Chapter 63

"Developing a new spell for that situation would take quite some time." Sona pointed out. "Unless Kiba can make a Pain Sword as well, I can't see this as being practical."

The blond boy focused for a moment and a new blade emerged from the ground nearby. It superficially resembled a scimitar, but it had a serrated edge and looked like a torture device. "This is…[Painsedge]. A sword that magnifies any and all sensations of pain by three with every cut."

He looked a bit disturbed. Evidently he had not pushed his ability to create such esoteric swords before this point. Then again, his general attitude was to uphold the code of chivalry, so using swords with such unfair tricks to them would count as something he'd avoid when at all possible.

"That's one possibility." Rias said, her blue eyes gleaming at this, though she frowned slightly in thought. "Though this puts a great deal on Kiba-kun to both lock down and then weaken Riser."

"I have access to a store that lets me buy things. I could look through it for spells for Himejima-san and yourself, Heiress Gremory." The Gamer offered.

"Considering that you're helping me, call me Rias." The redhead said with a smile. "And please do."

It took a couple of minutes for him to find books that suited the situation, but find them he did. For Akeno, he found two; one called [Thunder Field], which allowed the caster to surround the target of her spell with electricity that damaged them over time and caused quite a bit of pain as well, and [Nervebreaker], a thunder spell that directly attacked the nervous system of the target, damaging it and raising the target's pain sensitivity.

In Rias' case, there were not many spells that had anything to do with the [Power of Destruction], but there were two that suited the situation. One was [Cellular Destruction], which used a blast similar to the regular [Power of Destruction] spells that Rias used, but it attacked the target on a cellular level, making their cells explode. It was apparently one of the most painful spells the Gamer had ever seen.

The last spell was [Destruction Blade], a close combat spell that surrounded the user's flattened hand and forearm in the [Power of Destruction], forging a blade that could cut through almost anything if practiced enough. With practice, the characteristics of other spells the caster had access to could be infused into it…such as [Cellular Destruction].

Watching the two Devils 'absorb' the purchased 'skill books' using the Gamer's help, some new function of his Sacred Gear he had unlocked just now apparently, was fascinating for Sona…and worrying. With simple human currency he offered to his Sacred Gear (it had to be. No way was it an actual shop), The Gamer of Gaia could purchase powerful spells and other skills that he could use against his enemies almost immediately, albeit at a fairly weak level. And that was just a part of his Sacred Gear's functions.

As an enemy, he was one of the worst types she could think of; one that could change and adapt to whoever and whatever his enemies were if given enough time and resources. As an ally, she could think of none better. Keep faith with him and he'd support them with everything he had. She was good enough at reading people to see that he was helping Rias because he thought she deserved a chance to fight for her freedom and that he was sympathetic to her plight.

This did earn him some points with her, as she had a soft spot for Rias, even if she didn't let anyone else know about it. Anyone who helped her friend was alright in her book. Sona just hoped that nothing happened to make them have to fight him.

Later

Streets of Kuō

'Well, that went a lot better than I thought it would.' Issei thought in relief as he walked. He was out of his armour and back in his school uniform.

The meeting with the Devils had been on his mind most of the day, to the point that he'd avoided his two friends when they tried to get him to go peeping with them.

The ambush by the ratmen before the meeting had let him get some stress relief in, at least.

Handing over the paperwork from Project Rat King had earned him improved Relationships with both Sona and Rias, while hearing the tales of his fight against the Ratmen and their Breeder had upped his relationships with the rest.

Snikch showing up again like a bad rash had been irritating, but at least it let him really take in exactly how outclassed he was by these Devils. Any one of them could beat his ass six ways to Sunday without even breaking a sweat. Granted, a level was not an absolute indicator of someone's strength, but it could be used as a general measuring stick. Seeing that Rias Gremory's Peerage, as well as Sona Sitri, had the power and stats to make those levels of theirs justified, put an end to any thoughts he might have nurtured about possibly being able to outfight them if they tried to capture him. Tōjō Koneko, the Mascot of Kuō Academy, had not only had a sword shatter off her skin like it was made of Papier Mache, but had then proceeded to punched a ratman in the head so hard that it had been decapitated. Yuuto Kiba, the Prince of Kuō Academy, moved so fast that Issei could barely see his afterimage, and he had a Sacred Gear that let him create swords…demonic magic swords at that.

The three scariest had been Himejima Akeno, Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri. Each possessed powerful magical abilities, and it was clear that they had deliberately chosen weak magical attacks to test the ratmen. [Dual Thunder Call], [Lesser Destruction Blast] and [Rippling Water Blades] were all less than Tier Five and they were clearly among the weakest spells that the three powerful female Devils had at their disposal. They could wipe him out easily, especially Rias Gremory. Seeing her use her [Power of Destruction] had sent fearful chills down his spine; that magic was dangerous!

Still, he had been offended that Rias was being forced to marry some jerk because her parents wanted it. Just what century were here parents in? Was the Devil society really that backward? Helping them in preventing that was the least he could do.

He had quietly asked Kiba that before leaving and the answer was: sort of. Most of the Devil population was up-to-date and modern, but the High-Class Devils, the so-called 'Pillar Families', were very up themselves and concerned the rising number of Reincarnated and lesser Devils compared to constantly shrinking number of Pureblooded Devils. Thus, a law had been forced past the Four Maō by most of the surviving family heads that negated the usual right of the Heiress of a clan to refuse a marriage contract outright, so they would be married to other Pureblooded Devils and making more of them, rather than marrying lesser Devils, or worse (in the older generation's opinion), Reincarnated Devils or other races.

That sucked on so many levels that Issei didn't know what part of it disgusted him more.

Fortunately, some of the more reasonable family heads had ensured that all Heiresses were well within their rights to challenge their intended spouses for the right of refusal. In other words, if the Heiress won, the engagement was dissolved. However, if they lost, the wedding was held immediately. The challenge was thus a double-edged sword.

It sucked. It sucked a lot. From everything that had been said (and everything that hadn't been said), this 'Raiser' guy made him, Motohama and Matsuda combined look like chaste saints by comparison, and mixed that with an extremely unhealthy dose of 'rich douchebag.' He sounded like a right jerk. Someone like Rias Gremory, a beautiful girl who seemed to honestly care for her friends and comrades, deserved better than that.

Still, there was only so much he could do. Helping her get the right spells and the right strategy was the best idea that he'd been able to come up with. Helping her and Akeno learn the spells using the new feature he'd unlocked after using [Revelation] and fighting beside the Devils, the [Tutorial System], had been a good idea as well. Using that, he could reduce the number of skill books he could learn from for one day by one and teach someone under the effects of his [Revelation] ability up to two skill books.

This meant that for today, he could only learn from one skill book. He had absorbed the [Sword Talent] Skill Book last night, which upped the amount of EXP his sword-related skills gain from being used by 10%, which stacked with his [Learned Wisdom] skill's +20% boost. He decided to save the last use for today for one that he might acquire at the place he was heading to now.

Stopping at the corner, Issei peered around it to see a large abandoned factory…which it was on the surface. In reality, it was the hidden location of Project Rat Poison, the counter to Project Rat King, which had been used to create the ratmen. If there was anywhere that 'Agent Flamberge' was likely to be, it was this place. If not, he could perhaps get a clue or two about how to track the ratmen to their new burrows.

Whatever was in this place, it had to be dealt with, and soon. He could tell that the Devils were getting nervous about these Purifiers, and they might act before he could find out enough. Without the information in the maps he had though, they should have no idea where to look before he was actively fighting. Hopefully, that would give him the time he needed to ransack the place and find out everything he needed to know.

Transforming into his combat outfit, he ghosted towards the gate, rusted and padlocked shut, and slashed it open with his gladius.

[Dungeon Discovered!]

You have discovered the dungeon [Ruins of Purity] (LV16)!

You gain 400 EXP!

Do you wish to enter this dungeon?

Warning: Entering this dungeon whilst being three or more levels beneath the minimum level displayed is dangerous to your life.

Y|N

OK, quite why it gave that warning, even although he was only one below the recommended level, was bizarre, but whatever. He'd roll with it.

Resolutely hitting the 'Y' key, he advanced forwards, the gates swinging shut behind him with a metallic clang.

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