Chapter 284

Looking back I think it took me a moment to process the audacity of this kid who just waltzed in and demanded I hand over the source of a lot of pain for someone I cared about.

I wanted to chalk it up to him just being an idiot, which oddly enough, seemed to explain a lot of issues in this world. However, that cocky smile he had, the look in his eyes, if felt like he came looking for a fight.

And for some reason, something innately about him just pissed me off.

"Boss told me to grab Kokabiel, so hand him over." The Idiot doubled down.

The fact that he didn't even seem to care about the Fallen Angel's state led me to believe he wasn't involved, however….fuck him.

"I think you're at the wrong place, the boy band audition is in another city."

A combination of leather pants, a shirt that looked a few sizes too small and showed his stomach, combined with random straps and buckles on his arms....

Did he lose a bet with someone?

"…what?" He blinked in confusion.

"I'm sorry, I just saw the edgy look and the leather you're wearing and just assumed that no one would be stupid enough to wear that unironically in public."

"….do you not know who I am?"

"I tend not to associate with douches who think going around in half cut shirts to expose their midriff makes them look cool. So, why don't you take your gigolo ass home and fuck off."

His reaction was like no one had ever called him out on his doucheiness before.

There was a little twitch towards a frown, but he held onto that cocky smile of his. "I guess you wanna do this the hard way."

"Do I look like your mother?" I replied without skipping a beat.

And I guessed I pressed a button, because his power exploded outwards and a pair of white, draconic-like, wings emerged from his back.

"Albion!?" Ddraig blurted out, having been silent up to this point.

The Gigolo-in-denial looked startled, turning towards the source.

"Ddraig!?" A different voice sounded out.

And suddenly, a lot more things started making sense.

"Albion!"

"Ddraig!"

"Albion!"

"Ddraig!"

"Oh my God." I face palmed, but at least they stopped their flirting.

"H-how are you like that!?" Albion shouted, and even his wielder just stared at Ddraig in confusion.

"What, jealous?" Ddraig practically preened. "It's soooooooo nice, being able to fly in the air, stretch my legs, eat if I want."

"…what's happening?" Venelana asked me.

I let out a long sigh. "Meet, Y Ddraig Goch." I gestured to the giant Black Dragon who was taunting his rival without a hint of shame. "And apparently, that's Albion – The Divine Dividing's user as well. I vaguely recall him being related to Azazel."

"And Kokabiel only had disdain towards him, so it's unlikely that Azazel was complicit." Venelana opened her mouth slightly as realization dawned on her. "You have the Boosted Gear?"

"I do."

"Oh."

"Yeah, well, this is Vali, the greatest user I've ever had!"

I turned my attention back to their arguing.

"Best of shit is still shit." Ddraig snorted.

"Y-you!"

And I seemed to now understand why their rivalry lasted so long.

Ddraig was a little shit.

"My Partner is like, a million times better. He even made it so I can come out. Can you come out? No? Oh…..well, I guess he must have other qualities, you know, besides looking like he's about to perform infront of a bunch of prepubescent teen girls."

"Vali, kill him!" Albion roared in response.

"Yeah, no." I finally decided to step in getting annoyed at this point. "I'm really not in the mood for this. The only reason your head isn't rolling is because I don't think you were involved. But my patience has run out, so kindly fuck off."

I turned towards Vali, who surprisingly, jumped back right as I was about to grab him. "Divide!" He shouted immediately, and I felt the effects wash over me. I paused briefly, the strange feeling as my Aura just…..disappeared. Well, a noticeable amount of it.

I blinked a few times as I acclimated to the feeling.

I knew what his Sacred Gear did, but actually feeling it was an entirely different matter.

"Huh." I clenched my hand, not really feeling that much different.

Does his Divide ability need a more specific target? Because, it felt like he only divided my Aura…..well, some of it. I think I resisted a good portion of the ability.

Regardless, I took a breath of annoyance, activating my Semblance, and turning into a streak of lightning.

"Divide --"

The sound rang out from his Sacred Gear, and I felt my Aura dip again. The idiot was about to say something, but my annoyance had reached its peak. I grabbed his mouth, shutting it tight as I opened a portal, throwing him through, closing it behind him.

Ddraig just stared at me, much like everyone else.

"What did you do with him?"

"Threw him somewhere in the Sahara Desert." I shrugged.

"Mmm." Ddraig looked at me like I just kicked his puppy.

"Ddraig, it was neither the time nor place."

"Fair." He relented.

God, him and his obsession with Albion. It was obvious that he was depressed I cut the whole thing short. I would deal with it to his satisfaction another time, but I seriously could not bring myself to care about that emo kid for another second right now.

"Well, the annoyance is out of the way." I let out a sigh. "Raikou, can you please find any remnants and bring them here?" I asked my Servant who had been quietly ready off to the side.

"Of course, Master." She smiled happily at my command as she went to search for any stragglers.

I'd rather not have any of them get away, and it would help Venelana if she had more prisoners.

"I will assist." Scáthach flicked her spear, leaning it against her shoulder as she followed after. I gave her a thankful nod and got a returned smile from her.

"What a fucking mess this is." I sighed, looking around everywhere, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "You sure you're okay?" I turned back towards Venelana.

She let out that adorable giggle of hers again. "Yes, I'm fine." She leaned over, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"You probably have a lot of questions…"

"Without a doubt." She giggled again. "But right now I really don't have the mental capacity to even think about it. I thought I was going to die not that long ago, Wilhelm. I don't think the adrenalin has worn off yet. There has been so much thrown at me in the past hour or so, and I haven't had any time to properly handle it. I'd like time to destress and calm down then deal with it later."

"That's understandable" I acknowledged.

Her hand took mine as she gave it a small squeeze. "I'm going to check on the children again."

"Yeah, I'll start cleaning everything up…."

She smiled beautifully before letting go. She went over to her daughter again, giving her a big hug.

They had been relatively quiet, all things considered. Well, I suppose it was…..awkward due to our relations.

"So, that's Venelana." Jinn happily threw herself at me.

I caught the excitable woman in my arms, always welcoming her affectionate personality. I also felt much better now that all the annoyances were gone and everything was….settled.

"She seems like a good woman." Artoria added, walking up as well. "Tis not the most ideal first meeting, but….I do not dislike her thus far."

That's saying it nicely.

I'm just relieved that she's okay.

[***]

Rias Gremory POV

"Mom, I'm fine." I breathed out as she began making sure I wasn't bleeding anymore.

"I'm just checking." She smiled, before pulling me into a big hug. "And you too, Akeno." Mom reached over pulling the dumbstruck sadist into her arms.

It was…..weird.

We were so close to dying, and yet...now everyone's acting like it didn't even matter.

What the hell even happened?

I saw it all, it happened right infront of my eyes, but I don't think my brain caught up yet.

So, I just opted to watch Mom run around and give everyone hugs, making sure they were okay.

"Rias.."

"Sona." I let out a long breath, seeing my friend hobble up next to me.

I honestly didn't know what to say now, I was still…..in shock.

"We were lucky." Sona said quietly.

"Yeah…"

"We almost died, and everything would have blown up with us. It's entirely likely the war would have restarted in full if he succeeded."

"Who would have thought...he would have rescued us." I glanced at the source of most of the confusion.

My….nephew, who didn't even spare us a second glance.

"Have you tried calling your bother?"

"Phone still shows no signal." I casually tossed it to the ground, falling to my butt as I pulled my knees up. "What the hell, Sona." I buried my head into my arms.

"I know, I feel the same way. One moment we were just having a random conversation, then next, we were about to be killed by one of the strongest Angels to fall.. And didn't they just teleport over here? Shouldn't it be working now?"

"You can try teleporting if you want." I offered, letting out another sigh. It was probably best to sit and wait;honestly I thought we were all a bit too shaken to try anything right now. The safest place was right here for the moment. "I want to thank him but…."

"You can't even find the courage to approach him?" Sona sighed, sitting next to me. "I feel like there's a wall there, and I don't think I can cross it."

"The hell am I supposed to say after he literally saved our lives? Sorry I ignored you for your entire life, but, thanks!?" I let out a depreciating laugh. "The only reason he appeared was...."

"Your mom?" Sona questioned.

I let out a groan. "I guess that isn't a secret anymore. Mom is apparently dating him."

"…oh." Sona's reply was…..lackluster, I thought she would have said something different.

"What?"

"What?" Sona returned.

"I mean…..aren't you going to say something?"

"Rias, I was almost killed by an Angel, I couldn't care less right now. Besides, my Sister hasn't exactly been subtle about her advances over the years towards me. And you know that Riser's parents are cousins, right? It's really not that uncommon for us."

"Yeah, I guess. Just...I don't know how to feel about it. But he came right when she called and saved us." I sighed again.

Maybe I'm just upset about finding out that mom and dad aren't in love anymore?

"This is going to be a mess to explain." Whenever our siblings got here, that was.

"Explain what? The Dragon that's just casually sitting over there that's apparently the one sealed in the infamous Boosted Gear? Or are you talking about the woman who apparently has Indra's Divine Weapon and used it to kill an Evil Dragon that was supposed to be dead, who for some reason, looks like the previously mentioned dragon – for some reason. Or the woman who could hold off a legion of Fallen Angels while shielding us. Or the woman who identified that priest as a God hiding in disguise, and proceeded to battle him and not lose. Or the last woman who apparently revealed a Holy Sword that put what was supposed to be Excalibur to shame, only to name it Excalibur as well and obliterate said legion of Angels and the Dragon. Or lastly, is it your nephew, who apparently has both the Boosted Gear, and the True Longinus, the latter of which he decided to ignore the fact that he's a Half-Devil and used its Balance Breaker, somehow becoming an Angel in the process and handed Kokabiel his metaphorical and literal ass."

I blinked as Sona said all of that in a single breath. "Yes."

She let out a groan.

I couldn't blame her, to be honest. I would probably freak out about everything later. Instead, I just watched the Blue-skinned woman run over and hug the scary looking dragon. The latter of which looked way too amused and let her climb on top of him. And there was those other two who started dragging unconscious Fallen Angels and throwing them into a pile near Kokabiel….

"It feels like the gap has widened even more." I muttered. "I don't understand it."

"Rias!"

I was broken by my thoughts, standing up immediately as I saw Mom calling to me. I hurriedly ran over to see her kneeling next to Issei.

"What's wrong?"

"Did he take a Holy Attack earlier?"

"Yeah, but he healed up."

"Um….it just hurts a little…" Issei looked exhausted but he didn't look like he was dying.

"It's still inside of him, I don't know why it isn't tearing him apart right now." Mom replied making me widen my eyes.

"But….he'd be dead then, right? Are you sure!?"

"Did you give him a Phoenix Tear?"

"Yes, but we….don't have any more on hand."

Mom furrowed her brow. "Something's still keeping it at bay, or healing any damage right now. Did you take anything else?"

"Uh…..that blue woman with the nice oppai give me something to drink and it made me feel better after Akeno used the Bird tear thing to heal the cut on my stomach. Then the other girl with the smaller oppai touched me and her hand glowed and most of the pain went away."

Issei….

I resisted the urge to facepalm. I guess….it's admirable that he's like this even in such a bad situation.

"I, uh, siphoned off a lot of it." Kiba looked rather sheepish. I think he felt responsible since Issei took the hit to save him.

The Excalibur Sword was sitting over there to the side, and he was here fussing over Issei, not the source of his childhood trauma….I guess his current guilt is overriding his anger?

"He's a newborn Devil so he's more susceptible to Holy Power right now since his new Demonic Power hasn't had time to settle properly." Mom looked….worried.

"What do we do?"

Mom bit her lip and looked up. "Wilhelm." She called out and I felt a knot in my chest. My guilt only continued to rise, asking him for help again, but at the same time, I didn't want to lose a member of my peerage because of my own pride.

It felt awkward as he walked over, I wanted to hide under a rock as he glanced at me.

Surprisingly, he looked….good.

I remembered before, that boy from school, he always seemed so withdrawn. Now, he looked calm and confident, and that's not saying anything about his physical appearance. I'd seen him in picture, but for the first time meeting since he left, he definitely looked better than before.

He didn't seem like the same person.

"Shimoda."

I glanced to the side to see Sona, not even realizing she was there beside me.

"Huh, haven't heard that name in awhile." He turned towards Sona, who…looked embarrassed. I think she just blurted it out by accident. "Who are you?"

….ouch.

And Sona looked like she swallowed a lemon.

"Wilhelm, can you take a look at him, please?" Mom asked, giving him a gentle smile.

"Sure." He agreed immediately after she asked, and I think only because she asked.

"Damn handsome." Issei muttered.

"Pardon?"

"Issei, behave." I squeezed out under the strange atmosphere.

He put a hand on Issei's shoulder, closing his eyes. He did….something I'm not quite sure what.

"Oh yeah, you got some Holy Power flowing around. The Phoenix Tear must have done the heavy healing to your body, and the Healing Potion you took is sort of….offsetting it right now, but once that's run its course, it's going to start tearing your insides apart."

"Is there anything you can do?" Mom asked.

[***]

Wilhelm POV

"Is there anything you can do?" Venelana asked with those pleading eyes.

I really couldn't deny her.

And….off the top of my head, I had a few ideas.

It's not like he was in immediate danger, give it ten to twenty minutes and then it might become a problem. Demonic Power naturally fights against Holy Power when it invaded the body, but his power was…..miniscule. He probably spent his entire reserves to keep himself going before we got here.

I wanted to cringe at the idea that popped into my head.

I felt....guilty about taking the Boosted Gear away from him initially. I was most certainly not in a good headspace at the time, and I fully admit I stole something very valuable from him that could have sent him on a completely different path.

Honestly, the fact that he's a Devil right now was shocking.

I didn't know how it happened, but I also didn't really care.

After inspecting his body, he did have a small Dragon Aspect, a leftover from Ddraig being in his soul for so long most likely. Perhaps that was enticing enough for them to reincarnate him?

It would be an interesting point of experimentation to see what would come of it.

I stood up, rubbing my chin in thought.

Did I really want to do this? I felt like I owed the kid for taking Ddraig from him.

And I knew for certain that Ddraig also felt slightly guilty too after seeing some of my memories of a possible future.

I may as well clear up any moral debts I had hanging around.

"You're going to feel something odd, don't fight it." I breathed out as I gathered my Aura into my hand and placed it on his stomach.

I would take responsibility for my actions, and this was the least I could do. However far he could go, that would be on him. And after this, I would consider any debts settled.

"For it is through Freedom that we Achieve Immortality. Through this we become a paragon of Liberation and Choice to rise above fate. Infinite in possibilities and unbound by death, I release your soul and by my hand, free thee."

[***]

Non-Canon Omake: The First Meeting of the Heavenly Dragons.

"Albion!?"

"Ddraig!?"

Huh, so that's Ddraig's rival.

Two fated foes, destined to clash for all eternity until one emerges victorious.

Not even death can stop this feud.

Red and White.

Dominion vs Supremacy.

The James Moriarty to his Sherlock Holmes.

The Batman to his Joker.

The Superman to his Lex Luthor.

The—

"Why are you black!?" Albion suddenly blurted out and everything came to a screeching halt.

"Woah!"

"Albion, what the hell!" Ddraig looked offended.

"What?" Albion sounded confused.

"What's wrong with being black, huh!?" Ddraig huffed.

"B-but you're usually red, why are you making this weird!?"

"And I'm usually a straight western dragon, yet look at me right now. I usually breath fire, yet my mouth is dripping with venom. And I'm usually much more handsome than this, but here we are. And to top it off, you for some reason ignored the fact that I have a body right now. You instead decided to focus on my color over all of that. Something you want to say, hmm?"

"I—"

"Does the White Dragon Emperor have something to say?" I crossed my arms.

"Y-you're making a big deal out of nothing."

"Did you say something, Dragon of Supremacy." Ddraig intoned.

"You're taking it out of context!"

"Yeah, what's wrong with Black?" Even Kokabiel, stood up, looking rather annoyed at the Dragon.

"….just putting this out there, but I don't share his beliefs." His wielder spoke up.

"Vali!"

"What? You're the one who made it about his color, don't bring me into this." Vali muttered.

"Get with the times, Albion, this shit isn't okay anymore."

"But I'm not –"

"For real, even the Fallen Angel trying to start back up the Great War thinks you're out of line." I added.

"Despicable." Ddraig shook his head. "I'm questioning this rivalry right now."

"But –"

"You should just go." I clicked my tongue.

"What are you –"

"….Yeah, let's go Albion, you made it weird." Vali turned around, stepping back through the teleportation circle.

"I didn't do anything!" Were the Dragon's final words before disappearing.

I shared a look with Ddraig, who had a shit eating grin on his face. "I can't believe that worked."

"Me either." I shared the same look. "How long until you think he realizes?"

"Give it an hour." Ddraig laughed. "And I'll hold this over him forever now."

Honestly, I think Ddraig and I were a perfect match for each other. Is it any wonder that Albion has such a burning hatred for Ddraig?

I'm starting to wonder if Ddraig even hates Albion in equal measure, or he just enjoys fucking with him too much.

[***]

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