Checking In

A/N: Just a reminder, new chapter here means four more chapters over on the P atreon, where my patrons are currently voting on the future direction of this story!

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Hitting the ground, he rolls with the blow to try and defuse some of the impact. Obviously, this has only a limited effect, leaving Issei groaning as he stares up at the sky above him, laying there on his back for a moment.

Only a moment, however, because the next thing he knows, Vali slams into him, the White Dragon Empress impacting his body in a way that he's confident breaks a few of his ribs. They heal mere moments later of course, but that doesn't mean the pain isn't very real for the few seconds that they're broken.

As his regeneration takes care of the newest injury, Vali's own groans letting him know she's not much better off, Issei pushes Vali away. One might be shocked to see him do so after everything, one might have even thought he would pull her closer in for a kiss or something like that. But this isn't that kind of situation. And to be clear, they aren't fighting each other right now.

Rolling Vali's still-healing body off of him, Issei staggers back to his feet, eyes narrowing as he takes in Gabriel standing just a few feet away looking smug as can be. The Fallen Seraph just giggles at the glare he gives her.

"I'm surprised that Valentine lasted longer than you, beloved. If only by a few seconds, but still… you can do better than that. We both know it."

Issei stiffens, feeling his draconic pride take a blow worse than any physical injury he's been hit by so far. Even as Vali finally manages to stagger to her feet next to his side, Issei finds himself growling just a bit. It was true… in that last pass, Vali had outlasted him. That couldn't be allowed. He was stronger than the White Dragon Empress, damn it! He refused to be shown-up, especially in front of Gabriel of all people!

Of course, he's not an idiot. He doesn't go charging in swinging. There would be no point in doing that, not when Gabriel would just smack him down an in instant. If he was going to gain anything from this newest hellish training session, he needed to be smart. Glancing to his left, he makes sidelong eye contact with Vali.

"Ready?"

Vali's jaw clenches, but after a moment she nods. And with that, the two of them burst forward again. This time, they're charging at a full-strength Fallen Seraph, one who hasn't been exhausted by her facilitation of their little soul rendezvous. Taking her down isn't going to be easy… not at all.

But then, if it was easy, it wouldn't be decent training, now would it? And if Issei were doing it alone as he had before with Gabriel, he's not so confident he'd be getting as much. Even though he started out stronger than Vali, that just means the White Dragon Empress wants it more than him. She's rapidly improving, and constantly nipping at his heels. Issei refuses to let that happen. He refuses to let her surpass him as he so thoroughly surpassed her.

No matter what, he would get stronger. He would become the strongest, so that no one could stop him from living his life how he wanted to live it.

-x-X-x-

"Report."

Le Fay Pendragon very carefully does not flinch as Cao Cao's order cuts over the video call that she and Jeanne are having with the other members of the Hero Faction. She sees her brother standing off to the side, watching her carefully… but she's pretty sure his concern is more of the general concern of a sibling who has been separated for some time.

Regardless, Jeanne is the one who responds, the other blonde waving a hand through the air rather flippantly as she leans back on the couch that Le Fay and her are sharing.

"Situation is totally different, boss! We thought that the Fallen Seraph was ordering the Red Dragon Emperor around, but that's not the case!"

Cao Cao's eyes narrow at this, the wielder of the True Longinus frowning at that claim.

"How is that not the case? She is the strongest member of this fledgling faction. It only makes sense that she would end up turning it into another faction of the Grigori."

Jeanne nods along in easy agreement, before shrugging her shoulders at the end.

"You'd think that, but nah."

Before Cao Cao can ask for more details, the blonde swordswoman begins counting things off on her fingers.

"Clue Number One, we're part of a group that's meant to liaison with the Red Dragon Emperor and the Fallen Seraph on behalf of the Grigori. The Governor General has absolutely zero control over the situation. Even less control than he thought he did in fact, because not only is Vali secretly working against him, but Gabriel also doesn't even like him. So yeah, not going to be a Grigori Faction."

Then she unwinds a second finger.

"Clue Number Two, the Fallen Seraph has never given Issei Hyoudou a single order as far as we're aware. Instead, he makes all the decisions and she carries out his will to the best of her abilities."

Le Fay does her best to control her reaction to that particular statement. Inwardly, she's blushing pure scarlet in memory of what Gabriel and Issei had done to her and Jeanne. Luckily, her legs are already pressed together, so it's not obvious that she's clenching her inner thighs at the thought of the next time it might happen~

"Clue Number Three, Issei Hyoudou doesn't take shit from anyone. He and Vali have already clashed. He's a tough cookie… stronger than Vali for sure. He sent her running at first, even."

THAT gets a pronounced reaction from the other members of the Hero Faction. Even Cao Cao's eyes go wide at that.

"Hold on, the Red Dragon Emperor is stronger than Vali Lucifer?"

Grinning like the cat who caught the canary, Jeanne nods.

"Yep!"

She pops the P in an irreverent way, before shrugging her shoulders again.

"Don't get me wrong. The Fallen Seraph is still stronger than the Red Dragon Emperor. He's tough, but he's not Faction Leader tough… yet. Still, she listens to him, not the other way around. He's the main authority in this new faction they've got forming around them."

Cao Cao frowns in thought for a long moment before shaking his head.

"How can that be possible? How is he controlling the Fallen Seraph if he's not stronger than her?"

Le Fay isn't all that surprised that the True Longinus' wielder is having such a hard time wrapping his head around the concept. After all, for someone like Cao Cao, might makes right. Strength is the end-all, be-all. Hell, it's the entire impetus behind the Hero Faction in the first place. They were sick of the Supernatural throwing their weight around, and so it fell to the Hero Faction to make humanity strong enough to finally stand up for itself, no matter what it took.

… Privately, Le Fay felt like there was something off about all of that. Something almost hypocritical. But she couldn't really put her finger on it.

Jeanne, meanwhile, doesn't hold anything back.

"Probably via his amazing dick, if I had to guess."

Le Fay finally does blush at Jeanne's crass language, while the other end of the video call goes silent in shock. Finally, Cao Cao finds his voice.

"You are claiming that the Red Dragon Emperor is keeping the Fallen Seraph in line… with his sexual prowess?"

Smirking, Jeanne just nods her head languidly, eyes growing lidded as she chuckles darkly.

"Oh yeah. That's exactly what I think is happening."

Finally catching on, Cao Cao's eyes narrow again.

"… And have you experienced this first-hand?"

"Yep!"

Once again, Jeanne pops the P as Le Fay blushes some more. Her complete lack of repentance for sleeping with the enemy throws the rest of the Hero Faction for a loop, and in the silence that follows, Jeanne just shrugs.

"What can I say? He's amazing in bed. He's also still human, so it's not like he HAS to be our enemy. We were sent to try and extract him from the clutches of the Fallen Seraph in the first place. But that's what I'm telling you… it's not necessary. The Fallen Seraph is his pet, not the other way around. In fact, I'd go so far as to say he's a nominal ally."

Again, Jeanne begins to count off on her fingers.

"There's no love lost between him and the main Grigori Faction. I've done some digging and he's actually made a habit of not only disrupting their plans, but also stealing from them. And since the Fallen Seraph doesn't much care for the Grigori either, plus we've literally subverted their entire liaison with this Team Vali shtick, I wouldn't be worried about them allying properly any time soon."

Next finger.

"Heaven, meanwhile, hates his guts for obvious reasons. Not only has he tainted some of their exorcists, but he's refused to return the Excaliburs in his possession. And also he made Gabriel the Seraph become Gabriel the Fallen Seraph so… yeah."

Third finger.

"Meanwhile, the Devils and the Underworld have been trying to recruit him for AGES. Like, we all know Kuoh Town is owned by the younger sisters of two of the four Great Satans. And yet, despite a burgeoning power like the Red Dragon Emperor right in their backyard, they've completely failed to snap him up. Instead, he's been the one doing the collecting. He's made a harem out of a bunch of non-human scum, sure… but he's still human. And he's in complete control."

Shrugging again, Jeanne stretches her arms across the back of the couch and chortles some more.

"Basically… everything you want to do, Cao Cao, Issei Hyoudou has already accomplished on a smaller scale. He's proved human superiority in Kuoh Town a hundred times over. He's showing that everything the Hero Faction stands for… it CAN be done. And it can be done well too~"

There's a beat of silence at that, before Cao Cao scowls.

"… By what? Fucking non-humans into submission?"

Smirking, Jeanne makes a show of checking her fingernails.

"Hey… if it works, it works right?"

Before Cao Cao can formulate a response to THAT, Arthur Pendragon finally steps forward. Le Fay had been aware of her brother's eyes burning a hole in her ever since Jeanne had started being flagrantly blunt about what she and Issei had been getting up to. It would seem her brother can no longer stay quiet.

"Le Fay. Sister. Has the Red Dragon Emperor harmed you in any way?"

She's so glad that he phrases it like that. Because it lets Le Fay's reaction be almost entirely natural as her eyes go wide and she waves her hands back and forth while shaking her head.

"W-What? N-No! He hasn't hurt me!"

Before Arthur can ask a more generalized question that Le Fay would actually have to lie to, Jeanne steps in, proving that she did have a small modicum of tact after all.

"Don't worry about Le Fay. I keep Hyoudou's attention occupied with me. He can't keep his hands off of me. Le Fay is perfectly fine."

Technically all true. Though it was also leaving a massive amount of information out. Still, Jeanne's lustful leering as she described how Issei couldn't keep his hands off of her was enough to make Arthur uncomfortable, and in his discomfort, he takes a step back, ending his line of questioning with one last look at his sister.

"So long as you're fine… just say the word and I'll be there. I won't let…"

He trails off, clenching a hand into a fist and gritting his teeth. The others all glance his way, with Cao Cao grunting as he steps back in.

"We knew from the off-set what sort of man Issei Hyoudou was, I suppose. We knew all about his harem, even before he made Gabriel Fall. It was always a possibility that Le Fay and Jeanne would have to take advantage of his weakness for womanly flesh in order to get close to him and save him. You knew that, Arthur."

Le Fay's brother scowls at that but doesn't say anything more. He might have, had he known she'd lost her virginity to Issei… but since he was currently under the mistaken impression that Le Fay was still pure and Jeanne was taking the brunt of Issei's perverse focus, he was content to remain quiet.

Cao Cao sighs as he processes everything Jeanne has said so far, seeming rather off-center.

"… So you think that Issei Hyoudou can be reasoned with? We can allow him his… pets if he has them under control. But would you say he's a good candidate for the Hero Faction?"

Jeanne, rather than replying immediately, makes a show of pondering the question for a moment. She even presses a finger to her chin, tilting her head back and staring at the ceiling as she hums.

"Mmm… I dunno."

Her answer causes bristling on the other end of the line and Le Fay to giggle on this end, even as Jeanne grins triumphantly at the reactions.

"I need a bit more time to feel him out, if you know what I mean~"

Waggling her brow suggestively, she makes it abundantly clear what she means, just in case any of the rest of the Hero Faction doesn't get it. Cao Cao huffs and shakes his head.

"We don't have much more time. The Devils are through playing softball with him. Our sources tell us that the… delegation they're sending over is less of a delegation and more of a hit squad. Serafall Leviathan. Grayfia Lucifuge. And Venelana Gremory. Two Ultimate-Class Devils and one High-Class. And frankly, we've long suspected that Venelana Gremory's High-Class status should have been upgraded to Ultimate-Class. The fact that she and Lord Gremory produced a Super Devil like Sirzechs… it just doesn't add up."

Le Fay's eyes are wide now, and so are Jeanne's. That was indeed a really strong showing from the Devil Faction. Serafall Leviathan was THE Great Satan in charge of Foreign Affairs, so it sort of made sense that she might show up given Gabriel's status and power level. But bringing the Strongest Queen and the Flaxen-Haired Madame of Extinction with her? That was… telling.

"You think the three of them are all going to be trying to claim Issei for their respective peerages, don't you?"

Cao Cao nods at Jeanne's question.

"I do. And I think they won't take 'no' for an answer either. Hell, if they can they'll try to convert Gabriel as well."

"Wha- there's no way there's an Evil Piece strong enough to turn the Fallen Seraph into a Reincarnated Devil, right?"

"I wouldn't put it past that bastard mad scientist of theirs. If the Devils get their way, they'll turn the entire damn world into more of their kind. Now, with that all in mind… do you need back-up to stop the Devils' plans in their tracks?"

Jeanne and Le Fay exchange a glance at that. They'd discussed how they wanted this conversation to go ahead of time, but Cao Cao had hit them with a curveball by revealing who the Underworld was sending to treat with Issei and Gabriel. There's uncertainty in Jeanne's eyes… which means it might just be up to Le Fay to make the call here.

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