A few weeks have passed since Loki's downfall as everything was starting to return to a normal pace. Issei rolled over on the bed and noticed Rias was missing. He opened his eyes as he saw Rias pacing back and forth. "Not good, not good at all." She was mumbling to herself.
Issei reached over and grabbed her hand once he had a firm grasp he pulled her back down towards the bed. "Ise.." She blurted out as she was dragged back onto the bed. As she landed on the bed she rolled over laying ontop of Issei.
"It's too early in the morning to be stressed out like that." Issei said as he rubbed his index finger around her belly button. "This should help out." He reached up and unhooked the back of her bra. Once ready he pulled down on the front of it pulling it off with no problems "See." He shook it as he threw it off the side of the bed "We can just sit here and enjoy the morning"
As she was liberated from the confines of her garment she laid there looking at the ceiling "I guess you're right."
"But what got you riled up so early?" He asked as his arms were crossed over her belly holding her there.
"My sister is coming over today."
"You don't have a sis…." Issei thought about that for a moment "Right Grayfia." Rias was waiting for it to fully sit in with him. Then it hit him like a tonne of bricks "Oh that can't be good."
Rias looked over to her left as she saw Asia grasping Issei's left arm "She looks like she's having fun."
"Asia is always like this before she wakes up. Cute and clingy in the morning." He said as they laid there without a care in the world.
Noon rolled around as the gang was gathered in the living room awaiting Grayfia's arrival. Rias was once again back to how she was in the morning waiting for Grayfia. "Rias is scared of Grayfia." Koneko said as she was looking up at Issei while she was on his lap.
Issei nodded hearing that "So she does have a weakness." Xenovia said as she was taking notes in her head.
*Ding Dong* Rias froze when the doorbell rang "Come with me Issei."
After he moved Koneko off him as he headed off to the front door with Rias. As they got there she tried to shake off the last of her jitters as she opened the door. As the door opened up there was a limousine parked outside and two people standing in front of the door. Grayfia was in more casual than normal clothes. She had a black and gold top that exposed her belly with a large blue silky scarf. Her pants were a slight shade darker than her scarf but it matched perfectly. "How have you two been?" She asked as a smile graced her face.
"Hello, Sister." Rias was still nervous to see Grayfia.
"It's been a while, princess." The second voice was heard as there was a red-scaled horse dragon hybrid. It looked up at Issei "Forgive me Welsh emperor. My name is Enku pawn of Sirzechs."
Rias put her hand on Enku's head and patted it "Its good to see you Enku."
Issei examined the creature "Are you a Qilin?"
"Close young master, I am a Kirin." He looked up to Grayfia "I will be returning to my duties now."
"Thank you Enku but it wasn't needed. It would be just as easy to come here by myself."
"Nonsense. You are our Queen and wife of the master. It is an honor to escort you anywhere even if you find it trivial."
"You come inside with us if you would like Enku." Rias said, sounding sad that he had to leave.
"Unfortunately we all have work." He turned into a red mist that dissipated in the air.
"May I?" Grayfia asked as she was gesturing towards the house."
They moved aside as she made her way into the house only to head towards where everybody else was. "I trust Rias isn't causing any issues?" Grayfia asked as she saw everybody waiting.
"Of course not." Akeno said, "But sometimes she doesn't like to share." She was looking at Issei.
"I see." Grayfia caught wind of Akeno meaning "Its nice to see that she is surrounded by such good friends. But she can be a bit selfish so it's nice to see that isn't a problem." Grayfia looked at Issei and Rias who was sitting next to him "But will he pass the test?"
"It's that time already…" Koneko said
"So that's why you're here." Akeno smiled knowing the truth "It has to be that."
"Wait!" Rias had a large blush "I thought I was allowed to have some leeway?"
"For devils of noble status, there is always needed to preserve the bloodlines." Even if we have dangerously low birth rates." She paused for a moment "Even though I share the same ideals as you do. I was in a more complicated situation than you are."
Akeno's face turned red as she squealed like a fangirl "The love story between the two of you is a legend to female devils."
"It's also a play." Koneko watched as Asia was now interested "I might want to see it."
"It's sooooo good." Akeno was still fangirling over it.
"Things were different back then, but now I want you to be strong as the next heir. There is a long list of things that you need to change but that can wait for now. Most girls your age are already married. And once you graduate from high school, high society will come for you and there will be plenty of parties. And your popularity thanks to the tv show has skyrocketed. People are going to say things." Rias was unable to respond to any of Grayfia's points. Issei however caught on as to what this was all about.
"Now now Grayfia, Rias isn't that bad." A new male voice was heard as everybody looked to the source of the voice and saw Sirzechs standing there in a suit.
"Brother!" Rias called out happy to see him and get away from the scrutiny.
"Catch." Sirzechs tossed a book at Issei as it landed in his lap. Issei looked at it "I call it The girl called the Switch Princess Volume 1: Rias childhood." Sirzechs was happy to see Issei flipping through the pages.
"Nooooooooooooooooo!" Rias cried out trying to cover the photos "You can't see those."
"Don't feel bad Rias." He took out more books "I have more."
"Zechs" Grayfia eyed him "Did you skip on your work today?"
"No…." He drew it out trying not to avoid her question but at the same time, he wanted to. "I just brought it here."
She shot up, grabbing a hold of his head "Every time I take a day off you slack off." Sirzechs was screaming like a little girl as Grayfia was torturing him for his mistakes.
Three small magic circles appeared on the table as three projections of people appeared. "Zechs! Can you hear me?" A female voice came out as Serafall appeared in the projection.
"Yes, Serafall I can," Sirzechs said as he stood back up from Grayfia's assault. "I'm here at Issei's house."
"Awwww the human world is so much fun!" Serafall looked around seeing everybody else in the room as she waved. "It's Rias and Issei!"
Issei waved as Rias smiled "Hello Serafall."
"Ah, Sirzechs you should have told us earlier that you were going to visit them. We would have come along as well." Serafall looked at the other two beside her.
"Too much work." A tall bald-headed man complained.
"Might be better than what this meeting was going to entail Fabian." A third person who looked around the same age as Sirzechs but with green hair.
"Ajuka that's why my servants do it."
"So what's going on in the human world Sirzechs?" Serafall asked.
"Right now? Looks like nothing too much." He looked over to Rias and Issei. "Both of you come here." They both got up and stood in front of him waiting to see what would happen next. Sirzechs snapped his fingers as they were engulfed by his magic circle and they disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Everybody else looked on wondering what it was all about. "The board has been set I see." Ajuka watched everyone else in the room.
"Don't worry," Sirzechs said, calming them down. "Every actor must play their parts. And right now they are about to play theirs. As for the rest of you, it's time for a celebration."
Issei and Rias reappeared in a dark room without a clue where they were. In front of them were two boxes, one blue and one pink. A garbled female voice came out over what should like an intercom "Take the boxes to the rooms in front of you. Put everything on and leave out the other door."
The two of them looked at each other as they moved towards the boxes. "What did we just get into?" Issei asked.
"I have no clue." Rias picked up her box and she noticed that it was quite light. "But I guess we should play along." She walked headed to the room behind her box as Issei followed suit.
After about five minutes, Issei was standing on the other side of the door in front of a large cave. He was now dressed in a black suit with a crimson inlay and a red tie that was the same shade as the gremory family color hair. On his right hand, there was a ring made of gold with a crimson strip that ran through the center of the ring. "Weird how well this suit fits."
A loud noise of heels making contact with the ground as he turned to see Rias in a slim bright red dress that hugged her body perfectly yet covered everything. She waved her right hand showing off the matching ring on her finger. "Yes, I'm inclined to agree." Rias looked towards the cave entrance as she knew it well.
Before he could say anything they heard the sound of something coming towards them. As they looked up they saw five people had landed in front of them. They were dressed in a mix of leather and spandex suits in red blue green pink and yellow all with matching helmets. As they landed they all struck a pose as a team effort.
"Wh..Who are they?" Rias asked as she backed up a step.
"We are the Maou squadron Maou Rangers! I am their leader Maou Red!" The red suit one announced.
"Satan Blue!" "I'm Satan Green….can I go now?" "Le Satan Pink!" "Uhhhh I'm Satan Yellow." They all introduced themselves as Rias' mouth was wide open out of shock.
"Nice pose right? I practiced it all night."
"Nooooo! My pose was the cutest!" Pink said, trying to one up Red.
"I can feel massive reserves of demonic powers from the Maou Squadron." Rias was still shocked to see these five individuals without the cloth being pulled from her eyes.
Issei nodded "uh huh" As he pointed to himself "They call me Issei Gremory. Sometimes I take the form of the Oppai Dragon." His hands moved over to Rias pointing at her "And this here is the mighty Switch Princess."
Under his helmet, Satan Red smiled hearing that. He held his hand out in dramatic fashion stopping Issei. "Fear not your secret is safe with us! As for the here and now we were hired by the Gremory house today." He turned around and pointed to the cave as the rest of the rangers moved aside. "Inside there are three trials waiting for you two. I want you to make it through as teamwork makes the dream work." Blue and Yellow threw something on the ground as a giant smoke cloud appeared and then quickly disappeared with the five of them as well. Red's voice echoed through the area "We will be watching and waiting for you in the trial."
Rias grabbed onto Issei's hand as their fingers intertwined; she looked at him with a smile on her face "Let's go Issei." She led the way into the cave as two large stone doors opened up. As they crossed the doorway the doors closed on their own leaving them only one way to go down a well maintained corridor that led to a large room. The light from the corridor went from dim to well lit when they entered the large room with hardwood floors.
Standing there was Satan pink as she made a peace sign "Now it's time for your first trial." She snapped her fingers as a remote appeared in her hand "I want you two to dance for me."
Issei was slightly dumbstruck by what she just said but Rias was excited. There was a smile on her face as she pulled Issei along towards the middle of the floor getting ready. "High society loves their dances so dance for me to pass this trial." Pink pressed a button as classical music started playing.
The two of them dance in sync to the slow rhythm of the music. They moved across the floor holding the moves while talking to each other. "I see the time was well spent." Rias said as Issei spun her around as her dress plumed out.
"Classical dance is somewhat natural to me." Issei watched Satan pink clapping in the background as they moved back and forth.
"It's nice that you are so good at this." Rias' smile was wider than Issei had ever seen it. She was truly happy to be like this.
The music abruptly ended not long into their dance as the clapping was now audible. "The two of you looked better than most of those stuffy elders." She placed the remote down as she snapped her fingers as a door opened up. "Now the two of you off to your next trial!" She disappeared in a pink cloud of smoke just like the group did last time.
Rias shrugged as they headed on towards the next room. The walk was brief as they entered the next room. This time it was set up as a dining room as Satan Green was standing at the head of a small table. He didn't look too enthused to be there as his body was limp. "Ummm, your next trail is table manners. I'll watch you from here." He took a seat at the head of the table "The maids here will check your manners on a scale of 100 to 0 counting down. Reach zero and you fail."
Table manners Issei thought to himself as they each headed towards their spots across from each other. They each placed napkins on their laps as the maids brought out lunch for the two of them. Upon opening the lids they saw a plate of pasta covered in a marinara sauce with a perfectly breaded and cooked piece of chicken covered with some cheese, a classic chicken parm. They each picked up their forks and knives as they began eating the not so expected lunch.
They each put down the silverware as they had cleaned the plates. "This second trial has ended." Satan Green called out as his head cocked over towards the maids. "The results?"
"Lady Rias had no faults." The maid called out moving towards Issei. "The young master had a few errors but nothing major. He will pass with a 90."
They stood up as Satan Green snapped his fingers as the next door opened. "Very well your next trial awaits you." He said as he pointed towards the door not wanting to move from the chair.
They went through a hallway this time it was longer than the previous one. "Hey Rias, why is Sirzechs and Grayfia romance such a big topic."
She stopped walking and looked over at Issei as she was stunned hearing that. "You didn't hear about it?"
"Naw." He shook his head "I paid little to no attention to devils outside watching the rating games and being with Ravel every so often.
"I see." She thought about where to start "As you know Grayfia's last name is Lucifuge. The Lucifuge family served Lucifer and were his trusted members. Grayfia was a member of the Old Satan faction during the time of the civil war. As the war broke out and rain death upon the land a frozen heart roamed the battlefield. The conflicts raged on until it met somebody with a chisel. At first, they were at ends with each other but as the war dragged out the Grayfia and Sirzechs met in combat time and time again. Each time they met he used the chisel to chip away at her frozen heart until near the end of the war he finally broke through as she defected." Rias was happy just to talk about the story. "Over time there were plays and movies made about the love they share. And it became an inspiration for many female devils across all levels of society."
Issei nodded his head "I get the feeling that I'll most likely be seeing that play sometime."
"Probably" Rias grabbed his right arm and pulled it into her chest. "But for now your mine." She pointed at the door as she led him along.
As they entered the room it was an all too familiar setting a classroom. There were two desks placed in front of a large one that Satan Blue was sitting at. "Class is now in session." He said as he pointed at the desks. "Your last trial is writing. A simple test of your knowledge of the Gremory family and that of the underworld." They both took a seat as there was a pen and paper in front of them. "I hope you two have studied." A blue hourglass appeared in his hand as he flipped it over setting it on his desk. "You have one hour to finish."
Issei powered through seeing questions about the class of devils and even ranks within the families. Rias was having no issue answering the questions as the hour breezed by while Issei didn't have the same ease. She turned in her test having it graded as Issei was still answering away. But all things must come to an end as Issei had finished before the time had run out. "Rias Gremory has already passed her test. What of you Hyoudou Issei?" Satan Blue asked as he was handed the papers to begin grading them. A couple of minutes passed as Blue asked "Now name the 72 pillar families. In order please."
"Ah shit." Issei groaned as he started "Bael, Agares, Vassago, Gamigin…." Issei recited all 72 names as they were beaten into his head by Venelana.
"Good good." Blue was focused on the papers "Now of those 72 names recite the extinct ones, I don't care about the order this time. That's a historian thing not something for you."
"Marbas, Valefor, Buer, Gusion, Leraje, Eligos, Botis, Bathin, Marax, Ipos, Aim, Bune, Ronove, Foras, Gaap, Marchosias, Halphas, Malphas, Raim, Wepal, Sabnock, Vine, Bifrons, Haagenti, Crocell, Alocer, Caim, Murmur, Orobas, Ose, Amy, Zagan, Andras, Flauros, Andrealphus, Cimeries, Amduscias, Decarabia, Seere, and Andromalius"
Blue looked up at Issei "Lady Gremory beat that into?"
"Yes." Issei admitted
"Well, congratulations. You passed the written test, and even my little impromptu test." Blue placed the papers on the desk "The test difficulty was on part of a high-class devil promotion. But enough about that the two of you have passed the test.
"Yess!" Rias shouted as she hugged Issei.
"Red wants you outside." Blue said as he disappeared.
Rias was excited as she could be as she took the lead once again with a smile on her face as they stepped out of the cave and into a small arena that was out in the natural light. "Congratulations, you two." Satan Yellow said with an all too familiar voice.
Satan Red jumped down into the area striking a fighting pose as he landed. "You have reached this far. The trials of house Gremory are no easy thing to pass. But there is only the last trial. Issei Gremory you must face me in combat!" A red aura was bleeding out of him "As the leader of the Satan Rangers I wish to fight you to see who is the real hero of the underworld."
Issei looked at Satan Red knowing full well that it was Sirzechs challenging him to a fight. He scratched his head thinking about how he was going to go about this but everything changed as he heard Rias. "Satan Red!" She called out "I don't know who you are but my Ise is the Legendary Red Dragon Emperor! You are bold to call him out as he beat the Norse God Loki recently."
"Yes, that makes the stakes even better."
Issei pulled out his sword hilt held it in his hand as the blade was retracted. He looked towards Satan Yellow as she was standing there shaking her head. "Just don't overdo it."
Given the okay to fight Issei held both of his hands out as his left one was an open palm. The Boosted Gear appeared on his left hand as he looked at Satan Red "You know that first theme song for Power Rangers is still amazing."
"Oh?" Satan Red said as he fired a large ball of the power of destruction as it hurled past Issei. When it impacted with the ground it carved out a six-foot deep hole in the ground spanning over another six feet across.
The blade shot out of the hilt as his body glowed a green hue "Yeah because it's Morphin time."
[WELSH DRAGON BALANCE BREAKER!]
Red stuck out his hand as he curled in his fingers in a rapid motion "Bring it."
The booster jets ignited as Issei dashed towards the fight. Knowing that the sword was most likely going to be useless he sent it away as he sent the first punch flying as Red dodged it. Red saw that the left hook was coming only for him to bat away his fist. "Come now you must have more than that." He goaded Issei as the fight went on for a while.
Blows were traded for over ten minutes as Issei was tired as Red was only getting warmed up. Panting for air, Issei was hunched over, unable to keep up with a monster like Sirzechs. "Come now that can't be all your love for Rias."
"What?" Issei was perplexed by what he just heard. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"You like Rias don't you? Your spirit will tell me everything. Didn't you know love is a battlefield." Red told him.
Rias walked over to Issei as she tapped on his shoulder getting his attention as he looked at her. "What's up."
"Helmet." She said as he let it down. Once it was off she put her hands on his head pulling it over to her face as she planted her lips on his. Her tongue intertwined with his as this was one of the last he was expecting right now.
"Look at her! She's taking all she wants" Satan Pink said as Issei saw that the others were in the stands watching.
Satan yellow merely sighed "This is the intended route, better than the other one."
Issei was feeling a surge of energy as Rias broke away. Before she walked away she gave him a wink.
[Your energy is surging and we have one shot at this. That or it's going to your dick.]
[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]
His power was surging higher and higher as it was concentrated in his left hand. He pointed his hand at Satan Red as the energy manifested into a large ball. "Dragon shot!" The attack flew but Issei only saw the ground as his legs gave out and his body crashed.
After some time Issei awoke as Rias was sitting in the arena stands with his body slumped over hers. His head was resting on her chest as she ran her hands through his head waiting for him to wake up.
"Oooopppaaaiiiii." Issei called out as he woke up feeling where he was.
"Issei you're awake." Her arms squeezed around him.
"Where did they go?" He asked, still groggy.
"After you passed out they disappeared saying that their work was done." She looked around, seeing the status of the arena. "But I'm going to have to call in the maintenance crew because the two of you destroyed this place."
Ddraig made his presence known to Issei only [That Lucifer is a monster. After you passed out he negated your attack with no effort. I think he is stronger than the original Lucifer. But don't fret the training you have been going through has paid off in strides.]
"The two of you did splendidly! You both passed the trials." Issei and Rias looked towards the voice seeing Sirzechs and Grayfia in their normal outfits.
"Yes, Lord and Lady Gremory will be pleased to hear this development." Grayfia was back to her normal self.
"Brother, did you just get here?" Rias asked as Issei looked up at her not understanding why she didn't make the connection.
"Yes, we did. It was around the time your trials should have finished so it looks like we timed it quite well."
Serafall and Ajuka appeared as well. Serafall was getting all happy for Rias and Ajuka looked at Issei. "I need to look at your evil pieces for a moment."
Issei stood up looking at the Satan trying to figure out how it would work. "Uhh." Issei left his mouth open as Beelzebub poked Issei in the chest with his magic circle. Many layered circles appeared anchoring to his chest as his eight pawn pieces popped out of his chest as they were floating in front of him.
Ajuka was moving his fingers around as he looked at Issei. "Looks like you're trying something different. You have been going into the depths of your sacred gear? I take it as you got the idea from Azazel." He wasn't expecting an answer as he was smiling and spinning magic circles around "Ohhhhhhhh I see now. The code for the evil piece is all messed up and looks like the Juggernaut drive caused some errors. I can fix it by altering the evil pieces."
"Is that going to cause issues with the Rating games?"
"I can make it so the changes don't work in the games. But for the use in normal battles, it should be handy. Dealing with people in the like of Loki something like this would be needed. Plus I need to thank you for dealing with my family.
"Oh… You know I was going to kill him before Shalba did?"
Ajuka shrugged hearing that. "It's unfortunate. But he's dead and the fault lies with us. As a Satan, we failed to stop his bad habits and as family, we failed to see that he was rotten to the core." Ajuka kept spinning magic circles here and there as he was working his magic as the circles collapsed in on each other pushing the pieces back into Issei. "That should do it.
Issei felt the same as he did before "Was something supposed to change? Because I don't feel any different."
"Change doesn't happen instantly. Change is a personal choice, I have only unlocked doors that were previously non-existent. You still need to open that door and walk through it."
"That's an Athena vibe if I had ever heard it before." Issei said Ajuka disappeared in a blue flash of light.
"We have a party to get to now that business has been taken care of." Sirzechs said as Grayfia crafted a magic circle for all of them.
As they made the jump they were in the garden out behind the Gremory estate. Everybody was there, even Zeoticus Venelana and Aphrodite. "The two of you look soooo cute with your matching rings." Aphrodite called out seeing them.
Rias tried to hide it but she was wondering why they were given matching rings. "Speaking of that, why were we given these clothes and rings for the family trial?"
Zeoticus, Venelana, Sirzechs, and Grayfia all looked at each other as the latter had taken a seat at one of the tables. They each raised their right hand getting a look from everyone as they each hand a gold ring with a red inlay that matched the ones they had on. "Congratulations on your marriage." Zeoticus said getting a shock out of everyone there.
Grayfia looked down the table at how blunt he was about it while Venelana tried to quell the oncoming storm. "But that trial is for engagements." Rias blurted out before Venelana could say anything.
"Yes, I know. We changed it to a soft marriage." She said before lowering her voice "Not like the two of you are going soft anyways." She went back up to her normal voice before Rias could interrupt "The two of you aside from being the hottest thing on TV right now are one of the hotter topics in the circles."
"But... School…" Rias tried to get out.
Venelana waved her hand. "Yes yes, we know you wanted to get married after you finished your schooling. You can still do that."
"How you just."
"Let me finish my child." Venelana said "This is what we are calling a soft marriage. For the most part, it's to quell the rumors surrounding you two. That and it's also easier politically if Issei is attached to the family through marriage, not a peerage." She looked over to Issei "For the most part you could be addressed as Issei Gremory and it would be legal in the underworld. But it looks like you're taking it better than my daughter is."
Issei shrugged as he pulled Rias into his side. "I had some suspicions but I'm not opposed to it."
Venelana looked over at Aphrodite "I told you." A smile was on Aphrodite's face "He's just like me in more than one way."
"About these rings." Issei said, looking at it.
"Family secret." Zeoticus said waving it off "Once you two have the proper wedding she wants then you will be filled in on them. Before now just wear it. They are enchanted so humans can't see it."
After a month passed everything was going relatively smoothly after the chaos of an impromptu wedding. The Gremory group was once again called back to the mansion but this time Irina tagged along. They were walking through the halls of an adjacent building and they saw Sirzechs standing around with Milicas his son. "Right on time." He said nodding his head back towards another figure.
Behind him, Sairaorg was standing in his normal combat attire. Rias saw him "Oh I didn't know we had guests."
"I came here to deliver some of our fruit. But there are some other times I want to talk about."
"We should visit the Bael house sometime." Rias looked at Issei.
"Before that, your match has been decided." Sirzechs interrupted them. "And Sairaorg wants the match to be without restrictions."
Rias thought about that as she looked at Sairaorg "Are you sure about that? There are so many uncertain possibilities on our side. And you want to take them all on blindly."
Sairaorg was happy to hear her words "I do, a time-stopping vampire or the Red Dragon Emperor who can destroy girls' clothes. I want to fight them all and so does my team."
Millicas was wide-eyed, seeing the possibilities unfold in front of him of what he could be watching later. Sirzechs ruffled his hair as Issei spoke up. " To think somebody wants to openly fight me but not try to kill me. That's a weird thing to hear.
"How about this." Sirzechs butted in "The arena is behind us. So why don't you two have a friendly match."
"What do you think Rias?" Sairaorg asked, leaving her no room to deny it.
"Brother asked for it so Issei your up." She said as Sirzechs headed down the hall towards the arena.
Issei and Sairaorg took their places across from each other in the arena while everybody else was in the stands above them. Sirzechs looked at them "I want to see how the new generation of devils fights.
"Ddraig let's do it." [WELSH DRAGON BALANCE BREAKER!]
Sairaorg put up a defensive stance ready to block anything Issei would throw at him. As the thruster ignited on his back he was rocketed forward sending a high-speed punch right towards Sairaorg. As Issei almost made contact he saw that Sairaorg had yet to make a move still in the same position as he was before. Issei didn't change attack vectors as Sairaorg was going to tank the attack. So Issei did just that as his fist slammed into Sairaorg's face causing his body to slide back ever so slightly while his face did not move at all.
Issei retracted his fist as Sairaorg spoke "Excellent punch! It was full of power and right on the mark."
"The hell are you. Any normal devil would have been knocked out from that punch." Issei moved back a couple of paces making some distance between him.
"Yes, an ordinary devil, I am not an ordinary devil." Sairaorg disappeared at a speed faster than Issei as he did the same thing. This time Issei barely got a guard up as the impact shattered the armor around his arms.
"Ddraig." Issei said as the armor reformed.
Sairaorg smiled seeing that Issei was minimally damaged. "You didn't go flying means you're tougher than expected." He continued sending a volley of punches towards Issei as he defended each one as Ddraig repaired the armor as it broke. "I trained my body to reach this level."
"I think I understand now." Issei readjusted his stance to a more defensive one "Promotion Rook!" He shouted out as he felt his body become sturdier.
"Interesting not the Queen." Sairaorg expected anything else but the choices were made.
[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]
After Issei powered up, Sairaorg sent a right hook into Issei's abdomen. The impact rattled through his body as blood oozed from Issei's helmet as he was almost taken down from a single blow. He was lucky his mouth was shut or he would have bit off his tongue from the force of the impact alone. Regaining his standing Issei released his right arm back as he sent a slower than usual but heavy punch to Sairaorg's head. When it impacted, blood was dripping from Sairaorg's nose as it rolled off Issei's fist.
As the two of them backed away Sairaorg wiped his nose "Looks like Rook was the correct choice. I put more than enough power in that attack to overwhelm you. But the upgraded Attack and defense of the Rook was enough. The Queen's all rounder status might not be the best for you. But for now, I have seen enough as I don't wish to spoil the finals as you have yet to awaken all of your powers." Sairaorg looked towards Sirzechs and gave a bow before leaving the room.
Issei deactivated his armor as he laid down on the floor. The girls ran down from the seating and gathered around Issei. Asia began healing him as there was still some blood coming out of his mouth. Sirzechs moved over and looked down at him "So what did you see in that spar?"
"You know the white light." Issei got a chuckle out of Sirzechs
"What of his attacks?"
"He hits as I do." Issei felt the pain being relieved
"He's not much different than you. The two of you are brawlers through and through while most devils only rely on their family magics" His eyes moved towards Rias for a moment as they snapped back to Issei "This is a general fault of Devils. They are too proud to see that something else is out there that can be more effective when used correctly."
"I don't plan on losing." Issei said as Asia finished healing him
A simple smile was all it took for Sirzechs as he walked away. "Plenty of eyes will be on the winner of your match, make sure to destroy their expectations."
Two days later Rias and Issei were standing on the back of the train platform. "Here this is for all of you." Rias handed Issei a small stack of cards that looked like ID's "These are the passes devils need to get into Kyoto. We used the same types of passes last year and they are a pain to get a hold of."
Issei shoved them into his pocket as Rias was fixing his clothing making him look more presentable. "I'll hand these out."
"Even with you being in Kyoto for so long it's going to be lonely." Rias moved her hands up to his face bringing him in for a kiss. As they were kissing Issei felt something was off behind him but he ignored it as she broke the kiss off. "That was to curb my loneliness that's bound to come." Rias watched as Issei got on board before she left.
After the train departed Issei was sitting in his chair as nobody was next to him. Across the isle Xenovia and Irina were looking out the windows as were most of the students as this was the first time being on the bullet train for them. Xenovia moved over the aisle as she took the empty seat next to Issei. She got close to his ear and whispered in it "Ise I have to tell you something important." Issei let out a hum as his eyes were closed. "I didn't bring Durandal with me. So I'm unarmed on this trip."
Issei opened his eyes as he looked over at her "Why? Even I have my stuff."
"The alchemists of the orthodox church wanted to try a technique to suppress Durandal's offensive aura." Xenovia had a small chuckle saying that. "Back then it was hard to do anything when working with them. But it looks like things have changed due to Michael's leadership."
"I can give you Ascalon if you need it."
"It's a shame that I am unable to control Durandal properly despite being its owner. How can I call myself a Knight." She went on beating herself up over the littlest of things.
Issei's left hand moved in front of her face tapping his knuckles on her forehead "Don't worry about it. It's for the betterment of yourself."
She stopped as he moved his hand away "You know you shouldn't throw away your gifts. Training with a sword would be good for you."
"I improve my skills when Kiba and I train. Thing is, swords are not my thing as I always have been a brawler." Issei watched as Xenovia moved back over to her seat with Irina.
Issei went back to looking out of the window as he heard Matsuda and Motohama talking about finding rare porn while in Kyoto. Their conversation went on for a while as he heard some girls squealing as he saw Kiba standing next to him. "Can I sit here?"
Issei looked at him and then towards all the girls who were looking at Kiba like he was a hot piece of meat. "Yeah yeah, we can let them think who's the pin and who's the cushion."
"That's a disturbing thought." Kiba said as he sat in the chair.
"I could tell you about the manga circulating the school about us. It's that or they learn that I'm married to the school Idol Rias so take your pick." He shrugged saying that "So what's up?"
Kiba pulled out a map "I wanted to know your itinerary for the trip. You know in case of emergencies."
He understood all too well as he nodded his head. "That plan is to hit up all the major temples in the surrounding area." Issei pointed to the map and showed Kiba the order. "that's the plan for the first day."
"We plan on doing the same thing in reverse order." Kiba looked at Issei "What of the second and third day?"
"Togetsu bridge on day two and maybe Kyoto tower. Irina wants to go there so might get some brownie points if we can go. Third day souvenirs and other things."
"I doubt you will need the points." Kiba smiled at that "Looks like we are going to meet up on the bridge, so we have a chance of seeing each other." Hearing what he needed to hear Kiba changed the subject. "So what did Lord Beelzebub do exactly?"
"According to him, he created new pathways. So far I've been able to freely use the Rook piece to better effectiveness. But the Queen so far is still the same thing. I have asked for more information about it but the only hint he gave me was to master the basics before the Queen."
"So that's why you picked the Rook when you fought against Sairaorg. To think you would test a theory of his in the middle of a match. You work harder than you let on to when trying to increase your power."
"Even if I do possess that power I had to take that chance." Issei said looking at Kiba "Those punches were something else. The promotion to Rook was the only chance I had surviving his hits. We have to train when we get back, winning without the training is almost impossible."
Kiba nodded "I got the feeling you were going to ask after the match." He stood up and headed back to his normal seat."
Issei closed his eyes once again and leaned his head back sending him into the sacred gear. Instead of walking downstairs this time he appeared where he was previously. A large white room with chairs inside with robed people sitting in them. Issei walked up to one of the past wielders sitting in the chair as he looked at him.
[This one here is the nearest to your age. He awakened me extremely early due to trauma and even the juggernaut drive. However, he drank from the well and was eventually killed by another Longinus wielder many years ago.]
"Another Longinus? Not by white?" Issei asked out loud.
[He became a tyrant under the effects of the juggernaut drive. And whether it's a tyrant or a king they don't live forever. That is a fact that is true no matter the era.]
"Okay, then what of the Juggernaut drive chant. The first part is obvious: it says that I want to release your power that was sealed away from the god of the bible. But what of laughing at the infinite and grieving at the dream? What is that all about?"
[The Infinite refers to Ophis who you have met already and the Dream is Great Red. The chant makes no sense to me. And I don't even know where it came from, it's possible that God made it.]
Movement was heard as the clacking sound of heels made contact with the ground. When Issei turned around he saw a woman who was at most in her late thirties with long wavy blonde hair and a slim body. She wore a long blue puffy dress that had a slit in it and it revealed her chest to great proportions.
[Elsha?]
Hello Ddraig it's been a while.
[This here is one of the past wielders of the gear. She was the strongest female wielder as well as the second strongest overall.]
Else saw that Issei was eyeing her up Sweety I am only a memory for a person who is long gone.
[I never thought you would come out again]
Don't be so grim Ddraig. Belzard likes this boy.
Before Issei could ask Ddriag explained [Belzard was my strongest host, in his prime he beat two of White's hosts with ease.]
Anyways I have something for you. She was holding a simple box with a small lock on it. You already have the key for it from Beelzebub. Issei was skeptical as he never received a key. But low and behold a key appeared in his hand. The box and key are both metaphors. Inside the box are possibilities while you have the ability to unlock it. Belzard thinks you can use what's inside but you still have to open it.
Issei pushed the key into the lock as they heard all the pins roll over as he rolled the key. A click was heard as the box opened Oppai Dragon explains too much about this boy. A white light overtook the area as the top of the box sprang open. And Ddraig we may have lived horrible lives but you need to accept his faults and open up.
Issei's eyes rocketed open as he was thrust back into the real world. He looked around before he spoke inward "Ddraig did I…"
[No you opened the box.]
"So what was inside?"
[I have no clue, something did fly out of the box.]
Issei pulled out his phone as he started texting Azazel as he heard a commotion in the seats in front of him. Issei chose to ignore it as there was yelling coming from some of the girls in the class. After a few minutes, they arrived at a grand station that was more upscale than your normal train station.
After they disembarked Issei, Asia, Xenovia, Irina, Kiryuu, Motohama, and Matsuda all walked through the train station as a group as they were going to the hotel. "Xenovia look" Asia pointed to one of the department stores.
Kiryuu was guiding the group as she was trying to get to the hotel. "Come on if we get to the hotel we can have more fun times."
As they were walking there was a scream as they saw a man moving towards a woman who was running away from him. He was walking like a zombie as he repeated the words Oppai. "Come on!" Kiryuu called out "Leave that to the cops."
Only a few minutes of walking landed them on the front steps of the Kyoto Sirzechs hotel. Issei groaned as he heard the name of the hotel, turns out even the leaders of the underworld have some influence in the Shinto controlled major cities.
When they entered the hotel it was as luxurious as it could get. "Don't you think this is a little too high class for us." Matsuda brought up a good point.
"Excuse me." A woman of the staff asked at the front door. "I needed to see your ID please to best direct you." They each showed their student IDs as Issei was last. She pointed them to where they needed to go as they went and met up.
"Do you get the feeling that this is a bit lacking compared to Rias' home?" Xenovia looked around the place seeing that while it was a fancy hotel it just wasn't as fancy as she expected due to the name.
Issei gave a slight nod agreeing with her, but that's when Rosseweisse who was now one of the teachers assigned to the trip walked away from Azazel as she addressed the students. "Everyone." She got the students' attention "In the underground shopping center of Kyoto there is a 100 yen shop. Be wise with your money, if you spend it all buying everything you want you will have nothing for what you need. So think wisely when it comes to the money you have." Azazel was facepalming in the background hearing her magnificent speech. She continued with it "After you get the keys to your room you're allowed to have free time till 5 pm but you need to be in your rooms by 5:30."
Keys started to get passed out as Issei was last on the list to receive his key. Azazel handed him his key as he shook his head walking away from Issei. The kids broke off into their groups as they headed towards their rooms. Issei followed the band of perverts to their room. He peered in the room and saw that it was a western bedroom with two beds inside with a view that looked over the city. "Nice looking rooms." Issei said as Matsuda and Motohama started putting their stuff in their room.
"Where's your room?" Matsuda asked as he looked back at Issei.
Issei looked at the key "Looks like it's up a couple of floors." He quickly left to look at the room he was given. He made his way up the elevator and traveled up a few floors. Once he made his way to the marked door he inserted the key and unlocked the door. As the door opened he saw that the room was large for a hotel room as it was a bit on the upscale side as he was in one of the VIP whale rooms. Issei started laughing out loud as he closed the door "I guess this is the perks of this marriage."
After a couple of minutes, he heard a knock on the door. As he opened the door still smiling like a maniac he saw Rossweisse "Welcome!" He let her into the room.
"Rias set you up with this room. She said it would be a great place to hold discussions." Rossweisse looked at the room as it was in excess for someone.
"Yes, this will be great for our things. It has more than enough room to shove all the devils we brought in here."
"At least you're upbeat about it." Rossweisse moved towards the door "I have to meet with the other teachers. Just need to find Azazel now, he slipped away after we handed out the keys."
Before she left Issei opened his mouth "Azazel is planning on ditching all the work on you."
She pretended to ignore that before leaving "Your group can go to Fushimi Inari Kiryuu already asked about it."
As Rossweisse left, Issei's phone vibrated as he looked at it. He saw that it was Kiryuu sending him a text message "Come to the lobby." Issei shoved his phone back in his pocket making sure he had everything he needed and headed down the lobby.
Public transportation is a wonderful thing as the seven of them got off the bus as they were dumped onto a road that led up the hillside. They progressed down the path as they stopped in the market area to look at some of the things for sale. "Look at all the stuff they sell." Xenovia poked her head into the first stall looking around.
Asia followed suit as she saw a range of foxes some were plastic and even some porcelain. "All the foxes look so cute."
After a few minutes of the girls browsing the shops, they proceed up the hillside. They headed up the section that was filled with red gates all the way up the hillside. As the girls entered the gates Matsuda snapped a photo of them. As they walked through the gates Xenova fell back to walk with Issei. "Did you see it?" She asked quietly to not alert anyone.
"Yeah, one above even the hills have eyes." Issei watched as shadows moved in the hillside outside of the gates.
"Under surveillance already when we haven't done anything."
"Yeah I know, we are foreigners for the most part. However, they were notified well in advance that we would be here."
"Wait up!" Motohama called out grasping for his breath. "Why are none of you tired."
Matsuda looked at Motohama "Asia is doing better than you."
"I'm going to see if our watchers want something from us." Issei said as he ran up the stairs leaving everyone behind. He reached the top in a matter of moments. He came across a small shrine that had nobody waiting for them at the top.
The wind blew a gust of air as it rustled the leaves on the trees and the windchime rattled. The sound of wood was heard as it touched the ground "You are not from Kyoto." A young girl's voice was heard as Issei turned around to see a girl in a red and white outfit befitting a shrine maiden. Her hair was as blonde as Asia's as it matched the color of the six tails that accompanied her.
"A kitsune?" Issei asked as he was soon surrounded by six men wearing fox masks. Behind the girl landed two bird yokai that looked like a raven that took a human form with staves ready to attack.
"You will give me back my mother." The small fox girl said.
"Your mother?" Issei asked confusingly, feeling like he got caught up in a deal gone wrong. "I just got here, I don't even know who your mother is."
"Do not lie to me." She said as one of the bird youkai flew off the ledge it was standing on and swung its staff at Issei.
Issei rolled away dodging the staff strike as the men with swords tried to stab him. As Issei was dodging sword swings and thrusts the second bird went in for the same strike. This time as the staff got closer to his head Issei didn't dodge it as it impacted with a wooden sword. "What's going on Issei." Xenovia blocked the hit as she went into a full baseball swing redirecting the attack back. Irina moved in soon after with Asia as she was blocking attacks with her sword made of light
"Don't know, the fox thinks I stole her mom. Into the forest, Rias wants no damage to the places we visit." Issei shouted as they retreated into the forest on the hillside.
As they retreated they were chased deflecting and dodging sword and staff attacks. "I knew it, you took my mother." She yelled out as they came to a stop in a small area with trees surrounding them.
"Asia do you have it?" Issei asked as they were defending from the attacks.
Asia reached into her pocket pulling out a golden badge of the Gremory logo that was connected to a brown piece of leather. "Yes." She pointed the badge out towards Issei.
"Good." Issei thought about it for a moment deciding on what he was going to pick. "Take them down but make sure they live."
"Got it." Xenovia and Irina called out as they took the fight more seriously when they saw it.
"Promotion Knight." Issei felt his body lighten up from the change of the evil pieces.
Xenovia and Irina were deflecting sword attacks with relative ease knocking down some of the sword wielders with relative ease. Issei took up a defensive position against those who wanted to attack Asia. With his now increased speed the few people that did slip past Xenovia and Irina were easily dispatched by Issei. He was able to maneuver behind them with no problem and hit them in the back of the neck hard enough to knock them out.
The small girl saw that her forces were being dismantled "Fall back!" She shouted out as the first to gather up were the two birds as they slammed their staffs into the ground creating a small typhoon. The few remaining swordsmen that were able to retreat did so getting into the wind "I will get my mother back." The girl shouted as the wind spun up faster as they disappeared from the area.
The four of them watched the retreat as Issei pulled out his phone dialing in a phone number. It rang a few times as Issei waited as he heard Azazel's voice on the other side "Yes."
"We have a problem Azazel."
A few hours passed as everyone was at the hotel having a feast. There was plenty of food ranging from the local to even some of the western food. There was no lack of food as they ate their fill. After dinner, Issei met up with the rest of the group in Motohama and Matsuda's room to talk about tomorrow's activities. But after the discussions were had and the girls had left the three boys were in sync with what was going to happen next. Motohama and Matsuda made their way in a different way than Issei did when they left the room. Issei took the indoor stairs walking up a couple of floors bypassing the need to have a complicated plan.
As he made his way up the stairs he rounded one of the corners that lead out to the rooftop. When he opened it standing on the roof was none other than Rossweisse "We knew you would choose this route." She stood there wearing a red tracksuit with matching pants as she took a stance ready to fight to protect the girls down below. "As the teacher, I will guard these girls."
Issei approached her "Come now Rossweisse you can't win, I will be peeking in the girl's bathroom." As Issei got in close enough she launched a small magical attack at Issei just enough so if it did hit the ground it would move some dust around. And thus began the biggest yet smallest fight they had been in.
Issei was firing off small dragon shots while Rossweisse was capturing them in balls of ice. "This is ridiculous!" She shouted as they were playing a magical attack tag "If it has to do with sex do you get more powerful?"
"It's not bad." He kept up the little game they were having.
"You're married and you have Akeno and Asia as well. All you do is want to touch and look at girls." Rossweisse was getting tired of the little battle.
"Perversion is in my blood and masturbation isn't as fun as it sounds." Issei threw a slightly larger attack this time at her as she handled it with no issue. "But the thing is I don't have Rias or Akeno here."
"So you're just a perverted dragon who acts like a hopeless playboy." She crushed the next few attacks while sending a few more attacks back. "Your actions are futile. Even if you do get past me, the Sitri girls will be waiting for you. And as a last ditch effort, Saji is allowed to awaken Vritra."
Issei was surprised to hear that such a defensive formation was formed just to guard against him but he heard that flaw "I feel so flattered you have done so much for me. But if you don't loosen up you're not going to find a boyfriend."
Rossweisse didn't break out crying this time as she maintained her composure "Boy, Boy, Boy, Boy, Boy, Boyfriend has nothing to do with this." Her power started spiking as she was radiating power. "I want to do erotic things with a handsome man with a future to look forward to." The roof started to shake as she ramped up her power.
'Oh shit, I pissed her off.' Issei thought as he pooled some power in his hand.
Rossweisse started firing off bolts of lightning at Issei as he ran towards her "I won't forgive you."
She kept throwing more and more lightning at him until the last second as he hit her in the middle of the chest with an open hand. His hand sank into her tracksuit right between her breasts as a blast of wind erupted shredding her clothes.
As he pulled back his hand he caught the first glimpse of Rossweisse naked. Smooth legs and a narrow waist with a slim figure that supported a pair of breasts that were almost on par with Rias. But that didn't last long as she landed on the ground covering herself as she started to cry. Issei did something he didn't want to see, he made a pretty girl cry. "Sorry about that."
She looked up to him as tears were rolling down her face as she yelled at him "Sorry doesn't solve anything. That outfit was bought on an under 1000 yen sale. Now it is going to cost even more to replace it. The bra and panties were cute and on sale." Issei found it weird she wasn't mad that she was naked it's that her cheap clothing was destroyed. But he walked over to her as she started yelling again as she covered herself up."Now I cant get married."
Issei grabbed the part of her bra that was stuck under her arm as he tugged it out "You're just now noticing that you are naked. Not before when I destroyed your clothes." He was looking at the bra, seeing that it was in fact a nice looking bra from the pattern that was left of it.
"Your dress break is a danger to the environment. And I bet you burn through tissues like it's nothing."
This was a new thing for Issei being lectured in a way like this as he summoned a book and opened it up. Placing the bra fragment in it he reached down grabbing a section of her panties that were somewhat intact and also placing it in the book. As he closed the book he looked at Rossweisse "I almost feel insulted by that. But I use about as many tissues as you use tampons." Her face got red from hearing that as he got close to her ear "That's what Rias, Akeno, and Asia are there for." As he backed away the book lit up red opening it up came out what looked to be a brand new pair of underwear. He handed them off to her "Consider it an apology."
Three knocks came at the door to the roof "Sorry to ruin your climax." Issei turned around to see Azazel standing in the doorway. "Surprised to see that it took you this long to get handsy with her. A virgin Valkyrie and the king of perverts that should be fun to watch."
Rossweisse stood up hiding behind Issei as she was putting on her newly acquired underwear and summoned another tracksuit. "What do you want, Azazel."
"Were being summoned to the nearby restaurant."
"Who wants us?" Issei asked as Rossweisse stepped out from behind Issei, now dressed.
Azazel had a smile curl up his face "One cute whirly twirly magical girly."