So what, if I want to be a Harem Protagonist?

by FrancoGamerxz

An Eroge-induced epiphany leads Hyoudou Issei down a path of hard work, excellence and extreme degrees of trauma suppression. Add to that a grumpy old dragon, an overpowered sacred gear, a frisky succubus and munchkin-worthy tactics that put the capital P in "Power Creep", and you've got yourself a nice mess. Oh, and there's also devils, and angels, and stuff. (Cover by Yutaku)

11. Bloody Snow

Hey hey hey, Francogamerxz here, with the newest chapter of "Canon when?" for your reading enjoyment! As you already know, at the start of the chapter I tend to, if there are any, respond to any review that can be construed as a question, so long as answering it would not cause massive spoilers for my future plans.

So, here goes!

force200 says: "The ability to „read" an object is called Psychometry, psychokinesis is something else."

A: Not a question, but I found it pertinent to answer. I know that reading an object is Psychometry, my writing in psychokinesis (which is actually the ability to physically affect the world with the power of your mind) was a trypo that I only caught after already having posted the last chapter. Sorry for any inconviniences and confusion to any reader by this fail of mine!

Emrys Akayuki says: "WHAT?! THAT'S IT?! WHERE'S LILITH?!

Also that A/N at the beginning just made me more worried. You fantasticly evil writer, you."

A: We're all curious about where Lilith is, man. Her absence has really been worrying me, if she doesn't hit me up in 12 hours I'm calling the police!

Just kidding! That being said, we'll be adressing this subject very soon. The second part, about the A/N worrying you... Wow, I really wish I could say that it was my intent to create a set of expectations, but unfortunately I'm not that good. Yet.

says: "Bloody Hell, what was that?"

A: That, my friend, was me shifting up the pace. I was itching for some action, you guys were itching for some action, and so was Issei... so we got the action we all wanted, even though Issei may have been left quite a bit wanting. Throwing the occasional surprise, or curveball into a story is fun!

QuantumTesseractAlpha says: "Noooooooo, I hate cliffhangers! UNFOLLOWED! All joking aside, I really did enjoy this chapter. It portays Issei's willingness to go very far for the people he cares about, and you've pulled it off pretty well. A question I do have though is how much of the Eagle of Victory's powers will you give Issei? Will he have the same amount of power as he has now from Aquilla throughout the story, or will she give him more as he proves himself worthy? Looking forward to more best girl interactions with Lilith and Aquilla! Keep on with the good work, and I'll be eagerly waiting for the next chapter!"

A: About the eagle of victory's power, you need to look back at the conversation they had in the mindscape. Aquila explains that she intended to give him just enough to keep him alive and to give her a minor beacon, so she could know where he is, but, as she said:

"It was supposed to be a transient state, with my power fading with use overtime..."

We can see that that wasn't what happened though, and Issei is gaining more and more power overtime. It isn't Aquila "donating" power per se, but the tiny fragment that she left within Issei thriving and growing on it's own. Combat-wise, that's what's happening with her power, but there will be other elements that you'll learn more about soon.

Fazrulz says: "Genderbent Assassin Jekyll and Berserker Hyde (or was it reverse?) enters the next line for Issei's harem~! *Final Fantasy Victory BGM*"

A: I know enough about the Nasuverse to know that those are refferences to servant classes, but I have to say in all honesty that I didn't see things that way as I was writing. I just thought of a character concept that I'd enjoy, someone who sees their sacred gear as more of a hassle than an usable tool, and that ends up getting into a mess way over their head because of it. That being said, I really enjoyed the allusion, but I think that 'Hyde' would be more of an EMIYA-esque saber or lancer. Fights in a primarily physical manner using a myriad of hand-to-hand weapons, with her blood shortswords being primary, and uses blood to spawn more weapons as needed, enhance herself physically beyond her limits, and even to shape the battlefield.

Holy shit I made bloodMiya. Is that a good thing?

AnimeA55Kicker says: "Ok that got quite dark there. I would like to have one thing clarified, was Lilith raped? Cause that would be dark."

A: We don't know what's made of Lilith yet, really, so no one knows whether bad things have or have not happened to her. If she was indeed raped it would be bad, yes, but we don't know if it happened so... All we can do is wait and hope for the best, really.

invisivel says: "Why does he keep saying Jesus Christ? Issei is Japanese."

A: Real reason? Think of it as some sort of self-imposed, involuntary localization issue. It's so engraved into western culture to use these terms in exclamations of all sorts, despite your actual beliefs, so people just subconsciously use them. Since this is a story that involves all sorts of beliefs and such, I guess that I slipped into that habit, instead of using the mentality I would in a Naruto story to use more japanese terms, such as Kami, etc.

In lore, let's just say that it's a consequence of hanging around a people born from the consequences of the actions of the Christian God, using a power granted by his system, etc.

renextronex says: "Psyhokinesis from the Greek words ψυχή ("psyche") – meaning mind, soul, spirit, or breath – and κίνησις ("kinesis") – meaning motion, movement. Psyhokinesis is the power to move an object using the power of the mind

The word you were looking for Jade's power would be Psychometry"

A: Yup. As stated earlier, typo, but once again, thanks for taking the time to correct a failure of mine, as it means that you care about the story!

Josef Bican says: "(HATE MY FUCKING COUNTRY)

-No, seriously, now i find myself mentally yelling at the top of my lungs 'Prepare your anus Travis!' *haunting sound of a ridiculously over stretched white glove*. That pathetic waste of time and space deserves to be boiled in oil (especially if he did something to the certified waifu Lilith, which sadly seems very likely. Though 't help but wonder the ritual fuel or something value the virginity of a Succubi might give us hope).

Moving onto other stuff, I gotta say I found fascinating both the idea of a female Jeckyll & Hyde and the concept of a blood based Sacred Gear. The fact both came on the form of a character I initially dismissed as a boring bloodlusting fighter is a tremendous plus.

The conversation between the minor goons early the chapter makes thing of something pulled out from a Quentin Tarantino film (I'm saying this a plus btw.)

Also: Good God! The speech! The fucking "I'll break you" is one of the most purely epic badass things I've ever seen.

Anyway it's nearly 1:30am over here so I'll skip right to my main questions.

1. I get they couldn't send a squad to curbstomp Travis and save Lilith, but did they actually HAVE to send Issei all by himself? I mean I don't think any possible spies would noticed just one or two Succubi leaving the city.

2. (I don't think this will happen but I'm asking anyway) Is Laveria gonna be part of Issei's harem? Because from what I've seen so far they make quite a good couple.

3. Is Issei gonna leave Xinthia a mewling mess like he did with Bernice? Because useful or not, after such a traininig-slash-torture I know would like to get one over such a 'kind' instructor.

With nothing left to add for now, I wish you good luck and hope you manage to get the next chapter soon. See ya later."

A: Ok, wow. This was just one of three reviews that you sent me Josef, for which I am thankful, but it also means that in order to avoid redundancy I will only quote this once, and adress it. (The fact that this was the only review with questions posed for me from the 3 you sent helps as well :P)

So, let's see.

1. I get they couldn't send a squad to curbstomp Travis and save Lilith, but did they actually HAVE to send Issei all by himself? I mean I don't think any possible spies would noticed just one or two Succubi leaving the city.

As I said before, Luxuria is a nation that everybody does their best to keep an eye on. Aside from the fact that pretty much any person with a physical attraction to women would like to 'get jiggy with the succubus tiddy', there is also the fact that they are known for being extremely recluse, and for being inextricably connected to Lust itself as a concept. No one knows if they live on Earth, the underworld or anywhere else. No one knows what they're truly capable of, which means that, as far as they're aware, succubi could just one day up and decide to completely drain the world of lust, affecting loads of people. Devils, who are beings of sin, would be some of the beings feeling this the most, alongside beings and entities based around romantic love and lust, such as Aphrodite, Eros, or any other love gods or goddesses; not to mention the effect that this would have on humans, and the fact that this could reveal the existence of the supernatural side of things to mankind.

Of course, no one other than some of the absolute top Succubi such as Laveria know if this is even a possibility, but in ignorance, it's normal for people to feel threatened and react poorly. It's why the view of a single succubus is such a big matter for supernaturals, both the ignorant animals such as the Jotunn from chapter 2 who think only of the immediate possibilities with their bodies, and for the leaders and strategic thinkers up top.

Succubi are very, very good at hiding and blending in, which is part of the properties of Tantric Energy, but even they slip up eventually. If they slip up trying to bag a meal, they can just disappear with no trace. What do you think, however, would be the consequences of them being found out invading what pretty much amounts to a military compound, in an attempt to rescue the princess they believed to be there?

Obscurity has it's drawbacks.

2. (I don't think this will happen but I'm asking anyway) Is Laveria gonna be part of Issei's harem? Because from what I've seen so far they make quite a good couple.

Well... who knows? The future has much in store, my friend. Perhaps it will happen, perhaps it will not... We'll find out later!

3. Is Issei gonna leave Xinthia a mewling mess like he did with Bernice? Because useful or not, after such a traininig-slash-torture I know would like to get one over such a 'kind' instructor.

Refer to the second point for an answer!

Kroz Phantomville says: "This chapter was incredibly frustrating. Issei should have killed Travis by using Explosion instead of horsing around. Why did Jaquiline come to Travis when she knew he could control her? Where the fuck even was Lilith? Why the hell did Issei even come here? This Travis is like a fourth rate villian who keeps running away always. This story was incredibly at the beginning but it became a B rate anime after the kidnapping. The plot hasn't gone anywhere in 3 chapters."

A: There is a reason as to why Issei didn't even attempt to use Explosion, and it was Travis that made it clear himself.

"Surprised, aren't you? Well, this is what the girls down there were for. They're constantly producing Tantric Energy, I keep absorbing it without the effort expended to seduce women, and I store it, and I become stronger."

Was he stronger than Issei at full power? Probably not. However, the continuous increase in power that Travis was going through meant that the minimum amount of power needed to defeat him kept changing, which means that the amount of power given by [EXPLOSION] would be different than the amount of power needed to defeat him a second later. By very little, yet different regardless. It's why Issei didn't even attempt to use it.

Jacqueline went to Travis because she was the only guide available to allow Issei to reach him. That, and the fact that all of the shocking events of that day, and her attempts to constantly suppress her sacred gear mean that she was probably not very mentally sound at that exact moment either.

We don't know where Lilith is. Remember, Jade said that Lilith was believed to be in that compound, based on the results of the investigation that had to face with components such as time passed, magical decay, sabotage, the enemy covering their tracks, and perhaps even stonewalling, no matter how involuntary, from the Bauxian side of things (after all, giving unrestricted access to foreigners to peruse the restricted, royal library isn't done at a hat's drop). So Lilith's absence from there was a definite possibility from the start, and Issei went there for the possibility, not a certainty, that Lilith would be there, and, in case that she were not, he was supposed to figure out where she actually was.

And Travis constantly running away? That doesn't make him a fourth rate villain. That just makes him a spineless slime. Remember, when Issei managed to beat him in a verbal joust, he stormed off instead of accepting defeat. After he tried to threaten Lilith and Issei intervened, he ran away with his tail tucked between his legs. Now that Issei proved too strong to fight against, and too motivated to try to dissuade, he decided that escaping was the best way to act, and tried to simultaneously destroy two people that he viewed as threats based on their power.

Issei because yeah, he is a definite threat to Travis in all aspects, and Jackie/Hylda because he was unaware of the full extent of her ability, and with Jackie already helping the enemy despite the fact that he 'held the reins' so to speak, who knows when she would turn around and eliminate him?

This isn't him being a bad villain, that's him being consistent in his methods. Sticking around as long as he thinks he's ahead, and leaving when the going gets tough.

Oblivious ninja IJ says: "*Le sigh*... he's still a perv"

A: ...Yes? Is that supposed to be a bad thing?

Exis21 says: "Why isn't Issei using Boost?"

A: Because it's a last resort tool. Canon Issei only has the Boosted Gear, so he has no choice other than always use it, and also has the constitution of a devil, so his body can take a higher strain from the gear. This Issei has powers independent of the Boosted Gear's own, powers that each put their individual strain on his own body. Boosting would not only double his base physical condition and human magical power, but it would also double the intensity and power of these other powers... And quadruple the strain. Not cumulatively, mind you, but at an individual level, which is arguably worse.

So you can see why he's not using the Boosted Gear much, it's an absolute last resort.

This ends this chapter's review response corner! If you wish to be included in the future, all you need to do is leave a question down in the Reviews, and it will be adressed.

With that said, we go onwards to the story!

~oOo~

Hours had passed since Issei first took a step in this snowscape, and still he walked. With shuffling steps, the occasional trip, with ever increasing bouts of wheezing due to accumulated exhaustion and the lack of treatment for his burns from the explosion, anyone seeing him from afar could confuse him for a walking corpse.

However, were one to look him in the eye, they would see nothing other than sheer determination, burning like an unyielding flame, giving his body the ability to move even as his muscles cramped, and his joints clicked, and his bones cracked.

He ignored the cold biting at his skin.

He ignored the cracked, dry lips, closer to a blue coloration by the minute.

He ignored the sensation of being watched, and he just. Kept. Walking.

~oOo~

Various pairs of padded paws treaded the snow at a fast pace. Various mouths and nostrils released small bursts of warm air, causing steam to make itself visible around them in small clouds.

They dashed into a forested area, easily and nimbly dodging trees left and right, until the head of the pack halted, forcing all others to do so.

It lowered it's snout to the snow, sniffing around it, before rearing it's head back.

"AWOOOOOOOOOOO!"

It's howl was heard for miles on end, completely silencing the various critters whose noises would remind a present individual that they were in a forest, before said being dashed ahead, having picked up on it's prey's blood, the rest of the pack following.

Having properly gotten the scent of their prey, the beings went into a frenzy, their snow-white fur bristling, their teeth, sharp and long as daggers, gnashing noisily. The noise of their paws crunching the snow underneath them intensified as they forsook stealth for speed, blasting off as fast, if not faster, than most comercially available cars.

They had a target to hunt. They would not fail.

~oOo~

Many hours had passed since Issei had been accidentaly transported to an icy wasteland, and things seemed to not get any better. The sun was about to set, meaning even colder temperatures, his stomach was growling in a desperate request for food, his limbs barely allowed themselves to move, each twitch pushing at the limits of Issei's pain tolerance, all the while carrying a person whose breath was so weak that they could almost be confused for a corpse.

With all of this occuring, the sound of a howl in the distance didn't even faze him. Instead, he kept his focus straight ahead of himself, trying to see as far as he could through the blowing snowstorm, to find a way to survive.

The snow stilled suddenly, allowing Issei to see more than a few feet ahead of himself, a blot of brown color registering in his mind as his erstwhile salvation, before the intense storm resumed, the winds now blowing in the opposite direction, and harsher than before.

Disregarding this, and disregarding his own state, Issei picked up the pace, treading through the knee-high snow the same way one would through mud, each of his steps requiring more energy than regular walking. Yet, despite the pain and exhaustion, Issei kept moving.

And soon, he reached his salvation.

A single-storied cabin, made of wood and stone, in the middle of the woods.

Shifting Jackie/Hylda to his left shoulder, Issei walked up the short steps that led to the cabin's door, trying the handle and, surprisingly, finding it unlocked.

He stopped feeling eyes on his person as soon as he stepped through the threshold of the log cabin, the tickling of a presence at the edge of his detection range vanishing, which allowed him to lose some of the tension that was on his shoulders.

He closed the door behind him, protecting both himself and Jackie/Hylda from the continued snowstorm, before looking around the cabin itself.

He saw a pelt on the middle of something resembling a living room, right in front of a fireplace on one side, and a wooden table, which was where he set his erstwhile companion down.

There was some wood set beside the fireplace, so Issei grabbed a few of the logs and tossed them inside, before focusing his already strained magic, releasing a spark towards the wood and causing it to light up with a small flame, which he fostered by blowing and fanning. Soon enough the cabin was lit with a warm orange glow, keeping the cold bite of winter away from Issei and Jackie/Hylda, causing the girl's lips to lose some of the bluish tone they had been building up, and causing her breathing to become slightly less strained and weak.

Still stumbling around weakly, Issei looked throughout the entire cabin, finding the kitchen and toilet/shower room/lavatory on the same floor as the living room, a few bedrooms on the 1st story, and a basement, the walls lined with various forms of piping, most of theam leading to a furnace.

Axes, shovels, machetes, heavy coats and a crossbow and arrows were also arrayed around the basement, as were hooks with hanging, dried meat, water bottles and canned foods, from beans to vegetables.

'Holy shit... We stumbled into the home of some sort of survivalist, or wildman, or something!'

Shrugging those thoughts aside, Issei put on a heavy jacket, as well as grab a second one for Jackie, a few cans of food , water bottles, a big hunting knife and a few cuts of dry meat, taking them all up to the living room.

He placed the jacket on the back of a chair and the rest on top of the table, going back into the bathroom and raiding the medicine cabinet. He got a few bottles of painkillers, bandages and disinfectant, taking them back to the living room.

Next, came the fun-... Hard part.

Completely pushing away any thoughts of perversion, Issei slowly and steadily undressed his unconscious companion, grimacing at the bloody mess underneath her clothes.

He wiped her down completely, his gaze not even lingering on her fun bits, before bandaging her up, using a roll or two of gauze too many in order to cover her parts.

With that done, Issei covered her with the other heavy coat that he had gotten from the basement, before going back into the kitchen and giving it a proper look.

He saw a wood-burning stove below and to the left of a closed window, a few cabinets that had both wooden and ceramic bowls and plates, with metal cuttlery, a myriad of cooking utensils such as a cast iron skillet, and a few pots and pans.

There were also spices and dried herbs.

Not feeling capable of doing much with any of that at the moment, Issei took off his shirt, wincing at the burning pain from his back, before using the antiseptic spray that he had found on as much of himself as possible.

He managed to do it noiselessly despite the pain, mostly due to Xinthia's pain tolerance training, before bandaging as much of his body as he could. Having finished that, Issei popped open a can of tuna, alternating between it and the slices of dried meat, with the occasional pull from a water bottle added to the mix.

His injuries treated and his hunger and thirst sated, Issei ambled back to the main room area, lied down on the pelt at an arm's length from Jackie/Hylda, and allowed himself to finally succumb to an exhuasted sleep.

~oOo~

They stopped and sniffed the air, before the leader of the pack growled something at the rest of the group. He then proceeded to howl, prompting the others around him to do the same, before the group turned back the way they had come from.

Their prey had eluded them for the time being.

But they would return. They always did.

~oOo~

'I fucking hate my biological clock.'

Issei got up from the ground he had slept on with this specific thought in mind, stretching his back as far as his aches and sores would allow him to, before taking stock of the room around him.

The firewood he added to the fireplace had burnt itself out completely, leaving the room mostly in darkness with the exception of a scant few beams of light that made it through the windows.

He got up to his feet, heading towards the bathroom to relieve himself, mentally praising and thanking the owner/builder of this place for believing in functional piping instead of being the 'outside latrine' type of guy.

Having finished relieving himself, Issei decided to finally explore the upstairs section of the home fully.

He found what seemed to be a master bedroom, with a queen-sized bed, two headstands, a dresser with an embedded mirror, and an attached shoe compartment.

Looking through them, Issei found both male and female clothes in varying sizes and styles, though all of them mantaining a common aspect which was the thick fabric they were made of, more than likely for preserving heat. Other than some dust, creases and a few spiders, all of the clothes seemed usable (After a good wash at least).

He got a set of clothes for Hylda, underwear included, before going off to explore the other rooms.

One of them was full of things such as rugs, animal pelts, blankets and towels, another one was a bigger bathroom than the one at the ground floor, with an actual bathtub, and the last room was... and oddity.

It was spacious, the walls arrayed with shelves covered in a myriad of books. From floor to ceiling, from wall to wall, everywhere one looked there were books, with the exception of a window on the far side of the room that allowed light in.

Issei's eyes narrowed, this was the 4th room that was seemingly empty for a good while, but it wasn't musty at all. Thinking back on things, Issei noticed even more oddities.

There were no pests in the places that one would expect there to be, such as the kitchen, that had spices and dried herbs, and the basement, that had proper insulation and meat. None of the furniture that Issei had come about seemed to be dusty, dirty, rusted over or worn down from age in any manner.

The only things that showed signs of actual aging were the objects within the master bedroom. And how would a rustic-looking house like this have a functioning water system during winter? Even if there were some pipes rigged to lead to and from some well, or underground reservoir or something of the sort, at least sections of the pipes would freeze over during the winter, especially since there was an intense snowstorm less than two days ago, meaning that the water should be unable to flow into the house, or into any tap. Hell, the toilet shouldn't be flushing!

Plus, there were other details that Issei overlooked in his hurry to get himself and Hylda patched up, and in living conditions.

The wood stove in the kitchen, and the furnace in the basement did not have any exhaust pipes. Any smoke produced from their burning should be filling the house, but it didn't.

'This place... It's a magical home! But who are the owners? And more importantly... Where are they?'

All of these thoughts moved through Issei's mind as he made his way downstairs, the clothes that he had picked aside for Hylda over his shoulder and ready for a small sink-washing session.

'Their clothes and books are all here and undisturbed, so it's unlikely that they decided to suddenly move away...'

He rummaged around the cupboards, finding a sink plug and a box of powdered detergent. Making use of both, Issei filled the sink with water and diluted a fair amount of detergent inside, before putting the clothes he had separated for Hylda inside and allowing them to go for a good soak.

With that done, Issei decided to check on Hylda and see if she needed a change in bandages. He went back into the main room and got beside her, only for his eyes to narrow at the redness of her face.

He placed his hand on her forehead, his eyes widening at what he felt.

'She's burning up!'

Leaning his face close to her face allowed him to notice the fact that her breaths were quick and shallow, and interspersed with some coughs.

He reacted by going down to the basement for a bucket, going to the kitchen and filling said bucket in the sink, getting a rag and then returning to Hylda's side. He dipped the rag on the bucket of waterm wringing out the excess before placing it on top of her forehead.

With that done he tried to figure out the next step to take.

'What did mom do when I was sick a couple of years ago? The moist rag is there, I need to change it every few hours I think, other than that... Soup! She fed me soup, and lots of water. There was also medicine, but where can I find medicine in the middle of a fucking tundra? No, Issei, don't go there... Focus on what you can change, leave what you can't aside.'

With that thought in mind he went into the kitchen and raided the cupboards for anything usable. He found a small stock of firewood, some cast iron pots, pans and utensils, wooden bowls, some dry herbs and powdered spices.

He stocked the stove with wood and ignited it with a small spark of electricity, allowing the fire to really get going before placing a pot full of water to boil. With that done, he went down to the basement and got a few of the canned vegetables there and a few strips of the dried and salted meat.

Returning to the kitchen, Issei just added things things to the pot haphazardly, not really having any previous cooking experience, and having only guesses and hunches guiding him.

'Vegetables are a staple for any healthy food, the meat will give protein, and the salt from it will make the soup not be bland... Ah screw it!'

Having added a little bit of everything to the pot of boiling water, Issei went back to the main room to thoroughly check on Hylda. He removed the coat she was using as a blanket, his eyes widening at the fact that her bandages were noticeably blody.

'Shit, things seem to keep getting worse... I can't move her because it'll aggravate her injuries, which means I can't take her to the only bed in this place, plus the dust there would probably cause her some sort of infection. I'll have to use up wood to keep this place warm and to cook for her, but I can't really go out to get more because her condition could suddenly worsen... FUCK! Things weren't supposed to go this way! I was supposed to get there, kick ass and save Lilith! Why do things always have to get more complicated than needed?'

The brunette shook his head free of those thoughts, before going to the downstairs bathroom for more bandages to replace Hylda's current ones with.

Issei changed her bandages as slowly and carefully as possible in order not to aggravate her wounds, before covering her with the heavy coat again and feeding some wood into the fireplace to keep the house warm.

He headed back to the kitchen, retrieving the 'soup' from the fire and pouring it into two bowls. One he set aside for himself, the other one he took to the main room.

He placed it next to Hylda's face, before speaking.

"You can stop pretending to be unconscious now."

The - currently - redhead shifted lightly, the difficulty in her motions noticeable, before turning towards Issei, a faint smile on her face as she spoke in a weak, tired tone.

"How long... Have you known... I was awake?"

"You tried emphasizing your chest when I was changing your bandages."

He weak smile turned into a slight smirk as she responded.

"E...njoyed it?"

Issei leaned forward, taking the damp cloth from her forehead and dunking it in the bucket of water, wringing out the excess before placing it back on her forehead, even as he spoke.

"Wasn't really in the frame of mind to enjoy your breasts while treating your wounds. You really fucked yourself up with your power."

As he spoke, Issei moved closer to Hylda and placed a hand underneath her back, bracing her before slowly helping her sit up. He propped her up against one of the cabin's walls, the fur coat covering her legs still, before grabbing the soup and moving close to her. He loaded up a spoonful before directing it to her lips.

Hylda rolled her eyes before allowing Issei to feed her, her face thoughtful as she chewed on a bit of onion, before smacking her lips.

"You're a terrible cook."

"Yeah, well I'm sure you could do better with literal zero years of experience and no fresh ingredients to work with. Just eat the damn soup."

"Touchy, aren't we?"

"I have a good reason to be. If you didn't notice, I kind of failed to do the one thing I intended to do back at that castle whatever."

"...Then why help me? Travis couldn't have taken you on even in his dreams, I was the one that kept you from getting to him. Why put in the effort to help me? Why not just leave me out to die?"

"Because you helped me. You guided me, helped me go where I wanted to while avoiding any alarms, and you led me straight to Travis. You did all of those things even when you didn't need to. So... I'd feel pretty shitty if I were to just abandon you afterwards."

"I... didn't help you... Jackie did."

"The two of you are the same person, though."

Hylda went completely quiet at that, causing Issei to shrug, before feeding her the rest of the soup in silence.

After he finished feeding her, Issei helped her lie back down, moistened the rag on her forehead again, and then covered her completely with the coat, allowing the visibly exhausted girl to go back to rest, before going to the kitchen and having his own - cold - soup.

After finishing the soup - and it really did suck, Hylda was right about that - Issei went back upstairs in order to figure out what happened to the original owners of the cabin, and to see if he could find a way to leave that place and return to Luxuria.

His first stop was the bedroom, which he all but turned upside-down as he looked for even a scrap of information, finding only a piece of paper in one of the drawers of the bedside tables bearing only a pair of words.

" 'They Lied'. How ominous... Huh, Ddraig?"

'Indeed. So... How long did it take you to remember that I was here?'

"...Longer than I'm proud to say."

'You're an idiot.'

"Hey, cut me some slack! I was hyperfocused on not dying, and on saving Lilith! Everything else just happened in the moment, y'know? Plus, with Hylda's fever, and me having to cook, I'm sure that I earn a huge fucking pass for my lapse of memory."

'Jeez, kid, I was just joking. Didn't expect you to be this affected.'

"...Sorry, I'm just stressed out, and unloading onto you."

'Understandable.'

"So... You know of any way to get us out of here and back to Luxuria?"

'I didn't even know for sure that Luxuria existed up until a few weeks ago, why do you expect me to know how to get there?'

"Yeah, stupid question."

'You could ask the crazy blood girl for help.'

"Not at the moment, and especially not with anything related to magic. She's really fucked up from our fight, and the explosion afterwards."

'You say that as if it were not the same for you.'

"I just got hit with a bit of the explosion, it's nothing major, I'll just walk it off."

'It's not major my scaly ass. You've got burns on your back, strained muscles around your body from the stress, and shot nerves from the overuse of the Eagle of Victory's powers. I was watching everything you did in that castle/compound/whatever, and I saw you pushing your body beyond anything it had ever done before.'

Ddraig could sense Issei's unwillingness to concede the point, so he decided to go through another track.

'If you keep pushing as much as you do without resting you're going to fall apart. If that happens, then who saves Lilith?'

The brunette clicked his teeth in irritation, before speaking.

"Ok, you're right. What do you expect me to do, though?"

'Rest. Eat, sleep, rinse and repeat until you're not as weak as when you first found the boosted gear. By Ophis, a stiff breeze would knock you over right now!'

"..."

The brunette, having no real argument to dispute Ddraig's words, went back downstairs and, after a drink of bottled water, covered himself in a coat before laying beside Hylda near the fireplace, then allowed his exhaustion to catch up to him.

~oOo~

The pack had found themselves a good resting place as they waited out their prey. Their prey seemed to have found a den of their own, something which would make it more troublesome to get them. It was easier to allow them to wander from their den and pick them out at that moment.

So the pack lied in wait.

~3 days later~

Issei frowned as he tossed another log into the fireplace, before speaking up.

"We're almost out of firewood. I'll have to go out and get more otherwise we'll be freezing here, and without any hot meals..."

Issei's gaze turned towards the sleeping Hylda, before his brow furrowed worriedly. After three days of resting, eating and having her bandages taken care of her condition had improved, but she still wasn't in a state in which a sudden downswing wasn't a possibility.

'Leaving her at this moment is dangerous, but running out of firewood would be worse... I'll just have to go out there and hope for the best until I return.'

He went to the basement to collect whatever he would need to get wood, and he ended up outfitting himself with a heavy coat and fur boots, an axe that he attached to his belt, some rope and a crossbow, with a quiver full of steel-tipped arrows strapped across his back.

'I don't know if there are any dangerous critters around, but if there are it's good to have a way to take care of them without stressing my body even further. I can still feel some of the injuries to my back opening when I move in certain ways.'

Fully kitted, Issei went back up the stairs to the main room, checked on Hylda and re-moistened the rag for her forehead, before leaving the cabin and heading towards the group of trees he could see in the distance.

~oOo~

Hylda's eyes opened as soon as the door closed behind Issei, before she gingerly sat herself up. She recovered from her injuries fast, faster than she ever expected to do so, and she had a hunch that it had something to do with the food that Issei cooked, no matter how foul it tasted.

Regardless of reason, the end result was the fact that she was already capable of changing positions, sitting up without any support, and actually eating on her own. Pretty soon she should get to a state in which both her and Issei could avoid the embarrassment and awkwardness that popped up whenever she needed to use the bathroom.

'I'm sure he'll be glad when I tell him about this.'

A sudden thought then popped up in Hylda's mind.

'Should I even tell him about my recovery? I mean... We were enemies until very soon, and he could just be taking care of me as part of a plan of some sort. That means that disposing of him before he could do the same to me is paramount...'

These thoughts, however, made Hylda's stomach roil in an unfamiliar way.

'What is this? Is my cold getting worse again? I guess I'll take the time that he's out to rest further, and I'll take care of him tonight, after he falls asleep.'

With that in mind Hylda covered herself up and closed her eyes, yet the roiling feeling in her stomach wouldn't disappear for the rest of the day, even in her sleep.

~oOo~

The walk through the forest wasn't easy on Issei. Between the almost waist-high snow, the biting cold, his still recovering body and his worried, unsettled mind, it was a damn miracle that Issei didn't take a wrong turn and fall off a cliff or something of the sort.

He stopped in front of an adequately sized tree, taking hold of the axe with his right hand before resting the back of the axe head on his shoulder.

'I think I saw a show about loggers when I was younger. Let's see, if I remember correctly...'

He hefted the axe over his head, his hand gripping the handle tightly in order not to have it fly off into the woods, before he swung, the blade of the axe lightly sinking into the bark of the tree and getting stuck there, forcing Issei to plant a foot against the tree in order to wrench it out, before looking the edge over.

'What was that about? The blade isn't rusted or blunt, so why didn't it cut properly? Why did it get stuck? What did I do wrong?'

He looked over the tree itself, before a memory floated through his mind.

"Instead of cutting a tree horizontally, which takes much more effort and wears your tools out faster, it's best to chop at an oblique angle, and persist at it. You'll have to exert less strength, and by the time you're done, you'll know towards where the tree is going to fall."

His eyes widening at that, Issei angled himself diferently before raising the axe again, and delivering a slanted slash at the tree, feeling the axe sinking in with almost no resistance. He pulled the axe back with nowhere near as much effort as he had during the first slash, before persisting on the oblique cut, again and again, until the tree started falling towards him.

Issei widened his stance and caught the log on his shoulder, hissing at the pain that the falling tree elicited before tying one end of the rope around it and the other around his waist, and then proceeded towards another tree.

He stopped mid-swing as the sound of crunching snow reached his ears even as movement registered on the edge of his awareness.

Lowering the axe and attacking it to one of his belt loops, Issei slowly worked on unstrapping the crossbow from behind him, one of the arrows already loaded, before rapidly turning and firing into the area where the noise had come from.

He heard a meaty 'thwack!' of the arrow meeting flesh, strapping the crossbow back over his shoulder and grabbing the axe, purple veins appearing on the blade as he pushed Tantric Energy towards it in the form of a Reinforcement, before he cautiosly moved towards the target her had hit.

Pushing aside a bush, Issei was met with the presence of a puddle of blood, with his arrow on top of it, and no body whatsoever. A small trail of blood led away from the bigger puddle, but it disappeared shortly afterwards.

Frowning seriosly, Issei picked up the arrow and placed it back within the quiver, before returning to his trees. Instead of trying to chop any more down, or to drag them via rope, something which he knew left tracks, Issei enhanced his body, shouldered the trees and then ran back towards the cabin fast enough for his feet not to sink into the snow, leaving almost no trace of his presence there.

He was sweating copiously by the time he reached the cabin, dropping the logs right outside before folding over and coughing out a good gob of blood onto the snow.

'You stressed your body too much.'

'I know, Ddraig, but it was the best option. I forgot this after all this time, but before I reached the cabin, I felt as if I were being watched. It's likely that something or someone wants to kill me and/or Hylda.'

'Just keep in mind that your body has limits, and that ignoring them will lead you to an early grave.'

Smirking inwardly, Issei mentally responded.

'Gee, Ddraig, I didn't know you cared this much.'

'I don't, really. I just believe that it'd be a waste for someone as... let's say talented, as you to die before they can really learn to use the Boosted Gear.'

'Or you're just being a Tsundere.'

Ddraig responded simply by huffing, before settling down to sleep, causing Issei to chuckle even as he used his sleeve to wipe the blood off of his mouth and chin.

His face once again becoming serious, Issei closed his eyes and expanded his senses as much as he could, only for them to give no signals of danger. With that check done, Issei's awareness lowered slightly into simply 'Mildly Cautious', before he started working on chopping the logs down into smaller sizes, then splitting them, for firewood.

Having finished all of this, Issei made a net with the rope at hand and used it to bunch together all of the split wood before entering the cabin.

~oOo~

"Why do you smell like blood?"

Hylda's question reached Issei as soon as he walked into the cabin, causing him to stop mid-step and blink owlishly, before his brain finally managed to translate the question and craft a response.

"Oh, I shot at something in the woods with the crossbow and grazed it. I found the arrow in the middle of a puddle of blood. That's probably what you're smelling."

Hylda eyed Issei suspiciously, looking him up and down and finding nothing off about him.

"Okay, I guess. By the way, Issei... I could really use a bath."

Issei's eyes widened at that.

~oOo~

A few hours had passed since Issei and Hylda had 'gone to bed', and Hylda was still awake, a myriad of thoughts going through her mind.

'He goes out for a few hours, then returns smelling of blood, but with no injuries? He takes care of me despite the fact that I'm an enemy, and he doesn't even try to take advantage of the times that he had me naked and helpless, not even once? That's too suspicious. No-one is that good of a person. He must be planning something... But I'm going to beat him at his game!'

Hylda stood up, a slow, painful, yet silent action that left her on shaky legs, before raising both of her hands above her head.

A split opened on her lip before a small cloud of blood coalesced into a blade within her grasp, before she walked towards Issei, whose back was turned to her.

She aimed for his throat, her eyes narrowing before she struck...

Before her hands stopped, with the blade just a couple of inches away from Issei's throat, and a heavy feeling in her stomach.

'My cold's acting up again? Now?'

Taking a deep breath, Hylda raised her blade again, aiming for Issei's throat, before she froze.

The feeling in her stomach intensified further, while her hands started shaking.

'What's wrong with me? I... This should be easy! Why can't I do it?'

She focused as hard as she could and tried to get her hands to do what she ordered them to, but that only resulted in her hands shaking , the heavy feeling in her stomach threatening to engulf her completely. She tried to force her way through this, but every time she thought of just killing Issei, a heavy feeling of nausea hit her.

Her eyes started welling up with tears, tears which she furiously tried to wipe away with her arm, yet they wouldn't stop coming. Her legs started shaking as well, both from a mixture of her injuries and this new feeling that was engulfing her.

She fell on her behind as her legs completely lost their strength, with tears streaming down her face, and an extremely horrible feeling welling in her chest. Her blade dispersed, floating back into her body in the form of blood, before she dragged her crying and shaking form towards Issei, and hugged him from behind, as tightly as she could. A few seconds afterwards, Hylda had fallen asleep.

Issei's eyes cracked open lightly at that, the brunette letting out a sigh at that, before Ddraig spoke directly into Issei's mind.

'You do know that what you did, allowing her a free blow like that, was extremely reckless, right?'

'She wouldn't have hurt me.'

'How could you be so sure of this?'

'I already said this before, she's a good person. Someone who's not a good person wouldn't have helped me voluntarily like she did, at risk of her own person.'

'You just love gambling with your life every 15 minutes, don't you? Idiot.'

'Watch out, Ddraig, your Tsun-tsun is showing!'

The red dragon grunted, before going back to sleep inside the Boosted Gear, soothed by dreams of explosions, and even bigger explosions.

Issei could only chuckle, before Hylda shifted, causing a blush to tinge his cheeks and a perverted giggle to go past his lips.

'Soft and bouncy...'

With those pleasant thoughts, Issei allowed himself to drift off into oblivion.

~oOo~

Issei could only frown in a mixture of worry and consternation as he looked down at the visibly ill Hylda. Her fever had gone up, and other than moist rags and hot soup, there was nothing he could do for her.

She had stabilized after what he reconned were continuous hours of getting worse and worse, but Issei was still worried. At the rate thigns were going, she could die at any moment.

Knowing that he could do nothing for her at the moment, Issei decided to check out the library, to check if there were any books on medicinal herbs, or healing magic, or something that could heal Hylda, and help him find Lilith.

~oOo~

After three days of going back and forth between taking care of Hylda, getting wood to keep the fires going and searching for any useful books in the library, Issei's condition was declining. The lack of rest and the immense amount of effort, both physical in taking down the trees with his not-at-all healed injuries, and the mental in spending hour after hour reading or taking care of Hylda with little rest had Issei on the brink of collapse, something which he knew would likely spell the doom of himself, Hylda, and, most importantly, Lilith.

Pacing around the small library, desperatly searching for some book to help in his endeavors, Issei was surprised when it suddenly hit him.

As in, a book literally fell from one of the higher shelves onto his head.

He cursed at his continued misfortune before his eyes fell on the title of the book.

"Searching beyond your gaze: Divination for Dummies."

With little to lose, Issei opened the book to a random page, only for the very first passage of the book to cause his eyes to widen tremendously in surprise.

"Divination magic is very useful in acquiring information of events and locations past, present and future. In order to properly utilize Divination-based magic, all one has to do is to establish communication with a being or deity possessing any divination-related aspect, such as fortune telling or prophecies, via a magical circle. A small tribute is taken from the summoner in exchange for the information provided, though the deities are known to occasionally waive this requirement if they particularly favor the one attempting to use their power."

'This is exactly what I needed! I can get information on how to reach Luxuria to get myself and Hylda properly healed, then ask for information on Lilith's actual whereabouts! I just need to work on crafting the ritual circle!'

Ddraig could only frown from within the Boosted Gear, torn between the desire to warn his host that nothing good tends to come from bartering with gods, and the knowledge that he'd go ahead and do whatever he felt like anyway.

~oOo~

After a last check of his gear, including crossbow and arrows, axe, the book detailing what he would need to collect and a few jars to store ingredients, Issei gave Hylda one last worried look, before leaving the cabin.

He went back into the woods he was collecting firewood from, his head on a swivel for the needed ingredients. He spotted a bundle of herbs that the book detailed, pulling them by the root as detailed in the book, before collecting the sap of a few different trees.

A few hours of hunting for ingredients later, Issei was done. He had everything he needed. He put away the ingredients he had collected within his coat, before his senses registered a presence a short distance away. This presence wouldn't usually be a match for him, but as weakened as he was, it was enough to take him down in case of direct conflict.

So, instead of going for direct conflict, Issei decided to fight indirectly. He climbed up one of the trees before focusing towards the source of the twinge in his awareness, being greeted only with a splash of moving white and a pair of red eyes, that then vanished into the undergrowth.

Issei drew the crossbow and aimed it towards the general area in which he felt the danger before firing, being rewarded with a howl of pain for his efforts. This howl of pain turned into one of rage, and Issei's eyes widened as he watched a series of trees getting knocked down in a straight line towards him, forcing him to jump to another tree.

His attacker followed after Issei, forcing him to keep jumping between branches, his eyes always fighting to detect the smallest amount of motion possible, if just to have some forewarning for when he had to jump.

Hearing the crunch of snow somewhere to the left and below him, Issei rapidly took aim and fired, the sound of even more pained howling reaching his ears, yet he couldn't count it as a victory. His breath was shallow from the exertion, showing just how damaged he truly was, and his back and shoulder hurt from improper and incomplete healing, meaning that it was unlikely that he'd be able to win this fight. This led to a single rational response, escaping.

Issei jumped away from the tree he was on as hard as he could before going full-tilt on his sprint, with the sound of crunching snow making him aware that his attacker was in hot pursuit.

The sun had started setting, causing his pursuer to turn more franctic in it's efforts, making it so that while Issei did his best to dodge and manouver around trees, the pursuer only worried about knocking them down non-stop.

Hope blossomed within Issei's chest as he saw the edge of the woods, before a wooden log nearly slammed into him, clipping his shoulder and knocking him to the ground. Ignoring the painful throb in his shoulder, Issei hopped back onto his feet, feeling the presence of his pursuer approaching, it's bloodlust bearing down on Issei in the manner of a ravenous beast.

The brunette could almost feel it's warm, fetid breath on the back of his neck from the proximity it had gained, the sound of displaced air being followed up on by Issei being thrown out of the forest from the strength of the blow, with a new set of injuries on his back probably delivered by claws.

He turned over onto his back, aiming both his boosted gear and crossbow at the forest, only for a sound similar to a heavy object slamming into a massive gong to echo throughout the forest and reverberate to his bones, a massive flare of light hurting his eyes and forcing him to narrow them, completely obscuring the figure of his pursuer.

Looking up, Issei noticed a light blue colored dome had been erected over the area he was in, from just outside the forest, and englobing the cabin he and Hylda had been staying in.

'Defensive wards... That's probably why I felt the attention of this thing leave me when I first reached the cabin...'

The pursuer seemed to give up after a few more attempts at breaching the wards, causing the flares of light to stop, and allowing Issei to actually see a pair of red eyes receding into the forest before vanishing completely, swallowed by the menacing darkness.

'So we're safe from this thing as long as we're within the cabin, or within a certain distance of it...'

Letting out a breath of relief at that discovery, Issei dragged his bleeding self back into the cabin. He spared a look at the sleeping Hylda before going down to the basement and placing all of the collected ingredients down there. He dragged himself back upstairs, pouring a full bottle of rubbing alcohol over his own back in order to disinfect the injury, stifling his pained grunt before wrapping himself up with bandages.

Having done that, he went back up into the library and checked the book's instructions.

"The major divination invocation is a very power-intensive ritual, so it is highly suggested for the one attempting it to do it at a moment in which their power is at it's apex, or when there is an overflowing source donating the energy. The best times to perform the ritual are at either sunset or sunrise, due to the symbology inherent to those two events.

Sunset is the time period in which the illuminating rays of the sun last shed their light upon the land as the sun itself gradually sets, giving way for the stars in the night sky, which are - and rightly so - associated with guidance, having been the preferential method of navigation for sailors, travellers and nomads througout the ages, a handy method of fortune telling for those with abilities so inclined, and, in some cultures, the stars of the night sky are even believed to some kind of universal 'table of events', holding information about all events, past, present and future.

Sunrise is a bit of the opposite paradigm, instead of completely depending on the stars to grant one information they were unaware of, the sun's rays shedding light upon the earth represent the illumination of the possible paths one can take. It is a time period associated with guidance, and the imparting of wisdom more so than information, helping individuals make correct decisions based on knowledge that they already possess, instead of granting them new knowledge..."

'So I have to recover and build up as much energy as I can, wait until the sun starts setting and then perform the ritual... Since this type of magic can give you information that you wish to have, once me and Hylda get to Luxuria and fully recover, I could use it in order to find out Lilith's exact location!'

With that information at hand, Issei allowed himself to rest, already planning for the occasion.

~oOo~

Growls, howls and cries filled the night air as the injured hunter informed their brethren of their prey's weakness. The prey itself released a stench of blood and weakness, while a foreign smell of disease, ever intensifying and closer to death, hung around it as well.

The being conveyed upon it's brethren the fact that the prey was unable to even defend itself, being saved only by some sort of boundary, and that it was likely that they could entrap it by keeping the group at the edge of said boundary, waiting for their target to step foot outside of the protected area to finally devour it.

The group did not hesitate. They moved as one, heading towards the forest in order to lie in wait. It had been a long time since they last ate good food, and they would not allow this opportunity to pass them by.

Ungodly pairs of red eyes lit up the dark night in a nightmarish manner, promising blood, violence and death.

~2 days later~

Issei had wanted to wait until he was fully recovered, but a sudden downswing in Hylda's health forced him to rush up his plans. At the rate her health had been decaying, Issei was sure that she wouldn't manage two more days without medical aid. With those thoughts in mind, the brunette looked out of the window, noticing the slanted golden tint that colored the snow and the forest in the distance, signaling the fact that the sun was just about to set.

Nodding to himself, Issei went down to the basement, his eyes heading straight to the complicated magical circle that he had drawn on the ground with a mixture of water, ground herbs and some of his blood.

It took some time and effort, as he had no measuring tools to ensure perfection, so he had to freehand it, but Issei managed to make it look exactly as the book made it look like. Despite that, he gave the circle one final once-over, verifying that there was no line out of place, no figure out of focus, and no fudged numbers.

Satisfied with the final result, the brunette closed the book he had been using as comparison and put it aside, before kneeling before the circle. He closed his eyes and completely relaxed the control that he had over his powers, allowing them to suffuse his body and stop just before the point that it was painful, before slamming the palm of his gauntleted hand onto the center of the circle and pushing.

A light golden glow illuminated the basement, while Issei felt his power being siphoned from him to a painful level. However, instead of giving up, or allowing himself to fall unconscious, he marshalled even more of his power, and he Pushed.

The light glow started becoming more and more intense, as did the magic drain on Issei. He could feel himself slipping closer to unconsciousness, before a headache started developing from the back of his head. It grew gradually, until a sharp spike of pain on the top of the head caused Issei's eyes to roll back, even as information slammed into his brain.

Images and sounds assaulted his mind, as if someone were engraving them into his brain with an ice pick.

~oOo~

A young couple, going out on their first date.

A few years later and they had moved in together.

A wedding, and their first home.

The seemingly impossible struggle for children that threatened to break their spirits.

The joy of discovering that their latest attempt at a child had taken, and the look of sheer happiness on the faces of husband and wife.

The nerve-wracking process that is childbirth.

Seeing his first child, his son, in his wife's arms, and her smile of happiness. Taking his newborn son into his arms for the first time, and falling in love all over again.

The news that they would never be able to have any more children, that they took better than they would have before. After all, they already had their beautiful little Aiden, the center of their world. Their life was perfect.

The first trip home, and the trying first months.

Waking up in the middle of the night due to the babie's cries, going to work absolutely tired, and returning home as a shambling corpse, yet feeling his energy returning at the sight of his beautiful wife rocking their baby to sleep, and the smiles on both their faces.

The sheer horror that was waking up to the sound of shattered windows, only to notice a complete absence of a child's cries.

Telling the police that the only thing you could remember was white fur and a pair of red eyes, and being told that he was suffering a stress-induced delusion.

Convincing his wife of what he saw, deciding to find their child no matter the cost.

Selling their home and everything they owned to create capital to invest in the search for answers.

Finding answers in the most unlikely form possible: supernatural acts.

Following through with the investigation to the utmost end, amassing a wealth of information about the supernatural world, and the possible whereabouts of their child.

Building a house in a remote part of the swiss alps, hidden from humanity by magic, as the clues led them there.

Hunting after the killers of his child alongside his wife, only for her to die right in front of him, before the filthy beasts slowly tore him apart, relishing in his screams of both pain and anguish.

Using his dying breath and the remains of his life force to erect a magical barrier on the land around the cabin, turning it into an eternal sanctuary for their family after it's tragic fate.

~oOo~

A sudden gasp left Issei's body as he returned to full consciousness, with the final images that imprinted themselves into the back of his eyelids to never disappear being a purple-colored magical circle that he knew to be a transportation circle, and a circle with the word 'XOCHIQUETZAL' in the middle.

After those two images imprinted themselves into his brain in a permanent manner, Issei felt a surge of energy coming from the circle itself, before he was thrown away from it and slammed hard into one of the basement's walls, having his breath knocked out of him.

He watched the circle light up an even brighter gold, before massive archs of electricity started emerging from it as if they were tendrils, and crawling through the ground and up the walls of the cabin.

The brunette, noticing this, ran upstairs to the main room, having only the time to grab a hunting knife, an axe and a pair of heavy coats, before grabbing Hylda, wrapping her in one of the coats, before leaving the cabin.

Looking back at the house, Issei watched the golden tendrils of electricity completely cover it before shooting upwards, seemingly slamming into something solid. A blue dome became visible, something that Issei was aware to be a physical representation of the wards that previously protected the cabin, before the tendrils started traveling through the entire length of the dome, and, with the sound of shattering glass, the entire ward structure collapsed.

As soon as this happened, Issei could hear growls coming from the woods, with pairs of red eyes cutting through the dark that had completely swallowed the mountainside that he now knew to be on.

'Nocturnal.'

His eyes lit up with a purple glow before the darkness of night faded, allowing him to see in the dark as he normally would during the day, and to see the source of the noise.

And it wasn't a pretty sight.

Big beings, 7 feet tall at least, with simian-like facial features, sharp, shark-like serrated teeth and long dog-like ears. The body was a mismatched thing, with long arms, lanky-looking in relation to the rest of the frame, that hung almost all the way to the ground. The body was thick and extremely muscular, packing high amounts of power, while the legs were short and thick, somewhat like a gorilla's, but even smaller and thicker, all of this covered in a thick layer of white fur, with a pair of red eyes sticking out sorely by contrast.

However, unlike gorillas, these things seemed to not make it a habit to use their arms to walk, doing so easily on their hind legs alone. These beings used this to their advantage, arming themselves with massive clubs made of stone, wood, bone, or a mixture of the three.

A band of no less than 10 had emerged from the forest, each of them emanating enough bloodlust on their own to scare off a band of lions.

'Shit... I used up a good chunk of my power in the ritual circle, so I don't have enough juice to make the jump straight to Luxuria with Hylda. WIth the information that I gained, I know that trying to make that trip as I am would more than likely lead to our parts being scattered along the way, on a permanent basis. The only solution is to fight them, even while covering for Hylda.'

Having reached that conclusion, Issei raised his fists into a fighting stance, a spark of electricity covering his body and causing the snow under his feet to melt. He narrowed his eyes, focusing his gaze on the group of monsters - Yeti, his new knowledge told him they were called - before he released as much of his own Pressure as he could, aiming it at them and causing them to freeze in place for an instant at the draconic undertone they could feel. It was as if a massive pair of draconic eyes were staring at them from behind Issei.

This brief instance of terror vanished when their noses picked up the scent of disease and death growing more and more, turning it into caution and apprehension instead. The group spread around Issei, closing off any direction that he could use to escape with the exception of the forest, knowing that they could maneuver it better than their prey.

The brunette kept his head positioned so that he could face as many of the animals at the same time as possible, while his other senses, both natural and supernatural, kept track of the ones outside of his field of vision, their hunger and bloodthirst turning them into veritable beacons.

One of the Yeti started moving forward, testing Issei's boundaries, only to be met with a blast of electricity to the chest, pushing it a few feet away from it's starting position and drawing a screech of pain from it, while the smell of burnt flesh and fur seemed to galvanize the other Yeti, the knowledge that one of them had been hurt by their prey slowly but gradually whipping them into a frenzy.

Two of them dashed at Issei, one of the cocking back a club made of wood and stone and the other one a club made of bone, even as the rest of them slammed their fists, clubs and feet on the ground over and over in a frenzy, before the two swung simultaneously.

Knowing that Hylda was underneath him and that dodging would mean her dying, Issei planted his feet as hard into the ground as he could, Reinforced his right fist and simultaneously punched at the two weapons, forcing the two Yeti back from the shockwave of the blow.

Issei followed up on this by pointing both of his hands towards the two Yeti.

"Thunderbolt!"

A bolt of lightning jumped from each fist, slamming into the monsters and pushing them backwards, though they managed to keep their footing well enough to slow their motion.

One of the Yeti, a younger and less experienced one, dashed at Issei from behind with the belief that the brunette was vulnerable with his back turned, only to recieve a boot to the midsection, followed up on by a barrage of punches to the face and torso, throwing it away as a bloody, crumpled mess.

Seeing one of their own dead, the Yeti seemed to be moving to attack in a concerted effort, only for a loud roar to cause them to halt, and to attrack Issei's attention.

Another Yeti, bigger than the others by a foot or two, and with muscles that were twice as big as theirs made his way out of the forest, it's aura intense enough to completely silence his previously raging band.

It's body was littered in scars and it's fur had missing patches, likely a result of battles for dominance of the pack, yet the deference of the band made it obvious that it hadn't lost.

This Yeti, the leader of the band, sauntered with a level of swagger that one had when they knew they were the top of the food chain, before it's face split into a sharp grin that was missing two teeth, causing an image to come to the forefrot of Issei's mind.

'Hunting after the killers of his child alongside his wife, only for her to die right in front of him, before the filthy beasts slowly tore him apart, relishing in his screams of both pain and anguish.'

This was the Yeti that ultimately killed the previous owner of the cabin, and likely the one that took his child in the first place.

The Yeti transitioned directly from his saunter into a fast dash, suddenly appearing in front of Issei and rearing it's fist in order to release a devastating punch to his head. Issei responded by parrying the punch, cringing at the pain that blossomed on his back, shoulder and leg muscles, before he responded by punching the Yeti's face.

The Yeti's head snapped to the side, only for it to slowly turn his head so that his gaze fell on Issei, forcing the brunette's arm back bit by bit and causing him to wince at the effort expended in trying to stop it.

The Yeti raised it's fist up high before releasing it in a downwards swing aimed at Issei's head, but Issei blocked it with his gauntleted hand, causing a shockwave to explode underneath and around the two of them, clearing a ring of snow around them yet leaving Hylda untouched in the center.

Knowing that allowing this fight to progress as it was would endanger Hylda further, Issei hopped up, slamming a hard knee onto the Yeti's face, before dropkicking it on the chest as hard as he could, pushing it away.

"KAMI-INARI KAMINARI! (Fox God Thunder)"

An aura of electricity surrounded Issei before firing outwards, shaping itself in the form of a pair of wolf-sized foxes made of lightning itself that set up watch over Hylda. With that done, Issei shot towards the head Yeti, holding the belief that defeating the leader of the band would cause the others to retreat, before snapping a punch to the Yeti's neck.

A punch that was blocked.

In response, Issei found himself being lifted into the air, before he felt himself being pulled downwards in a smashing motion. He responded by creating a set of lightning blades from his feet and stabbing them into the Yeti's arm, forcing it to release him with a howl of pain, and landing in a roll to bleed off the momentum and the damage.

He stomped hard on the ground, intent on firing off hard to make use of this advantage he had gotten himself only for his body to betray him, his legs seizing up and cramping from the sheer amount of electricity surging through them, before he coughed out a gob of blood.

'Fuck, not now!'

He kept his gaze on the Yeti, watching as it wound down from it's pain-induced thrashing only for it's eyes to settle on Issei, hatred running deep within them.

It slammed both hands into the ground before ripping up a massive rock, it's muscles straining just to keep it above it's head, before throwing it towards the brunette.

Issei reacted by cocking back his left arm and gritting his teeth in preparation for the pain that would rip through his body shortly.

[BOOST]

He swallowed down the cry of pain from the overabundance of power running through his heavily damaged body even as he punched his left hand forward.

"SHOTGUN BURST!"

A storm of green fist-sized projectiles with a sparking yellow outline shot forth from the knuckles of Issei's Boosted Gear, completely decimating the rock and travelling further to smack into the Yeti, however they had lost enough power by smashing through the stone that it was mostly ineffective.

Issei's eyes widened as he watched the Yeti leader shoot towards him. His legs were frozen in place, his arms felt so heavy that even keeping them up was a massive effort, and his insides felt like they were burning from the power channeled in his debilitated space, so he had no real way to defend against the Yeti. He could only watch as it got closer and closer, it's fists ready to completely pulverize him...

"DÓRY! (Spear)"

Until a spear of blood flew past his head before slamming into the Yeti's left eye, causing it to let out howls and screeches of pain that aggravated the rest of the Yeti band, causing all of them to howl and screech noisily.

Issei looked behind him only to see Hylda, her face completely red and her eyes glassy, with a hand extended outwards towards his fight. The redhead, her help given, fell unconscious, being guarded by the two lightning foxes.

Not being one to squander a given opportunity, Issei pushed ahead.

'Move! MOVE! MOVE!'

He forced his body under his control through sheer willpower, disregarding the sounds of his muscle fibers snapping and his bones creaking as he shot towards the Yeti and cocked his gauntleted fist backwards, a mix of a yellow and purple outline surrounding the gauntlet.

[BOOST]

A green fire-like aura joined the other colors, all mixing together as Issei's fist shot forward, slamming into the Yeti's gut.

"SYNCHRO FIST!"

The Yeti's eyes bulged to an extreme degree at the moment of impact, before blanking altogether as the entirety of the power Issei had built up hit him all at once, causing the space that was previously occupied by his torso and innards to simply disappear into a fine red mist, with the resulting shockwave slamming into another of the Yeti and instantly killing it as well, causing the corpse to fly away into the darkened forest.

'I did- SHIT!'

Issei's body was hit the backlash, causing him to fall forwards onto the snow, his old and improperly healed injuries spurting fresh blood into the snow.

'I... Can't... go... like... this...'

The brunette tried dragging himself back to his feet, the last of his magic focused on mantained the two thunder foxes around Hylda, yet the best that he managed was to rise to his knees, watching the Yeti in confusion, and then alarm.

Instead of dispersing in fear at the passing of their leader, the creatures went into a blood frenzy, each of them wanting to tear Issei apart limb by limb for daring to overpower the one that all of them had at one point or another failed to.

One of them screeched loudly before they all charged Issei, with the brunette incapable of mustering even an ounce of strength to fight them off.

'So this is how I die, huh...'

Usually in this situation one would close their eyes and hope that their death was fast and painless, but Issei decided to face his demise with his eyes wide open.

They widened even further at the unbelievable scene that occured right in front of him.

~oOo~

The pack had been hunting their prey for days on end, sniffing at each footstep, track and broken twig. A small pool of blood from a few days earlier at the edge of the forest assured them that they were on the right track and that their target was near, but the presence of some sort of magical ward interfered with their senses, forcing them to retreat and lay low in an effort not to spook the prey.

Shortly after the discovery of the pool of blood, the next hint of their prey that they had was a massive amount of noise spanning from the center of the forest to the edge closest to the wards. The pack had gone into the area already expecting the level of devastation that they encountered, and easily navigated through and over the knocked down trees. Their noses warned them of their prey, but there was a surprise in the mix.

They could smell Human.

It was an odd smell, it simultaneously smelled of strength and weakness, flesh and lightning, and, most importantly, mand and dragon. And underneath all of that they could feel an odd sensation. It was difficult to explain in any way other than the word 'home'.

They retreated after that, knowing that they wouldn't be getting anything more with the wards in the way. Imagine their surprise when, a couple of days later, they felt the wards collapse entirely, revealing the signatures of their prey. Taking this opportunity, they struck.

~oOo~

"AWOOOOOOO!"

Issei could only gape incredulously at the sight of a pack of bear-sized wolves bursting forth from the forest, splitting into groups of 3 or 4, with each group engaging a single Yeti.

It wasn't even a battle.

The Yeti were individually powerful, yes, but they were animallistic. Unintelligent.

The wolves, on the other hand, worked as a well-oiled machine, poking and prodding at the Yeti's defenses until they slipped up, before they went directly for kill strikes, be they clamping their teeth around their throats, or spotting an opening to the gut and using their wickedly sharp claws to eviscerate them.

One by one the Yeti fell, with the wolves incurring zero injuries, until they were all dead.

At that moment Issei felt the last of his strength leave him, his eyes slowly fluttering to a close, with the last thing he saw being one of the massive wolves striding towards him.

~oOo~

When he came to, Issei found himself waking up within a dimly lit cave, with only a few rays of sunshine peeking in through the cracks in the stone. The events of the previous night came to the front of his mind, causing him to jerk to a sitting position, yet it hurt nowhere near how much he expected it to.

He pushed that thought aside for now, his head swivelling around until his gaze met the slumbering for of Hylda.

He crawled towards the redhead and placed the back of his hand on her forehead, letting out a sigh of relief at the lower temperature than the last time he had measured her.

"We have fed her some of the herbs known to cure disease in humans that grow around the area, underneath the snow."

Issei's head turned towards the source of the voice, his gaze falling onto a large wolf that was sat at the mouth of the cave, it's fur being of a bronze color, andhis sole golden-honey colored eye looking Issei up and down curiously. The brunette stayed silent, causing the wolf to cock it's eyebrow curiously, before speaking in a calm tone of voice.

"I belive it is common courtesy for one to thank their savior, is it not?"

"It's also common courtesy to introduce yourself to someone before demanding things of them, especially when your actions were taken of your own accord."

"My, such ungratefulness..."

"Not ungratefulness, just caution. This week has been very bad for me, a failure after another, and I'm having a hard time just keeping things together. After being hunted by a band of murderous, bloodthirsty Yeti and almost dying to them, it is very normal for me to be cautious of other magical beings, such as talking wolves."

The wolf tilted it's head before responding.

"Fair enough. Let us start over with our introductions. My name is Ahenobarbus, and I am the leader of my pack. What would your name be, Roman?"

"No, my name isn't Roman, it's Issei."

"That... Was not what I-"

The conversation between the two was interrupted by a particularly feminine sounding voice.

"Brother, have they awakened yet?"

"The male has, however the female has not. Her sickness is not something that she is going to overcome so soon."

"You don't need to tell me twice. I was the one taking care of her after all."

Issei's gaze turned towards the owner of the voice at this declaration, picking up white-colored fur and steel-gray eyes.

"Thank you for taking care of me and my companion."

The white-furred one's tail started wagging excitedly at that, her tone rising as she spoke.

"Oh, no need to thank me! It is an honor to aid one such as yourself!"

"...Right. Well, if you wouldn't mind, me and my companion over there have places to be right about now, so we'll be leaving-"

"NO!"

The emphatic negation from the white furred one caused Issei to jump at the suddenness of it, while Ahenobarbus seemed to facepaw and grumble something under his breath, before speaking.

"Ease up on your fangirling, Alba. I'm sure Issei here won't understand anything that you have to talk about."

"Err... Whatever do you mean?"

Ahenobarbus opened his mouth to speak, only for Alba's excited tone of voice to cut through his.

"You're a True Roman!"

Issei's eyes narrowed at this declaration, his gaze pinning Alba in place with the pressure that he was capable of exerting after rest, only for Ahenobarbus to growl out in a dangerous tone.

"Cease this aggression immediately, human!"

Issei's gaze turned from the frozen Alba to the threatening Ahenobarbus, both males' eyes having lit up with a particular color - green for Issei and Gold of Ahenobarbus - even as the brunette spoke.

"Tell me what you know of this True Roman business, and How you know about it first."

"Restrain your power and do not threaten my pack!"

Issei was about to flare his power, only for Alba's voice to cut through the threatening tone established between the two males in the cavern.

"That... was... SO COOL! You just glared, and your eyes got all glowy and the world felt heavy and stuff!"

Just like that the tension was broken, causing both Issei and Ahenobarbus to restrain their powers, with a mildly blushing Issei clearing his throat before speaking up.

"Sorry for the slip right there, but I truly am curious... What and how do you know about this True Roman business?"

Ahenobarbus was the one to respond, his exasperated eye on Alba as he did.

"A True Roman is a title that one earns by gaining the favor of one of the Roman Gods, both old and new. When one possesses the title of True Roman, individuals of Roman origin will be drawn to them by an aura that speaks of familiarity. This aura is how we detected you.

My pack and I are progeny of Lupa, the She-wolf that nurtered Romulus and Remus and was rewarded with divinity by the gods after the rise of Rome. Our ancestor has disappeared since the fall of Rome, and we have been searching for any lead that could direct us to her."

"Yes! And now that you're here and awake, you can tell us what you know of Lupa!"

"Unfortunately I know nothing of Lupa. I didn't even know about any of this True Roman deal, or whatever."

Ahenobarbus' eye narrowed as he spoke.

"Then how did you become a True Roman in the first place?"

Shrugging, Issei responded.

"I met the Quila, the Aquila Victis, and the two of us worked together to take down a common foe. I ended up almost dying, and she gave me a bit of energy to ensure that I didn't die, but she said that something happened that caused that power to mutate and to start multiplying inside of me, instead of dissipating. It also created some psychic link that I was only able to access like, twice, and have no idea how to truly do it again.

She didn't even tell me about any of this True Roman stuff. The most that she told me was that I was worthy of being called a Roman, or something like that. I thought that it was just a complement, not a title."

"Preposterous! The Acquila Victis has vanished centuries ago-"

"-Having disappeared during her battle with the invading snake, I know. What foe do you think I helped her defeat?"

"I find it very unlikely that you managed to help the Eagle of Victory defeat an enemy that not even she was capable of singlehandedly taking down when you're not even strong enough to fight a bunch of Yeti."

"First things first, I know just how preposterous that premise is. Remember, I nearly died doing it, and I pretty much lost my left arm in the process."

Issei punctuated that by raising his gauntleted arm into view, before continuing.

"Second of all, I wouldn't have any trouble with the Yeti were I at full power. The issue is that I am currently not at full power. I'm injured, I'm still magically exhausted from a ritual that I performed, I'm stressed out of my wits after repeated failures at saving my girlfriend from this asshole, I took the brunt of a massive magical explosion, and my body isn't at a state that allows it to mantain my full strength level for a long period of time."

"Saving girlfriend? Magically exhausted? Explosion? That sounds like an interesting tale!"

"Indeed. An interesting tale, and a very unlikely one as well."

Issei frowned at the doubt showcased by Ahenobarbus, but before he could say a thing his stomach warned him of the need to fill his gut. Alba took this opportunity to intervene.

"How about you tell the pack all about your adventure over lunch? We collected some fruits and fish for yourself and your companion, you would just need to heat those us."

~oOo~

A few minutes later Issei had dug a firepit close to the cave entrance and set a pair of fish to roast, all of the pack watching him with interest as he geared up for the retelling of his story.

"It all started a few months ago, when I decided to travel to amsterdam to hire a hooker..."

~oOo~

"...And then the house and the wards collapsed, and the Yeti attacked. I fought them off for a while and I killed their leader, and then you guys showed up. That's pretty much the whole story."

The entirety of the pack was transfixed by Issei's story, before Ahenobarbus spoke up.

"This sounds really crazy. And improbable. I probably would think you a liar or a lunatic were it not for the fact that your electric powers sing to my very core."

The other wolves pretty much nodded in agreement. Feeling your instincts telling you that you were safely at home was like a goddamn drug for someone who spent their time constantly on the move.

"So... What're you going to do now?"

Issei turned towards Alba, sighing out before speaking.

"I'll build up as much power as I can, and then use the magical circle to travel back to Luxuria."

"...Nah, that'll take too long, and you need to go save your girlfriend. I'm willing to lend you some of my power for the spell!"

Ahenobarbus spoke up after that.

"After the evidence you have given me of the veracity of your story... So am I."

The rest of the pack all offered to share their power, leaving Issei with a friendly smile on his face.

~oOo~

Holding an unconscious Hylda over his shoulder, Issei stood above the magical circle he had carved into the ground of the cave using his Boosted Gear's clawed fingers, watching Ahenobarbus' pack as they built up their power as high as they could.

"Hyoudou."

Issei turned towards Ahenobarbus, his eyebrow raised questioningly, prompting the wolf to speak further.

"I may not have believed you at first, but... You were completely truthful with me and my pack. Even during the parts that you didn't need to. Between that and your status as a True Roman... What I want to say is... If you ever need the aid of The Pack, we're always a wolf whistle away."

Before Issei could respond the entire pack pushed their power into the magical circle, causing it to light up brightly and to release purple-colored sparks, before a massive flash of light filled the cave. By the time the light died down, Issei was already gone.

Ahenobarbus reared his paw back and slammed it hard into the magical circle, causing the rock that it had been carved on to crumble into dust, leaving no traces of the formula for anyone to exploit.

"Okay people, we can't stay here after this massive spike of power, so we'll be leaving in 15 minutes. Get yourselves in order and recover your energy."

Alba trotted up besides Ahenobarbus, before speaking up.

"That was nice of you, to help Issei."

The bronze-colored cycloptic wolf shrugged - well, as much as a wolf could - before responding.

"He's honest, he's a True Roman , and he's the one most likely to find anything on Lupa. I mean, seriously, he wanted to hire a hooker and ended up stumbling into the supernatural world, a lost Ultimate-tier entity and a kidnapping plot spanning a stupidly reclusive Nation the entire world wants to get in contact with. It's likely that he'll end up stumbling onto something about Lupa on a store run for a carton of milk, or something.

And he's not the type of person to forget to be grateful for others, so he'll definitely tell us."

"Ehh... A mixture between altruism and pragmatism, so you're not a total asshole, but you're also shrewd and cunning... I'll take it, I guess."

Ahenobarbus could only sweatdrop at his sister's brutal character assessment.

'So troublesome...'

~oOo~

A reunion between Laveria, her councilors and Xinthia was interrupted by the appearance of a magical circle above their heads, on the ceiling. Said magical circle sparked and sputtered, putting them all on guard, before it spat out a very familiar form.

Issei Hyoudou had finally returned to Luxuria after a while, but instead of returning in glory with Lilith in his arms, he had returned covered in bandages, with a limp on his right leg, and carrying the girl that aided Travis in kidnapping Lilith in the first place.

Seeing the looks in the eyes of the women present, Issei spoke up before they could skewer Hylda while disregarding the fact that he would be collateral.

"A lot happened, but long story short I didn't find Lilith, Hylda here defected from the other side and is now an ally, and the two of us really need healing. With that out of the way, I need you ladies to please curb your murderous intent and direct me to the nearest infirmary."

~oOo~

Laveria looked at Issei gravely after listening to his entire story, before speaking up.

"Things not only not go as well as we expected, but it went worse than almost all of our predictions."

The brunette blinked owlishly, before speaking up.

"What do you mean? I got a powerful ally for the fight, I made more allies with a pack of wolves descended from a wolf goddess, and I got a piece of information that should lead us directly to Lilith."

"XOCHIQUETZAL, yes, you told me, and that's only part of the problem. Let me start at the beginning.

That girl, Hylda, or Jackie, or whomever she is... She's not trustworthy! It's likely that she'll stab you in the back at the first possible opportunity. Second of all, and likely the most important part, you used deity-based divination magic. That is quite literally one of the worst choices any person could make, ever.

Third, XOCHIQUETZAL is the name of an Aztec goddess, the Aztec goddess of Pleasure, Indulgence and Sex. Anything that evolves into a situation that has you dealing with the Aztec is a complete clusterfuck. There is a reason as to why they are considered a savage people, despite their various achievements. Their culture was based on a religion with human sacrifices and self harm as some of their basis, to be done in a regular manner!

I... This is a fucking nightmare!"

"Okay, you said your piece, let me say mine. First point, I trust Jackie and Hylda. They helped me do what I needed to do, to no gain of their own. No, it was actually to their detriment. One could argue that that was Jackie only, and that Hylda could not be trusted, but I counter with this:

I gave Hylda a free shot at trying to kill me. She had the opportunity to do so, and she did not, despite the fact that she's supposed to be a 'blood-crazed psycho'. More than that, she saved my life. She was sick, injured and very close to dying, and even then she acted in a way that ensured that I managed to make it back here alive. If it were not for her, I would currently be very much dead.

Second point, I don't see what's so bad about divination magic. Sure, I got a wicked headache and accidentally fucked up a set of wards and almost died... wow, starting out real strong there, Hyoudou... But ultimately it allowed me to return, and it gave us the information that will lead us to Lilith!

As to the third point, I don't know enough about the Aztec to say anything, so I'll just trust your judgement."

Laveria pinched the bridge of her nose and counted backwards from 10, before speaking.

"Okay, Issei, if you say that this girl can be trusted then I'll trust in your judgement for now.

Now, let me explain what is so bad about divination magic. Ever heard about Achilles? His mother was a goddess, and she was given a prophecy by the fates about the death of Achilles, her demigod newborn. She did everything the could to toughen him up, from burning him in a fire, to dunking him in the river Styx. The latter method worked, except for the fact that she was holding his ankle too tightly, creating a weakspot where the water didn't touch.

He ended up dying when that spot was hit by a bullshit arrow shot by some asshole as he was dying, either by chance or guided by Apollo, based on what interpretation you belive.

What about the myth of the Rise of the Olympians? Kronos, with a K, is told that one of his kids is going to usurp his position as big boss of the greek world and whatnot, so he decides to swallow his kids, except Rhea wasn't stupid and sent one away to be raised by an eagle and a goat... I kind of take that back, that was a stupid idea by Rhea, but it ended up working. That Eagle/goat baby grew up to be Zeus, and he freed his siblings, chopped up his dad, tossed him into Tartarus and banished, killed or otherwise punished the remaining titans one way or another, all while becoming the big kahuna of the greek pantheon himself.

The common thread of these two tales? It is unlikely that they would have occured had the prophecies never been heard. It's a common occurence in all mythos that involve prophecies. They tend to be self-fulfilling. That's because fate-based entities are prone to fuckery. They give you some good stuff to make you a believer in their words and methods, and then you stop questioning what they tell you. That way they have some stooge to send on this specific errand by espousing something about them finding riches and glory, or something like that.

Aside from that, there's the fact that these beings tend to extract big prices. Odin traded Mymir 'Sight for sight', which is to say that he gave one of his eyes for knowledge. Others gave different other things, from sacrificial animals, to internal organs, to their very souls.

But the most expensive prices are usually extracted from those who have been given 'free' information, so you should be very worried about your future from now on, especially since you're the type of person whose actions, no matter how seemingly minor, have a tendency to change things irrevocably, and most fate-based entities do not like having their plans disrupted, and their plots taken off the rails that they lay. That is why bargaining with destiny-based entities is ill-advised. Hell, bartering with any being higher than yourself is ill-advised and short-sighted. Those tend to not be very altruistic, and to keep you as a servant of some sort.

Other than that, I already have someone working on the tip you gave. Xinthia is friends with Sacagewea from way back when, before she posed as a mortal and guided Louis, Clarke and Tweedleburger through the U.S, and Sacagewea owes her a favor, something to do with strawberries, whipped cream and featherdusters, and it turns out that there are many other elemental and nature spirits, including many Naiads and Dryads, that owe sacagewea favors of their own.

North America in general, and Mexico specifically is being combed for any evidence of supernatural happenings. As soon as we get news, you go in."

"So I should basically avoid gods, godesses and those sorts of entities, get ready for some curveball coming as a consequence of literal divine intervention, and prepare to save Lilith, but this time, for real."

"Yes."

"...Then there's only one thing left to do. I'm going to consume the seed."

Laveria's eyes widened, before she spoke up.

"Not that I disagree with the choice, but why so suddenly?"

"My strongest abilities are unreliable due to the strain that they put on my body, ensuring that I have to limit both time and usage. Increasing my amount and mastery of Tantric Energy means that I can become drastically better at reinforcement, and even learn self-healing to the point that using my full strength doesn't actually threaten to kill me from the inside-out."

"Very well."

~oOo~

"Are you sure you're ready for this, Issei?"

The brunette gave Laveria a thumbs up, prompting her to unlock the door to a special room of the castle's that was used specifically for this situation, to allow someone to be killed were they to lose control over themselves, and the power of the seed.

A grate was opened at about waist-length with a tray possessing only a single, purple-covered apple being pushed inside, before the door, windows, and any other openings not necessary for oxygen flow were locked shut with layers upon layers of magical seals.

Issei grabbed the Seed and looked it over from any angle he could, reaching a single conclusion.

"It's a normal apple."

Shrugging, the brunette raised the apple up to his mouth, and he took a bite.

~Chapter, End~

Okay, I know that you probably hate me for the way this chapter ended, but it had to be like this. As promised before, I expanded somewhat on the title of True Roman that Aquila gave Issei, I pushed the story forward and created bonds between Issei and Hylda, connected him to a pack of magical, bear-sized wolves, and I finally have him eating the seed.

Other than that, keep the warning about dealing with gods in mind for future chapters, because that will be very important.

See you next chapter, arrivederci!