School had ended for the day, and Rias' peerage congregated at the Occult Research Club house. Rias and Akeno were relaxed with the presence of the progenitor demon in their midst, but the others were distinctly uncomfortable.
Koneko stood wholly behind Akeno, using the Queen as a shield against the monster that made her feel more worthless than dust. Her pupils were dilated even the dense Red Dragon Emperor looked at the nekoshou in worry.
Kiba kept flexing his hand, groping for a non-existent sword on his waist. He could of course create a sword with his Sacred Gear, but something tells him that it's a very bad idea.
Issei did not know what to do with himself. On one hand, he is very grateful to the blond dude sitting on the couch with his arms crossed. He had saved his Buchou from a very horrid fate. Issei was supposed to feel happy and content with it. But he wasn't. He could not help but feel a sliver of resentment towards the Phenex for stealing his thunder. It was supposed to be his day! He had prepared completely to throw it down with Riser, that Flaming Chicken. He had sacrificed his arm to the Dragon sealed in his left arm and gained proportional power to it. He was ready to unveil his Balance Breaker… Whatever that was and stun Buchou. He would have saved his King, eloped under the starry night and would have gotten hands on those most glorious oppai…
'Oppai… hehehe', Issei grinned lewdly, completely forgetting his previous bout of surprise introspection and latched onto the topic of his fascination.
'If only I could latch onto it…' his fiery gaze flitted over to Akeno-senpai, her oppai almost the size of his face. She had her arms crossed under her bust, enhancing their appeal further. He could almost feel his drool dribble out of his mouth. Akeno-senpai was not waiting on the Phenex like she usually did when guests came into the club room, but was waiting patiently for the Bishop, Asia Argento to arrive. As were they. The normally punctual girl was running late due to some errand, and they could not begin any discussion of any sort without the complete presence of the peerage.
Buchou was looking at the Phenex with an intensity that Issei decided he did not like. Something about how her eyes shone brilliantly when she gazed at the progenitor made him feel uncomfortable. It also made his heart squeeze painfully for some reason. He would rather not feel this shitty feeling, hence he started ogling the King's Oppai instead.
Instantly, the doors slammed open as Asia barreled into the room. She shrunk her neck and made herself small when 6 pairs of eyes swiveled at her. Issei cringed a little as Asia almost tripped over nothing and stood beside him. She looked up to meet his eyes, her greyish orbs lit up in pure joy. It made his heart do some funny summersaults.
"Well,", a dry voice sounded out. Adamas Phenex was observing them like how one would inspect an exotic dog and it made Asia feel uncomfortable, going by how she clung onto Issei, pressing her budding buds against his arm… 'Hehehe'
"You have got quite the peerage with you Rias", the Sword Saint complimented her genuinely and Rias puffed out with pride. "Everyone here has got potential. So much of it." His smile widened when he latched his eyes onto Issei and the pervert gulped.
"Yeah. All of them are so amazing that I am so very proud of them. I would not replace any single one of them." Rias shot them all a warm smile and Issei's heart felt like it was drenched in warm honey.
"I can see why", the blonde progenitor stood and walked towards Asia, who was clinging onto Issei's arm. She looked up at the Phenex and shot him a nervous smile. Adamas simply stood in front of her and gazed into her eyes.
"Twilight Healing huh?", he muttered and nodded his head. He seemed content with whatever he saw in her as he moved over to Issei, who peered defiantly and a little fearfully into the deep-sea like orbs of the ancient Demon.
Adamas smirked a little as Issei was pulled. The Red Dragon Emperor was helplessly thrown onto a rickety raft bobbing dangerously on a freak storm.
Where was he? Where was Buchou? Asia? Kiba and the others? Where was the club house?
His mind could not comprehend the sudden change in scenario. One second, he was in the club house, gazing into the progenitor's eyes and the next? He was transported here somehow.
The clouds formed a gray ceiling and the sea seemed endless. There was not an end in sight. The water was thrashing against the raft and every splash on his body sent pain to his mind. His arms were bleeding and covered in countless little scratches. He dropped down, shielding his head and curled atop the raft in pain. The raft was cool to touch and upon peering at them through slitted eyes, he realized that it was silver in color. He was helplessly swaying to the tune of this storm, the rain splattering his body with countless nicks and tearing pain. He closed his eyes and hoped for this to end; the pain, the storm and this freakishness.
Suddenly, everything did come to a stop. The silver raft halted, as if someone pressed the pause button. He could feel the pinprick sensations all over his body. It seemed like there were a million needles poking him relentlessly. It did not hurt as much compared to the rain or the sea, but it registered as a mild inconvenience.
He could also feel heat on the back of his crouched figure, and he opened his eyes abruptly. He stood up and gazed at the sun directly. A piercing cry emerged from his throat as the same pinprick sensation assaulted his eyes. He hastily looked down at his feet, and his eyes took in the unusual shape of the raft. He was standing on the widest part of the raft, which became leaner and thinner to his right, ending at a sharp, pointed edge that pained his eyes just by looking at it. He looked to his left and the size tapered down there too, but it ended at a guard and began as a hilt… His eye widened.
A sword. He was standing on a sword.
He looked at the sea around them and felt the same pain from looking at the edge of the sword-raft. He averted his gaze, but not before catching the small swords that made up the sea.
This wasn't a sea of water… It was a sea of swords! Every atom in the sea consisted of swords. Even the sun was a sword and the rays emitted by it a sword too. He did not notice any pain flaring from his wounds as there was no pain. The wounds had healed, leaving tiny cuts and blood on the Kuoh uniform.
'Where am I?', Issei thought in fear and he looked around frantically. That was a mistake as his movements caused ripples on this sword-sea. Suddenly, the sword-raft dropped into the sea, taking him with it and Issei was completely submerged. The tiny swords constituting the ocean seemed like they were attacking him on purpose as his body was eviscerated bit by bit. Issei opened his mouth to scream out loud, but the tiny swords entered his mouth and ravaged his teeth, tongue and his voice box. He could not scream! Only blood flowed out his mouth, face, chest, legs, eyes and ears.
'It hurts', was the only thought looping through the conscious part of his mind.
'It hurts It hurts It hurts IthurtsIthurtsIthurts It hurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurts'
"AAAAAAAAAA-
Rias jumped in her seat in surprise, shock and concern as she saw her cute pawn crumble to the ground and scream in sheer pain. He was thrashing on the ground, clutching at his throat and had tears streaming down his face. Asia, the closest one to Issei, clasped her mouth in horror and had tears of her own prick her eyes. Kiba literally jumped back in fright and Koneko kept shaking like a leaf in a storm. Akeno quickly rushed to Issei and Rias followed her.
The King placed her dear pawn's head on her lap and Akeno was running comforting circles on his chest. She kept calling out his name and tried to calm him down. Rias ran her hand across Issei's forehead and wiped the sweat dampening his brow. In fact, his entire body was soaked in sweat. His shirt clung to his body, and it looked distinctly uncomfortable.
Rias looked up at the only person who would give her an answer. Her eyes were beseeching when she spotted Adamas towering over them but had to recoil in shock when she spotted the wide, face-splitting grin on his face. He was mad. He looked mad. He looked like the Demon that he was. The cruel, soul consuming, all-destroying Demons of yore. His eyes were shining with a light that made it painful to look directly at him.
Rias looked in the Demon's direction for a moment, looked down at her dear pawn thrashing and screaming in pain and at her peerage who were filled with fear.
She looked at them all and once again realized how powerless she truly was.