P.S this story starts a few years before the start of our favorite DXD verse!
AND I DON'T OWN ANY DXD MATERIAL, ALL CREDIT TO THE ORIGINAL WRITERS!
"Talking out aloud"
'Thinking with ones mind'
"Spirits inside the sacred gears talking"
Without further delay, lets start the chapter!
Kuoh
"That was a damn long night!" Marid yawned as he entered the Occult Research Club alongside Sona and their respective peerages.
"What is he doing here" Saji asked as he angrily pointed at a confused Issie. He was told this meeting was held in the presence of the three Kings that lived in Kuoh. For Issie to be there, meant that someone turned him into a Devil.
'Who would want to turn him into a Devil' Saji thought scandalized, truly offended by Issie's presence among the royalty of the Devil world.
"Issie-san is Rias new servant" Sona calmly informed her pawn.
"Servant? How does she know about that?" Issie asked a little confused.
"Issie, this right here is Sona Sitri. She is the Heiress to the House of Sitri; a well respected noble house in the underworld" Akeno explained to her new junior.
"Wow, I thought us and Lord Marid's peerage were the only Devils in the city" Issie replied a little dumbfounded.
"Oh the new Devil doesn't know about us. It is clear to me that he must be an irrelevant part of Rias-senpai's peerage. To be fair, he shouldn't even be in this room as us Sitri's" Saji replied arrogantly. Marid actually snorted at that but restrained himself from answering back, wanting to see how the scene would play out.
"What did you say?" Issie asked, now getting a little angry at Saji's arrogant behavior.
"That you shouldn't even be here, a worthless one pawn piece shouldn't be in a meeting where proper administrative decisions are made" Saji replied just as arrogantly. In his arrogance and lack of understanding of magic, he failed to pick up on a slight increase in Rias Gremory's aura.
She truly regarded her servants as a family and someone disrespecting her pawn was unacceptable. However, thankfully for Saji, silent pleas from Marid and Sona stopped Rias from putting Saji in his place. Sona's intentions more noble than Marid who just simply wanted to see the two pawns fight for his own entertainment.
"Then why are you here? Huh? You don't look like much to me." Issie bit back.
"Unlike you I actually took four pawn pieces to be reincarnated as a Devil. I can probably beat you with a single punch" Saji replied boastfully.
"He took eight pawn pieces Saji. Please check your facts before embarrassing yourself in front of others" Sona sighed as she stepped into stop her pawn from further making a fool of himself.
"Furthermore, as far you beating Issie goes, I don't think it would be that one sided as you believe Saji. A week more of an experience as a Devil will not give you more of a chance to beat up Issie. If you both fought right now, this fight wouldn't be anything bigger than an amateur school yard brawl where the winner would be probably be the more strong willed fighter. Unfortunately for you, you are untrained with your sacred gear so you won't have any advantage in this fight. To be honest, as both of you are right now, I favor Issie winning in this fight since Issie's sacred gear will gives him a better chance in beating you than you beating him right now" Marid commented offhandedly, egging Saji to fight Issie to prove himself. However, a sharp glare from both Rias and Sona towards himself shutdown his idea for orchestrating a fight.
Saji, who was pissed off , wanted to respond back, but a sharp nod from Sona told him that she agreed with Marid's comment on his potential fight with Issie. It definitely took his confidence down a few notches.
"Anyhow, we should begin our meeting right now. Apart from the fact it was a very long night, I have a lot of stuff that needs to be done" Marid yawned as he spoke to the group.
"I concur. Hopefully we can complete this meeting in the next few hours so that we can take the next few hours to recuperate from last night's activity" Rias sighed as she rubbed her temple as she felt her headache grow.
During the meeting, Akeno distributed the group with tea and coffee as most Devils in the room were pretty tired from last night's quest. To complete an extensive search of the city, each of the three kings took a section of the city to locate Zill with Rias investigating the western part of the city. Due to Marid teams' having higher sensory skills, they took both the northern and eastern parts of the city while Sona and her peerage took the Southern part of the city. To their chagrin, it had taken them the whole night to complete a thorough search of the city, even then they couldn't find the slippery lion.
"You can say that again" Sona replied, who was groggy herself, drank a sip of her dark coffee.
"Any luck on your end Rias?" Marid asked as he gratefully accepted tea offered by Akeno to the occupants of the ORC clubroom.
"No we weren't able to find any traces of Zill on the western part of the city. It could be possible, Zill took shelter at one of the abandoned warehouses since that section of the city is predominately an industrial district" Rias sighed as she took a sip of her own tea in efforts to shake off any grogginess.
"This guy is becoming one slippery lion" Marid commented aloud. Others couldn't help but nod their head in agreement.
"Why is it so important we find the guy? We can always wait for him to come to us again, but this time we all will confront him together" Issie tentatively suggested to the group.
"The problem with that suggestion is that we simply can't take that risk. A sneak attack from Zill could produce detrimental results for all of us. We just can't wait for him to come for us again" Rias sighed as she lightly declined Issie suggestions.
"What can you expect from a pervert" Saji snorted after witnessing Rias shutting down Issie's idea.
"What did you say?" Issie asked angrily. It was clear to the group there was some underlying tensions between the duo but at the moment their quarrel was too small to be of any significance.
"That a pervert can't come up with an idea for this problem" Saji replied sarcastically.
"Why don't you come up with a suggestion if you are so much smarter than me" Issie bit back much to the amusement of the three Kings present in the room.
"As you know I already have come up with a plan of action that is far better and safer than yours" Saji replied with arrogance, much to Issie's growing anger.
"Oh, and what would that be Saji" Sona asked her pawn curiously.
"We can always ask for backup from the underworld" Saji suggested with a victorious grin.
"NO!! I will not ask help from my brother/sister" Both Rias and Sona essentially shouted simultaneously at a now petrified Saji much to Marids amusement.
"While your suggestion does have merit Saji, it is not something Rias and Sona will accept. I have known them both a lot longer than you have and I am telling you, they struggle to accept my help even as a life long friend. If they are unable to easily accept my help in this mess, how can they accept or even, ask their siblings for help knowing how overly attached those two are" Marid explained Rias and Sona's rejection to a petrified Saji.
"You both need to learn how to read your audience if you want to succeed in this world" Marid amusedly advised before returning to his tea.
"U..Understood" Saji frighteningly replied.
"So what should we do now Buchou" Akeno asked her king once she had distributed tea to all the occupants of the room.
"Unfortunately there is literally nothing we can do right now other than sit tight and wait for Zill to show up. Without any sensory/locating devices there is nothing we can do to hunt down Zill" Rias said as she looked towards Marid with an expecting look.
"If you are trying to wonder if my sensory radar/device is ready… It is not. My Rook is working on the device as we speak. You all have to wait at least three weeks before the device is completed" Marid sighed.
"Can't we help your Rook creating the device? Me and Tsubaki are very good at rune work" Sona asked her childhood friend.
"I don't doubt your capabilities Sona but the device wont do us any good if its made up from Devil and human rune symbols. I am sure wherever Zill is hiding with his master; his hiding spot should be cloaked by advanced magic suppressing spells and equipment that is most likely resistant to advanced Devil and human tracing techniques. We will have to go above and beyond to create a device which can track Zill and his master through their magic suppressing spells. All of this is not even considering Zills master" Marid replied back with a sigh.
"What do you mean?" Rias asked curiously.
"Kuroshishi are quite prideful beings Rias Gremory. They will never follow someone who is weaker than them. It is actually quite a common tradition among Kuroshishi prides that the alpha of the pride has to prove his superiority within the pride whenever there is a dispute. I can put good money on the fact that whoever Zill is serving, is a very strong being. To be able to subdue someone like Zill, it takes someone truly powerful to do" Kenta explained much to the shock of most of the people present.
"That is not counting the fact that the Zills master is most likely a Fallen Angel. If his teleportation symbol is anything to go by" Sona also stated as she rubbed her eyebrows.
'A powerful Kuroshishi working with a high class Fallen Angels with exceptional cloaking spells!! Could things get any worse' Rias thought indecorously.
"For now I think we need to stay back and follow Issie suggestions. Try and kill Zill the next time he shows up" Marid sighed as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"That's what I told your Bishop but she let Zill walk away even when he was hurt" Rias replied with a huff with her arms folded underneath her impressive breast.
"We need to have a word about that Rias" Marid shot Rias an unfriendly look after being reminded what he heard Rias had said to Yumi.
"Lord Marid please" Yumi begged Marid out of doing anything reckless, but she knew her request was subtly declined once she noticed a sadistic smile creeping on her Kings face.
"Moving on, I heard that Yumi was actually able to wound Zill. How did you accomplish that?" Sona asked curiously. If it was a reliable tactic, the three Kings could easily come up with different battle strategies to combat Zill.
"Remember when Kenta-san healed Akeno-san in your healing facility" Yumi asked Sona. Sona now remembering the event nodded. "Lord Marid told me about it and his belief on how Akeno-san was able to somewhat able to recover from the Ku poisoning on her own, despite Zill's best efforts. After talking to Kenta on how basic Ki manipulation works, I asked him to cast a similar Ki manipulation on me" Yumi admitted much to Marid's horror.
However, before Marid could jump into to scold his Bishops recklessness, she raised her hand to explain her thought process, "My sacred gear provides me with the ability to wield light magic in a limited quantity. As you know light magic in some aspects is an extension of the holy magic which made it the perfect way to check our hypothesis to whether light by the extension of Holy magic provide any resistance Ki manipulation magic and as you may have pieced it together… it does provide us with significant resistance. My theory is that purer the energy is the more natural resistance it would provide against Ki magic. Like a high tiered Angel would provide a significant resistance more than someone like me who can only wield limited light magic via her sacred gear" Yumi explained her hypothesis to the group much to their shock.
Most people had their jaws open in awe and shock as to what Yumi was able to accomplish. Kiba for that matter had a prideful smile on his face on what his adoptive older sister was able to accomplish. Rias and Sona held looks of disbelief on their faces while Marid had a stoic look on his face, much Yumi's chargin. However, he soon stood up from his seat and ended up fist bumping Yumi before bringing her into a warm hug.
"That's my girl" Marid patted her Bishops head pridefully. He was suitably impressed with what Yumi was able to accomplish on her own.
"No its nothing" Yumi muttered with a massive blush for receiving such a praise from her master.
"I don't think you understand what you have been able to accomplish here Yumi. Devils always had known that the Bible God provided his followers with numerous advantages in the world but until now, we only had some theories to what there advantages might be. With your help we have uncovered one of Angels strengths they have courtesy of their father. With this, we can prepare for some counter measures against Zill" Sona replied with an impressed look which caused Yumi to blush even more.
"I must say I am suitably impressed by your findings as well Yumi" Rias admitted as well with a jealous look directed towards her nephew. Not for the first time wondering how in the nine layers of hell Marid was able to not only get Yumi past her childhood trauma but also evolve her sacred gear to a point where it could hurt beings, she was barely able to defeat on her own.
Soon the open jaws of the Devils present in the room were turned into impressed grins and cheers for what Yumi was able to accomplish. However, soon the cheers got too much for Yumi, who wasn't used to being cheered on by so many people. Taking mercy on his bishop, Marid decided to change the topic, "While my bishops discovery is impressive in its own right, we all should get some rest before your school tomorrow, after all it has been a long night for everyone"
"I am sure we can continue this meeting for a little while" Rias said confused as to why Marid was suddenly hellbent into ending the meeting.
"Nah, we have established that there is nothing we can do without the tracking device my Rook is making. All we can do is be vigilant at this point. Thank you for your efforts people, we will let you know if something comes up" Marid replied with a smile as he looked over the group. When neither Rias nor Sona protested to Marids call to end the meeting, the group slowly left through the main doors of the Occult Research Club.
"Aren't you heading home too? As I remember you have a lot of work to do" Sona asked curiously as she saw Marid stay behind with Rias in the Occult Research Club.
"I just have some Gremory business I would like to run through Rias before I head home" Marid replied with a smile.
"Lord Ma…" Yumi began to say something, but she was smoothly cut off by her King.
"As for you Yumi, I would very well appreciate if you could go back home and setup Kenta with his first training session" Marid interrupted Yumi with a calming smile.
"My first training session is with Yumi huh? Considering you were singlehandedly able force Zill into a retreat, I could say you can show me a few things. Looks like I am in your care" Kenta gave Yumi a polite head nod.
"Oh your session with Yumi is definitely training" Marid chuckled as he summoned a book bag before throwing it to Kenta.
Kenta, who was curious opened back to only to find a book of Devil History in the bag pack, "From the Great war to Civil war! What in the nine layers of hell is this?" Kenta asked shocked as he waved the book in front of Marid.
"That book is part of your historical training. I can't have my Rook be uneducated on the history of our people. Furthermore, I am also planning to introduce you to my family soon as well and I want to make a good impression on them, so get to it!" Marid ordered his Rook amusedly.
"I am going to beat you to pulp in our sparring sessions later on" Kenta groaned as he followed Yumi out of the room.
"One could dream" Marid chuckled as the last few Devils trickled out of the room. Once it was clear everyone was out of the room, Marid waved his hand to shut the door and the windows inside the room.
Outside
"Damn that was one hell of a night" Issie yawned aloud as he walked outside alongside all three peerages in Kuoh.
"It was indeed, but I would suggest you get used to all of this. Being a Devil is hard work" Sona calmly replied to Issie groan.
"It is indeed, you should work yourself in integrating into the Devil world. I would imagine it would be something Lady Rias would appreciate" Yumi helpfully advised her junior.
"That she would! I imagine after the quite stressful first few days as a Devil, you would have quite a few questions, don't hesitate to ask us any questions" Kiba helpfully added with a smile.
"Ara Ara, you can always ask for help from us" Akeno added with a giggle of her own, finding the scene unfolded in front of her quite adorable.
"As long as you don't act like a pervert" Koneko replied stoically as she ate her sweets.
"Thank you everyone, I wont let you all down" Issie saluted his seniors.
"That's good! Someone like you needs all the help they could get" Saji snorted.
"Why you!" Issie replied angrily.
"You say as if you are any better than him. Have you forgotten what Marid said about both of you, a fight between both of you would result in a draw or a loss for you. I would suggest to both of you start seriously training as well before you get stuck into a conflict where you put your team members in jeopardy" Kenta dismissively replied as he turned around to walk away from the group.
Saji who didn't take Kenta's roundabout advice kindly, growled in anger before doing something he regretted heavily; "Why you?!" Saji tried to stop Kenta as he placed a hand on the back of his shoulder. This proved to be a huge mistake as Kenta immediately grabbed the guy's wrist and turned around.
Saji slumped over in agony and began to cry out in pain as Kenta squeezed his wrist tightly forcing him to his knees.
"Don't ever touch me or you are losing the hand dude" Kenta warned Saji with a growl. Saji could only quickly nod his head in agreement due to the pain he felt at the moment.
"Kenta, while I appreciate you stepping in to educate my pawn, I would appreciate if you release your hold on Saji now" Sona spoke sternly as she saw her newest pawn wriggle under Kenta's grip, deserving as it may be.
Kenta who wasn't amused by Saji attitude was hesitant to release Saji however, a nudge and a silent plea from Yumi made him assent to Sona's demand.
"Thank you Kenta-san!" Sona thanked Kenta with a nod before setting her sights straight onto her misbehaving pawn, "Saji, this should prove a valuable lesson for you as well. While you hold 4 pawn pieces, which in itself a rare sight, those 4 pawn pieces wont give you any advantage if you don't work up till your potential. Both Marid and Kenta are right in the assessment that both you and Issie-san need a lot of work to be able to stand in the underworld. With the situation with the rouge Kuroshishi, I would recommend taking their advice to heart and start training outside the training I have scheduled for you" Sona sternly advised Saji and his rival.
"Yes Kaicho" Saji replied weakly as he felt shame of his actions.
"Its probably a good time for us disperse. We have had a long night and we should go back to our respective homes and recover. We have school starting back up tomorrow" Sona advised to the group as she teleported herself and her peerage away.
"We should head home too Yumi, I don't know about you, but I could use a nap right now" Kenta yawned as to show how tired he was.
"Unfortunately for you, we have to get to start your training. Lord Marid plans to introduce you to his family before the meeting with the Olympian Gods" Yumi replied with an apologetic smile, knowing that her junior won't be able to go to sleep for at least a few more hours.
"No!" Kenta replied in horror as he remembered the studying, he has to do with Yumi on underworld history and politics.
"Afraid so" Yumi laid a comforting hand on Kenta's shoulders before regarding the Gremory group. "It had been an interesting last few hours at the very least. Please let us know if there any updates regarding Zill. Until next time!" Yumi waved goodbye before teleporting herself and Kenta back to their apartment where she could begin Kenta's formal training.
"It's a good time for us to leave as well" Kiba suggested to the group.
"Do you want me to teleport you to your house Issie-san?" Akeno asked her junior with a smile, knowing her junior doesn't know how to use a teleportation circle.
"Thank you Akeno-senpai but I would like to take a walk back home. A lot has happened in the last few days and I would like to take some time to go over things" Issie sheepishly explained to his senpai. Akeno who understood how difficult the situation must for Issie, nodded understandingly before reminding Issie to alert herself and others should he come across Zill or any other Fallen Angels.
Soon, all the ORC members teleported away while an exhausted Issie begin his journey back home.
"Oh shit what I am going to tell Okaa-san about me being out the whole night" Issie thought in horror before sprinting towards his house, praying to whoever who would listen to him to make sure his parents are still in their bed and not awake worried sick about their only child.
Unforutalely for him, he was confronted by a very angry mother when he entered his home.
"ISSIE WHERE HAE YOU BEEN??!?!" Mrs. Hyoudou growled at her only son before trying to slap her son. While Issie could only do his best and dodge his mothers strikes while his father reveled in the fear he saw in Issie's eyes after all the worry he had made him and his wife go through last night.
Issie begged his father to save him from his mother but Mr. Hyoudou disregarded his sons wishes and opened his newspaper since he knew very well not come in between a woman's anger after they all say 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' .
Meanwhile
While the group outside eventually dispersed and headed back to their own dwellings, the two Kings remaining in the clubroom were locked in an intense stare down. The tension in the room was suffocating to the point it could have fainted a normal human.
"Can I ask what Gremory business you would like to discuss with me Marid?" Rias asked aloof but deep down she knew what Marid was going to ask her about.
"You know what I am going to ask for Rias" Marid replied seriously as his attitude changed completely.
"And what will that be?" Rias asked curiously.
"An explanation for the starters Rias. Why did you degrade Yumi in in front of the entire group?" Marid asked seriously.
"There is nothing to say Marid, she disobeyed a direct order from me. She let a very dangerous threat leave the scene when we had a good chance to ending this whole charade" Rias huffed as she defended herself.
"She made a good call Rias. She let Zill leave with a warning. If it had come down to a battle, there would have been a lot of causalities. It would have been a pyrrhic victory even if you guys had defeated Zill" Marid tried to reason with Rias.
"I would have killed him before Zill got the chance to hurt anyone" Rias replied confidently. However, to her shock her statement was met by a disappointing look from Marid.
"Rias you wouldn't have been able to beat Zill on your own. If what Kenta and Yumi have told me is true, Zill's powers are growing at an alarming rate to the point someone like you will struggle to defeat him. All of this is not even considering the fact that Zill still hasn't unleashed his berserker form. A form which increases his powers by several folds without any sense of self preservation. In all aspects he will become similar to an evil dragon if he unleashes that form. How will you defeat someone like that on your own Rias" Marid retorted back.
"You don't have to patronize me Marid, I am strong and my peerage is powerful, we could have beaten him" Rias replied back with some anger on her part.
"In all honesty no Rias you are not that powerful. You were once quite a promising candidate to be the strongest youth Devil of our generation. Now you are just nothing more than an average High class Devil with an overpowered element inherited due to her heritage" Rias at that stood up from her seat and slapped Marid hard.
"How dare you say something like that!!! I am a powerful and a wise King. Don't get your undies twisted because I rightfully scolded your Bishop. Remember I am the Heir to our house. I can have your Bishop be sent to a hostile environment until she learns how to respect her elders" Rias growled at Marid. It was truly fortunate for Rias that Marid had subtly added privacy and noise cancelling wards to the room when everyone left the room because what followed wasn't pretty.
Murderous intent soon swopped into the room which sent shivers throughout Rias whole body. "I am more than aware of the privileges of an heir to a noble houses and their power over other members of their house. But don't think for a second that I can't take that title away from you" Marid spoke darkly.
"You wouldn't!" Rias eyes widened as she realized what Marid was pointing at.
"Oh but I can. I can easily contest you for the title for the heir of the House of Gremory and we both know what will be the result of that fight don't we Rias" Marid retorted back with a smile, liking the look of horror that slowly crept on Rias face.
"You can't do that, I have already defeated when you challenged my right to become the heir to our house" Rias bit back.
To her horror, Marid just smiled back, "We both know you only won that match because of Zeoticus giving you the Gremory crown. While that crown won you the fight, it did challenge the credibility of the result of our battle even then. You might not know this but just after our battle, there was a genuine petition in the pillar meetings that not only challenged your win but also demanded the Satan's to overturn the result and give me the right to become the next head of our house" Marid smiled much to Rias growing horror.
"It was only after Dad convinced the pillars to go with the original result as reverting result to such a prestigious event will not only show favoritism by the pillars to a son of a Mao but also might give the general populace the wrong idea of the corruption in the rating games and tittle bouts; which I remind you is one of the more popular means of earning a promotion for the general populace" By now Rias was so shocked she felt numb and cold. For a second, she thought that this might be some nightmare she might have be going through but a small pinch from Marid on her cheeks confirmed her worst fears, that this was happening right now.
"What do you want?" Rias asked her nephew cautiously.
"That you take your head out of your ass and become a leader you were meant to be. Despite what the general Devil populace believe, you are the Governor of Kuoh. Your actions have impacted many people including members of mine and Sona's peerage. Because if you can't, I will take over from here cause trust me, the last thing we need is a thoughtless ally on a battlefield" Marid replied bluntly.
Rias who wasn't impressed by Marid warning, overcame her fear of losing her tittle as the Heiress to the house of Gremory and growled in rage.
"How dare you!! I have ensured the safety of this city ever since I was given the governorship to this city while you left our House because you couldn't face the shame of losing to me. How dare you accuse me of not being able to handle the safety of this city and its denizens" Rias growled at Marid.
Marid eyes glowed ominously for barely a moment before they returned to their lightning blue color, "Your anger towards me or my peerage isn't going to fix your problems. I understand your anger, you got a marriage being pushed on you along with a lion you now have running all over your city. I can sympathize with you but things won't get better out of nowhere. You need to work to get to your goals, no one is going to put them on a silver platter for you" Marid spoke calmly.
"We are standing on a vital intersection where not only yours but the fate of a lot more people than you think hang in the balance Rias. It is essential we take the right steps moving forward for not only our sake but for sake of others" Marid spoke mysteriously before heading towards the door. Leaving Rias in with her own thoughts.
However, before Rias could begin to think on the confrontation she just had with her nephew, her nephew turned around with a smile, "And for the love of whoever you love, you have people who truly care about you and want what's best for you, ask them for help if you need something. After all, apart from money and political advantage, there was a genuine reason to why Zeoticus arranged a marriage contract for you right after our battle" Marid gave one more comforting look towards Rias before heading out of the clubroom, leaving Rias with her own thoughts.
Hours later
"I don't want to study anymore" Kenta groaned as he was forced to read history and ethics of the underworld.
"Hey, look on the bright side" Yumi replied to Kenta's groan with a smile.
"What's that?"
"Its almost time for you to spar Lord Marid. Perhaps you will be able to find some success over there" Yumi teased Kenta with a light chuckle. Kenta, who didn't find the comment amusing one bit fought hard to restrain himself from lunging onto Yumi.
"You are lucky that I have to complete this chapter before I can even spar Marid today, otherwise I would have beaten the crap out of you" Kenta snapped back at Yumi.
"You can always try. You know what, I will make you a deal. If you can beat me in a round of sparring, I will tell Lord Marid that you completed your training" Yumi amused with Kenta's antics gave him a generous deal. Much to her further amusement, Kenta not only didn't accept her deal, but also didn't even acknowledge the deal she had made before. After all she had made the same deal to him numerous times in the last few hours. Each time the result was the same, Kenta flat on his back within the minute.
"One day I will wipe that smile off your face Yumi" Kenta lightly growled before turning his attention back to the social ethics books he was being forced to read.
"You could dream" Yumi chuckled as she returned to reading the newest edition of the world famous The Practical Potioneer, after all one couldn't know too much.
All the while Kenta sat on his seat fuming, he would rather be learning different techniques that could help him against Zill. Much to his disappointment, Yumi had refused to train him or even teach him new fighting skills and had asked him to focus on his studies.
Thankfully he didn't have to wait too long to get his fighting session, "Looks like someone is studying hard" Marid commented as he entered the study room via a magic circle.
"No thanks to Yumi over here! She didn't even let me take a nap!" Kenta growled as he sent a glare towards Yumi who wasn't affected by the glare what so ever.
"And she did the right thing. I want you to be ready for what's coming Kenta which is why you can't be slouching" Marid replied with a sigh.
"What do you mean?" Kenta asked confused.
"Apart from Zill, I want you to be ready to meet my family soon Kenta. My father recently found out about you, and he is interested in meeting you and I can't let you meet him without having no knowledge of Devils truly are! It would truly be embarrassing for me since my Dad is the Lord of my entire nation!" Marid explained his reasoning.
"What is the second reason?" Kenta asked curiously.
"What makes you think there is another reason?" Marid asked his Rook, genuinely surprised by his Rook's thought process.
"With you there is always another reason" Kenta shrugged as he gave Marid his reasoning.
Marid's surprise soon turned into a chuckle, "Looks like you are not all brawns after all"
"Whatever" Kenta said angrily before giving his master a stink eye.
"Alright the second reason for me wanting you to train is… I want you both would be my escort at the meeting with the Olympian Gods" Marid spoke seriously, much to the shock of both Yumi and Kenta.
"You want us to be your escort against the Gods. Wouldn't someone from Lord Lucifers peerage be better suited to accompany you to the meeting which could result in an all-out war between our factions should it go poorly?" Yumi asked with a shocked expression. Still not understanding why her master wanted them as an escort while they could barely handle someone like Zill on their own.
"You would be right on that regard Yumi, but taking someone from my father's peerage would not only showcase a intimidation tactic from our side, considering how powerful members of my fathers peerage are, but it will also disregard my own significance at the meeting. It could be seen as a political move by the Olympian delegation with my father putting me in an important meeting only to showcase his strength into the nobles of the underworld. Even though it is untrue, it could still be considered highly disrespectful to them when in reality we are the ones who want peace and not the other way around!" Marid explained his thoughts to his peerage members.
"That would make sense to why you would want us not only to be well educated but also powerful enough to hold our own in that meeting… should it go poorly" Kenta nodded in understanding as he finally realized why Marid is pushing him so hard to study. Yumi herself also nodded in understanding to Marid's well thought out points.
"This is why, from now on, both of you will be training regularly with me alongside any work that comes your away from either the school or Rias" Marid announced to the group. Much to his satisfaction, both of his peerage members didn't whine, but nodded in understanding.
"So the question is, who is the first one training with you" Kenta asked with some excitement.
"You of course! I feel that now is the best time for us to start working on your skills and that sacred gear!" Marid announced much to Kenta's relief. Relief on the fact that he won't have to continuing his social and historical studies of the underworld… for now.
"What do you want me to do while you train Kenta-san?" Yumi asked innocently.
"You my dear would be working on your aim for now" Marid replied with a smile as he generated a massive teleportation circle underneath himself and his peerage members.
Soon the group was teleported from their apartment in Kuoh to wooden clearing in the middle of the forest.
"Where are we?" Kenta asked curiously as he looked around to get a reading to where they were.
"We are in the separate dimension. This dimension is smaller but is similar to the dimension where Devils take part in the rating games" Marid explained.
"What are Rating games?" Kenta asked curiously.
However, before Marid could respond, Yumi beat him to the punch, "The Rating Game is a competition between two Devils with a peerage. They were created after the introduction of the Evil pieces by Ajuka Beelzebub. Rating Games are used to measure a Devil's strength, battle prowess and battle tactics, all of which will reflect their social standing in the Underworld" Yumi helpfully explained it to her junior.
"With that being said lets start your training!" Marid nodded at Yumi's explanation before looking sharply at Yumi, "Yumi I have already prepared targets for you to shootdown. Like always I won't be telling you what the targets are or how many of them there are out there. With that being said, I will give you until me and Kenta finish our training to hunt down all of those targets. Should you be unsuccessful you will have another round of sparring with me" Marid replied sweetly at the end. Much to Kenta's surprise, Yumi actually shivered at the mention of sparring session with Marid.
'She shivered at the mention of sparring sessions with Marid?!? How bad are these sessions?' Kenta thought indecorously before focusing up as Marids stare turned towards him.
"With that out of the way, lets start our own sparring session Kenta" Marid spoke calmly as he led Kenta towards a different clearing in the forest. Soon, both of them squared up to each other to begin their spar, all the while Yumi went onto hunt down on her own targets which were part of her own training.
"You better be ready Marid cause I am in need of a good fight right now" Kenta spoke with much anticipation as he transformed into his first Youkai forms. He brought out his ears and tails while remaining in his human form to spar against Marid. The same form he used the last time he fought against Zill.
The sun beat down on the forest, but Kenta didn't seem to notice. Marid had selected a small clearing as the sparring location as it made it difficult for Kenta to move around, and it would force him to use his surroundings to his advantage. It was his wish to not only help Kenta vent b but also learn different fighting styles so that he could hold his own against any threats that may arise in the near future.
Marid moves in first in an attempt to land a right hand on Kenta cheek but his strike was caught by Kenta who in turn threw Marid to the ground. Much to Kenta's surprise, Marid recovered before his body reached the ground and sprung back in an attempt to land a spinning kick on Kenta's chest. The kick landed flush on Kenta's chest sending him through dozen of trees before Kenta regained control over his body.
"I believe we should take off the kiddy gloves Kenta" Marid spoke with a smile before surrounding himself with a cold whiteish blue aura.
"That's fine with me" Kenta replied with a smirk as he wiped blood of his face before unleashing his second Youkai form. His form grew taller as his aura turned more sinister. His face earned some feline features while his teeth further sharpened, now resembling more like a beast.
"So this is what your second form feels like during a face off" Marid replied curiously as he did his best to study his Rooks aura.
"Getting cold feet already" Kenta teased back as he took his fighting stance.
"Not at all, I am rather curious! I have seen this form of yours the first time I met, when you were fighting against Zill and his lackeys" Marid replied to a Kenta who had suddenly gone very stiff.
"Yea so what about it?" Kenta replied back with a question uncomfortably.
"I wanted to know the difference between your Youkai form then and your form now! While I may not be a skilled Ki reader, I am knowledgeable enough to know that you are releasing less of that sinister Ki than you were releasing back then. Does a Kuroshishi release of Dark Ki in the midst of the battle related to the emotions they are experiencing during the heat of the battle or is there another reason why you were releasing so much Dark Ki then?" Marid asked curiously. His thirst for knowledge overcoming his rational character for a brief moment.
Kenta, who was surprised by the question, took a moment to answer his masters question, "It is bit of both actually, at the time of my confrontation with Zill and his lackeys, I hadn't vented off for a good week, which is why I was on the edge. It is also one of the reasons I acquiesced to Zills ask to join him in the mine, with the dream that if the my negotiations with him went well, then I can have sparring partner with whom I can safety vent against" Kenta elaborated to Marid who could only nod his head in deep understanding.
"That makes sense!" Marid nodded his head in understanding before shrugging off his thoughts for them to get back to their training.
Soon the duo rushed towards each other with their aura flaring dangerously. Both of them were quite grateful for sparring in a separate dimension rather in the real world since their battle would cause significant damage to the environment.
Shortly after the sparring session had started, it was clear that Marid had superior hand to hand combat skills while Kenta though inexperienced held a small edge over Marid in terms of pure power. However, much to Kenta's surprise, Marid actually overcome that difference in power in pure technique and fluid movements which were giving Kenta a lot of trouble.
"Come on now Kenta, I thought you were a Lion" Marid laughed as he sidestepped Kenta's body kick meant for him before elbowing Kenta in his face; breaking his nose in the process.
"Damn it" Kenta growled before wiping his bloody nose. Soon the duo reengaged in their fast paced sparring session.
Kicks and punches started flying from both sides. While Marid easily dodged and blocked all of the strikes thrown his way, Kenta on the other hand struggled to stop the incoming bombardment. Despite his best efforts a lot of the strikes went through his guard and landed all over his body.
'Damn it! He knows very well on how to utilize his speed advantage in battle' Kenta throught furiously as he tried his best to figure out a way to turn the tides of the battle.
"You are losing concentration Kenta… You need to focus up" Marid pointed out as he grabbed a distracted Kenta's extended arm before launching him into a tree.
Within he next moment, Kenta was up on this feet, but much to Marid's surprise and delight, Kenta didn't blindly rush him like he had previously done. It was almost like he was starting to respect his opponent and their power rather than blindly trusting in yours.
"Remember," Marid said as they circled each other, "the goal is not to defeat your opponent, but to learn from them. So, don't be afraid to make mistakes."
"I understand." Kenta nodded before throwing a dozen fire spears towards Marid.
Marid expectantly casted a defensive magic circle to block of the attack. As Marid had expected, his shield held true and stopped Marid's spear but much to his surprise, Kenta's spear rather than fizzing out of existence, exploded outwards, making a perfect smokescreen made up of fire and dust.
Expecting a sneak attack, Marid closed his eyes and focused all of his senses on locating Kenta. His efforts ran true when he was able to pick up on some rustle of leaves behind him, before he sensed a flame spear hurtling towards his location. At the last possible moment, Marid turned around only to grab the flame spear in his left hand while his right hand turned into a fist headed straight to Kenta's head.
Kenta to his credit, wasn't discouraged by his plot being discovered, but was more eager to succeed in the challenge placed in front of him. Much to Marid's amazement, Kenta used his momentum to side kick his front knee which made him loose his balance. Kenta then used the same momentum to land an uppercut and then a side kick to a astounded Marid which sent him flying through a dozen trees.
Kenta wasn't done there as he re summoned his sacred before sending almost two dozen fire spears his own master resulting in a loud explosion.
Soon from within the smoke a sound of clapping came from, "I must say, that exchange was better than everything you have ever thrown in a fight I have seen Kenta" Marid praised his Rook for the beautiful sequence he was able to perform on himself.
"It may have landed on you Marid, but even after all that, I cant see more than a few scratches and burns on your body" Kenta remarked seriously as he closely obvserved Marids tattered clothes for any injuries.
"Oh don't sell yourself short Kenta! You did extremely well! You adapted to the situation and took advantage of my lapse of concentration" Marid continued to praise his Rook as he slowly started to walk towards him. "But as you will have realized… This battle aint over!" Marid said with some eagerness before rushing in towards Kenta, an action that was reciprocated by Kenta.
They continued to spar, Marid jabbing and kicking, Kenta dodging and weaving. However this time, Kenta was able to land a few punches, but Marid was able to block them all.
"Good," Marid said. "You're starting to get the hang of it."
Kenta smiled. "Thanks."
They sparred for thirty more minutes before Marid called it for the day.
"That should be good for today" Marid called the sparring off as he saw a rather bruised Yumi return from the forest.
"I can still go on" Kenta eagerly replied. However, his body said otherwise. A broken elbow, a shut out eye and a deep gash on the side of his stomach told Marid the sparring was done for the day.
"Are you sure about that?" Marid asked innocently. Right on cue, Kenta's body gave out on him as he fell to the ground.
"You know what I will take your offer" Kenta muttered as he struggled to stand back up.
"Wait a minute big man, let me heal you up real quick" Marid rolled his eyes at Kenta's refusal to ask for help. Soon, Yumi herself joined the duo and helped Marid heal the heavily damaged Rook.
"Where have you been?" Kenta asked curiously as he sat on the ground around a campfire.
"Lord Marid had me do my own training. Today I was supposed to hunt different beasts within the forest as a part of my training. Interestingly enough Lord Marid forgot to mention, he placed several Mud golems, he had recently created, around the beasts which made the hunting a whole lot difficult" at that Yumi actually gave Marid a pointed look. Considering how badly bruised she was, plus the burnt fringes of her hair, Marid felt like her complaint was completely justified.
"Hey don't look at me like that. If you knew what you are supposed to expect in our sessions together, you wouldn't be able to call it training now would you" Marid retorted back sassily at her Bishops complaint to which she stuck her tongue out at him. An action Marid found extremely cute.
"You can create a mud golem?? Don't their creation require the use of dark forbidden magic?" Kenta asked in shock.
"You do know that I am an Alchemist right?" Marid retorted as he simply raised his eye brow. Kenta couldn't help but move his head in disbelief.
"So, what did you guys learned today?" Marid asked like a parent done teaching their kids a lesson.
"Always keep an eye out for the unexpected" Yumi replied with a sigh as she started to heal herself.
"That I shouldn't never anger you otherwise you would tear me in two parts" Kenta rolled his eyes as he finally stood up.
"Well that is true but the right lesson for you should be that you should always learn from your opponent. Your opponent could sometimes teach you somethings that might save your life in the future" Marid replied to his Rook with a smile.
"Whatever" Kenta said as he jokingly rolled his eyes.
"So whats now on our agenda" Yumi asked her master innocently once she was done healing herself and patching up her clothes.
"You both can relax for the day, it has been a long night for you both. I on the otherhand have to start working on my concoction, if I ever dream to complete them in time for our meeting with the Olympian Gods" Marid replied with a tired sigh of his own.
"Do you need some help?" Yumi helpfully asked.
"I wouldn't say no to an extra pair of hands" Marid shrugged as he began creating a teleportation circle for him and his team.
"So while you both go out to play chemistry, I will take a long deserving nap" Kenta salivated at the thought of taking a nap, especially after what they went through last night.
"While taking a nap does sound good, I am afraid it would have to wait a little longer since you will be cooking dinner for us" Marid replied with a teasing smile, much to Kenta's horror.
"But I don't know how to cook" Kenta replied in horror. Trying his best to get out of his responsibility to cook the dinner for the group.
"No time like the present to learn" Marid laughed as he teleported a horrified Kenta and an amused Yumi out of the forest.
Next day
"Why am I doing this again?" Issie asked himself tiredly as he ran around the residential block, he resided in.
The school had been over for a little bit over an hour. Most of his fellow peerage members were out on fulfilling their Devil contracts while his master was having a meeting with Sona-kaicho about something. Fortunately… Or unfortunately, since Issie was too new to being a Devil and all, Rias had decided against sending him out to complete for a summon on his own for now. She had decided that it would be in his best interest for him to shadow someone else on their contract fulfilling sometime soon. This meant that Issie had a free evening all for himself.
Like most people would imagine for Issie to rush home and watch ecchi videos for the rest of the night, but they couldn't be more wrong since the recent events had Issie reevaluate his life choices. After Rias and Marid's confrontation with the Kuroshishi Lion two nights ago, Issie had decided to take training seriously, after all he was part of a more dangerous world now.
I mean he did wanted to use this second chance at life for the better, and what better way to positively live your life is to get in good shape…right?
'Man that stray thingy we went up against in that factory was strong! Not to mention that Lion that even the scary guy like Kenta wasn't able to beat up on his own. If it hadn't been for the cute girl in Marid's peerage, we would have been toast' Issie shuttered at the memory of the night where he came close to dying numerous times as he picked up his speed to complete his second lap.
Issei was soon brought out of his thoughts by a child running past and almost knocking him over. Blinking, he looked around as the change in scenery registered. Issei rolled his eyes at himself as he realized he'd gotten so lost in thought that he'd wandered into a damned park nearby his house.
"Eeep!" A cute sounding voice cried out and Issei turned around just in time to see a girl trip over and expose her pure white panties as her dress flew up.
'Ooooohhhh! Pure white for the win!' he enthused to himself. '10/10, would see again!'
Snapping himself out of his staring, he moved over to see if the girl needed any help. She had just taken a tumble, after all.
"Are you alright, miss?" he asked her as she managed to sit up, and he almost froze at the sight of her. The girl was simply adorable. She had long blond hair half-covered by a wimple, pretty emerald-green eyes and she had a kind of aura around her that was stirring up all of Issei's protective urges. Her outfit, now that he was actually looking at it properly, was a more elaborate, teal version of a Christian nun's habit.
The blond girl looked at him and spoke in a language that Issei only vaguely recognized as being Italian. Seeing his confused expression, she muttered something under her breath before trying again.
"Hello? I'm fine, thank you." she said. Her voice was kind and sweet as a bell. He made a mental note about her sudden fluency in Japanese.
"Here." Issei offered her a hand, which she gratefully took. As he helped her to her feet, Issei rejoiced in the feeling of a girl's hand. It was softer than he'd expected.
"I'm sorry for the trouble." The girl said with a quick bow as she made it to her feet and released his hand. "I'm Asia Argento and it is a pleasure to meet you" the girl now recognized as Asia, introduced herself to Issie who was gob smacked by the cute girl in front of him. Not realizing the storm that will be stirring up soon.
Chapter End
And that's all she wrote! There you go, like I said Asia is here and with her we can officially start the first arc. Along with this, we have also seen Marid and Rias little confrontation which will have a profound effect on the story… Atleast till we get to the big leagues where we are fighting against… Nah scratch that! I aint spoiling those fights but just trust since I have some BIG things in the works. Furthermore, we finally also had that Kenta and Marid sparring session which was pretty cool. More of those coming in soon.
Furthermore, you expect big things in the next chapters where we might see a little more of these confrontations. Plus a little birdie might make a return soon! If you know what I mean *wink**wink*.
But that is it for the post script! If you got any questions, then write a review and I will get back to you within the day!!
Until then stay safe and have fun!
DGZalama out!
Words:- 9600