Raizel smiled as he found the girl resisting his subtle compulsion, a natural defence against magic that Dragons possessed.
He jumped off the branch and landed on the ground as silently as a feather, and then leisurely walked over to her.
"You take after your mother." He smiled as he stopped in front of her and drew his hand forward. "Hi! I am Raizel Darcaedes."
"You knew my mother?" She surprisedly asked, and these were the first words she had spoken in a very long time.
"No, but I know your father. So, I can tell that you don't take after him." He chuckled and ignored the slight concentration in her eyes. "Have you ever met your father, Erza?" He asked, and before she could answer, he continued. "He's a very rude Dragon. Yet he is one of the most powerful Dragons in existence. People even say that he has reached the level of Heavenly Dragons." He informed her with a bright smile.
Erza even herself did not realise that her guard had dropped down. And the sword she was holding in her hand was now lowered.
"How do you know my father?" She narrowed her eyes and asked.
"Your mother did not tell you much about him?"
"She did not tell me anything about him." She shook her head.
"How old were you when she passed away?" He curiously asked and saw her lower her head in sadness.
"Five." She answered after a few seconds.
Raizel knew that she was 36 years old right now, which meant that it had been 31 years since Irene passed away.
He curiously looked at the girl, and even though he had not tasted her blood, he could tell that her Dragon Blood was strong.
Despite being over thirty years old, she looked no older than a girl of sixteen. And Dragons tended to age very slowly.
"You have been by yourself all these years?" He asked, and she nodded her head to him.
"Mostly..."
Her eyes suddenly narrowed as she realised that was under some form of compulsion that made her feel at ease in this boy's presence, but she did not follow her impulse to swing her sword at him.
For some reason, Erza felt that it would lead to an unprecedented crisis.
"Raizel Darcaedes?" She called out his name.
"Yes." He smiled. "It's quite rude to keep someone hanging for so long." He glanced at his drawn hand, and Erza titled her head curiously. "Your hand." He hinted, and despite her reservations, she drew her hand forward as well.
Raizel lightly grabbed her hand that was covered in a metallic glove, part of her armour, and he curiously inspected it under the guise of shaking it.
"That's how you usually greet people when you meet them. Mostly acquaintances." He informed her with a smile. "Your Sacred Gear is of Creation Type, grants you the ability to conjure up both Armour and Swords." He looked at her curiously. "You can create other weapons too?"
"Yes." She nodded her head.
"Fascinating." He mused. "So, what is it called?"
Every Sacred Gear user knew their Gear's name once they started using it. So, even if no one informed her, Erza was bound to know its name.
"Infinite Requip." She informed him of the name of her Sacred Gear, and Raizel thoughtfully narrowed her eyes.
There were a lot of Sacred Gears that people had not heard about, and it seemed to be one such Sacred Gear. And after watching her battle against those rogue Priests, Raizel could tell that it was not some Low-Tier Sacred Gear but a very rare one.
No wonder Hestia was so confident that he would find Erza very interesting and valuable.
"What are you?" She asked, and Raizel could not help but smile at her.
"I am a Devil, dear Erza."
"Oh." She nodded to him, quite indifferently, and he found her reaction rather amusing.
"I have an offer for you." He said, gauging her expression. "Would you like to become part of my Family as my Servant?"
"Are there any benefits?" She asked, tilting her head again, but her expression was still impassive.
"Friends, Power, a very long life, and access to Demonic Power and Devil Magic, which will help you become much better at the Magic you already know." He told her. "Your father, Bahamut, serves my Mother as her Servant, a Rook in her Peerage."
"Peerage?" She curiously asked, and he smiled as he started to tell her about Devil Peerages and Evil Pieces.
A while later, he and Erza arrived in the clearing where her cottage was situated, and she was now carrying the elk on her back.
"Has she agreed?" Moka asked as she concentrated her eyes on Erza, very much looking forward to battling against her after what she had witnessed earlier.
"She has," Raizel informed them and then turned to look at the girl with scarlet hair, who was curiously looking around the place, which was now cleaned up with no trace of the battle that took place there.
Finally, Erza turned to look at the five people who were standing in front of them, and she narrowed her eyes slightly as she sensed that they were all very powerful.
"This is Freya, my maid and friend. This is Moka... Ban... Kuroka... and this is Guts." Raizel introduced his Peerage to her and then smiled at them. "And everyone, this is Erza Scarlet, daughter of Bahamut and Priestess Irene. She's the wielder of the Sacred Gear: Infinite Requip."
"So it was indeed a Sacred Gear," Moka nodded her head and stepped forward, drawing her hand to the girl with Scarlet hair. "I am looking forward to battling against you."
"Okay." Erza simply nodded her head and shook her hand, and then proceeded to do the same with everyone as they stepped forward to greet her.
A couple of hours later, they all sat down around a bonfire, and Freya smiled as she watched Erza happily munch on the Elk she had cooked.
"Do you like it?" She asked knowingly, and the girl with scarlet hair nodded her head, a trail of grease trickled down her mouth as she smiled at her.
"Thank you."
"You are welcome." Freya giggled. "We will start on your education from tomorrow. You need to learn a lot."
"Okay."
Erza was not the girl of words and simply nodded her head again, focusing back on the most delicious meal she had had in a long time.
"I am ready." Erza stood up as soon as she finished eating the Elk to the last bone and resolutely looked at Raizel, who was reading a book, now sitting on the porch of her cottage.
"Come." He closed the book and made it disappear, and then stood up as Erza approached him.
Since Erza was a little taller than him, he floated up in the air and reached her neck. Then he grabbed her soft scarlet hair in his left hand and sank his teeth into her skin, making her groan.
The process took much longer than it had when he converted Guts into a Half-Devil, and even before he finished, Erza was exuding a very potent Demonic Power as a set of Devil Wings sprouted from her back along with a set of beautiful scarlet-coloured Draconic Wings.
It was just as he had guessed. Her Dragon Blood was indeed very potent. Then again, it was given, considering who her father was.
When Raizel finished turning her into Half-Devil, he smiled as he looked at her dazed state.
"Like it?" He asked, referring to the power she was feeling coursing through her veins.
Erza subconsciously nodded to him, and he smiled at her.
"Let's see which Evil Piece chooses you, dear Erza." He said as he summoned his Evil Pieces, which soon started orbiting the girl as he cast the spell.
Everyone in his Peerage, except for Guts, who was not very interested in what was happening, frowned as they found the process take much longer than any of theirs.
One by one, Evil Pieces that did not fit Erza drifted away from her, going to float above Raizel's stretched palm.
Even Guts turned serious when he saw the last regular Piece drift away from Erza, leaving only the Mutated Pieces.
The Pawns drifted away first, and then the two Rooks drifted away one after the other.
A lone Mutated-Knight Piece remained as it started shining, resonating with its chosen Host, and Raizel smiled happily.
"Very well." He sent away the other Evil Pieces and then looked Erza in the eyes. "You will belong to me from this day onwards, dear Erza, and you will serve me as my faithful Knight."
A rush of Demonic Power, far greater than before coursed through her and erupted when the Evil Piece sank into her chest.
And then a Scarlet Crystal appeared on her forehead, taking the form of a pretty tiara.
Raizel narrowed his eyes on the Sacred Gear that had manifested itself, and even though he knew that the Sacred Gears would not leave their user even if they were turned into Full-Blooded Devils, he was a little anxious about it disappearing.
Thankfully, no such thing happened, and when Erza regained some clarity, he asked her to try using her Sacred Gear, and it was working just as fine as it had been working before.
They experimented with it for a while, and Erza finally managed to unsummon the tiara on her head. But every time she used her Sacred Gear, especially when she created an Armour, it would manifest again on her head.
"It looks pretty and it suits you." Freya smiled at the girl who was curiously touching the jewel on her forehead.
"Okay." And Erza simply nodded her head, no longer paying it any attention, and Moka failed to restrain the urge and stepped forward, asking the Devil-Dragon Hybrid to battle with her.
One that she lost to her dismay.