Host Of Angels

The twisted frozen winds of the A-rank dungeon Blitzvania flowed with the siren song of frigid death. Ice grew across my body, clinging just long enough to slow me down between steps. Instances so quick that Rias couldn't perceive lasted for an eternity to my perspective. My speed had been cut by 30% in this dungeon which was a bad sign. Typing wise I started at a disadvantage; any mob equal to me in strength could potentially outspeed me. It was an exciting thought. My light and dragon elements put me at a disadvantage giving me hope for an exciting experience.

Like with the last dungeon, this place possessed a time dilation effect. While it wasn't as extensive as the elven dungeon Rias and I could battle here for a month and with only an hour passing on the outside.

As for Rias, she took her inclusion in my party well so far. She equipped the Wolfen armor set covering her body in thick furs from various ice wolves. Those drops had increased her ice resistance to the point that the wind failed to slow her down.

Rias pushed her hand forward as an ice wolf alpha leaped, committed to its ambush. A beam of destruction smashed into the wolf's side, striping its flesh from bone. The beast dropped another piece of the armor set.

I took a necklace with sapphire inlaid teeth from the beast's corpse and placed it around Rias' neck. She stared at the piece in alarm.

"Is this where your riches come from?" Rias asked.

I turned my head to the side. Yeah, I get a lot of stuff from dungeons, but true wealth comes from locating the rarest drops and selling them. Users didn't buy just anything from the store.

"Rias, while the set your wearing looks good on you to those like me, it isn't worth the materials it made from. We need servants to gather and sort our drops." I said and noticed Rias staring at me. "One of my greatest foes of my kind goes by the name logistics."

"Wait, is that why you brought me with you?" Rias asked.

"Actually, I thought this would be a good bonding experience," I said.

But there was no reason to face my greatest enemy unprepared. This was a raid, and I wouldn't let a single scrap of loot go uncollected, no matter how worthless. To that end, summoning was my only choice, and the only summons I possessed were angels.

I held the spell card for Cultivator Angel tightly in my hand. To call it a proper summoning, as if calling an angel from a different plane was incorrect. Spell Cards acted as templates for the items and creatures summoned. They were like molds for my mana.

To summon a cultivator angel required a Magic of 1000. I easily met the requirement, so naturally, my next step was the summoning itself. So I started a fire and pushed my mana through the spell card. Light gathered, and Rias gasped as its shine touched her. Then, for a moment, she said nothing and even raised her hand to touch the light.

"Why doesn't it burn?" Rias asked.

"An angel's light is based on a moral system built around selfless sacrifice, giving up worldly possessions, and servitude to a higher power," I said and shook my head. Saying those words filled me with disgust. "My morality is closer to your own than an angel. I could never sacrifice my life for strangers, charity makes me feel nauseous, and I serve no god." I said.

The light quickly coalesced into the form of an athletic chested angel standing at a meager 6ft in height with amber eyes, black hair, and a set of the purest white angel wings I've ever seen. When she appeared, the angel narrowed her eyes before the cold hit her. Her wings quickly wrapped around her body as the cold and darkness took effect.

I tossed her the Wolfen armor set, and she quickly dressed. The angel looked me up and down with calculating amber eyes. There was a pause before she finally spoke.

"What is my salary, Father?" The angel asked.

A smile spread across my face as Rias gasped at the angel's words. "But he made you, don't you feel obligated to serve him out of a sense of duty." Rias looked to me to say something.

I knew my way around the system. Sure, I could pay this angel in gold and quickly lose her to whoever could offer her something more. But, really, if I wasn't certain of my Light Mastery ability, I'd be less inclined to trust an angel. Fortunately, those summoned by the spell cards had preprogrammed knowledge and even a sense of obligation to serve their creator. So I set the angels to match my morality.

"100G per dungeon run, your choice of skills B or below not on my list, and a place in my home when we leave this place." Her eyes practically sparkled at my declaration.

"As a member of your company, I request sick leave, two days off a week, and seniority over other angels you summon." The angel declared.

"There is no sick leave; I'm willing to give you a week off between dungeon runs, and only if you prove to be a capable leader," I said without missing a beat.

Rias looked between us, completely confused. "Are you sure these aren't fallen angels?" Rias asked.

The angel spread her wings, revealing her glorious white feathered wings. "Does this answer your question, communist bitch?" The angel said.

"Rias' hair color it natural and her kind believe in keeping what they earn and the survival of the fittest. Power, wealth, and taking pleasure are their greatest virtues." I said.

My angel's eyes didn't soften a bit, nor did she look less wary at my words. "Alright, but I'll keep my eyes on you. But, father, if the dark isn't my enemy, then who is?" The angel asked.

Being called father by my summon made me feel strangely pleased. Sure she wasn't technically my child, but I could feel a spark of my own QI within her. I could feel a link between us and her own light also fed back into my own. So while she was weak now but in time, she'd grow plenty powerful.

"Those who wield the light to enslave others," I said automatically.

I wondered if her current strength had something to do with my Light Mastery. Instead of creating a standard angel, I had created something morally after my own image. Just thinking of the implications was astounding. What would a whole host of my angels be like?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Red, are you secretly god," Rias asked.

"No, otherwise, my angels would work for free." I had created 20 cultivator angels and directed them to make camp and gather any drops. After a few minutes of deliberation, they also took to burning the wolves when they encountered them. Instead of making holy spears, my angels raised their hands and blasted the wolves with holy fire.

They quickly collected the drops in a log cabin they built from the neighboring trees. One angel worked on a wild boar they found near the camp, while others separated and sorted the loot. As creatures of the system, they separated loot with astonishing accuracy. Yet, one angel continued to stand out.

My first angel's golden fire seemed a little stronger than the others, as well as her ambition. While others would have been satisfied with a poorly made hut, this angel insisted on a cabin. They fought and bickered over various accessories while a few offered the choice prizes to my wayward first angel. While my second angel seemed happy to offer his hard-fought treasures to me. My third was content to merely watch the proceedings while the fourth happily made allies and promptly swapped sides for the fun of it.

While they bickered, Rias sipped a cup of hot chocolate while I contemplated names. My first angel had beautiful black hair that seemed almost spun from shadows, beautiful amber eyes, and impressive control over her flames. She actually reminded me of Azula from avatar. However, I did have a brother named Blue, and she was currently dressed in the white and blue fur of the monster wolves outside.

"Why didn't that boar drop loot?" Rias asked.

"It did; most creatures drop loot in dungeons. The wolves only turned to ash due to the power of my flames." I said.

"Do you also wield flames, father?" My second-born angel asked.

"Of course, he does. I'm glad I wasn't born as slow as you. I know maybe father should name you dum dum."

"Don't call your brother dum dum. I've decided to give you each a name. As my firstborn, I'll name you Azula after my brother." I said.

My first angel seemed to preen at my words. I placed my hand on the male angel's head. "Your name will be Aurum; it's a strong name, and I hope you'll become strong too." Next, I placed my hand atop my troublemaker's head. "Mona will be your name and because you drive your brothers and sisters mad." Finally, I placed my hand on the isolated angel's head. "Liber, because you decided to stay out of this foolishness." From there, I named each angel while racking my mind for a unique name for each of them. It was much harder, mainly because they saw me as their parent.

Rias whispered into my ear. "You didn't plan any of this, did you?" Rias said.

Golden fire lit up the forest as we made our way deeper into the forest. Ok, maybe this wasn't the greatest plan. Making a bunch of angels to serve as my logistics group sounded like a great idea in my head, but they were all profiteers. So while they did what they were told, they swiped some skills for themselves. Of course, none of them were important. Some even presented me with those they thought would interest me. But besides the cold resistance skill, none would fit my current build.

"So, you just made twenty angels that are completely morally opposed to other angels. Even fallen consider the values you instilled in your children to sin." Rias said.

My angels had quickly found some of the humanoid locals and began mating with them for fun. Instead of ice elves, my angels had captured vampires of all creatures. To be fair, the castle in the distance made sense.

"So why exactly are we here? This is fun. I haven't been able to use my destruction magic this freely on living targets ever, but is there something more?" Rias asked.

"This is an A-rank dungeon. There are numerous A-rank skills of incredible value here." I said.

Azula had taken up a skill called Prehistory Annihilation Veil. I managed to snag an extra copy for Sona as well. The skill created a beautiful construct that resembles a see-through blue veil with the force of an ice age held within it. A single blow from it was like getting hit by the concentrated force of an entire blizzard. The more she leveled the skill, the more powerful it became.

"Yes, but why are we here?" Rias said.

"This place is said to hold the S rank skills called Seed Of Stardust and Overture To Annihilation," I said. "But they can only be found after defeating the tower boss and opening the door to the caste's basement," I said.

"So this is all about power?" Rias asked.

I scanned through land separating us from the castle. Ice driders had emerged from the snow to battle my angel host. In a thin column from Azula's hand, golden flames shot off while Aurum struck with far greater precision and power. He had taken to acquiring physical and midrange skills. Aurum's A-rank skill was A Dream Of Spring, a powerful QI-based skill that bolstered his already powerful holy flames. Aurum always stayed nearby to keep an eye on the others and often struck only when the others were in danger. Mona had taken her place as a mage who preferred illusions; her favored A-rank skill Moon In The Frozen Lake inflicted illusions that made enemies attack open air. Liber had become a sniper with his A-rank skill Starburst Comet; it turned ordinary arrows into powerful AOE and PVP weapons. Small explosions of plasma lit up the area where his arrows struck.

"Once you begin to acquire skills, you'll find yourself set to a certain build. Once that happens, you can no longer gain skills outside your build. That's especially true of skills of A-rank or higher. For me, pure dragon, light, darkness, fire, and QI are my limits. The highest valued skill in this place, Blue Dragon's Age of Ice, is incompatible with me. I can't learn any Ice skills higher than B-rank." I said.

"Could I learn it," Azula asked?

"Yes, if we acquire more than one copy today. I've decided to give a copy of it to Sona." I said.

Azula glared at me then crossed her arms over her veil. "If I'm not calling the redhead mother, what makes you think I'll call another woman mother." I blinked.

"I produced you asexually, but if you want to call Rias mother by all means. I planned to ask your grandmother to give you her last name as well." I said.

Azula smiled dangerously when Aurum took ahold of Rias' hand. "Alright, father, if you say she is our mother, then that is what we shall call her." The angel said with a bright smile on his face.

"But you heard, father, we were made asexually. So we don't have a mother dum dum." Azula yelled.

"Sure, we do Zula and a grandmother. I'm glad that's settled. Mother, what's our last name." Aurum said.

I had meant it to be a joke, but no Rias was contemplating it. "Well, Red is technically a Gremory now, and we are dating." Rias turned to me and smiled. "This has to be the weirdest date ever, but I'm not bored." Her words were punctuated by the cry of a massive spider. It exploded onto the scene before I pointed my finger at it. Rias joined me with a ball of destruction.

…

Rias

She woke up in their log cabin nestled in Red's armpit. They planned to stay a month here, and apparently, only an hour would pass in the outside world. Red promised that they would return to milk this dimensional paradox dry, making her feel warm and fuzzy. Apparently, if they left, the paradox would reset, giving them a chance to do things differently. Taking residents out of the paradoxes was possible but frowned upon by users.

That's what Red's people were called, and they were gods. Red denied it and claimed they were merely human, and then he made angels handle his logistic issues. Rias had been trained to read between the lines at an early age.

If Red thought he was fooling her, then he had another thing coming. Once she actually got to know him after a week of living together in a log cabin surrounded by my monstrous forces, he was sort of nice. They had both somewhat dropped their acts, and getting along had become more manageable. He'd given her a list of skills that would work well with her destruction magic. None of them were high-rank skills, just a bunch of supplementary skills.

It all seemed video game-like.

A month would help her get used to the angels who acted like devils. Aurum had already begun constructing a harem in record time and even began meeting with various vampire clans from smaller castles. Apparently, this place was a kingdom of sorts with laws, history, and a standing army. The castle in the distance was also much larger than she had initially thought.

She'd relaxed enough to walk around naked in their home. Not just sneak into his bed but wander their home naked. But, of course, if not for the wood stove, it would have been very uncomfortable. So currently, the fearsome dragon stood at their wood stove wearing a mismatch of armor given to him by their angel children cooking breakfast.

Rias still couldn't get her head around that one. At first, it had been a joke, but then it stuck, and the angels were growing stronger and collecting treasure at an alarming rate. They had appeared fully grown and older than her in appearance. They had spread across the dungeon and started making war against the vampire nation with ever-growing experience.

"Father, I found what you were looking for." Aurum threw a sheepskin with a charcoal-drawn map on it with a big X on it.

"An underwater cave to the secret boss," Red said. His interest and lust for a proper raid, as he called, it was clear on his face. She could see it in the way his eyes dilated from calm to an almost child-like giddiness.

"How did you find its location? These underwater trenches are like a maze?" Red asked.

Aurum blushed a little. "I found my Cold Resistance skill improved faster in frigid water. So I've taken to swimming in the river that bisects this land. It was there that I met a Merkin of considerable beauty. After some persuasion, I learned that her kind guards the passage to the secret raid boss's lair. It's said that if the creature ever awakens, then this world will end." Aurum said.

Red's reaction was precisely how Rias expected. He nodded, accepting the destruction of this paradox as a fact. However, she noticed that he was more relaxed; this kind of place was the norm for him. It was in his nature to fight through dungeons and seek out powerful foes. That was very dragon of him.

Two weeks of using her destruction magic nearly constantly had taught her a lot about the ability and Red as well. He wasn't just his tall human appearance, and it made her feel excited. The dragon oozed power, collected wealth almost effortlessly, and his lusts were insatiable. Rias felt her face heat up despite the cold.

She placed her hands against the door of the large castle's gate. Destruction erupted from her touch cleaving through the wooden gate, ice, and stone behind it. A massive hole large enough for Red to pass through opened like a blowtorch through wax. The second the gate open Red grabbed her shoulder, pulling her away before an icy spear could find its place in her gut.

Rage flashed through her mind, and she blasted out another wave of destruction for good measure. The vampire soldier pushed his tower shield up to block the destruction. Thus, icy magic battled against her own demonic destruction until, eventually, her own spell ran out of power and dissipated.

A ball of dragon fire the size of a marble shoot forward from Red's extended hand. It hit the shield like a rock thrown through glass before exploding. Aurum and Azula shot through the entrance, followed by the host. Only Liber held back armed with his bow.

They marched through the entrance and to chaos. Unlike the lesser monsters, the vampire knights within the great castle were each in a league of their own. A vampire wearing blood-red armor and wielding a crimson blade leaped over the railing to join the fight. Power radiated from this vampire in the same league as an ultimate class devil.

A black fireball the size of a pebble was caught at the end of the powerful vampire's sword. The weapon and the powerful application of dragon fire battle one another for supremacy before the vampire pushed it back.

"Sorcerer you who pillaged our keeps, raised our towns, and slew our protectors today you face the hero Cruxes of the line Lugus." A bloody aura overtook Cruxes, and she felt his magical power increase tenfold. Yet, for a moment, she felt a twinge of fear for Red and herself.

Red did something she didn't expect; he laughed. It wasn't a mocking one but a laugh of utter joy. The bored expression he often held became alive. A dazzling smile lit up his face, and his aura began to churn with anticipation.

Light flashed, and both combatants moved. Red with his demonic black sword and Cruxes with his red blade. The two moved almost too fast for her to see. Their movements grew faster as the battle wore on with each second until their swords locked. Red held his blade with one hand while the vampire struggled.

Cruxes gnashed his fanged teeth and pushed with all the strength his blood-red aura could give him. Red took a step forward, and the red blade shattered. "You aren't the one with the rare drop, then no, you're like me bound by A-rank skills." The sheer joy she'd seen on Red's face had returned to its bored appearance. He swiped his blade, ripping the vampire open shoulder to girdle and blasting the area behind the vampire with crimson.

Rias had to rub her legs together to keep the sudden tingling sensation from getting the better of her. Seeing such a display of absolute might against a mighty opponent spoke to her inner devil nature.

She'd have to do something about that later. Red didn't show that expression when they talked about the underworld, her family, or games. But she couldn't say he was genuinely excited like he had been at the beginning of the battle. Instead, he'd taken it slowly from what she could determine until his opponent failed to keep up. Then he crushed the vampire.

From the vampire's downed body, two tiny balls of light emerged, one as well as a set of crimson fur-lined armor.

"Well, what did you expect from a mere knight captain father?" Azula said.

Rias glared at the mouthy angel and began unsheathing her paddle. The angel lowered her gaze and didn't say another word.

"This is an A-rank dungeon, and despite my strength, I only have A-rank skills. Furthermore, most of those skills are specialized in QI instead of other Parameters." Red said.

"There is always the secret boss after we clear the castle. If their minions are only at this level, then we should be done soon." Aurum said.

"We could always herd the more powerful in the castle together. If one isn't a challenge for you, father, then perhaps 2 or 3 together." Azula said.

Red seemed to brighten up at that, and Rias gave the girl a nod of thanks as a reward. She had been training Red's angel host slowly ever since they began living together. Azula really was so rebellious; if it was up to Red, she'd become quite a little terror. Rias was more than happy to parent on his behalf. It would be good practice for later. Now, if only she could get the silly idea of wearing clothes in private out of their heads. A surveillance system could make the house more enjoyable. Unfortunately, she'd missed out on watching Aurum's first time with his vampire concubines.

"This skill is called Mantle Of Virtuous Blood; it's S-rank but vampire exclusive. We'll check the market price later if you don't find a vampire lover you'd trust with it." Red said.

"I actually have a vampire who may need it," Rias said.

"Are you seeing someone on the side?" Red asked with a quirk of his lips.

"No one of my peerage members may have use of it if the side effects aren't too terrible," Rias said.

"It requires a lot of blood and a liege lord to make use of it. Well, I don't have much use for it, and it's only worth 500G, a nearly worthless skill for most users." He handed the skill over to her, and she placed it in her scavenged bag of holding. It was one more weapon her peerage could make use of.