"…" – speaking
"…" – thoughts
[…] – Ddraig speaking out loud
[…] – Ddraig speaking mentally
It's been couple of days since the last incidents with the rogue fallen angels, and Asia Argento had officially become a second-year student of Kuoh Academy, a member of Occult Research Club, as well as a devil and bishop in Rias Gremory's peerage. Asia's registration into the school was quite smooth thanks to Rias' influence, however, Issei in the other hand was overwhelmed by stares from his male classmates when he was walking together with Asia as the former met up with the latter to guide her around. Not to mention, during introduction…
"Nice to meet you, everyone. My name is Asia Argento. I'll be in your care from now on …" said Asia meekly as she introduced herself as a new student in Issei's class.
The entire class immediately roared and cheered as they have such a cute foreigner like Asia to be a transfer student. Her seat was next to Issei, and soon after the class was over, Asia was surrounded by all classmates and bombarded by tons of comments and questions.
"Asia-chan, your hair is so pretty!"
"Where did you come from?"
"Where do you live, Asia-chan?"
Asia was overwhelmed by the questions as she tried her best to answer them one by one until Issei decided to butt in, resulting another questioning regarding their relationship. The class, especially males were incredibly jealous when they found Asia holds Issei in very high regard. Matsuda and Motohama did not help in the slightest as they started to accuse Issei to have added another girl in his 'harem', much to Issei's displeasure and Asia's confusion.
"How's the school so far, Asia?" asked Issei as the commotion finally died down. Asia was seemed a bit exhausted, but overall she was having fun.
"I like this place, Ise-san. Everyone might a bit weird, sometimes, but they are good people. I'm glad that I moved into this school together with Ise-san…" replied Asia with her face beaming.
"Glad you like it…." said Issei as he looked at the clock inside the classroom. "We need to go now. Everyone's probably waiting for us by now", said Issei as he raised from his seat, Asia followed-suit.
X
Currently we found our favourite Red Dragon Emperor and former Holy Priestess were lounging around in the Occult Research Club room with Rias and the rest of the members. Issei was told before hand regarding something about meeting with the Student Council, who apparently is another group of devils led by Rias' childhood friend. The meeting's purpose was more for formality to introduce each peerage's newest members, with both Occult Research Club and Student Council had just recruited new members recently.
"So the student council are actually devils as well?" asked Issei sitting on the couch with Asia sitting beside him. Koneko was sitting on the couch across, munching snacks as usual and Yuuto was sitting on a chair next to Issei reading a book.
Rias who was sitting on her desk with Akeno standing beside her nodding as she answered, "Yes, Ise… The student council president is another high-class devil representing the Sitri house-hold in the underworld, she is also an old-friend of mine."
Issei took the information into his head as he recalled the name of the Student Council president. "The student council president… Shitori Sona… Shitori Sona… Shitori… Sitri…? A pun?" Issei sweat-dropped inwardly at the thought.
Meeting with so many devils right away… My heart is not ready yet…. Hauu…" Asia whined from nervousness.
Issei rubbed Asia's head gently to comfort the girl. "It's alright, Asia… There's nothing to worry about… Right, buchou?" said Issei smiling before he addressed to Rias.
Rias nodded once again. "Yes, indeed. Sona might be a strict person towards her peerage, but everyone from student council are good people once you know them."
As on cue, knocking sounds were heard from the door of the club-room and Yuuto opened it, revealing the student council president with her peerage, consisting seven people, one male and six females, followed behind her. The student council group entered the room and Sona looked at Rias as the two greeted each other.
"It's been a while, Sona…" said Rias smiling at her child-hood friend.
"Yes, it has, Rias… I see that you have gained not only one, but two more members in your peerage", replied Sona returning the greetings as she sent quick glances at Issei and Asia. "Nice to meet you, Hyoudou Issei-san and Asia Argento-san. My name is Sona Sitri, the heiress of Sitri household from 72 pillars. I'm also the president of student council, I hope you found yourself a good time in this academy." Issei and Asia only bowed back in acknowledgement.
"It's pleasure to meet you, Sona-sama. I'm looking forward to your guidance", Issei replied respectfully.
"I-I'll be in your care as well, Sona-sama!" Asia said shyly. Sona only nodded in acknowledgement.
"Yes, and these two are very special in their own way. And I see that you have recruited the one you've set your eyes on?" said Rias as she caught the sight of a new comer, which was a young man with short blonde hair.
"I have, and let's introduce our newest members, shall we? Saji", Sona called one of her peerage, and the man with blonde hair stepped in front of the group. Rias also gestured Issei and Asia to follow-suit as the two complied.
"Nice to meet you, everyone. My name is Saji Genshirou, Sona-kaichou's 'pawn', as well as student council secretary…" said the boy as he bowed.
"M-my name is Asia Argento. Rias Gremory-sama's 'bishop'… Please take care of me, Saji-san!" Asia introduced herself, bowing shyly.
"Yes! Let's get along, Asia-chan!" Saji said with overly familiar tone as he grasped Asia's hand. Issei was slightly unnerved by Saji's attitude towards Asia, but he decided to let it go for now.
"I'm Hyoudou Issei, Rias Gremory-sama's 'pawn'. Looking forward to work together with you as fellow pawns", said Issei smiling as he bowed back.
However, Saji turned his face away from Issei as he huffed, "Hn, I don't want to be lumped together with someone from the perverted trio. Not to mention, I also heard that you already made a harem for yourself!"
Issei raised his eyebrows as he took in Saji's remarks. "Um… I won't deny that I'm friends with those two, but those rumours about me having a harem is a huge misunderstanding!" said Issei in his defence and he noticed that his fellow club-mates were looking at him, intrigued.
The male brunet looked around his club-mates and he raised his hand, "Honest, I have no harem whatsoever", then the others' expression seemed softened.
Saji who looked with judging eyes for a while then shrugged, "Oh well, if you say so. But you better know your place, newbie. I took 4 pawn pieces to get reincarnated. So I will watch attitude if I were you", said Saji with slight arrogant tone.
"Saji, be polite!" said Sona reprimanding Saji, whom did not really heed the former's voice.
Issei only stared for a moment, then he simply put up a smile. "Hee…. 4 pawn pieces, eh? That's amazing of you, Saji-kun…" Saji raised his eyebrows as he was slightly suspicious about Issei's action. "Well, having that much to reincarnate you shows how strong you are, I hope you can show me around the ropes", said Issei as he extended his hand.
Saji looked at Issei's hand for a moment then he smiled a bit as he sighed. "Well, as long as you know your place…" The moment they shook hands, Issei tightened his grip on Saji's hand, surprising the latter as he tried to either squeezed back or break free, but the former's grip only tightened a bit by bit.
"Well, what I said actually isn't necessary applicable…" said Issei as he retained his smile and his vice-grip. "Just because you have multiple pieces to be reincarnated, doesn't mean that you can go all cocky. The amount of your evil pieces only sums your potential, not your initial fighting strength. The real worth of a reincarnated devil is whether they can utilize their power effectively and efficiently, regardless how strong and weak they are in the beginning, don't you think so, Saji-kun?" continued Issei as he tightened his vice-grip even more.
Saji who still tried to retaliate had started to sweat, as he felt that his hand starting to feel numb as well. "Ye-yeah… I do… Can you let go of my hand now?" Saji honestly hate to admit, but Issei's grip was freakishly going to crush his own hand if this goes on. So he decided to swallow his pride and give in for now.
Rias who was about to reprimand Issei, was stopped by the student council president herself. Sona only raised up her hand as she thought that this spectacle might be a good lesson for her newest pawn.
"Glad you can agree. Oh and by the way, about my evil pieces, I took all eight pawn pieces, and all of them also became mutation. So I hope both of us can learn from each other, Saji-kun!" said Issei finally letting go of Saji's hand.
Saji quickly retracted his hand back and he massaged it to get the feel of his hand back, as his eyes widened at Issei's evil pieces value. "E-eight of them!? And mutations?! What the hell are you!?"
"Simply one hell of a pawn", said Issei as he smirked smugly.
"Ise", Rias' voice did the trick in making Issei to quickly shrink himself and mumbled a quick apology. "He's the current Red Dragon Emperor, apparently", said Rias resulting the student council's members to widen their eyes in surprise and curiosity.
"I see… I guess you got yourself fortunate, Rias… To be able to recruit someone with such potential", Sona commented as she shifted her glasses and turned her gaze on Issei. "Hyoudou-san, while I'm agree with some parts of your speech, I'm still the student council president, thus I won't allow any actions that will disturb the peace of the academy. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, I'm sorry about my actions earlier, Sona-sama", said Issei apologizing.
"Kaichou. (President)"
"Eh?"
This time, Sona also shifted her gaze on both Issei and Asia. "While you're on the school-ground, I'd like you to address me as 'kaichou', considering that I am the student council president. All members of my peerage are also the members of student council."
Issei and Asia gave their respective nods. ""Understood, kaichou""
The rest of the introductions to the new recruits went smoothly after Sona's warning to Saji about his rude behaviour earlier, followed by the rest of occult research club and student council bodies introducing themselves to the new members. The student council members, aside from Sona Sitri (king) and Saji Genshirou (pawn x4), are Shinra Tsubaki (queen), Hanakai Momo (bishop), Reya Kusaka (bishop), Meguri Tomoe (knight), Yura Tsubasa (rook), and Nimura Ruruko (pawn).
"Moving on, I want to confirm if you also plan to take your peerage to that place, Rias", said Sona changing the subject.
"That place?" Issei asked as he turned towards his master. Rias glanced at Issei for a second as she turned back towards Sona.
"Indeed, Sona. But it seems you also plan the same thing", said Rias as she stood up and crossed her arms under her bust.
"Um… Excuse me, buchou. What do you mean with that place?" asked Issei interrupting.
"I'll explain later, Ise", said Rias at her pawn and she turned to Sona again. "This might be troublesome. Since only one of us that can go there with our respective peerage. And the best time to go there is around now, while the moon is full."
"Then we have to settle this with competition, don't you think? The winner will be the first one to go", replied Sona.
"Agreed, but since we're not legitimate enough to play in a rating-game, I guess we have to resort to different kind of competition."
Hearing Rias' proposal, the rest of the peerage only blinked in wonder.
X
"KYAAAH! RIAS ONEE-SAMAA!"
"SONA NEE-SAMAA!"
"KAICHOU! PLEASE WIN!"
"BUCHOU! YOU CAN DO IT!"
The girls and boys were cheering for their favourite player on the tennis court. Saji was seen cheering for Sona while waving a flag with words 'Student Council' written on it. Issei and Asia were cheering for Rias as well. Apparently, in order to be the first to go to wherever the place they were aiming today, Rias and Sona decided to settle the score with a tennis match. Both girls were dressed in tennis outfit and Hanakai Momo was appointed as the referee. The game went on well in the beginning, with Rias and Sona played flawlessly, yet still within human boundaries, until…
"Let's take this game up a notch, shall we? This is Sitri's style spin-ball!"
"Then I'll show you Gremory's counter as well!"
However, Sona's ball suddenly changed trajectory in mid-air, making Rias' counter missed and lost points. Issei who realised about what had happened whispered to Akeno.
"Um… Akeno-san? Is this really okay to use magic in front of so many students?"
"Fufufu, nobody will notice it, Ise-kun… High-class devils such as themselves are proficient enough to limit themselves", replied Akeno with her signature giggles.
"Yeah, I know that their magic for now are unnoticeable, but…" Issei trailed off as he saw Rias and Sona are now taunting up each other with their words. "They might gonna overdo it, and at least a guy or two will definitely notice… I know we can just tamper their memories later, and playing with people's minds doesn't sit well with me…" said Issei slightly nervous.
"As I said, you don't need to worry too much about it. Besides, I'll tell you one thing… There's actually one student who is aware about our real identities…" replied Akeno as she leaned closer besides Issei's ear.
Issei widened his eyes a bit, "Really? And you're fine with it? Who is this person?"
"You'll find out sooner or later. Oh, and by the way, looks like the match is about to be over…" Akeno replied as she turned her attention back to the court. Issei also decided to let go of it for now and looked at the match again.
The match ended up in a draw as Rias and Sona managed to broke both of their rackets. With the bet still on the line, Rias and Sona decided to do a team battle later at night. As the day went on and the night fell, all Rias' peerage were dressed in their track-suit and gathering inside the clubroom to do a quick briefing before they met with student council.
"Familiars?" Issei asked when Rias mention about going into the familiar's forest.
"Yes, Ise. Familiars are essential in the current world of devil society, not only can aid you in a battle, familiars can help you in various tasks as well. I know this might be too soon for both you and Asia, but I guess this time around is the perfect time to gain your own familiars while you still can", said Rias explaining as a bat-like creature appeared on Rias' shoulder. "This is my familiar. You have met her before."
Issei's quirked his eyebrows in thought, as he tried to remember if he ever met anyone related to a bat before. After a moment, his eyes widened a bit as he remembered something. "Err… Is that…?" Then the bat familiar transformed into a girl with bat-like costume, confirming Issei's suspicion. "Figures… She's the girl that gave me that flier."
"Yes, she was… doing some errands since we lacked hands back there", said Rias explaining, albeit her tone was slightly off, Issei did not notice it.
"This is my familiar", said Akeno as a small oni appeared on her palm.
"This is Shiro…" said Koneko with a white cat in her arms.
"Waa… So cute!" Asia squealed at the sheer adorableness from Koneko's familiar, as the latter let the former to pat the cat's head.
After Asia was done, Issei instinctively also got closer and he rubbed the white cat's head and area behind the ears gently, resulting a pur from the feline familiar. Koneko then pulled her familiar away protectively from Issei, as the former narrowed her eyes on her latter, a faint blush on the former's face. "She's mine".
Issei only laughed sheepishly as he rubbed and bowed his head in apology. "And this is mine", Issei looked at the source of the voice which belongs to Yuuto, a small bird on his fore-arm.
"How do we get our familiars, buchou-san?" asked Asia tilting her head.
"That's where this competition leads to. The Forest of Familiars, which only can be entered during the full-moon, can only take either us or Sona's peerage for the guide to help us to find your familiars. So we need to win this competition, or else we have to wait for the next full-moon to go to the forest. Do you understand, Ise, Asia?"
""Yes!""
Rias only nodded in content. "Okay, now let's go to the gym, shall we? Sona and her peerage should have arrived there by now", the 'king' raised from her seat.
Just when everyone started to move, Asia tugged on Issei's sleeve. "Um, Ise-san… We should give them those, now…" said Asia reminding Issei of something. The latter's face lighted up as he put his fist on his palm.
"Right, right. Everyone!" the rest of the peerage turned their heads at Issei. "Here, take this", said Issei as he pulled out some head-bands with 'Occult Research Club' written on it, then he distributed them one for each person.
"This is…" Rias said as she eyed her head-band.
"Yes, Asia and I made these beforehand. Though Asia was better when it comes to sewing", Issei gestured his hand at Asia, who was blushing.
"Um… I heard that this time will be a team-battle, so… I just want to make all of us like a real one… Ise-san suggested to make this", said Asia meekly.
"Well… You gave me that idea, Asia. If you didn't bring it up earlier, we wouldn't making any of these", replied Issei grinning.
"Thank you for the gift, Asia… I guess all of other clubs have something like this as well…" said Akeno complimenting the handiwork.
"Well then, everyone… Let's win this for Ise and Asia's sake as well!" said Rias high-spiritedly.
Everyone chorused in unison, "YES/YEAH!"
X
To sum it up, the dodgeball, which of the team-battle had been decided upon, went on with Occult Research Club leading the game. At the beginning, Issei was having a hard time as he never played a dodgeball before, as he barely avoided the ball that was thrown by Tsubasa, the rook of Sona Sitri.
"Wow, the strength of a rook is a real deal!" Issei sweat-dropped as the ball somewhat managed to leave a crack on the wall.
The game went on as Koneko got taken out due to the ball managed to rip off her clothes. "Koneko, out", announced the referee.
"Koneko-chan, you okay?" said Issei looking at Koneko. The latter only pouted as she covered her exposed parts.
"Don't look", said Koneko sending a dirty look on Issei.
Issei quickly blushed and averted his eyes somewhere else. "R-right, sorry…" then Koneko walked out from the court. Issei sweat-dropped again as he contemplating, "Hmm… Cute. I'm starting to understand what Matsuda means…" then Issei quickly shook his head off the thought and focussing back on the game.
Once Issei got a hold of the game and with the ball on his hands, he started to take out the opposing team's members one by one. As Sona who was the one taken out next, Saji, who was the only member left on the team, started to feel frustrated. "Kaichou!" cried Saji in worry as his 'king' got her hand hit by Issei's throw. "Damn you, Hyoudou… you really have no mercy, do ya?" said Saji as he glared at Issei who was playing the ball on his hand.
Issei only smirked at his fellow pawn. "Come on, don't tell me that you lot expect me to go easy on you just because your members are mostly girls?" Then Issei cocked his hand with the ball backward as he prepared to throw.
As Issei threw the ball towards Saji, the latter planted his feet on the ground and he met the former's throw head on. Saji felt the pressure on both of his hands as he tried to stop the ball's advance. His skidding feet finally stopped as the ball stopped moving on his hands as well, albeit smokes was fuming from the ball that just caught by Saji's hands. The Sitri's pawn let out a victor smirk as he prepared a counter-attack, he threw his hand wit the ball backwards and raised his one foot, taking the posture similar with a pitcher from a baseball game. "Pay back time, you damn harem king!" Saji yelled as he threw the ball at Issei with all of his strength.
"Look out, Ise!" cried Rias in warning. However, Issei only remained on his spot as he let out a breath. Nobody around managed to notice Issei's eye twitching since it was covered by his bangs.
Issei only jerked his right hand backwards and set his feet and body in position as he took a posture of someone ready to throw a punch, but with his right hand opened. As the ball came at him, he muttered, "I thought I told you…" Then he thrust his palm forward.
"I don't have a freaking harem!"
BAM!
When his palm made contact with the ball, Issei made a spin with his palm, resulting the ball launched over and spun with even higher speed than his previous throws. Saji who was startled by the speed of the ball coming at him could not moved as the ball ended up smashed into his crotch. As his body doubled over and him wincing and wheezing in pain, everyone, especially Issei and Yuuto averted their gazes as they could not bear to see such a painful spectacle.
"S-Saji, out!" said the referee.
"Oh, crap. I was aiming for his face…" thought Issei as he ran his hands through his hair.
Ddraig who watched from inside Issei's body only rolled his eyes.
[No shit]
"Uh… Saji…? You alive there?" Issei called out for any sign of Saji. The latter only wheezed even louder as he was still doubled over, holding around his nether region.
"Um… I'm so sorry about that…" said Issei apologising as he bowed towards the rest of student council, particularly Sona.
Sona only closed her eyes in resignation as she sighed and shifted the position of her glasses. "It's fine, he'll get over it".
"Well, I guess it's our win then, Sona", Rias said as she approached Issei, patting his shoulder. "You've gone a bit overboard, but good work, Ise." The latter only nodded sheepishly, still feeling guilty from his last throw.
"Yes, it's our loss this time. But we won't loose next time…" said Sona as she stepped out from the gym, the others, with some of them supporting Saji who was still hurting over his crotch, followed behind her. "Good luck with your search for familiars, Rias…" was Sona's last word before the door shut before her and her peerage.
Rias stared at the door for a few seconds, then she clapped her hands. "Alright, everyone. Let's take a short break and prepare for familiar's forest!" her peerage chorused again in unison.
"YES/YEAH!"
X
"Okay, everyone. Are you all ready?" asked Rias as she looked over her servants, standing inside a large magic circle. Everyone nodded at her question and the magic circle lighted up, enveloping everyone inside the circle before they disappeared in a bright flash of red.
When Issei's view cleared up, Issei found himself with everyone standing on the area that came out from a classic horror-fantasy flick; dark-purple sky, deserted wasteland and few dead trees surrounding them. However, when he scanned his surroundings, a feel of nostalgia suddenly washed over him. He breathed the air, felt the surrounding nature, and he felt that everything was familiar to him. But he soon shook his head to dismiss the thought. There was no way Issei could have ever come to this place, the boy believed that this was the first time he ever came to such a place. After a moment of silence, Issei turned towards his master. "Um… ojou-sama? Is this the place where we will look for our familiars?" asked Issei as he pointed at the place they were currently at.
"Yes, it is, Ise. Now we are waiting for someone to guide us. He should be around here…" Rias answered and she looked around as if she was expecting someone to show up.
"Gotta catch 'em all!"
Suddenly a voice came out, startling both Issei and Asia, as the former moved in and pulled the latter behind him in a protective manner.
"What the-!" Issei's shock was answered as a figure landed from the sky. The figure was a man with an outfit, which Issei described as a rip-off from the protagonist of pokemon franchise.
The stranger turned around towards Rias' peerage as he put a pose to introduce himself. "Hello, everyone! I'm Zatouji from Madara town! I'm a devil-in-learning to be a familiar master!"
Hearing his introduction, Issei only eyed Zatouji with sceptical look. "A hard-core fan?"
[Totally a hard-core fan] Ddraig could only agreed.
"So you are the one who got here instead of Sona Sitri-sama, Rias Gremory-sama…" said Zatouji as he bowed towards the said girl.
"It's been a while, Zatouji-san", said Rias in greeting and she addressed her newest members, "Ise, Asia, come here." Then the two new devils came over obediently. Rias gestured her hands towards Zatouji, "This fellow will be our guide in this place. He will help you to find a familiar suitable for you."
Issei and Asia quickly collected themselves for introduction.
"Oh, hello there. I'm Hyoudou Issei. Nice to meet you."
"Um… nice to meet you, Zatouji-san. My name is Asia Argento. Please take care of me!"
Zatouji eyed both of them carefully and he scooted over Issei and Asia to get a closer look. "Hmm…. A dull-looking boy and a cute blondie. Okay! What do you folks want for your familiars? A strong one? A fast one? Or one that can use poison or magic?" said Zatouji enthusiastically.
"Geez, cut the pokemon already…" thought Issei as he snorted. "Well… For now, what do you recommend, Zatouji-san?"
"Hmm… Let's see…" said Zatouji as he picked out and flipped around a catalogue book from his bag-pack. He turned his book as soon as he stopped at a page. "What about this one? Tiamat, the Chaos Karma Dragon! This dragon is one of the Five Great Dragon Kings, and it is the only female out of the five! Her strength is on par with a maou!"
While Asia flinched a bit from fear, Issei was looking closely at the page with a blue western dragon picture on it. "Hmm… A dragon king… As your familiar?" If someone took more attention, one could see that Issei's eyes were glittering in excitement. Ddraig who could tell what his host was thinking decided to butt in.
[Psst, partner]
"Yeah?"
[Can you pass on this one?]
"What? Why? It's not everyday someone can have something as powerful as dragon king for familiar!"
[I know, I know... Tiamat is strong, indeed. But to put it simply, she hates me]
"…Okay, I'll bite. What have you done to her?"
[Uh… I can't remember. It was like forever ago, but I can tell that she still hates me. Trust me, partner. If she ever saw you, not to mention found out that you are my host, the first thing she'll do is trying to kill you]
"But… It's a dragon king…."
[…(sigh)… I understand, but think about your comrades. Even I cannot tell what Tiamat will do if you encountered her. I'm not gonna say that you won't survive, but you might as well putting your friends' lives in danger if you still want to make a pact with Tiamat. Think this over, partner…]
After contemplating for few moments, Issei let out a sigh as he finally gave up on finding the dragon king. "That's… way too dangerous for us, Zatouji-san… Do you have something else?"
Zatouji flipped over the pages again and he showed a page with a picture of a large nine-headed serpent. "Then what about this? The hydra! Not only has a powerful poison that even other devils fear, it also very powerful, not to mention it has enough guts to attack its own master!"
Issei only let out another sweat-dropped and Asia was scared even more. This time, the former was contemplating either to knocked some senses into Zatouji or ask something else differently. Seriously, Issei could not fathom what was wrong with the 'familiar master', offering dangerous creatures one by one to him and especially Asia, who was very delicate in many ways.
"Ara, Ise. I think it's a suitable familiar for you. Hydra can be considered as a rare species, after all. Not to mention they are very powerful and can come in handy when the situation calls. You should give it a go", said Rias voicing her opinion, much to Issei's surprise.
"U-um… Ojou-sama, as much as intriguing this hydra is, the 'attack its own master' part REALLY bugs me", said Issei in slight sarcasm, pointing at the picture.
Zatouji closed his book as he clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Tch, you're sure picky for a devil, kid… Fine, what do you want, then?" the man asked with his hands on his waist.
"Well, let's say something that easy to control? You know, just like your everyday house-pet? Do you have any of those kinds?" replied Issei with a shrug.
"…(sigh)… Listen here, kid… You need to choose your familiar wisely. If you pick a powerful familiar, you can become a familiar master by collecting the same type several times, then you can marry the male ones with the female ones to have more variety of off-springs. And also-", Zatouji's lectures were cut off by Issei.
"Stop, stop!" yelled Issei as he put up his hand and he rubbed his eyebrow before he spoke again, "First of all, I think we have different perspectives about being familiar master. I just want to have one, not to start a farm. And second of all, can you cut the pokemon crap? It's starting to get on my nerves."
Before Zatouji could have made any more retort, Asia raised her hand and spoke meekly, "I… I would like a cute familiar…." Then Zatouji's face brightened up as he turned towards the blonde girl with a thumb-up.
"Okay, I got it. Follow me!" exclaimed Zatouji as he started walking away with Asia following behind. The rest of the peerage only sweat-dropped awkwardly and followed the two as well. Issei was staring dead-panned at first, but later he let out a sigh as he followed behind as well.
"This guy is no different than Saji…" However, before Issei went further, he stopped on his track again as he looked back again. "It can't be, right?"
"Ise! Hurry up or we'll leave you behind!"
The voice of his master snapped him out of his mussing and he quickly ran after his friends. "Coming!"
After a while of walking and encountering so many live forms, such as bulky undines fist-fighting each other (much to Issei's disgust, since they remind him of Mil-tan), slimes that melt women's clothes (much to Issei's shock as he learned another thing about eroticism until everyone had to go out their way to destroy the slimes, with the girls doing all the work while the boys were only told to look somewhere else), etc., the group was now walking on a rather small path, but still wide enough to walk on, with ravine with steep walls on the edge of the path. Issei, who was the most behind the group walked rather close to the edge of the path as he sneaked a peek to see how deep the ravine was, which was not too deep, as he made sure that he will not loose a sight of the group in front of him.
Meanwhile, Zatouji and the rest of Rias' peerage were walking rather close to the inner walls. "Okay…" said Zatouji tried to lightened the mood. "So Asia-san here wants a cute familiar, correct?"
"Yes, please… If you don't mind…" replied Asia from behind him.
"Hahaha, it's fine, it's fine… Lots of devil girls tend to ask their familiars to be cute, so I'm already used to it", replied Zatouji with a hearty laugh. "And, what about you, err… Issei, was it? Have you decided on your familiar?" asked Zatouji again. However, no answer was heard. "Kid? You listening?" asked Zatouji again as he stopped on his tracks and turned his head at the group behind him. "Where is he?"
Zatouji's question made the rest of the group looked behind to see that the pawn was no longer behind nor around them. Rias was the one who started to get slightly panic. As she walked over at the spot where Issei was supposed to be. "Wha- Ise was right behind us just a second ago! Ise!? ISE!?"
Akeno quickly put up her palm and a small magic circle appeared on her palm, presenting the radar to locate other peerage member. As she managed to get a signal on Issei, she turned her head towards her 'king'. "Buchou, look at this." Rias and the rest of the group, including Zatouji, gathered to look at the magic radar. Upon seeing the radar, Zatouji's eyes widened and he took a few steps back to see there was a part of the ground that collapsed to the ravine. "Oh crap… It seems that kid fell all the way down there…" Then he turned towards Rias and her group. "Rias-sama! We need to find your servant quickly!" said the man as he rushed forward.
Rias, with her group followed-suit, asked as she kept up. "Yes, I know. But Zatouji-san, do you know where Ise might have gone to?"
"Yeah, pretty much. But the problem is, that area down there is where some of the most dangerous creatures are usually lurking in. So let's hope that we can find him before that kid goes into any trouble."
"Then we need to move even faster!" Rias ordered as she quickened her pace. "Please be safe, Ise!"
The rest were quickened their paces as well, except for Asia who need to be carried by Yuuto. While she was being carried, she prayed while enduring the occurring headache. "Oh Lord… (ouch!) Please protect Ise-san…"
X
(Issei's POV)
"UAAAAAAAA…!"
WHOSH! BRUGH!
"Ouch…."
Damn it, the ground beneath me when I took a peek at the cliff suddenly collapsed, and here I am, sliding through the ravine until I finally I was thrown and dropped to the bottom. I rubbed my sore spots and cleaned the dust off my clothes as I scanned my surroundings. It looks like I was in a deeper area of the forest, since there were more trees and they were high enough to obscure my sight to the top where ojou-sama and the others are. It was quite a deep fall I went through, I doubt that my voice can reach all the way up there if I shout, but I tried nonetheless.
"OJOU-SAMA! ZATOUJI-SAN! EVERYONE!"
But nobody answered. I weighed my options for what to do from here. I considered about flying or climbing my way back, but when I took a glance at the sky, I saw several large bird-like creatures soared around the cliff wall, and their faces did not say anything about friendly at all, so that option was out, since not only I'm still suck at flying, fighting on uneven ground while I'm climbing was not a good idea at all. So for now, I decided to walk around to find my friends, as well as perhaps to find a better ground to climb or to take off with my wings. Besides, I'm sure the others have realised that I've gone by now, and have started searching for me, so it's only a matter of time until we bumped into each other. I treaded my path carefully to avoid those bird creatures to spot me by avoiding open areas. I walk for a quite a while again until I found a small clearing. I took a look at the sky, and I found that I was far enough from those birds. Although I could not climb since I ended up walking away from the cliff, the flying options still go. If it's just ascending in straight line, I can still manage somehow. When I took a step into the clearing. I saw something moving from a nearby bush. Putting up a fighting stance in reflex, I eyed that bush carefully until something jumped out. I was taken aback at first, but I noticed the thing was a small blue dragon.
"A dragon?"
[That dragon… Partner, it's a baby dragon, a baby sprite dragon, to be precise. Not as strong as a dragon king, but it's still a top-tier class dragon. Partner, why don't you try to make a pact with that one? This is the best chance if you still want a dragon as your familiar, because when it grows up, it will be impossible to make him give in to you]
I heeded my inner dragon's words and I nodded resolutely. I took a step carefully and the baby dragon noticed my presence and sent a look at me.
"Hey there, buddy…" I tried to make myself sounded friendly.
When I got a better look, I saw few small injuries on its body, its expression looks exhausted and ragged. The injuries did not seem that bad, but I could tell the dragon was having a rough time earlier.
"Okay… What happened to you?" I asked as I stretched my hand to touch him. Are these injuries from an accident? A fight?
Suddenly the baby dragon hissed and let out a small roar at me. I quickly took a step back and I raised both of my arms in sign of peace.
"Wow, wow… Calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you", the dragon only shivered as it sent a threatening look at my direction and finally flew away into the trees. I relaxed myself as I stared into the direction where the baby dragon flew off.
"Gee, what's that all about?" I asked to no one in particular as I put my hands on my waist.
[Um… Partner] I heard Ddraig called me with his voice somewhat… nervous? [I don't think that sprite dragon was running away from you]
Right after Ddraig said that, I heard another rustling behind me, this time louder, and I felt the hairs on my skin spiked up as I felt chill on my spine. Then I felt something VERY big was looming over me.
I sighed. "There's a monster behind me, isn't it?"
[Just prepare for… Probably to fight for your life]
Fuck. I snorted as I summoned my boosted gear
[DRAGON BOOSTER!]
And I turned around and took a look on whatever the creature before me. My eyes widened when I saw nine pair of eyes glowing on me, followed by numerous hisses from its mouths. Of course… The injuries from that baby dragon earlier were from this thing. Rather, I must say that I'm impressed that baby dragon managed to get away from this without any life-threatening injuries. Then the jaws lounged on me.
(Meanwhile with everyone else, Rias POV)
I, Rias Gremory and my peerage were on our way to search for my newest 'pawn'. We have tried to look from the sky at first, but the masses of trees were obscuring our vision, thus we had to search on foot. We also have scattered our familiars around to the area to fasten the search as well. As we kept trekking through the forest, my new 'bishop' caught something came out from the nearby tree. We turned our heads to see an injured, small blue dragon flew and landed on Asia's arms. When I got a better look, I couldn't help myself but mesmerized by the sight. Despite the wounds, I couldn't help but to find the dragon to have such… beautiful scales.
"Oh, poor thing… What happened to you?" asked Asia as she immediately used her Twilight Healing on the dragon's wounds.
Zatouji-san who managed to get a better look on the dragon finally recognised it. "That's a baby sprite dragon! It's quite rare to see one of those around here. And yeah, what happened to him?"
A sprite dragon? If I'm not mistaken, sprite dragons are high-class dragons that have been labelled as rare types. Come to think of it, yes, where did its injuries come from?
Soon after the baby dragon was healed, it quickly flew again in front of us and it let out a noise, its body moved around back and forth, as if the dragon was trying to say something. Of course, none of us could speak a dragon language, but I tried my best to comprehend what the baby dragon was trying to say.
"What is it trying to say?" my 'knight' asked as he was eyeing the sprite dragon.
"Um… I-I think he is asking us to follow him..." I heard it was Asia who was speaking. Asia can understand dragons?
"Ara, you can tell?" asked my 'queen' with intrigued tone.
"I… I'm not sure myself, but…"
Zatouji-san interfered again, "It seems you have a good compatibility with him. Why don't you take him as a familiar? That dragon is a male, and male dragons tend to like beings of opposite sex."
I decided to speak as we had more important matters in our hands. "We can do that later after we found Ise, Asia… For now, let's try to follow that little guy first, shall we?" I took a first step towards the sprite dragon's direction, the others followed suit. I'm not sure myself, but my feelings were telling me to follow the little dragon for now, perhaps he can lead me to Ise.
As we ran following the baby dragon (of course with Asia had to be carried by Yuuto again), I heard Akeno called out to me with her eyes widened and her expression turned grim.
"Buchou, my familiars found that Ise-kun is engaging a hydra!"
My eyes widened as I took in what she said. Ise is fighting a what?
I also noticed that Yuuto also glanced side-ways and his eyes widened as if he picked up something. "My familiar has seen Issei-kun as well!"
"Mine as well", Koneko followed-suit.
I also had gotten the message from my own familiar, the report that my newest pawn is now fighting a hydra, exactly like Akeno had said. Oh dear, what do I do? I did tell Ise to take hydra for his familiar, but not by endangering his own life! Did I just jinx my own servant? What do I have to do if Ise ended up getting hurt, or worse? then I turned my eyes towards Zatouji-san.
"Zatouji-san!"
"Right!"
Asia's eyes widened and she raised her voice at the sprite dragon that was leading them. "Sprite dragon-san, please hurry!" The dragon understood the situation as it quickened its flying speed with everyone else on tow.
As we moved on, from the distance, I heard familiar noises followed with sounds of roars, hiss, trashing, trees breaking and explosions echoed in the air.
[Boost!]
"ORAAAAH!"
BAM! BAM! BAM! CRASH!
"SHHAAAAHH!"
SPLASH!
"Ow! Hot! Hot! Hot!"
"GROOAAARRGH!"
CRASH! CRASH!
[Boost!]
"You want another piece of me!? UOOOOOGH!"
BAM! BOOM! BAM!
"GRAAAAARRGGHH!"
BOOM! CRASH!
[Boost!]
"HOAAAAAH!"
[EXPLOSION!]
"DRAGON SHOT!"
BLAAAARR! BOOM! CRASH!
"GYAAAAARRGHH!"
"Tch, still moving, huh!?"
When we finally arrived at the scene, I almost couldn't believe what was in front of me. I saw the nine-headed serpent was standing on the ground, its body covered with heavy wounds, and smoke could be seen fuming from hydra's body. I also saw Issei jumped to the sky over the hydra, whom was now looked exhausted, as the boy cocked back his left arm clad in boosted gear, and he brought his left fist right into the hydra's centre of the body as he landed.
"HAAAAA!"
KA-BOOM!
"GAAAAARRGGHH…!"
As the fist connected, all of the nine heads roared in immense pain and spat out a mouthful of blood the impact forced the hydra's body to destroyed the ground's surface as dusts and debris were thrown and flying around. We had to cover our eyes from the dust and we slowly opened our eyes to see the view that started to clear up.
[Reset!]
"Hiss…." The hydra was now lying on the crater as each of the heads' jaws gapped with blood flowing out from inside, each head also let out a weak hiss, its body was twitching and breathed slowly, but did not show any signs of getting up.
Then I turned my gaze towards Ise who was standing nearby the hydra's body, he panted between his breaths, then he dropped his body to sit on the ground before he fell on his back. Ise never ceased to amaze me… My newest 'pawn' just defeated a hydra!
(Change, third person POV)
"(Pant)… (Pant)… Huff…. Damn… That cut-ass serpent sure is tough… After all those attacks it was still breathing?" Issei said with exhausted tone as he let his body lying, relaxing on the ground beneath him.
[Of course, partner. Hydras are known for their immortal traits as well, after all. But you gave enough damage to break its will to fight anymore. You sure you still don't want it as your familiar?]
"And letting it attacks me when it had another chance? No thanks."
[Suit yourself, then. Oh, by the way, your friends are here]
"Huh?" Issei looked upwards and see his friends with expressions of awe and disbelief. "Oh… 'sup, guys…"
"Ise/Ise-san/Issei-kun/Ise-kun/Issei-senpai!"
Snapped from their thoughts, Rias and the others quickly ran over towards Issei to check on his condition. His clothes were tattered here and there, there are bruises, grazes and cuts covering his skin, but overall, Issei was not in danger. Zatouji only whistled when he took a look at the area where the fought took place. The area was devastated, trees were broken, some were still burning, craters could be seen on the ground here and there, either was made from sheer impact or melted from presumably hydra's venom.
"Holy crap…" Zatouji muttered still in disbelief. "That son of a bitch managed to defeat hydra alone…"
"Ise-san, are you okay? Does it hurt?" asked Asia worriedly as she started to heal Issei's wound.
"…(sigh)… I'm fine, Asia… Though I thought I was gonna die back there…" said Issei as he sat up.
Then Issei felt his head pulled into two bountiful mounds that belong to his master. Rias lovingly hugged Issei into her breasts as she rubbed the latter's hair gently.
"Ise..." said Rias as she kept rubbing Issei's hair.
"O-ojou-sama…?" Issei replied with his face fuming. "Is… Is this why those two always boasting about breasts? It… It feels very good! … Wait, what am I thinking!? Bad thoughts, Ise, bad thoughts!"
"I'm so worried when you're gone…" said Rias with care in her tone.
Hearing Rias' caring voice, Issei found himself relaxing into the hug. "Yes… I'm sorry for making you worry…" said Issei as put his hands on Rias' waist to return the hug.
"No, I'm sorry for letting you out of my sight when I was supposed to watch over you… I have failed as your master…"
"Please don't blame yourself, ojou-sama… It was my own mistake that I ended up in this mess… Besides, you still looked for me, didn't you? So please, cheer up. I'm totally fine, now, see?" said Issei as he pulled away and he stretched out his arms, showing that he was fine.
Rias only smiled as she pulled Issei into another hug. Upon the spectacle, Akeno let out a giggle while Yuuto and Koneko only smiled in content, albeit the latter's smile was smaller. Asia was getting teary-eyed as she started to get jealous.
"Bu-buchou-san! I- I can't heal Ise-san if you keep hugging him like that…" Asia remarked as she tried to pull Issei away from Rias.
Rias only smiled in amusement. "Fufufu… Alright, alright… You can have him back", Rias said as she let go of Issei, whom was confused of what was going on between them and relaxed himself again as Asia continued her treatment.
"Still though, I wish I could have seen your fight with that hydra with my own eyes. I've never actually ever seen you fight before, Ise-kun… fufufu…" said Akeno with her signature giggles. Yuuto and Koneko only nodding in agreement as they also would like to see Issei's fight with the nine-headed serpent earlier.
"Man, you're actually really strong, aren't you, Issei-kun?" said Yuuto shaking his head in amusement.
"Good job", said Koneko with passive face while holding a thumb-up.
Then Issei remembered one thing as he turned at the hydra that was still lying on the ground. "Speaking of hydra, I think we should leave first. While it might take a while for that thing to wake up but it's just a matter of time until that thing started to run amok again."
Zatouji only nodded in agreement as he turned around to face the group. "The kid's right. We need to-"
GRAAAOOOOONNGG
Zatouji was cut-off by a sudden burst of foreign power and a roar echoed from the sky, followed by a feminine voice.
"I will take it from here"
Everyone else, with Issei immediately stood up, suddenly felt the enormous power, enough to send chill to everyone's spines and making them cold-sweated, emitted from above and cocked their heads toward the sky to see a large blue western dragon soaring above them. The dragon sent a gust of wind, as it flapped its wings once before finally landing down. Everyone had their faces paled as they remembered the appearance of the dragon was from the one they saw from Zatouji's catalogue. The familiar master's mouth was gaping around like a fish before he finally snapped.
"A wild dragon king has appeared!" Zatouji cried as he quickly took few steps backward to get away from the blue dragon.
"Ti- Tiamat, the Chaos Karma Dragon? What is she doing here?" Rias said with a hint of panic in her tone. The rest of the peerage quickly readied themselves to fight, Issei himself quickly summoned his Boosted Gear again while shielding Asia behind him.
However, the dragon simply glanced over them without showing any hostility. After few moments of tense silence, the dragon spoke.
"Greetings, devils… I'm Tiamat, the Chaos Karma Dragon. There is no need to fret, for I've come with no intention to fight…"
Everyone relaxed a bit and put down their fighting stances, but Yuuto and Issei still had not dismissed their arms as they were still cautious. Rias, feeling that she needed to represent her group as the 'king', decided to take a step forward to give a reply.
Rias gave Tiamat a polite bow. "It's an honour to meet you, Tiamat-sama. My name is Rias Gremory, the heiress of house of Gremory of 72 pillars. These are my servants", said Rias gesturing the others behind her. "My 'queen', Himejima Akeno, my 'knight', Kiba Yuuto, my 'rook', Toujou Koneko, my 'bishop', Asia Argento and my 'pawn', Hyoudou Issei."
The others gave the dragon king a polite bow when their names were introduced. If anyone paid a close attention, Tiamat's golden eyes were widened ever so slightly and her edge of the lips twitched upwards ever so slightly as well in the mention of Issei's name. However, when she shifted her gaze at the Red Dragon Emperor, her faint smile dropped and her eyes narrowed in displeasure when they settled on the Boosted Gear for a moment, before she let out a breath.
"It's been a while, Ddraig… Though I'd be lying if I said that I'm happy to see you again…" Tiamat tried to sound neutral, but everyone present could feel a tint of hatred in her tone, clearly that the dragon king was doing her best to hold her temper.
[Yeah, it's sure been a while, Tiamat… What are you doing here, anyway? I assume that you didn't go all of your way out here just to greet us]
Hearing a voice came out from Issei's Boosted Gear, everyone turned their attention to the gauntlet for a second before their eyes returned at the dragon king.
Tiamat only snorted. "As much as I would love to tear you to pieces right now, I'm here to take a rampaging Hydra out of my territory. But it seems your host has already done the task…" Tiamat said when she looked at the knocked-out Hydra and back at the group, particularly on Issei.
Zatouji raised his hand nervously. "E- excuse me, did you just say that this is your territory? I- we have no idea at all…" the familiar master was quite shocked to find out that they just trespass into the territory of a dragon king.
Tiamat only gave a quick glance at the familiar master. "I won't blame you for it… I just marked this place recently, after all… However…" she turned her eyes again at Issei.
"Having the Red Dragon Emperor to help me and one of my kin truly left an unpleasant taste in my mouth…" said Tiamat snarling slightly, suggesting the baby sprite-dragon that Issei approached earlier as her kin.
Issei only raised up one hand as he swallowed a lump. "Um… Don't need to worry about it, Tiamat-san… And sorry again that I trespass your territory without permission." Issei gave an apologetic bow.
Tiamat eyed Issei for a moment before let out a sigh. "No, as much as I hate the Welsh Dragon, I'm still aware of the fact that you just did a favour to me and my kin. And for that, you have my thanks…"
Everyone relaxed even more hearing the blue dragon giving a gratitude to Issei, however, the latter had something else in mind when he received the said gratitude.
Issei took a step forward, even closer to Tiamat than Rias' position this time. "Then, Tiamat-san... Would you-"
"No"
Issei was taken aback when his words were cut-off. "Err… But I haven't-"
"Don't push your luck, boy. Being the Red Dragon Emperor is more than enough reason for me to refuse a pact with you", Tiamat said as she raised her head a bit.
Issei only rubbed his head as he smiled sheepishly. "Well, then… I don't mean to be rude, but why do you hate Ddraig so much? What has he done to you in the past?"
Tiamat only remained silent for a second before she replied, "Why don't you ask your dragon yourself?"
Issei only stared at his red gauntlet and the dragon inside it did not say a single word. Then the dragon king snorted. "I see… That, boy… Is another reason why I hate him. I'll consider your proposal once the Welsh Dragon remembers his mistakes and apologize to me. Until then, don't ever think of me being your familiar…" said Tiamat in final tone.
Issei looked at the ground for a moment, before his face lit up and a grin adorned his face. "Then what about a friend?"
Everyone was gasped and surprised at Issei's next proposal, with Tiamat only narrowed her eyes more in curiosity rather than irritation. Issei quickly waved her hands as he clarified his words. "No, no. Not a familiar. I mean, just… You know, talk, chat, and maybe a cup of tea or coffee… No strings attached."
Tiamat's expression softened slightly while everyone else still tensed. "Do tell me why I should be your 'friend'. Didn't you just hear what I have said earlier?" Tiamat's tone was filled with threats and slight amusement.
Issei only scratched his cheek, thinking about his own reasoning. "Well… It's kind of sad to see you and Ddraig still in bad terms even after centuries. I know this sounds stupid, but I actually just want you guys to make up. Besides, by talking to each other, perhaps I can help you to make Ddraig remembers about what he's done to you. So…" Issei then saw right into Tiamat's eyes. "I'm not asking you as the Red Dragon Emperor, but as Hyoudou Issei. How about it?" Issei said with a goofy grin and he extended his right hand.
Everyone did not move an inch as they waited for the tensing silence to break off, until they finally heard something from the dragon king.
"Fufufufufu…."
Everyone was taken aback to hear the chuckling came out from Tiamat's lips. The dragon clearly giggled from Issei's reasoning.
"A devil, the Red Dragon Emperor to add, wish to befriend me, the Chaos Karma Dragon…. How comical… Your predecessors would never even think about it…"
"So…?" Issei asked in hopeful tone.
Tiamat started to move towards the Hydra and grabbed its body with her claws. As Tiamat prepared to take off to the sky, she turned her head at Issei. "You just warrant me not to ever become your familiar, even if Ddraig ever to repent his mistakes to me, thanks to your ridiculousness."
Issei felt a stone just dropped on his head as he heard Tiamat's reply. The others only sweat-dropped to see Issei's shocked expression and the pawn slumped his head in defeat.
"However…" everyone looked up at the sky again upon Tiamat's words, seeing the dragon began to soar.
"I won't mind to have a nice talk with you if we ever meet again, Hyoudou Issei. Farewell, devils of Gremory…" said Tiamat as she flew away carrying the Hydra with her, presumably to 'dispose' it somewhere far away.
Everybody only remained on their spots until Tiamat disappeared from sight. Once she did, all of them let out huge sighs of relief and Issei dropped his ass onto the ground. Soon, everybody gathered around Issei once again.
[Holy shit… Not only managed to survive after meeting Tiamat, you also have gained favours from her… Congratulations, partner] Ddraig said with amusement and most importantly, relief.
"Hahaha! You really are full of surprises, kid!" said Zatouji slapping Issei's back playfully, receiving a sheepish laugh from the latter.
The others mostly shook their heads from events that had transpired. "Unbelievable… What should I ever do with you, Ise?" said Rias rubbing her temple.
"That was… thrilling in more ways than one, Issei-kun", said Yuuto nodding.
"Oh my, Ise-kun… You look so cool when you stood up against Tiamat-sama… Fufufufu…" commented Akeno smiling pleasantly with her hand on her cheek. A faint blush could be seen as well on her face.
"Unbelievable", was all Koneko said with passive expression.
"Ise-san, I'm so happy that you're alright!" Asia said with teary eyes.
Issei only replied the best he could at each comment. "Yeah… Sorry about that, ojou-sama… I know right? I thought I was gonna die too… Uh, thanks Akeno-san… Yeah, I couldn't believe it either, Koneko-chan… I'm also glad that you're alright, Asia…"
Then Issei noticed the baby dragon he encountered earlier. It seems that everyone else forgot about the sprite-dragon due to all the previous tensions with Tiamat. "Hey there again, little guy…"
Asia and the others also remembered about the presence of the baby dragon, which was making himself comfortable all the time while everyone was conversing with the dragon king.
"Ise-san, sprite dragon-san was the one that led us here to you", Asia said as she approached the dragon that leapt into her arms.
"Hm? Is that so? Then-" suddenly the sprite-dragon shot a torrent of electric current to Issei before the latter could finish.
Everyone else sweat-dropped once again at the spectacle, Issei's slightly charred body only twitched from the shock as the boy snorted, puffing off a smoke. "Thank you very much", said Issei sarcastically. Then everyone laughed.
Rias clapped her hands, gaining everyone's attention. "Well, I guess we've spent times here long enough. But before we took our leave, Asia, would you like to make a pact with that sprite dragon?" said Rias to Asia.
"Ye-yes! I'd love to!" replied Asia as she hugged the sprite dragon joyfully, which the latter responded in kind as well.
"Very well, then. Now follow my lead to form the pact now", Rias instructed Asia to begin the ritual with the sprite dragon which soon will be known as 'Rassei', since Asia would want to name the baby dragon after her very first friend.
X
As Tiamat arrived at her nest, she looked at the far away sky of the underworld before she went into the cave where she resides in, reminiscing the past events in her life so far.
"Fufufu… That boy…" Tiamat's thought paused when she remembered of Issei and the boy's display of power. "Fate truly is strange in many ways… Don't you agree as well?" then the dragon king remembered one particular human she had encountered many years ago "Saitama…" and the dragon vanished into the cave.