A pair of enchantingly beautiful crimson eyes opened slowly, indifferent to the rays of the sun that peered through the window.
Out of instinct, the boy, whom those eyes belonged to, turned to look to his left where someone was clutching onto his arm, and he was a little surprised to find a bundle of scarlet hair instead of silver.
A light smile crept on his lips as he carefully tucked away the scarlet hair, revealing a beautiful face that was hiding under them.
The young Dragoness was soundly asleep, exuding a very curious scent that he liked a lot.
His eyes inadvertently looked at his stretched hand, and Raizel immediately sighed in his heart as he saw that it was bigger than he remembered it to be.
He understood that he had slept for a very long time, and now he was a little curious about how long it had been.
Casting a spell, he summoned the Underworld Calendar and frowned a little.
"A year?" He sighed again and shook his head before he closing his eyes, allowing his consciousness to go deep into his body.
When he left the Underworld, he planned on exploring the Worlds, finding some worthy Peerage members, and growing stronger along with everyone. But he had slept for nearly a year and a half out of these two years.
Then again, he was special, and even if he did not train, he had indeed grown stronger. His Demonic Reserves had exponentially grown, and with the growth of his body, it had strengthened a lot.
He would still need to train a little to get accustomed to this much taller stature in battles, as for everything else, it would come naturally.
"Freya." He lightly called out his maid's name, having sensed her presence nearby, and only a few seconds later, she arrived by his side, wearing a happy smile on her face.
"Good Morning, Master!" She politely bowed to him and then proceeded to lean forward and kiss him on his cheek.
"Good morning, Freya." He smiled, returning the courtesy by kissing her soft cheek, and then playfully glanced at the girl who was sleeping by his side.
"She's been sleeping for five months now." The silver-haired maid informed him.
"I see." He nodded and then carefully pried his arm out of her grip, trying his best to not wake her up.
Raizel lazily stretched his limbs, not minding his nakedness in front of his maid, and smirked as he caught a not-so-subtle blush adorning her cheeks.
Now a girl of fifteen, she was already stunning enough to make men go crazy, but since he had grown up with her and he was familiar with every inch of her skin, he was quite resistant to her charm.
"You keep becoming more beautiful, dear Freya." He playfully stepped forward and hugged her, nuzzling his head in her neck, and then planted a kiss there that made her body tremble.
And when he let her go, she did not shy her eyes away and kept looking into his eyes, anticipating and desiring more.
He was now an inch taller than her, standing five and a half feet tall, despite being two years younger. And Raizel had suddenly developed a liking to having her raise her head to look at him with such desire.
Knowing what she wanted, he leaned in again, and this time, he captured her lips in a soft kiss.
It was not the first time they had shared a kiss. They had kissed each other several times as kids, but this time, it felt more surreal than ever, and Raizel could sense his sin of lust flaring up.
He let go of her when he sensed some eyes on them, and he glanced to the bed where a certain scarlet-haired girl was curiously looking at them.
"Do you want it too?" He playfully asked, and to his amusement, Erza nodded her head.
"Very well." He grinned and then pressed his knee into the bed before leaning on top of her and cupping her cheek with his right hand.
Erza's eyes widened a little when their soft lips met, surprised at his taste, and then it only heightened as he pushed his tongue in her mouth.
She was not oblivious to the ache that suddenly started building up in her womb, and she knew very well what this meant.
Her draconic blood had decided right then and there that he was her desired mate, but before she could pull him on top of her, Raizel pulled away.
"We will continue it some other day. I am hungry." He told her, and all of a sudden everything else fleeted away from the dragoness' mind as her hunger kicked in.
"Please take a bath. I will have your meal prepared by then." Freya told them and Raizel nodded to her before walking into the bathroom to freshen up.
An hour later, having finished eating, he turned to look at his Peerage, who were sitting at the table.
"What did you find?" He asked.
Before he went to sleep, he had asked them to investigate what was going on with those Priests and why they were kidnapping children.
It was mostly out of curiosity and to make them work, and they all had gathered their share of Intel, which Freya pieced together.
"The Holy Sword Project." He amusedly smiled after he heard her briefing, "And the one who is secretly conducting it is none other than Archbishop Valper Galilei. Fascinating..." He thoughtfully narrowed his eyes. "Where's Valper?"
"Italy," Kuroka told him. "He has gathered a bunch of children with Sacred Gears, and has been conducting experiments on them for the last few months."
"Children with Sacred Gears?" He smiled some more.
"Well, let's pay him a visit and see if he has had any success or not." He nodded to them, and they turned to look at Erza, who was still busy eating her meal.
She paid no heed to them as she kept eating for another half an hour, and then Raizel just magically wiped her mouth and hands before he nodded to his Nekoshou.
Since Kuroka knew where the hideout was as she had found it, she summoned a Magical Circle and took them all there, inside a forest that was covered in snow.
It was nighttime, and the place looked quite peaceful. The hideout was a few hundred metres to the north, but everyone watched Raizel suddenly turn to look towards the west.
Without saying anything, he rushed up and flew in that direction at a breakneck speed, soon arriving at the location, just in time to witness something interesting happening on the ground.
"Since you don't like your name, I will give you a new one. You will be called Yuuto Kiba from this day onwards." A certain crimson-haired girl spoke to her newly converted servant, surrounded by a bunch of people, some he was very familiar with.
Raizel curiously looked at the boy who just nodded his head to her words, oozing out an aura of hollowness. He was only nine years old, but he seemed to have already suffered great pains in his life.
Unaware of his presence, the crimson-haired girl frowned a little at seeing the state of her new servant. She now wondered if she had done the right thing, but her second Knight Piece had chosen this boy, and she decided to give him a chance.
"I will take care of his training, Lady Rias." A man in his late twenties, wearing a traditional Shisengumi uniform, who was her brother's Knight, lightly said.
"Thank you, Souji!" She beamed a smile at him, less worried about her new servant now.
"Very well, please excuse me. I received a call from Lady Grayfia earlier. I need to return to the Underworld for a few days." The man suddenly said, making Rias and her Peerage look at him in surprise and confusion.
"You are leaving us?" She frowned.
"Yes, my Lady." He smiled as he summoned his Magical Circle. "You will be fine." And he disappeared with those words.
"That's unlike him," Akeno commented as she frowned as well.
Okota Souji was a very responsible man, so he would not just leave them there for no reason. In the last two years, he had stayed by their side, and even when he had to report back to Sirzechs or Grayfia, he would take them with him.
And he said that he would be gone a few days, so it was not a quick errand either.
"He must have his reasons." Rias nodded and then smiled as she glanced at her Servants.
They were not so weak that they could not fare for themselves for a few days, and this could be fun as well.
However, just when she was about to say something to Akeno, her eyes widened in surprise and she instinctively conjured up a Magical shield, which protected them from the ball of Demonic Power that was shot her way, and then her eyes turned grim as she watched dozens of such balls falling at them from the sky.
Her peerage immediately responded, conjuring up their own Shields, and protecting themselves and their newest comrade, who was at a complete loss of what was happening.
"Kiba!" Rias shouted at him, snapping him out of his daze as she deflected the Demonic Energy that was shot his way, and then protectively pulled him behind her, creating two orbs of Demonic Power in her hands, both of which were laced with her Power of Destruction. "Show yourself!" She shouted as she failed to spot the enemies with her senses, but her only answer was another barrage of attacks.
For minutes, she and her peerage ran and defended themselves from the enemies who were attacking them from the Shadows, growing more desperate with every passing second, but then she just flipped and unleashed her Power of Destruction, intending to destroy everything in her wake and make her enemies show themselves.
"Akeno, take them all away." She seriously said as she stopped, and ignored the cries of her Peerage, but to her frustration, all of them refused to leave her alone and came to stand right behind her.
"Go!" She commanded, but her command was ignored by them, and their resolve brought tears to her eyes.
She waited and waited for more attacks to come their way, hoping that Grayfia or Okita would show up anytime now since she had already sent the signal, but even after minutes, no one came.
Strangely, the enemy did not attack them as well, but all of them refused to lower their guards.
"Quite a Peerage you have there, dear Rias. Disobedient, but still very loyal and committed." An amused chuckle sounded out, and Rias, Akeno, and Shirone widened their eyes as they were familiar with the voice.
It was a little different than it used to be, but it was unmistakably his voice, and the tears Rias had been holding back suddenly poured out of her eyes when a figure fell from the sky at a breakneck speed, but landed on the ground as lightly as a feather.
"Long time no see!" He brightly smiled as his crimson eyes met hers, and the Heiress of Gremory rushed at him, jumping right into his arms.
"Raizel!"