Chapter 6: Meeting the Devils & Revealing the Unknown.

Issei ceased all perverted thoughts as he heard Rias's question, internally frowning at the possible outcome of answering it.

'Truth?'

|Half-truth is enough for now.|

Issei inwardly nodded and relaxed his posture, leaning back and promptly soaking into the coach.

"I know a decent amount about the Supernatural world, Rias-san. The Three-Way War, all the Abrahamic Factions, the Evil Piece System, the current rulers of each Faction and little bits of information about the other Factions."

Rias hummed, eyes subtly darting around the room to her Peerage. Given how much time they'd spent with Rias, they knew that she was indicating that he was truthful. "I see…Do you mind if I ask how you were introduced to the Supernatural world?" Rias asked, a calculating look gleaming in her eyes.

"Life-threatening situation. Unlocked it and saved my ass from being handed to me on a silver platter. Though, I guess I'm quite lucky. I mean, unlocking a High-Class Sacred Gear at the age of 16? What are the odds?" He announced, smugness evident in his voice, though not too much. Just enough to show that he took pride in his Sacred Gear being powerful.

They needed to buy it. Too hard to make them believe it, and he'd get called out on it. Too little and he'd get a target on his back that shone brighter than Johnny Sins's bald head.

Issei, though, didn't anticipate Rias's reaction.

She seemed angry, from her sudden huff, and a little ashamed.

"Which Supernatural creature attacked you, and what Faction did they belong to? I need to know so that I can solve this," she took out a pen and note from her drawer, waiting for Issei to continue speaking.

"No, it wasn't any Supernatural creature. It was a gang of teens. I was outnumbered and outpowered. One thing led to another, and the Gear showed itself."

Rias frowned, "Even though I'm supposed to mainly look out for Supernatural threats in the town, I wouldn't like any of the residents to experience such things. I'll look into the matter as soon as I'm available. However, for now, I do have a proposal for you."

She continued, "I offer you a place in my Peerage as my second Rook. There are many advantages to that, including a lot of money, fame, and power. If you're concerned about becoming my servant and the treatment, then I vow right now that, as a member of the Gremory Clan, I will never force you to do something you dislike, nor will I ever trade you for another servant." Rias spoke with passion as she placed a hand over her chest, where her heart lies.

He could feel it too. She wasn't trying to lie or deceive him. Rias was being 100% genuine with her vow.

Issei hummed for a short while, but he ultimately shook his head. "It's a wonderful offer, Rias-san, but I'll have to refuse. Serving under you would directly get in the way of my ultimate dream, so no, I won't be a part of your Peerage – or anyone else's, for that matter."

Rias bit her lip, but then shrugged, not exactly happy with the response, but not upset either. "That's alright, Issei-san, I wasn't going to force you into accepting a role in my family. After all, all of my Peerage members came here by choice."

Issei sighed in relief and allowed a smile to slowly spread across his face, extending his hand as he stood up, "Then I hope we have a good relationship, Rias-san."

Rias felt a smile not unlike Issei's creep up her face as she took his hand and shook it.

...

Moments after Issei left the club room, Rias collapsed on her chair and sighed bitterly, frowning.

Akeno walked up to her and placed her hand on Rias's shoulder, matching her King's expression.

"I couldn't get him, Akeno. A powerful Sacred Gear just slipped through my fingers."

Akeno shrugged helplessly, "At the very least, he said he won't be joining anyone else's Peerage, and I don't think we can persuade him any further. He, too, has a goal, Rias."

Rias nodded, understanding what Akeno wanted to convey to her.

She had a goal herself, one that she swore in Lucifer's name that she would achieve, to become the Champion of the Rating Games - a journey that would promise a great deal of pain, with an equally large amount of rewards.

Rias would never give up her dream, no matter what. Following that logic, she believed that Issei wouldn't abandon his own goal either.

"He was silent."

The King snapped her eyes to her Rook and blinked, "Koneko?"

Koneko looked directly into Rias's eyes and repeated herself. "...He was silent. I didn't hear a lot of his movements. Only people skilled in stealth can do that."

It was a warning of sorts, Rias deduced, that Issei was dangerous and not to be taken lightly.

"Well, that just means we'll have to build a good relationship with him, no?"

...

"That was close."

Issei noted as he blurred and side-stepped a bullet that struck the ground beneath him and exploded in a show of red and orange, metal shards bursting out from the point of impact.

Issei then summoned a voice recorder from his Inventory and held it up close to his face.

"Test #31 of Project Black Bullet; the bullet hit the marked area successfully, but the following runes engraved on it did not activate: Redirection, Acceleration Accelerator, Impact Absorption, Impact Redirection and Impact Explosion Multiplier. On the other hand, the runes that activated were Impact Explosion…but only those. In conclusion, there are two possibilities. The first possibility is that one of the runes' activation sequences may be flawed or wrongly translated. The second is that the chemistry of the runes may not match enough to allow a sequencing activation in the first place. Possible improvements: Revise old translation scripts and consider alternative runes that may be in sync. End of recording."

Issei clicked a button and tossed the device back into his Inventory. He then looked at his incomplete invention.

It was a custom-built magical bullet that would do serious harm to Supernatural creatures. The goal of this was to expand his artillery and when finds a sniper, he'll hand them those bullets instead of the standard human bullets.

The runes engraved on the bullets were the following: Accelerator, Redirection, Impact Absorption, Impact Redirection, Impact Explosion and finally, Impact Explosion Multiplier.

The only reason Issei still couldn't get the thing to work was that Impact Absorption, Impact Redirection, Impact Explosion and Impact Explosion Multiplier were chain-condition runes that activated and worked similar to multiple IF functions in Microsoft Excel.

If the bullet missed its intended target and impacted something else, it would re-absorb the kinetic energy from the powerful impact, which was Impact Absorption's job. However, the kinetic energy wouldn't be correctly absorbed or distributed if only the Absorption rune was utilised.

That was supposed to be where the Impact Redirection rune would come in; to redirect the kinetic energy to add it to the bullet's collision's force when it hits its intended target. Once the bullet hit the mark, Impact Explosion would copy the amount of kinetic energy and convert it into explosive energy, which was in turn drastically increased by the Impact Explosion Multiplier.

Microseconds before the bullet would release its payload from the Impact Explosion rune, the Multiplier would cube the estimated amount of explosive energy.

When Issei sketched out his idea on paper, Ddraig had only two words for that.

'Fucking. Brilliant.'

Such type of ammunition would revolutionise war, guns, machinery and many other things related.

A truly dangerous piece of weaponry.

"But weaponry is no good if it fails." Issei shrugged and sat down as a chair materialised. The boy snapped his fingers and a cold glass of fresh mojito appeared in his right hand.

"...Forgot the straw."

A plastic straw materialized in his drink, and Issei slowly slipped on the drink, lost in his thoughts.

'I have the money and power. I can quite literally create gold and diamonds whenever the fuck I want. I'm even powerful enough to hold off against a Satan… maybe, but I don't have a good reputation; I have no reputation at all, to begin with. Even if I'm become much more powerful than I currently am, with no good reputation, no one will consider joining me.'

Issei stood up and threw the glass of mojito far away, where its molecules and particles broke down, vanishing before it could hit the floor.

'The only way I can do that is… by exposing myself to the Supernatural world.'

He stood silent, his guts dancing as a single thought ran through his head.

'What about my parents – mom and dad?'

If Issei were to be exposed to the Supernatural, his family would eventually get dragged into it, and since none of them had any Sacred Gears or magical powers… they were easy targets, ones that could be used as leverage against him.

|So?|

Issei reeled back in shock at Ddraig's sudden intervention, "What?"

|You heard me clearly, Partner. Are you going to give up on your dream just because of this? Did you not promise me, and more importantly, promise yourself, that you will never let go of your goal?|

Issei frowned, slightly ashamed at himself, "Yes, Ddraig, I promised the both of us, but… my parents–"

|Then prepare them.|

Issei gaped, but he fell silent, wanting to hear Ddraig's next words.

|If they're going to be dragged into the Supernatural world one way or another, then have them prepare for the day when it will happen. Teach them how to use magic, teach them how to fight, teach them how to defend themselves, and on and on.|

Issei slowly started nodding, until he huffed and a plan formed in his mind.

"Yeah. That can work, Ddraig. Thank you."

|You're welcome. Now go.|

...

Issei slowly descended his stairs, small beads of sweat running down his forehead as he imagined all the possible reactions his parents may express when he spills out the truth.

But a small voice in the back of his head nudged him to go further, reassuring him that no such thing would happen.

If only that voice was louder.

"Mom, dad…" He called them out when he noticed them both sitting on the couch, watching a documentary of a serial killer on TV. They both turned their heads to him.

Taking note of the sweat on his forehead and how… dreadful his voice sounded, Issei's father stood up and a look of worry adorned his face.

"Ise? What's up, are you alright?"

Issei smiled weakly, "I'm fine…I just…Can I talk to you both about something?"

His parents exchanged a look and nodded, quickly turning off the TV as Issei approached and sat on the couch.

"What I'm about to say… please don't tell anybody about it, and hold off from any questions until the end. I promise that I'll try my best to answer them."

His mother frowned but nodded nonetheless.

Issei took a deep breath, feeling slightly dizzy under their gazes.

"...What do you know about the Supernatural?"

His parents blinked.

"Uh, Yōkai bad? Your mother and I stopped being religious a long time ago, so we don't remember much about Shintoism," his father slowly said, not understanding where the conversation was going.

Issei shook his head slowly, "What if I told you… it was all real?"

His parents said nothing, prompting Issei to continue.

He felt like a little kid caught stealing from the cookie jar.

"What I'm saying is, that the Supernatural world… it's real and dangerous. I just… with who I am– what I am, I'll attract danger no matter where I go, and I couldn't bear the thought of dragging you into all of it."

"Son…" his father started, "forgive me for saying this, but what I hear from you sounds unbelievable."

Issei nodded, understanding his dad's logical evaluation.

"Well then, will you believe me if I showed you proof?"

A small magic circle glowed on his right hand that shot out a small stream of cool water. Issei used his vast knowledge of magic to add more functions to the magic circle, allowing him to bend the stream of water to a sphere that kept spinning.

His parents gaped, eyes wide.

Issei suddenly found the floor very interesting, refusing to look up to meet their gazes. Realistically, he kept looking down just for several seconds, but to him, it felt like hours of unending waiting.

Until finally, they spoke.

"Huh, that's a cool water trick. That was magic, I think, no?"

Issei snapped his head upwards, confusion, relief and some fear adorning his face as he slowly digested his father's words.

"You… believe me?" He croaked out.

His mother smiled and nodded, "Of course we do, Ise. Even if you didn't show us that, we still would've."

"But… how? Why?"

Then his dad chuckled, "Issei, m'boy, you became seriously buff over the last few months and you've gotten really strong much earlier. No normal human can achieve such a body shape in that time period. I had… a nagging sensation, honestly, but I kept dismissing it."

Issei felt relief as his entire body posture just sagged. He let out a small chuckle.

"I think we have a lot to talk about, mom, dad."

...

It went incredibly smoothly.

His parents did have several questions about the Supernatural world, such as the types of magic, how many races there were and how powerful Issei was.

He did his best to answer their questions until they were satisfied but agreed to discuss the matters of necessary protection later on.

He even introduced Ddraig to them, but the ancient Dragon was pissed and embarrassed when his mom called him 'cute' of all things.

Issei felt very relieved after that.

"What's next, Ddraig?" He asked as he dusted his hand from the chalk he was holding for painting one complex yet incomplete magic circle on the floor, in his Empty Instant Dungeon.

A magic circle the size of a fucking house.

|Draw one diagonal line 20º from the upper left section. That should do it… I believe.|

Issei extended his hand to the upper left part of the circle and steered it slightly to the left, enough for the angle to be around 20º. He then started drawing one straight line, connecting it with full accuracy at the opposite end of the large circle.

"Okay then, I'm injecting the mana now."

He closed his eyes and slammed both hands onto the outer lines of the magic circle, slowly injecting mana molecules in between chalk particles, causing them to chemically connect in fixed ratios. The action would've been near impossible by normal means, but since when was magic considered normal?

Done with the first step, Issei started harmonising the mana molecules and holding them in place, making them act similarly to that of a solid.

He tapped the chalk on the floor experimentally, and no chalk dust was on left his finger.

"Okay, then… release!"

"..."

|Hah… another failure. I expected this to happen since not many people can just casually break down a seal by the Biblical God.|

Issei frowned and shrugged, "Worth a try. Though, where will we ever find someone very skilled in this field?"

Ddraig hummed, |The Norse are quite skilled in the area of magic and its fundamentals, but finding the user of Sephiroth Graal works too.|

Issei shook his head, 'Finding the Sephiroth Graal user anytime soon is not a possibility. The only thing I can do is level my Sealing Magic skill to the max. Maybe then, I'd find a solution to your imprisonment.'

He sent a side-glance to the chalk on the floor, 'But first, I need allies… goddamn it, where do I look?'

Issei sighed and dismissed whatever thoughts he had on the subject, knowing that dwelling on it right now will do no good.

"Status."

[Name: Hyoudou Issei

Job: Knight

Title: None

Level: 58 (392,296/420,000 EXP)

HP: 57,900/57,900

MP: 5,700/5,700

STR: 242

AGI: 2,838

VIT: 2,862

INT: 226

SNS: 229

Remaining Points: 0

Money: 31,923,000 ¥

Sacred Gear: Boosted Gear]

You may be wondering, "What?! How the hell did he get such high VIT and AGI stats?!"

Well…

«Flashback Start«

Issei slew yet another Alpha Werewolf in cold blood, the corpse slowly sliding off his blade. With the mind-boggling amount of corpses and blood, Issei learned how to block out his sense of smell when the time calls for it.

[Ping!]

He looked up to see the familiar System screen, announcing a level up and the achievement of his current Quest.

However, a new alert showed up. The box this time was oriented with gold accents and silver font.

[You have reached the requirements to choose a Job.]

[Please select one of the following:]

[•Martial Artist

+15 AGI per level up

+15 STR per level up]

[•Knight

+15 AGI per level up

+15 VIT per level up]

[•Wizard

+15 INT per level up

+15 SNS per level up]

[•Healer

+15 INT per level up

+15 VIT per level up]

[•Berserker

+15 STR per level up

+15 VIT per level up]

Issei contemplated longer as his eyes scanned over every option presented in front of him. Each Job would affect something down the line, he was sure of it.

"Why did this show up when I reached level 30, though? Was that the only requirement…? Well, a Knight, huh? The Knight who always saves the princess from the Dragon… but I guess that doesn't work since I'm the Dragon, heh."

Issei tapped the Knight option.

"Because Knights end up saving the day."

»Flashback End»

Since then, Issei primarily focused on dividing his Status Points on anything other than AGI or VIT, since those two were already handled by his Job's benefits.

His HP skyrocketed like crazy, to the point where Issei was sure he could brush off attacks from most Supernatural beings. His AGI was high up there too. When Boosted to the limits, the boy can reach speeds not even Ultimate-Class beings could hope to match.

"I.D Escape."

As the world shifted and quickly returned to his lovely home, Issei found his senses going haywire. It was like a loud ringing in his mind, alerting him that danger was everywhere.

That he was doomed.

On command Boosted Gear, his weapon and his armour all were summoned and equipped. He searched his room for the source of the ringing and found it.

A little girl with long, flowing black hair and empty black eyes, pointed ears and…little Xs of black tape across her nipples, her chest otherwise completely bare

Normally, anyone would've called the cops because a little girl was wearing such inappropriate clothes.

Keyword being 'normally' because in no fucking way this was normal.

[Ophis, the Ouroboros, Dragon God of Infinity]

[HP: ?/?

MP: ?/?]

She pointed a small finger at Issei and spoke. "You, will join me, and defeat Baka-Red."

'We're fucked, aren't we?'

|Surprisingly not. Offer her candy. Anything sweet in your home.|

Issei directed the mental equivalent of a blank stare at Ddraig.

|Trust me on this. You aren't the first host she approached.|

Issei focused back on the little girl, speaking up slowly.

"Do you want some sweets?"

She didn't respond at first, holding her stare at Issei for several seconds longer.

But then she gave in.

"I, want sweets."

He nodded, "Stay right here, I'll go get you some."

He walked out his room's door and robotically headed towards the stairs, slowly descending to the living room, where the kitchen was too.

'It's good that mom and dad went out together…'

Issei walked to the kitchen and opened a shelf, taking out a glass jar filled with small-sized Snickers.

He spun around to get the jar up with him to the room, but he was met with the face of Ophis, floating up to eye level.

"Do you, have a birth mother?"

Issei slowly nodded, his heart ramming against his chest loudly.

"I see. Do you, care about her?"

He nodded again, albeit in a more confused manner.

"…What is 'caring'? How do I, 'care?'"

Instead of absolute fear, Issei now felt confusion and a hint of pity more than anything, really.

'Ddraig? How does the literal Infinity Dragon not know what caring is?'

|Because Ophis has the mind of a child, Partner. A little kid who possesses infinite power, but also infinite ignorance. She lived in the Dimensional Gap for who knows how long, before finally being kicked out by Great Red.|

Issei processed that bit of information and looked at Ophis with a sad frown, 'You're telling me that I'm essentially dealing with a stupidly overpowered child?'

|Yes.|

'And how do you know all this?'

|I already told you. You're not the first of my hosts she's approached, and even before that, I've spoken with her before being sealed.|

Issei took a shaky breath and locked eyes with Ophis, "Do you promise to not harm me or my family members? I will be really upset if you do so."

Ophis tilted her head in a cute manner, "Then I, will not injure your birth parents."

Issei sighed in relief and handed her the Snickers jar.

"Eat up."

She opened the jar with ease and pulled out one Snickers bar, opening it.

As she bit into the candy, Issei could see the faintest of emotions flashing across her face as she enjoyed the taste.

She then promptly swallowed the entire bar.

Ophis extended her empty hand, "I want, more."

Issei sighed and gave her another one.

She ate it and demanded more.

He gave her more.

She wanted more.

It kept going until the entire jar was emptied, and a small part of Issei was screaming for any piece of candy to show up right here, right now to save his ass.

Of course, no such thing happened.

Then, an idea ignited in his mind.

"Say, Ophis…"

She tilted her head innocently again, "What, is it?"

"Why do you like the Dimensional Gap so much? Why can't you and Great Red share? From what I know, isn't the Dimensional Gap supposed to be infinite?"

Ophis's ears twitched cutely and she slightly frowned in what Issei believed to be annoyance.

"This world is, too loud. My home, the Dimensional Gap, has silence. What I want, is the silence, and Baka-Red took that, from me."

'Does she mean literal silence? Like, no sound whatsoever?'

|Maybe. Since the Dimensional Gap has no 'walls', sound particles cannot bounce anywhere. That might be the reason why there's just no sound or voices in the Dimensional Gap.|

Issei then set aside the glass jar on the kitchen's countertop and clapped his hands, "Well then, I think I can fix that for you, Ophis."

Ophis seemed to perk up at the proposition and locked eyes with Issei.

"How?"

He extended his hand, "Hold my hand. I will take you to my pocket dimension, where I will give you your silence."

She stared at his hand and held it with her small one.

"I.D Create - Empty."

Issei pulled himself and Ophis into his own Instant Dungeon, where he ran many of his experiments and did his training.

"Wait for a second, Ophis. Give me some time to create it for you."

Now, creating silence was impossible. Creating something that existed as the 'lack' of one thing was not possible by any means.

So, if creating silence was impossible, then creating something that causes silence wouldn't be.

Issei slowly began constructing a glass sphere, inside of which was a magic circle. From there, he created several sequencing magic circles, each covering their own role.

After finishing his invention, Issei handed the orb to Ophis, which she held in a confused manner.

"Ophis, try to inject just a little bit of magic into this."

The Dragon God did as told, and was then surprised as an invisible field surrounded her.

Issei said something, but she didn't hear it. She couldn't even hear her own breathing or heartbeat.

She stopped what she was doing, and sound was restored.

"Does it work?" Issei asked.

Ophis was practically shaking from excitement, happiness and satisfaction.

"Yes," was her simple answer.

'Wow, she really doesn't know how to express emotions.'

"Then…"

Issei conjured a chair for him and sat down, looking at Ophis intensely.

"How many people have you recruited for your cause, Ophis?"

Ophis tilted her head as if she was counting numbers, "The cat, the monkey, Albion, the Excalibur wielder. I, recruited four."

She held up four fingers to Issei's face as if she was proudly showing off her counting skills.

'Ddraig, you may have misunderstood one thing.'

|Oh?|

'I'm not dealing with a child, I'm dealing with a goddamn toddler.'

"Okay, those four only?"

Ophis slowly shrugged, which caused Issei to sag in hopelessness.

Then he straightened his back.

'Ddraig, I'm about to do something that may be either incredibly stupid, brave, or smart.'

"Ophis… do you want to join me?"

Having a Dragon God invite you to join its cause was one thing.

Having a Dragon God join you for your own cause? That was something else entirely.

Ophis looked at Issei with a sort of 'intense' gaze, which just seemed adorable to him.

"Okay."

Issei blinked, "That was fast… wait, you do know that the people who worked under you will also work under me, right?"

Ophis nodded and snapped her finger, opening four portals, where from each portal, one person walked out.

The first was a gentleman in a dark purple tux, blonde hair with a strand flowing from over his shoulder and wearing glasses. A sword that screamed 'danger' to Issei's senses was strapped to his waist.

The second was a teenager with dark brown hair and battle armour of sorts, with a jewelled headband and a long wooden staff slung over his shoulder. He gave the vibe of a delinquent.

The third was a voluptuous young woman with cat ears and a black kimono that had golden spheres tied on each side, hanging. Her hair was black and her eyes were golden.

The last person had silver hair, blue eyes and wore what some would call "bad boy" attire; a leather jacket over a green shirt and dark-red jeans.

Issei can tell they were strong, but if he wanted to take them out, he would.

"Nya? Is this the boy you wanted to join us, Ophis-san, nya?" Said the woman.

'Did she just unironically say 'nya' twice in her sentence? With those cat ears?'

Ophis nodded, "Yes."

Issei did not know if she was answering him or the cat-girl.

"He seems weak," commented the silver-haired boy, apparently sizing up Issei.

"Eh, his Ki is strong though," the monkey-like boy said as he blew bubble gum.

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Arthur Pendragon, current wielder of Caliburn and Excalibur Ruler," the blond boy bowed gracefully.

"I'm Bikou, the Monkey Yökai of the team."

"You can call me Kuroka, nya. I'll let you play with my kittens if you give me tuna… and a back rub, nya."

"Vali Lucifer, current White Dragon Emperor."

Ophis then spoke up, "You now, work under him. He, is your new leader."

All were silenced at Ophis's claim.

"What?! Why the hell are we working under him now?! What the hell are you talking about Ophis?!" Bikou screamed, confusion flashing across his face.

"This is illegal! I demand a lawyer, nya!"

"You can't get a lawyer for this, Kuroka."

"I know, Vali! But read the mood, nya!"

Vali decided to step up from the loud bunch and approached Ophis, "Why are we now working under him?"

Ophis pointed at Issei, "He, gave me my silence. I, do not need to beat Baka-Red anymore. He, is strong enough. He can lead you," she reasoned, doing her best to get her point across.

[Really, though? Him, Ophis? He does not seem strong at all.] A rough voice came out from Vali, as two metallic white wings came into existence.

'So that's Albion, huh?'

Ddraig huffed from Issei's left arm, |Do not underestimate my Partner, Albion. By no means is he weak.|

"…"

'Ddraig, you fucking idiot.'

|Okay, I deserve that.|

"So you're this generation's Red Dragon Emperor? I see. Then you might be strong enough to keep me entertained."

Vali approached Issei and summoned his Divine Dividing, the two wings flaring in all their glory.

[Vanishing Dragon Balance Breaker!]

"Fight me."

A powerful white aura covered Vali's bulky armour, giving the faint shape of a Dragon staring down at Issei.

"I will see for myself if you're fit to lead us or not."

Issei smirked as he stood up and summoned Boosted Gear.