Shin groaned slightly as he slowly started to awake from his unconsciousness. As he expected, he felt a soreness that he now knew to be due to the overuse of his sacred gear. However, that was put on the back burner as he felt his heartbeat beating strongly.
Despite his general tiredness, he couldn't help but smirk. It seemed his plan worked. Moving his arm up to the right side of his torso, he felt around, feeling no burns. His body had healed. That wasn't surprising, considering there are thousands of healers that could have healed it without trouble and very quickly too.
However, what came as a shock to him was the lack of the pacemaker that the doctor Sona had taken him to had installed in him to regulate his heartbeat. His smirk spread even wider. That was one less thing he had to worry about then.
Before the fight, when he had knocked out Issei, he hadn't just knocked Issei out and left. No, there was another purpose other than to stop Issei from trying to pick a fight with Riser.
Since Issei had sacrificed his arm to Ddraig in a grab for power, that meant Issei's arm was draconian. A draconian arm with the cells of a Heavenly Dragon. Now, whereas he didn't want to use devil cells to have his sacred gear regenerate his heart, therefore healing it; he definitely wasn't going to pass up the heart of a Heavenly Dragon.
That is why his magic was getting stronger and stronger throughout the fight with Riser. It's because his body was slowly becoming more and more draconian as the fight went on. This is because he didn't replace just his human heart with draconian cells, but his entire human side. At this point, Shin was no longer human at all. He could feel it even now, he was primarily a dragon, a dragon body, dragon organs, the only part of him that wasn't draconian was his wings and the Evil Pieces inside of him.
This allowed him to come up with a theory on the workings of his sacred gear. It would seem, that his sacred gear had no end to how much power he could gain. The only limiter is the strength of his body. Before, even though his body was strengthened by the Evil Pieces, he still had a human body. Thus, he wasn't able to handle all the power he had gained by absorbing holy and demonic magic like it was candy.
Now, however, he could feel the demonic and holy magic coursing through his veins and his body without a problem at all. Not only that but the Power of Destruction as well. Although, he did notice that the Power of Destruction he absorbed from Rias wasn't anywhere near as strong as hers. But, that is to be expected he figured. He couldn't expect his sacred gear to mimic the exact amount of power of something he absorbed.
However, with training, he would be able to make it stronger. However, he had other things to focus on training than the Power of Destruction. Sure, it was powerful, but he absorbed it more just to have it. Not because he wanted to use it. Honestly, he was more partial to lightning, as showcased in his fight with Riser. There was just something about lightning that spoke to him. He loved it, and it loved him.
Then, there was the final change to his body. He wasn't sure how strong it was, but he could tell that his body did successfully absorb the Phoenix clan regeneration and adapted it to his body. Again, just like Rias' Power of Destruction, it was likely to be much weaker in comparison to Riser's Phoenix regeneration, and he honestly wasn't sure if he could train it. Only time would tell. At the very least, however, it would help.
He would have to be more careful with what he absorbed from now on. Now that he knew he was limited by the strength of his body, he would have to try and limit the strain put on his body by the things he absorbed to only the things that would benefit him greatly.
His eyes widened in a panic however when he thought of something. Quickly getting up out of the bed he was in, he took in his surroundings for the first time. Unlike what he expected, he wasn't in an infirmary. Most likely because his body wasn't damaged, he could feel that.
Instead, he was in a bedroom. A very lavish bedroom. But that wasn't important. Looking around, he quickly spotted a mirror. Quickly coming up to it, he looked at his currently shirtless body.
'Good, it's still there.' Shin thought as his hand came up to his right pectoral, an area that had once been horrifically burned by Riser, and traced the tattoo of a lily with his fingers. He wasn't sure if the Phoenix clan regeneration would register his tattoo as an injury and try and heal it as a tattoo is just a scar.
As he was tracing the tattoo, the door opened behind him, and Shin could tell just from the massive magical signature alone who it was.
"I sensed you awake and moving around. I thought we should talk." The voice of Sirzechs spoke out behind him. There was no threat or venom in his voice, which Shin took as a good sign. Sure, Shin had grown stronger, but Sirzechs could still turn him into a mere blood splatter on the wall with just a flick if he wanted to.
Turning his head, he spotted a balcony connected to the room he was in. He gave Sirzechs a look of acknowledgment and a slight nod before walking to the balcony, opening the extravagant double glass pane door to the balcony. "This place is quite beautiful. Would I be correct to assume this is the Gremory mansion and grounds?" Shin asked as he leaned against the marble railing of the balcony, looking out over the beautiful garden below them.
Sirzechs came up from behind him and leaned against the back wall of the balcony. "Yes, it is. It still amazes me every time I look at it, it is quite something." Sirzechs said, admiring the garden along with Shin. There was a moment of silence before Sirzechs continued.
"After you and Riser passed out, we took you both to the infirmary. Riser recovered quickly due to his Phoenix regeneration, but you, however, were quite the surprise. For one thing, when the medic inspected your wounds, he noticed something that we didn't see before due to the third-degree burns distracting us from it, but you had a pacemaker." Sirzechs said, not portraying anything.
Seeing that Shin wasn't saying anything about it, Sirzechs continued. "The medic ignored it for the moment and wrapped your burns, then went to treat some other patients. But when he came back an hour later, your wounds had healed completely." Sirzechs said. With Shin's sacred gear, Sirzechs had a good guess how exactly that happened.
"Again, the medic was surprised, but ignored it, there are much more surprising things that happen in this world every day. Instead, he decided to replace your pacemaker as it was damaged beyond repair in the fight. However, when he removed it, he noticed some irregularities, and ran some tests and found out that there was nothing wrong with your heart, leaving us quite puzzled why you had one in the first place."
Shin chuckled. "Are you going to stop beating around the bush Sirzechs? You're a Satan, I know you can feel it. Hell, you fought against him in the Great War. Don't think me foolish enough to think you can't feel what happened to me." Shin said plainly, tired of Sirzechs drawing this process out.
Sirzechs chuckled lightly in response. "Straight to the point then. Yes, I can feel the changes in your body. I could feel your body changing during the fight even. I am quite curious though, how were you able to get the cells of the Welsh Dragon?" Sirzechs asked.
Shin turned his head to look at Sirzechs and smirked. "My brother. He sacrificed his arm to Ddraig after his fight with Riser. Sure, the cells aren't as strong as if I got them from Ddraig himself, but even powered down the cells of a Heavenly Dragon are nothing to scoff at." Shin said.
Sirzechs nodded. "Yes, I suppose your right," Sirzechs said, pushing off the wall and walking up to Shin. "As promised, since you broke Rias' engagement, although I don't agree with how you did it, you still broke it. Therefore, as our deal entailed," Sirzechs summoned a chess board that looked more like a wooden box. "Your Evil Pieces. With this, you are considered a High-class devil."
Shin took the wooden box with a nod of appreciation. "Thank you, but more importantly, where is my beef jerky?" Shin asked.
Sirzechs face faulted. "You were being serious about that?" Sirzechs asked.
Shin's face grew deadly serious. "I don't joke about beef jerky. I want my beef jerky."
Sirzechs rolled his eyes, not very seemly for the king of the devils. "I wasn't aware you were being serious. I'll have Grayfia arrange to get our 'finest bag of beef jerky' and give it to you." Sirzechs said, an amused smirk plastered on his face.
"Good." Shin simply said, before turning back to the garden.
Sirzechs carefully studied Shin. He was looking at the garden, however, it was obvious his mind was somewhere else. 'Those shoulders. Is that what my father means when he refers to my brooding shoulders?' Sirzechs thought before joining Shin on the marble railing and leaning against it, looking out to the garden.
"What's on your mind? Obviously, something is bothering you." Sirzechs asked.
Shin sent Sirzechs a glance before looking to the night sky, marveling slightly at the two moons in the sky. "It's a long story," Shin said.
"So? We have a little while still before the after-party starts." Sirzechs said.
Shin let out a sigh. 'What the hell, brooding over this won't do me any good. Might as well tell someone.' Shin thought.
"It's about this whole situation. There are a lot of things I regret about it. Things I've done. Things that hurt people I care about. I lied and manipulated the only people I consider my friends in this world, and there was a time I never thought I would do that. The mere thought sickened me. But I did it anyway. And now, honestly, I don't know who I am anymore. I've become someone I don't recognize."
Shin said, his voice portraying the inner turmoil he was in.
Sirzechs nodded in response, letting out a hmm of understanding. "Yes, I've been there. Greed. It changes us in ways we never expect, and we all fall victim to it. Tell me this Shin, if you could do it over again, would you do it differently?" Sirzechs asked.
Shin thought for a second. "That's complicated. Maybe there is a way I could have done it differently with a better outcome, one where I didn't have to compromise the morals that I had lived by. But, honestly, I think in the end everything turned out pretty good. So, I don't know if I would do anything differently." Shin admitted.
Sirzechs nodded again. "Yes, I understand what you mean." Sirzechs then laid a hand on Shin's shoulder. "You're still young, you're going to make a lot of mistakes. You're yet to grow into the man you'll one day become. But, this conversation we just had, shows me that man will be a good person. Learn from your mistakes. We will never be able to fix the things we have done wrong in life, but we can learn from them. We can become better due to them." With his word said, Sirzechs left the balcony, but not before telling Shin that a maid would be by in a little bit with clothes and to guide him to the after party.
However, before Sirzechs could walk out the door, Shin stopped him. "Sirzechs," Shin said, making Sirzechs pause right in front of the door of the room and turn to him. Shin met Sirzechs eyes. "Thank you. Truly." Shin gratefully said, Sirzechs nodding in response before opening the door and leaving, closing the door behind him.
Shin looked back out at the night sky, continuing to think about the conversation he had with Sirzechs. He had a lot to think about.
Shin once again found himself slowly opening his eyes to an unfamiliar room. From his position in the bed he was laying in, which was very comfortable he noted, he could see he was in a four-poster bed, a very large one at that. He tried to recall what had happened to get him here but was unsuccessful.
All he could remember was alcohol. He wasn't sure what he did, but one thing he was sure of is that there was a lot of alcohol involved.
He idly wondered how long it would be until alcohol no longer had any effect on him considering how his sacred gear works. That would be a tragic day for sure.
He took in a deep breath and let out a yawn. He tried to bring his arm to his face to wipe away the dreariness but found that he could not.
Looking to his side, he saw an unfamiliar red-head sleeping next to him, using his arm as a pillow. A very attractive red-haired woman at that. 'Hmm, well I guess last night was a good night.' Shin thought with a smirk. He took another look around the room to get his bearings, and to his shock, when he looked to the other side of him, he found yet another unfamiliar woman.
Well, unfamiliar wouldn't be the word, as he had seen this woman before. She was sleeping on the other side of him. Looking back to the other woman, and then back to the other extremely confused before it finally hit him.
'Twins?' Shin thought incredulously. Then, the rationale in his mind finally kicked in. Red-heads, in the Gremory mansion. They aren't Rias, and he had never seen them in the anime. Which could only mean one thing.
'Holy shit these are Sirzechs' daughters.' The blood in Shin's body ran cold and his mind started to panic. 'Hell no, I'm not dealing with this.' Shin thought and instantly disappeared in a flurry of red lightning.
Asia was getting dressed in Shin's room when there was a flash of red lightning. She let out a scared yelp and fell on her butt.
Shin looked down from where the flash of lightning was at Asia with a raised eyebrow. Her hair was everywhere due to her bed head, her eyes were all red and puffy suggesting she had been crying, and he couldn't help but notice she was only wearing a pair of white cotton panties and that's it.
Then he realized he had told her he was going to fight Riser and he would be back and then never returned. His face fell in guilt as he realized why her eyes were red and puffy.
Asia, recovering from her shock, started to sniffle as she looked at Shin. "You told me you would be back but then didn't come back," Asia said, tears building in the corner of her eyes.
Shin couldn't look her in the eyes at the moment. "I'm sorry Asia, that was mean of me. I wish I could give you a valid excuse…" Shin said, trailing off and looking at the floor. "But I don't have one. I was just selfish and inconsiderate." Shin said, full of guilt.
He seemed to have gotten into a bad habit of treating his friends and the people he cared for badly. He knew he had to change that, his friends did not deserve the way he had been treating them.
Asia was looking at him angrily, which he couldn't help but think was cute, but decided not to comment on that. However, it seemed she noticed Shin was bare as the day he was born as her entire face and body became scarlet red, and steam coming out of her ears.
It wasn't long before it was too much for her and she fell backward, unconscious. Shin smirked and let out a small chuckle. She was still far too innocent. He scooped her up into his arms and laid her down on his bed, tucking her in under his covers. Taking a long look at her cute face before giving her a kiss on the forehead.
"I'm sorry for how I've treated you. I'll do better. Promise." Shin said softly to her unconscious form. The words seemed to comfort the sleeping Asia as her entire body relaxed.
Standing up, Shin moved over to the window in his room and looked at the sky. He didn't know what would happen next. That fight with Riser, it ignited something in him he didn't know he had. A lust for battle.
It would be a shame to just go back to the boring monotonous life he led before. Shin clenched his fist. No, he wasn't going back to that life. He didn't know what was next, but what he did know was he was excited.
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