for that.
Breakfast passes without any issues. We chat idly for a dozen minutes or so before Rias has to leave.
"We'll see each other later?" Rias asks as she pecks me on the lips while lightly holding my clothes. Asia gasps loudly from the side, unable to contain her surprise due to what she just witnessed.
"In the evening," I reply, pulling her in for a more passionate kiss. Asia feels like she's about to explode from the embarrassment she's experiencing. "If you are coming over that is."
My father should have already called to inform the school that I'm sick today since I'd rather not leave Asia alone on her first day here.
"But…" Rias trails off, but she quickly catches on. "Oh…"
"Tomorrow we can… play our game," I tell her with a wink.
"I'll scout for the best locations then!" Rias is growing more and more excited by the second. She quickly pulls me in for one last kiss.
"I'll see you later," Rias says before teleporting away.
Asia is frozen in her seat. Her hands are covering her eyes, but I can see the gaps from which she peeked at us. Her face is steaming, redder than even Rias' hair.
"You… umm…" Asia has absolutely no idea what to even say. Part of it is due to the kiss itself since it's something she'd never seen before. However, it's also because I kissed a Devil. Even if Rias isn't what she expected from a Devil, she's still one.
"Asia," I say as I crouch down. "You shouldn't judge others due to their race, but rather due to their actions."
That's a lesson I'm still having a hard time grasping. But you know what they say, Do as I say, not as I do.
"And… What do you think is more impressive? Someone that is good because of their nature or someone that is good despite their nature?"
Asia removes her hands and silently stares at me as he thinks this over. She takes this seriously, concluding that I'm trying to teach her a lesson. I'm really not. I just think that sounded cool…
"No need to answer me now." I tap her on the forehead. "Just keep that in mind when interacting with others."
"I understand." Asia nods seriously.
"Instead, you should consider what you want to do today," I say, changing the subject.
"I… um… I don't want to-" This girl really has no idea how to think about herself. Being selfish is something she can barely grasp.
"Asia." I smile gently. "It's okay to be selfish, so tell me what you want to do today. I promise I won't get mad."
And that's another problem. She expects others to react badly if she requests something from them. Like right now, she wants to ask me to teach her to cook, but she's afraid of bringing this up.
"What did you say yesterday?" I ask and tap my cheek. "That you want to eat tasty food? How about I teach you how to cook?"
"I… umm… I would like that," Asia replies, eyes trembling as if she is about to burst into tears.
"How about some pizza for lunch then? We can make the dough together now and let it rest. Then can we prepare the pizza at lunchtime?" I suggest, and she gasps. She grew up in Italy, yet she had never eaten pizza.
"That's… I always wanted to try it," Asia says, lips widening in happiness by just imagining the taste. "I've heard from others that pizza is really tasty."
"You'll find out that it's even tastier when you make it yourself." I wink at her and watch as her eyes light up in joy.
Asia is a nice girl. So much so that Rias even forgot she used to be a nun by the end of our breakfast. At least I now know that the two will get along.
"Alright, let's get started, shall we?" I ask, and she eagerly nods.
Asia somehow managed to get herself covered in flour from head to toe during my impromptu lesson on how to make pizza dough. I honestly didn't think someone could be this clumsy, but she proved me wrong.
After cleaning up, I left Asia in the living room to watch some of the anime Rias left here. I've heard that girls tend to slowly move over their stuff like makeup and brushes, but my girlfriend is obviously a different breed… both figuratively and literally.
Meanwhile, I begin preparing a ton of potions since I expect the Grigori to send their request soon enough. I also want more of the Allspeak potions since they are really useful but last only a day. They do, however, make communication oh so simple.
During lunch, we make a basic pepperoni pizza, and my heart aches as Asia cries with tears of joy as she nibbles on her piece. Seriously, how bad is the church if this is her reaction to simple food?
Afterward, we went to watch some anime, and I realized Asia can't understand it since it's in Japanese. Yet, she's still happy at just seeing the moving pictures. That alone is super fascinating to her.
I'm actually beginning to get really angry. I accepted the fact that the Church is probably the worst faction. But this is really pissing me off!
"Here, drink this." I hand her one of the Allspeak potions. She's a bit of an airhead and doesn't know what my potions are supposed to do. So she won't figure out exactly how much I'm hiding from everyone else.
"I can understand them!" Asia exclaims in wonder.
Seriously, fuck the Church. I'll charge them out of their asses if they ever visit me. They can't possibly convince me that they have an actual reason for kicking her out and calling her a heretic.
We spend the time just watching television until Rias arrives. She pauses as she sees what we are doing and gives me a thumbs up with a massive grin, satisfied that I'm corrupting Asia with anime.
Rias then claims her spot-me-and leans back as I wrap my arms around her. Asia gasps again at the display of affection and looks away. Though she peeks at us every now and then. My girlfriend acts increasingly more smug every time she notices Asia, happily wiggling her butt against me.
I can barely contain myself. The moment Asia gets sleepy and excuses herself, I pick up Rias and rush over to the bedroom while she giggles in my arms.
"So what's this project you were talking about earlier?" Rias eagerly asks while tossing away her clothes. I can tell this had been on her mind the entire day.
"I already told you I can make a lot more than I've shown," I say as she hungrily kisses my neck while removing my clothes.
"Mhm."
"I was thinking of… making a familiar for myself. One that maybe resembles a Pokemon?" It won't just resemble it, but she doesn't need to know that at the moment.
Rias pulls back and gasps with shining eyes, her breathing growing heavier just thinking about it. "Can we get a Pikachu?"
We? I don't dislike the sound of that. Though definitely not a Pikachu.
"Or… a Charizard! That will be amazing!" Rias squeals.
"I don't think making a Dragon is a good idea. That will bring us way too much attention," I reply.
What I have already shown is considered impressive by the supernatural. But if they realize I can make beings like Dragons on demand? Yeah, that won't end well for me unless I can protect myself.
"Then a Ninetails!" Rias moves on to the next one on her list. I'm not even surprised that she has thought in the past about the kind of Pokemon she'd want if given the chance.
"One of the leaders of the Yokai is a nine-tailed fox. What do you think will happen if they learn that I have a, well, nine-tailed fox as a pet or familiar?" I ask, pointedly staring at her.
"Oh…" Rias deflates in clear disappointment.
"Yeah…"
"What about an Arcanine? I don't think there's any group that will get mad over that one," Rias says, visibly growing more excited by the thought of an Arcanine.
"That's what I was thinking about." That or an Eevee. I couldn't decide between those two until I met Tobio and felt how loyal his dog is to him.
Plus, I think an Arcanine will do a better job at protecting the house and running away with Asia if something actually happens. She's the biggest reason I'm even considering this since I can't stay here twenty-four-seven. Not to mention that she won't be as lonely with the fluffy doggo by her side.
"Yes!" Rias squeals, her whole body shaking from happiness. However, she suddenly pauses, face growing serious. "But you have to promise that no dogs will be hurt in the process!"
"Of course, you silly girl." I bop her on the nose. Rias has no idea exactly how I will achieve this, but she isn't stupid and comes to her own conclusion.
"We can go and pick a puppy together. It will have to start from a Growlithe, but you can help it grow into an Arcanine, can't you?" I ask, and she begins giggling from simply imagining it.
"Ohh, you are about to see how happy I am about this!" Rias declares as she slides down and pulls my pants away. "Just relax and let me take care of you."
Briefly, she stares at my hard shaft with hesitation and nervousness. Rias wants to do this but is afraid she won't do a good job. That's why she stuck to only using her hands yesterday.
"Oh, I'm sure that I'll enjoy this." That's all she needs to hear.
Rias lightly grasps my cock and begins to gently stroke me before leaning in to lick the tip. I shiver in pleasure, and her confidence grows. She looks me in the eyes as she takes my shaft in her mouth, her tongue twirling left and right the whole time.
"Just like that." I let out a deep breath and reach over to gather her hair.
Rias increases her pace, taking me deeper into her mouth while gently grabbing my balls to softly massage them. She gags as my tip pushes against her throat, but she doesn't stop even for a second.
"Are you enjoying this?" Rias pulls back with a wide smirk and envelops my dick with her breasts.
"I'm loving this," I say as she begins stroking me with her heavenly tits, layering kisses on my tip every time it pops out of them.
"Just like that," I say in pure bliss. Her confidence soars, and she begins making small experiments, figuring out exactly what I enjoy.
"I'm close," I say as my dick begins throbbing in pleasure.
Rias immediately takes it all in my mouth while lightly stroking me at the same time. Her tongue never stops dancing as she sucks me off, and I push her head down as I reach my tipping point, finishing in her mouth.
I hold her there for a moment before releasing her. Rias gasps and takes a deep breath before shooting me a speculative look.
"Vanilla?" Rias asks, twirling her tongue in her mouth. A large grin then forms on her face. "I think I'll really enjoy doing this every~ single~ day~."
Yes! My plan worked! I might even get woken up with a blowjob now!
"My turn now!" I pull her up and flip her over before sliding, layering her entire body with kisses on the way down until I reach her holy grail.
"Ohh!" Rias moans in delight as her fingers grasp my hair.
A very fun and enjoyable night awaits us. That's for sure.
A few days have passed since Asia's arrival, and I've been exceptionally happy. A large part of it is due to Rias giving me a blowjob at every opportunity. During the morning, the evening, or even at school! We almost got caught, but thankfully no one noticed.
Another reason is that Rias got me that apartment, and I've begun working as a Psychiatrist. The speed at which the potion is being absorbed has increased, but it will still take a while before I'm ready to advance again.
So far, The clients have been easy to handle, especially with the lovely incense I use, one that was personally made by yours truly. It's nothing insidious, but it does relax the clients and makes them more talkative.
Today is a big day since one of Rias' peerage members has decided to take her up on her offer. It's a surprise, for sure, but a welcomed one.
I really want to help them. Mostly because I want to ensure they are mentally healthy and don't end up causing trouble for Rias.
Plus, helping and diagnosing a supernatural being will speed up the potion even more. Riser Phenex is due to arrive any day now, and I want to be as strong as possible since he will want to meet with me.
I've never met the guy, but I already hate him even if he himself hadn't done anything wrong. Rias dislikes him, and that's enough for me to feel the same.
-Yuuto Kiba-
He wasn't sure what to expect from this meeting, and he personally didn't think he needed to see a Psychiatrist. However, Rias had asked them of this-probably due to one of her older contracts since she no longer went out on those. The least he could do was help her out, so he took her up on the offer.
Yuuto arrived at the apartment, double-checking to make sure he was at the right place. He was since the nameplate clearly read, "Ito Yuji, Psychiatrist."
He knocked on the door and only had to wait for a moment before it was opened. A tall, lanky man of Japanese descent with messy black hair and round glasses greeted him.
"Good evening. You must be Kiba Yuuto. I'm Ito Yuji," he introduced himself with a bow.
Yuuto did the same before he was ushered inside. The place was nothing to speak of, but it had a homey vibe amplified by the pleasant smell in the apartment.
"Take a seat." Ito pointed at a comfortable-looking armchair. "Or lie down. Whichever makes you more comfortable.
Yuuto took the armchair since lying down on the lounge chair would make him more vulnerable.
"I'm glad that one of you guys took my offer."
Yuuto slightly tensed at his words. He already expected that the man was aware of the supernatural, but the way he phrased it put him on edge.
"And why is that?" Yuuto asked, staring at the man carefully.
"Hmm, I've traveled all over the world, and do you know what I've discovered?" Ito replied with a question, though he didn't give him the chance to respond.
"That people treat their mental issues lightly, completely disregarding them, choosing to voluntarily ignore them until they blow up in their faces," he explained, and this clearly troubled the man judging by his heated expression. "And this is especially prominent among the supernatural."
"I don't have any mental issues." Yuuto was quick to defend himself. He… had his problems, but he wasn't willing to share them with someone unknown, especially when he hadn't spoken about them with his close ones.
"I'm not saying that you do," Ito said, offering him a calming smile. "But I'm sure that you have something little that bothers you with your daily life. Everyone does. And I'll be more than happy to help you with those. You can trust me that whatever you say here will never leave this room. Patient's confidentiality."
Yuuto stayed quiet for a moment, unsure what to even talk about. The man was right, though. In that he had some things that bothered him during his day to day life.
"I…" He took a deep breath. "Dislike the way the girls at my school treat me."
"Oh? That's not something I'd expect to hear from a young man your age," Ito said in surprise. "Unless they treat you badly? Though I can't even fathom why they would from what little I've seen of you."
"No, nothing like that." Yuuto lightly shook his head. "They are nice… too nice even and even call me the Prince of Kuoh."
"Many your age will be thrilled at that, yet you clearly dislike it. Why is that?" Ito asked him.
"I…" Yuuto was about to say he was afraid of making connections with others but managed to stop himself. "I just don't think I deserve to be called that."
'I don't want to lose my close ones again.'
"Do you perhaps treat them badly?" Ito questioned.
"No! I'm… always trying to be kind whenever I can," Yuuto honestly replied.
"Then I don't see a real issue here. You're a dashing young man with a kind personality. I'll even say that you're the spitting image of a Prince in the minds of girls your age."
Yuuto didn't respond since he didn't know what to say. In a way, he dug his own grave with his kindness, but he didn't want to hurt anyone who didn't deserve it.
"No, the issue here stems from another place," Ito said as he grabbed a notebook and began listing through it.
Yuuto knew it was due to the…
"Ah, I see here." His heartbeat sped up as Ito nodded to himself and looked at him with pity. "The Holy Sword Project."
"Don't you dare mention that!" Yuuto was on his feet before he knew it, his face twisted with fury as he stared at the man.
"Alas, I have no option but to bring this up, especially after your reaction," Ito continued despite his warning.
"You don't have the right!" Yuuto didn't even realize he had materialized a Demonic Sword in his hand. He also hasn't realized that he had swung it at the man.
"You might be correct," Ito said, holding onto the blade with his bare hand. Yuuto tried pulling back, but the sword didn't even budge.
"But I wish to help you, so I will," Ito continued and crushed the sword by simply tightening his grasp.
"We're done here." Yuuto walked away, his entire body shaking in anger and a little bit of fear. This man was dangerous, far more than he thought despite his fragile appearance.
"Are you sure you wish to leave?" Ito asked as held onto his shoulder. Yuuto wanted to lash out, but he knew better after what happened moments ago.
"You are intelligent, so I want you to use your head," Ito calmly said without a hint of anger after being attacked. "What would've happened if I had been an enemy?"
'I would've been killed already.' Ito was clearly much stronger than him if he could so easily break his sword with his bare hands.
"You are smart, so I'm sure you know the answer to how someone from the supernatural world would've reacted. But I want to ask you something else," Ito said and released his shoulder.
Yuuto could've walked away but chose to stay and hear the question, though he didn't dare look at the man.
"How would you react if an enemy brought up this subject?" Ito asked with a gentle tone. "Would you go into a frenzy and attack him without regard for your life?"
Yuuto knew the answer. He would attack without hesitation.
"Without regard for the lives of your close ones?" The next question, however, was too much.
"You don't understand!" Yuuto turned around and yelled, his eyes trembling.
"Then help me understand, so that I can help you in return," Ito said with genuine compassion. "Talk with me, so we can deal with this issue before you make a mistake you will dearly regret. Please, I only wish to help you."
"I…" Yuuto couldn't do it. Just thinking about all those other kids-his family-dying hurt so much. He shouldn't have survived! He didn't deserve it! Why him? Why?!
"It's okay," Ito gently said as he lightly pulled on his sleeve to lead him to the lounge chair. Yuuto lied down, a hand covering his eyes as he weakly sniffed.
"Let it all out, it's okay to feel sad." And let it out he did.
Despite what he said earlier, Yuuto told him about the Holy Sword Project. About all the kids-his family-that were tortured daily as they were subjected to inhumane experiments. And for what? All so they could find what allowed someone to wield a Holy Sword! But they ended up being deemed as failures before they gassed them all!
They… his family gave him the chance to escape. They and Rias were the reason why he was still alive! He had to avenge them! He had to do it!
"I will destroy every single Holy Sword in existence!" Yuuto cried out, tears dripping from his eyes.
"I do not agree with that." Yuuto turned to Ito with fury in his eyes. The man had said he wanted to help! He…
"I agree that you should seek revenge," Ito said, and Yuuto stared at him in confusion.
"You are just taking the wrong path. Destroying the Holy Swords will do nothing since they can always be… restored and reforged," Ito continued, and he felt like his world was about to crumble.
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Yuuto yelled. If… he couldn't even destroy the swords, how was he supposed to avenge his family?
"The Holy Swords are nothing more than inanimate objects; again, they can always be remade or someone could even forge new ones." Each word stabbed him right in the heart, making him realize how pointless his dream was.
"However, the people responsible for the Project? They are a different story. They are the ones you should seek retribution for what they did to you. To all of you."
"I…" Yuuto weakly dropped down on the lounge chair. He barely even remembered their appearance. How was he supposed to find them now?
There was a name, Viper, or something like that. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember. Though the name sounded fitting for someone who would kill innocent kids without a second thought.
"The Church, the ones who authorized this Project, are the ones that need to pay," Ito continued, giving him a target, but…
"However, they are an entity too big for you to go against." Yuuto felt so lost hearing this. What was he supposed to do?
"For now." He looked at Ito, wondering what he was talking about.
"You are currently too weak to fight them, but are you telling me you'll just give up? You don't look like someone who would so easily give up." Ito shook his head and asked, "So tell me, what will you do now?"
"I…" What else was he supposed to do other than to say, "I will become stronger."
"That's right. Your path will be a hard one, filled with difficulties from the start up until the finish line. But you can do it, as long as you put your mind to it," Ito said, smiling at him. "I believe you can do it as long as you never give up."
"I will. For their sake, I will," Yuuto promised to himself and his family.
"That's the spirit." Ito was gently smiling at him. "Become someone strong enough that even Heaven itself will have no choice but to turn their heads as you take your revenge on those who had wronged you."
Yuuto would do it, but the man was right. It would be hard, and it might take him a long time to become that strong, but he would do it. For his fallen family.
"But until then." Yuuto looked back at the man. "I want you to promise me something. Live your life to the fullest."
He couldn't. Yuuto didn't deserve that.
"Don't do it for my sake. Or even yours. Do it for those kids who did their best to help you because, trust me, they won't be happy with how you've lived your life so far."
It hurt hearing that. Yuuto knew they wouldn't want him to throw away his life after their sacrifice, but it was so hard.
"I will try." That was all he could promise.
"That's good enough for now." Ito smiled at him and looked at the clock on the wall. "I do believe we went a bit longer than expected, but I'm satisfied with the results."
"I apologize." Yuuto bowed his head in shame. For going over the time and for… his earlier display.
"Do not. As I said, I'm satisfied," Ito kindly told him. "We can end this here for good, but I'll be happy if you wish to return again, even if it's just to idly talk about lighter topics."
"I… wouldn't mind that. Maybe I can visit tomorrow?" Yuuto asked since, despite everything, he felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "If you have an open time slot, that is."
"I do," Ito confirmed. "I will be happy to see you at the same time as today."
-Jason-
Man, that was something. I bet I looked cool just stopping the sword with my bare hands. It's all thanks to Sairaorg, and I probably wouldn't have been able to do that without his generous donation.
But still… the Church is really fucked up, huh? I knew that due to what happened to Asia, but this? Torturing kids and then gassing them because they didn't get any results?
Hopefully, I helped Yuuto a bit. He doesn't deserve what happened to him just like Asia. Though I did set him up on a path against the entire Church…
But I'm not sure if Yuuto will even get the chance to have his revenge because… I might just destroy them myself.
I wanted to play Remnant 2 and didn't have any plans on writing, but I'm a slut for compliments… stupid Shiro.
Also, this Arcanine thingy? Probaly a one-off event. Don't really have a plan on creating a large number of creatures that will probably not be mentioned more than once.
Last edited: Jul 27, 2023
Chapter 14
Beta: Old man of the mountain/Darklord331 Proofread by Gerald of Revea
"Are you out of your mind?" Rias whacks me on the shoulder.
"What?" I ask as I put some distance between the two of us while my hand continues with its actions.
"Are you trying to start another Great War? She asks, staring at me in both surprise and a little bit of anger.
"No! I told him to grow so strong that even Heaven wouldn't dare deny his vengeance against the Church." I haven't told her what Yuuto discussed with me, but I mentioned the direction I kind of pushed him into. Figured she should at least be aware of this.
Though Rias doesn't seem to agree with the outcome. "That's not any better!"
"But it is!" I reply. "He'll have to reach the level of the big guy up in Heaven before he takes action."
Of course, God is dead, but he doesn't know that, and I don't plan on informing Yuuto of this. Plus, on the off chance that he somehow learns about this, Heaven still has a bunch of Archangels in their roster, and they aren't pushovers.
"And if he becomes that strong, then who's gonna stop him?" I ask, gaining momentum with my words. "If Yuuto reaches the level of the big guy, then Heaven will wipe their hands of the Church and will offer him all the people that wronged him on a silver platter, just so they could avoid a fight with him."
Because, at the end of the day, God was one of the strongest people in the world. There are only two beings that can claim with certainty to be more powerful and… wait a second!
Did one of them kill him? If it was one of them, that can explain why no one has taken credit for the deed since those two Dragons aren't very talkative. Then again, not much is known about them since they both rarely if ever leave the Dimensional Gap.
This makes sense, especially if God was stupid enough to attempt killing one of those Dragons, so he could turn it into a Sacred Gear. Yeah, I can see that happening. God grew overconfident and tried doing something idiotic, which resulted in his death.
With this, I've come to an important realization. Don't poke the Dragons that seem to be content in staying in the Dimensional Gap, whatever that place is. It's probably a location that connects to other worlds, as crazy as that sounds. After all, I already know for a fact that more worlds exist out there.
"This… I mean…" Rias bites her lip as she thinks it over. "I guess you're not wrong, but still!"
"Puppy?" I hold the baby Shiba Inu, whose fur has slightly begun shifting to a vibrant orange with black stripes due to the serums I've been feeding it. Petting the little guy is relaxing and calming, but he started nibbling on my fingers, so it's time to hand him over.
"Inu," Rias coos as she takes him from me.
Inu, meaning dog, is short for Inugami-his actual name-meaning dog God or Spirit. Rias is the one that named him, making me realize that she has a terrible naming sense.
"So… that guy is coming tomorrow, huh?" I say as I drop on the bed next to her. "And he wants to meet with me, how annoying."
"I'm sorry, but I don't regret it!" Rias says defensively as she's kind of at fault here, since she might've mentioned our relationship to her parents. "I'm not ashamed of being with you! I won't even hesitate to declare it to the whole world!"
"I don't blame you," I say, my lips widening, and I get a loving smile in response. "Too much."
"Hey!" Rias calls out, and I just smirk. She narrows her eyes and proceeds to ignore me as she focuses on pampering the puppy.
"Aren't you just the cutest? Oh, yes, you are," Rias pauses and gives me the stink eye. "Unlike my boyfriend."
I just roll my eyes at her since I know she's fooling around.
"It will be okay," she says moments later. "I'll be there with you, and if he tries anything, I'll beat him up!"
Rias is eager to do just that and has long awaited to have a shot at him. Lately, I've realized that a lot of problems in the supernatural world tend to be resolved through their fists. Of course, they solve some issues in a diplomatic way by talking it out, but minor things usually get resolved with a good fight.
What a bother. I'm not really into fighting, but at least I won't embarrass myself if I get into a fight, all thanks to Sairaorg.
"By the way, how strong is your cousin?" I ask offhandedly.
"Sai? He's… stronger than me," Rias admits. "I lost our last spar, but I'll win the next one, for sure!"
That's good to know since she seems confident in beating Riser. I don't know how strong I am, but with Sairaorg's fighting skills and everything else I got, I should be capable of edging out a win.
"At the very least, I will make him use his secret weapon," Rias says a moment later, her confidence waning a bit.
"And if I end up losing again, I'll just get better and prepare for his secret weapon!" Rias animatedly nods to herself.
"Then I'll definitely win." She looks at me with a soft smile. "Especially with your help."
The pills have been of great help to her and her peerage. Their progress has jumped a notch since they actually train after consuming the pills unlike me. I should probably do the same, but… I really don't want to. Training just isn't my thing.
"Inu fell asleep. I'll put him in his bed," Rias says as she gets up before giving me a saucy look. "I'll be right back~."
Alright! We still haven't done it, but I can't complain too much since I've been falling asleep with a satisfied smile every single night!
The next day, I'm waiting for Riser in my meeting room alongside Rias and her peerage. The two of us are sitting down while the other three are standing behind us.
"Just take a seat, you three. You aren't servants here," I say, and Rias nods in agreement. Even if they technically are her servants, she doesn't see them in that way.
"Oh, but that could be seen as disrespectful," Akeno replies with an odd glint in her eyes as she tests me.
"Good." I nod. "Take a seat."
"Don't worry about it," Rias says, giving her own permission.
"Fufufu, how delightful," Akeno says with a perverted giggle, lust rolling off of her in waves aimed in my direction. She has problems, and I'm not sure I even want to touch them.
I don't get the chance to dwell on that since the other side of the room lights up as a teleportation circle appears on the floor. That's an issue I have to deal with as soon as possible.
I really don't like how people can just teleport right into my house. Thankfully, I now have a book about Warding from the last deal with the Devils, so I will set up some protections as soon as I finish reading it.
Grayfia is the first one to step out. She is here as a mediator and to ensure the meeting doesn't escalate to a fight, something she's sure will happen without her presence. Her lips twitch for a split second in displeasure when she sees Rias' peerage sitting next to us, but she doesn't say a word.
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
The next one to step out is a blonde guy who is filled with negativity. I can sort of see the resemblance with my disguise, and he notices it too. That only makes him angrier since he believes Rias is in a relationship with me just to piss him off.
Woah, this guy thinks really highly of himself, doesn't he? I already hate him, and the feeling grows the more I peek at his thoughts and emotions.
There's a lot to unpack there. Some of the things I can even understand since, from a certain perspective, I did steal his girl. Well, she's mine now. He can go suck it.
However, one of the reasons Riser is pissed off about this both infuriates and confuses me. He's angry because he wants to use Rias' peerage to add even more members to his harem…
Huh? What?
Of course, there are other things there. Such as how he doesn't want to be seen as an even bigger disappointment. He's the third son and hasn't achieved anything in comparison to his brothers. If he ends up losing this marriage-to a human of all things-he'll be the laughingstock of his family.
I can at least understand that. It makes sense. But to be angry that he might lose the chance to add even more members to his harem?
[img: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7]
I don't get it, especially after seeing fifteen girls walk out of the teleportation circle after him. Fourteen of those are part of his harem. The last one is his sister, which he had attempted to add as well, though he backed off when she refused him.
At least he doesn't force himself on women… This says a lot about Riser if that's the only good thing I picked up from his mind.
But still! Fourteen harem members! That's way too much. As a straight male, I will be lying if I said I've never entertained the thought of having multiple girls. But fourteen is way too much!
How am I supposed to spend quality time with all of them? It will take me two weeks if I give each a day. That's half a month!
"Rias." Riser spreads his arms wide open as if he is inviting her for a hug. "Come and embrace your fiance."
That's by far one of the worst things he could've said because Rias is just about ready to explode and knock his head off his shoulders. "I am not your fiance!"
I blatantly reach down and don't even hide it as I give her thigh a squeeze. Rias takes a deep calming breath and places her hand atop mine.
"Get your hands off my woman, you disgusting human!" Riser yells, the temperature in the room increasing by the moment as a pair of flaming wings sprout from his back.
"Oh?" I tilt my head. I haven't gotten the chance to test out my Psychiatrist abilities, and I've found my first test subjects. Hopefully Dragon's Might won't disappoint me here.
-Grayfia-
She watched closely, waiting to see how Dio would react. Would he defend himself or try to talk it out?
Probably the latter since Dio wasn't a fighter as he didn't have the presence of one. Plus, he was weak, even weaker than when she last saw him. He had probably taken some boosting potion that had negative side effects back then.
It fit, from what Grayfia had seen from him. He probably wasn't selling the potion since he seemed to be a perfectionist. Dio would only sell it once he figured out a way to remove the negative side effects. Now that he was safe, he had no reason to take it.
Yes, that made sense to Grayfia. However, Dio surprised her as he laid his head on his hand in a relaxed manner.
"You come into my house, and you insult me?" Despite how calmly he said that, there was an edge in his voice, one that promised pain and suffering to the offending party.
'But he is not a fighter.' Grayfia was sure of that, so what was she missing? Sona had informed her sister that Dio had apparently made Azazel run away in fear from his poison. Was that his plan here?
Either way, she prepared to interfere since Riser seemed to be on the verge of attacking him.
" Do you want to die that badly?" Dio's Aura burst out, its quantity and quality far greater than when she last saw it. For Satan's sake, he enveloped Rias' entire peerage with it!
Grayfia noted that some of its colors had bled out, making it look silverish blue, but that wasn't important at the moment. What mattered was that Dio was far more dangerous than she had ever thought.
Because for a split second, even she felt threatened. His Aura was like a malevolent storm, a force of nature that would destroy anything it encountered. Its intensity was remarkable, applying heavy pressure with just its presence to all who were outside of it. Even to her!
Glancing at Rias and her peerage, she observed that they looked fine and unharmed. However, Koneko was tense, frozen stiff in her seat, not even twitching in fear. The rest-even Rias-were looking at the Aura around them in surprise and wonder.
They mostly seemed fine, but the others? Grayfia looked over to the other peerage, who was huddled together in the corner of the room, having rushed there the moment Dio activated his Aura.
Riser was protectively standing in front of the girls, but his eyes were wide in fear and his breathing was hard. He was more than afraid, but he seemed to be ready to do anything it took to protect his peerage after realizing that he might've bit off far more than he could chew.
"Hmm?" Dio casually stood there, his Aura radiating pure malice, aimed at Riser and his group. "Did you forget how to speak? Where did all of your confidence and bravado go?"
This was not how Grayfia envisioned this meeting. She expected things to heat up, but for Dio to completely overwhelm the other party without even moving from his seat? She wouldn't have ever imagined this happening and still found it hard to believe despite seeing it with her own eyes.
What was it that Ajuka told her husband? That Dio would try to recreate that particular potion because that was something he would do?
It seemed Ajuka might've been correct, and so was Grayfia. She still didn't know what Dio had done, but his Aura was vastly different from when she last saw it, that she was certain of.
"Fight me!" Riser suddenly declared, clearly provoked by Dio's words. He was still afraid but couldn't back down now, especially in front of his peerage.
"Why should I?" Dio, on the other hand, looked relaxed. "Why should I waste my time with you? What will I get when I win?"
Riser noisily gritted his teeth at the implication. "If-if you win, I won't pursue Rias anymore."
That would effectively mean he'd be canceling the marriage. The two of them weren't aware, but if they didn't get any closer in a few months, Lord Gremory and Lord Phenex would reconsider the contract.
"Is that so?" Dio looked at her. Perhaps he wished to see if she'd interfere with the challenge? She wouldn't, but she stayed still and unmoving, not giving anything away.
"Alright then," he easily agreed after seeing her lack of response.
Good! This showed Dio was ready to fight for Rias' sake. It was relieving to know that her sister-in-law had found a good man for herself. She might not show it much, but Grayfia cared for the girl that she watched grow up in front of her eyes.
"What?" Rias asked, looking concerned as Dio retrieved his Aura.
"Don't worry about it." Dio patted Rias on her thigh before looking at Grayfia. "I'll be right back. Just need to grab my weapon."
The moment he left the room, Riser immediately regained his confidence as he was no longer pressured by the oppressive Aura. He looked directly at Rias, who scoffed at him. "You will be mine when I win."
"You wish." That's all she said in response before promptly ignoring him, turning to silently whisper something to her Queen.
Riser's peerage surrounded him, all encouraging him, certain of his victory despite what happened moments ago. His sister was the only one that looked worried as she nervously bit her lips.
"Brother…" Ravel began, but Dio returned at that moment. He said he'd grab his weapon but only carried a single vial with a pink colored liquid.
"You should hold on to this." Dio handed her the vial without explaining anything about it. "Would you please take us to a place where we could deal with this?"
"As you wish." Grayfia nodded at him. They all gathered, and she teleported them to an uninhabited location in the Underworld.
"Alright, let's get this over with," Dio said after glancing once at the purple sky. He then walked away, putting some distance between them.
"You will regret this," Riser said as he walked over to stand opposite of Dio. He was visibly burning with anger. "I will make this slow and-"
"Can you stop yapping already and get on with this? I don't have all day, and I have actual work to do, unlike someone else." Dio interrupted him with a wave of his hand.
"Die!" Riser wasted no time as he hurled a massive fireball at his opponent.
Dio didn't even attempt to dodge it, simply raising his arms wide and taking it head-on. The result was a massive explosion that covered everything in smoke.
Riser's peerage cheered while Rias and her group tensed up in worry. The latter let out sighs of relief after the smoke cleared, revealing an unharmed Dio. Even his clothes weren't damaged by the fireball.
"Was that it?" He asked, sounding disappointed. "Oh, well, let's end this farce."
Grayfia's eyes widened as Dio just disappeared from her sight. She hadn't sensed even a tiny bit of magical energy, yet he was nowhere to be seen. How?!
"Show yourself, you cow-arghhh!"
Riser screamed in pain, his back arching as his entire body began twitching. He stumbled forward with convulsing limbs, and Dio materialized behind him before grabbing his hair and slamming him head-first into the ground.
"Alright, then. We're done here." Dio dusted his hand off before walking away. An obvious mistake, considering who his opponent was, but Riser wasn't getting up.
Grayfia could see three stab wounds on the lower back of the young Phenex, ones which should've been healed in a second by the vaunted flames of his Family. Yet they clearly weren't healing, his flames nowhere to be found.
"Riser!" His peerage ran over to him. Ravel, his sister, quickly took out a Phenex Tear and fed it to him. However, the wounds still weren't healing.
What had Dio done to him? How was this even possible? Light or Holy energy perhaps? But she couldn't sense any of those on Riser, so how?
"Might want to feed him that potion before he bleeds out," Dio said as he stepped closer. "It's a prototype of what I'm currently working on. A potion that cures all diseases, illnesses, and poisons. Sounds pretty good, eh?"
Grayfia looked at the pink vial. Sona had informed them of this, but he already had a prototype? Barely over a week has passed since they learned of this!
"Let's go home, shall we?" Dio asked Rias, receiving a blinding smile and a nod in return. He then just disappeared, again without even Grayfia sensing a hint of magical energy from his action. Rias and her group followed him a moment later.
'And I thought he's weak?' Grayfia stood still for a moment, replaying in her mind all the events that just happened in less than half an hour.
Dio was at minimum High Class, from what she just saw. She wasn't sure how strong he was exactly, but he was also apparently capable enough to even make someone on Azazel's level run away in fear, a being that was stronger than her…
'What a terrifying human.' It was good that they formed a friendly relationship with Dio because he could be their worst nightmare.
Grayfia looked at the proof of that, who was lying on the ground with his wounds still open. Just like that, one of the strongest Devil bloodlines was neutralized in a snap.
She had to inform her husband about this development, but first, Grayfia had to ensure the young Phenex wouldn't die under her watch. With quick steps, she arrived in front of Riser and fed him the potion. It took a few seconds, but his back burst into fire, healing the three wounds in an instant.
Riser stood up with the support of his peerage, his eyes red and his lips trembling in rage. "Let's go home."
He said nothing else as they shamefully departed. Riser wouldn't take this loss well, especially since a human defeated him.
Grayfia didn't think any less of him due to this. Yes, the humans were the weakest race, but that didn't mean they couldn't give birth to some absolute monsters. Riser was just unlucky to meet one of those outliers.
[B
Psychiatrist ability/B] ]
Awe ( Dragon's Might or Mass Chaos): They can target a single person or apply it to a group of people within a certain range. They'll instantly panic, freeze, and turn chaotic, as though they're facing a dragon.
He used the above and also accidently used Ren as well without realizing it, mostly since he was trying to make himself appear bigger.
Ren By tinging one's Ren with hostility, a Nen user can exert what is colloquially referred to as "bloodlust". Prolonged exposure to malicious Ren can induce uncontrollable dread, paralysis, and if experienced without the protection of Ten, even death.
Those two synergize very well.
Fight was short, but he's a dirty cheater. He held a couple of pills in his mouth, and hid the daggers inside his clothes. If he's fighting fair, then something went wrong.
Last edited: Aug 1, 2023