Good Progress and Asia's Arrival.

Now that they were taking things seriously, Vander was just a bit happier with them. He often wished that he did not have to deal with them as they were too much trouble. Either way, he was stuck with them until he could become a High-Class Devil.

What he did not know was that Serafall and Grafia were trying to push him past Mid rank Devil to High Class for his sake. The process of rising in rank was not supposed to be this fast, but Serafall a Satan was vouching for him.

That was speeding up things as she felt someone as strong as a Satan like her being a Low-Class Devil was a waste. This had risen some questions from the Great King Faction about why both of them were trying to get a nameless Devil a rank increase.

They had tried to figure out who he was, but they found that not even his name was known. Grayfia had still not shared his name so Vander was only known to the Gremory Familly, Sona and her peerage, and Serafall. That raised alarms as they were trying to get an enigma his own pieces.

They would soon call a meeting demanding to know who he was otherwise they would bar him from ever rising in rank. His time away in the dark was probably going to end soon, but he did not care. He had the power to not answer to them so he was fine. At the moment he overseeing the new and improved training program of his students.

Rias herself was trying to copy La Folia's masterful control over Energy of Destruction to give it shapes. She was doing an awful job as La Folia had a large winged tiger made of the stuff with a snake for a tail.

"Come on Rias, this should be easy for you."

Rias raised her hands and tried to do something easy which was a snake in her mind. The issue was that her only method of producing it was to fire it from her hand and once she did that it was mostly out of her control.

La Folia who was on the back of her construct waved her hand and created a life-like snake from the stuff. It coiled around her neck with a flicking tongue making Rias all the more annoyed.

'Damn it. How?'

She could not even form a snake and La Folia made one with a functioning tongue. No, this was a second as the tail snake could do the same. As for Akeno, she was up against Mephiston who was an expert Time magician who could slow, speed up, stop or even faze out of time making it nearly impossible to hit him. However, he made the perfect target for her to use her Holy Lightning whcih she had almost forgotten how to use.

Not only did he not stay still, but he would also attack back which made it all the more dangerous for her. The more she used her Lightning the more It brought up the happy memories he had with her father, but then it flashed to the death of her mother.

The conflicting grief, hate, and fear made her grit her teeth to push her control of it to the limit. It was even flowing through her body, but as her base species was Fallen Angel she became nearly resistant to Light. She even manipulated light magic to create spears of light that flashed with Holy Lightning to attack at him.

However, by the time the Light Spears struck the ground Mephiston dodged with ease. Vader glanced in her direction as his arms moved in ways to block all attempts to attack him from his three attackers. He was not even looking at them as they attacked with spears of light and their own limbs to get a hit in.

"Guess she did have some worth left in her?"

He grabbed Raynare's extended fist and palmed her in the gut causing her to cough out her lungs. He tossed her to Kalawarna who dodged her instead of catching her. When she thought she avoided the danger she saw Vander's foot in her line of sight.

'Fu-'

He kicked her in the face and backflipped in the air to get a ax kick on Dohanseek which drove him to the ground.

"So close. Take 5 to rest. Then we are back at it."

They groaned in pain as he did not hold back. He dodged out of the way as Issei's limp body was tossed in his direction falling to the ground. Naerdeath's voice called out to the poor rag doll on the floor.

"Get up Issei. If you want to get anywhere in life you got to deal with some pain."

Issei forced himself up as he looked at her fully armored form. Not even her face could be seen behind her helmet.

"How is that fair? You are armed to the teeth."

He was trying to ignore all the sad things in his life which just made him madder. That anger pushed his Boosted Gear more which allowed him to boost his power more. At the moment he had not even gotten a hit on her despite her being weighed down by over a ton of armor.

"Oh this, this is not me being armed to the teeth. This is."

Her giant dual axes appeared in her hands and she looked ready to throw them. His eyes went wide open as he aimed his gauntlet at her.

"DRAGON SHOT!"

A large red ball of energy was fired at her which she swatted away with her axe. It flew into the distance and explode with great force and power.

"Nice, now dodge."

She tossed one of her axes toward his head which he just barely managed to dodge. He was so pleased with himself, but the second was already flying in his direction. He was hit with the handle which ended up breaking a few of his ribs.

He was sent flying into the distance as he was done for the day as he had passed out. Naerdeath sighed ass she called back her axes.

"How boring?"

Vander shook his head.

"In just a day he could already cause a giant explosion like that. The Boosted Gear is truly powerful, sad the host is so useless."

He looked at Kiba who was fighting back against Ripper without even being able to cut his hide. Ripper's hide was extremely difficult to pierce or cut so Kiba was having trouble defending himself from the raptor.

Vander watched how Ripper's eyes were locked on Kiba's legs with the full intention of breaking them. Permanently this time no matter what anyone said. Kiba dodge the claw strike from the raptor which led to Kiba's own shadow surging to grab his legs.

This move had caused Kiba great pain and terror as his nightmares were of Ripper trapping him in his shadow. He didn't even tell Rias that his own shadow had become his biggest fear.

This time he had prepared for this move as a new sword appeared in his hands. Fire was not good enough to get the shadows to retreat, instead, he had carefully created a sword with the light element. Just holding it caused his hand and body to burn, but it weakened the shadows.

"NOT ANYMORE RIPPER!"

He lept over the weakened shadows and slashed toward Ripper's throat. The raptor was not impressed and caught his sword with his claws. His tail smashed into Kiba's right leg breaking it once more.

Kiba grit his teeth and hit the ground with a new sword.

"SWORD BIRTH!"

A large number of swords of light erupted from the ground toward Ripper's belly. The raptor instead of turning into shadows stayed material as they were too weak to piece through him that way. It did make him mad though and now he was going to eat his Kiba nuggets

Vander whistled and called off Ripper who was about to have a feast.

"Stop. You did well."

Kiba felt good that he got Vander to praise him as Vander seemed to have it out for him. Seeing his smile made Vander frown.

"I was speaking to Ripper."

That made Kiba's small smile die as Ripper laughed at him.

'I will skin that beast and make boots from him.'

Vander glanced at the distance where Koneko was just barely holding on as Daisy tossed her around. She seemed to have gained a massive power boost as she was moving quite a bit faster than normal and she was even managing to resist Daisy to some extent.

Of course, he had sealed a large portion of Daisy's strength otherwise Koneko would end up dead. She was not even using Infinity of Dragon Aura from him. Still, seeing them being able to resist at all was to be respected. Vander whistled at called off his familiars which made Mephiston and Daisy disengage..

Akeno and Koneko fell to their knees in ragged clothes. It was possible to see Akeno's large breasts as her shirt had been torn to shreds. Koneko was no better which made it a good thing that Issei was out cold.

Vander snapped his hand which caused their clothes to return to their pristine condition. Akeno sat down and looked up at Vander.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. You two did great."

He gave them a proud smile which made them think he was bipolar. One minute he was bashing them to the point of hated and the next he treated them kindly. They decided to not question it a he just might get mad again.

La Folia dispelled her constructs and floated to the ground. She looked at Rias who had barely improved at all.

"You need some serious work."

Rias had not been able to control her Energy of Destruction any better than usual. It was annoying as La Folia could do it so effortlessly.

"I barely did anything."

La Folia shook her head.

"Not at all. You still can't just create it, as you have to fire it to use Energy of Destruction. I never had that problem as I could do it since I remembered."

Vander looked at the gathered beaten Devils and Fallen around him with a beaming smile.

"Well now that I know you have more power to work with. Go home and rest as tomorrow is a special day. It is a ritual day for you and I suggest you get ready for some real pain."

Raynare, Dohnaseek, and Kalawarna were just happy that they already had gone through with it. Even Raynare was not in the mood to mock them as she had gone through with it already.

"Just so you know, it feels like you are being burned alive from the inside. No, it does not feel like it, you literally are being burned from the inside."

He glanced at them and smiled.

"I don't know why you are happy. You have a second ritual for your bones now."

They shivered as just the blood one had been agonizing. What would the bone ritual do to them? Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Kiba, and Issei would go through the same ritual as them. He reached into his shadow and pulled out the book with the ritual.

"This was in the library of the Gremory family created in the 2nd century by a Blood Mage of an extinct Devil family who were masters of blood. Through their expert control over blood, they created this spell to increase the blood purity of their family members."

Hearing that made Rias confused.

"If it can do that why is it not being used to increase the blood purity of all Devils? Why is this spell never mentioned?"

Vander pointed at the book.

"Because this needed to be used many times over a long period of time to show its effects. It was quick, fast, or flashy so you would have to use it for years to show any effect. Also, it was extremely agonizing which Noble-born devils would not be used to experiencing.

As for giving it to commoners, that would just reduce the one up the Noble shave so they kept it away from them. This is why I dislike nobles."

That confused the three Fallen who had undergone it. Kalawarna had experienced firsthand how much of an increase they got after that.

"But when you did the ritual it felt like our power was boosted by many times. Even now I feel our blood is pushing our power higher."

Vander wanted to laugh at them as the reason was the energy used. The original spell used Demonic Power and Mana which were weaker and needed long periods of use for any noticeable effects. Vander had used his own pure Demonic Mana and Infernity for the job of making it better.

"I have my ways."

La Folia and Naerdeath realized the difference and why the ritual was so much stronger in his hands. Vander was going to offer it to them as well, but he perfected to give them his full focus.

"For now, you should go home and relax. Tomorrow I will have the 5 of you undergo it."

Rias took a deep breath as she got up.

"Vander, is there any more training I can do at home while I wait?"

"Of course, do some strength training or keep trying to control your Energy of Destruction. Akeno, the same goes for you with your Holy Lightning. Make use of it and make it your own. It is not your father's power, that is yours to master.

Koneko, I have no idea what you use, but I just know you are doing good. Keep up at it and don't fear it as you seem a master at the use of it. Kiba, heal your leg and then do some strength training. When you compete in the Bome ritual, your breaking bones will be less of a problem."

Hearing that there was a fix for his fragile bones made him a bit curious.

"How do you find these rituals?"

"The Gremory family is ancient and their magical library spans as long as the clan. If someone here had taken some time to read more, maybe she would have found something."

Vander was looking at Rias who had barely looked at the ritual section as they were dangerous. La Folia herself was a master of them as she had made use of many different rituals on herself including the bone strengthen one.

La Folia cleared her voice to give some advice.

"Well, just get used to it. Rituals are for those who have the willpower to make use of them. Otherwise, anyone would use them."

Rias rose to her feet as she walked to the unconscious Issei. She picked him up and swore to herself to tell him the truth. The full truth in the hope she could win his trust back. She had to get Kiba's leg fixed as it was still broken.

"Vander, La Folia, Naerdeath, I am thankful for you still taking the time to help us."

Vander sighed as he decided to give her some words.

"Look, about what I said before, maybe it was too much."

Rias shook her head.

"I can see you won't say sorry even if you are wrong which you were not. You don't have to make me feel better as even though you have done so much for me already, I still snapped at La Folia. I was just so jealous of her."

La Folia was just happy she could see that.

"Don't worry about it. You didn't hurt my cold heart anyway."

She said that with sarcasm which made Rias' face turn as if she ate something bitter.

"I am sorry, I will get out of your hair."

She made sure to carefully wrap Demonic Power over Issei and teleported herself and her peerage away. Once they were gone Vander crossed his arms as he looked at where they once stood.

"They just may have hope by the time I get done with them."

Naerdeath looked up at him with a curious look on their face.

"Vander, can you explain why you can change your personality on a dime? One minute you treat them so awful and the next you act like a carrying dad or older brother."

He patted her hair as his face turned into a smile.

"I am just giving them the carrot and the stick. Rias and that group needed a cold wake-up call and I was that call. At the same time, I still want them to improve as they will owe me one in the future."

La Fola laughed as she heard that.

"Now you sound just like a demon. Speaking of demons, when is your sacrifice arriving."

Naerdeath looked at him with a small horrified look.

"You plan to sacrifice the girl to Demons?"

"What, no. I plan to sacrifice the Exorcist not the innocent girl. I am dark, but I am not evil."

Raynare rolled her eyes as he technically turned them into slaves. He looked at Raynare, Dohnaseek, and Kalawarna.

"Go and get dressed in your old outfits. We will wait at the church for her arrival so I can capture the exorcists in one fell swoop. Once I get them, I will be able to start my demon summoning."

"Yes sir."

They went off to change out of their training clothes to their casual clothes. Vander looked at La Folia and Naerdeath with a smile.

"Ready to enter a church?"

La Folia and Naerdeath gave him confident smiles.

"Born ready."

"Of course."

Vander looked at his three familiars and waved his hand to send Daisy and Mephiston back to the familiar space.

"Ripper, keep an eye out on this girl. If she shows up, stay in her shadow."

Vander shared an image that Raynare showed him of Asia. Ripper glanced at the image and nodded. He turned into shadows and rushed off into Kuoh Town aware of his job. Once Kalawarna, Raynare, and Dohnaseek had gotten dressed, he explained the plan.

"We will wait in the church for the girl and you call the exorcists. Once they know you have the girl, they will gather and I will capture them in one move."

Raynare crossed her arms under her chest.

"So what happens with the girl?"

"What do you mean? She is going to move in as I still have use of her Sacred Gear. It would make the training of you three, Rias, and her bunch much easier if I had a dedicated healer."

Dohnaseek placed his fedora on which he had missed.

"I see. Not a bad plan as they already have been informed."

Kalawarna looked at Vander who seemed to be able to control everything around him.

'He is truly amazing.'

Vander waved his hand and in a flash of purple flames, they teleported into the abandoned church. Once they were inside, he looked around and saw how trashed it was.

"The girl arrives today right?"

Raynare nodded.

"Within the hour."

"Great. I would rush to where she is, but then the exorcists would scatter. I would have to hunt them down one by one which would let some escape."

Kalawarna looked at him as she raised a good point.

"Sir, what about your aura? That will give it away that you are not a Fallen."

Vander just siled as his aura changed to match that of a Fallen Angel. La Folia and Naerdeath did the same and now it seemed there were 6 Fallen. Seeing how easily they did that made Kalawarna shake her head.

"Nevermind."

She sat down to meditate as they waited. Vander played with Terror who he summoned onto his shoulder while La Folia read the books Serafall gave her. Naerdeath tinkered with her axes as the hour went by. Waiting could be boring after all.

--

Asia had just gotten off her train into Kuoh Town with a smile on her face. That smile was a sad one as she knew that by the end of the whole ordeal she would be dead. They wanted her Sacred Gear. She told herself that it was fine as she had lived a happy life.

From the corner of her eye, she could swear a large shadowy shape flashed past her making her glance in that direction.

'Are my eyes playing tricks on me?'

She shook her head as it must just be the stress of it all. She began to walk toward the church at the edge of town on foot as that was the only thing she had been told. She was unaware of the creature that had just sunk into her shadow acting as her guard.

Ripper looked at her from the shadow as he informed his master of her arrival. When Vander heard his message he was glad his wait was mostly over. Once she entered the church, he would have to wait for the exorcists to gather.

Either way, he was trying to get rid of the problem entirely and not let it fester. Getting rid of all trouble would lessen the chance that someone would try to get revenge on him. He still had his enemy Champion somewhere in America after all.

He had not heard a word from him which was another headache. At the very least, this one was no going to last much longer.