Chapter 2

  Tacky, very tacky.

  That was my first thought when I entered the clubroom, and I tried to hold on to that thought very hard. Inspecting the baroque chandeliers or thinking of the wall decor was much preferable to being constantly distracted by the two devils in front of me. Now, I did not consider myself inept at social situations, with women or otherwise, but a suave Casanova I was not.

  The matter of fact was that both Rias and her queen, Akeno, were incredibly and unquestioningly stunning. This was not something any animated medium could prepare me for. Their beauty, as enthralling as it was, simply bordered on unnatural. And yet, it did not seem out of place with them. An interesting paradox.

  Throughout all this, I was trying to explain our situation to the two devils, hoping for them to hear me out. So far, it seems I was doing a pretty good job. Establishing my background and Asia’s. Rias was beginning to relax somewhat, but Akeno still held tension in her body, as if ready to unleash her magic at any moment.

  “I now see how your connection to the Fallen is brief indeed, if you are telling the truth.”

  Rias said after some consideration.

  “So answer me this. Why did you decide to leave? And what is it you wish from me?”

  I looked at Asia, just to make sure she was really ok, and perhaps to take my eyes off the Gremory scion lest I lose my nerve or my ability for coherent thought.

  FOCUS PARTNER

  Yes well, you too would be nervous in this position.

  I NO LONGER HAVE A BODY TO FEEL SUCH A THING.

  Internally I grimaced a little. Sorry.

  …IT IS NO MATTER; WHAT IS DONE IS DONE. I’VE MADE MY PEACE WITH IT.

  Focusing back on the devil before me, I took a calming sip of the tea, steeling myself.

  “When I arrived two weeks ago, there were two more people who were neither the Fallen nor were there exorcists in their base. I spoke little with them; they kept us separated mostly, but I know for a fact they were both humans with Sacred Gears.”

  I took another sip of the tea and continued.

  “Both were gone a week later, and just four days before today, Asia arrived. I overheard some whispers from the exorcist; nothing specific, but they spoke of the two humans as if they were dead. So I took action.”

  “I knew from Raynare’s warning, who is the leader of the Fallen in Kuoh, that we were not supposed to approach the school; they warned us that devils are present.”

  “So that is when you decided to seek us out, on a limb, without knowing us.”

  “It seemed a preferable option, yes.”

  “That answers the question of why you left, which still leaves, what do you wish from me?”

  I took a calming breath. This was it; I knew I would not be rejected. What I was offering was simply too good. It was not something to be rejected, not for someone in Rias’s position. What I needed to calm myself about was the life-altering change that I was about to voluntarily ask for.

  “You are a devil, correct? You make deals. So I would like to make one.”

  The Gremory devil smiled at me and motioned for me to continue.

  “I would ask that you, as heir to Gremory Pillar House, formally extend your protection to Asia Argento and a place in your peerage for myself.

  “Ara, ara. That is bold.” Chirped Akeno with a hand to her cheek.

  “And why do you assume I would accept you into my peerage as well as offer protection to young Asia here? Would she also not be joining my peerage? The protection is explicit in that case."

  Asia opened her mouth and then promptly closed it. Looking to me to help her out.

  I nodded to reassure her. “Asia is free to join if she so wishes, but protection from yourself and your family would be offered regardless. I do not wish for her to feel trapped between becoming a devil and living in danger.”

  I paused for a moment. “As you can see, Asia is still a devout person; I do not wish to cause her distress by making her choose between life on the run and protection that comes at the cost of becoming a devil.”

  “A fair reasoning, but why should I accept if I were so inclined to allow both of you into my peerage? The people in my peerage, they are my valued family, and letting complete strangers with no ties to myself or my family is not to be done lightly.”

  “That is quite simple, Lady Gremory; you get me.”

  Akeno chuckled again. “Bold indeed. You mentioned that you and Asia both possess a Sacred Gear, so from your little speech here, I assume it is something powerful. Or were all your words so far a bluster?” she asked.

  I failed to resist an urge to smirk, and as the smile made its way to my face, I addressed Rias instead of her queen.

  “I do have a Sacred Gear, but that is not all. As I said, for protecting Asia, you get me. I do not know my mother, but I know my father.” And I paused for a little dramatic effect.

  “I am a mortal son of Titan Kronos.”

  Disbelief and surprise became clearly visible in their expressions.

  "Kronos?!” They both said in unison,

  “Impossible, he is a prisoner in Tartarus," said Rias after the initial shock waned.

  “HE SPEAKS THE TRUTH, LITTLE DEVIL."

  I materialised my sacred gear on my left arm. The red armoured gauntlet with the green jewel displayed prominently on the upper side of my hand.

  “I do not know how I was conceived, but I spoke to my father only once; he confirmed that he is indeed still in Tartarus, and if he is telling the truth, my conception was not some plan to set him free but rather a baser nature of his imprisonment. I still do not know how he managed it, but a part of his essence was able to escape Tartarus, though he is no stronger than a human by his own admission, and I am a product of his lust and loneliness only.”

  I took a breath and looked down at my arm, encased in the red plates of Boosted Gear, and then at Rias.

  “Lady Gremory, I am in possession of the Longinus Boosted Gear. And for the terms I asked for, I shall be in your service.”

  “So the voice … that was the Red Dragon Emperor …” Rias trailed off.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Yes, Y Ddraig Goch, the Red Dragon of Wales," I said.

  Rias stood up suddenly and made her way from her desk towards the sofas Asia and I were sitting in, her queen following behind. Rias seated herself in front of us, with Akeno taking position above her shoulder, just behind the sofa.

  “If what you are saying is true…”

  Without waiting for Rias to finish, I threw the now empty cup into the air, startling both the devils and the little nun.

  My eyes glowed with molten gold, and I extended my hand, and an outline of a golden corona emitted from my palm, just a few centimetres from it. The teacup suddenly started moving in slow motion, still moving upwards, slowly crawling towards its zenith.

  “This is a time dilation field, one of the few external uses of my demigod heritage.” I explained to the two devils, who still looked a little startled but watched the rare type of magic curiously.

  “I am now creating a field of sorts, rather than manipulating the object directly.”

  I raised my other hand, the one with the Boosted Gear still active, and channelled my power again; this time, the green jewel on the gauntlet turned golden. I moved my fingers and hand in a clockwork rotation, as if adjusting a dial. A sliver of golden light became visible, creating a sort of box around the slowly moving cup.

  “Now you can see the field; try throwing something inside it.”

  Akeno was first to act, and she withdrew a pen from somewhere on her uniform and threw it inside the light show I have made. The pen entered and slowed to a crawl, the same as the cup.

  A bead of sweat appeared on my forehead. “Manifesting my power externally is generally harder but serves better to demonstrate my powers. I could also change the speeds of the objects in the field.” I demonstrated by rotating my gauntleted hand again, making the cup and pen come to a halt, then again, speeding both objects. The pen impacted the couch above my left shoulder, and I caught the teacup as it was falling down. Gently setting it on the tray.

  “So you manipulate time?”

  “Of sorts, but it’s more complicated than that. I cannot reverse time or even speed it up in and of itself. I am creating a field where time flows faster, but there is a limit to it, and the time always syncs back with what I call universal standard.

  I saw the questioning look on their faces. “A topic for later perhaps. I can explain my powers derived from my father at a later date in more detail. I would like to get back to our negotiation.

  “Very well, but answer me this last thing about your time powers. You mentioned this was an external manifestation of it.”

  “Most of my powers, or at least how I use them, I do internally, so I slow or speed myself or parts of my body.” Then a thought occurred to me.

  “Did you ever see Fate/Zero?"

  Akeno looked lost and shook her head, but Rias’s eyes lit up, and she made an O face.

  That’s cute; this world is really anime at some points.

  “You can use it like Kiritsugu?”

  “Exactly, though my usage is slightly different, both in how I do it and the way my body handles it, but from an outside perspective, it is very similar.” I explained my demigod version of the Time Alter move.

  Rias recovered from her little geek-out and now rubbed her chin in though. “It seems you are telling the truth, especially about your powers, and I can clearly already see the Longinus on your arm.”

  “You do seem worth the deal, as you said.”

  “I think you will be an excellent addition to my peerage, but tell me, is the safety in being part of my peerage the only reason for you to join?” Rias questioned. “Aside from the obvious immediate threat, what do you wish for yourself? Becoming a devil is a permanent affair; you will never be human again.”

  I smiled slightly; Rias has been so far welcoming, and I saw no reason to not be honest here.

  “Aside from the current problem with the Fallen, there will be more who will wish to come after me.”

  She quirked her eyebrow at that but stayed silent, so I continued.

  “Power attracts power, as the saying goes, and I do not expect to be left without it for long, especially after I become a devil.”

  It was Akeno that spoke up next. “A demigod holder of a Longinus Sacred Gear, reincarnated as a Devil. That is a potent mix.”

  “That is what I am counting on as well.” I nodded. “I will not lie; the thought of power interests me, and the longevity offered by becoming a devil does even more.”

  “So power and immortality," said Rias with a smirk.

  “Will that be a problem?”

  She chuckled at that. “No, not at all; it is a very devilish thing to crave, in fact. Being honest about it is the interesting part. I think you shall fit with us quite well, Kairos-kun.

  “Then we have a deal?”

  “In principle, yes.”

  The next half an hour we spent discussing mine and Asia’s situation and how Rias would take care of what. As Asia and I were both a pair of destitute orphans with nothing to our names, Rias, or more specifically the Gremory Family, would provide us with a generous monthly stipend as well as a place to live. House Gremory would take Asia under official protection, and I would serve Rias as her pawn piece. All in all, I considered it a good deal. Aside from enabling Asia a decent chance at life, which I felt the young girl deserved, it catapulted me to relative wealth and comfort for my material needs, whilst boosting my power even further than the cosmic chance of my heritage and Sacred Gear already did. The fact of practical immortality in terms of life span was a nice little bonus.

  The thought of being made a servant didn’t bother me one bit. Even if things did not fit one to one with what I knew, being in service of Rias Gremory was not any form of slavery, real or imagined. The young devil seemed like an intelligent and good person, so I had no worries with her. There was also the caveat that power, especially with the devils, determined your standing within their society, at least to a point. Suffice to say, either of my powers would have guaranteed a steady, if not fast, rise in power within devil society. With both, my rise was going to be meteoric.

  I did not remember everything, not after eighteen years of not even having a chance to consume any media about the source material, but I was basically analogous to Vali. A dragon emperor born with powerful heritage. I was not counting on shenanigans that enabled Issei Hyoudou to rise to his level, so I was going to make do.

  Rias’s peerage arrived while we were in the middle of discussions, and Akeno took them to the side and explained what was happening. They now took a seat at various places in the clubroom, the Rook Koneko even sharing some snacks with Asia as the small white-haired devil talked with the shy nun.

  I leaned back into the sofa, and Rias mirrored my move.

  “Then we are in agreement?”

  “I believe so, unless you have any other questions before we make it official.

  Rias thought for a moment. “Why not let Asia join the peerage as well? I think she would be happy with us. I consider each and every one of my servants parts of my family, and they are valued by me and my House.”

  Asia, hearing her name, perked up and looked to us.

  “It is not for me to decide if Asia wants to join; she can do that if she wishes, but I wanted for her to have a choice, hence the deal as we agreed to it.”

  “What do you say, Asia? Would you like to join? You don’t have to join right now; you can think about it, but I would like a cute little servant such as you.”

  “… Uhm …” said Asia eloquently and looked to me.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “You are free to do as you wish, but know that you do not have to join; you shall be safe no matter what. I know you still hold the Lord dear, and I would not wish you to suffer for it.”

  Asia remained silent for a second, only to look up as Koneko gave her another Poki stick to munch on. After a moment, she spoke again.

  “I think … I think that I would like to join as well, Miss Rias. If Mr Kairos is going to be a devil, I wish to be one as well.”

  “Are you sure, Asia? It is a big thing.” I said to her.

  “… Yes, I think so … You said it yourself; it does not matter where I stand when the time comes, only what I do in the meanwhile. If I do right by the Lord, I shall have a place by his side.”

  Rias winced a little. “Asia, listen to me, I do not wish to deceive you. If you do decide to become a devil … well, it is not known for certain what happens to devils once we die, but we do know Heaven is forbidden for us.”

  She just went up a few places in my appreciation for her. Rias did not have to share that titbit with Asia, especially when it could be a deciding factor in gaining an extra peerage member.

  Asia remained silent for a moment again. “… I was excommunicated by the church … I healed a devil once … for that crime … the Vatican expelled me from its embrace … I … I do not regret it … I wish to help those in need … the house of Go – she stopped herself – the House of the Lord is not here on Earth; it is within us all. I wish to do good unto others, and I can do that as a devil as well as a human.”

  Her declaration was honestly inspiring, even for me, who could not give a fig for religion. Seeing Asia’s honest conviction made me vindicated in my decision to approach and attempt to protect her. She was an honest soul, that one.

  Interestingly, Rias also appeared moved. I did not think ill of her in the first place, but she was still a devil. She stood up from her place on the opposite couch and crossed to our side to sit down with Asia, who then squeaked when the tall redhead hugged her.

  “I cannot say I feel the same way about the religious matters, but your own goodness is very precious, Asia. I would be honoured if you joined my peerage, and I promise you I shall never make you behave in contradiction to your beliefs.”

  This was honestly very moving. I looked around the clubroom, and I could see their gazes locked on the Gremory and the nun. By the look on their faces, they appear to agree with me about the whole nature of this spectacle.

  With a final squeeze of her blonde teddy bear, Rias untangled from Asia and stood up.

  “It is decided then, Kairos Belmonte and Asia Argento shall join my peerage and become part of our lovely family.” Rias declared to her gathered peerage members with a hand gesture.

  Very chuuni of her.

  AN: This story is being cross posted on AO3, WebNovel, Questionable Questing and Royal Road. Updates will be regular every Saturday at minimum. It is possible I will be able to write faster, if that happens I will post the chapters sooner, but 1 chapter per week is guaranteed.

  If you wish to read 5 chapters ahead, you can do so on my Patreon.