One Week Later:
Crimson Rose Garden:
3rd Person POV:
"You both miss him too, huh?" Tsubaki asked with a soft smile as she walked down the pathway that led to the gazebo in the middle of a sea of beautiful crimson roses, Akeno looking up with a wry smile as Kuroka sighed from where she was laying her head on the table.
"Why did he have to go without us? I mean, we could have helped with stamina training, right?" Kuroka whined and Akeno rolled her eyes as Tsubaki gave a sigh.
"Kuroka, we all know he wouldn't have gotten any training done if we had gone along. Besides, this gave us a week to train with the others and catch up on what they were doing."
"I live with the peerage I'm in and let me tell you, their lives aren't even that interesting apart from Meri's crush."
"Speaking of which, how goes her struggle with making Samson pay attention to her?" Akeno asked with a teasing smirk and Kuroka giggled before she answered.
"Well, last night I caught her sneaking into his room and this morning, when I asked him what she was doing in his room, he said that she couldn't sleep on her own so she asked if she could sleep with him since Valerie was with Gasper & Koneko and Issei & Saji don't want anyone to disturb their sleep."
"Oh~The 'Can I Sleep with you for the night' Method, huh? You've taught her well." Akeno said with a nod and Kuroka gave a shrug as Tsubaki just rolled her eyes.
"Must we gossip about every little detail of her life? Let Meredith pursue who she wants in peace."
"You're no fun. Wait, why don't you tell us how much Sona likes Sairaorg?"
"I-I will do no such thing!" Tsubaki exclaimed with an affronted look and Akeno & Kuroka gave each other exasperated looks.
"Come on! I'll even tell you about when Rias went and visited Seekvaira earlier."
"For Alivian?" Kuroka asked with an excited smirk, which Akeno reciprocate as she nodded while Tsubaki sighed as she sat down in between the two girls.
"…Hah, I hate how curious I am." Tsubaki muttered, making the other two giggle before Akeno spoke.
"Fine, why don't I speak first & then, you won't have to feel guilty about sharing?"
"Sure, let's go with that!"
"Can we get on to the juicy details now?!" Kuroka asked impatiently and the other two just rolled their eyes before Akeno cleared her throat.
"Well, it started when she woke up this morn-!"
"Akeno! You said you wouldn't tell!" Rias quickly exclaimed as soon as she walked down the pathway to the gazebo, Kuroka giving a disappointed groan while Tsubaki went stiff at the sight of a frowning Sona walking next to her crimson-haired friend.
"You didn't say anything, so I'm not mad." Sona said to her Queen, who let out a relieved sigh as she nodded while Rias glared with a pout at her Queen who aimed a mischievous smirk back at her.
"…I can't punish you because any punishment would just be pleasure for you." Rias muttered with a sigh and Akeno shrugged before their eyes widened as a voice spoke up from behind them.
"I come back after a week of training and you girls are still gossiping like always. Some things never change, do they?" Isaiah said with a lopsided grin as he stood with his hands in his pockets just a few feet from the gazebo, Gram's aura silent as it was sheathed in a scabbard that radiated both holy and demonic auras.
"Isa!" Kuroka exclaimed as she jumped up and sprinted towards him, the devil in question chuckling as he opened his arms and caught her in a hug before blinking as two different weights slammed into him.
"Huh, did you miss me that much?" Isaiah asked with smirk as he had his arms wrapped around Kuroka, Akeno & Tsubaki just nodding as they had their arms wrapped around his sides.
"I can't feel you." Rias said with a frown and the three hugging him blinked before their eyes widened as they realized that the crimson haired was right because it felt as if Isaiah was not even there to begin with.
"Yeah, I had a friend teach me a few stealth moves and let me tell you, it's pretty fun to use. That and if I let you feel my aura, I might scare you all."
"Let me feel it."
"…Out of context, that sounds wrong." Isaiah said with a smirk, Rias blushing as the other girls giggled before Sona spoke up.
"I agree with Rias. If we are one day battling alongside each other, we need to get used to your aura or else, it may cause us to freeze in battle and cause potential casualties."
"Y-Yeah." Rias agreed with a nod and Isaiah scratched the back of his head before he sighed as he nodded.
"Well, you can't say I didn't warn you." Isaiah said before he released his aura for just a second, reining it back in as soon as that second.
However, that one second pulse was enough to bring all five girls to their knees, frozen in shock/ horror/ fear/ arousal and so many more emotions as it felt as if the world was trying to kill them.
"What the hell was that?!" Samson exclaimed as soon as he crashed into the ground just a few paces away from the garden, the rest of Isaiah's and Rias' peerage all wide-eyed and in battle positions as they looked around frantically for enemies.
"Calm down, everyone. That was just me releasing my aura for a second."
"…Boss?"
"Yeah, Issei?" Isaiah asked as he looked back at his pawn, who was silent in shock along with everyone else before he spoke.
"What kind of fucked-up training have you been doing for the past week?"
"Daily life-and-death battles followed by intense training made to break me in both mind, body and spirit before finally ending the day off with being drilled in the basics of everything that I know for every day of the entire week. Kind of like the Hell Week training I give you guys, but turned up a few notches."
"…Yeah, being with Akeno has definitely turned you into a masochist." Gasper muttered with a sigh as the others nodded in agreement and Isaiah just snorted before he looked back & blinked as the girls slowly stood up.
"I-I-I'd like a b-bit of warning n-next time." Akeno stuttered with a shaky glare as she tried to calm her racing heart, Tsubaki & Kuroka nodding along as Isaiah gave them an apologetic smile while giving each a kiss on the cheek. "
Before you get mad, I did warn you. If anything, blame those two for asking me to do so."
"I-I didn't think it would be that bad!" Rias exclaimed before glaring at her knees & hands as they couldn't stop shaking, gripping them tightly while Sona was silent before she spoke.
"How powerful are you?" She asked as she looked at Isaiah and he frowned as he looked in thought before answering.
"I think MacGregor said around Major-God Class."
'That's the same level as the higher ranks of the Grigori's Cadre & Heaven's Seraphs.' Sona thought with a frown as she nodded, Isaiah smirking before he hummed.
"Well, I need a shower so I'll see you all later. Also, I'm going to be testing if everyone have been keeping up with your training, so you better give it your all."
"Wait, really?! Come on, boss!" Issei whined, but Isaiah ignored him as he walked away with a chuckle, making the Pawn groan as Saji patted his fellow pawn on the back.
Later that day, Midday:
Training Ground #2:
Isaiah's POV:
"I just got back and already you want to fight?" I asked with an amused smile as I stood opposite of Samson, who nodded as he grinned with anticipation while his hands were close to the blades at his sides.
"Hah, fine, but just to first blood, okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine with me." Samson said with a shrug and I nodded before turning to the others that were standing on the sides.
"I wanted to fight." I heard Sairaorg grumble and rolled my eyes with a smirk as the others sighed.
"Yo, Alivian. Why don't you count us off?" I asked the black-haired butler, who smiled as he nodded before walking/ limping to stand at the front with his black oak cane clacking against the ground.
"Of course. Are both fighters ready?" Both Samson and I nodded, with the behemoth pulling off his two cleavers before he blinked as I pulled off Gram from my side & held it in a loose grip with the blade still sheathed.
"Uh, I think you're supposed to take that off?" Samson said and I blinked before I gave a sheepish grin as I nodded, knowing that I was confusing them even more as I just pulled off the belt that held the sheath at my side before putting it in my pocket dimension.
"Thanks for reminding me of the belts."
"I meant the sheath."
"Oh, that doesn't come off. I only take that off if I'm going for the kill and this is just a friendly spar."
"…Okay, your funeral." He said with a shrug as he dropped his cleavers to the ground while gripping the chains connected to them as I lowered myself into a wide stance, Gram held level at my head with the tip pointed at Samson.
"Then, let the battle begin in three…two…one…go!" In an instant, Samson froze as the tip of Gram poked at his throat, blood slowly dripping as I smiled at him.
"Like I said, if this wasn't sheathed, your head would be rolling across the ground." I said with a smile as I pulled Gram back while pulling the belts from my dimension, clipping the demon sword to my side once more before turning with a smile towards the shocked audience.
"Nope, nope! There's no way a week's worth of training is enough to make you go from only being able to beat Samson in your Storm God form to beating him with ease in just your base!" Surprisingly, Valerie was the one to exclaim that as she stomped over to me, surprising the others and myself as the three chalices of Sephiroth Graal appeared around her before I blinked as a white aura covered my body.
"Uh, what are you doing?"
"Checking for any rituals that you guys could have done in the past week because that's the only way I can think of you becoming that strong."
"MacGregor did suggest them, but I denied them as I've already used a ritual when I was younger to boost my growth rate. However, the ritual was negated that same year after Lycaon left, so I didn't try to do anymore."
"…Then, this is just you?" She asked with a frown and I smiled as I nodded.
"According to Lord Sirzechs, the drastic boost in power comes from both me unlocking my True Form and from fully synchronising with my Sacred Gear."
"Wait, what?" Sairaorg asked and I just smirked as dozens of blue Azathoth magic crests appeared in the air around me before their eyes widened as bladed weaponry of all sorts poked out from the crests before sinking back into them as the crests disappeared.
"Yep, but creating that many of them in thin air takes a lot of concentration in my base form, so I usually just save that for when I'm actually fighting in my Balance Breaker."
"…Okay, nope! Come on! I'm not letting this opportunity pass me by!" Sairaorg exclaimed with a wide grin and I chuckled as I walked back onto the field, giving Samson a pat on the back as the big guy walked off of the field while Meredith rubbed his back with a soft smile.
'…There's something definitely going there, huh?' I thought with a smirk as I glanced at Kuroka & gestured at the two with my eyes, giving a soft chuckle as she looked at them before nodding with a giggle.
Well, good on them.
"We're fighting to first blood because if we don't, you're going to want the fight until either of us collapses." I cut Sairaorg before he could even speak, the man grumbling under his breath before he groaned as he nodded.
"Fine. I swear, no one wants to fight with me anymore." He grumbled and I chuckled before turning to Alivian, who nodded as he raised a hand.
"Are both fighters ready?!"
"Yep. /Yeah." Sairaorg and I answered respectively as we stared at each other, not daring to look away for even a moment as Alivian nodded.
"Then, without further adieu, let the battle…begin!" In an instant, the ground cratered as our fists clashed against the other, the air exploding & vibrating both from the force of our fists clashing as well as our bodies accelerating to blistering speeds within mere moments.
Feeling a bit impressed at him being able to keep up with my speed as I pushed against his fist, I smirked as I swiftly stopped pushing and used the force from his punch to jump back, flipping backwards and clipping his jaw as I leapt away before rocketing forward as soon as I landed.
Easily ducking his heavy hook, I snapped a quick one-two into his jab before lunging to the side and behind him, Sairaorg's eyes still on my afterimage in front of him as my fists flashed forward and landed a double punch into the small of his back.
Leaping into the air as soon as I saw him gasping and bending backwards slightly from the blow's force, I grinned as my knee smashed into the back of his head & forced it back forward before spinning & delivering a crude hook kick that drove my heel into his face before pushing him head first into the ground.
A dagger was in my hand before anyone could blink as I landed right next to his still form, Sairaorg blinking in slight confusion as he looked down and saw my holy dagger barely touching his skin, but the holy aura coming off of it was sharp enough to dig into his skin & caused the exposed blood to bubble.
"Hah, I accept my defeat." He said with a grin and I dismissed the dagger with a chuckle as I stood up before holding my hand out, the brawler chuckling as he gripped my forearm before I grunted as I pulled him up.
"You don't hit as hard as me, but you hit far faster than me." Sairaorg said with a groan as he rubbed the back of his head before sighing in relief & giving Asia a thankful smile as the girl had walked forward & decided to heal him.
"Yeah, I've decided to start fighting like a knight instead of a brawler. Hit you as many times and as fast as I can before you can even finish your first thought."
"Well, you've succeeded in that." I heard Rias said as she walked towards us with the others and I shrugged with a smirk before shaking my head to Asia as she held her hands up to me.
"Thank you, but it's now worries, Asia. I'm not injured."
"That doesn't help my wounded pride." Samson grumbled and I rolled my eyes as Sairaorg nodded in agreement. "
Fine, what if I start doing the death-spars again like we used to when we were younger?"
"See, now that's why you're my best friend!" Sairaorg exclaimed with a grin as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, Samson grinning widely as he nodded in agreement while the other sighed as I chuckled.
"And this is why we all call you three the Idiot Brawlers."
"You can't talk that way with how battle-hungry you are." I retorted to Bardou and he just huffed as Akeno giggled whilst patting him as I smiled.
Yeah, training for an entire week in death-inducing situations was fun and all, but I missed these moments of peace.
Later that day, Night:
Gremory Dining Hall:
"And how was this training trip, Isaiah?" Zeoticus asked as he took the glass of wine that was poured by his butler, to which I smiled.
"It was good. Lord Sirzechs helped me tremendously in figuring out my True Form and both Azazel & his special agent were helpful in figuring out how to finally fuse my Sacred Gears together."
"Oh, and did you achieve what you wanted on that front?" Venelana asked with a curious look and I smiled as I nodded, a hilt sprouting from the table in front of me before I pulled out the holy-demonic dagger & let its aura flow.
"Indeed I did. We call it Nephalem's Arsenal, letting me create whatever holy-demonic bladed weapon that I want from any surface within five meters of me."
"Ah, that's quite the upgrade compared to both Sword Birth and Blade Blacksmith." Zeoticus said with a smirk and I chuckled as I nodded before Rias spoke up.
"With Isa's new power, Koneko's senjutsu, Gasper's Sacred Gear and Akeno's Holy Lightning, there's no way I lose the Youth Devil's Gathering Tournament now." I blinked at her grin before turning to the amused Zeoticus and the exasperated Venelana.
"Did you not tell her?" I asked, making Rias blink in confusion which grew as both of them shook their heads.
"Tell me what?" Rias asked and Zeoticus & Venelana just glanced at each other before looking at me, making me sigh before I turned to Rias.
"I'm not allowed to take part in the tournament."
"What?!" She exclaimed, the others of the peerage and mine looking just as shocked as I winced slightly at the volume.
"Inside voice, Rias." Venelana chastised slightly with a frown, Rias paling slightly as she nodded apologetically before turning to me.
"What do you mean you're not allowed to take part in the tournament? Since when?"
"Well, I've already killed two pure blood devils, which is something that the older generation of devils do not agree with."
"So what? They were attacking you." Akeno said with a frown and I sighed as I nodded.
"We all know that and the older generation knows that, but despite the fact that they have far less influence than before, there are still other minor factions that they can persuade to join their side & thus boost their political power. That and most of the Lords & Ladies of the remaining Pillars feel as if the lives of their heirs are put in danger, so they asked the Satans if I can be left out of the tournament. Naturally, the Satans rejected the offers, but I thought about it and I decided to stay out."
"And that's why you're my favourite student." Venelana said with a smile, to which I chuckled as I nodded while Rias still looked confused before it clicked.
"Oh! So, by staying out of it and abiding to the other Lords & Ladies' wishes, you show them that while powerful, you are still looking out for the future of devilkind and that you can be reasoned with compared to the other pure blood devils that are on your level."
"Thus boosting my reputation in a positive way, showing the rest of the Underworld that I'm not the bloodthirsty monster the Great King Faction makes me out to be and showing the rest of the world that the Great King Faction are filled with nothing but paranoid old man that spread rumours & lies to cling to whatever bit of power they still have."
"…You know, I keep forgetting that there's a brain inside that battle-maniac mind of yours." Kuroka said with a smirk and the others chuckled as I grumbled before we all grew silent as the Azathoth crest appeared on the table in front of me, flashing a few times before it stopped & glowed brightly.
"Is this Isaiah Azathoth?" An unfamiliar voice asked, the accent sounding like someone from Russia or one of the countries near it, and I frowned as I looked up at Zeoticus, the man already ready as hundreds of Gremorian runes covered the Azathoth crest on all sides.
"Yes, this is him. May I ask who am I speaking to?" I asked after Zeoticus gave me a thumbs-up, most likely having not detected any harmful runic pattern on the crest.
"This is Makarov Dracovich, leader of Silverfang Werewolf Coven." Everyone's eyes widened at that, but I quickly composed myself as I answered.
"Well, it's an honour to meet your aquaintence, Mr. Dracovich. Can I ask why you are calling me?"
"I'm prideful man, but I need help. We need help with war."
A/N: And here we are! The next chapter and the next arc: Dawn of the Moonlit Warriors!
Next chapter, the new journey begins!
Also, just a quick blatant promotion of my big P-Word(No, not the penis)
Pt. Tr**n. c*m/ KingCrimsonNova to read up to seven weeks ahead on KOTB and ten weeks ahead on this
And now...until the next time...
Ba-Bye~!