Chapter 002: Target Acquired

Author: WolfSpatial

Co-Author: Lucifer

[I've heard it said that we only gain wisdom through suffering, and tonight I intend to make you very wise.]

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{CYRUS DRAKON}

Issei wasn't what I was expecting of a protagonist. In the stories I read, protagonists were strong sturdy types or people with severe mental issues that struggled with the power they had been given, not wanting to go rogue and accidentally kill their friends.

This kid was neither of those, he was a useless-looking brat that lusted after any woman he could ogle from a safe distance. The girl that came with him to the park could be considered a beauty if she had a tan.

Issei had a pretty average build, standing at average height with brown hair and light brown eyes. He wasn't overly attractive or even appealing to most women, though there was the feeling I got from both Artoria and Blue-Eyes. However, it was even fainter than Artoria's. It felt like he had accidentally brushed against the little Mage girl two years ago.

He wore a black quarter-button polo shirt with three white buttons at the top. The collar of which had white edging around it, followed by a dark red line that spanned the very outer edge. Over that, he wore a black jacket that he left unbuttoned. The kid seemed to be going for an emo look, wearing black shoes and pants to top it off.

The girl, on the other hand, had a decent fashion sense. She wore a light pink blouse with frilled sleeves that stopped at her mid-bicep and a black skirt tied around her mid-torso. She also sported a pair of brown sandals with crossed straps that looked slightly uncomfortable to wear. Coupled with her long black hair and soft eyes gave her a cute touch. I would've thought about adding her to my Retinue for moral support if she didn't smell like a cat threw her up.

They had chosen a good venue at least, a fairly pretty park with trees lining the smooth stone pathway leading to a fountain. As far as I could tell, the fountain sat in the center of the small park. It had three levels including the pond at the bottom. The top of it supplied a steady stream of water like one of those things at water parks that once you stand in no one could hear you.

The second level was made to spread the water further into the shape of a too-long umbrella, which collected at the circular pond. The wall of the pond stood about a foot and a half tall, high enough that one could sit on it if need be.

The girl – whom Fischer told me was named Yuuma – took a few steps forward toward the fountain and turned to face Issei. Artoria stood next to me, her hand clutched tightly around her staff. I could almost feel the tension coming from her as she prepared a spell in her left hand.

Yuuma leaned forward, her pink handbag held behind her with both hands, "Can I ask you to do something? In celebration of our first date?"

"S-sure…" Issei looked expectant, licking his lips in anticipation.

"Would you die for me?" I wasn't expecting that, and obviously, neither was Issei.

He smiled and made an ear-cleaning movement with his right pinky, "I'm sorry. I think I misheard you. Could you say that again, please?"

Yuuma whispered something into his ears that sounded like a mumble to me, and stepped back. Artoria took a step forward and was about to release her spell when Yuuma's back shone in light and two black wings appeared behind the cute girl.

"That explains her smell," Stepping out of the bushes, I coughed loudly to get her attention.

She turned to me as Artoria released her Dimension Lock spell – that actual name of which I didn't know – and extended her hand, "Who the hell are you?!"

"I'm just a guy passing through," Giving her a toothy grin, her annoyance became almost palpable, "Listen, why don't you leave the little guy alone? Try me on for size."

"You're just a useless Human," Her voice came out as a scratchy growl of anger and piss-off-ed-ness, "You're not worth my time. Leave now and I'll forgive you."

"You know," The nails of my fingers began to extend as black scales traveled up my arms and my teeth elongated even further, "It's telling of how weak you are, being unable to feel a Dragon from this distance."

Yuuma – now revealed to be the Fallen Angel Raynare – took a step back and gritted her teeth. A Magic Circle appeared below her for half a second before it cracked and fell apart, "W-what did you do? Why can't I teleport!?"

"That's a little something to keep you from running like the scared rabbit you are," I stepped closer. I hadn't finished my transformation to a Dragonoid yet – it took a second to go from one to the other – so I continued to grow to a full nine-foot-ten with each step. I towered over her as she shook from being in my presence. Wings with black spines and dark purple webbing stretched from my shoulder blades as my face elongated into a snout and a tail extended from the base of my spine.

If the girl was even a Tier higher, she wouldn't be this wound about seeing my Dragonoid form. A strong scent of ammonia filled my nose, causing me to flick my gaze to Issei. He had fallen backward, a puddle forming beneath him. I was not biting that, he had to take a shower first.

"M-my faction is watching," She started to step backward, which showed something of her courage, "No matter who you are… even a Dragon can't fight off the whole Grigori."

"They aren't watching," Thin purple wisps blew from my nose as I craned down to stare into her eyes, "Not even God will watch what happens next."

"What's… What will happen?" My hand sped toward her faster than she could react, clutching around her neck and lifting her as I stood back straight.

"Artoria," I looked over my right shoulder at Fischer's Companion, "Will you get the boy please?"

She nodded and stepped from the bushes, a sad look in her eyes, "Of course."

She walked over to the downed teen and offered a hand to help him up. She was a good person as far as I could tell, Sebastian would have just grabbed him by the nape of his shirt.

"Thank you," Flicking my eyes back up to the struggling Fallen Angel, I opened my mouth. Grabbing her small wrist I stretched her arm out and bit down, Issei let out a yelp before fainting and falling into Artoria's arms.

Her bones cracked under the force of my jaw, my teeth growing straight through the flesh and bone of the Fallen Angel. I reluctantly swallowed her blood – which tasted like black licorice, gross – and removed her arm from my maw.

She screamed in pain, not only from the bite but also the binding as it took hold in her body and she tried to fight it. A large tattoo began to form on her right forearm after a few seconds, the etching just barely starting to show.

I looked over at Artoria to find Issei gone and the girl waiting patiently for Raynare to stop squirming in my grasp. Lifting the girl higher for a second, I slammed her into the ground hoping that she'd be knocked out.

She was tougher than I expected, not losing consciousness on the first strike. Crouching down, I frowned and continued to slam her into the ground, "gotosleep, gotosleep, gotosleep."

With her face bloody and the ground thoroughly cracked, I was happy to find my new servant unconscious and unresponsive. Releasing my grip on her, I shrunk back down to my human form and grabbed her by the ankle.

Artoria's eyes had widened in shock at the treatment I gave to Raynare, looking up to meet my bored eyes as I gave her a nod, "Will you open the Gate, please?"

"O-of course." She gave a slight bow and opened a gate to Fischer's Mansion, gesturing for me to go first.

As I was about to enter, my nose twitched and I stopped to look at Artoria, "Could someone have gotten past your barrier?"

"I doubt it," She looked around the park and closed her eyes in concentration, "There is someone right outside, but I don't know who it is. We should leave, Sir Drakon."

"I agree. I've lost my appetite." Saying my piece, I dragged Raynare through the portal and waited as Artoria followed after me and collapsed her barrier.

Issei was lying on the ground not far from the front door of the mansion. Artoria had opened both Gates outside of the manor, which was lucky as I wouldn't need to have Sebastian clean Raynare's blood out of the carpet.

"Sebastian!" The front door opened as soon as I called out, the Demon Butler walking towards and giving a cursory glance to Raynare, "Clean this thing up, I still need it."

"She put up quite the struggle, Master." Sebastian bowed and took Raynare from my grasp.

"No, not really." He nodded at my explanation, patting Artoria on the shoulder as she grimaced at the gore that was Raynare. He asked her for assistance and left me alone with Issei outside.

Pulling out my Company-issued phone, I tapped on Fischer's contact and stood next to Issei's unconscious form. The line rang twice before clicking, Fischer spoke first, "Yeah?"

"So," I tapped Issei with my foot, "I've got the Issei kid back at the manor, do you want him or did you want me to bite him?"

Silence followed for a second as Fischer thought it over, "You take him. It would be good for him to be under the tutelage of a Dragon rather than me."

"Gross." The boy wouldn't be my type even if I was into men, and he was definitely too young, "But I get it. How are things on your end? Is the girl there yet?"

"No," I could almost picture my partner shaking his head, "I doubt she'll be here for another few days."

"Then why'd you go?" Issei began to stir, causing me to set up a small barrier around him that would last for twenty minutes and deny up to Tier Four beings from passing through it.

"I couldn't send Yuuji yet because you needed Artoria." Holding up my left hand, I extended one finger and furrowed my brow.

I asked in a confused tone, "That's only one Retinue member, though?"

Fischer sighed over the line, "Yes, but as soon as you captured Raynare outside of the island it was two members."

"Damn," Lifting another finger, I heard Issei groan and looked over to him, "The boy's waking up, I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah," He ended the call as Issei's eyes opened and he sat up slowly.

"Yo," Stuffing my phone into my pocket, I stood at the edge of the barrier and looked down at the young man.

He tried to move back but found himself hitting an invisible wall. Fear gripped him as he looked around, "Are… Are you gonna kill me!?"

"Wow," Running a hand through my long hair, I sat at the edge of the barrier and rested my arms on my bent legs, "No, we're not going to kill you, Issei. We saved you, why would we want to hurt you?"

"Then what do you want?" Getting his bearings, the boy sat on his feet and placed his hands on his knees.

"First, I have a question." My nose twitched again, my senses passing the smell of urine and finding something deep within him, "Why do you smell familiar? What are you?"

"I'm Human," Issei proclaimed, but I didn't believe him in the slightest. He was definitely something else. "But, what are you? You turned into that big monster, didn't you?"

"I'm a Dragon." Pride welled up within me as I smiled, "A proper Dragon, not like Blue-Eyes and that little girl. Come to think of it… you smell like a weak version of Artoria. Maybe you're the descendant of a Dragon or something?"

"No," He shook his head, "I'm not anything like that. I'm just a High School student. I've never even kissed a girl, let alone grown scales."

I looked at the boy with pity, but now it made sense as to why Fischer wanted me to claim him. He definitely needed guidance, a proper figure to help him hone what little strength he had.

The door to the manor opened again, Blue-Eyes walking out and scowling slightly at Issei. She came over to us as I stood up and plugged her nose, her voice sounding nasally, "My Master has returned after giving Yuuji his orders. He's asking you to bring the smelly one into the house."

Glancing at Issei, I found him scanning the Dragon up and down with lust in his eyes. They settled on the choker around her neck, a grin on his face, "Kinky…"

"Give us a moment, we'll be in when I'm done with my guidance." Blue-Eyes nodded and gave Issei a disgusted look before walking away.

"She was smoking," Issei followed her figure as she walked into the manor, turning to me, "Is she your-"

My barrier shattered as my fist collided with it, softening the blow before it hit Issei and tossed him across the lawn. He stopped rolling with his legs above his head before losing his momentum and falling flat.

Looking down at my hand, I wondered what spark I had felt when my fist connected with his cheek. His hand reached up slowly, shakily holding the side of his face. I stalked over to him with my aura leaking from the pores of my body.

I really hated perverts. Sure, I gave an attractive woman a once over, but I didn't leer the way he did. I didn't make disgusting remarks about their clothing.

As he sat up, pain showing on his face, a green light shined on his left arm. As it vanished, a weird red gauntlet was left behind.

It felt more Draconic than Issei did, which meant it was probably the source of his Dragon lineage.

The gauntlet was about twice the width of Issei's arm with an orange gem below the wrist and a green jewel on the back of his hand. It stretched up about three-fourths the way to his elbow where it abruptly stopped. A yellow prong extended from each side of the gauntlet, curving backward toward his bicep.

Despite being called a gauntlet, it left his fingers uncovered. I was honestly surprised the kid was still alive after that hit, but maybe he's got a strong physique under all that average.

"Who's this?" A deep voice thrummed through my being, something ancient reaching from Issei's gauntlet, "A new Dragon?"

"Who are you?" I questioned the voice.

{DOMINIK FISCHER}

After hearing Blue-Eyes' recount of what happened, I somewhat expected Issei to take a light beating. I never expected Drakon to be able to awaken Ddraig this early.

As soon as his voice boomed across my domain I leaped from my seat and went outside with my Retinue. I found Drakon talking with Ddraig like he hadn't just given my lawn a makeover with the latter's host's face.

Drakon laughed at something I couldn't hear, to which Blue-Eyes sniggered. I gave her a confused glance, "What'd he say?"

"I don't know how to translate it, I'm sorry." She bowed in regret, "I can try to get as close to the meaning as possible if you'd like."

"They aren't speaking English?" I wasn't aware that Drakon knew Draconic, but I guess it made sense given his Heritage.

She shook her head in response, making me look over at Artoria, "Can you understand them?"

"A word here or there, Master." She mumbled, and I could tell she felt inadequate because of it.

"Don't worry," I assured her, "Most of us can't speak Draconic, I'm surprised you can understand it all."

She gave a small smile and nodded to me, probably vowing to learn more later on.

Looking over at Drakon I wondered what was going on as he suddenly picked up Issei and took a bite out of his right shoulder. Issei's Boosted Gear disappeared and the boy flailed in pain as Drakon set him gently on the lawn.

He looked over at me and gave a thumbs up with a shit-eating grin, "Familiar get!"

Shaking my head, I sighed and went back inside with my Retinue members. I noticed Artoria linger for a second before following the rest of us inside, probably wondering if she should ask Drakon or Blue-Eyes to teach her more Draconic.

Sebastian came down from the room he had been using to tend to Raynare's injuries with a contented look on his face, making me think he had either ensured her death or nursed her back to health.

"The dirty angel has been stabilized." He said before walking outside to Drakon and Issei.

I looked at the remaining members of my Retinue – Yuuji having taken my place watching over the church – and laced my fingers together in my lap, "What do you all think of Drakon? Artoria, you went with him, so I'd like you to start."

"He's… violent." She clutched her staff closer, closing her eyes as if trying to forget something. Miku patted her back in consolation, giving the girl a warm look.

"How so?" Leaning forward, I urged Artoria to continue telling me what happened.

"He beat her…" She flinched when Blue-Eyes set her hand on Artoria's shoulder, probably feeling something similar between the two, "He beat her even though he already marked her. She turned bloody… so much blood…"

"It's okay," Standing up, I took Artoria into my embrace. I was just tall enough to set my chin on her head, stroking her hair and keeping her stable as she began to cry slightly. I knew when I added her to my Retinue that she didn't like to see people hurt, but I didn't think it was to the point that she'd cry over an enemy.

"It'll be alright, Artoria," I spoke softly; her ear was against my chest, so I didn't want to be too loud and hurt her, "I won't send you with him anymore, okay? You don't need to worry."

I could tell Artoria would be high maintenance, but I didn't mind all that much. I had known her personality – her depression and low self-esteem, among other things – when I chose her. I had done my research before choosing each of my Retinue members, deciding based on things like how well they'd get along with me and each other as well as how powerful they were.

I don't think the same could be said for Drakon's singular choice. Though, something I hadn't thought about until now regarding his Retinue was that we couldn't have any members outside of the island once we released Issei and Raynare to their daily activities.

Either I or Drakon would have to watch over the church, and given his proclivity for acting rashly, I didn't want it to be him. I'd gladly take up a position on the church's hill to keep Drakon from causing more problems.

Now that I thought about it, I didn't know his first name. It was probably something stupid like 'Jake' but I'd need to ask if I ever got curious. Regardless, I looked to the other members of my Retinue, "What do you think about him, Blue-Eyes?"

"He feels shackled," She looked to me for confirmation, then continued, "When I was sealed into the Duel Monsters cards, I felt a similar feeling. He isn't able to utilize his full potential right now."

"I see," I knew what she meant, given that Drakon had been locked to Tier Six by The Company. I wondered what that felt like for him, or if he had ever felt the power of a Tier Seven coursing through him. Gazing over the rest of my Companions, I asked, "Does anyone else have thoughts on him?"

Seeing Yuu raise her hand shyly, I nodded to her with a smile as Artoria sniffled softly. She seemed to finally be calming down, pulling her head from my chest to look up at me.

Yuu took my nod as permission to speak, "He seems nice… but brutish."

Given her appearance, I had almost forgotten that Yuu was fairly intelligent. She was right though, Drakon was a brute with a mostly friendly personality. It made me wonder what Raynare said or did for him to beat her as he did.

The front door opened with Drakon gripping Issei around his shoulder with a smile on his face. He looked over at me and exclaimed, "He's got a Dragon in him, isn't that great? Now I get why you wanted me to take him."

"Who is this?" Issei questioned, looking up at his new Master.

Drakon pushed him toward me, "This is my partner. His name's Fischer. Or, his last name is… I don't know his first."

"Sebastian," I wasn't sure when it happened, but Sebastian appeared next to Drakon in a half-bow, "Take us to the Fallen Angel."

{RIAS GREMORY}

Slamming my hand down on the coffee table of the Occult Research Club's main room, I fumed in anger over the loss of a useful pawn. I had even gone over to save him when the summoning circle failed to call on me.

"Calm down, President." Yuuto, my Knight Piece, advised as he sat across from me with Koneko.

Yuuto was an objectively handsome second-year with short blonde hair, bluish-gray eyes, and a small mole under his left eye. He wore the Kouh Academy male uniform, which consisted of a black blazer with white accents over a white, long-sleeved dress shirt with a black ribbon on the collar, matching black pants, and brown dress shoes.

Koneko was a petite first-year with short white hair and golden eyes. She wore the Academy's female uniform, which consisted of a white long-sleeved, button-down shirt with vertical linings, a black ribbon on the collar, a button-down corset, and a magenta skirt with white accents. The uniform normally was worn with a shoulder cape, but Koneko didn't wear it.

"How could I be calm?!" Despite lashing out verbally, I would never hit one of my servants outside of training. They knew this, not even flinching as I squeezed my hands so tight they turned white.

"It's a minor setback, Rias." Akeno set a hand on mine, her voice soft enough to hide her sadomasochistic personality.

Akeno was a beautiful second-year with black hair and violet eyes, the envy of many of the girls on campus. Her hair was usually tied in a long ponytail, reaching all the way down to her legs with two strands sticking out from the top and sloping backward, an orange ribbon keeping it in place. She, too, wore the Academy uniform, along with its proper shoulder cape.

"It's not minor," I gritted my teeth silently, "We need to find Issei and get him to join us. I get the feeling he'll grow far more than I previously thought."

"Are you sure?" Yuuto leaned forward, his eyes tracing the crack I had made in the coffee table between us, "That's pretty serious, President."

"I'll go out to look for him later tonight with Koneko," Akeno assured me, to which the small white-haired girl looked up and nodded once.

"No," Sighing, I looked at the stack of requests from Humans for the Devils in this room, "Take Yuuto, Koneko has too many requests to take a break. I'm sorry, Koneko."

"I understand." Koneko pulled a piece of chocolate from seemingly nowhere and began to nibble on it. It was part of her cuteness, always snacking on something.

Calming myself down, I loosened the grip of my hands and stood up. Akeno and Yuuto did the same, beginning to leave as I unbuttoned the clasp of my shoulder cape and set it on the arm of my seat. I looked over at them and warned, "Please be careful, someone strong drove off that Fallen Angel and took Issei. I found blood and shattered ground in the park."

"Of course," They agreed in unison and left me with Koneko. The zipper of my skirt was the next to come undone, folding it neatly over the armrest with my shroud.

Koneko stood as I took off my shoes and half-calf socks. She formed a teleportation circle on the ground, the red lines of Demonic Energy curving and turning until the circle was complete.

She stood in the center of the circle as I finished taking off my shirt and looked over at her, "You be careful too, Koneko. We don't know what will happen now that someone new is in town."

"Yes." She activated the circle and vanished, probably off to that weird guy who dressed her up and had her save him.

I paused before taking off my bra, seeing the summoning flier that we had given Issei before his date with the Fallen Angel. Besides the faint odor of ammonia, it was undamaged. It made no sense for the flier not to have worked.

As long as Issei's will to live was strong enough he should have asked for anyone to help him. Grabbing the flier, I crumpled it in my hand before tossing it into the trash.

With Issei's piss all over it, I couldn't tell who else had been around it, so it was of no use to me anymore.

I reached behind my back and unclipped my bra, the cool air of the club room hitting my nipples as I pulled the cloth down. Reaching into the shower past the tan curtains, I turned the water on and readied a towel as it warmed up.

When we first moved into this building almost two years ago, there was no shower in this room. I added it because I liked being able to talk to my servants while I showered and doing so made it easier to converse than all of them huddling into the locker room on the first floor.

Taking off my black lace panties, I set them near the shower entrance and stepped under the warm water.

I had wanted Issei for a number of reasons, not just because of the strength he'd have one day. I felt it would be good for Yuuto to not be the only boy in my Peerage – Gasper not included, given that he's not currently allowed outside, and he's fairly effeminate.

Issei would have brought that number up, he would have given Yuuto company. And him being outside of the Devil Hierarchy would have allowed me to act less uptight around him than if I had brought in a Devil from the Underworld.

I really didn't want to search for someone in the Underworld, but with my marriage coming up it seemed like I wouldn't have much of a choice. I hated not having a choice, it was one of the reasons I didn't want to be married. I wanted to choose my husband, I wanted the strength to choose. Issei could have given me that.

On the other hand, if I can find whoever saved him, I might be able to use them. Whoever it was clearly didn't like Fallen Angels and was strong enough to make them flee.

Grabbing some soap from the basket that hung from the shower head, I lathered it through my thick red hair and across my body.

Letting the water wash away any dirt that had accumulated throughout the day, I tilted my head up toward the shower head and relished the warm water as it fell down my face.

It wasn't until my phone rang that I turned off the water and reached out of the shower curtain to grab it. Answering the phone, I put it to my ear and wrapped my towel around my body, "What did you find, Akeno?"

"We didn't," She answered concisely, "Which is why we went to his house, but we couldn't find anything there either, besides porn. A lot of porn. After that, we came to the park where he was last seen. Rias, there's Magic here that I didn't even know existed. It seems to have the same purpose as our Area Lock spells, but I can't be entirely sure. But there's something else."

"I felt something like that too," Holding my phone with my right shoulder, I wound my hair into a second towel and made a cone on top of my head, "What's the other thing?"

"Some kind of space magic," Akeno's voice sounded a little weird, my ears perking up to catch every detail, "I found three different instances of it; one in some bushes facing the fountain, one near a path that faced the fountain, and one right next to the fountain. I have no idea where it goes; when I tried to trace it, I got lost."

"I see," Akeno was my resident expert on Magical things despite the fact that she actively suppressed a good portion of her Magical Powers. If she said we couldn't trace it, she's right, "You and Yuuto come back, cover some of Koneko's requests if you're not too tired."

"Of course, president," I could almost feel Akeno's nod as I cut the line and looked down at my clothes.