The Wish Of The Dragon 25 Chapter 24

-This is when they find out the true reason why Issei disappeared and before Issei transform his body into a Dragon-

"This is the first report on Issei, even I haven't read it!" - Everyone looked at the piece of paper in his hand. No words were needed for him to start reading.

"Everything Hyoudou Issei did since after the sealing of the Beast." - He started to read.

"Hyoudou Issei, current Sekiryuutei; Age: 17. Never left 'Kuoh Town', always inside the territory attending a school like usual or walking around the town. After some time, exact date unknown, his body started to experience some bad changes, he became skinnier and more tired, he had eye bags and the color of his skin became pale as if sick. Some of the interviewed believed he was ill, and gravely so. The exact cause of this unknown. "

Each word impaled the hearts of the ones present.

"His symptoms started to get worse as time pa.s.sed, according to investigations done his personality also seemed depressed, self-destructive and gloomy. Possible sickness related to the Dragon Kind."

Everyone bit their lips in anger. Even Sirzechs and Grayfia were doing their best to hang on and don't explode in regret.

"Recently, he was seen attending school for a single day then not coming back. Our investigation states, he decided to temporarily leave school, the exact time of absence of school unknown. Method to convince the Princ.i.p.al of the school also unknown, suspicions of some kind spell. " - Azazel gained his breath back and continued to read.

He bought some clothes in the online store, those clothes are specially made hereby, aside from what they look like, not a thing is known. More information about him unknown, last day seen. Tuesday Last Week. End first report."

"Anything else?" - Sirzechs asked, hope in his voice, Grayfia behind him was also the same.

"The report about Issei ends there." - Azazel recomposed himself and told the Maou.

He saw the red-haired face morphed into one of rage.

"d.a.m.nit!" - He screamed as he stood from his position, he was angry.

(Nothing! Absolutely Nothing!) - He screamed inside his head.

*Smas.h.!.+* - He smashed his hands against the table shaking and breaking a part of it.

Grayfia behind him was biting her lips so hard blood fell from the corner of her mouth if one saw closely one could see how her body was trembling.

"That's not the end of it, here is another page, but this one is different." - Azazel flipped the page and started to read.

"Due to suspicions about the response of the Gremory Peerage we did another investigation, this time related to what they had done during the same period of time."

These words made everyone widen their eyes, they didn't understand why they decided to do this.

"According to research each of the members of the (Female) Gremory Peerage aside from Rossweisse and Gasper Vladi, were in 'Kuoh Town' during this time period." - Hidding the smirk in his face at the mention of Gasper, Azazel continued.

"Inquiry proves that every one of the Gremory Peerage was seen on multiple occasions with unknown males. After a period of time pa.s.sed, they were seen more frequently and sometimes they stayed all night together. Research proves that during this period of time nothing s.e.xually related was done. By asking more, we found out that the males in question were the boyfriends of the Gremory Peerage, more specifically. Rias Gremory, Himejima Akeno, Asia Argento, Xenovia Quarta, Irina s.h.i.+dou, Toujo Koneko." - He couldn't believe what he was reading, the rest were the same.

"Ravel Phoenix, was seen with a male close to Toujo Koneko and according to witnesses, 'They both fell for the same guy, so they are fighting over him'. " - Azazel continued reading.

"About the male Kiba Yuuto, it seems he was ordered to do the 'Devil Jobs' of Hyoudou Issei. As a result, he wasn't seen in the Hyoudou Mansion for weeks. We believe because of the great amount of work he had to do, (School, and twice the maximum amount of Devil Jobs), he was hereby exhausted." - The report still continued but it seemed that it was only for Azazel's ears now.

"Later on, he discovered about the current relations.h.i.+ps of the Gremory Peerage but according to our spies sent to inspect. Since 'He wasn't directly involved in the problem in question, plus being only a servant he had no voice nor vote in this business, he literally couldn't do anything.' (The Frase was taken from Kiba's Yuuto diary, page 56, line 14)" - Azazel left the report on the table and ma.s.saged his forehead with his eyes closed.

"Oh s.h.i.+t." - Those were only his only words.

(d.a.m.n, I'm too old for this s.h.i.+t.) - Reading the report managed to fill his gaps in knowledge.

(So you left because of that Ise. I really can't blame you, I would probably have done the same.)

He turned his eyes to the ones he was most worried about.

Sirzechs and Grayfia were frozen solid trying to a.s.similate the words just now.

*BAAAAM!* - Then Sirzechs struck the table again, this time turning it into smithereens.

"FUUUCK!" - He screamed at top lung capacity.

(That 'f.u.c.k' came from the soul.) - Azazel thought as the saw the man in question being surrounded in a pale light, everything in his surroundings started to disappear.

The Maid behind him turned her back to them but her shoulders were trembling, even her hands were curled into fists.

(My Sister! My own Sister! Cheated on her future husband and actually had the guts to presume it in front of him!) - His thoughts were made a mess, he wasn't feeling well, he felt sick.

Grayfia was even worst. - (How stupid do they need to be to actually cheat on a man that threw his everything away for them?!)

The floor beneath her turned into ice that soon started to crack, everything inside the room was slowly being frozen over.

(Wait!) - Sirzechs remembered a certain recent event when he went at the Hyoudou Mansion.

He turned to look at the maid, his eyes transmitting a message only known to them, but she understood his unsaid words in their entirety.

(Don't tell me those boys...) - Those were her thoughts, he was scared that it was the truth.

"Azazel, those males are they in the report?!" - He screamed at him.

"Let me check." - He started to flip the remaining pages and soon found the one he was looking for.

"The males are known as; Minamoto Reiji, Human. Age 22, Son of random high-cla.s.s Human Mages, has Sacred Gear 'Perfect Warrior'." - He mentioned the first one.

(Rare 'Sacred Gear'...) - The thoughts of Azazel were those, not special but also not normal.

"Mis.h.i.+ma Ken, human, age 18, son of normal humans, Sacred Gear 'Green Dragon Crescent Blade'. "

Azazel then remembered that Sacred Gear. - (Right... A replica of the War-Lord's green blade. More common than the one before...)

He kept reading in a loud voice. - "The next are three brothers; Souji, Ryutaro and Hijama Takahas.h.i.+. Ages; 18, 18 and 16 respectively. All have Sacred Gears. They are; 'False Gift', 'Mantle of Caos' and 'Tome of Magic'." - He stopped reading and turned to the other page.

"Seems images of them are here."

*Swift!* - When he said that Sirzechs stole the paper from his hands.

(Let me see that!) - He turned the pages until he found what he was looking for.

(You gotta be f.u.c.king kidding me...)

The images of the males in question were the same as the ones he remembered seeing in the Hyoudou mansion!

(Rias... You actually brought them to Ise-kun's house?! What would have happened if he was actually there?! Do you not think?!) - He felt sick, his stomach started to ache, his head was the same.

The Maid grabbed the papers and saw what they said.

*Rip!* - She made them into a ball of paper, then her aura did the rest. It soon became a piece of ice that broke the moment it touched the ground.

(And... there goes the info.) - Azazel thought.

However, he was no less angry and shocked than them, but since he was older he knew how to hold it back. Yet a small voice was still heard inside the room, that voice belongs to Baraqiel.

"Akeno..." - His voice sounded clogged like he had something of his throat. He couldn't just ignore this. This really affected him.

Everyone else was just silent, they didn't dare to say a word.

(How I'm I going to fix this?!) - Sirzechs was desperate, his stomach hurt even more.

(She basically cheated on him! If he wants to, at any moment he can come and cancel the engagement, he has the entire right to do so!) - His worry once again increased.

(If mother and Father now about this they will be furious!) - He just kept thinking.

The bile in his stomach was just increasing! Making his stomach hurt even more than before.

(But not only she did it, but the rest also followed her example as well! You all left him like he was something disposable!) - He was disappointed even more than before if that was possible.

(d.a.m.n it! This...This is the worst that could actually happen!)

He felt something warm on his throat, his head even felt dizzy. After some moments.

*Cough!* - Sirzechs spat a mouthful of blood and fell on one knee, his body was wobbly and his sight blurry.

Seeing this everyone was frightened but his wife even more so.

"Sirzechs!" - She reached near him, her eyes had unsheathed tears, even the color of her face was pale, her lips were almost blue. He knew she was also in a really bad state.

"Sorry." - He apologized, unsure why.

(Wait... What would happen if Rias finds this out? That she, really, was the cause of this...) - His eyes widened.

(She already thinks it was her fault. But that was only because we thought he did all of this for a completely different reason! One that was indeed related to them, but... but, I never would have thought that it was something this!)

(If she finds about the truth then, she will be devastated! She would be broken in little pieces! Worse than when Ise was presumed dead!) - He stood up from his kneeling position, grabbing his hair, almost ripping it out from his skull.

(We can't let her find this out! If she does, before anything of this is solved, then I don't know what the result would be!)

"We can't let anyone figure this out. If the wrong people know about this, then I worry about the worst."

His words made everyone open their eyes, they didn't think about that!

Ise unknowingly had a lot of political weight, especially with the Norse and s.h.i.+nto Factions.

If something like this is known, then every effort they put until now will be for nothing! Everything will be for naught! And that was on a political scale, on a more personal scale they didn't know how their own Factions will react to this and more importantly how the girls would react!

(This situation could be even worse than the release of the Beast!) - This now scaled into an even higher league than before, if that was possible.

"Yes, nothing about this is going to be said to anyone, outside of us!" - Azazel exclaimed so that everyone could understand.

They nodded their heads.

"Anything else to talk about?" - Azazel asked, they just shook their heads.

"Good! Then if you excuse we I need to go to the house of Issei. These guys... I need to see them for myself! Anything that happens I will tell you." - With that Azazel stood from his place and left in a magic circle.

Everyone just sat there, some were extremely affected, others were heartbroken and some even angry, but the ones that were the most affected were definitely Sirzechs and Grayfia. To them, Ise was exactly like a fun, little brother they loved to be around. So something like this made their entire worlds flip!

They needed time to think about a solution and to calm themselves, like this they will do more harm than good.

—-Scene Change / Hyoudou Mansion, Training Ground # 2—-

Ever since everyone regained the strength to continue to improve, everyone has been training maniacally.

It was all training since early in the morning, school and then training again. Thanks to that the guys manage to improve somewhat, not at the pace of the Gremory Peerage, but decently enough.

Now they could force Kiba to use his 'Balance Breaker' Sword, 'Sword of the Betrayer' but when he uses it they will lose really fast.

Once again everyone was sprawled all over the training floor, breathing heavily and even bleeding.

"You have improved but it still not enough!" - Kiba reprimands them. But what could they do? They were normal humans and not hybrids like them. Even their talent was subpar, their only decent quality was the will they had to become stronger, that, was more-or-less praiseworthy.

"Kibsan. We have been thinking about how strong you actually are. Would you show us?" - Hijama asked while standing up with difficulty.

"It may be good, that way it could temper your mind and spirit so that you don't get scared in the middle of a battle." - Kiba agreed to his words. He went a distance away from them and prepared.

The rest of the males present lifted their tired-selves up and watched.

Breathing in, Kiba closed his eyes. He prepared himself and then opened his eyes.

Everyone felt a chill up their spine, no aura could be seen but the heavy atmosphere was very real.

(What's happening?!) - Reiji thought as he looked at Kiba. His whole body was paralyzed and couldn't move. Turning his head with difficulty he saw that the rest were the same, and the little Hijama was pale-faced. Maybe because he was more sensitive to magical sources.

Hijama was even more frightened, even at over 20 meters of distance he still felt his heart being gripped, his body couldn't move and he was sweating.

Souji and Ryutaro at his sides were almost the same, the difference was that one was trembling while the other was bitting his lower lip.

Ken had his eyes opened wide, pure shock was written all over his face. He even swallowed the saliva in his mouth.

Then Kiba started to move.

He decided to perform a sword dance and increase the power constantly, that way they could resist it without fainting.

He moved, placing a foot forward he used his regular 'Balance Breaker Sword'. He started to perform a fight with himself, twisting, spinning and moving at a speed barely perceivable with the naked eyes. He turned his sword swiftly and elegantly, just like a professional.

Those movements made Souji, who also trained swordsmans.h.i.+p, feel shock and admiration.

Kiba looked at the males who were gradually getting used to this level of strength.

(Time to increase! 'Balance Breaker'!) - He thought inside his head.

Then, a dozen dragon-looking knights appeared at his side each was moving at a fast speed, rivaling his. He then ordered them to fight against him.

He continued his fight of twelve versus one. After sweating for a while he saw in the corner of his eye how the males were dumbfounded, their mouths left hanging wide open.

(So he was holding back this much!) - Reiji thought as he watched the peerless sword dance. In his eyes, Kiba was already far from human, even if the Sacred Gear or Gears, proved him otherwise.

Hijama was watching the twelve knights, his eyes s.h.i.+ning, clearly he liked this.

Souji and Ryutaro felt weak, extremely weak, never would they have thought that Kiba was so powerful!

"It seems you accustomed yourself to this level!" - He screamed at them from his position.

Everyone thought. - (This Level!?)

Their minds reached a single conclusion, and that was that Kiba hadn't shown them his entire strength.

"Then I'll show you a bit more since you were capable of holding until now. Consider this where you should aim at! " - Then Kiba made a magic circle, it was black in color with an ominous miasma surrounding it.

From the circle a beautiful sword was seen.

It was a two handed b.a.s.t.a.r.d sword, it's colors were black and red with little golden accents on it's handle. Reaching the tip of the sword it slightly curved inwards for a couple of centimeters and then outwards, making the tip of the sword.

It gave a feeling of being capable of killing anything, whether Human or G.o.d.

A pitch black aura surrounded the entire sword giving it another creepy feeling, it was as if the sword itself was cursed.

Everyone felt gooseb.u.mps when they saw that sword, an instinctive fear filled their entire bodies, and soon they started to tremble.

(Just looking at that blade makes me feel sick!) - Reiji thought as he looked at the blade.

(Just what is that sword?! Something like that can't be the product of a Sacred Gear!) - Ken watched the aura on the sword and reached the conclusion.

(What exactly is that?!) - Souji never stopped watching the blade, even if he was scared he still looked at it, maybe his instict as a swordsman kicking in.

"Not bad. You withstood the aura of 'Gram', feel proud about that!"

Kiba knew that if he swings this sword, they will probably not be capable of handling the impact of its offensive aura. Therefore, he decided to stop his fight and walked towards them, suppressing the aura of 'Gram' as much as he could.

"Gram?" - Souji asked since he was interested in the sword.

"Yes. That is it's name. 'The Demonic Sword of the Emperor' Gram! A sword used by the Norse Hero Sigfried, used to slay Fafnir. It's the strongest Demonic sword that exists, rivaling 'Collbrade' or 'Caliburn' in strength." - He finished explaining.

"Caliburn?! It exists?!" - Souji asked. Ever since small he read about the story of 'King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table' so the sword was rather well known for him.

"Yes. It's currently held by 'Arthur Pendragon', a man descendant of the original 'King of Knights'. " - He talked to them while putting Gram away, inside a magic circle.

"Then the rest of those Legendary Swords-" - Ryutaro started to speak, but was interrupted by Kiba.

"They exist. They are called 'The Four Strongest Holy Swords', created by the 'G.o.d of the Bible'. They are 'Caliburn', 'Excalibur', 'Durandal' and 'Ascalon'. " - Everyone paid attention.

"Who has them?" - Hijama asked in curiosity, but before Kiba could answer a magic circle appeared at one side of them.

It was golden in color with a pair of wings on its surface. From it, an old-man appeared, he had black hair with golden bangs. He wore a purple coat with nothing underneath and black-colored pants.

"Yoh!" - He casually saluted while moving his hand.

The five males raised their guards to the limit, but the sole aura this man had made their legs wobbly.

"Azazel-sensei!" - Kiba responded.

The males in question were astounded and shocked. They recognized that name.

The 'Former Governor of Grigori' 'Azazel', called the strongest Fallen-Angel, and the first to fall!

"Kiba, it has been a while." - He nodded at his direction and then looked at the five males, all of them were trembling, their faces pale, clearly scared of him.

(Oi! Oi! Even when Issei first met me, he actually looked into my eyes with the will fight, even when he knew he wouldn't win. Can you at least not tremble in front of me?) - He thought while he kept looking at them.

"Who are they?" - Azazel asked trying to keep the act.

Kiba was shocked but he did his best to hide it.

"They are Sacred Gear possessors the girls found, we are training them so that they could protect themselves. They also know about the current Game and offered themselves to fight by our side as thanks for training them." - Kiba thought a lie on the spot. He felt terrible by lying about this and felt even worse when he thought about his friend.

(Ise-kun, please, please forgive me. I'm a terrible friend I wasn't there for you when you needed me! And now because I'm a coward I can't say the truth when it's most needed.)

Kiba knew about their boyfriends after he was given the extra 'Devil Jobs'. But he didn't say anything, he was scared of what could happen, both, to his best friend and his master. He was no one to talk, a mere servant and that's all. Ever since discovering they were their boyfriends, he wanted to tell Issei but he didn't know what would happen.

Sometimes, he was too exhausted and tired. The body had its limits, and with everything he had to do, he reached his.

Studying and preparing for tests and projects on school, getting good grades so to enter a good college, finis.h.i.+ng his own 'Devil Jobs' and even doing the ones of Ise, since he was ordered too. They were days in which he literally didn't sleep.

Ever since discovering the truth about the girls, he felt even worse, he was even getting sick due to all the stress and guilt he was experiencing.

He felt he betrayed his friend, and in the worst possible way. Yet he couldn't do anything, now that he was finally done with everything Ise vanished from the face of the Earth, due to this he felt even worse.

Now he needed to train these guys.

When he saw them he felt even guiltier. Yet he decided to do it with a smile on his face, just like a professional. He thought of this as a small atonement, of course, only to make himself feel better. But he at least thought of something to atone for since he knew that what he did was horrible.

Azazel watched his hidden guilt-filled face.

(It seems you're feeling pretty bad about it yourself Kiba... Haaaa...) - He mentally sighed, he knew the truth thanks to the report. And although it wasn't his fault, he stayed silent, that was as guilty as the rest of them.

(More reason for us to hide the truth!)

"Kiba, all of the superiors know about Ise's disappearance."

The sad nod of the blonde was his only answer.

"So what were you teaching them?" - Changing the subject of the conversation, Azazel asked Kiba.

"The basics. How to move their own body, How to not waste energy, etc. The girls teach them spells and other things." - He responded.

"I see." - He smiled in a friendly manner making the males relax.

"Right now they asked about the 'Holy Swords'" - This caught the interest of the 'Fallen-Angel'.

"Oh! Then how about I explain it to them? I have nothing better to do. That way you can also rest, you do look tired." - Kiba nodded at the words of Azazel.

The Fallen turned around and kept his eyes on the five of them, he then smiled and said.

"Well, let's start. I a.s.sume you know what the swords are?" - They nodded.

"Good! Then I'll tell you a bit more about them." - He smiled at them, but unknown for everyone he was a.n.a.lyzing them quite meticulously.

"There are 4 'Holy Swords' that were created by my father. Among them Caliburn is with Arthur Pendragon, a sword so powerful it's capable of breaking s.p.a.ce, due to that same trait its the sharpest, and strongest." - He started to explain.

"Durandal, is a sword that is the embodiment of power and destruction. It's said that the sword at its max is capable of cutting any defense. The current wielder is Xenovia." - At the mention of that name, everyone was surprised.

"You didn't know?" - They shook their heads.

"Well, Xenovia was chosen by the sword. Oh right! Once a weapon reaches a certain level, it's capable of gaining wisdom. Therefore, capable of choosing its owner." - Those were really interesting words.

"The other sword is 'Excalibur' broken during the 'Great War' but fixed. Right now it's also wielded by Xenovia, but she's not very good with it." - He caught his breath and continued.

"It has seven abilities; Rapidly, Destruction, Mimic, Nightmare, Blessing, Transparency, and Ruler. In a few words, it increases your speed and destructive ability, it changes shape, it creates illusions, it makes holy elements more powerful, it makes you invisible, and it's capable of ruling over everything."

That comment made them open their mouths even more.

"Next is 'Ascalon', used by Saint George to slay a really strong Dragon that tormented a Town. The weakest of all of them, but it has a Dragon Slaying nature capable of gravely wounding any Dragon with just a scratch!" - Everyone was quiet.

"Its currently wielded by 'Issei Hyoudou', the current Sekiryuutei." - Yet another piece of information that made them even more shocked than before.

(((((He's such a monster!)))))

Wielder of a Longinus with a Dragon sealed inside it, killed a being of Legend, friends with many G.o.ds and Legendary creatures, and now wielder of one of the 4 Strongest Holy Swords. Each day, Hyoudou Issei became an even more unfathomable existence for them.

Azazel just looked at them. Seeing the Envy and Greed in their eyes as he mentioned Issei, he understood.

(So they feel great envy of Ise and think; 'How did such a common and perverted guy could be so special?') - He read them like a book. He was a millenniyear-old Fallen-Angel, reading a pair of snotty-nosed brats was nothing.

(Haaaaa... I don't know what those girls saw in them.) - Azazel thought to himself.

(Maybe Grayfia or Serafall can explain it better than me.) - He thought that since they were females they would know about this more than him.

He just stayed there looking at them and soon after, he vanished when the five weren't watching. He no longer had anything to do there.

—-A Couple of Hours Later—-

The training stopped and the guys left to their own houses. Aside from Azazel, who they thought to be somewhere inside the house, all of them were inside a room.

The entire Peerage was inside the mansion, doing nothing in particular.

Right now they were sitting at the main living room, while each one was doing a different thing.

Kiba was reading a book, trying to calm himself down.

Rias and Akeno were watching T.V but their eyes weren't on the television, they were actually thinking about something else, probably Issei.

The 'Church Trio' were playing among themselves, it seemed to be cards this time.

Ravel and Koneko, weirdly enough were close to one another, not disturbing the other in the slightest.

Ravel, like Kiba, was reading a book. And Koneko was eating some sweets from a pile in front of her.

No one talked, they were too focused with their own business. The sound of the T.V was the only thing that made a slight noise inside the living room.

Like that they just stayed there until the movie ended. Seeing the credits, they waited for another one to start.

Suddenly, everyone felt an increase in magic inside the living room.

A sudden magic circle appeared at the entrance of the room, directly above the red carpet just by the door. From it, two unexpected figures were seen.

"h.e.l.lo everyone, we're back." - A polite voice was heard.

"Rias-senpai, Akeno-senpai, Kibsenpai, we're back!" - A childish voice was heard as well. The second figure jumped from the circle and practically ran at them.

"Gasper!" - Rias smiled as he saw the Vampire running towards her.

Reaching her, she hugged him.

"I'm glad you're finally back." - She spoke while looking at both who's presents.

Gasper looked exactly the same since the last time they saw him. Not even a hair was in the wrong position. He still wore the 'Kuoh Academy' girls uniform, but it would be weird if he didn't.

"We actually met in the ORC club, since no one was there we decided to come here together. It seems our guess wasn't wrong." - A figure moved away from the circle, this one is a female, a rather special Valkyrie.

"Rossweisse! I'm glad everyone is finally back!" - Rias smiled at her.

Rossweisse was a beautiful woman who gave the impression of being pure and relaxed.

She had long silver hair closer to white that reached her lower back. Her turquoise eyes were filled with the light of antic.i.p.ation of meeting with a special someone. She wore a different get up from the past.

This one being, a white short dress. It was similar to snow and had few purple engravings and frills.

The dress was sleeveless and showed a big part of her cleavage. It was short but not extremely so, only reaching mid-thigh. She also wore white heels that had straps that wrapped her entire heal and calves. The entire attire was very beautiful, and everyone inside the room just stared at her.

The eyes of the ones present managed to make her blush.

(I hope he likes it.) - She thought while she turned her head away, probably in shyness.

"Wow! Rossweisse you look good with that dress." - Rias complemented her.

"Thanks!" - She smiled at her.

She grabbed the edges of the dress and started to spin in place, the light in her eyes became even brighter than before. Everyone watched as she was playing with her dress, the smile on her face was filled with love.

"If you're here then everything in the North should be done?" - Rias asked a little anxious.

"Yes, everything was finished perfectly. The beast will no longer trouble us for some time." - Those words relaxed more than one. Thankfully everything ended well enough.

"Mmm?" - Gasper who was sitting quietly noticed something almost immediately. He turned his head looking for someone.

"Where's Ise-senpai?" - His comment froze everyone present.

No one dared to say a word.

Rossweisse noticed this and asked, slightly worried

"Guys? Where's Ise?" - She started to look into everyone's eyes. Almost everyone held guilt, Kiba just turned his entire face and looked at the side, ignoring this scene.

"Rossweisse, Gasper..." - Rias gathered enough courage and decided to answer her question.

Akeno at her side was bitting her lips, she didn't have the courage. She could only stand at the side of Rias, as a kind of moral support.

"Issei has been missing since a week ago." - Her words sounded like a hammer inside the Valkyrie's head.

The little Dhampir was almost the same but he couldn't exactly believe it.

He always idolized his senpai. And ever since Valerie went to the hospital, because of overusing her Sacred Gear, he followed his heart and decided to never leave her side. He knew that his senpai would be proud of his decision.

Never would he have expected something like this! All of his emotions were on turmoil, tears started to fall from his eyes.

"Issei took his pieces out and left!" - Rias basically screamed that sentence.

Gasper felt dizzy, his head started to spin and from his body, black smoke started to come out.

(Senpai...) - He felt terrible. Even his Sacred Gear was starting to get out of control.

Rossweisse was almost the same, but she understood a bit more.

(He ripped his pieces out of his body and left...)

She knew what that meant, more-or-less.

During this time period, in which she was gone. Issei made a decision, and whatever forced him to do it was definitely horrible enough for him to be left with no other exit except that.

(What exactly happened all this time?!)

Her bangs covered her eyes but the surge of aura from her body made everyone feel tense, even the little Dhampir felt threatened at the aura that Rossweisse emitted.

A pale light-blue aura surrounded her, it was not much in quant.i.ty but the density and heaviness it had made everyone feel gooseb.u.mps.

"Tell me everything..." - That was her only comment.

*Nod-Nod* - Rias felt really scared by the look in her eyes.

She soon started to explain, for them to understand.

"We don't know exactly why he left but we believe it has to do with us..." - She decided to tell what she thought to be the truth. Her voice sounded really soft and insecure. Guilt flooded from in between her words.

Rossweisse noticed this. - (This isn't good.)

Seeing her face she soon understood that whatever happened, was actually related to the woman in front of her. She also understood that it was something that will make her angry, really, really angry.

"It all started like this..." - Rias decided to be the one explaining all of this mess.

Gasper stood near the Valkyrie and like her, he decided to listen to her words.

—-1 Hour or More Later—-

Both, the Valkyrie and the Dhampir were wide-eyed, not believing a word she just told them.

"You can't be serious?" - The Valkyrie asked. She thought that everything she told them until now was a joke and a really bad one at it.

Rias just tried to avoid eye contact with both of them. This response managed to confirm the words spoken by Rias to both, the Valkyrie and the Dhampir.

Rossweisse felt terrible, she started to feel dizzy, her stomach ached and her entire face was starting to change in color; from pink to white and from white to almost blue. She placed a hand on her mouth and tried not to vomit, that's how bad she felt.

*Thump!* - Her legs lost strength and she fell down, luckily she landed on the coach.

Stabilizing herself from the fall, she soon recovered some of her strength. At that moment she covered her face with both hands and looked straight at the floor.

(You did!? You actually did it!?) - She couldn't believe it, it seemed a lie!

As she was sitting there, perplexed. Gasper was feeling different.

He widened his eyes, and soon his whole body started to tremble. He couldn't believe their words.

The girls, who were seeing this, felt the same way as Rias; guilt, anxiety, hopelessness, fear, among others emotions, were clearly seen in their eyes. Just in general, their entire selves were confused and exhausted, they were made a mess!

Rossweisse looked back at them and thought of something, a horrible outcome, a horrible idea, but her morbid curiosity got her best. Therefore, she asked.

"You... Don't tell me you're all the same?"

She really hoped she was wrong, she even secretly prayed to whatever deity she knew, so to be terribly wrong. She didn't want this to be the truth. But life for once. Proved her right.

The girls just did the same as Rias. Not having enough courage, they just turned heads away.

*Sprint!* - Gasper could no longer handle it and started to run away from here. He needed time to think, to gather all of his thoughts.

No words were needed, Kiba the moment he saw him like this also started to run after him, following closely. They soon went outside of the room.

The ones present didn't pay attention to this, everyone was just too focused on their own, bad thoughts.

Then a cold voice was heard. It was as if it came from the deepest part of h.e.l.l. Everyone felt a chill run down their spines, they felt as if the just awoke a sleeping beast, and said beast wasn't happy in the slightest.

"Let me get this straight. You actually went out with other boys, just to gain experience, and then compensate any damage done to Ise at another time. But you were blinded by your own so-called 'feelings' and forgot about Issei?"

Each word sounded sharper than the last, and each of those words pierced them in an extremely weak spot.

Not even having the strength left to nod their heads, the silence was the only answer. But for Rossweisse, that silence was more than enough proof.

(...…) - She had no words nor thoughts. She just stared at them with an empty look in her eyes, as if she was looking at the stupidest people she'll ever meet.

(You just cheated on him and started to get intimate with other guys!? Men, you haven't even known for more than three months! You threw Issei away like he was a disposable toy and now you think anything will change?!) - She was furious, her entire self was surrounded in an aura that emitted anger and fury.

(Issei…...) - Tears fell from her eyes.

Soon after, she opened her eyes in shock and just sat there, thoughts started to fill her head.

(What exactly happened to you?!) - She now felt extremely worried, she felt extremely anxious for the man she loved.

(Something must have happened!) - Not for anything was she the one tasked to fix the seal on the beast.

She soon found a loophole on the story.

(I can understand why he left but taking his pieces out? He wouldn't have taken a risk that big just for nothing!) - She started to think, her a.n.a.lysis was quickly made.

(In other words, there are two options; either he was in such a horrible state that his own mental break was completely lost, hereby making him do a really stupid thing! Or, something happened with the pieces and was forced to take them out!)

Her thoughts were in a sense right but she never thought that both outcomes could happen at the same time. After all, even one of them was already terrible enough, the both of them would be another story completely, a really bad story.

(But the pieces have never malfunctioned, nor they could kill someone. I also don't think he would do something as dumb as trying to remove the pieces from his body.) - She placed a hand on her chin, deep in thought.

The girls just stood there not moving in the slightest.

(Taking them out is doing suicide, no one has survived the extraction of the pieces but they say that he did!) - Her thoughts started to fasten even more.

But after a couple of minutes of thinking, she reached nowhere.

(I have too little information...) - She decided to ask more about this, even if it meant threatening everyone in her path!

She stood up from her position and left the room, not looking at the women in the slightest.

After she left, the heavy atmosphere on the room was still there. They knew that saying this wasn't going to be easy, but it still made them feel horrible.

Meanwhile, Rossweisse started to look for a certain someone that she knew was in the Mansion, after all, she could feel his aura.

Following the aura throughout the entire mansion, she reached the very top floor.

On the terrace of the building, a man was drinking what she believed to be whiskey.

He was leaning against the rail and was looking at the clouds in the sky. The perfectly orange colored sky was the only thing illuminating the terrace. After all, it was already quite late in the afternoon and thanks to the talk with the girls time pa.s.sed rather quickly.

The man turned around the moment he felt someone at the entrance of the terrace.

Right at the gla.s.s entrance, that was similar to a window, a beautifully dressed woman could be seen.

Her eyes held an indecipherable light but the thing that made him feel threatened was the look in her face. A mix of worry, anxiety, sickness, and anger could be seen. It didn't take long for him to understand the reason behind it.

He decided to play the fool, something he was really good at.

"Oh! Rossweisse, you're finally back!" - He turned around and gave a calm greeting. For anyone else that would have proved useful. Unfortunately for him, Rossweisse was not in the mood to play games.

She crossed the entrance and slowly walked through the wooden awning that had a couple of holes to let light in. Every step was heavier than the last.

"What's wrong with-!?"

He was forcefully grabbed by the neck of his coat, and slammed against a pillar!

*Slam!* - The entire pillar shook in an unstable way, the Fallen could feel the strength behind that throw. Luckily for him, his whiskey gla.s.s was on the edge of the rail so thankfully it didn't spill all over the stone floor.

"Now you'll answer my questions!" - Her voice sounded sharp and even made him feel threatened.

"What are you talking about?!" - He was terrified, never has he been in this kind of position before.

Then, with the coldest and sharpest voice he ever heard in his life, the woman talked.

He felt as if Death herself was in front of him and was whispering into his ear.

The eyes of the woman now could be fully seen but they scared him even more. They held not a trace of light, as if they were of a person that just witnessed h.e.l.l and survived. Those eyes promised him a lot of pain and suffering.

"If you don't answer my questions. Then I'll start by breaking every bone in your hand, there are twenty-seven bones just in a single hand... then I'll move to your lower arm, there are two long bones there, I bet they will hurt if they break! Further up there are three bones, and a broken clavicle is not something you wish to have. Therefore, in total thirty-two broken bones."

Those words made him almost pee his pants.

"If you still refuse then, I'll move to the other arm, then to the leg! If you still don't cooperate, then the thing dangling in between your legs... I'll chop it off!"

He went pale-faced, now this was the most terrifying moment in his life! Not even when he was in front of the beast, not even during the Great War did he ever experienced something like this! This was the worst moment he ever experienced in his entire existence!

What was worst was that the eyes of the woman held no hesitation. - (She will actually do it?!).

"Now you'll decide... What exactly happened to Issei?" - Her voice sounded less terrifying, but for him, it sounded the same.

"I'm sorry! But we only know that he went missing a week ago! We have our theories but not a single one has been proved!" - He spilled the beans just like that.

Seeing nothing amiss she asked again.

"When was he last seen?"

"Around a week ago in 'Kuoh Academy', he went there to ask for an absence of school!" - He just kept spilling the beans.

"Ok. Then why did he removed his pieces? And don't give me the same story you told those kids! I'm not dumb!"

She grabbed his left hand and started to twist his index finger. - (She will really do it!)

"I can't say that!" - She started to twist his finger.

"Wrong, answer!" - The bones started to creak.

"WWWait!

She momentarily stopped.

"Spit it out!" - She was starting to get anxious.

"Okay! Okay! But you need to keep it a secret from everyone!" - He was serious on this, she just nodded her head.

"It started like this..."

Another hour went by, the sky darkened and soon night covered the entire 'Kuoh Town'.

Rossweisse didn't move until Azazel finished speaking.

"That's all I know! I swear over the body of my dead father!" - He was almost crying.

He told her everything, the messages, the known reason, the report, everything! Thankfully he didn't show her the video, but those messages he received, she heard them all!

She let Azazel go.

As fast as he was capable of he took a good five-meter distance from her.

(Never have I felt that scared before.) - He felt gooseb.u.mps all over his skin, he even shuddered violently.

After making that feeling go away he just stared at the woman in question.

Rossweisse was thinking.

(So you did it because of that...) - Although much information was missing, at least, she discovered the truth.

She was angered, really angered, but even more so to herself. If she was just there with him, nothing like this would have happened!

(Issei! I'm so sorry for not being there with you when you most needed me!) - Guilt also filled her chest.

She fell on her knees in front of the pillar and started to cry in a low voice. Her entire body was trembling.

This day that was supposed to be the best in her life, since she was going to confess to Ise, turned out to be the worst ever!

The man she loved, was MIA. The women he loved, all of them, left him to his luck!

Even if she wasn't directly involved she still felt awful.

After crying for some time, she just sat there.

Moving her head up, she looked at the pitch black night sky that had some stars in between the clouds. The moon was s.h.i.+ning with a dull light. She just kept staring at the sky until she more or less recovered.

"Will you blame them? Will you tell them that it really was their fault?" - Azazel still kept a distance and asked.

"Not sure. What could I do? They felt scared, that's normal but they decided to make the worst possible decision." - She started to talk in a much calmer voice.

"Their punishment is not for me to decide. They are just a bunch of immature kids that made a terrible mistake. And the result of the decision they made will come for them, that will be their punishment."

Her words were true, Azazel had to agree with that. But he was scared of the end result, if they confirm their suspicions, then, it will end really badly.

"Please keep the secret. Just until we figure a way to diminish the damage." - He asked her sincerely.

She turned to look at him and said.

"I'll say this just in case, but whatever the end result is, I'll be on Ise's side, even if he decides to kill!" - She didn't want to leave him again, not after all of this.

(Issei, when we meet please tell me the entire story.) - Her thoughts went to her loved one.

"What will you do now?" - Azazel asked once again, this time feeling more relaxed.

"I'll stay. I need to be an adult for once and actually think without my feelings numbing me. The 'Game' you mentioned will start soon, and call it a gut feeling but I think we'll meet Issei during that time."

She stood up and took a cold breath of air.

"Therefore, the best chance of seeing him is by staying here. I'll be the same as I have always been towards them, after all, it's not my position to treat them in a harsh way."

She started to pat her dress, getting all dust and dirt off it. Then she walked past the Fallen-Angel and went inside the mansion. Leaving the Former Governor behind in the terrace, alone.

He grabbed his whiskey and downed it in a single go.

"This is such a big mess..." - He said his mind out loud, and stared at the night sky. In a certain way the sky calmed him down, maybe there was something good about this day...

—-Scene Change / Training Field # 2—-

Kiba was running, right now he came from the elevator.

He was chasing after Gasper, who came here maybe to think without anyone disturbing him.

At the distance right at the center of the entire field, he saw the Dhampir sitting on the ground. He had his head covered by his arms and his knees were against his chest. He couldn't hear a thing, but he knew he must be crying.

Walking closer he approached Gasper.

Sensing something, the little Dhampir turned his head up and saw the blonde knight of Gremory.

"Kibsenpai..." - He looked at Kiba with teary eyes.

"Gasper, I really don't know what to say." - Kiba confessed. His smile seemed like someone that had entirely given up.

"I'm going to be honest with you, I also feel terrible." - He sat down behind the Dhampir, resting his back against his.

"I...I feel extremely sick... I feel like I just betrayed my best friend in the worst possible way!" - His voice started to crack, he was finally saying his mind, something that took him far too long.

"But what could I do?!" - He screamed, probably to himself.

The Dhampir was listening to the Knight. Seeing the tears falling from the man's eyes, he knew that the burden he placed onto himself was just too big.

Guilt... it was something everyone, at least once in their lives have experienced, and sometimes it hurts too much. Depending on what exactly you did, the guilt and remorse you feel increases or decreases.

Some lamented over a decision they didn't make, others about a terrible act they once did, others at the memory of not saying goodbye to the ones they loved. Everyone had regrets, and the regret, the remorse, of betraying someone you deeply cared for was in no means small...

Right now he felt like that, ever since that last day he saw Issei, everything started to get worse.

Since it was the last year of Highschool everyone got too serious, the professors and the same students, placing too much work on their shoulders as a 'sign of beginning a new life', that college was different. Some of them didn't particularly care about anything, while others were so strict that a Military School was a better choice.

During that time period everything, everyone just dumped him with a huge amount of things to do. Whether his Master, school or even himself. He stopped caring about other things and started to focus more on his own pending matters.

The 'Devil Jobs' were either early in the morning or really late at night. During the afternoons he had projects, videos, presentations, models. So every single day he was too beat up.

When he discovered exactly who these guys were, he was so exhausted that he barely felt the tug.

He wasn't in his best and due to that, he regretted.

He knew about it, yet because of other pending business, he postponed it for later. Like that, days kept pa.s.sing and slowly his amount of work started to decrease, leaving him to think about them even more. He didn't ask the reason why. He thought it was just temporary, maybe trying to make Issei jealous so that he puts more attention to them.

When he discovered that they were serious, it was too late.

He couldn't say a thing, just like when someone leaves something for the last possible moment and at the end, they just don't do it, he experienced the same.

After the days pa.s.sed he felt even worse, his sleepless nights were no longer due to work rather because of the thought of them, not leaving him alone. He indeed tried to talk to the girls, at least once but he was just ignored, no one cared about it during that time.

He went to his master, but she just shrugged it off.

He thought that since he's a servant he couldn't say anything about this. Plus this was a really personal matter between them, he wasn't related at all! He believed that since he was just a servant and wasn't directly involved in this, no one would hear him, it didn't matter what he had to say.

Thanks to those thoughts and the experience of being completely ignored, the seed was planted and inside his head, the idea of; 'Not worthy of saying anything', or 'A servant should just obey', started to bud.

Even if he was his friend, his loyalty to his master was bigger and at that time he made a decision. He tried to ignore what happened, he put his loyalty in front of his friends.h.i.+p, another mistake.

The emotions he felt during those days were pretty bad, not for a moment did the thought of 'Did I made the right choice?' left his mind, he thought and thought about it but he didn't reach a conclusion.

After even more time pa.s.sed, he made another choice, telling Issei the truth and help him, but he made it too late. He was already gone and no one had seen him, even the Faction Chiefs were looking for him but even after a week, not a thing has been found.

"I feel so bad! I could have saved my best friend!" - He grabbed his head and tried to calm himself, a fruitless effort.

"I could have stopped him of removing his pieces!"

He also wasn't dumb, after thinking for some time he reached the conclusion, that Issei removing his pieces because he didn't want to be found was too ridiculous.

"My friend! My brother! He decided to remove them even if it meant his death, and for what?! No one knows!" - He was letting all out.

"I, who swore to be by his side supporting him, left like a coward! I left him alone experiencing who knows what! All of this because I was scared of something so dumb!?"

He stood from his place and started to walk around, screaming with all of his lung capacity.

"If maybe I had a part of the courage he has, I would have insisted even more with the girls! Maybe, just maybe, I would have helped him and talked him out of doing something like that!"

Kiba was the one that was most affected, he felt he betrayed his friend. He knew, that at that moment he decided something dumb, all of this because he felt he wasn't listened to, nor noticed, nor taken into account, nor anything!

He gave up without even trying because this was something new for him. He never would have expected the girls to suddenly fall for random guys they met less than three months ago!

Yet because of it now not only him, but the girls, Gasper, and even Rossweisse were falling apart. He didn't dare to think what would happen if the Factions discovered it.

The Yōkais, The Norse, d.a.m.n it even s.h.i.+va that took an interest in Ise! Probably everything they worked for the past year will go down the drain!

Kiba stopped walking in circles, he just stood there looking at the ceiling.

Gasper knew that he was probably the one that suffered the most, after all, he thinks that the sole person he dares to call a friend was betrayed by him.

"Kibsenpai... I think that Ise-senpai won't blame you."

Gasper stood up and started to comfort the Knight. How ironic did that sound, the one that came to console was the one to be consoled

"Why you say that?" - His voice sounded hoa.r.s.e.

"Because Ise-senpai is kind, I bet he understood since the moment you were burdened with so many things that you needed to do them. He does know that therefore, I think he won't blame you." - Gasper sounded sure of his words, something rare in him.

"...…" - Kiba kept silence. Thinking about his words.

"When we see him again if you feel that bad then apologize, better do that than nothing, even if it means little."

Gasper was also saying those words to himself, after all he was also away during this important moment, but he believed that his Senpai, will in a way forgive him. Probably even reprimand him because of making the choice he thought was right but until now he just hoped for the best.

Kiba was silent meditating those words.

(Maybe you're right... When I see him again I'll apologize to him, even if I'm a terrible friend it's the least I owe him...) - He started to calm down. His previous relaxed appearance started to come back.

(Those guys... They are a different thing, they are too greedy and proud over what they think they have. They are exactly 'Frogs at the bottom of the well'. Sooner or later they will realize how big the world actually is, and at that time I hope they notice several things...)

Since the first moment he met them, he knew that those guys were the usual greedy bunch, after some beatings during their training they learned to hide it better, but they still were at best amateurs.

He noticed how they tried to compare themselves with Ise, yet they don't know a thing.

At the start, they tried to make him less.

After discovering what he did, they ignored it, saying that if they had the same things as him they could do the same. After learning more and more, and now at the meeting with Azazel, he noticed how they were frustrated, now they even had envy in their eyes.

(Well it's useless to think about that, there will be a moment in which they will notice it themselves. How wrong they actually are.) - Kiba after letting all out felt more clear headed.

Now he had a plan and a short-term goal.

(I need to meet Ise-kun, at that moment I'll say everything I have too!) - He resolved himself and looked at the Dhampir at his side.

"Thanks, Gasper I really needed that." - He smiled once again.

"Don't worry Kibsenpai! In a sense I also needed to hear those words..." - He was also grateful.

After thanking each other they started to leave the training field, both with a new goal in mind.

They needed to see Ise but for now, they had nothing about his whereabouts, they were also forbidden by the Factions to do anything related to searching for Ise. So until anything about him was found, they couldn't do a thing. The only thing they could do was to wait. Both of them knew that Ise was fine, just missing, therefore he wasn't in any danger.

They also needed to train for the Game, after all, they were going to partic.i.p.ate in it.

They didn't know what kind of enemies they will meet there, but of one thing they were sure, they will be extremely strong. They might even fight against G.o.ds! And for now, they couldn't even face one, so much training needed to be done.

(AUTHOR NOTE: AND THAT'S THE END! So the things that are different from the original are:

He never went outside of the town because he got transferred to LD domain. So that means he never went to Kyoto to fight Vali, etc.

He bought his clothes from the online store. I realize there are time differences but I will try to fix that on the previous chapters. So this is how far I follow the original settings.

He never meets with the Fox girl Fuuki and the Vampire girl Ericia.)