An Offer

<<Due to the host's lack of {Demonic Power}, {Immortality} skill modified to suit the host.}

<<Immortality (S): Prevents the host from dying as long as the host is able to keep himself conscious.>> 

<<Aegis (S): A breastplate that protects the wearer from harm by absorbing the energy of attacks. The energy can then be redirected offensively or used to create force fields to protect others.

However the breastplate can only absorb one form of energy at a time. Host needs to release that energy before absorbing another form.

Once worn, Aegis becomes invisible to others.>> 

<<Elemental Intangibility (SS): Allows the host to change their physical form into any element to obtain a form of intangibility, allowing attacks to pass through easily.>> 

Kento took a deep breath as he stared at the unconscious Riser lying on the ground.

Ravel was injured as well, barely keeping her conscious. 

"You should look after him." Kento said as he was finally able to relax.

Failing to plunder the {Immortality} on first try was scary as if Riser's pride did not make him accept the condition, he would have failed the quest miserably.

"Do you have any more of those Phoenix tears?" He asked, but Ravel shook her head.

"N-No." She said. "Brother said we will not need much so we only brought two."

Kento sighed, aware that he could not bring out the tears he possessed.

"Then you will have to wait for your family to provide them for you." He said. "While the sword wounds cannot be healed with tears, the phoenix tears will be able to heal his other injuries. As for the sword wounds, they will only heal naturally with time or with holy potions… Which I believe devils cannot consume."

He knew that Riser could not win against him, he also knew that it would have been a little difficult if the Phenex devil listened to his sister.

"If he would have followed your strategies, I might not have won this." He smiled. "But pride often makes you blind."

But no matter what, he had won. And the harvest from the fight was immense.

As he went through the skill descriptions, he saw a magic circle forming on the ground.

"That was an impressive fight." He heard the familiar voice say. "And the Lord and Lady of both families feel the same."

He was surprised that the Phenex devils were not after his neck.

"Thank you, Grayfia." Kento said. "Would not have been possible if Rias and others did not hold back Riser's peerage."

Grayfia nodded. "Possibly… and I believe you should meet them."

Kento nodded. "I should. But Lord Gremory asked me to meet him after the battle as well."

"Lord Gremory understands." Grayfia said. "But you should meet with Lady Rias' peerage. There… has been a situation."

…

…

Unlike Kento, who had a system which would be considered a cheat even by supernatural standards –most beings were not lucky enough to possess such things. 

However, Issei did not fall into the latter category.

The Sacred Gear that he possessed was something that most would go to war for.

Yet the power offered by the gear was not instant.

Unlike High Tier Longinus which gave hosts instant god-killing powers, mid and low tier Longinus had to be trained with to reach their maximum potential.

And since the Boosted Gear was a middle tier Longinus, Issei had to pay a price for forcing the increase in power output.

"What do you mean his life span was reduced?"

Kento was puzzled by how fighting with a few low class devils would result in his life span being reduced.

"*There is a cost everyone needs to pay if they force something. And exhibiting that much power right after my awakening was not natural. He is not a demi-human or someone with supernatural powers. Even his reincarnation as a devil was not natural and thus when he asked me for power, he bore the consequences.*"

Kento saw Asia bawling her eyes out with everyone from Rias' peerage looking depressed.

"When will he wake up?" Kento asked the dragon. "You said you were a great dragon and are now a Longinus, is it not possible for you to help him recover?"

"*I possess the power to destroy continents at will, but I do not possess the ability to heal. As for when my host will wake up, it depends on how long it takes for him to recover.*"

The legendary red dragon from what Kento learnt was the Welsh Dragon that was mentioned in Arthurian legends.

The legendary Red and White dragons.

"C-Can I not use my ability on him?" Asia asked, making the others wonder the same.

"*You can heal him but returning his life force is not easy.*"

"How many years did he lose?" Kento wondered and the dragon replied instantly.

"*A little over a hundred.*"

Kento was baffled by what he heard. "A hundred years for that little time he used the power for?"

This made Kento realize how lucky he was with his skills and abilities. The passive boost he gets is without any backlash. And given how many of his enemies have at least one advantage over him, his passive skills always activate.

Yet when he learnt that Issei lost `only` around a hundred years, he felt relieved. The revelation made him a little confused as to why everyone was so worried.

"Thankfully it is only a hundred years." He sighed in relief which baffled Asia.

"B-But if he lost a hundred years, then he won't live for long!" She said, almost teary eyed.

"Rias." He looked at the red haired heiress. "What is the average lifespan of a reincarnated devil?"

"About… The same as a pure blood devil." She answered. "About ten thousand years."

"See." Kento smiled. "It is sad that he lost a lot of years, but that is barely one percent of his total lifespan. So, what we need to focus on is that he does not use that forceful power up again instead of worrying about what he lost."

"*That is true.*" The Welsh Dragon spoke. "He is not a human anymore, thus his lifespan is much longer."

"Will Asia's healing be enough to help him recover?" 

The dragon answered Kento's question. "It will be."

He contemplated using one of the Phoenix tears if necessary but thankfully he did not have to. From what he saw, those tears were extremely rare.

"But I am curious." Kento spoke. "What are the abilities you can provide your user with?"

This was something that made the dragon very happy.

"*Gahahah! There is a lot I can do, human. But what the supernatural world knows me for is the ability to amplify my host's powers.*"

"Amplify to… What levels?"

Kento knew that it was an insane ability, but the Welsh dragon's reply blew his mind.

"*There are no levels. I can amplify the power as much as the host wishes for… That is if the host's body can handle all that power. Or they will overload and die.*"

As he heard this, he looked straight at Rias.

"Err… Rias?"

The girl wondered why he called her so suddenly. "Yes?"

"Is it alright if I have a friendly spar with Issei sometime?" He gave her a smile. "It's always nice to have someone to train with. And one grows stronger if they have an `opponent` to go against."

"That is a good idea." Kiba said. "Once he recovers, he can train to learn to control the power. And seeing your performance… Even I want to have a spar with you."

{Size Scouter: Yuuto Kiba: Size 6"}

'Fuck this shit.' Kento felt tired of the size scouter. 'I don't know if it will stop this shit but I am willing to use a stat increment potion to change this ability.'

Smiling through the pain, he answered. "Sure."

'Having a few extra skills never hurts…'

The only sad part was that the more he plundered, the weaker they got. Yet it was something he had to do.

He was involved with a lot of powerful people and he needed a lot of strength to deal with them. 

'They are not facing any of them but I am.' He knew. 'I need the skills more than they do.'

In reality, it was what he was going with to not feel bad about the plunders. 

As the boy was contemplating on the possibility of obtaining Issei's ability, Rias called him.

"Hey Kento." She looked at him. "After you talk to my father… And possibly my brother as well." She took a deep breath. "Can we talk about something?"

"Sure." Kento shrugged. "I guess everyone has a few things to ask."

Rias shook her head. "Alone." She said. "I want to discuss this with you alone."

Kento raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was thinking about. 

'She is already free from her marriage, I wonder what's on her mind now.'

But he knew it had to be something important, so he just gave her a smile.

"Sure."

…

…

If from the whole ordeal, someone faced a loss, it had to be Zeoticus.

The marriage fell through and the chance to build a relationship with the Phenex pillar fell with it.

However, Zeoticus did not mind it.

Sitting with the finest cup of earl gray in his hand, he smiled at Kento. "Do you know why I even allowed Riser to pursue my daughter?"

"Pursue is a kind word." Kento said. "He did more than pursue."

Zeoticus nodded. "That he did." 

"I still do not know why you agreed to allow this marriage to fall through so easily." Kento said. "For a marriage that you were so adamant about and considering all you could have obtained by forming a relationship with the Phenex… It is quite confusing."

"Devils are beings that embody every sin one could think about." Zeoticus answered. "Many are not aware of this, even many devils themselves do not know this… But we embody sin."

That was indeed the biblical definition of devils.

"Do you know the sins I am affected by the most?" Zeoticus asked.

"I want to say greed." Kento answered. "And possibly pride?"

Zeoticus smiled. "You are correct. The sins I am influenced by the most are Greed, Pride and Lust."

"Lust?" Kento raised an eyebrow. "You don't seek like you would possess that sin."

This made Zeoticus laugh. "You might not know this but I do have a harem. It is managed by my wife so it's nothing that might affect my family."

"That's a new piece of information." 

"As for why I wanted my daughter to marry a Phenex." Zeoticus sipped the tea. "It was my greed and pride."

"Greed for the Phenex connection and pride to have your daughter marry into a Marquis family?"

Zeoticus nodded. "Indeed."

"So what changed?" Kento asked. "What made you accept the termination of the marriage contract?"

He refused to believe that winning a rating game was enough for both parties to terminate their contract.

"Rias' peerage and her new connections." Zeoticus answered.

"Issei?" Kento raised an eyebrow.

"And you."

Kento knew that having a Longinus user in a peerage was a big deal. Yasaka explained to him the capabilities of a Longinus. 

And since he was able to take down Riser and display so much more, he knew that Zeoticus was interested in him.

"Sadly I am just her friend and will stay like that." Kento answered honestly. "I have no intention of joining her peerage."

"You don't have to." Zeoticus answered honestly. "What I want is not for you to join her peerage but to form a contract with our family."

"A contract?" Kento was intrigued. "What kind?"

"You are someone who is growing at a frightening rate. And because of this you will be a target of a lot of beings." Zeoticus explained. "To avoid that and to in a way to profit us as well… I want to sponsor you."

This made Kento surprised. 

"Us devils form contracts with magicians and I want to form a similar contract with you. While you are not a magician, you are still someone with unique abilities. With the sponsorship, you will be able to earn a lot, roam the underworld with no worry and obtain quite a little bit of authority. In return you just have to help our family at times."

The devil continued. "You can choose to not help as well if you find the request unreasonable. If you agree, you will get the privilege of bearing quite a bit of power in the underworld, something that is unheard of for a human."

"What is the twist?"

Zeoticus grinned. "You are not allowed to do the same with other devils, you will only be related to the Gremory."

Kento sighed.

He knew that something was up to something but he did not expect Zeoticus to try and bind him in such a contract.

It was not a bad contract per se, but he knew that agreeing to it might get him in quite the trouble.

"I am sorry but I will have to decline."

After all, he was already related to the Shinto faction.

"That is sad but we would still like to accept you as a family friend, which would mean you can visit the underworld according to your wish. And since you are a family friend, no one will look down upon you either."

"That is great." Kento said. "Thank you for that honor."

Zeoticus nodded. "Even if you have declined the offer now, do remember that it is always there for you. If you change your mind, you just have to tell me."

"That's quite the offer." Kento said. "If that was all Lord Gremory then I will take my leave."

"Sirzechs is waiting for you." Zeoticus reminded, making Kento nod.

"I will be going straight to him." He gave the Lord of house Gremory a short bow, catching the habit from being in Japan. "Thank you for everything."

"Thank you for helping my daughter." The devil said. "As for you torturing Riser… We have it under control. Do not worry. The rest will be explained by Sirzechs."

"I apologize for the trouble." Kento felt a bit bad to have the Gremory clean after his mess. 

However, he was the one helping their heiress.

So as he made his way out of the room, he decided not to worry about the aftermath.

"His growth is frightening." Venelana said, walking inside from the other room. "Sacred gears do not have that fast of a growth and no normal human possesses such abilities."

"His growth is on the same level as a Longinus user." Zeoticus said.

"Do you think he possesses a Longinus that is not known by many? Or a gear that has evolved?" Venelana wondered. 

"He went to Sirzechs." The Gremory lord smiled. "Our son should be able to figure it out."

After all, Zeoticus had not given up on Kento yet.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

[[A/N: Read 25 chapters ahead on Patreon: Patre on.com/Greedyfrog

As for the immortality skill, it is only S rank atm, so it's not super strong. But you can imagine what upgrading it to EX rank or possibly transcending the rank system would allow it to do.]]