The Knight
-:-
Night
Azazel's Apartment
Living up to his status as a student, Ryotaro Hebikami was doing his homework with absolutely no focus at all.
While Ryo was going through his homework at breakneck speed, he was fairly confident that he got most of it right.
English, Math, Science and History were nothing in front of the wisdom of God!
While Ryo was gloating to himself of how awesome he was, the door suddenly flew open
"Old man, I have a question for you!" asked Azazel in a loud voice
"Pipe down will ya? You'll disturbed the neighbors." Ryo replied in a calm manner.
"Don't worry about it. My apartment is sound proof…. Along with blast proof, shock proof, heat proof and all other proofs that you can imagine." Said Azazel
"I know I'll regret hearing the answer, but I'll ask anyway. What the hell have you been doing here?" Ryo asked nervously.
"My hobby is creating Artificial Sacred Gears. That pretty much explains why I need so many safeguards, right? I don't want to disturb the neighbors after all."
Ryo could only nod at Azazel's caution.
As the original creator of the Sacred Gears, Ryo understood more than anyone how dangerous they were, especially during the development stage. When developing things that had the ability to forcefully change fate and destiny, it was to be expected that a couple of 'accidents' were bound to happen.
An apocalyptic explosion here, dismembered limbs flying over there and the occasional screams of pain all around.
If Ryo didn't have the power of God back then, there would have been nothing left of him every time he experienced failure. And since failure was a necessary ingredient when starting from scratch, the number of setbacks Ryo has experienced was enough turn Earth into space dust many times over.
With the low level knock offs Azazel has been producing, his safeguards would be more than enough to keep the town from turning into a parking lot.
"If that's the case, I have no problem against the home improvements. So? What's this question of yours?" said Ryo
With a dignified manner, Azazel asked with full flamboyancy
"As the person who once held the seat as the God of Purity and Righteousness, I ask you this. What do you think is the main cause of why the oh-so-pious Angel fall?"
Naturally, Ryo understood this.
He did witness Azazel's fall from grace
"Based on my observations, I assume it would be they gave into 'Temptation' and performed a certain sin. Then it is followed by their inability to resist the insatiable 'Desire' of repeatedly experience the sin." replied Ryo
Azazel made a displeased face at Ryo's answer.
"Tch… I should have known you'd get it right the first time. As expected of the guy who was once God… boring." Azazel in a pouty manner.
Desire was the root of all Sin. To be specific, the excessive Desire often resulted in a person following the dark path
Desire for Glory may lead to the sin of Pride
Desire for Violence may lead to the sin of Wrath
Desire for More may lead to the sin of Gluttony and Greed
Desire for What Others Possessed may lead to the sin of Envy
Desire for Rest may lead to the sin of Sloth
Desire for Copulation may lead to the sin of Lust
Just to be clear, the seven deadly sins was the result of excessive want/need for a natural urge. They would never be considered a taboo in moderation.
Ryo knew of this very well. That was why he was wondering why Azazel brought it up.
"So? What about it?" asked Ryo
"You know the theory and you have seen its effect, but have you actually experienced it for yourself? You haven't right?" asked Azazel
Ryo pondered on this.
"That's not true at all. I think I have experienced Pride, Wrath, Greed and Gluttony in acceptable levels. And I think experienced Envy for a time." boasted Ryo
"Oh? If you're so cocky, then you wouldn't mind telling me the details. Right?" said the skeptical Azazel
"Of course! Pride= My overwhelming academic prowess. Watching humans struggle against homework while I breeze through it. Wrath= I think destroying stray demons should cover that. Gluttony and Greed= the desire for experiences no matter what they may be. I'm a devil thanks to these 2. Envy= I was like that before I made friends. See! I know about Sins too! Eat that Azazel" Ryo puffed his chest as he gloated on his accomplishments
Naturally, Azazel was not impressed by Ryo's sorry excuse of 'Evil Deeds'
"Pathetic! Worthless! You call those SINS?! Are you trying to pick a fight with every Sinner in existence?! Apologize to all the evil doers right now!" roared Azazel.
"Eh? Why? I think I'm doing a very good job at being bad." Replied Ryo
"What you're doing is childs play! That's elementary school level crap! My grandma can do more evil things than you when she goes shopping! To be this lacking in the understanding of sin when you were once the holy smiter?! You should be ashamed of yourself!" roared Azazel
Ryo couldn't help but shrink back.
True enough knowledge and experience were two very different things.
While he had destroyed a city of sinners in the past, he has never actually experienced the sins they have immersed themselves.
"Y-You make a strong solid argument… It seems that my disconnection from humanity was more severe than I thought. Azazel, can you help me understand the true essence of Sin?" asked Ryo
Azazel puffed his chest, half in confidence of his knowledge of the world of sinners and the other half out of amusement at the fact that the 'GOD' was actually this clueless to the inner workings of the thing he once despised.
"Of course I'll help you. While we did have that little quarrel after a certain mishap of mine, all friends end up fighting at one point in their lives." Replied Azazel.
Ryo shook Azazels hand with vigor.
"You truly are a good friend Azazel!" said Ryo
"Ha ha ha! Of course I am!" Azazel nodded at his greatness. "But let's not waste any time. Let's explore the sin that requires the least amount of destruction and also the sin that I am most familiar with!"
Azazel took out a laptop out of nowhere and played the video that was at standby.
The air was filled with seductive moans of pleasure and the vigorous slapping of flesh between flesh.
"*sigh*…. This crap again? You know that you've shown me this one before, right? It's just a naked couple having sex. What's so sinful about it?" said the annoyed Ryo.
The video playing on the laptop was in fact a pornographic video. Apparently, it was a vintage video of a Latina porn star.
This might come as a surprise but Ryo found no pleasure on the sight of a naked woman or the scene of sexual intercourse.
Why?
Because he was once God!
As God, he could easily watch/spy over his flock in a similar manner as humans and their television. Naturally, he has seen naked people, people having sex, people killing people and so on and so forth. This was the main reason why he had a baseless confidence on his understanding of sin.
And thus, instead of being turned on of the hot Latina making sexy hot love with her partner, Ryo was bored at something he has seen millions of times before.
"Once again, you are naïve. This is the most enjoying sin of all, LUST! Due to the human's inherent body structure, they experience intense pleasure while performing the acts of sexual intercourse. Of course, this is assuming that their body has been broken in. I bet you have never experience the pleasure brought upon by sex, correct?" said Azazel in a teasing manner.
True enough, Ryo has never had sex in his entire existence.
As God, he created life by molding clay into the shape of man/animals and imbuing it with his power. The process took less time and was much more cost efficient. This effectively made sexual intercourse obsolete for him.
Suddenly, a horrifying truth has dawned upon Ryo.
"….I'm a million year old virgin…."
Azazel desperately held back his laughter as Ryo made this realization.
Ever since Ryo began to mingle with humans of this modern world, he has seen the change in culture and tradition.
One particular thing that has changed since his demise was the decreased value of one's chastity. Apparently it was a mark of shame to be a virgin when you reach your late teens. And thus, most of the modern day youth were desperate to graduate from virginity as soon as possible.
What a weird custom.
But then again, this era has proven more than once that Ryo's common sense was severely outdated.
And thus, Ryo decided to open his mind to Azazel's lesson.
"So? What am I suppose to learn here?" asked Ryo.
"I've seen those porn mags you brought home. You're trying to understand beauty, right? Well, that's not the way to do it." Replied Azazel
"Huh? Why? The 3 humans I met said that those naked women were beautiful. This is coming from humans themselves, so it must be true."
"But that's because they are humans that are used to the sense of aesthetics of this world. On the other hand, you are a fish out of water. You're so disconnected that you don't even understand what it means to feel sexual pleasure. And thus, drastic measures are needed. You are going to undergo complete immersion of sexual pleasure in order for you to understand what humans perceive as beauty and what pleasure truly feels. In this way, you will also understand what the sin of lust truly is!" said Azazel in a sage-like manner.
"And I'll understand that by watching porn? I highly doubt that." Replied a skeptical Ryo.
"No no no. The porn is nothing more than a template. What you need to do is to superimpose you and females that you know onto the porn stars. Then imagine you and those women performing the deed."
While still skeptical, Ryo did as Azazel instructed.
He cycled through Sona, Tsubaki, Momo and Tsubasa.
Much to his surprise, a tent was formed in his pants and a certain degree of desire to copulate with Sona's peerage dominated his body.
"Well I'll be damned…" said Ryo in shock.
From that point onward, Azazel filled Ryo's heads with the majesty of lust and the inhumane levels of pleasure Ryo would experience if he was able to perform the deed with the women he lusted after.
-:-
The Next Day
After School
Sona Sitri's Mansion
Underground Training Facility
The sound of battle echoed throughout the underground room that was the size of an Olympic stadium.
In the middle of it all were 3 figures were engaging in high speed combat.
The naginata wielding Tsubaki Shinra was engaging Momo Hanakai and Tsubasa Yura in an intense survival style battle. The main idea of this training was for them to get some hands on experience to fighting more than one opponent with equal or greater skill than their own.
It's been two weeks since Momo Hanakai and Tsubasa Yura joined Sona Sitri's peerage and surprising information about the two surfaced
First, Tsubasa Yura actually has combat experience albeit extremely minimal.
Since she was young, Tsubasa had the ability to see and touch supernatural beings and other related phenomena. She would go and beat said monsters with her unique martial arts that combined Karate, Boxing, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jui Jutsu.
Make no mistake, while Tsubasa was strong for a human, she was extremely weak compared to Devils.
The main reason why Tsubasa was so terrified when she saw the Stray Devil was because she never actually met a Stray Devil before. Due to the Gremory Peerage's efficient hunting techniques, the Stray Devils often get exterminated before they could be seen by the local populace.
It was for this reason that Tsubasa has been safe despite her reckless escapades.
Next up was Momo Hanakai's connection to Sona Sitri.
Momo's father held a relatively high position in one of the companies owned by the Sitri Clan. While she never actually knew that the Sitri's were devils, it was widely accepted by all employees that the Sitri Clan was 'not normal' in a vague sense.
When Momo discovered that Sona was a devil, she didn't really take that long to accept the idea of being a reincarnated Devil.
Apparently, Sona chose Momo and Tsubasa based on these facts.
Speaking of Sona, unlike the 3 girls, Sona Sitri was playing an intense game of chess against Ryo.
Mind you, the two were not slacking off at all. They were actually resting after going through a series of intense battles.
Here was the training curriculum for today.
First match: Ryo VS Sona
Objective: For Sona to develop strategies against opponents with extremely high durability.
Result: Sona ate dirt….. hard.
Sona specifically told Ryo to fight with as if he was trying to kill her.
This was a bad idea because Ryo was a perfect counter to her.
First and foremost, Sona was mage type fighter. Staying in range while hurling powerful spells while someone blocked the enemy's advance was a must for her particular fighting style.
Though much weaker than Sona, Ryo could fight at any range and had the Serpent Scales that would eventually cancel off Sona's magic damage. He could also heal himself, possessed a multitude of crowd control magic and can bulldoze his way into melee range where Sona was at a disadvantage.
Ryo simply had to fight at long range and drag the battle long enough to tire out Sona, then closed in for the kill.
Second Match: Ryo Vs Sona, Tsubaki, Momo and Tsubasa
Objective: To simulate battles against Stray Devils. To promote teamwork among the members peerage. For Ryo, to experience what it was like to fight multiple assailants with equal or greater skill.
Result: After a long drawn out conflict, Ryo emerged victorious.
The battle could be summarized in one phrase: 'Don't underestimate the combat experience of God!'
Almost instantly, Ryo understood how the battle would flow and crafted a strategy to fight the 4 vs 1 battle.
Sona, Tsubaki and Tsubasa were at the offensive end. Tsubaki and Tsubasa engaged Ryo at melee while Sona would sneak in her signature ice spells here and there.
Momo, who's specialty was defensive and support magic, kept the front liners healthy while sneaking a few offensive spells when she had the time.
The battle went as follows.
Ryo kept on the defensive as his Guard ability slowly built up his defenses.
He fired Rock Bullets at Sona which forced Momo and Tsubaki to instinctively defend her.
At this time, Ryo would disable Tsubasa with Overgrowth and bash her with the heavy Serpent Scales. This wouldn't be able to take down Tsubasa who was also a rook, but it was enough for Ryo to capitalize on this small gap.
Ryo proceeded to beat down Tsubasa until Sona's magic interrupted him.
From there, the battle devolved into a messy brawl.
Tsubaki and Tsubasa attack Ryo in full force in order to prevent him from attack Sona. This made the 2 expend energy at an accelerated rate.
Ryo immediately switched targets and unleashed full force on Tsubaki and Tsubasa. By this time, Ryo's defense was quite high and the Serpent Scales was as heavy as an SUV. Getting hit by it was no laughing matter.
The battle became drawn out from that point.
The first to fall was Tsubaki.
Tsubaki was a powerhouse that you would expect from the Queen piece, but there was no way she could outlast Ryo who specialized in defense. After getting hit by Rock Bullets and that battering ram of a shield, there was no way she'd endure it for so long.
Next to fall was Momo.
As you'd expect from the motherly Momo, she did her best to protect everyone. She burned through all of her mana at a terrifying pace as she casted healing and defensive spells at both Tsubaki and Tsubasa who were receiving most of the damage.
Ryo didn't need to attack her to bring her down.
After Momo was Tsubasa.
Exhaustion, build-up of damage received and the demoralizing effect of her punch having very little effect all contributed to Tsubasa's demise.
The last one was Sona.
The battle was short and was similar to their one on one battle earlier.
After the battle, everyone took a 30 minute break before the Tsubaki, Tsubasa and Momo began their final exercise for the day.
Since Sona was too tired after 2 intense battles, she forced Ryo (whom she thought was also tired) to play chess with her.
After 5 minutes of gameplay, Ryo could really feel Sona's tactical prowess. She was actually making him break a sweat.
However, Ryo wasn't really focused on the match. In fact, Ryo was focused more on Sona herself.
Naturally, Ryo's stare eventually caught Sona's attention.
"I assume there's a reason why you're staring at me?" asked Sona
Ryo thought of the proper words to use at this situation, but decided to forgo any bullshit.
"I was just wondering why you are so beautiful." Replied Ryo
Naturally, Sona was not pleased at Ryo's words. She was of the nobility and she has gotten sick of empty flattery.
"Cheap pickup lines have the tendency of making me angry. You do know that right?" asked Sona in a cold voice.
"I do. But this isn't a pickup line. I am merely stating irrefutable facts. We've known each other long enough for you to understand my personality, right?" Replied Ryo
Sona couldn't refute that one.
She knew that Ryo was a horrible liar and an even worse talker. He was straight forward when it came to the mundane matters and had very little common sense. He was extremely logical at the stupidest thing yet displayed unmatched cunning when it was required.
If Ryo stated that Sona was beautiful, then it came from a logical perspective and not driven by emotion or lust.
"I see. I thank you for your compliment. Any reason for the sudden praise?" said Sona calm manner as she made her move on the chessboard.
"A very big reason. My landowner just told me that I am too disconnected with the current era to understand beauty via porn magazines." Replied Ryo as he made his move.
Ryo's move caught Sona off guard.
"I see. Does that mean that you're going to stop writing mathematical equations on those filthy things?" said Sona half-heartedly.
Sona furrowed her brows as she desperately thought of a way to counter Ryo's unexpected strategy. A few seconds later, she made her move
"For now, yes. It seems that I need heavy immersion in order to understand the beauty of a person." Replied Ryo.
Without any hesitation, Ryo moved his piece.
Sona was very frustrated on how Ryo refused to follow the plan she made for him.
"What do you mean immersion?" said Sona as she thought of the next set of strategies to throw at Ryo.
"I need to start from the very basics. Quite simply, I need to enter a physical relation with those whom I find attractive in order truly understand what the pleasure of the flesh truly feels like. That way, I can connect the 'pleasure' to the reason why I found that woman 'attractive'…. At least, that's how my landlord explained it to me. Truth be told, I have my doubts on the logic behind it, but he did look like he knew what he was talking about. I might as well follow through" replied Ryo.
Sona had the 'Is this guy for real?' face as she stared at Ryo.
"How do you plan to do that? Are you going to force yourself on those you find attractive?" asked Sona.
"My landlord said that such actions will never lead to the knowledge I desire the most. What I need to do is to raise my target's affection for me until they will willingly enter a physical relationship with me…. It's a fairly complex problem that I am ill equipped to solve… *sigh*" replied Ryo.
"And who are these women you find attractive?" asked Sona who was dreading to hear the answer.
"For now, I only have 4 women I find attractive. These are, Tsubasa Yura, Momo Hanakai, Tsubaki Shinra and of course you, Sona Sitri" replied Ryo in relaxed manner.
This caused much confusion in Sona's part. She wasn't sure if she needed to bash Ryo in the face or be speechless at Ryo's stupidity.
She decided to probe some more for now.
"Then why not go for Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima? Officially, they are considered as number 1 and 2 beauties in our school" said Sona
Ryo thought for a second before giving an answer.
"While that is true, since I don't know them , I…" said Ryo but was interrupted when he came to a realization. "I see! So that's how it is! While Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima are indeed beauties, I don't find them as attractive as you or Tsubaki because I don't know them! While physical aspect does affect the perception of physical beauty, familiarity can offset this! HAHAHA! To think I have gained some knowledge only after 1 day of pursuing this way of thinking! Awesome!"
While Ryo was going on and on with his monologue, Sona made her move.
Much to her surprise, Ryo took a single glance on the chessboard and made his move without hesitation.
Ryo's move broke through Sona's defenses and forced her to scramble to salvage the situation.
This pissed of Sona quite a bit
"You! Are you telling me all of this to mess with my focus?! Is winning a simply chess game worth such underhanded tactics?!" roared Sona as she rudely pointed at Ryo
"Huh? No no no. I'm telling you this because I'm asking for your permission to proceed with my plan. You are one of the people involved in my plan and you are also my immediate superior. It is customary for me to inform you of my plans. And besides, I don't need underhanded tricks to beat you in chess" said Ryo.
Naturally, Sona's pride didn't take this very well
"Then prove it! Stop talking and beat me in a serious match" replied the pissed off Sona
"As you wish" said Ryo as he began to focus on the chessboard.
He wasn't bragging about the chess part.
Indeed, Sona's strategic skill was top notched. Ryo can attest to this.
However, Sona lacked one thing that Ryo had in abundance: Experience.
Chess was a simplified version of an actual grand scale war. During his tenure as God, Ryo was literally at the head of a constant, three way conflict between Devils, Fallen Angels and Angels.
Sona was a very good commander for someone who was still in her teens, but she's up against someone who oversaw legions in a never ending war.
In a game of basic strategy and wit, Ryo outclassed Sona in every way possible.
And Sona, discovered this the hard way after 3 minutes of intense silence.
"Checkmate" said Ryo as he moved his king cell away from Sona's king.
It was a complex strategy that made use many faints and a whole lot of seemingly unrelated moves in order to trap Sona.
Okay…. 'Complex Strategy' was sugar coating it way too much.
Just like a real war, chess was a game that constantly changed with every move. Perfectly predicting the course of a chaotic battlefield was foolish.
And thus, Ryo executed 10 strategies at the same time and tried to predict 10 moves ahead per strategy.
The result was 4 of these strategies ended up synergizing with each other and ended up becoming Ryo's 11th strategy.
Did Ryo expected this to happen?
Nope. Not at all.
But that was the true nature of war.
Strategize all you want, but war never goes according to plan.
The best thing you can do was to prepare as many Plan Bs as possible and hope that you had covered all of your bases.
Sona stared at the board in disbelief.
It's been a while since the words 'Checkmate' was directed at her.
"Good game Sona. Very good game. You actually made me struggle quite a bit. That's an accomplishment you can be proud off." Said Ryo.
Sona was slightly pissed off at Ryo's words, but the chessboard was the proof of their difference in ability.
"The way you said that makes it sound like you are undefeatable in chess. I guess that's the arrogance of the strong." Replied Sona as she sighed in resignation
"Undefeatable? Don't be stupid. No one starts out the best in their field." Said Ryo as he began to puff his chest in his signature gloating pose." Fu fu fu I may not look like it but I had a 100% losing rate in my first 1000 matches! My loss rate decreased to 90% on the next 1000 matches! Quite simply, I used to suck so bad!"
Ryo crossed his arms and smiled at Sona. He had the atmosphere that gave off the 'I'm pretty awesome, right? Praise me!' vibe.
"Hahahaha!"
Sona laughed out loud at Ryo
"Hmm … That wasn't the reaction I was hoping for… I could have sworn that my speech would invoke deep contemplation and would form a bond of respect between the two of us…." replied Ryo.
In response to this, Sona extended her hand for a handshake. Normally she would keep Ryo at arm's length because of his erratic behavior, but after their chess match, she now viewed him as an equal.
"I admit my complete and utter defeat. Consider this the 'bond of respect' between the two of us" said Sona.
Ryo thought for a few seconds on what to do with Sona's hand. He grabbed Sona's hand and kissed it, much to Sona's surprise
"W-why did you do that?" asked the blushing Sona as she shyly backed away from Ryo.
"Hmm? Hand Kissing is a gesture indicating respect and admiration by one person to another. Since this is a common practice in nobility, I assumed that this is what you wanted, seeing that you're a noble and all…. Was I wrong?" Ryo asked innocently.
Sona covered her blushing face with a facepalm
"It's not wrong, but I'm living incognito at the moment. Handshakes is the norm, so please do that next time." Said Sona.
"If you say so. Well then, I'm off."
Ryo went to Momo and Tsubasa who just finished their bout with Tsubaki and told them about his 'Full Immersion' plan. They blushed profusely but didn't reject the idea.
For now, the 3 of them decided to start at the very basics such as holding hands and go from there.
-:-
Sona Sitri sighed as she stared at the chessboard in front of her. She reviewed the match on her head and was impressed that she was beaten by such a chaotic strategy.
She couldn't see through the chaos clearly, but she was fairly confident that Ryo was executing more than 1 plan against her. He would change from one plan to the next depending on what the situation required.
It wasn't the chaotic strategy that impressed Sona, it was the fact that Ryo was simply better than her in the realms of chess.
For such a peculiar person, Ryo had a lot of hidden depth to him.
"To think someone could beat you in chess. I must admit, I am very impressed" said Tsubaki as she watched the Tsubasa-Ryo-Momo trio exited the training area.
"Yeah. We picked up a weird one, didn't we." Replied Sona with a gentle smile on her face as she playfully touched the white king that Ryo used to checkmate her. "By the way Tsubaki, what do you think of Ryo?"
"Me? I think he's very interesting. Despite being the strongest in our peerage and probably the one with the largest wealth of knowledge, he's like a newborn child that is just beginning to understand how the world works. Naïve and trusting to a fault. I actually find him adorable despite the weird direction those perverted trio has led him" replied Tsubaki with a small smile on her face.
"Ha ha ha. How sweet. To think I live to see the day that the ever so serious Tsubaki would be attracted to someone of the opposite sex. I'll support you 100%" Sona teased Tsubaki.
Tsubaki blushed slightly but was able to maintain her cool.
"Tis but a puppy love. It will pass." Tsubaki lightly waved her hand in denial. "However, you should worry about yourself Sona."
"Huh? Why?"
"Remember what you did in the Sitri Mansion last week?" replied Tsubaki
Sona groaned. She did her best to forget that event.
Last week, her parents forced Sona to meet her 8 potential fiancés .
It was common practice in nobility to use marriage to form alliances. As the younger sister of Serafall Leviathan, marrying Sona was a sure fire way to make a connection with one of the strongest Devils of the modern age.
Naturally, Sone was vehemently against this arrangement.
In rebellion, she drove of most of her fiancé wanabes with her forte: Chess.
"I stand by my words. I will not marry anyone who is not smarter than me. I don't care what my parents say, I refuse to lower myself and the Sitri Clan to a mere political tool." Said Sona with firm conviction.
"Good to know." Replied Tsubaki. "The only one left was that annoying man that was able to pull off a draw. Will you be ready when he challenges you to a Rating Game?"
Since Sona's duel with the last fiancé ended in a draw, the Rating Game was naturally the tie breaker.
"I will. I'll gather the best I can find and prove to my parents that there is no one worthy to take my hand" said Sona.
She was not going to allow anyone unworthy to dirty her body.
"Actually, you're wrong about that Sona. There is someone who passed your criteria with flying colors" said Tsubaki in a teasing manner.
"Huh? What are you talking about? No one is-" Sona replied but was interrupted when she saw the impish Tsubaki pointing to the chessboard in front of her.
Sona blushed profusely as she understood what Tsubaki meant.
"Oh my. To think that your reaction was that great. It seems that you already consider Ryo as someone of the opposite sex. But after beating you, you now consider him as something more…. ~how cute~" Tsubaki laughed gentle as she left for the exit.
"N-no! Tsubaki! You're misunderstanding! I don't see Ryo as a potential l-lover! Wait! Come back here!"
The blushing Sona desperately chased after the laughing Tsubaki.
-:-
3 Days Later
In a rural mountain range 10 days drive from town.
"Teleportation sure is convenient. Who knows how long it would take if we went here the old fashion way" said Ryo as he surveyed the rural house he was in.
"It wouldn't be a much of a hidden village if it was easy to get to" replied Tsubaki
"So true. Nothing is more annoying than searching for a place in the middle of the boonies" said Ryo
"That's rude you know?"
"Just stating the obvious. No need to nitpick Tsubaki."
"Your honorifics?" said Tsubaki as she threw a glare at Ryo.
"I firmly believe that we are already in the phase where we can address each other without honorifics. I mean, we get along quite well and all that." Replied Ryo in a laidback manner.
"*sigh*…. Ryo, you are so insufferable" Tsubaki gave up and just went with the flow.
"There you go. By the way, did you consider my 'full immersion' plan? Naturally, I wont force you if you don't want to, but I really would prefer if I get into a physical relationship with you as well." Ryo used his best impression of a pushy salesman to corner Tsubaki.
Tsubaki quickly looked away and maintained her silence.
"Please Tsubaki. Please say yes to my plan" Ryo continued his offensive while Tsubaki maintained her silence.
Because Tsubaki was facing away from Ryo, he couldn't see Tsubaki's severely blushing face. Gone was her usual poker face and it was replaced with a girl panicking at the sight of her crush
"Why am I like this?! My love for Ryo was supposed to be a puppy love! Nothing more! I was supposde to step back and support him and Sona! Why do I refuse to do it?! Why cant I keep my cool just being near him?! Cant he not see that I'm seriously confused here?! Why can this guy take a hint DAMN IT?!" roared Tsubaki in her head.
As the only male that Sona and Tsubaki interacted with in a non-business manner, it was given that Ryo would be rooted in their hearts in some manner.
As the right and left hand of Sona, the interaction between Tsubaki and Ryo were high in frequency.
Not only that, Ryo's wise yet peculiar personality was a surprising fit for Tsubaki's unapproachable façade.
Aside from Sona, Tsubaki was completely starved of true friendly bonds. It was inevitable that the straightforward Ryo would force his way to Tsubaki's heart.
Tsubaki wanted to say yes to Ryo. She wanted to flirt with him like Momo and Tsubasa. With her current level of feelings for Ryo, she would have said yes if Ryo asked for sex.
Unfortunately, her inexperience in the ways of love and the general spinelessness of the Japanese threw her mind into chaos and was not able to voice out what she truly felt.
On Ryo's part, he could more or less gauge how Tsubaki felt for him. Odds are, Ryo could force himself on Tsubaki and she probably would not utter a single complaint.
However, that wasn't what he wanted.
If there was one thing Ryo understood in this world, it was that there was nothing more beautiful than a clear and solid bond between people.
There was no point if Tsubaki doesn't verbalize her desire to form that beautiful bond with Ryo.
While Ryo was pressuring Tsubaki for an answer, a sliding door opened and 3 people walked in.
2 of them were samurai looking people, one male and one female, complete with katanas on their waist. They were definitely armed guards.
The third person was a beautiful kimono clad girl with shoulder length reddish brown hair and brown eyes. The most interesting aspect of her was the heavy chains that wrapped all around her body.
Despite her shackles, the kimono clad girl was peppy and her smile was as energetic as the sun.
Tsubaki quickly calmed herself down and greeted the girl
"Nice to meet you Tomoe Meguri. I am Tsubaki Shinra, the adjutant of Sona Sitri." Said Tsubaki in her usual business tone.
"Nice to meet ya! I guess you already know me, but I'll introduce myself anyway. I'm Tomoe Meguri of the Meguri clan. I would love to shake your hand and all, but as you can see, I'm a bit 'tied up' at the moment. Ha ha ha" Replied the girl named Tomoe.
"That's fine Meguri-san. It cant be helped" said Tsubaki
"And who might you be?" Tomoe directed this at Ryo.
"My name is Ryotaro Hebikami. Ryo for short." Replied Ryo. "By the way Tomoe, can I ask you something?"
"Oh? No honorifics and first name basis right from the get go? Well, I don't really care. Go ahead, ask away Ryo-chan!" said Tomoe in a hyperactive manner.
"Very well. Would you be interested on entering a physical relationship with-"
Tsubaki bashed Ryo in the face. Due to Ryo's inherent toughness, Tsubaki's attack didn't hurt at all. However, he did pretend to suffer for the sake of the atmosphere.
"WHY ARE YOU ASKING HER THAT RIGHT FROM THE GET GO?!" Tsubaki roared at Ryo.
"Well, she's going to join Sona's peerage right? Since I'll get to know her eventually, I thought it wouldn't make a difference if I asked this question early or late." Replied Ryo
Tsubaki tried to strangle Ryo but he was able to prevent this by catching both of her hands.
"That's obviously something you ask AFTER you get to know her better you fool! It's common sense! Where the hell did you put your brain! Why did I have to fall in love with yo-… SHUT UP!" Tsubaki broke through Ryo's grip and tried to strangle him once again.
However, Ryo was prepared for this and deflected her hands with all of his might.
While the two were fighting…
"PFHAHAHAHA! You two are good! I can guarantee that this comedy skit of yours will get its own time slot!" said Tomoe as she laughed without restraint.
Tomoe's laughter forced Tsubaki to stop out of embarrassment.
"Ahem… back to business. If you are here, does that mean that Sona's negotiation with the Meguri Clan heads was a success?" Asked Tsubaki.
Ryo, Tsubaki and Tomoe turned to the two armed guards for confirmation.
"Yes. That is correct" replied one of the armed guards. "As of this moment, the custody for Tomoe Meguri will be transferred from the Meguri Clan to the Sitri Clan. However, this also means that the entire bloodline connected to Tomoe Meguri will be excommunicated from the exorcism community. I assume this is fine, correct?"
"Yes!" Tomoe replied happily.
Without further ado, Ryo, Tsubaki, Tomoe and the two armed guards left the isolated village and made a beeline for their destination
-:-
An explanation was in order here.
The Meguri Clan was a small yet powerful group when it came to demon slaying. Quite simply, the Sitri Clan was one of their many mortal enemies.
'Why is there even a dialogue between Devils and Demon Slayers?'
When your profession revolved on killing sentient beings, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if those sentient beings held a grudge.
The Meguri Clan was effective at what they do…. Too effective in fact.
They were so effective that some unknown demon placed a powerful curse on their bloodline. While the parents were able to resist the curse, Tomoe, who was still a few weeks in her mother's womb, was afflicted by the curse.
The curse was non-existent in the first few years of Tomoe's life thus remained undetected. However, its power was directly proportional to her physical and magical strength.
As Tomoe got stronger, so did the curse.
When the curse became fully active, the Meguri Clan finally understood the gravity of Tomoe's affliction.
In laymans terms, the curse was an extremely powerful catnip for monsters. Hundreds of horny monsters would flock to Tomoe in an attempt to mate with her.
The curse could only attract weak monsters at the moment, so the Meguri Clan was able to defend Tomoe.
But what if it became stronger?
The future implications were horrifying.
The Meguri Clan head loved Tomoe very much and would never consider any thought of making her suffer or killing her just to solve this predicament.
She was their only child after all.
They would protect her at all costs.
The chains that shackled Tomoe was not keep her from moving, but to suppress the curse.
The isolated village where Tomoe lived for the past few months was not a prison, but a holy ground that warded off monsters.
But these were all band aid measures because the curse was getting stronger.
They tried to find a solution within the realms of humanity…. And sadly, the only way to escape the curse was for Tomoe to die.
Even with the mounting pressure from the other exorcist clans to kill Tomoe for world peace, the Meguri Clan fiercely rejected this solution.
Driven by desperation, the Meguri Clan did the one thing they never thought they would do…. Summon a Devil for help.
And that Devil was Sona Sitri.
While Ryo wasn't physically present in Sona's negotiation with the Meguri Clan, he could more or less guess how it went.
Sona might appear cold and cruel at first, but she was a kind girl. As such, Ryo deduced that the terms of helping Tomoe were as follows:
The Meguri Clan would be forced to betray the exorcist clans. They would divulge all of their secrets to Sona, effectively destroying their reputation as Demon Slayers
Sona would not only remove Tomoe's curse, she would probably ensure the Meguri Clan's lively hood by having them work for the Sitri Clan.
And thus the present situation.
Sona was currently helping the Meguri Clan evacuate to the Sitri territory in the underworld. She brought Momo and Tsubasa as body guards.
On the other hand, Ryo and Tsubaki were sent to pick up Tomoe and escort her to the evacuation point.
Aside from Sona, these 2 were the only ones that have experienced killing people in Sona's peerage. As much as they wanted to live peaceful lives, there are those who viewed them as enemies. No one would blame them if they have killed in the name of self defense.
And this pairing would prove that Sona's insight was spot on.
-:-
It has been an hour since Ryo, Tsubaki, Tomoe and the two armed guards left the isolated village.
Ryo took the vanguard position followed by Tsubaki who positioned herself near Tomoe. The two armed guards took the rear guard.
They were already outside the protective warding of the isolated village. The only thing that was keeping Tomoe hidden from the demonic hordes was the chains wrapped around her.
Because of this, the group was on high alert.
Ryo listened to the spirits of the earth for signs of enemies while Tsubaki had her familiar scout around for potential threats.
Despite being cautious, the atmosphere was surprisingly light hearted.
At the moment, Ryo was explaining to Tomoe about his 'Full Imersion' plan.
"Pfft…. HAHAHAHA! What the hell is that?! That sounds so stupid!" Tomoe laughed without restraint
"*sigh*…. Just think of him as a stupid perverted younger brother…" replied the exasperated Tsubaki.
"Hey! I take issue on that one! I don't believe I'm perverted at all! I am simply a person who lacks understanding. It's only natural that I remedy my weaknesses with knowledge." Said Ryo with conviction. "And besides, you still haven't given me a straight answer Tsubaki. Will you help me in my full immersion experiment? If you say no, then I will respect your wishes and never bring it up again. If you say yes, then I'll immediately start by holding your hand. Please give me an answer…. Ideally, I would like to hear a yes."
"H-hmph! You already have Tsubasa and Momo, why do you want to add me?!" said Tsubaki as she desperately tried to control her panicking self.
"Why? I thought it was already obvious that I find you extremely attractive…." Said Ryo
An arrow from cupid skewered Tsubaki's heart at the word 'attractive'
"… but stating the obvious is stupid… So I should change my statement to 'I like you'…" Ryo continued.
Tsubaki received 3 more of cupid's arrow at the words 'I like you'
"… no no no… 'I like you' doesn't convey the intensity of my desire for you… I love you? … yes! That's it!" Ryo grabbed Tsubaki by the shoulders and positioned her face close to Tsubaki. "I want to have a physical relationship with you because I love you!"
At this point, an army of cupids unleashed a barrage of arrows that turned Tsubaki into a pincushion.
"I-I-I-I-I see…. A-ask me again after this m-mission….. I'll probably say y-y-yes…." Replied Tsubaki in great panic.
"Thank you Tsubaki! I love you!" said Ryo as he hugged Tsubaki
At this point, cupid showed no mercy on Tsubaki. Cupid rode in with his tank and unleashed the 120mm smoothbore cannon of love at her. Tsubaki was blown to bits.
With no means to regain her usual composure, Tsubaki could only hug Ryo back in silence.
Since Ryo was only 3 cms taller than Tsubaki, Tsubaki couldn't escape Ryo's 'loving' gaze.
From this point onward, Ryo would carelessly use the words 'I love you' without knowing that in Japanese society, the phrases 'I like you' and 'I love you' carried so much more weight than what was normally implied.
Tomoe saw all of this and did her best to hold back her laughter.
…. And then, it happened…
Driven by the instinct that allowed him to survive billions of life and death battle, Ryo summoned his Serpent Scales and rushed to protect Tomoe while still hugging Tsubaki.
As if all her panicking was a lie, Tsubaki's naginata appeared out of nowhere and slashed at the assailaint. An arm flew off the attacker along with his katana.
The other attacker quickly launched his attack.
"Meguri-Style: Blink Strike!"
The attacker disappeared from Ryo's sight.
"Oh crap!"
Realizing the attacker's intent, Ryo made an about face.
True enough, behind him and in front of Tomoe was the attacker who wasted no time and attacked without hesitation.
The chains that bound her were sliced apart along with the front of her kimono, effectively explosive a pair of modest sized breast and a pair of cute nipples.
It was quite a delicious sight to look at.
Before the attacker could bask in the accomplishment of his mission, Ryo made his move.
"EARTH SPEAR!"
A beautifully crafted spear assembled itself on Ryo's right hand. If you have seen how angels and fallen angels fight, you would instantly realize that the spear in Ryo's hand was an earth made replica of the Spear of Light.
Without any hesitation, Ryo's earth spear punched through the attacker's head.
"W-why? Arent we all from the Meguri Clan?" asked Tomoe in confusion.
Yes… the attackers were the 2 armed guards of the Meguri Clan.
The remaining guard glared daggers at Tomoe.
"It's your fault! If it wasn't for you, we would still be exorcists! If only they killed you, we wouldn't be forced to deal with these filthy devils! We would never betray humanity if it wasn't for you! Suffer the curse and be those demons plaything! That's what you deserve." the armed guard roared at Tomoe.
Tomoe was riddled with grief at the armed guard's statement.
While she knew that there were some in the Meguri Clan that opposed getting help from demons, to think they would go as far as to craft a trap that would make Tomoe suffer a fate worse than death.
While the armed guard was throwing insults at Tomoe, Ryo and Tsubaki noticed a powerful barrier enveloping the area they were in. It seemed that the 2 armed guards were not alone.
Ryo made eye contact with Tsubaki.
They didn't need words to understand what they needed to do.
Ryo and Tsubaki have been working as the Left and Right hand of Sona Sitri for quite some time now. They didn't know why, but they could somehow tell what the other was thinking. Maybe that was just how compatible they were?
Ryo grabbed the dazed Tomoe and ran as fast as he could with Tsubaki right behind him. Their general direction was towards the evacuation zone.
"W-Wait! What about Yuko? We cant just leave her!" said Tomoe upon realizing what they were planning to do.
"I'll return for her later. If anything, she'd be safer as long as we lead you away from her" Ryo replied.
Mind you, this was a lie because Yuko (the armed guard) would most likely be violated by the horny demons who were lusting after Tomoe.
However, Tomoe didn't know this and both Ryo and Tsubaki had no intention of telling her that.
Tomoe thought a bit then nod in understanding
"I see…. I understand…" said Tomoe who felt great guilt towards the whole situation. "I-I'm sorry… I dragged both of you into this mess…"
Tsubaki kept her silence on this matter. It was her loyalty to Sona that pushed her to undertake this dangerous mission. If it wasn't for that, she wouldn't even recognize Tomoe's plight as a concern.
On the other hand, Ryo was different.
"Hahaha! I'm not doing this for you Tomoe." Said Ryo, much to the confusion of Tomoe and Tsubaki. "I'm doing this so that I can enter a physical relationship with you in the future! My mission right now is to make your heart swoon with my galant display of heroism and bravery. This way, you would be positive to the idea of physical relationship with me!"
Tomoe and Tsubaki stared at Ryo in disbelief.
"Ryo, you should never reveal your inner thoughts to others when trying to seduce them… you know this, right?" said Tsubaki.
"You mean, Lie?" asked Ryo
"Yes. You have to lie. Isnt that the basics of seduction?"
Ryo knew how to lie. He wasn't an Ex God for nothing after all.
However, interpersonal interaction of the modern world baffled Ryo to no end. He had very little confidence that he could be one of those slick guys that can bed a woman with only his words.
"I may not look like it, but I'm a horrible liar! I once took a lie detector test, and the result showed that I was lying in all the questions asked…. It said that I was even lying even when I was telling truth! Arent I awesome?!" gloated Ryo.
Tsubaki smiled softly with a face that stated 'Heh, this crap again'
Tomoe on the other hand was laughing out loud.
"HAHAHAHA! You are amazing Ryo! You really are amazing!" said Tomoe as she laughed.
With Ryo's joke, Tomoe was able to forget 2 very important things.
First, her kimono was still ruined and her breast was exposed for Ryo to appreciate.
Second, the armed guard Yuko was left to suffer in the hands of the Demon Horde that was being attracted by Tomoe's curse.
-:-
After a few seconds of running, the Trio felt the earth shake. It was as if an avalanche was in progress.
Through Tsubaki's familiar and Ryo's spirit communication, they could sense a small Chaos Gate has opened within the barrier and it began spewing an army of demons.
While the army was mostly small fries, there were some strong ones mixed in them.
"This is a problem…" said Tsubaki.
A Chaos Gate was an interdimensional bridge that connected to a mysterious realm where the nastiest monsters existed. These 'monsters' were mostly mindless and were filled with the desire for rape, carnage and slaughter.
Why?
No one knew why such a place existed. All they needed to know was that whenever a Chaos Gate opens, a hell lot of killing was involved.
The only way to solve this was to close the Chaos Gate via magic nuking it to nonexistence.
However, the problem lied in the barrier. This particular barrier blocked communications and teleportation through and from this area.
Monsters from the Chaos Gate were strong but not exactly skilled in magic. This meant that someone from the outside was luring the demons here.
And even thought this was a 'small' Chaos Gate, there were at least 500+ monsters of different variety were spewing out of it.
One of these monsters were dog-like beasts that were as big as horses. These were Hellhounds and they were FAST!
Ryo threw Tomoe to Tsubaki.
"Head for the mountain! Find a small cave where we can funnel them! We'll make our stand there!" said Ryo as one of the Hellhounds bit his leg.
Tsubaki nodded and increased her speed while carrying Tomoe. As you'd expect from a Queen, her true speed was something not even the fast moving Hellhounds could hope to catch up.
"RYO!" Tomoe screamed in horror as another Hellhound bit Ryo in the head.
Not a millisecond later, nearly a hundred Hellhounds swarmed at Ryo like piranhas to a wounded fish. There was no way Tomoe would assume the worst.
"Don't worry Tomoe. He might look like an idiotic little brother that you cant help but worry for, but Ryo is much stronger than he initially appears. These weaklings are nothing to him." Tsubaki said this with a confident smile.
As if confirming Tusbaki's statement, a chorus of bestial screams echoed through the forest. It was quickly followed by a rain of dismembered Hellhounds falling from the sky.
In the middle of the feeding frenzy, Ryo swung his spear like it was a fly swatter. Each swing had the force of a car crash and the Hellhounds caught in it were torn apart. At least 10 Hellhounds died with each wild swing.
Those who were hit by Ryo's Serpent Scales were even worse. Due to the Serpent Scale's constantly increasing mass and weight via Guard, those who were hit by it simply turned into mush.
"Don't worry about me Tomoe! I suggest you concentrate on what sexual rewards you're going to give me after this!" said Ryo in a light hearted manner.
Despite this, it was still an extremely gruesome sight of him being surrounded by blood, guts and gore.
"If we survive this, I'll let you kiss me for 10 minutes non stop!" said Tomoe.
The way she said it, it was as if this was those scenes where the two will never see each other gain. Ryo found Tomoe's misunderstanding quite hilarious.
"HAHAHAHA! I'll make you regret those words! Be prepared to feel intense pleasure via kissing!"
Tomoe made a sad smile. Clearly she was assuming this was the end for Ryo.
"I'll look forward to it!"
-:-
Despite the cliché death flag parting between Ryo and Tomoe, it was actually a walk in the park.
While the Hellhound's number was intimidating, they were relatively weak.
They might have been a threat to Knights, Bishops or even Queens depending on their specialty, but Ryo was built as a fortress. Unlike those squishy builds, Ryo took no damage even despite receiving attacks without dodging while dishing out quite a fair bit of his own.
About 5 minutes later, Ryo took out at least 200 hell hounds. The only damage he received was his clothes being ripped to shreds. At least the important parts were still intact.
Ryo listened to the spirits of the earth to track down where Tsubaki took Tomoe.
It took another 5 minutes for Ryo to catch up with the two.
Along the way, came across quite a number of dismembered Goblin bodies. It seemed that Tsubaki made short work of them.
The cave Tsubaki chose was perfect. It was small and the entrance could fit at the maximum of 3 people side by side. There was barely any room to maneuver and it was easy to defend.
As Ryo approached the cave…
"Ryo! Are you alright? Are you hurt?" said Tomoe as she jumped into Ryo's chest
"Didn't Tsubaki tell you that I'll be fine?" Replied Ryo as he caressed Tomoe's cheek.
Tomoe stayed silent as she hugged Ryo.
Tsubaki smiled as she let a sigh of resignation escape her lips. She understood that despite Ryo being atrocious at lying, he was a pro when it came to emotional manipulation. She saw this when he seduced Momo and Tsubasa. To a lesser extent, she saw this when Ryo interacted with Sona and Tsubaki herself.
"Tsubaki, are you alright?" asked Ryo as he extended his hand towards her.
"I'm fine. No problem." Replied Tsubaki as she placed her hand over Ryo's and squeezed it
Based on a book that Ryo read in the past, this small scale flirting were important maneuvers that allowed him to breach the nigh unbreakable fortress of Sona and Tsubaki.
Oh by the way, Tsubaki tore a part of her blazer and wrapped it around Tomoe's exposed chest…. A shame… truly a shame…
With a terrified Tomoe hugging his chest and a blushing Tsubaki holding his right hand like it was natural, the trio began planning their next move.
"Tsubaki I need you to do something for me." Said Ryo in a serious manner.
Tsubaki more or less knew what Ryo was about to say, but she decided to keep silent and urged Ryo to continue.
"I need you to leave us here and get out of the barrier." Said Ryo, to which Tsubaki could only sigh in response.
"I see…. You're too slow to outrun anything, so it's up to me to escape the barrier, call Sona and exterminate those who are maintaining the barrier. Correct?" replied Tsubaki with a smile
"Yup. Pretty much. Im best suited in static defense. Tomoe will hide in the cave while I stay here and beat everything in sight." Said Ryo
"I understand."
With one last squeeze Tsubaki's devil wings sprouted and she flew off.
Ryo and Tomoe silently hugged each other for a minute or so.
Tomoe was shaking in fear. Quite understandable though.
To her, this day would be forever be burned into her mind. Today was the life and death battle that would lead to her salvation or damnation. It goes without saying that she was scared beyond her wits.
This might sound cruel but to Ryo, today was a Saturday. Aside from 1 or 2 monsters, the rest were small fries like the Hellhound.
Mind you, Ryo understood that there was no way this incident was over even if they did save Tomoe. However, if their unknown enemy was going to try and kill them, sending hundreds of small fries was no the way to do it.
Or maybe this was a test by the unknown enemy?
Who knows.
Either way, Ryo was bored.
Suddenly, they felt the earth shook in a rhythmic manner. It was as if a giant was walking towards them.
A few seconds later, a massive Cyclops walked towards the clearing. Behind it was innumerable goblins, hobgoblins, hellhounds and many more.
"Go into the cave Tomoe and be prepared to fall in love with my gallant visage" said Ryo
Tomoe answered him with a resigned smile.
"This is probably the Suspension Bridge Effect…. But I love you Ryo" Tomoe lightly kissed Ryo in the lips before slowly walking towards the cave.
"FYI. It is the Suspension Bridge Effect but I intend to turn that into genuine love in the near future. Be ready." Said Ryo as he gallantly walked to the Cyclopes.
"Spartan Armor!"
The ground around Ryo turned into dust and gathered on Ryo's skin until he looked like a Spartan right out of the 300 movie. The Spartan Armor along with the already extremely heavy Serpent Scales caused the ground to crack every time he took a step.
Originally, this spell was called 'Earth Armor', but after watching the extremely cool 300 movie, he wanted to don such a cool armor. Naturally, Ryo covered his entire body with armor, unlike the movie who were almost naked.
Ryo was the one that made the first move.
He summoned an Earth Spear and threw it with full force.
Thanks to the Rooks amplified strength, the spear throw was just as fast as his Rock Bullet but was much heavier. If the Rock Bullet was comparable to a pistol, the Earth Spear was that of an artillery cannon.
The spear punched through the Cyclops's stomach, causing the monster to roar in agony.
The Cyclops broke into a reckless charge with the other monsters right behind it.
Ryo made it suffer every step of the way by throwing earth spear after earth spear.
While the earth spear couldn't fire as quickly as the rock bullets, it caused so much more damage.
Using sheer grit, the Cyclops closed in the distance and used its massive fist to punch Ryo flat.
Ryo used the Serpent Scale to block the fist.
"VENGEANCE!"
An ethereal snake grew out of the Serpent Scales wrapped around the Cyclops. It then began squeezing the life out of the monster
While this was happening, the smaller monsters ignored Ryo and went straight for Tomoe.
"Not on my watch!" Ryo stabbed his spear into the ground "KAZIKLI BEY!"
Innumerable Earth Spears sprouted from the ground and impaled those who were foolish enough to be near Ryo.
None of the monsters made it past him. Because the monsters tried to swarm past Ryo, all of them were caught in Kazikli Bey. None survived.
The one worst hit was the Cyclops. Not only was it being constricted by the ethereal serpent, its massive bulk was impaled by Kazikly Bey's earth spears.
Unfortunately, the Cyclops was simply too tough for Ryo.
The ethereal serpent was unable to kill it during the duration of its constriction. Ryo obviously didn't receive enough damage to increase the power of Vengeance to lethal levels.
Despite a large number of the Cyclops' bones and muscles were severely damaged the Vengeance, it had enough strength to disengage from Ryo and ran for its life.
"Not so fast! OVERGROWTH!"
Large number of vines sprouted from the ground to restrict the Cyclops. Sadly, the beast so strong that the vines instantly snapped when it tried to restrain the giant. It didn't even slow the Cyclops.
"Damn it all! Get back here!"
Ryo sprinted after his injured prey.
Ryo used the spirits of the earth to scan the entire area for more monsters, only to find that the Cyclops was the last one.
With no more threats on Tomoe's life, Ryo concentrated his efforts on destroying the Cyclops.
Fortunately, even that didn't take too long. With its bones ground to dust, muscles crushed, massive internal hemorrhaging and Ryo's persistent spear throws at its defenseless back, the Cyclops quickly reached death's door.
A few seconds later, the Cyclops began to stagger and fell forward.
This was a chance Ryo wasn't going to miss.
"KAZIKLI BEY!"
The entire area in front of the Cyclops turned into a bed of spears. The Cyclops died the second it crashed into the ground. No one survives being impaled by thousands of spears.
"Mission Accomplished"
Once again, Ryo listened to the spirits of the earth to scan the area. This time, the search parameter was for any living thing in the area.
Much to his surprise, there was one living thing…. And it was someone he didn't expect to survive.
Since Ryo was already close, he decided to pay the living thing a visit.
About 5 minutes of walking, he saw a female samurai on her back. All of her limbs were missing and white fluid streamed out of her nether regions.
It was one of the 2 Meguri armed guards that attacked Ryo's group earlier.
It seemed that she was raped and tortured by demon horde.
While she was alive, she was moving ever closer to the Styx river. She didn't have much time to live.
Ryo dispelled his Spartan Armor and approached the armed girl.
"Your name is… Yuko right?" asked Ryo.
"Please help me…. I don't want to die…." Said Yuko in a weak voice.
"While I don't mind saving you, what do I gain from it? Let me remind you, you did try to kill Tomoe Meguri which happened to be in my charge." Ryo replied in a cold manner.
It's been a while since Ryo played as the bad guy. It was very refreshing.
Yuko understood this and could only cry in vain.
"Please…. Please save me…. I don't want to die…. Please…"
Truth be told, Ryo held had no spec of mercy to Yuko.
When you rule over millions of humans at the same time, the deaths of 1 or 2 means absolutely nothing compared to the continued survival of the majority.
To Ryo, Yuko's death would benefit humanity in the long run.
Suddenly, Ryo had a lightbulb moment.
Maybe this was a devilish opportunity to use his new devilish freedom?
"Hmm…. I may have use of you. I will save you, but you will become my slave and be bound to my will. Do you accept?" asked Ryo in the best Devil impersonation he could muster.
Yuko made a difficult face but decided to accept Ryo's offer.
"Congratulations fool. You get to live"
-:-
After dealing with Yuko, Ryo left her in a cocoon made up of earth magic which healed her wounds. He called Azazel and asked if he could pick her up.
It took about 10 minutes of jogging (which was still extremely fast compared to a normal human) till he returned to the cave Tomoe was in.
Tomoe's face brightened the moment she saw Ryo. She ran and jumped into his arms.
"You're alive! Thank goodness! Thank You!" Tomoe cried as she expressed her gratitude.
"I only did my best for my reward. I assume you will uphold your word?" said Ryo in a serious manner, causing Tomoe to blush profusely.
"Y-yeah… A Meguri swordsman never backs out of her word!"
Tomoe approached Ryo and prepares herself for 10 minutes of intense kissing.
However, she was naïve!
With hundreds of hours practice on his pillow, Ryo's kissing skill was that of a master! (Self proclaimed)
Their lips connected, but Ryo immediately went into the attack by inserting his tongue into Tomoe's small mouth.
Surprised, Tomoe tried to break free of Ryo.
However, Ryo had no intention of doing so. He hugged her tightly and violated her mouth with the most perverted French kiss he could muster.
Tomoe lost the strength in her legs and fell to the ground.
Ryo chased after her and continued to give her a deep and erotic kiss. At the same time, Ryo abused Tomoe's disorientation by gently caressing her breast and butt.
Tomoe lost all will to resist and simply hugged Ryo as she welcomed the pleasure he brought upon her.
During the 10 minutes of intense kissing, Tomoe orgasmed multiple times until she fainted from the constant pleasure.
Ryo gentle hugged Tomoe with a sense of satisfaction.
"Fu fu fu. My pillow kissing training was effective. Not only that, I felt a sense of sexual pleasure with just kissing and caressing. It seems Azazel was correct after all. Full immersion is the best way to understand the sin of Lust"
While Ryo contemplated his new found wisdom, he was completely unaware that there were people who witnessed his erotic kissing session with Tomoe.
During the 10 minutes erotic kissing, Ryo failed to notice that Sona's peerage took the barrier down and nuked the Chaos Gate into oblivion
Sona Sitri, Tsubaki Shinra, Momo Hanakai and Tsubasa Yura were excited to see Ryo.
When they saw Ryo and Tomoe performing the extremely erotic kissing scene, all 4 shared the same reaction.
Their heart tightened, their breathing turned erratic and their mind was plunged into chaos.
Anger, envy, jealousy and lust for the male that caught their eye.
A maelstrom of emotions ravaged the girls from within.
However, there was one thing that all of them realized from all of this.
"""" I'm in love with Ryo? """"
-:-
AUTHORS NOTES
Now you're probably wondering why I've resurected this particular fanfic. Allow me to explain
While searching for materials for my Highschool of Heroes fanfic (Making jokes is no laughing matter! It's hard damn it!), I went through all of the light novels I could find for inspiration.
Most of them were garbage, but 3 in particular caught my eye. These were Magika No Kenshi To Shoukan Maou, Road to Kingdom and Maou No Hajimekata. While all there were fairly bad in the comedy department, they did one thing that I found particularly amazing: They were able to make interesting story and add R18 material into the mix!
Just to be clear, Magika No Kenshi was only borderline porn (which was still extremely erotic to the point that Magika was slapped with the R18 stamp anyway) while Road to Kingdom and Maou No Hajimekata went full blown fap material. While the porn was decent, it was the very fact that they had a decent story that caught my attention.
Who would have known that it was possible to make something R18 in novel platform and still be able to tell a good story?
I thought only Visual Novels could pull that off!
I was seriously impressed... and since I'm the type of person that is easily influenced by things that I find interesting, I decided I want to write something like that myself!
However, since I'm pretty sure no one will read my original perverted crap, I decided to go to my roots and do it in a fanfic. My choice was Highschool DXD for this.
While the DXD series is horrible in the comedy department (seriously, the anime and novels kept playing the perverted card to the point it was no longer funny), it was the perfect place to do an R18 story.
With that, lets go into some ground rules.
- I will maintain the Teen rating until I get to the point where the R18 stuff starts. From there, I'll change the rating to Mature.
- While I am excited for the R18 stuff, I want to make this into something with a decent story with decent action scenes and decent comedy. With that in mind, I wont rush towards the pussy.
- Since there is very little material on the personality of Sona Sitri's peerage in the anime and the novels, I will be using my own interpretation of their descriptions on the DxD wikia to fill this gap.
- This is my first LEMON fanfic, so I do apologize if my XXX scenes are not up to par.
- And lastly, my signature begging: Please support me on P.A.T.R.E.O.N ! Just search Ginobi47 and you'll find me there !