Author's Note: For those interested, there are now three advanced chapters (we're on chapter 40) on P-atreon, which you can read for just $3.
And I just opened a couple of polls about what will happen in the future of this story.
Also, I published the sixth chapter of my new story: "Tales of Saiyans, Demons and Gods".
For now I'm prioritizing the multiversal chat story, so the TOSDAG updates won't be as frequent as this one, still, if you can, please go to my profile and check it out, and if you're interested you can see another 3 chapters on my P-atreon, it only costs $3.
Remove the spaces and dash: p-atreon/ Krakenian01
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Third Person P.O.V
When he discovered that the supernatural was a reality, Issei knew that the world he now lived in was not a pleasant place, he had been killed by something in which he did not even have a say, he had been attacked with deadly intent because of what he was now, he had seen how another human with special conditions was almost killed while trying to protect a normal person, and he heard how the church, who were supposedly "the good guys" had done cruel things to a person as good as Asia.
Maybe it was lucky that he was clueless and a first-class pervert, because that way his mind focused on the positive aspects he had gained from all of this, like the pretty girls he could now talk to every day, a power that It seemed like something out of a fantasy novel, an incredibly long life expectancy, and the promise of a harem if he did things right.
All those things sounded incredible, but no matter how much he smiled and fantasized, the image of who was his first girlfriend appeared in his head a couple of times, a pretty girl with black hair, violet eyes that looked at him shyly, and a bust that kept getting his attention.
That image was superimposed with that of a girl of similar appearance, but with incredibly marked differences, with the same face, but more mature, with a pair of black wings coming out of her back, and with a suit that looked like it came from one of the hentai best rated by the community.
But surprisingly, that wasn't what Issei's attention focused on, but rather how she looked at him and the tone of her voice.
Those eyes, he saw similar looks a few times in the girls of the kendo club, and the general female population of Kuoh, in that memory, Yuma, now known as Raynare, looked at him with contempt and a touch of mockery as she spoke sarcastically about how she had enjoyed their date, but it was time to put the childish games aside.
Even after being revived and with his goal of obtaining a harem being a real possibility now, Issei felt like that event and the memory of Raynarewould haunt him for a long time.
And now, his eyes widened as he saw her once again, but this time thrusting a dagger of light into Asia's chest, who had moved to protect him from the attack.
Something inside Issei clicked, and ignoring the pain in his muscles and the feeling of heaviness throughout his body, he moved as his red glove materialized.
[BOOST] [BOOST] [BOOST] [BOOST]!
The sound and glow of the green gem flickered as his fist swung, hitting Raynare's cheek with all the force he could muster and sending her flying several meters.
"Asia!" Paying no attention to Raynare, Issei fell to his knees holding the blonde nun.
Without wasting time, the devils moved, surrounding Issei and looking at the fallen angel, but after a single glance, they all realized that she was at her last strength, unable to get up and resting on her arms while coughing up blood.
"Damn! Damn you all!" The fallen managed to gurgle while the blood did not stop coming out of her mouth, she tried to gather the light in her hand, but before she even began to take shape, it dissipated.
Her skin was pale due to blood loss, her vision was blurred, and her ears were ringing, preventing her from hearing anything besides the faint beating of her heart, Raynare knew she was going to die.
But instead of fear, the anger, and frustration filled her when she saw that Issei wasn't even paying attention to her, as if she didn't matter in the slightest, while the rest of the devils looked at her as if she were just a cockroach, in her eyes, it was as if they were mocking her.
"Why?!" She screamed, trying to crawl forward, but her arms were barely able to hold her in place.
"Why are you the blessed ones?! You don't deserve it, just by being born as insignificant trash, humans don't deserve Sacred Gears! All of you should live only to serve us! I, we deserve them more than you! We are superior! Why?! I was so close! I would have used a longinus better than you!" She screamed as her tears mixed with blood and her arms couldn't hold it anymore, her face fell to the ground as the task of breathing became increasingly difficult.
At that moment, in her distorted vision, she saw how a mop of brown hair stood up and walked towards her, slowly approaching until after a few tortuous seconds, he was standing in front of her.
She didn't say anything or make a sound, but even as her consciousness was about to sink into darkness, Raynare, with an incredible amount of effort, was able to make out the tears falling down the devil's cheeks.
This somehow made the fallen feel a strange form of happiness, she wanted to kill him at the last moment so that the Sacred Gear would also go with his life, like one last "fuck you" to all the devils, but making the miserable human, now turned into a devil, cry for the ingenue who had died was an acceptable consolation prize.
Using the last of her strength, the fallen angel Raynare raised her head, seeing a red glow in the devil's palm, so he smiled and gave him her last words, impregnated with all the resentment she could convey.
"I hate you"
In response, the devil's voice dedicated 2 words to her.
"Dragon Shoot"
And with a final red glow, everything turned black.
######
Ryuichi P.O.V
As I stood leaning against a wall outside the church, arms crossed and looking up at the night sky I couldn't help but think back to what I had seen happen several minutes ago.
The hatred in that fallen angel's voice, the way she belittled not only Issei or Asia, but all of humanity, suffering until her last breath for considering it an injustice that "mere humans" obtained Sacred Gears.
"Are you sure about what you did?" A voice asked next to me, and when I turned my gaze, I saw Rias leaving the church.
"What kind of question is that?"
"A yes or no question"
I sighed and looked back at the stars in the sky before answering. "Asia would have died if I hadn't used one of my potions with her, I would have to be a monster not to have done so"
"You didn't want to give me one in exchange for money, but you voluntarily gave one to save a stranger, did you fall in love with her at first sight?"
"If it were like that, then I would be inside, taking care of her and waiting for her to wake up, don't you think?"
"It just seems a little strange to me"
"I think…" I started to speak, trying to find the right words to express myself. "I just didn't want to give that fallen angel the satisfaction of taking an innocent person with her"
"I see"
After that, she said nothing, so I decided to talk again. "Answer me one thing, and please be honest, do all supernatural beings, or at least most of the ones you know, see humanity that way? Insignificant? Inferior? Just... servant candidates?" I asked the question, one I wasn't sure I wanted an answer to.
Rias hesitated for a second, but just when it seemed like she was going to say something, a voice came from inside the church. "President, Asia is waking up!"
She looked inside the place and sighed. "I have to return". She said, but before she turned around, I spoke once more.
"I have one more question". I said, after all, her hesitation before answering had given me the answer to my previous question.
"When Issei told me about devil reincarnation, there was something I thought, is it possible to reincarnate someone against their will?"
Rias looked at me before turning around, but after taking the first step she answered me. "Yes". Was the only thing she said as she walked away.
"I see". I said to myself as I continued looking at the stars.
######
Ryuichi P.O.V
"Hey, are you sure you're okay on your own?" Issei asked.
"No problem, I just want to do a couple of tests, and then I'll go home, but with this, we're even with that favor I owed you, right?" I responded, looking askance at the nun next to the boy.
"Yes, after all, you saved Asia, thank you". He said, bowing a little, an action that the little blonde imitated.
"Thank you Ryuichi-san, without your potion, I wouldn't have been able to survive"
"Don't worry, Issei, you gave me the information I needed at that time, and Asia, you healed me not only during the fight but also after you woke up, thanks to that I'm good as new now". I responded by waving my hand in dismissal.
With that, they both walked towards the group of devils behind them, each of them gave me a nod in recognition, a gesture I returned in kind, and then they all left.
"Ok". I said, looking at the two huge bags full of swords and guns of the defeated exorcists. "Let's do a couple of tests"
######
Ryuichi P.O.V
A little over an hour had passed, and not long ago, I had finished organizing and accounting for what I had obtained, giving a total of 49 swords and 38 pistols that seemed to be in optimal condition.
Next to that were 5 swords that seemed to be broken or cracked in several places, so perhaps they would be of no use, and next to that were also 5 pistols with enough damage that I didn't want to test if they fired, after all, maybe those things could explode if I wasn't careful, and I liked my hand with the right number of fingers.
"Uff". I sighed, rubbing the back of my hand over my forehead, until behind me I heard some bushes moving.
"Since you're back, I guess you got what we agreed upon?" I asked turning around, and coming out of the bushes, I saw the fallen angel I had fought not long ago, a blonde girl named Mittelt.
"They… really think I'm dead?" She asked, and my gaze moved to a yellow envelope in her hands.
"I did what I told you, I told them that after fighting for a while you used some type of self-destruct, the half-scorched feathers that you left in the place convinced them, they left more than an hour ago". I assured her, after all, I had stopped feeling their ki's a long time ago.
Lying to the devils who, until now, seemed to be trying to be, at the very least, civil with me was perhaps not the best of ideas, but everything that had happened seemed incredibly suspicious to me.
What did the fallen want with Asia or Issei? Why in this city of all places? Rias had told me that the fact that this place was her territory and Sona's was known, so why?
Something was wrong with this situation, and if it could threaten my life or the lives of the people in Kuoh, I wanted to get as much information as posible, besides, the fact that this fallen angel seemed reluctant to fight was also a factor I couldn't ignore.
I could fight if she attacked me again, but fighting to the death against someone who clearly had intentions of giving up would be foolish, not only because no matter how hard I tried to deny it, a murder would weigh on my conscience in the end, but because I could get hurt in the process, and if possible I wanted to avoid that.
Mittelt sighed a little in relief and then asked. "And the others?" Surely referring to the other fallen angels.
I shook my head before explaining, I had seen the limp bodies of a man and a woman with black wings that were then destroyed by Rias' power, adding to the fallen that Issei eliminated, plus the one in front of me was 4, while the 2 strongest who fought with Rias and Akeno escaped after being defeated.
She seemed a little self-conscious but not surprised. "I told them that coming here was a terrible idea". She growled before shaking her head a few times and looking back at me. "This is what you wanted, Raynare was the only one with access to the documents, I don't even know what they contain"
"Fine". I responded by extending my hand, she approached, opened the envelope, took out half of the documents, and handed them to me while she began to look through the other half.
My eyebrows raised, and when he noticed it he gave me a blank look. "What? I'm completely ruined, I can't go back to Grigory or I'll be prosecuted, I can't make a fuss or the devils will find me and kill me, at least I want to know what exactly was the stupid job Raynare accepted, I deserve to know the details of why my life went to hell, right?"
"Right, I was sure there would be things I wouldn't understand anyway, so maybe I'd need to ask you". I responded after a couple of seconds.
What I found in the documents was as illuminating as it was alarming, the fallen somehow detected Issei's sacred gear when it was inactive, and he was a human, although they did not know what exactly it was.
Because of this, they received orders to monitor him and recruit him if possible, but from one moment to the next, the orders changed to immediate extermination.
Why? That was a mystery, there was no specified reason.
Regarding Asia Argento, there was less information, there was no background on her, nothing beyond a couple of lines describing the use of her Sacred Gear, but what I did find was the description of the artifact that the fallen had in their possession and some specific orders, like what was exactly what they had to do.
The cross they had was an artifact capable of separating a Sacred Gear from its wearer, something that would literally rip the item from the user's soul, killing them in the process, but crystallizing the Sacred Gear into physical form for someone else to obtain, in this case, Raynare.
The orders indicated that the cross would be charged with sufficient energy today at 10 p.m. and that after Asia died they were not to harm her corpse, but rather to deliver it to someone in the forest behind the church.
So someone had ordered Asia's death?
But if it was like that, then why was Issei kidnapped?
My doubts were quickly answered by Mittelt, when Raynare met Issei this afternoon and discovered that he had a Longinus, she decided to throw away everything planned for Asia and keep Issei's god-killing weapon to rise among the ranks of the fallen and attract the attention of the leader, Azazel, who seemed to have a certain fascination with the objects created by the biblical God, gathering their bearers and studying how their abilities developed.
It was for this reason that Raynare asked for support from 2 stronger fallen angels, she wanted those 2 hold back the devils while she and her team gave most of their energy to accelerate the loading process of the artifact, which explained why when we arrived I felt that they were weaker than last time.
There were several confusing points in this whole matter, if the leader of the fallen was interested in the Sacred Gears why not invite both Asia and Issei to go with them to Grigori, the base of the fallen, instead of murdering them or stealing just one of their Sacred Gears?
I sighed and put the documents on the floor before falling on my back, I lay there counting from 1 to 20 while looking at the stars to help me relax my mind and think about what I should do.
I looked at the time on my phone and couldn't help but sigh once again, 9:25 p.m.
Now the question was what should I do? Go away? Or should I find out who it was that wanted Asia dead and why? Was something like that even possible?
I wasn't that strong, almost everyone in Rias' peerage could defeat me with greater or lesser difficulty, if things got bad, could I run away from the guy who plans everything behind the scenes?
I stood up from the ground and looked at Mittelt, who had also finished reading the documents and had an apathetic look on his face.
"What?" She said, noticing that I looking at her.
I didn't say anything as the options appeared in my mind.
"You want to find out who it was, right?" She said, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"You are a naive kid, why risk your neck for something stupid like that?"
"Because I don't understand why extracting Asia's Sacred Gear here, if your group wanted no one to know about it then you could have gone to a place without devils, or better yet, a place where absolutely no one lived, if you did it here by order of someone else even knowing that it was Rias and Sona's territory maybe whoever orchestrated all this did it to cause some kind of conflict or chaos"
"So what? Are you worried about the safety of the devils?"
"I am concerned about the safety of my family and friends, if a supernatural conflict occurs then no one here will be safe, and those who are most in danger will be the general population, the humans without the power to protect themselves, and within that group are the people for whom that I worry, so if I find out what's happening I can give that information to the devils, and they could stop everything before something dangerous happens"
"Well, have fun with that, I kept our deal, I'm out of here". She said throwing away the papers and standing up, brushing his skirt.
"Wait". I said, making her look at me.
"The contract we had was fulfilled, you cover up my existence with the devils so that they leave me for dead, and I give you all the information I knew Raynare kept, why should I help you now?"
"When we reached an agreement before, you said that it didn't matter if you changed your appearance with magic, they would recognize you by your aura, and that's why you had to go unnoticed for several years until your superiors in Grigory forgot about you, right?" I asked, and she nodded.
"I will get something that hides or changes your aura if you help me with 2 things, if I do it, you won't need to wait several years, you can use a transformation spell and return to Grigory". I offered, after all, I had the group chat shop, if I accumulated enough points in the upcoming mission then such an item should be easy to obtain.
She narrowed her eyes at my proposal. "How do I know it's not a lie?"
"We can sign a new contract, I will promise to get that item within a certain time, or I will pay a penalty, and in exchange, you will help me with 2 things"
"And what are those 2 things?"
"The first is to find out who the guy is who will come in a little over 20 minutes". I said, picking up my phone and pointing to the time, 9:38 p.m.
"The second thing is that I need protection for a period of 2 weeks"
"What do you want to protect yourself from? Because I don't know if you've noticed, but even when I regain all my power I will barely be able to defend myself for a minute at most from a devil of the level of those you know if I'm lucky"
"It's not for me, and it's unlikely you'll have to fight, it's more like you work as a security guard somewhere"
She seemed hesitant, but when I was about to give up she expressed her frustration with an exhale. "Ha, fine, anyway, my chances of surviving alone are a joke at this point, but". She made sure to stop me before I spoke.
"First, I want to hear your plan and what exactly you want me to do, as well as where I will be and what I will take care of, and if I don't like it you can forget about me signing any pact"
Well, I figured that was the best I could get.
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Well another chapter completed, we continue with a bit of introspection and more development for Issei, hopefully with this, he forgets his chaotic "first" relationship, I know firsthand that your first girlfriend can mark you for life, so the fact that the one Issei had was a homicidal crazy woman who turned him into a donut can be a bit... traumatic.
Also, now that Ryuichi knows that it's possible to turn someone into a devil against their will, and heard how Raynare thinks, a plan could be forming in his head.
Remember that if you like this story, you can leave a comment, review, and a power stone, that will inspire me to write more, see you in the next chapter.