A/N: HA YOU THOUGHT THIS FIC WAS DEAD. BUT IT WAS I CHIBI! (Kill me plz) 40k word update, not bad huh?

First things first, I would like to announce that I FINALLY HAVE A BETA READER!

His name is Dread, and for some reason volunteered himself for this. OF COURSE I'M THANKFUL, just not quite sure why you'd submit yourself to this…

But if you want someone to thank for me even getting it out this month, you're gonna wanna thank him. If not for him, I probably would still be sitting on my lazy ass reading manga like a filthy degen.

Okay it's been like 6 months and I really don't have a great excuse for taking THAT long. But can we at least listen to my reasoning first before you lynch me? I would like that much…

Well first off I am a student, and obviously that takes priority but that doesn't explain why I wasn't able to at least make progress more quickly. Another thing is that this chapter is HUGE so obviously that took a while to write. And then beyond that I have personal family issues and love life matters. Yeah I know, most authors spout shit like that about problems and shit, but come on, I know it sounds like we're lying just to get you guys to forgive us BUT A LOT OF US DO ACTUALLY HAVE SOME SERIOUS SHIT WE DEAL WITH. We are human beings that also go through real life shit. And uh, i'm also trying to get into college soooooo yeah…

Yeah, I'll be honest not much was supposed to happen for the first few chapters. I just wanted to let them settle in and kind of have a foothold in the story. I wanted to slowly develop them like a more realistic relationship but I guess I can't have that on without people saying that nothing is happening... Since people are impatient... Here ya go. Also, just a disclaimer before you leave halfway and give me an earful in the review section, the first part is kinda just setup. The latter half etc will be what you're looking for.

All reviews will of course be answered at the bottom!

Feel free to PM me with any thoughts, concerns, or even how you felt about the chapter if you would rather not post it as a review but still want me to know about it.

"Character Talking"

Monologue

IMPORTANT

*Action/sound*

{Tomo-chan talking to Issei}

Someone say the Copyright and fair use statement please!

{Chibi Sensei doesn't own any rights to the source material or any expanded forms of Highschool DxD. Or any of the series that are referenced or clearly used.}

WOOT WOOT WE ARE ON A ROLL! 2 CHAPTERS IN A ROW WITHOUT ME YELLING AT YOU IDIOTS.

{You and Issei should both die in a hole.}

Okay now you're just being an asshole.

Somewhere Else (Not Issei POV)

"Why are you helping us?"The person that asked the question was covered head to toe with a black cloak and was kneeling.

"It's, because I have something, that I need to take back, from someone." The answer came from a little girl with black hair that extended to her hips, she was dressed in a gothic lolita fashion.

"But with your power surely no one can actually try and fight you."

"The only person, that can fight me, is the one, that took it."

"I… understand. You just need our support once all of this is over, correct?"

"Yes."

"Understood, I will continue to carry out my duties as a chief." The cloaked figure stood up and went to leave.

"Before, you go, take this." The little girl handed to her a writhing black object.

She turned to face the girl and carefully took it and lifted it towards her mouth.

"Thank you for the meal."

'You damn elves will be finally eradicated from this planet.' The cloaked figure thought in victory.

Dreamscape (Back To Issei)

Everything was white. Not a single object or piece of common thing to be seen within the plane. Kinda boring overall if you ask me. Like the perfect opposite of the dimensional gap…

"Hmm… I suppose this is our first time meeting."

I whipped my head around to see a completely blank man standing before me. When I say he's blank I mean that he has the figure of a person, but every inch and detail of him is completely white. It's like guidelines before you start a drawing on a piece of white paper.

"Okay, I'm definitely dreaming this time. I'm sure that this isn't real."

I try slapping my face to wake myself up, or at least change the dream. Since this is just waaaay too strange.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, I'm a bit more important than your comfort right now."

"Yeah don't care, I'm gonna wake myself up."

"Are you sure you want to do that, -" My hands freeze.

"How… do you know that name?" That name… it was an old alias I used to go by on .

"Ah, so that got your attention." It said with a smile.

"Who are you, you're invading my dreams aren't you?" I have nothing to base this on, this could just be my mind fucking with me. But… the way he's talking, everything… it's just too odd for it to come from me.

"Oh, you're rather fast on the uptake. I really wouldn't say invading though, much closer to appearing but either way works." He said with an impressed tone while shrugging his shoulders.

"That doesn't answer my question, who are you and why do you know that name." I'm on high alert, I can feel my body tense up. I'm ready to make a move depending on the next few key moments.

"Don't get so stiff. I'm not here to mess with you or trick you. If anything you can consider me a benefactor. I'm only here to help you. You know, assisting the newly reincarnated is his new life, and along the way give him some nudges that will aid him."

"And why would I ever believe a single word that comes out of your mouth."

He knows far too much.

"What if I were to say, it's because I'm a kind person and I just want the best for you?"

"Then I wouldn't believe a single word that came out."

"That's fair. It's too spontaneous, no? Well, that's the truth, and I guess there's no way better to prove it than through actions right? Since after all, actions speak louder than words."

I didn't answer him. My mind was racing at a million miles per hour, trying to detect lies and anything that could give away his true intentions.

"Hmmm… Immediately after your colosseum duel, take Shinka up the hill that overlooks the city. You'll find happiness there, this should also solve your past trauma with that one girl in your old life."

"How the fuck do you know about that?"

He knows about her…

"I'm a special person you know?"

"I don't care about that… You know too much, how could I possibly trust you? How am I supposed to know that you aren't trying to trick me?"

"Just go to the hill, If nothing happens then you'll verify that I'm not here to help you. But I guarantee you, if you don't do anything. You'll definitely regret it in the future." With those words coming out of his mouth his form began to disappear into thin air.

"Looks like time is up, I'll see you next time. And before I leave, my name is Chuo."

With that, I woke up to reality.

Real World

My eyes slam open into the darkness of the room.

Just who the hell was that guy? He said his name was Chuo and he knew things that no one should have the knowledge of. He knows about my reincarnation and even information about me from my previous world… That guy seemed dangerous. I have no idea what his motives are, or why he would help but I need to be careful around him. He even knew about her…

I'm still too new to all of this… The secrets of the universe…

Just what am I supposed to do…

*mumble*

Hmm? Was that Shinka?

I tippy-toe towards the bed to hopefully understand what she's sleep talking about. Luckily, being a dragon has given me the ability to see in the dark.

Hehe, maybe she's having a wet dream right now and she's in one of those 'Issei not there!' moments. I really hope that's the case…

"Issei…" Hohoho looks like I'm right about th-

"Don't leave me…"

A-a-ara?

"...Please… it hurts… I'm lonely…"

Shinka, what are you talking about, I'm right here? Why do you think I'll leave you?

*Sniffle*

I look at her face, to see tears trailing down her cheeks. What is she dreaming about…

"No!... Issei…"

I can't let this go on.

"Shinka! Snap out of it! I'm right here!" I vigorously shake her shoulder to wake her up.

"Huh…?" I watch her eyes slowly open and look at me as if she was studying me. Almost in disbelief, ensuring that I was real.

"Shinka what's wrong?" I sit on the side of the bed and pull her into a gentle embrace.

"I-I-Issei?"

"You were having a nightmare, right? What happened in it?" I said calmly and quietly to her. My mom always did it to me when I was a child and came crying into her room.

"Issei... you'll never leave me right…? We promised, right?" She sounded like a desperate child to me. One that was about to lose what's most important to them.

"Yes, we did Shinka. I'll never leave your side."

"Really…?"

"Of course."

What the hell happened though…

"Shinka, do you mind telling me what happened in your nightmare?"

"... You got mad at me suddenly, and stood up and left me… You said that I was a monster and that you hated me…" I could feel a new wave of tears soaking into my shirt. But I couldn't care less….

"Shinka, you know I don't feel that way about you."

"I know… it just felt so real…"

I don't know why this kind of thing is in her mind, but I need to dispel any doubts from her mind.

"I will never leave you, we promised to stay together, to go all over the place and have tons of adventures. You're my savior and the first person I met when I came here. You could've killed me or just dumped me somewhere without telling me a thing. But instead, you let me live with you and even trained me. I'm eternally in your debt. Even then, without all of that, you're the only friend I have here, and you're the only one I can trust to really have my back no matter the situation. I couldn't ever leave you…" I confessed all of these things wholeheartedly.

"Issei…"

We stayed in that position for several minutes. Eventually, Shinka was able to get herself under control again. She let go of me and wiped the tears that lingered on her eyes.

"Thank you, Issei. I really needed to hear that."

"I'm glad it worked." If not… she might end up going full yandere mode on my ass.

"Where are we right now?"

"In an inn, I rented a room after you blacked out from alcohol."

"Ah, okay… You can be really reliable at times like this."

"Thanks, it's one of the few things I'm actually decent at."

"Anyway, it's still night. Let's go to sleep?"

"Mm."

I stand up and begin to walk away, but a gentle tug on my sleeve stops me dead in my tracks.

"Stay with me…?"

I couldn't help but smile at her antics.

"Yes, ma'am."

I make way back to the bed and she scooches over to make space for me. I lay down and pull the blanket over us. I start to close my eyes but it seems that she wasn't done.

"Hey, Issei?"

"Mm?"

"Can you hold me tonight?"

Without responding, I wrapped my arms around her and brought her in close to my body. To the point, we were face to face and could easily feel one another breathing.

"Goodnight, Issei."

"Sweet dreams Shinka."

"It's morning now. What are we gonna do today?"

"You said that you were gonna take me sightseeing today." We shopped yesterday, now I want to see some cool shit.

"Yeah I did, we can get going as soon as I wash up." She got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, but as she was closing it she stuck her head out and looked straight at me.

"Elven doors in the inn, beside the entrance do not have locks on them, as you would know. Do not dare take a peek at me. If you do and I catch you, I will chop off your pride." She had a serious face and made a scissor cutting motion with her middle and index finger.

"I promise I won't." My face went pale with my hands instinctively going to cover my son.

"Good." She disappeared from sight with the slamming of a door.

Man, what does she take me for? Some kind of male pervert that has no restraint? Literally yesterday she was perfect for the picking if I really was that low of a person. But what did I do? Absolutely nothing! I think I deserve a reward or at least some respect for not even touching her.

{In all honesty, I did expect you to at least try and grope her boobs.}

Oh, come on! What makes you think I'll do that?

{I mean you did kind of molest her during the forest training.}

THAT WAS ALL YOUR FAULT! WE ESTABLISHED THIS ALREADY!

{And we also said that it was your own stupidity that you twisted my words.}

No that was just you. I did not agree with a single word that you said at the time.

{Are you sure about that? Not a single word?}

Yeah, I'm like a hundred percent sure about that.

{You did agree with the fact that she's a bajillion years older than you.}

I mean trying to argue against that is a lost battle since it's a literal fact.

{Exactly. It's also a fact that you're a sexual predator.}

Can you actually fuck off with th-

"AHHH!"

{Go check up on her.}

ON IT!

"SHINKAI ARE YOU OKAY?!" I rushed to the door and slammed it open to see if she was okay.

"Ow… Issei?" There she was sitting down on her butt with her knees arched up and her arms behind her to support her weight. But… She's naked…

"Uh… um… I didn't mean to, I just wanted to check on you…" Oh god her nude body… Pink tips on top of her perfectly shaped mounds… and I can see her v-

"GET THE HELL OUT!" She started creating objects and threw them at me.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I'm leaving! Stop throwing things at m-" I was desperately scrambling to turn around and leave.

Critical hit.

She summoned a whole fucking luggage case to deck me with.

Hello, darkness my old friend. I've come to talk with you again.

"Hmph!" We were now walking to the cathedral that I saw when we first arrived.

Shinka looked extra cute today, she decided to change her hairstyle a bit for sightseeing. While she still has her bangs and the back still falling freely behind her, she took portions from the top of her head and tied them back in a small ponytail. (Think of the girl from Science Fell in Love)

"I thought you got hurt. I didn't mean to see you naked like that!" This is some bullshit, I'm totally innocent in this one. I'm just trying to be a good hum- dragon and be the nice one to check on my friend to see if they got hurt.

"You saw though right?" She said with a sideways glance.

"Eto…" I gulped nervously as I guess I DID see her...

"Did you or did you not?"

"Err… well of course I did." Kinda hard to miss. Especially when you're everything is displayed right in front of me to absorb through my eyes.

"Then… HMPH!" She whipped her head away from me, with her hair flying into the air and smacking me in the face. I guess I'll just have to deal with it until she decides to talk to me again.

We ended up walking in complete silence while getting the occasional glare. Man, I'm sorry for having compassion. How else am I supposed to react to a shriek like that? Am I supposed to just not do anything like a dick?

{Not do anything obviously.}

You're a cold-hearted bastard. AND YOU EVEN TOLD ME TO CHECK ON HER!

{No it's called having survival instincts and y'know just in general not being suicidal. And your point is? You don't need to follow what I say.}

Fair point. But still, I don't think I'm completely in the wrong here. Also, fuck you, that's a whole bunch of bullshit since you even sounded sincere about it.

{You're not, but being seen naked by a love interest isn't exactly the thing girls would want. Also, too bad, sucks to suck.}

Love interest huh? Part of me doesn't want to believe what she said yesterday when she was drunk. And seriously, go suck one.

{I mean when people are intoxicated like that, that's usually when the truth spills out whether they like it or not. And maybe yours, but I'm good for now.}

I know it's just that... I don't want to be tricked again. And fucking try it I dare you.

{I have no idea what you're talking about. I would ask more but we can always save it for a later date. Ugh, I'll back off since there's no way I'm touching your dirty ass shmeat.}

That's good for me, it's not really a subject I'm all that comfortable talking about in general. Also, it's not even dirty so go fuck yourself.

{Regardless of all of that and the side conversation, why do you act so dense and stupid?}

Define what you mean by that.

{Well, how do I say this… it's pretty obvious she feels something for you. Besides the whole drunk thing don't you realize how she treats you?}

Like a best frie-... no that's not quite right. I guess it's a lot closer to a lover right?

{Exactly. She makes your food, you have touchy interactions all the damn time, she goes out of her way to make you comfortable and make sure that you enjoy yourself. More than that, you guys hug basically all the time in the most loving way possible, and YOU SLEEP ON HER LAP!}

I mean that could just mean that we're really good friends. Like I'm her closest friend an-

{Don't even give me that kind of bullshit. I know for a fact that is not how friends act with each other and I don't have any. The closest thing to that is you.}

We probably don't even look like a couple though.

{Uhh, did the luggage case give you amnesia? Sylviis literally said and I shit you not, "Also, Issei, treat your future girlfriend well!". What else does that mean other than the words literally told to you?}

Yeah but still… Fuck it, you're right. You have a solid point there.

{Yeah I know I do.}

But still...

{Well, alright then keep being an indecisive bitch. I would stay and chat for a bit longer but it seems you guys reached your destination. See ya later.}

Huh? That was a rather abrupt way of ending our conversation… also did she have to add the bitch part?

Bringing my attention back to my surroundings, a huge grandiose medieval building was all I could see in front of me. There were a crap ton of tourists but everyone looked like insects in size compared to the damn spectacle.

"Whoa." I gazed in absolute awe and wonder. Taking in every detail and every little tidbit that was different from the rest that I've seen in my life. I must've been standing there for a while because I heard someone clear their throat beside me.

"Ahem, are you gonna keep looking like an idiot and staring with your mouth open, or will we actually go inside the damn place?"

I blinked a few times and quickly nodded in response.

"Yes please!" She softly smiled back at me, I guess she isn't mad anymore.

Grabbing me by the arm we speed-walked towards the grand entrance. Rushing through and not really paying attention to the bystanders, we were greeted with an overdone yet still quite the spectacle of the main hall/worship place thing that I don't know a word for.

The ground was made completely of some kind of marble, and there were pillars and statues galore. Not in a bad way though, they were perfectly placed for symmetry and just overall appeal. The only thing though was that everything looked pretty new.

"Weird thing to ask… but when was this place made? It has an old feel to it but everything appears to be almost brand new."

"I think it was made just around 5 years ago?" She had her finger on her chin as she tried thinking of an answer.

"That's really recent… Why though? Usually, places like this are made during some crazy time of spirituality or some crap like that or it's made for some momentous occasion." At least that's how it was back in my world.

"You're spot on actually, it's the latter of the two things you said. The whole place was built as a celebration and memorial of fighting away a swarm of Dark Elves."

"Did you just say fighting away? As in not defeating, but just making them retreat?"

"Yeah, these guys are totally bound for another war soon. I didn't really think about that when I decided to bring you here." She said with a forced chuckle

"Well whatever, we can always just teleport out of here if anything breaks out." It might be a dick move overall but it's not like we have anything to do with their problems.

"Yeah that's fair, but if we do we're taking Sylvy with us."

"Sounds about right."

"Anyway let's keep exploring, They made some serious efforts to make this place as grandiose as possible. Down the hall, to the left, there's actually a mini-museum they made that's full of paintings that were created about the battle. Let's go there next!" She excitedly tugged me down the long aisle and down the hallway.

We came to a stop just after arriving at said extravaganza full of probably the most ridiculously marvelous artwork.

"What the actual hell? Why is this kind of stuff here and not in an actual museum?" This was way too good to be displayed so casually.

"Funnily enough that was the original intent but with the whole thing being built, all of the artists demanded to have space here as well. And well... they got it." Huh if only demanding stuff in my old world worked like this.

"Lucky bastards, you can't get a damn thing no matter how much you begged back where I was from." One of the paintings caught my eye because of a specific… body part hanging around.

"Uhh Shinka why is there a huge dick on that?" I pointed towards what I was referring to.

"... I wish I could tell you… but I have no clue what the hell that's doing there."

"I'm going to check out some of the other things here…" That was not something I expected to see the first time I came back to civilization.

I walked around and observed each painting that I passed by. They were all interesting in their own right and a work of art in every regard. Some were abstract while others went down a realistic route. Some showed the glory and honor that's obtained through wartime efforts and others… showed the less pleasant side of all of it. One specific one had a busty elf holding the head of a dark-skinned female elf.

"That's the elven military general, she was able to kill the dark elves leader and this caused them to flee. This was her victory pose with her 'treasure of battle'."

"Are they always this barbaric?"

"What do you mean? That's the norm around most places here. If you're able to take the head of a leader you usually display it to the army as a sign of triumph."

"So they just cut the head off their corpse and exhibit it like a show and tell?" Maybe I'm not cut out for this whole battle thing. Ha get it? Cut out?

"That's the short of it."

"Why are they even fighting each other? I mean their both elves, just one's dark and the other pale."

"The answer for that goes pretty far back. It was a whole issue that started back with the ancestors of each. But the simplified version of all of it is that they're polar opposites of each other. They're exactly what one another hates and feel as if they're the stain on elves in general. The ones we're around generally are meant to represent purity and all the good things while the dark elves are lustful and evil and blah blah."

"Of course, there's an exception to this and not every normal elf is good, but also not every dark elf is bad. Most dark elves are pretty much just like a normal elf. At this point they're fighting each other just based on some kind of stupid moral obligation they feel to cleanse their hands of such 'filth'. They don't even communicate with one another so any headway that could be made through simple conversation is never gonna happen."

I guess there really are some truths and facts that transcend all boundaries… Even a place like this has some of the same inherent laws that my old world does…

"And that's all good enough of a reason for them to fight?"

"Issei, these places are unforgiving, they're not nearly as civilized as they appear and all worlds and races will have a skeleton in the closet. Some just more than others."

That…

"Sorry, can we please leave here…? It puts a bad taste in my mouth to think about."

"Yeah, let's get out of here." Everything really isn't what it seems. It's not like I can judge them for being like this, as she did say earlier that it is the norm around here. Ugh, it's just another thing I think that'll take me a while to get used to. This is a universe where the strongest survive, and the weakest perish. I need to get my head out of the old way of thinking and focus on what's in front of me.

We walk past the incoming tourists and weave our way through the rapidly developing crowd that seemed to be stacked in every corner. People were taking pictures and posing with different artifacts and works on display. It seemed that no one truly realized the true nature of this cathedral as a whole. Either that or they're just as bad as those that fought. But maybe I'm just not understanding enough of what it's like to be them. After all, I'm an outsider here, these are things that they've lived with all of their lives. This is probably nothing out of the ordinary for them.

We eventually made our way to the door and left the place. Looking back at it made me realize even more things. Mainly that you really can't judge a book by its cover. A beautiful landmark that gilds the reality underneath. I mean now that I think about it, even my old world had tons of monuments and memorials that were built for things that aren't very grand.

"Let's go grab some breakfast then I'll show you some more stuff okay?" She offered her hand to me and gave me a tender smile. I think she noticed my change in attitude.

"Okay." I take her hand and move closer to her. We may not be dating or anything like that, but if we both really feel the same about each other… then I can at least enjoy this. Right?

"Anything you're craving right now?" she said while aimlessly leading me around.

"Honestly just about anything sounds like it would be perfect right now." I could feel my stomach on the verge of growling with how rowdy it was getting.

"Want to go back to Aelrindel then? Have a few rounds of drinks?" She said while laughing at my immediate horror of the thought.

"Go fuck yourself." Yeah… NO.

"Haha, I'm just playing with you. I don't even like drinking in the morning anyway, it makes my stomach feel weird." She chuckled at the over the top response.

"Yeah yeah, just don't remind me of last night…" I dry heaved when the memory of the stench suddenly filled my nose, of course, she noticed that and chuckled slightly in amusement.

"Want to settle for some grilled skewered vegetables?"

"Those words don't sound like they should ever be used together. What even is that? Like not 'what' is that because it's literally in the name, but that seriously seems very… what's the word? Just wrong."

"Kinda like kebabs or yakitori but only consists of vegetables. Are you into that sort of thing or no? You probably haven't tried this judging by your reaction, if you were to ask me if you should or not. Then I'd say to just give it a try because well, why not?" I think she really wants to eat there.

"I don't mind trying it all that much but, it depends, what kind of veggies are we talking about here?" I like most of them but some are actually the spawn of Bael. I'm talking about you Brussel Sprouts.

"I mean it's not only greens but they also usually have a selection of fruit to pick from. Most of the places around here let you choose what you want on it, I usually get carrots, green onion, eggplant and the sort of thing. But if I just want something sweet and not the normal bitter bite, then I'll go with something like pineapple with cinnamon."

"They have cinnamon here?" I don't even know why anything shocks me at this point.

"Yeah?" She looked at me baffled..

"LET'S PICK UP THE PACE!" I quickly sped up to a near sprint despite having no clue where we were supposed to go.

"Slow down! You're gonna get us lost at this rate!" It's fine, for some reason my nose can pinpoint the smell from miles away!

"I KNOW WHERE TO GO!"

"How?! This is the first time you've ever been here!"

"BECAUSE I KNOW THE SCENT!" I went at full speed and followed the distinct sharp scent in the air.

"And how do you know you won't go to the wrong place just because it also smells like cinnamon!?" She was screaming while getting pulled along like a kite.

"I JUST KNOW WE'LL GET TO THAT RIGHT PLACE!"

I eventually came to a stop in the middle of a less populated but still busy sidewalk.

*Sniff* *Sniff*

I felt like a dog with the way that I was sniffing the air in different directions and angles to identify exactly where the smell was coming from. It took a second but I whipped my head to the right to see an open shop with a guy flipping skewers on a yakitori grill.

"FOUND IT!" I walked/ran towards him.

"How can I help… you...?" He started with a kind smile that quickly changed into one of bewilderment.

"Huh?" I looked to my left to see Shinka on all fours.

"Ass…hole…" Why she was breathing in and out rather heavily is completely out of my brain cells to figure out. Especially since I was the one running, not even her, she was just dragged along for the ride.

"Don't mind her, I'll have a pineapple skewer with cinnamon and another one with… what do you recommend?"

"Hmm… well, people just come and make their own when they order, but we do have one that was made by the manager that seems to be a hit with anyone that tries it. You can, of course, customize it however you like." The man said while using his tongs to add more lit coals into the open space between the iron bars.

"Uhhhhh, sure I guess? And maybe just put a little of everything on it?"

"You want it with the works?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right?" I say almost as if I'm asking him. I have no idea what kind of 'works' he's putting on it but let's just hope it tastes good.

"Alright, one pineapple and one manager special skewer coming right up!" He turned away and quickly went to work.

He became engaged in what seemed like a graceful dance of preparing our food by stabbing the different vegetables onto a willow-like stick and then tossing them on the raging grill. With a careful eye, he watched them as they bubbled and cooked. The flames licking the ingredients but would never go further than only the occasional flare-ups. Every time it looked as if it would get out of control, the man would do a quick swipe with this hand fan, and boom it was manageable again.

"Sweet or savory for the pineapple skewer?" He looked up for a moment while grabbing several jars and putting them on the small counter in front of the grill.

"Definitely sweet."

"And for the other would you like salty or sweet and savory?"

"Hmm, let's go salty because that's what the person beside me currently is." I glanced at Shinka to see her glaring at me. I stuck my tongue out at her to annoy her a bit.

"Haha, sounds good to me. Salty it is." A hearty laugh later and he was back to his craft. He seemed like an elderly widower laughing at newlyweds.

"Issei. Fuck. you." Shinka said in an angry 'whisper'.

"I take that as a compliment," I said with a rather sweet smile at her puffed cheeks. I wonder if her cheek would release steam if I poked it.

"Eh?" I could feel my head get jerked to the side by a sudden force pulling me.

Shinka was pinching my cheek with what I would assume is a lot of strength. I mean I couldn't feel any pain coming from it, but it definitely felt extremely weird.

"Shinkaaaa itsh feeslsh weuuuuurrrrrd (Shinka it feels weird)." her eyes are closed but I could feel the same kind of pressure as if she was full-on staring into my soul. She had a devious smile and- is there a dark purple aura around her or am I just seeing things?

"You have a lot of gall to drag me like that. Don't you?" Her smile grew wider and wider.

"Ashhhh shhhhhiuuuuuut… (Ah shit…)"

I was now silently watching the chef cooking our food with a strange feeling of my head having an extended nub. I wonder how big the bump is…

He seemed to have paid no mind to the stupidity that was having literally only a few feet away from him. I'm gonna assume that a lot of people must be like this in the city if he can just it shut-out like that. He continued to cook them to perfection before eventually taking them off. Right as he finished, he rolled my skewer in cinnamon and ladled a small amount of the specific syrups across each one.

"Here you go! That'll be 2 Siyusi!" He handed me the food while walking over to the cash register to ring us up. So that's the name of the currency here. I don't know how I went a whole day of buying and not figuring out what the hell the name of the money was.

"There ya go, keep the change! Have a nice day." I handed him the money and walked away while waving goodbye. He looked at the bill in disbelief. I didn't exactly have 2 bucks so I kinda just used the first one that I grabbed. I probably handed him a huge bill that was way more than what the food was worth. Not like it matters since we have an infinite amount of it.

"Thanks so much, boss! You do the same! And have fun on your date you two!" He said gleefully while waving his arm ecstatically at us.

I could feel the blood running to my cheeks.

"D-d-date? Shinka do we look like we're on a date right now?" I said rather embarrassed while scratching my head.

No words…

Her face was turned away from mine, I could still feel that same puff of annoyance that came from her when she bopped me on the noggin.

Ah, I guess she didn't hear anything.

"Shinka here's your food." I tapped her with my elbow to get her to turn around. I then handed to her the chef's choice option, she snatched it from my hand with a puff.

"You didn't need to drag me, you shit head." She said crossing her arms.

"Sorry, but I couldn't resist the thought of having this. It's something that's fairly nostalgic for me, so I had the biggest craving when you mentioned it." I may look like a fully grown young adult male but I'm still a complete child on the inside.

"Yeah yeah, whate- THIS IS DELICIOUS!" She cut herself off halfway through the sentence while taking a bite.

"Ehh, I have to try mine now too." I bit a piece of pineapple from the side and slid it off into my mouth.

"UMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"

"Issei you need to try this!" She stuck out the skewer for me to eat.

"Then you should try mine too!" Doing the same we ended up both taking a bite out of each other's meal.

And as expected…

""OISSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHI!""

We must've looked like idiots screaming out hearts out over some food but it was seriously incredible.

"Shinka wanna try something crazy?!" I looked at both of our sticks and saw that we both had about 2 bites left each.

"Sure, what is it?!"

"Let's try them out together!" I said while sticking out my food.

"You're insane, and I love it!" She quickly grabbed mine and took a bite from her own, and right after, a bite from mine.

"I'm not gonna lie, this is surprisingly amazing…" Her eyes were shining.

"Gimme! Gimme!" I snatched both out of her hand and did the exact same procedure.

Absolutely stunning…

"I'm right aren't I?"

"You weren't kidding when you said that… This is actually in a weird way extremely satisfying." The same idea of salty and sweet which makes sense, but the veggies I had no idea would taste this good when batched with something else.

"Ahhh that was good, I want to get some more…"

"I don't see why not." Not like we have to worry about money.

"Then should we go and experiment with more stuff?"

"Hell, Yeah we should!"

"Ugh, I can't take another step." I was rubbing my stomach while mindlessly looking at the sky. I was currently laying down on Shinka's lap on a park bench that just so happened to be in the most secluded spot ever.

"Me too…"

We ended up spending a solid hour buying different combinations of fruits and vegetables with different sauces and toppings. The dude was more than happy to oblige to every single weird request that we had. He made a ton of money off of our lack of restraint…

"Let's totally do that again sometime. And not only here, but all the other places that you know."

"Agreed."

"I think I'm pregnant with a food baby." I felt like going into a food coma.

"What're you gonna name'em?" She said while poking my belly.

"Hm… Maybe I'll name th- why are we acting as if I'm actually pregnant?! Also stop touching my stomach, you'll make me throw up those kebabs on you." I playfully swatted her hand away and went back to rubbing the bloated mess.

"Well, you said you were having a baby and I thought it was as good a time as ever to give them a name. And don't you dare, I do not want to go through that."

"Ehh, so you can give but can't receive it?"

"That doesn't count since this is literally getting showered in LIQUID DIGESTED FOOD. This is not the same as any other time that statement would work."

"Nope, it still applies because what happened? You vomited on me, so now you need to get vomited on by me!" I started dry heaving at her as if I was really about to go through with it.

"Issei don't you dare!" She said while pushing me off of her and turning her head away.

"I feel something coming!" I really didn't but hey, this seems pretty fun to do. The noises of me about to regurgitate intensified with every 'attempt' at throwing up on her. I probably could if I really put my mind to it but I know that if I did actually do it, well, it was fun while it lasted!

"Issei, I swear to everything that is holy!" When it seemed as if I was about to actually eject my innards, she retracted her hands and closed her eyes as she tried protecting her everything from my puke.

"Badoom." My hand went into the position of a finger gun, and I shot a small stream of water at her forehead.

"Gotcha, Shinka." She carefully opened her eyes to the view of me with a shit-eating smirk.

"Mou Issei! Don't do that! I thought you really would throw up all over me!" She huffed with inflated cheeks. "You were probably thinking about doing it too weren't you!" She said with an accusatory look.

"Haha, I thought it would be a lot of fun, and well, it was. And I will neither confirm nor deny that." I mean that option is definitely not off of the table.

"Yeah at the expense of me though… and by you saying that you're basically telling me that I'm right!" She flicked my forehead with mild annoyance.

"Well someone was gonna be the butt of it, and I sure didn't want to be that so it had to be you. Hmm? But I'm not saying you're right, and I'm also not saying that you're wrong either."

"I swear one of these days I'll get you back for all the teasing that you do to me…"

"And when that day comes I'll be sure to serve it back to you tenfold," I replied without missing a beat.

"But that's not fair! You always do it to me and I don't do anything back to you!"

"Well, you see that's your fault then. You could do something but you choose not to." Well I mean that and I'm pretty sure she knows it'll get much worse for her if she does.

"Yeah but…" She started pouting as she realized that she basically lost this one. She became crestfallen as she went into deep thought, probably trying to figure out a way to get out of the corner that she's been backed into.

She placed her hand on her chin in a way to tell me, 'let me think for a moment and I'll get back to you'. I mean chances are, she really wants to get me back but I doubt it'll work. Like she has nothing she can really tease me over, right?

But suddenly her entire demeanor changed. Her pout went away and her sad depressed face was replaced with an overly seductive look. Her hand moved away to let more room for her face to show through. Her eyes were half-lidded with them focusing on my own. She bit the corner of her bottom lip to further increase her appeal as she became the perfect definition of a dark mistress.

"If you stop teasing me then I'll show you something good my darling Issei." Her soft hands cupped my cheeks with her having possibly the most obvious suggestive leer. They say pictures can express a thousand words, I say her face right now is telling me a few thousand more and also a few scenes that should totally happen. Well maybe more than just a few scenes but… I can wait in post.

Wait, did she say her darling Issei?!

I needed to come up with some sort of witty and sly remark.

"Uhhhhhhhh." Real smart there Issei.

"Maybe, I'll do it right here, right now." Her grin became maniacal as she retracted her hands from my face and went towards the hems of her shirt.

"It's not like anyone will come here anyway. It's completely empty around here. So it's not like someone will see us." her voice was tempting and the way she slowly moved her hands sexily down her body was quickly daring little Issei to start pledging his allegiance.

I closed my eyes shut because maybe it'll discourage her from actually going through with this whole crazy idea? Although to be completely honest… I wasn't at all opposed to the idea of that.

"Hey Issei, open your eyes. You might as well look while you still can." her alluring voice was quickly breaking down my defenses. Words as sweet as honey… Are you sure you're not Ishtar or some God of lust? Because right now you really might as well be...

"NO, I REFUSE TO LOOK!" I said while covering my eyes with my hands on top of my sealed eyelids. I really want to look… but chances are, I'll get finger flicked in the dick...

"PFFFT. YOU REALLY THINK I'M GOING TO DO THAT?" Huh? What did she say?

My eyes slowly open up and look through small gaps between my fingers just to see her quite literally dying in laughter. She was practically crying with how loud and obnoxious it was. Was this her revenge for earlier? Is this her way of teasing me?

"I told you I'd get you back! And damn did this feel so good to do." Wow… She got me really good there… BUT THAT'S BULLSHIT THE WAY SHE DID IT!

"That's so unfair! You used your body to your advantage!" I pointed out as if it wasn't obvious. You don't see me whipping my dick out and helicoptering back in time.

"Well, that's your fault for not using your own to do the same." She's even using my own reasons and logic against me. Ugh, she's so insufferable sometimes.

"I would say touche, but ya know what. I'll concede this time, you win."

"YES!" She threw her arms up in celebration of the newly acquired victory. She may have won the battle, but I WILL win the war. After all… This is about attrition, a single battle doesn't mean jack diddly sugar titty shit.

"Ugh whatever, I'm gonna close my eyes and rest for a little bit. Just trying to let the food digest before doing anything else." I could probably walk and I doubt anything bad would happen but eh, these pillowy thighs are telling me sweet nothings.

"You know Issei, you always sleep on my lap, but I never get to sleep on yours." She says as if she's trying to give me a hint. But her words fall on deaf ears as I've already spaced out and am not even paying attention anymore.

"Oi Issei, did you hear what I said?" I totally didn't hear a thing…

"Issssssssseeeeeeeeeei."

"You know I hate it when you do this." Welp sucks to be you.

"Issei answer meeeeeeee." She began poking my forehead to grab my attention in any possible way.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way." Heaven and Hell can come after me, nothing you can do can make me leave this position.

"Hard way it is then." The poking stops and her hands leave my face. What's she planning?

I feel her arms gently wrap around from underneath me. As if she's about to carry me somewhere. And then… I get rolled off…

"BWAGAKH" I get a face full of dirt and whatever else the hell was by her feet.

I basically did a belly flop while face planting straight into the stupid ground. I could feel my arms and legs splayed out like a fly caught in a glue trap or something like that.

"What the hell?! I was so comfortable there…" I frowned at the loss of the heavenly pillow.

"That should teach you to not ignore me, and to answer me when I bug you like that." A satisfied smile was smeared across her face.

"Okay, so what do you want then? You wanted to sleep on my lap right?" I rubbed the dirt off of my face and dusted off my clothes as I took a seat next to Shinka on the park bench.

"I never said that I was only commenting that you always sleep on mine and it's never the other way around."

"Well yeah, but that basically translates into 'Issei, can you pwease wet wittle ol' me sweep on yow wap?' or something along those lines." Maybe a tad bit exaggerated on my part but I think I'm pretty accurate when it comes to what she wants.

"I do not sound like that!" She said while slapping my arm.

"Yeah yeah, whatever… Oh look it's Jesus Christ!" I aggressively point at the middle of the street to which is obviously nothing. But for her…

"Hah? Are you a moron? He's dead why would he be over the- AH" While pointing out the obvious stupid comment, she turned her head and let her guard down for a split second, which was more than enough time for me to capitalize. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and brought her down so that her head landed in my lap.

"There ya go. You should've just asked if you wanted it that badly!" Steam blew out of her ears and her face turned crimson from the sudden action. At this point, I'm not sure what was more red, her face or her hair.

"Hehe, how adorable." She turned her face away from me after my comment. She mumbled something into my lap.

"What'd you say?" She didn't lift her head and continued grumbling into my body.

"You're not fair Issei… Doing a surprise attack like that, so mean…" Goddammit, my heart can't take this cuteness for much longer.

"Tsk, you know you enjoyed it."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." She said while adjusting her head in my lap as if she's trying to move into a more comfortable position.

"Well, I'll imagine that it did, since it DOES help me sleep so ha!"

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that. I'll just relax here since this is really comfortable."

"Have fun then." I started aimlessly looking at the sky with no real thought in mind.

My hand subconsciously seemed to move away from me and towards Shinka's head. It gently through her hair and brushed it. Without really knowing it, I began running my fingers through it and would soothingly go over her the back of her head.

It continued for a while but then I started hearing something strange every time my hand rubbed against her head.

*Purr*

Did she just snore? Or was that… Can she even snore? She's a dragon after all…

*Purr* *Purr* Purr* *Purr*

No, wait a moment, that's not snoring…

That's…

"Shinka are you purring?"

"W-w-what?! A powerful dragon, like myself, would never do that!" She immediately straightened up and made eye contact as she fumbled over her words exasperatedly. She shook her head wildly while denying my statement.

"Are you sure about that?" That was definitely purring…

"Mhm! I'm completely sure!" She nodded her head aggressively while blushing intensely.

"Then surely you wouldn't do that if I just so happen to pet your head again right?" I asked challengingly.

"O-o-of course I wouldn't!"

"Well let's test that out right now!" My hand immediately went right to her head and began along the front to the back, gently gliding over in as soothing of a way as possible.

Whilst doing so, Shinka looked as if she was holding herself back from doing something. Her mouth was slightly fidgeting as if she wanted to say something but it never opened. I decided to pick up the pace and go in with a little more persistence. But since she is a hard-headed being that would never admit it, go figures she was able to keep holding on. However, she looked like she was struggling more now than before.

I needed something that would push her over the edge and make her make that same noise… It's not like more pressure will do anything since if anything it'll just become uncomfortable… Maybe dragons are kinda like animals with some of their sensitive spots… But even then what the hell would I do? I remember my dog would always push her head closer to my hand whenever I scratched behind her ears… Maybe that'll work here?

My hand moved down her head and I gave a light scratch in the back, right behind her ear.

*PURR*

"AHA! SO YOU DO PURR!" My hands continued their ministrations, and if anything seemed to speed up as they fell back into the habit of doing it as I did my dog.

"Issei! You shouldn't *purr* point those *purr* things out! *purr" She said angrily as if she didn't like it, but her body betrayed this by pushing closer into my hand with an atomic pink tint painted across her cheeks.

"Awww why not?"

"Because *purr* I'm a girl!" That of course, didn't stop me.

"You're point being?"

"It's ME that *purr* we're talking about!"

"Ehhh that makes no difference to m-" I suddenly stop everything and snap my head towards the entrance to the park. Something didn't feel right…

"Issei why'd you stop?" Her gaze followed mine but didn't seem to care.

"Shinka you can feel that right?"

"Yeah but it doesn't concern us, so keep scratching." While that does sound tempting... I need to find out what this feeling is. It just doesn't sit right with me to just sit here. Also, I thought she wanted me to stop. Now she wants me to continue? I'll just need to remember to do that later.

"It probably doesn't but I need to find out what's happening." I go to sit-up but I find myself locked down by Shinka. Her arms have moved over my legs and are keeping me in place on my seat.

"No, stay and scratch." Her eyes looked straight into mine and essentially was telling me that I had no other option.

"Come on let me check it out. If it's nothing I promise to come straight back and continue doing this as long as you want." My gut was never wrong and the feeling was getting worse by the moment.

Suddenly a mischievous smile appeared on her.

"How about we make a deal? You have to scratch behind my ears whenever I ask for it and you absolutely can't say no and let me follow you, then I'll let you go."

"Deal," I said without hesitation. I knew I'd probably regret it later but, for now, that'll have to wait. And as promised, she moved off of me and stood up.

I immediately shot up and went straight towards where the feeling was coming from. I ran through the park, and right out of the exit. I then whipped my head around to see if anything odd was going on. In the corner of my eye, I saw movement with one going towards the other. I snapped my head and saw a bunch of elves surrounding one on the ground, with the one closest bringing his fist down at a rather fast pace.

"Help… me…" I could hear the low painful murmur despite the distance between us.

I know I probably shouldn't interfere in this since it's none of my business… but something about this is screaming for me to get involved. I've never doubted my gut before because it had always saved me during my life, welp time to be a good samaritan today.

In an instant, I blinked out of vision and appeared in front of the downed elf and caught the hand that was going straight at its face. I gripped it hard and met the elf's surprised expression with my own intense and serious one.

"Oi, what do you think you're doing?" I glanced at the person I just protected and several things automatically occurred to me. One is that it's a girl and two that she is pretty cut up and bruised. They must've been doing this for some time…

"How dare you get in my way! I will pulverize you right now vermin!" He tried pulling his hand away but to no success.

"Who is this bastard?!" Another random elf to my side exclaimed.

"Let go of me dammit!" He raised his other fist and tried to strike me in the jaw. However, I simply pushed him off while letting go, causing him to fall over on his ass.

"How dare you do that to me! Do you know who I am?! I'm from the noble family of Eldrin! I'm the first son and future heir to become the head of my family!" He was a fat lump of a man that had four too many burgers. Nothing was especially notable besides his pedo stache and sad taste for colors and clothes. He was a decent height in stature but was still shorter than me. His belly was bulging out of his shirt that was threatening to explode.

"Do you really think you can take all of us on?" The noble's possie moved to his side with fists raised and weapons drawn.

"Probably can, and your point is…?" Seriously? Am I getting the overused cliche of noble dickhead?

You know, let me use some of those abilities that I learned during that long ass period of pure training.

Appraisal

Time slowed to a stop.

{Welp the quick and short of it are that every part of him is far too low for you to even bother considering. He could literally swing a katana at your neck and you wouldn't feel a thing. Typical chumps. Would you like his background as well?}

Hm… summarize it in a single sentence.

{Spoiled rich brat that acts as the loan shark for the family.}

Wow… that's so… pathetic.

How about the rest of them?

{They're significantly stronger than him but again compared to you there's basically no difference. And a quick summary, they're just brainless followers.}

Ahh, it's this kind of situation… Thanks for the help Tomo-chan.

{Mhm, no problem.}

Time reverts to normal.

"Are you just blowing me off?! How dare you treat me like I'm worthless! I will kill you, you filthy fucking peasant!" Seriously? He's calling me a peasant now? This is just sad.

He dashes towards me without the help of those around him and draws something from his sleeve and aims for my chest.

"Watch out!" A voice screams from behind to warn me of what seems like a dangerous situation. But in reality…

I catch the tip of the blade in between my index finger and thumb. And slowly wrap my hand around the blade to the surprise of feeling that it's rather dull. I then tighten my grip to keep him from being able to pull it away.

And unexpectedly… it shatters.

Wait, why are you dropping it? Why are you moving away?

"Ah, my bad… I just meant to catch it.

"What did you j-"

"I think you should buy a better knife… you're a noble right? Probably would be good if you got that checked out...

"Are you insulting me?!"

"No, I was just trying to help you out."

"Wh…?"

I could hear muffled laughter coming from behind me.

He could only look at me completely flabbergasted. His face was a messy mixture of utter surprise and anger. The fear that was there at first was completely gone. He stayed completely still as if he was in a traumatic shock.

"Okay since apparently, my words have gained form and samurai sliced his neutered nuts, are you okay?" I turned my back to him and looked at the girl, just behind her was Shinka barely restraining her laughter with both of her hands.

She looked at me with shock at the rapid development of the situation. In one moment she was getting beaten down and now she had a savior, aka me.

Her face was trembling and was a mess of purple bruises scattered all around her features, from the forehead to her cheeks and even to her lips. It was clear that they didn't hold back and were clearly going for enjoyment. She shook her head in response to my question with some of her voice coming out. She sounded as if she would break, her tears came running down her face as she tried to hold back her voice from showing truly how much pain she was in. But the amounts that did leak out, told more than was necessary.

I could feel a rather burning sensation coming from my chest from the way she looks. And it was directed right at the offenders of this whole thing.

"Hmm… alright, I got it. Just leave the rest of this to me." I approached her, then kneeled and rested my hand on her head.

Panacea

I cast the first healing spell that came to mind, which in reality was far stronger than what was necessary but it doesn't matter. The wounds that were inflicted on her rapidly closed and recolored to that of what was originally there. Her appearance lost its beat-up and pitiful look, with the only real evidence of her being attacked being the rips in her clothing.

Taking a better look at her, she was quite the beauty. Pale skin contrasting her deep blue eyes. She had long white hair with bagns that fell asymmetrically just below her eyebrows and slightly extended ears as would be expected out of any elf. Her hair was wavy and cascaded down the small of her back. As far as curves go, compared to Shinka she is what I would call completely normal. Err… maybe not normal, she doesn't really have a chest since it's rather… flat, and her ass is no different… This however… is still a treasure.

"Why are you all just standing there?! Attack him dammit!" Now comes the goons… Why can't I ever finish something without being attacked? Just let me stare in peace...

"Shinka, tend to her while I deal with them."

I turn my head back towards their direction and watch as they run at me from all different directions. I put my hands on my knees and got up lazily to face them. One of them got ahead of the rest and jumped with his sword behind his head, ready to slice me in half the moment that I'm in range. The blade beginning its swing approaches closer and closer.

*CLANK*

The sword strikes the ground and not its intended target, that being me.

"Where'd he go?!" Their head and eyes dart from place to place looking for a trace of me. With one of them finding me rather quickly, probably because I'm right behind him.

"Come on, let's be peaceful about this. I'd rather not have-" I duck to dodge a wild swipe as the man spins to try and cut me. In return, I give him a small shove to create a small amount of distance. "Okay, now that's just plain rude. Cutting me off like that is seriously not th-" My instincts flare for me to jump away immediately which I follow, and as I do a rather sharp looking arrow flies right past where I was standing.

When I landed they all seemed to have regrouped and are facing me with their eyes blazing with fury and violence. I look a bit beyond them and see Shinka with her head on her hand watching this whole situation go down with what I think is boredom. She gives me a look that says 'Just kill them or something, stop playing with your food.'

While I whole-heartedly agree with that unless they do something that pisses me off, there's no way I'm gonna kill them. And while I may be rather angry, there's no way killing someone in a foreign world will end well for me. I'd rather just settle this peacefully instead of having to incapacitate them but from the looks of it, that's not happening.

"Guess there's no point in trying to reason with you all."

They charge at me once more with the archer this time letting his arrow fly as the others quickly surround me and instead of having only one engage me, they all try to make contact with me at the same time. They all aim for one spot, my neck.

A small leap was all it took to dodge it, I weightlessly landed on the tip of their swords, standing on the tip of my toes as they seemed to have made the perfect landing for me to stand on.

Immediately reacting to this they shift their way to swing upwards and catch my legs with various lacerations. Instead, I use the moment to jump off and land all the way, right behind the archer. I kick the back of his leg to make him stagger and lose his balance, I then employ a move that everyone seems to utilize in the movies and use an elbow strike to the vagus nerve in his neck. Making him crumple to the ground, unconscious.

"Man, I've always wanted to do that to someone, like this has been in development for so many years."

They watch me down their colleague and with renewed vigor they once again create a messy charge, except this time the spacing is all wrong and they come at me almost one at a time.

The first one uses his momentum to slam his lead foot right in front of me and push his arms forward with all of his might to stab me in the stomach. I simply sidestep his attempt and let him fly past me while using a soft chop to take him out too.

Okay, this is literally the coolest thing ever. And it's a good thing that Shinka taught me how to control the strength of my hits, or else I'm pretty sure I would've decapitated him cleanly.

The next one comes unarmed and tries to go for an overhead haymaker. This time I try something different and catch his fist and pull him to bring him closer to me. Using my free hand, I grab his face and push him back and downwards straight into the ground. A sickening crunch following it, with his eyes going to the back of his head, only blank white ones looking back at me.

The last two charges from behind me and go in with an overhead swing to try and catch me off guard. Too bad they were screaming 'die' or some shit like that, and their footsteps were way too damn loud.

I use my absurdly fast movement to disappear from sight and appear behind them. I grab the sides of both their heads and slam them against each other. Knocking them out on contact.

I finally looked at my final opponent. The filthy noble.

"Well, well look who's left. These other dudes are down for the count. What are you gonna do now?"

He took a step back out of fear and was shaking slightly. His mouth quivered and failed to produce a response.

"I-I-I will remember this and then you'll re-"

"Then what? First heir my ass, your family just feeds you because they know it'll keep you quiet. They wouldn't even bother disinheriting you because it'll just look bad on them. I may not be from around here but seriously the nobility never changes, specializing their family members in a single field because otherwise it's too much for a single spunk filled brain to handle."

"Y-y-y-"

"Now you seem to be having an aneurysm… Slow down when you talk. Be smooth like cheesecake. Less aneurysms, more cheesecake." I put both of my hands in front of my face pointed away from me and rolled them as if they were a wave.

His face became puffy and red, it seemed his anger was reaching new levels and now even his fear of me just vanished in place of his pride.

"I WILL NOT BE LOOKED DOWN UPON BY SOME COMMON BASTARD! I WILL GUT YOU, I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD BEFORE THE SUN FALLS AND THEN I-"

"Oh just fucking shoot me already…"

"Just kill him already Issei, this is getting annoying." His head snapped towards the presence that had just made itself known.

With his expression I think he is just now noticing that she's there... how did he not see the big breasted red haired girl that stands out like a sore thumb…?

I don't even need to see his face to know what's going through his mind. The filthy and lustful thoughts are clear and apparent from the way he stopped paying me any attention and instead are glued to her.

The overconfident noble finally breaks away and looks at me with a grin.

"Well it seems that you know this fine lady, I'll cut you a deal that you can't refuse. Leave her here with me and I'll forget this whole thing ever happened. What do you say?"

What did you just say…?

"You see I have been quite unsatisfied with the women that I've been provided for a while. This would be the perfect thing to sate my growing appetite." I was already bubbling on the inside with him from what he was doing to the other girl, but now I can feel myself losing control over my emotions. I can feel my anger rapidly growing and my patience getting thinner and thinner.

"Let me get this straight, you're telling me to go and leave her to fulfill your desires?" I ask solemnly with my head tilted towards the ground.

"Precisely! I assume that you're agreeing to this?" His smile became broad as his teeth showed through.

"Then we don't have a deal…"

"Shackles of Arcadia."

Gold chains shot out of the ground and wrapped around his legs and arms. Bounding them to the ground in a kneeling pose with his back stretched so his wrists are touching the dry surface of the planet. I started walking towards his restricted form

I'm normally a rather patient and reasonable fellow. But you see there are a few things that tick me off more than anything the unholy menstrual fucker seems to love. And he just nailed a few of those right on the head…

"You really think for a moment, that I would ever leave her with the likes of you? I think we're going to have some fun before I send you on your merry way!" My eyes lit up and I could feel my face morphing and my mouth curving upwards. A small bind wrapped itself around his mouth to prevent him from being able to speak.

"Why the scared expression? I said we're gonna have fun! After all, rotting sybarites have always been my favorite!" His eyes widened as they threatened to go past their natural restrictions. It seemed as if he was trying to get further away from me, but too bad for him, I caught him after all.

He couldn't even utter a scream. How adorable…

"Where shall we start?" I approached closer and closer and my hands were slowly but surely coming ever so near.

"Your face will do jus-"

"What is going on here?"

Hoof steps came to a stop behind me, I turned my head towards where the voice came from. An extremely elegant and pretty elf stepped down and out of a rather fancy carriage that was drawn and surrounded by pure white horses. She was wearing a dress that exudes charm and dignity, flowing in the light wind. It was light green and went down to just barely scraping the ground. It fitted her form and hugged her curves to show off her slim body and massive bust. Along with it was a garment of the same color that went around her neck and fell just behind her arms. She wore a crown that seemed to be made out of pure gold and bejeweled with countless gems that I can only assume are ridiculously expensive and rare.

She had deep blue eyes that gave you the feeling that you were looking straight into the ocean, and long white hair that fell to just below her rear.

Several guards stood by her side and were decked out in full knight armor except for the helmet. All of them being female and also being in the same league in terms of pure beauty.

I immediately dispelled my bindings as it seems that this person is of a significantly higher social status compared to the twat.

"You heard the queen! Answer when she talks to you!" One of the guards yelled at me with a rapier drawn and pointed at me.

"You see, this is why despite being so pretty, you don't have a boyfriend. If you keep acting like this I'm afraid you'll never have one either…" The queen said to the aggressive guard.

"T-T-That has nothing to do with this, your majesty! I was only yelling because he wasn't listening to you!" She began blushing from being teased in front of strangers while on duty. The other knights had also begun snickering at her expense.

She had perfect silky white skin without a single blemish in sight. She had short light blue hair with messy bangs that stopped right before her eyes, two of which on the side of her face fell to her shoulders. The other portions of her hair didn't fall much further than the middle of her neck.

"Do not act out, stay civil and remember your position is to guard, not to attack."

"Yes, your majesty." She readopted her tone of obedience.

"I apologize for my subject's behavior, but regardless of such. This does not change my question. Why are there unconscious bodies surrounding you with a noble being bound by chains?" She said in a relaxed manner but with a somewhat satisfied voice.

"Your Majesty I was attacked! This filthy commoner came out of nowhere and attacked me and my group while we were simply trying to take a stroll through the district!" The noble still on his knees began playing the victim card while speaking with a sound of reverence towards her.

"Huh?! You and your dick slapping buddies were trying to bukake her!" Well I mean they were beating her up so my description is not THAT far off.

"How dare you accuse me of doing such hideous acts to another fellow elf! I would never do-"

"Stop bickering in front of the queen or I will make you!" The same guard was at it again trying to establish some false sense of authority that she didn't have.

However, it did get the noble to immediately shut up so I guess she does have authority?

I take a look behind me to see the elf girl also kneeling and Shinka sitting on a bench.

"You there! Kneel, for the queen has bestowed her gracious figure before you." The damn snarky guard is back at it again. Ughh I don't feel like kneeling right now, the ground seems pretty uncomfortable.

"I can't just stand?" A stupid and rhetorical question, sure to piss her off plenty.

"I see that I need to show you your place, you dare to insult the queen by standing in her presence, and then refusing to submit yourself. You are no equal to her!" The knight immediately dashed from her spot. Unlike the sad few from before, I could tell that she was strong, from the way she held herself and especially now with the fact that she pretty much closed the distance between us in a split second.

However, the gap between our power is far too vast.

When she was right in front of me, she was in a typical stabbing stance, but her form was crouched and she was exploding upwards with her rapier straight towards my heart.

By power gap, I meant in my favor. Although I do think it'll be funny if I pretend to die.

Let's see if I can pull this off.

I watched as the sword went straight through my chest like a knife through butter. It's pretty impressive that she was able to stab so cleanly. She then twisted her blade and pulled it out with a giant splash of blood exiting from the wound. Her mouth was gaped open as if she didn't expect this to happen. Her eyes were saucer plates when she watched what happened to my body.

WHY ARE YOU ACTING SURPRISED? YOU LITERALLY STABBED ME AND PULLED THE SWORD OUT! MAYBE THE FIRST PART WAS AN ACCIDENT BUT THE SECOND PART OF TAKING THAT SHIT OUT?!

I put my hand over the 'hole' which due to my regeneration abilities was already closed but of course, I couldn't show that or it'd kill the whole surprise before it even began. I slackened my jaw and widened my eyes and pretended to be in awe at what happened. I took my hand off slightly and looked at it as if I'm shocked to see my blood.

*GASP*

I slowly tilt my head around to see the girl with her hands over her mouth. Guilty tears flood her eyes and it looks like she wants to break.

As I slowly look back towards the guard that assaulted me, I glance at the noble who is barely hiding a snicker.

I slowly crumple to the ground and fall on my knees before falling over to my side and lie there motionless in a small pool of blood that came out from the initial puncture. I slowly shut my eyes and listened to the ensuing conversation.

"Your majesty, taking swift action as expected! This is why you were the most suitable to claim the throne despite being the youngest! True justice served without a second thought! Th-"

You are so getting it once I 'awaken'.

"Silence." His utterances came to an immediate stop.

"I t-t-thought he would block that…" Hmm? It seems that she's not particularly used to killing someone. Probably the newest addition. Also, it seems that she has some good senses if she expected that from me. I still have that bracelet on too, I should be nothing more than the average city-folk if she tried scanning my power.

"Heal him. Now."

"Y-yes your majesty." I can hear messy footsteps come towards me and a warming sensation encompassing my body. This feels quite nice to be honest.

"This is what I mean you are too rash! You acted out against my direct orders and attacked him for reasons that are negligible at best. How are you supposed to be the leader of my guards when you fail to follow simple directions?"

She couldn't respond and I could only feel the warmth fluctuating, I'm assuming it's from her lack of focus and swirling emotions.

"We will discuss your punishment later… How is he?" The queen asked about my well being with genuine concern. See why can't people be more like her and not be a dick?

"Your majesty… I-i-it's not w-w-working…" Her voice was quivering to the point that I actually started feeling guilty.

"His life force isn't changing?!" The queen sounded exasperated now.

I guess it wouldn't look good if the queen's guard had killed someone for no real reason.

"Your majesty, do not waste your precious breath on trash like him. He failed to respect your figure, so it was only natural that he would meet an early end at th-" I swear this guy seriously has no fucking shame.

"I know who you are, I know what you do and your reputation. You are Gael Eldrin, the first of the Eldrin's and the heir to the wealth and power of the family. You are not infallible and your deeds are not unknown to me. The only reason I have not done anything to this point is due to your family standings. However, it is your best interest to stay silent or I will disregard such pleasantries right here and now," Her voice was deadly and as sharp as a knife.

Remind me to not get on her bad side.

"But your majes-"

"One more word and I will have your skin as a keepsake." Yikes, that's rather gruesome to flay someone.

"H-h-he's dead your majesty… I can't feel it anymore…" her voice was trembling even more badly than before. Terror was present in every word.

"Retrieve his body, we will find his family and give him a proper funeral for them. We will talk later."

"Y-y-yes, your majesty…" I could feel her shaking arms wrap around my legs and behind my back to pick me up.

"Okay, Issei knock it off already, your joke has gone on long enough."

"Aww I was just about to be carried too, why do you have to spoil my fun like that?" I opened my eyes and looked right back at Shinka while frowning.

"AHHHH!" The guard screamed and immediately fell on her butt and scurried away.

"Geez, I was wondering why you just took it but then after watching this, now I know why you went through all of that. I will say, your acting is top-notch."

"Why thank you, Shinka. I attribute my success to you, after all, there was no way that I would have been able to get those extra minutes in bed if I didn't learn how to pretend to be asleep."

"How are you still alive?!" Chunky spoke again with an understandable amount of surprise.

"Seriously? A stab was gonna kill me? Yeah, not happening. Ever."

"B-b-but you got stabbed!"

"Huh? What stab? There isn't a hole in me though." I said while showing off the part that got pierced by her sword. Surely enough, there was a blade sized whole in the clothing but no wound where it was. "You have some good form I'll tell ya, but a bit slow in general. Can you forgive your guard for this, I really don't mind that this happened." I said while pointing at the guard that stabbed me.

"It couldn't have been magic… I definitely didn't feel anything change… then it was… regeneration huh…? How interesting…" I picked up the soft mutterings of the queen. She's fast on the pick-up. I'm surprised she even got to that conclusion in the first place… She isn't queen for nothing I guess.

"*sigh* Well, I'm glad that you haven't passed from the land of the living, I apologize once again for her rash behavior. Filauria is the newest addition and takes her job very seriously. If that is what you would like, then so be it. Please forgive me for being unable to control her actions." She bowed her head at the end of her apology. Okay, I think in general everyone should be like her. SHE'S LITERALLY ROYALTY AND SHE'S BOWING HER HEAD TO ME!

"Uh please raise your head, this isn't your fault and even then I don't really mind. If anything I'm sorry for playing this joke on all of you. Didn't mean for things to get so heated back there."

"Thank you for looking past this, and believe me, I would have likely done the same if I was in your position and could do what you do." She said with a teasing voice.

"I believe introductions are in order, I am the Queen of this country, Elhieardacil von Elynhelmel. May I be granted the privilege to know the name of you and your betrothed?" She had a charming smile that had a sense of friendliness yet royalty.

"I'm Issei Hyoudou, and my betro- wait what?" I feel a presence on my arm and flick my head over to see Shinka holding my arm into her chest while laying her head on my shoulder.

"I'm surprised you could tell our relationship status so quickly, I'm Shinka Ryuu." She said with an odd amount of happiness, I could almost feel her bubbling nature in my gut.

Normally I would ask why she's doing this but honestly, I'll just roll with it at this point.

"Haha, such is a menial task for someone that has been around for as long as I have. I will say, your boyfriend did quite the job there. He really did get me there."

"I expect nothing less from a leader such as yourself with the reputation that you managed to forge. " Her embrace around my arm only seemed to get tighter and her attitude more sparkly and glittery.

"As pleasant as this conversation is, we must return to the business at hand. With such, would you please explain what happened here." She pointed her finger straight at Gael… or rather at who was behind him. However, he, of course, didn't come to the same conclusion and immediately started speaking.

"Well as I said your majesty, I was-"

"Not you, the lady behind you." She said, looking at the girl that was beyond surprised to be called on by the queen to talk. "It is clear that you have witnessed this from the very beginning, do you mind explaining everything from the start?"

"Y-Y-yes your majesty!" Snapping out of her stupor she recounted all the events that led up to this moment and then moving to her getting pummeled to the ground after being caught off guard and then midway through, I had appeared and helped her by saving her and knocking out the goons. She talked about how Shinka came in a bit later to calm her down and then the whole thing with the queen.

The queen closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"As a person with morals, I would like nothing more than to sympathize with your case, however, such are the rules that govern the land that fails to prohibit the aggressive behavior of the nobles towards the lower classes. And beyond such, you have struck a noble that is of significant standing within our elven society. Despite the circumstances regarding this incident, it is still against you just for this simple fact." Elhieardacil stated with a hint of bitterness.

"Wasn't the best idea to get involved now was it?!" Gael exclaimed with triumph.

"You can't be serious about this." It's not the most unexpected thing in the world but in the shows, I've seen, when this sort of thing goes down. The royalty usually takes the side of the good guy, the good guy being ME. Not that I can blame her, since after all she is the head of the country, and because of that and being in public. She would need to follow the rules as she is not above it herself, especially to keep face with the public that clearly adores her.

"See what I said! I told you that I'd have your head!" The lump was laughing hysterically in his position at what he believed to be a guaranteed win for him.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck." This is the kind of bullshit that you can't help but give a long dragged out swear too. Ugh, what a headache. I was just trying to be a good person and then this happens. "Alright, well what kind of punishments await me." Not that I'll actually let anything happen to me.

"Wait a moment! All of this started because of me! None of this was Issei-san's fault. Don't do anything to him, I'll take any punishment that's deemed worthy. Just… please let him go." The girl had stumbled in front of the queen and prostrated herself before her, in a seiza with both of her hands and head down in front of her.

Before the Queen could speak, the filthy noble began loudly talking.

"Well as I am nobility, and usually, the victim is allowed to dole out the punishment, in return for freeing the boy, I'll be willing to come to a compromise." His smile became perverse, lecherous intent was evident. "You will become mine, you will return to my household and become my personal maid that I will use at any time and with any whim."

The girl looked with fearful eyes and her form shuddered. The thought of being his personal sex toy…

"Yeah, no, there's no way in hell I'm letting that happen. Your majesty, what penalty awaits me?" I immediately retorted to his comment, if you really think I'll let her do that for me, you're out of your fucking mind.

"Hmm…" She placed her hand on her chin as if she was in deep thought. But suddenly her eyes shined for the briefest moment, before going stoic and serious again.

"Well, normally this would be a punishment fitting for death or many years of hard labor. But…"

""But?""

"There has been some growing discontent for this man amongst the lower class. There have been many cases filed against him but have gone no further than a review before being dismissed by a certain someone. Instead of punishment, I propose an idea that dates back to the days of old... A duel." She said with a sly smile. I like where this is going.

Wait… a duel? Isn't what Chuo told me to do… was after a colosseum duel I'm supposed to bring Shinka to the hill that overlooks the city? This is… Not the time to focus on that right now.

"Y-y-your Majesty, surely you don't mean that I the victim have to be subjugated to such barbaric traditions such as that?!" He sounded as if he wanted to shit himself.

"Would you rather have me give all those files a personal look and condemn you on those?" The simple statement kept any more retorts from coming out. "However, since in this case, you are the victim, I will allow you to arm yourself with whatever you please, along with this, you may bring any amount of men and beasts to aid you in this endeavor." She said with a slight amount of provocation.

I can tell you now, that this queen is a scheming and slick bastard. I absolutely love it but damn is she sneaky as hell… She's giving him these things because she understands that with this, he will surely accept the terms and conditions.

"Do you agree to these terms?"

"Of course! I will gladly accept this!" He said with excitement and giddiness.

"And you Issei-san, is there anything you would like? Since such is only fair with the amount of help I am allowing him."

"No, I'm okay going in alone. I don't really need anything." The queen raised an eyebrow at this. Was she expecting something else for me to respond with?

The girl looked back at me and seemed as if she was about to say something against what I was doing. I gave her a consoling look that said ' I know what I'm doing, don't worry.'

"Are you absolutely certain that you don't want anything? Not a weapon, or someone to help you?"

"Mhm, I'm positive."

"Then so be it. The duel will be scheduled right away, it will take place tonight at dusk. I recommend preparing yourselves right away."

"Yes, your majesty." Without a second to waste, he immediately began running down the street and disappeared into the distance. Not even bothering to pick up or do something about his men that were still knocked out on the ground.

"Wow, he left in an instant…" I couldn't help but comment on his immediate leave.

"Such is to be expected since he comes from the Eldrin's." She shook her head slightly at his rather unsightly behavior.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!" The girl rose up immediately and stormed right up to me and grabbed him by the collar. Shinka didn't really pay any mind to it and kept spacing out while hugging my arm.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN A DUEL? YOU'LL BE BATTLING UNTIL EITHER ONE OF YOU DIES OR CONCEDES! HE WILL DO EVERYTHING TO GET THE MOST POWERFUL WARRIORS AND BEASTS THAT HIS FAMILY OWNS. AND YOU'RE JUST GOING IN THERE BY YOURSELF!" She angrily shook me as she yelled exasperatedly.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Her grip was weakening as her voice got quieter.

"I'm just a stranger to you… You didn't need to go this far for me…" She fell to her knees not even able to hold on to me anymore.

"What's your name?" I asked her.

"... It's Miilan… why?"

"See you're no longer a stranger, you're Miilan!" Her eyes swell up from my remark.

Wait… that sounds surprisingly male...

"I don't get it…" She said while leaning into my stomach.

"It's honestly not that big of a deal. While maybe a bit of an annoyance that this will take up most of the day, it's really not that crazy." I mean, for me, that's the case. For most others than it's definitely the complete opposite.

"Issei-san don't you think you're taking this far too lightly?"

Hmm, so even the queen is worried.

"Nah, don't worry. I have a few things up my sleeve. This is definitely not something to be concerned with." By things up my sleeve, I just mean my infinite spank bank that I call magic reserves.

"He's never lost a colosseum battle you know." The queen said matter of factly.

"Seriously? Him? I beat him without lifting a finger, how could he defeat anyone?"

"It's not him that overwhelms the opponents. Rather, he brings along the family protector… A large dragon with immense strength. The only reason it stays loyal to the Eldrin's is because it was produced through a summoning pact. Otherwise, it likely would have destroyed them, and this nation."

Oooooh, this might be fun actually. Fighting something other than Shinka that is supposedly very strong. This should be a good way to gauge my current power. Also she said summoning pact right? Would it be possible for me to summon something like that…?

"Sounds like fun. When and where will the fight be."

In return all I get are blank stares of disbelief.

"Shinka what's up with them?" I shake my shoulder slightly to get her attention.

"They're probably just surprised that you don't care that you're fighting a dragon." She brought her head close to my ear and whispered. "Don't worry, you are far more powerful than whatever he will bring. Try not to let your secret out too soon that you're also a dragon.

"Mhm, gotcha." I nodded slightly to her.

"Issei-san, you're a human. How could you possibly defeat something like that." The queen said, not with a sense of looking down on me, but rather with a tone of worry.

"Looks can be deceiving Your majesty, after all, didn't I just take a stab to the heart?"

"That may be true but…"

"Trust me, everything will be just fine."

"But what if you lose? You talk as if you know you'll win, but what if you lost to him?" Miilan asked softly.

"Shinka over here will take you somewhere safe. Somewhere you can't be tracked down or followed. You'll do that for her right?"

"Ehh? But he's ruined our date! And is putting you through this mess. Now you let him cry on you, but for some reason never let me... Do I really have to?" She puffed with a tone of annoyance. Her face was turned away with her cheeks inflated.

"Please…?" I gave my best impression of what I remember puppy eyes look like.

"Ugh, fine. Just stop looking at me that way, it's weird." She said with a red face while still turned away.

"Thanks Shinka, you're the best." Turning my face down to address Miilan. "Well there you have it, either way you'll be safe so don't worry about it."

"Thank you…" Miilan responds, the words come out muffled due to her still pressing into my stomach.

Wait a second… did she say HE?!

"Ah, hold on… Shinka, did you just say he?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"But Miilan is a girl… right?" Don't fucking tell me…

"Issei-san, I'm a boy."

FUCK, SHIT, MOTHERFUCKER, VEINY BONER, ASS SPRINKLES, I THOUGHT YOU WERE A GIRL THIS WHOLE TIME. FUCK, I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M MEETING AN ACTUAL TRAP WHAT THE HELL.

I ALWAYS THOUGHT THOSE PROTAGONISTS WERE MORONS FOR FALLING FOR THIS KIND OF SHIT BUT I'M NO DIFFERENT! GOD DAMMIT!

"You really thought Miilan was a girl this whole time?! I thought you were just saying 'she' to play along with it!" Shinka doubled over in laughter.

FUCK YOU

"Is there something wrong Issei-san? You've turned very pale…" Miilan's eyes sparkly meet mine.

Ugh… he's too cute to be a boy… Why must the cruel world do this to me?

"It's nothing don't worry Miilan." I pat his head, in which he responds with an oddly cute sound.

I am into girls. I am into girls. I am into girls. I am into girls. I am into girls. I am into girls. I am into girls. I am into girls. I am into girls. I am into girls. I am into girls.

"It doesn't look like I'll be able to dissuade you from your decision… Would you like to come back to the palace and have some tea? You don't seem to be from around here and I'm rather curious why a Human would be here." The queen muttered at the beginning but then boldly prompted the question.

THANK YOU FOR CHANGING THE SUBJECT!

"Just me, or all of us?" I wouldn't really want to leave them alone. Shinka because god knows what will happen if I leave her here by herself. And Miilan I'm just worried about him being alone.

"I'm asking you, if you do decide to come, Shinka-san and Miilan-san are free to come as well."

Well, I don't see why not.

"It would be my pleasure then." I bowed my head at such an offer.

"Wonderful, come with me in my carriage, we have much to discuss."

With that, I picked up Miilan in a bridal carry, much to Shinka's amusement, and we followed the queen inside of her carriage. The guards immediately dispersed and got back on the horses that acted as a security cover. Putting their helmets on, they began to lead us away towards the Royal Castle.

The ride there was rather quiet, simply due to the fact that Miilan ended up passing out on my lap and Shinka had her eyes closed on my arm. (For a better image, issei was in the middle of a large seat and to his left was Miilan curled up and lying on his thigh. To his right Shinka was sitting up but leaning on him.) The Queen and I did initially have some chit-chat but due to my rather precarious position we mutually decided to just wait until we arrived back at the castle to finish our talk.

"Humu… Humu…" Shinka was making plesanat noises while leaning against my arm. Along with this, like some sort of tail, her little sectioned off ponytail was swaying back and forth as if it belonged to an excited dog.

I could feel the entertained look from the queen as she watched this little interaction.

Probably has some old thoughts running through her head, like 'What a cute young couple.' But in reality… we're the young ones and she… is countless years older than both of us combined.

Once we arrived it was definitely quite the grand spectacle. I thought that cathedral was amazing but this just towers over it in terms of size, beauty, and the wealth and prestige it exudes. It's as if I was walking into a final boss level, or was meeting with some kind of world emperor. I would definitely be more amazed if I wasn't already living in a rather glamorous place myself.

Eventually we reached what could be classified as ivory steps that led to a pure golden entrance. Here the carriage was brought to a stop and the door was opened, signaling that we had reached our destination.

The queen took the initiative and was the first one out, waiting for us outside.

I lightly shake my shoulder and poke Miilan's side to wake them up.

"Guys, we're here, it's time to go." I say softly as they slowly wake up to the new scenery.

Miilan is the first one to get up, rubbing his eyes sleepily with his hand. He looks around drowsily before suddenly, what I can only call, sparkling. He was completely enamored with the view, seeing the castle where royalty lived is something that I'm assuming is not too common.

He rather excitedly left and was pacing back and forth along the path way.

Shinka on the other hand just continued to try and fight the inevitable, and snuggled closer to try and go back to sleep.

Such a cute creature…

"Come on Shinka, the queen is being generous to bring us here. Let's at least not make it hard for her."

"Mmmm, morning kisssss."

You're so insufferable I swear… Still cute though.

"Hmm, alright." I wrapped my arm around her back as she lightly puckered her lips, anticipating my action.

I then shifted my arm around her side and picked her up with a single arm by her abdomen like lugging around a child. Following this I stepped out of the carriage and dropped her face first into the ground.

"Morning kiss, from floor-sama." I said with a smirk, I just wanted to see the face she makes when she's irritated. Her annoyed face is always so cute to see.

She lifted her face from the ground and looked back at me. Instead of the typical "what the fuck face" she gave me one that seemed rather hurt and sad from my actions. She looked dejected and turned away from me.

I feel like such a douchebag now.

She got up and silently dusted herself off without looking back at me.

I was really expecting a punch or something of that nature, but this just makes me feel really bad.

"Schedule a duel between Hyoudou Issei and Gael Eldrin, it will be at midday, give time to allow sunset to fall after the duel's completion." Elhieardacil said to a maid that immediately ran off after receiving the order.

"So as I was saying Issei-san…"

The queen didn't notice the commotion and began walking towards the castle. We followed in tow but Shinka was clearly sulking. I better fix that later...

She led us through stunning and elegant rooms and hallways one after the other. It seemed like we would never reach our destination. Eventually, we reached a simple living room with every piece elevated to the highest quality.

"Have a seat, is everyone okay with having tea?" The queen asked as she took a seat on the chair opposite of us.

"Uh yeah, I'm alright with that." I said while awkwardly making my way to the sofa across from her. This felt extremely similar to one back at Shinka's place. Soft yet firm, perfect for sinking back into yet still providing support for your body.

"Of course your majesty." Miilan said with barely contained excitement. Sitting on another velvety chair that was in between the Queen and I.

"...sure" Shinka gave a dismissive answer while spacing out on the edge of the sofa. Strange, she didn't take the spot right next to me… ahhh, god dammit.

"Perfect!" She gave a small hand gesture to the maid that was stationed at the doorway. In response to this, the maid bowed and briskly walked off.

"I can tell that you're new around here. You seemed rather surprised by the laws and rules of our nation." The queen talked casually while sitting with one leg crossed over the other.

"You're rather perceptive, your majesty. I'm not really from around here." I don't exactly know how to respond to where I'm from.

Am I supposed to say that I just poofed into existence and am now taking residence in an uninhabitable space? Should I just say that I'm from earth or something like that? Although who knows if she even knows what planet that is.

"Do you mind telling me a bit about your past? This might be a bit much for our first conversation but I am curious. After all, I've heard about your kind before but have never quite seen so in person."

"Err… well, it's a bit complicated…" I could only vaguely answer and hope that she backs off for now.

"That's okay, you don't have to tell me now. Rather than that, do you mind showing me that spell that you used before on Gael-san?" She said quickly, waving her hands in the air lightly.

"The chain spell?"

"Indeed."

I don't really see a problem with showing her my magic, I mean it shouldn't really cause much trouble, and why would it even matter if she knows some of my abilities.

"Understood… Shackles of Arcadia" With the command, several magic circles appeared in the room, with chains shooting to the opposite ends, stopping just before coming in contact with the wall/ground/ceiling.

"Ehhhh? What kind of magic is this?! Do you not need to chant anything to use spells?!" She asked with enthusiasm. I'm guessing she likes magic?

Miilan on the other hand just stares in awe at what happened.

What does she mean by what kind of magic? Are the terms not universal or something? I mean I don't expect her to know about the whole imagination, calculation, and concept thing. But are the common terms not universal either?

"What do you mean what kind of magic? Am I supposed to do long drawn out chants?"

"Ah, that's right you're not from around here. You're probably not familiar with Elven Magic, it is different from the others in how it's cast and what it takes to use it."

"To summarize it, we categorize magic into 6 separate categories. Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, Healing, and Posion, are the main divisions that we put each spell into. For us, words are power, we need it to recite incantations. Some portions can be shortened but generally speaking, the more powerful the spell, the longer the chant becomes. Skilled users of course can shorten these into key words, but only the most powerful can activate the strongest magic with a few sentences."

Seriously? People actually need to chant stuff? I just say it because I think it sounds really cool. In reality though, I don't actually need to speak a word. As long as my brain works, I can use magic. Probably just because they're taught so often that they need to recite that they can't grasp their minds around purely doing mentally.

"Huh, that's news to me."

"Issei-san, do you mind if I use a device to measure the magicules coming from those chains?"

"Uh, sure?" I'm not quite sure how to respond to that.

"Thank you very much." Standing up she pulls a strange orb out of her sleeve and puts it right next to one of the chains.

"...!" The orb lights up a brilliant gold and illuminates every reach of the room.

"Issei-san how are you able to use magic like this." The one to ask the question was not the queen, but rather it was Miilan whose attention was now focused on my magic instead of his surroundings. "I may not look like it, but I'm rather capable myself in magic but I've never seen such power radiate from a spell before."

"Is it really that impressive?" I mean I know they're powerful chains because they are able to slightly restrict Shinka, before of course she powers up and shatters them completely and then beats me into the ground but we're not going to talk about that.

"This is… Ancient-class magic…"

"Is that special?"

"Do you not understand the weight of this Issei-san?" This time the queen was addressing me.

"No…?"

"For elves, the rankings of magic goes as follows. Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Saint, King, Demon, Emperor, God, and finally Ancient. Issei-san, in other words, this is magic that would be regarded as one of the most powerful spells that is known to all of elf kind."

"And you casted it… just like that…" Miilan added in awe.

"I didn't know it was that powerful…" Haha… well there goes hiding my power.

"Of course you didn't." Shinka stopped sulking on the side, thank God. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm gonna have to do some serious apologizing later. "You only use them against me, so of course they won't work that well. But it's actually rather obvious if you look at the amount of magic that it's exhibiting."

Would you like to switch to "Magic View"? Yes/No?

A yes or no option was prompted into my vision. This is definitely something only I'm seeing… Hmm, let's go with yes. I'm pretty curious.

Yes.

Request Accepted

In an instant the chains are suddenly bursting with blue energy. It's as if it's exploding with magic coming out of every molecule of it. The room is practically filled with the stuff now.

"HOOOOOOO-LY SHIT!" Seeing it for the first time… I can see what they mean now. Even though there is nothing for me to compare it to, even a clueless moron like me knows that this is ridiculous on every scale.

"Yeah you should've said that a long time ago back when you first discovered the move." Shinka rolled her eyes at my amazement.

Oi that's not fair, This is a surprise to me too. Let me have my moment damn you.

"YOUR MAJESTY ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" The personal guards from before came storming into the room. Immediately taking position around her.

I watch them dart their eyes around and carefully study the situation.

"Don't worry, all is well. Issei-san is just showing me some of his magic." She said calmly to help alleviate the mounting tension.

"""EHHH?!""" They all said in disbelief.

"We thought you were in danger, your majesty. We felt an enormous amount of magic coming from this room." The Filauria said breathing an exhale of relief.

"Actually this is perfect timing for all of you." She said gaining confused looks.

"What do you mean your majesty?"

"Issei-san, how about you have a spar against them? Just to gauge your strength a bit? After seeing a showing of power like this, I don't doubt your ability, I would just like to see for myself. You can even get a dash of vengeance if you so please…" She whispered the last part so that only my ears heard it.

She really wants to watch me fight, doesn't she?

I glance over towards Shinka and Miilan who just give me a shrug in response. Guess they don't really care.

I doubt fighting them would be that bad.

"However, the only condition would be of course to limit your strength. I value my subordinates and I would rather not watch them executed before my eyes."

"That doesn't sound too bad… As long as they're not opposed to it I don't really mind I guess. Although I'm not too sure how well I'd fair against multiple people…"

"Just think of this as practice Issei-san." She responded with a smile.

"Well… Are the rest of you okay with fighting right now?"

"Our will is that of the queen. We shall do as she says." Filauria said for all of them.

"Mhm, what she said!" "Mm." "Indeed." "As what was spoken." "Yup!" was the general response from them.

"There you have it Issei-san. Shall we move towards our training room?"

"Uh, sure, let's go I guess?" I grasped my hand, shattering all of the chains into small particles of light.

"Splendid!"

With that we all got out of individual spots and followed the queen out of the room. The Guards followed closely behind her while Shinka, Miilan, and I trailed several steps back making small talk.

After what felt like several minutes of aimlessly walking we reached the underground portion of the palace which was entirely hollowed out with large pillars around the perimeter. The room itself seemed more reminiscent of a kendo dojo than anything else, that was expanded by a solid few hundred feet in every direction.

We were then led to the center of the room where we came to a stop before Elhieardacil.

"The rules are simple. The fight will be decided when one party either concedes defeat or becomes incapable of going any further. No fatal attacks, and absolutely no wide ranged attacks that could potentially destroy this facility. As we may have magical reinforcements on the walls, this does not make them impenetrable. Otherwise, anything goes, and anything may be done to assure victory."

Looks like I have to make sure to hold back a ton so I don't destroy this place, and also don't kill them accidentally. Let's see I can not try to take any hits during this battle.

"Actually, I can just cast a barrier around this place to prevent any attacks from harming our surroundings." Shinka said off handedly.

"Shinka-san that would be most appreciated if you could do that!" She said excitedly. She must really want to see strong spells.

"Gotcha." Shinka replied, before snapping her fingers together.

Magical particles exploded from her hand and went to cover every inch of our environment. The amount that was cast by her was far greater than what my chains were giving off. The spell itself gave me chills as the magicules sped passed me. Visually, a red barrier surrounded the inside, then chains criss crossed over them before vanishing into thin air as if nothing was there.

"You can cast this level of magic too?!" The Orb that never left her hand shined that same brilliant golden that it did before. Everyone else in the room stared at Shinka after the stunt she just pulled.

"Yeah, it's one of the weaker barriers though. I only used this because it casts instantly, defensively it's not as good as the chants and scrolls." I don't think you could casually call it that weak… especially when everyone around here can't even cast magic relatively close to this.

"Today is truly turning out to be far more interesting than I expected! That means that all spells should be eligible for use. Regardless, let us take our seats on the side. Do not begin to fight until I give the signal." The queen said as she led Miilan and Shinka to the far side of the room towards where there was some bleacher-like seating.

"And one more thing. Issei-san, you are not allowed to use magic." She said while glancing over her shoulder before moving on.

"That's fair I guess?" She must really think that I could kill them with a single spell.

But now this feels kinda wrong. I'm an advocate for true gender equality and everything so beating up a female in self defense is all good, but it feels wrong to pummel them. Shinka is a completely different story, socking her is not a problem but this might be a bit far. I kinda wanted to just lightly incapacitate them with magic but now I can't do that… Do I really have to hit them?

As she was leading them, a loli like knight approached me.

"Are you and her dating?" She asked casually with her hand covering the side of her mouth as if she was trying to keep it on the DL, while pointing at Shinka.

"Eh… well n-" As the words came out of my mouth I remember Shinka lying to the Elhieardacil about how we were… Probably should keep the lie consistent then... "Yeah we are. Is that a bad thing?"

"Not really, I just kinda figured since you're both suuuuuper powerful and seem close. It's cute though. And what about that other girl?"

"Nope, and that's a dude…"

"Uh… are ya for real?"

Weren't you there when it was revealed that Miilan is a dude? You know? At the whole thingy with the noble? I know for a fact that you were there… I'll just leave her be on that...

"It was a surprise to me too…"

We both shared a mutual shiver...

"Yeah, good luck with that."

"Thanks… I'm going to need it." I felt a sudden uneasiness in the force.

My head squeaking to the side, I see Shinka making scissors with her finger and doing a cutting motion. My hands quickly go to cover my son instinctively.

"Well, it looks like our conversation is done. Good luck!" I say quickly as I quickly walk away to keep my physical dignity.

She looked at me with a confused and bewildered face as I stumbled away. Checking out what I was looking at before, a knowing grin appeared on her face. I don't like the way she's looking at me.

"Are you all ready?!" The queen yelled with a half shout.

""Yes!"" The guards yelled back in unison. I, on the other hand, just gave a thumbs up.

"The battle shall commence in 3!"

The knights drew their weapons and got into their different stances.

Their were 8 in total, 2 mages, 2 swordsman, 1 spearman, 1 axeman, 1 archer, and… the loli had fucking gloves on? Why are there metal plates over the knuckles? Are you trying to batter me like a housewife?!

"2!" The atmosphere immediately shifted as I could feel bloodlust crawling through the air, directed right at me. In return, all I do is shove my hands in my pockets and look back in a relaxed position. I probably look so cool right now…

"1!" I watch as the mages hold their staffs out while mouthing words out, magical circles taking shape on the tip. The bowm- err bow women were drawing their string while the rest lowered their stances ever so slightly, it seemed that they were going to pounce on me the first chance they got.

"Begin!" With a single word, the match got on it's way.

Appraisal

Time slowed to a stop.

{Hmm… we have some rather powerful contenders here. In terms of other elves they might be some of the most powerful amongst their race. They all have tremendous skill in the field that they specialize in. None of their attacks are able to hurt you by any means but that doesn't change their ability. And as expected, all of their actual stats are far beneath yours, in terms of strength, speed, and so on and so forth. Amongst that, their trust and coordination with each other is also at a very high level. If I were to give them a ranking with the Elven system I would say they're each around Demon to Emperor Class. Although something seems off… It's like their power is being restricted further.}

So should I just tank it and overpower them with my speed?

{No I don't think you should. That would likely hurt them on a psychological level, getting demolished by someone and realizing just how much more powerful they are compared to you won't be good for proud knights. If anything this would be a good chance to put into practice all of the combat training that Shinka has put you through. Try out maneuvering them without relying on your superior physical ability and instead use finesse and skill to incapacitate them. Not only will this be a good challenge for you, but your reputation amongst those present will sky rocket as a person not only skilled in magic but equally so in hand to hand. It'll also let your dragoness know that she's been doing a good job training you.}

Good idea, I think I'll do exactly that. Especially that last part, showing Shinka that I learned a significant amount under her tutelage. Also, it would be kinda sad if I had no fighting ability despite being trained under the fucking thing that's called the 'True Dragon'.

Much appreciated as always.

{Good luck!}

Thanks Tomo-chan.

Time reverts to normal.

""Hell Flame!"" Two purple fire balls like objects fly at me while dashing from side to side and zigzagging. Following them closely behind was an arrow infused with some kind of magic, as there was wind swirling behind it as it came closer and closer. The magic output was impressively large. Nothing that I couldn't handle but still definitely impressive.

"Partial Release"

My arms lose their skin and are instead replaced by dark purple scales and gaining razor sharp claws at the tips.

*BLAST* *CLANG*

I swat the two magic spells out of air and use my hand to deflect the arrow away from my face.

Before I had time to smirk at them, I could feel something approaching me from behind and immediately duck. Barely dodging a horizontal swing. With the passing of the sword I feel a strong heat pass by my head, I swear a few hair tips must have gotten singed.

Seriously weapons coated with fire? I don't think they're following the rules of no fatal strikes.

In the corner of my eye, I spot another sword coming for the finishing blow. It felt as if I was getting pulled in slightly by it. There was wind surrounding me and attempting to draw me in to it. Wind magic this time so I can't dodge huh?

"You need more than that to hit me…"

I get on all four and jump away quickly to make some distance. However, someone was already waiting for me there, with an axe coming down right on top of my head. Raising my arm, I use my scales to block the impact that surely would've hit me. The girl looked at me in surprise at me parrying her strike.

"Scales…?" Ah shit, I shouldn't have partially released my dragon form...

"It's not over yet!" A voice came from the side as a spear was quickly thrusted straight at my chest. Damn these girls are fast as hell.

"Fuck!" I push off the axe and shift my body to the side just enough to stop the spearhead from piercing me. It still managed to create a large rip through my shirt.

Dammit, their coordination is so annoying.

However, there was a large opening in her side that I could easily hit.

I cocked my arm back and am about to release a punch but I suddenly hesitate for some reason. She reminds me of my cute little sister for some reason… Probably shouldn't think of that in the heat of battle...

Within the same second that I hesitated the opportunity disappeared as the loli that was wearing fighting gloves had appeared out of nowhere perfectly positioned right under me.

"HUAH!" She comes in with a left hook straight for my liver.

In response I fell completely to the ground to avoid the strike. For some reason, all of them quickly move back as I lie there.

"Arrow Storm!" You have to be fucking me right now.

A huge volley of arrows came raining down on my position.

So that's why they moved.

I'm able to roll away on my side to dodge the projectiles but their onslaught still hasn't stopped.

"Hell Blaze!"

Without even thinking of anything I backflip away to create a large amount of distance.

In the same instant I touched ground, I felt the presence of two more. It was Fialauria and another girl with a sword. They began to slash at me with a barrage of different slices in rapid succession.

However, I could see their sword. I knew where they were going and how they were to cut next.

I was able to maneuver my body in the small gaps that formed during their combination. The angles were unorthodox and damn hard, but luckily they were in the realm of possibility.

"Impact!"

A large shockwave came from Filauria's sword which caused me to have to put my arms up to protect my body. It sent me back skidding a few feet from my position and they had disappeared in the moment that I took my eyes off.

Instinctually, I thrusted my arms out to my side and gripped whatever they touched.

*GRIP*

I was surprised to find out that I had caught their hands as they were preparing to swing at me once again.

"How…?" Their eyes were filled with astonishment.

Before it could go on for too long, they retracted their swords and retreated away towards the others.

I watch as they all regather back into their previous formation before the whole fight started.

"Are you taking this seriously?" The voice came from a rather tall elf this time. She had tan skin, a cute yet tough face, and flowing white hair that seemed soft to the touch. She was wielding the axe.

"Why are you asking?" I mean I am taking this kinda seriously by avoiding all their hits.

"You haven't tried to hit any of us." The spearman said as she rested her weapon on her shoulder. A blonde beauty huh? Looks like the typical sexy elf to be honest.

"Ah, don't worry about it. Just don't feel that comfortable beating up girls." I said while scratching the back of my head.

"But you don't mind punching me?!" Shinka yelled from the sidelines.

"YOU'RE A DIFFERENT STORY WOMAN!" I watch as her cheeks puff out slightly at my retort.

"Ya know we can take a few hits right? We are the Royal Guard after all." The loli with mitts said.

"Still…"

"Even if we win, it wouldn't have felt satisfying at all, since we know that you didn't even try to fight back." Filauria said. She sounded like some honorable battle hardened warrior with that line.

{Just knock them out or make it so they can't stand up. They have a thing called pride. They couldn't call it a proper win if they just kicked the shit out of someone that didn't beat them back.}

Ugh fine… I'll just make sure with them then.

"Are you sure you really want to do this?" I asked carefully.

"Yes we're all sure of it." The others nod in agreement.

"Well, you asked for it." I put my hands at my side and take a few deep breaths to focus on the enemies that stand before me.

"But, because you're no longer holding back… neither will we."

You have to be shitting me. They were holding back?

""Oh, Gracious mother, upon which you built my soul. Heed my prayer and grant thy power to prevail against all opposition that lies before thee. True to thy divine being, upon which all of thy promises are upheld, grant us victory!'"

As they finished chanting…

*BOOM*

The ground around them cracked and splintered. Vast amounts of excess magic were dispersed from their position causing ripples and tons of air to get focused and fly throughout the room. Lashing out and whipping all over the place. A huge beam of green energy encompassed their forms completely covering them. It changed shape from a pillar into a ball before condensing and blowing up.

Revealing new forms with all of them… why does every transformation seem to make the girls clothing sexier and erotic…?

But with that said...

I'M SO GLAD I DECIDED TO FIGHT THEM!

All of their armor changed but all had several key similarities. One was that on their arm, their armor only encapsulated from the elbow to the wrist with the hand now being exposed and a fingerless black glove It was bejeweled and shone as if it was just made and polished. A shoulder plate was now in place only covering the outside of their arm and went from just above the elbow to the top of their limb. It had an insignia of a goddess of sorts playing a lyre.

The breastplate only covered from about the top of their abdomen to just below the collar bone, with their smooth and perfect stomach on perfect display. Their leggings only spread from the foot to just over the knee cap with a plate over the knee. They had what were essentially black training shorts that barely even went to the top of their thighs, closer to what girls wore back in school during gym class. Small formed sheets of some metal with an elf crest were fit along the side of their thighs.

Their eyes opened and looked at me with a serious look of a new fighting vigor. They readied their weapons in new stances ready to unleash a new combination on me.

THANK YOU FOR THE MEAL!

Appraisal

Time slowed to a stop.

{Okay, you're seriously a filthy pervert if that's the first thing you say, along with the fact that your first thoughts aren't their power or anything but instead their outfits.}

How could I not comment on such perfection such as this?

{Ugh… Whatever, anyway it seems like I was right before. I mentioned that something was restricting their power before. The magic and power have been sent to another stratosphere. They're all God class now… The amount of power that they gained is definitely impressive to say the least. All their stats have drastically increased as well. Honestly, you could still beat them but it won't be nearly as easy anymore. If you had magic it would be a different story but since this is hand to hand, you'll probably struggle quite a bit to put them down. You still have the stat advantage, especially in speed but be careful. They can deal some serious damage to you now, likely not enough to kill you, but definitely enough to incapacitate you.}

So any bright ideas for this?

{Don't hold back. Use whatever you can to put them down. Of course, no lethal force since you don't want to kill one of them.}

Well that much is obvious. Anyone I should go for in particular?

{Shinka already taught you had to deal with this type of situation, remember?}

Ranged first, then whoever makes a mistake, and whoever becomes exposed right?

{Well there was a lot more detail but I guess you have the general idea down.}

Thanks as always. Wish me luck.

{Die.}

Wow. Fucking tsundere.

Time reverts to normal.

I guess the whole fatal strikes thing only really applied to me. Because at this point it looks like they've completely disregarded it. Either that or they just forgot about the whole thing in general.

"This doesn't seem very fair now. First there's like thirty of you and I'm already having enough trouble with your coordination as is and at this point, you just want to chop my nuts off. What the hell."

"This much is fine I think." Filauria said while clearing having a brand new sword in her hands.

"Mhm, I agree." The loli said who now had some kind of fancy-ass knuckle duster.

"Yeah but you all just powered up."

"Stop complaining." The spearman said in a flat tone.

"Can I use non-lethal magic then? Since it's only fair that I am allowed some extra things myself."

"As long as it doesn't risk killing any of us I don't see why not." The axeman said with a cocky and confident attitude.

Ohoho, underestimating me are we? I wonder how you'll feel when you're shackled to the ground.

"None of those chains though. That'll be unfair." Another one popped up and said abruptly.

"Damn. Fine."

"If that's all you have to say then let's begin."

Well, it doesn't look like they want to play on completely even terms. I guess I'll do the same. Starting with the mages.

If Tomo-chan is right then I should still have the speed advantage, so I should probably still hold back in that area.

"Alright, I'll start-"

Before I could even finish my sentence...

"First Blade: Swift Strike!"

*SLICE*

In an instant my left arm became detached from my body.

"Huh?" They completely caught me by surprise because in the same instant, not only was my limb gone but I was getting launched up into the air.

"Divine Goddess."

"Unholy Devil."

Taking a quick glance below me I could see the loli and Filauria.

"HAAAAAAAA!" My head whirled towards the battle cry. Above me was an axe falling down over my body.

"She who is fair and just."

"He who is terror and fear."

Just barely in time I was able to raise my right arm to take the impact from the blade. However, this didn't stop it from shooting me back down into the ground.

2 blurs appear behind the axeman.

"Twin Strike!"

"Pierce!"

"Defeat all my enemies."

"Drag all to the Abyss."

A large holes instantly appeared through my stomach, with another one of a much smaller size going right through the middle of my chest. It also seems that I'm now missing my left leg.

Just like before after their assault. They jumped back once again.

I don't know how much this body can take, but just to be on the safe size let's raise my defense a bit more.

Partial Release

My entire body gains scales with the exception of my head.

"Arrow Tempest!"

Another volley of arrows are instantly above me and fire with the speed of a bullet. I raise my arms to protect the only vulnerable part of my body, that being my face. Thanks to my release, all of them are simply deflected.

"Cast! Judgement!"

"Cast! Disintegrate!"

As soon as they are done, 2 different rays materialize above me. Heading straight for my body. One was white with lighting cackling around it, and the other was pitch black, skulls emanating from it.

I need to defend against this…

Absolute Barrier

I'm enveloped by a blue shield that completely protects from anything that comes from outside.

*BANG*

The beams crashed into my shield for several seconds before weakening and completely dying out. Several cracks formed throughout the barrier but were quickly repaired during the assault every time they appeared. I didn't know this thing could actively self repair, even while getting damaged.

Once it was done, I released the barrier.

It seems that they've managed to create quite the damn crater here. It must be like a hundred meters deep. On the bright side I'm still alive, on the down side, my limbs haven't grown back yet. I can't really climb out of here, or jump, or just move in general.

Hm… what can I do…

Wait, fuck that's right! I'm a dragon!

"Did… we… get him?" one of the heavily breathing spell casters said.

"I mean the attack has never failed us. I doubt that he's still conscious after all of that." Filauria said with confidence.

"Ya think he's alive?" the voice came from the loli.

"Definitely, that much should be fine."

"I'm not sure though, we did use a lot of abilities. Those two even used a God-class spell."

"Eh?"

"What? Weren't ya listening to the chants? Didn't ya see those giant rays?"

"Ah… Well… He's probably okay?"

"That mighta' been overkill."

"Maybe…"

*FLAP* *FLAP*

"You know that was totally overkill." I summoned my wings and reached the surface instantly. You know I forgot how strong these things are.

"You're… not knocked out?" Their eyes fill with uncertainty and fear.

"Those are dragon wings…" Filauria's voice was hesitant.

"Yep, definitely quite the shock you gave me. I actually had to raise one of my more powerful barriers just to protect myself. Two deep punctures, missing limbs, probably broken bones and torn joints. Quite an experience to say the least." As I speak I feel the feeling comes back to the fingertips in my left arm, and I no longer feel off balanced.

"Ah, that feels a lot better. Having both of my legs and arms back is quite nice."

"You're not human… you're a dragon." the spearman looked in awe.

"Tsk, yeah, didn't mean to reveal it so soon but I guess this is what I get for getting careless." I wiped the smirk off of my face and adopted a serious glint.

"But you know. That was unexpected, and now that you've had your chance to attack. It's my turn." This snapped them out of their haze and they immediately readied their defenses, but it was too late.

"Sunburst." A radiant light emitted from my position, causing them to have to put up their hands.

*WHOOSH*

With a single flap of my wings I was able to quickly get behind them before they noticed.

"Where did he…?"

Paralysis

I appeared behind both of the mages and placed my hands on their shoulder. With eyes widened they slumped to the ground in an almost dead fashion.

"Bastard!" In an instant the lumberjack of a woman appeared behind me and began her swing.

I brought both of my wings over my body to block the strike.

Dropping my form and using the momentum to rotate my body, I went for a sweep kick.

This caused her left foot to swing up into the air, throwing her off balance. I followed the movement with an elbow to the chest, making her fall to the ground.

"Bind."

Steel strings appeared around her and wrapped themselves around her entire body like a cocoon except for the head.

"Have a nice nap." I chopped her neck to put her out of commission.

"First Blade: Swift Strike!"

"Twin Strike!"

The swordsman closed the distance in the blink of an eye, but this time I'm ready for the attack.

Using my already superior speed and amping it up further I'm able to not only dodge the hits but also jump in the air.

I immediately air dive for the archer and reach out my hand to grab her face.

However, I'm blocked by a spear.

"This'll work too." I say while gripping the spear and swinging my body to kick the one holding it. Both of my heels digging straight into her diaphragm.

I lower my body into her, and use it as a springboard to reach the archer and grasp her head.

"Drain."

Even though it sounds menacing it's really harmless, all I do is drain her of all of her stamina and mana reserves.

She goes limp in my hand and I drop her to the ground.

"Well, look how the tables have turned." I look back to see the remaining three together with their weapons still poised towards me.

"..." No response.

"Would you like to resign?" I ask in a reasoning tone. They raise their eyebrows at my statement.

"I'm going to beat you whether you like it or not, I just think it would be good if we stopped the fighting here, since I showed that I'm plenty strong." I said matter of factly. That and I didn't really feel like fighting. I would rather just talk over some tea.

Actually, fuck the tea, I just don't want to fight.

They swap several glances amongst one another as if they were talking to each other telepathically. They nod their heads in some sort of agreement before facing me again.

"We will accept your offer. We resign." Filauria said with a sigh as the other swordsman sheathed their swords, with the loli just taking off her knuckle dusters.

So they really agreed to that?

"Thank fuck." Yay, I'm done.

"This battle is now over! The victor is Issei Hyoudou!" The queen yelled from across the room.

"I'm surprised you guys surrendered." I thought they would refuse it in some badass way and try attacking me with renewed vigor.

Re-Gather.

My scales begin morphing by first losing their purple color, then almost rearranging themselves to fit into each other. The scales expand to fill the gaps and to have an overall smooth look, my body once again having skin instead of scales.

"Well, our combination didn't work on you, you did decimate the other 5, and I can tell Klaern and Fraeya definitely don't want to continue this themselves." Filauria sighed.

"Who?" I literally only knew her name.

"I'm Klaern." The swordsman said.

"Fraeya would be me!" The midget brawler said with a bright smile and a cheery voice.

"I really did expect you guys to keep going, since you guys are the queen's guard and everything."

"Had this been a real fight we would have all fought until our last breath, but this is still a sparring match. There's no reason for us to continue fighting when it is clear that we would've been defeated."

"Ah, look." Fraeya was pointing behind me.

"Huh?"

"WOO! YOU WON!" A fist has entered the chat.

Shinka's punch had sent me flying across the room.

*CRASH*

"Ugu." I felt my body indent into the wall as I slowly slipped down onto the floor.

I use my hands to push myself back up to my feet. Shinka was now in front of me with a happy grin on her face.

"Why'd you punch me." I ask while holding my cheek. Thank fuck for my regeneration, if not… I would never look into a mirror again.

"Haha, sorry sorry. I'm just glad that you won. I'm impressed that you didn't rely on your more powerful spells. That was a really good fight, and you did incredible!" She threw her arms around me.

"Unyu unyu." She made adorable sounds while nuzzling into my neck.

"It's all thanks to your help! You've literally taught me everything I know so it's all because of you that I was able to win." I wrapped my arms around her feeling a small sense of pride in myself. Sure I may be significantly stronger than them, but I was also seriously handicapped.

"I'm glad you were actually able to use what I taught you. Proves that I'm not a terrible teacher. Anyway the queen wanted to talk to you. Something about the fight."

"Hmm. Alright, let's go then." I picked her up in a bridal carry and flew to Elhieardacil.

"Ah!" She squealed slightly from being picked up so suddenly.

"Your majesty, you wanted to chat?" I landed in front of her while still holding on to Shinka.

"Well I would first like to congratulate you on your victory. My Royal Guards are some of the most powerful warriors in the nation, taking all of them on like that is nothing short of extraordinary."

"Thank you, your majesty, they were definitely powerful. I almost thought I would lose there. I did not expect that sudden teamwork combination from them."

"They have quite the chemistry amongst one another. They truly are an effective fighting force. And Issei-san you are being far too humble. You overpowered them by a significant margin there, whilst having to hold back." Her eyes grew slightly with interest. "To the main topic however, I had an inkling to the idea that you were not a human, but to think that you're a dragon… That was certainly what I least expected of you."

Ah shit, that's right… Welp there goes that whole thing of hiding.

"Ah... yeah I'm a dragon. I apologize for lying to you earlier your majesty." I hope that this won't start a problem between us.

"Mm, do not worry about that. I'm sure you have your reasons for hiding this fact. Simply from your demeanor and your restraint I can tell that you are not a danger to us. It honors me very much to be able to meet one such as yourself."

Well, that takes a load off.

"I'm relieved that you aren't afraid of me. I was hoping that you wouldn't have been sent into high alert around me."

"I will admit, once I saw your scales and wings, I was fearful of you for just a moment. But you showed self-control and conducted yourself with discipline and honor. Going as far as to offer them surrendering instead of beating them senseless. If anything I simply have a tremendous amount of respect for you, Issei-san."

"I'm honored that you think of me like that."

"It isn't a big deal. But to think that there would be a dragon here…"

"Actually I'm not the only dragon." There's no real reason for us to both hide what species we are. Except Shinka needs to keep her former name under many different wraps.

'You aren't?!" She asked incredulously.

"Shinka."

"Got it."

She hopped out of my arms and flared her own wings. Her's were basically the exact same as mine, obviously besides their crimson color, we had the same wingspan and overall look.

"Shinka-san is also a dragon?!" The one to speak wasn't the queen, rather it was Miilan who had just caught up to us.

"Yup, a proud living breathing dragon."

"To think that I was protected by two beings like that…" Miilan did have a point. What was the luck that the people who would protect him, would be so powerful.

"It does seem to make sense that both of you would be attracted towards one another... If it isn't asking too much, may I feel your wings?" Elhieardacil asked with genuine curiosity.

"Mn!" Shinka tilted her body to move her wing closer.

"Me too! Can I touch it?!"

"I don't see why not Miilan." I followed suit and brought my wings closer to the two.

Immediately taking our responses, they gingerly began feeling the different parts of our wings. From the leathery part that made up most of the wings to the bony edges that were essentially the frame for everything. They would gasp every so often as they continued to explore our wings.

My wings were still rather sensitive since I don't use them all that often. Every so often, they would drag their finger in just the right spot and I could feel a shiver travel up my spine. It was a pleasant feeling but still kinda strange from what I'm used to.

""Can we?"" The remaining royal guards had ended up also getting attracted to what was happening.

I just shrugged my shoulders because at this point I honestly couldn't care. Shinka did the same, I'm assuming she feels the same exact way as I do.

"Yay!" Fraeya yelled and had no reserves and unlike the rest became aggressive in her approach.

"Have you guys never touched a dragon before?"

"Not at all. They're rare creatures around here, and any that would be within arm's reach are extraordinarily powerful and hostile towards all others that aren't kin." Klaern informed me.

"That sounds really interesting actually… I wanna go meet one…"

"You'll have your chance before you know it Issei-san." Filauria was the one to talk this time.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember that you have a duel with Gael Eldrin later?" She asked incredulously while still being able to multitask and rub Shinka's wings.

"Yeah, I didn't forget. What about it though?"

"He has a dragon." She deadpanned.

"Oh yeahhhhhhh, that's right, your majesty did mention that whole thing about him being a cheating dick."

"Although, with the way you are now, I don't have a doubt in my mind that you'll be able to take it down."

"She's right. Most of us could take it down by ourselves if we attacked it, at least in pairs . And ya destroyed us, so that should speak plenty of what'll happen." Fraeya added.

"Ehhh? I kinda don't wanna beat down my own kind though. It feels kind of wrong for some reason." It feels different from beating up a random person.

"I mean ya kinda have to if ya wanna win."

"Good point."

I suddenly remembered something and looked over the girls.

"Ah, what do we do about them?" I asked while pointing at all the knocked out guards.

"Leave em' there." Fraeya said while shrugging her shoulders.

*WHACK*

"GAH!" Fraeya was holding her head after Klaern gave her a swift chop.

"Do you want another?" Klaern was threateningly holding her hand up.

"No ma'am…" Fraeya whimpered with comical tears coming out.

"Well Klaern, Fraeya, and I will go bring them over towards the medical bay. We'll see you guys later." Filauria was the first one to stop touching our wings, and began walking away after waving bye.

"Aw… what a party poope- AGH! WHAT THE HELL!" Klaern delivered yet another chop.

"Walk." She then turned towards the rest of us. "Thank you for sparring with us, it has been a very enlightening experience. I look forward to your duel with Gael." She bowed her head and followed after Filauria.

"Such a slave driver… anyway, see ya guys around." Fraeya, still holding her head, dragged her feet towards her unconcious comrades.

"Quite an interesting group you have there, your majesty." Shinka said as they walked away.

"Yeah…" She shook her head at their antics but was smiling all the same.

"Well, what now? We still have a bunch of time to kill before the whole duel starts."

"Hm… Why don't you two lover birds explore the castle, and I'll have tea with Miilan-san. Of course, if that's okay with all of you." She said with a knowing smile of sorts.

"Really your majesty?!" I could tell that Miilan really wanted to talk to the queen.

"Certainly. Let us embark immediately!" Taking Miilan by the hand, they went towards the exit of the training grounds.

"Also, I will have my servants fetch you when it's time for the duel. Do enjoy your stay!" With that they were gone.

"Ah, they're gone already…"

"Where do you want to go?" Shinka looked at me with a smile.

So cute.

"Hmm… I have no idea what's here." How would I know where to go?

"I don't either, I was just hoping you'd spout something stupid."

"Wow, thanks."

"No problem!"

*GRUMBLE*

"Seriously? We just ate." I looked at Shinka whose face was a dark red.

"Shut up! Leave me alone, I'm just a little hungry right now…" She was holding her stomach.

"I thought you were full earlier?"

"I was."

"And now?"

"I'm hungry again…"

"You really eat a lot you know." I said while chuckling.

"And?" She sent me a dangerous glare.

"Ah, nothing. Although I do have an idea of where to go now though." I grabbed her free hand and began running.

"Ehh? Where are we going?" She asked while starting to run to keep up with me.

"You'll see!"

I may not have cooked much back in my old world, but there are a few recipes that I do know how to make! This one may be a bit fattening and artery clogging but this should be fine.

Once again I needed to use my sense of smell to make my way through the castle and find a kitchen. It was luckily a very obvious smell and I was able to get there relatively quickly, despite the many hallways we crossed.

When we got there it was entirely empty with the whole thing available for us to use.

"I'll make something for ya!" I said while looking around and grabbing the different things I would need to cook. For some reason, the kitchen was stacked with just about everything imaginable, so while it did take a bit to find what I needed, it was all there.

"Are you sure she won't get mad at us for using this without permission?" She asked while watching me running all over the place.

"Eh, didn't think about that, but I doubt she'll care."

"You're probably right. Anything I can help with?"

"Actually not really, it's pretty easy, if anything do you mind finding somewhere for us to sit down?"

"Uh, yeah sure I can do that." More confused than anything else she walked out of the room.

Shoving the things I needed on the countertop I went to work.

Filling the pot with a few inches of water I put it on the stove and put a clean glass bowl over it. Breaking a few bars of dark chocolate into the bowl, I turned the gas on and let the water slowly come up to heat. (It's a bain marie)

After that I began weighing out the other ingredients, being roasted hazelnuts, mild olive oil, and icing sugar. Why the castle has olive oil, icing sugar and roasted hazelnuts I don't know, but it is a VERY GOOD coincidence that it's stocked with this.

By the time I finished, the water had heated up and began melting the chocolate in the glass bowl. Grabbing a spatula I stirred it around and let it slowly melt into a wonderful chocolate paste thing.

Once it was all melted, I sifted the icing sugar and stirred the hell out of it and then added the olive oil.

Probably sounds weird adding olive oil to a sweet dessert like this, but it doesn't add flavor, just creaminess to the whole thing.

Once it was fully incorporated I stirred in the hazelnuts and voila it was done.

I grabbed a huge cup and poured all of the liquid into it. I grabbed some Grissini which again, no idea why they have this but I'm not gonna question my great luck. I walked outside of the kitchen with the food in my hands and came face to face with Shinka.

"I found some chairs and a table on a balcony if you don't mind sitting outside." She immediately started walking away without hearing my response, not even noticing what I had in my hands.

"That's actually perfect." I said while following after her.

She led me down the hallway and came to a large door that opened up towards an open balcony that overlooked the castle garden. There was a table and a few charis that were all made out of what I'm assuming is an absurdly expensive wood.

"Wow, it's really nice here." I commented while setting our snack down on the table and taking a seat next to her.

"I know right." She finally noticed what I made." What did you make?" She asked curiously

"It's a chocolate hazelnut dip called Gianduja, it's a pretty popular item from my old world. And the sticks are called Grissini."

"How do I eat this Issei?" She began drooling.

"You take a Grissini, and dip it like this and then you eat it." I took one of the sticks and swooshed it a little bit in the dip and brought it to her mouth.

"Say 'Ah'." Her face was burning up.

I must remember this face...

"Ahhh." She bashfully opened her mouth. I then placed the chocolate dipped portion inside of said adorable mouth.

"MMMM! IT'S SO GOOD ISSEI!" She said with her eyes sparkling.

"Is it really? That makes me glad then." I couldn't help but grin at her adorable antics.

"Issei, more!" She opened her mouth again.

"You want me to feed you? What a spoiled dragon." Despite saying this, I obliged with her request.

"Yet you still do it." She said happily while eating.

"Well I can't deny that I do enjoy doing this for you."

I dipped a small bundle of them and fed them to Shinka.

Which she promptly devoured.

"Hehe, more please!"

"Of course, Shinka."

This continued until there was none left. I must say, I'm pretty amazing, I made the perfect amount and grabbed just the right portion of Grissini so that there was absolutely nothing left. I didn't get to eat any of it but it's okay. She's happy and that's plenty for me.

"Ah, I feel great again." She said while leaning back in the chair.

"You really enjoyed eating those long hard sticks." I said while grinning.

"Child." She sent me an unimpressed look.

"Point is?"

"It's ju-... you know what, I'm not even going to deal with this."

"Aww, that's boring then." I said while poking her side.

"Stop poking my stomach, unless you want a repeat of last night." I've never retracted my hand from a girl that fast. Well not since they've threatened to call the police on me but that's beside the point.

"Keep that inside, I want no part of that."

"Geez, can't you just sit back and enjoy the scenery."

"I can but I prefer bothering you." Wouldn't everyone in this situation?

"Well I don't prefer it. Can't we just talk while relaxing?"

"Fine. We'll have it your way, just this once." I do bother her all the time so I suppose letting her be every once in a while won't kill me.

"Thanks."

I leaned back in my chair and looked at the swaying field. Different colors and species of flowers getting slightly blown to the side by the wind. The sun highlights it in a rather beautiful way. It was pretty mesmerizing to just watch nature do its thing.

"Isn't that bad, is it?" Shinka said, breaking me out of my trance.

"What isn't?"

"Just relaxing and watching."

"Mm, I guess. Is this how it was like to watch the other races from the Dimensional Gap?" I was genuinely curious because I doubt she spent all of her time just flying around aimlessly.

"Eh… It was more boring I'd say. While there was some cool stuff that would happen every now and then, most of history is filled with conversations and sleeping sooooo, not really. That, and it did not make me feel relaxed whatsoever."

"Well how did you feel watching them then, besides being bored?"

"I think I felt more disappointment than anything else."

"Why would you be disappointed?" I mean it's not like any of them are related to you or you're making bets and constantly lose.

"I mean all of history in most of these places are filled with war and disputes but they're all started for the stupidest reasons. Some people are greedy, others are desperate and are trying to mask their failures with war victories, and others are just plain stupid. The fact that they haven't figured by this point that war is a pretty stupid concept and working together is way more efficient and literally just better for everyone, is really disappointing among other things." She had a really solid point there. I mean I could just think of my own history classes and man, they really were pretty stupid most of the times.

"That's… surprisingly true."

"Well have I ever been wrong?"

"Hm…" Was there?

"Exactly." No wait there's a lot.

"I mean there was that one time that we had sparring training in the forest and you decided it was a good idea to have your tail and wings out. You cornered me and then I went full degenerate and made you cu-" I stopped immediately when I saw her blushing furiously while sending me a dangerous glare.

"You don't have to recount the entire incident!" Ah, embarrassed Shinka… I'll never get tired of this sight. I wish I could take a picture of it and store it in my memory…

Time slowed to a stop.

{Actually about that…}

IS THERE A SKILL FOR THAT?

{Yeah… but I don't think it was meant for this kind of usag-}

HOW DO I UNLOCK IT?!

{There's actually none, you just need to know it's name.}

GIVE ME THE NAME WOMAN.

{Chill dude. It's called Visual Copy, and when you want to look at it just say the same thing but add retrieve at the end.}

You know Tomo-chan, you really are pretty nice when it comes down to it.

{EH? SHUT UP BAKA!}

Wow... she cut our link off just like that.

Here goes nothing.

Visual Copy.

Alright now add retrieve and I should be good to go.

Visual Copy: Retrieve.

A perfect replica appears in a pop up window in front of me.

Such an angel…

Close Menu

Time reverts to normal.

"Ehhh? Why not? You did want me to bring up a time that you were wrong."

"The details were unnecessary!"

"Nah, I needed to make sure that you knew exactly what I was talking about."

"I WOULD'VE KNOW EVEN WITHOUT ALL THE EXTRA DESCRIPTIONS!" I swear, I don't know how she gets redder than her scales.

"Mhm okay, whatever you say."

"I swear Issei… One of these days, I'm going to deck you so hard and it won't even be my fault."

"If you punched me, wouldn't that be your fault?" I know what she means, but come on, she's too easy.

"I'm just going to ignore you and go back to the relaxing view." She turned forward and watched as the distance, no longer paying me any mind.

"Mhm, okay let's see how long that lasts." I first start with poking her sides.

No reaction.

I then start pinching her stomach.

Still no reaction.

"Hmm, how about here?" I sneak my hand underneath the crook of her arm and slide it up and start tickling.

She begins to jitter, trying her best to not seem phased by my attempts.

"Still nothing? How about the other one?" I get out of my chair and hover over her, using my other hand to work on her ticklish spots, starting with the neck.

"ISSEI THAT'S NOT FAIR!" She yells while beginning to laugh wildly.

"ISSEI! STOP! IT TICKLES SO MUCH AHAHAHAH!" She was flailing her limbs violently.

I continued my assault, attacking her spots with more vigor than little Issei had got in his prime.

"My win." I pull back my arms and turn around while pumping my fist.

"Ohoho you think so?" I get tackled from behind, causing me to lay on my stomach.

"How about this!" Her hands swiftly come down to tickle my sides.

But to her surprise…

"Ha! Jokes on you, I'm not ticklish!" I've been tickled far too many times in my old life to be affected by it anymore.

"WHAT?!" In disbelief, she becomes more aggressive and goes to all the different spots that she could think of.

"Heh, I've gained a resistance to it from my long experience with it."

"That's not fair…" She eventually comes to a stop and slumps into a sitting position on my back.

"All is fair in love and war. And this was war."

"Tsk. Whatever, I'll get you next time. Just watch me." She got off my back, allowing me to stand back up.

"I guess I'm turning blind then."

"Why do you always seem to have a comment for everything?"

"It's a skill that you wouldn't understand."

Our light hearted banter continued for what must have been ages. We swapped from topic to topic and kept talking about the most pointless things. Whether it was things we liked or just ranting about something stupid. It was a comfortable conversation.

"Say, do you think we're gonna be fetched any time soon for my battle?"

"They did say they would contact us. Not that I'd know how they'd do that since you know. We're hiding our auras and everything, and this castle is pretty huge. It would take way too long if they tried to just scout for us normally."

As if our conversation had been perfectly planned out and timed, a maid walked onto the balcony.

"Hyoudou-sama, your appearance is necessary before the queen." She was wearing a typical Victorian maid outfit, she was pretty damn cute too.

"Wow, talk about timing." Shinka said with an impressed tone.

"Alright, lead the way then." I shrugged my shoulders.

Wordlessly, she began her elegant walk, as she led us down the maze of hallways once again. This time however, instead of being led to a room of sorts, we were led to the entrance of the castle where the queen and Miilan awaited us.

"Issei-san it just about that time in which you should head to the arena."

"Understood, only one thing, where the hell is it." Maybe she'll drop me off there?

"There is a carriage prepared outside for your departure. I will partake in the viewing of your battle, but I will arrive in a different carriage later on, lest I show nepotism on your behalf." Why is she talking so eloquently now? I mean before it was like a casual formal style, now it's something out of the Iliad.

"Seriously? Thanks so much! What am I supposed to do when I'm there though?" I'm sure I'll be there a good amount of time before it starts.

"My servant shall lead you to the waiting bay within the colosseum. You are to remain until the arena staff retrieves you."

"Ah, okay okay I got it. Is Shinka coming with me or…?" I would at least like to pass the time talking to her.

"No, such are the rules that only the combatant is granted the privilege to the suite." Is this some sort of 5 star hotel room?

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Shinka suddenly spoke up.

"You'll accompany me to the battleground. It is only appropriate that my guests have the finest seats for their viewing experience. " Well that settles it.

"Thank you for everything your majesty." I bow my head in respect.

"No need to express gratitude, you are doing me a wonderful favor by going about this endeavor." She then leans in close and whispers. "But do listen to my selfish request and destroy him." She goes back to her spot as I look in surprise. A graceful smile adorns her face.

"Request heard." I can't stop myself from grinning.

"I guess it's time for me to go then." I look towards Miilan and Shinka. "See ya in a bit guys."

"I would wish you luck, but you don't need it. Just make him pay for staring at me like that." Shinka said with her arm on her hips.

"Oh trust me, I'll straighten him out."

"Issei-san, I'm sorry that you have to go through all of this for me…" Miilan walked up to me with her head down.

"I told you before, it's really not that big of a deal. It was my choice to step in after all. I couldn't stand watching the fat bastard do that." Ugh, I swear it's always the morbidly obese ugly ones that do this kind of shit.

"Thank you… I don't know how to repay you after all of this…" He wraps her arms around my torso. I can feel the amused look of Shinka without even needing to look at her.

I swear Shinka I'm into women. Please believe me, don't pay attention to the fact that I'm totally getting excited by this beaut-... Just kill me...

"Ah… eh… uh… just uh… don't worry about it. We'll just consider this a favor for the future okay?" Shinka it is clear that he is hugging me, not the other way around.

"Alright… you're really warm you know."

I SWEAR, DID I JUST RAISE A FUCKING ROMANCE FLAG OR SOMETHING?

"Am I…?"

"Mm… I really like it here. It's comforting." FUCK FUCK FUCK

"I'm glad it's to your liking then."

"I wish I could stay here forever…" SHIT SHIT SHIT

"Well, that's enough you two, don't you think you should be heading out soon Issei?" THANK YOU SHINKA, I AM FOREVER IN YOUR DEBT!

Miilan was pouting from the loss of contact. Damn… why must you be so cute and a guy.

"Ah, yeah! That's right! See ya!" I rushed out of the door towards and down the stairs to the closed carriage.

I don't want any part of whatever is about to happen there.

I walked up to the carriage, where a maid that was waiting for me, bowed her head and opened up the door for me, stepping aside in the process. Is this what it's like to be royalty?

"Thank you." I gave her a small bow to show my appreciation.

I don't know if it's just me, but her face definitely turned a few shades closer to the pink side. Am I embarrassing her? I hope not, I'd feel like a dick, I'm just trying to thank her.

Instead of trying to address the whole thing and potentially exploding the situation, I climb inside and take a seat on the wide bench that is definitely meant for more than just one person.

Once I'm fully in, the door closes shut behind me. I feel a small tug and the clacking of horse hoofs.

I guess I'm off then.

"Holy shit, this is really comfy." I could feel myself sinking into the fabric.

"Hmm… if no one else is coming in, then it should be fine if I just…" I throw the rest of my body all over the length of the seat.

Yup, just right…

Hey Tomo-chan, how do you think this whole battle thing will go down?

{I'll be honest it seems pretty boring. I mean it's obvious that you're going to win in a relatively easy manner since I heavily doubt that anyone here is powerful enough to actually put up a good fight against you.}

Really that's it? No hunches or weird predictions?

{Mmm, not really, nothing pops out to me. I mean earlier they were saying for certain that you're definitely going to be fighting a dragon. I can't help but be a little bit suspicious about that.}

Why? I remember them mentioning it being a family protector or something of the sort. I doubt he'd bring anything other than that. Because let's be reasonable, there's no way in hell he's gonna be able to get something more powerful than that.

{Yeah I know that, even if he brought in a bunch of random people, it's not like you can't just use your magic to instantly incapacitate the multitude of them. But there's something just off about bringing the dragon. I mean he did see your regenerate and all that.}

So what? He's probably over confident and will think it can overpower my regeneration.

{While that is probably true, his family is connected all over the place while also being stupidly rich and influential. It is still possible that he either brings a different monster entirely instead of the dragon, or another to accompany it.}

Like what?

{How am I supposed to know? There are way too many different mystic creatures on the elven isles.}

What kind of creatures?

{Well, there griffins, unicorns, minotaurs, chimeras, sirens, harpies, scy-}

Okay so any mythical creature that I can imagine is located somewhere in this magical world.

{Yeah, pretty much.}

How powerful are they on average, and also how powerful are the strongest ones?

{Depends which ones you're talking about since all of them vary.}

Uhhh, how about Griffons?

{On average I'd say they're around demon to emp-}

By any chance do we have a different rating system we can use?

{Uh, yeah, but why would you want to learn a different one?}

Well I mean, the elf one is good and all, but I think it'd be better if we can have a universal one that also has more tiers. Because to me, we'll probably have a problem scaling some, since two creatures could be the same class but they'll be wildly different with one being on the lower end of the class and the other being on the tipping point of reaching the next.

{Wow, you actually considered that. I'm actually impressed you thought of it, all things considered.}

I know I'm amazing.

{And now you're just being a douche again. *sigh* Why can't you just be normal for once…)

Are you going to keep critiquing me or…?

(Whatever. Back to the original topic, since you do bring up very valid points I'll explain to you a different rating system that should be pretty good in classifying and scaling people. It is a little bit complicated and hard to grasp at first, but as we keep using it, it should get easier over time.}

{First we will start with the overall ranks, which go from F being the lowest to SSS obviously being the highest. The middle ranks are obviously, D, C, B, A, S, and SS in that order of weakest to strongest. Are you following?}

Yeah, so far so good.

{Alright now we further split every single tier into three more. With them either getting a minus, no sign, or a plus sign. For example, within A tier, you can have A-, A, and A+. This is to separate the low tier, mid tier, and high tier beings. The minus sign would represent being at the bottom of the class, no sign is the average, and plus sign means that they're in the higher echelons.}

Alright, not too bad. This isn't very complicated to be honest.

{Well, we're going to split each one up one more time.}

Seriously?

{Yeah.}

Bring it on.

{Now you know that each letter has three tiers. Well each of those three tiers, can be split up into five more tiers. Each one can get the number representation between 1 to 5. One obviously being the weakest and 5 being the strongest. At 1 that means that they're just barely in the tier, and 5 meaning that they're poking to get into the next. So for example, an A5-, is more powerful than an A2-. As well as a B4+, significantly more so than a B4.}

Ugh, that's word gore. Too many words, too many numbers.

{But do you get it?}

Yeah, I got it. Couldn't you have explained that in simpler and more straightforward fashion.

{Not really, unless you can. Feel free to try if you'd like.}

No, I'm good.

{Yeah, that's what I thought.}

So then what would you rate the average griffin.

{Hmm, they are definitely quite powerful creatures. I would rate them… maybe around B4-. And the strongest ones are right up in S5+}

Anything you can compare those too since those mean nothing to me.

{Well, most Gods are S tier… so that should speak plenty.}

Ah… yikes, I don't think I'd like to meet that sort of being.

{Honestly, I don't think it'll matter much to you, probably shouldn't go out of your way to fight it, but I doubt you'd lose.}

Okay, I've only been in this universe for like several months. I'm really fucking broken aren't I?

{You don't even understand how bullshit your existence is. Like it's completely unfair towards everything else.}

You know, I'd rather have an easy time fighting other things, instead of getting my ass kicked, then bitching to get stronger.

{Fair point.}

Anyway, back to our original conversation. What kind of creature do you think he's bringing?

{Dude, there is literally no way for me to predict this.}

I thought with appraisal you get a full top down look at them.

{I did, and I quickly dismissed all of it, because the thought of that shit made me want to vomit.}

I can't blame you for that.

{Anyway, I'm gonna go. You should get some rest until you get there.}

Gotcha, I'll see ya later then.

{Yeah, later.}

After the mental link was cut, I could feel my eyes getting slightly heavy.

I guess sleeping wouldn't be so bad. I'm pretty sure the maid will wake me up when I get there anyway.

I'll just take a nap for now to pass the time.

"Issei-sama, you have arrived at the colosseum." Someone was shaking my shoulder.

"Alright, thanks." I yawned out while sitting up to stretch. That bench was a good change from the wooden chair I had last night.

"Follow me to the waiting area." The maid that opened the door for me stepped out of the carriage and waited for me.

"Haaaa… alright." Damn, I feel even more tired waking up now.

I exited the carriage and followed closely behind the maid. For some reason there were tons of people that were currently flooding through the entrance.

Is this for my duel or is there one going on right now?

Looking at the arena, it looked essentially like the Colosseum from Rome, except it wasn't half destroyed and was in perfect condition. The pristine columns and classical style was actually jaw dropping, only thing that kept my mouth up was the contrast between where we would fight, and the check-in/entrance area. Which literally just looked like the typical thing from my world with tents pitched up and the song and dance..

"Is that the one that is challenging Gael…"

"Shame, he's pretty good looking too…"

"Maybe he's really powerful…?"

"God, I hope Gael gets beaten for once…"

Why do they keep muttering like that? It's not like I can't hear you fuckers. Also, they ARE here to watch me fight him. Ah, yee dick heads of little faith, I'm going to creampie him and there's no stopping that.

"Do not mind them Issei-sama. Just continue to follow me." The Maid said without turning back to face me. She probably thinks I'm bothered by all the attention.

"Understood." I'm just wondering how the news spread so fast and to so many people. Like it's only been a few hours and I can already tell, even though there must be seating for thousands, it's going to be packed to the brim.

Eventually, we made it past the huge traffic jam of elves. On the indoors it really holds a somewhat medieval feel with the main sources of light being torches and all the banners hanging from the rafters and strange royal carpets on the ground. She led me along the perimeter to a designated room.

"Stay here, staff will come when it is time for you to fight." With that she bowed once more and took her leave.

I'm not sure if I could really call this a suite more so than a warm-up/training room. Since it's not like it was some kind of apartment where someone can relax, it was basically just a big ass room full of targets, punching bags, dummies, weapons, and just whatever someone would need to get those last moments of practice in.

"This is pointless for me…" I opted to just lie on the matted ground.

Time to go back to sleep.

"Hyoudou-san, come with us."

I woke up early and ended up having a nice long chat with Tomo-chan again about nothing. Probably looked like I was meditating. Then before I knew it, some knights walked in and here I am.

"It's time to start?"

"Indeed." the leader of them said.

I pushed myself up to my feet and walked out the door. The knights positioned themselves around me in a circle, kind of like bodyguards surrounding a VIP for protection. I don't know what they expect to happen but I'm not all that sure if this is that necessary.

It was a silent walk for the most part as I'm assuming they were instructed not to talk with participants. Either that or they just have some really good discipline drilled into them. Well whatever, I don't really care.

Eventually we reached a door that looked like something that led to a dungeon. They took a key and shoved it into the rusty keyhole. They twisted it and the door creaked open. The room was pretty bright, not because of some lightbulb. It had no artificial light source and was closed in on three sides, only thing is that there was some sort of Steel like bars stabbing the ground, preventing me from entering the arena.

"Through this door there is a gate that will be lifted when you are called. Once called, go to the middle. Now sit and wait until the announcement for you comes."

Christ what's up with all this waiting I need to do. I just wanna get in there already so can bash his face in.

"Good luck in your battle." It said in a monotone that sounded like it was on autopilot.

I walked into the sandy and desolate room and once again, sat down having to wait for my introduction.

Luckily for me. It didn't take long.

"Hello citizens and visitors of Elynhelmel! It is my pleasure to welcome you to our latest duel!" The crowd erupted in cheering and whoops. It was to the point that I swear the ground was shaking. How many people were there?

Also, Elhieardacil how many times have you done this before? You sound like a natural born announcer.

After several long seconds, the crowd died down and the queen continued.

"Introducing our first combatant! A foreigner that comes from lands unknown, prevailing from origins that are shrouded in mystery, with powers that are enigma to even the most skilled. Issei Hyoudou!" The crowd once again, erupting in glee and anticipation for ME. Yeah go me!

And WOW, you make me sound like some sort of dark horse badass. That was waaay better than what I imagined.

The iron bars slowly rose up from the ground.

Shoving my hands in my pockets I confidently walked outside into the bright light. I took a look around to see the stands/bleachers packed tight with people. The arena was as I expected, it was barren with densely packed earth. In the section to my right, there was a section in the middle that was cut off from the rest with special seats and views, incidentally which was where the queen was making her announcements, along with Shinka and Miilan.

They caught me looking at them and waved down at me. Of course, I had to wave back.

"This is really cool…" I muttered to myself. I was shaking on the inside from just how insane everything looked. I wanted to yell and scream about how awesome everything is. But I had an image to maintain so I kept all of that under lock and key.

"Now Introducing our second combatant! The first son to the Eldrin lineage, the heir to the fortune prestige and power, the undefeated, Gael Eldrin!" Yikes... here he comes.

The crowd once again goes wild.

I watch as the fat fucker slowly strides in with a dirty shit eating smirk. He walks right up to me and looks me up and down as if he's trying to gauge me.

"I'll give you one more chance. Leave now, and I'll forget this ever happened." He says with a confident smile.

"Yeah, fat chance." I'm so clever...

"Well, I offered." He walks away and puts several meters of distance between us.

"Combatants! If you possess a familiar within your arsenal, you are now allowed to summon them."

BLARGH, HE'S SMILING NOW. SOMEONE FUCKING RINSE MY EYEBALLS OUT.

Gael grabs a small crystal from his pocket.

"Summon! King of the Wind and Sky! Aniabraxas!" He raises his hand towards the sky.

Behind him a large magic circle that must be like 30 meters in both length and width begins to shine brightly. It pulsates with the light getting ever so brighter. With my magic vision I'm able to see a tremendous amount of magicules erupting from it.

'I'm really supposed to beat something that has this much magic power?' I mean there's a lot of magic coming out of the damn spell.

I mean… now that I think about it… my chains were emitting more, so I should still be fine.

Eventually, the light died down and in its place was a huge dragon.

Well it looked closer to a huge crow with a weird hair due and razor sharp claws. Mostly black feathers and the sort.

Well, there's the dragon, so I guess they were serious about that.

Wait, why is there another crystal in your hand?

"Summon! Queen of Snakes and Stone! Gorgon!" SERIOUSLY, A FUCKING GORGON?

Another magic circle appears to his side and follows the same process of bright light then no bright light. A rather horrific stone like face with a snake body and snakes for hair appears. Her eyes were slanted and her teeth were in fangs. Christ Perseus how did you deal with this crap?

Okay then… two legendary creatures vs me… This is fair I guess. That was definitely quite the shock but this is nothing I can't handle. I was expecting just a dragon but now a snake lady to… Surely, this is the end of the surpri-

"Summon!" FUCK YOU DUDE. PUT THE FUCKING CRYSTAL AWAY.

"King of the Predators! Manticore!" OH YOU HAVE TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME. I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS SHIT. AHHH GO TO HELL!

*RUMBLE*

NOW THE ARENA IS SHAKING?! SERIOUSLY?!

An even larger magic circle appeared from the ground. This one had way more magic than the last two combined. How the fuck did he get his hand on this?

From it, YET ANOTHER giant beast appeared, it had the body and head of a lion. Wings like a dragon, and the tail of a scorpion. It's mouth was filled with sharp rows of teeth, likewise it's claws looked rather menacing as well.

So clearly, this one is waaaaay stronger than the others… And, I was already thinking how I would deal with the others… 3 vs 1…? This seriously seems totally unfair.

Appraisal

Time slows to a stop.

{Wow, I can't believe I was actually right about all of that…}

You totally jinxed it you know.

{I mean it was going to happen regardless if I predicted it or not. So no, I don't know.}

STILL!

{Relax. They're not that powerful. The 8 guards you smacked earlier are leagues and some extra above them. They seem scary at first, rightfully so, but again, you'll be fine.}

How do you know?! That damn gorgon can turn me into stone, the manticore can paralyze me, AND THAT DRAGON IS LOOKING AT ME FUNNY!

{Hmm… I won't spoil how the fight will go but it should be okay, even if they do use their ability on you. Also the dragon… PFFT, I THINK IT WANTS YOU IN A DIFFERENT WAY!}

HUH? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

{That thing is under a really powerful spell, basically wiping away any thoughts and making it perfectly subservient to its master. Despite that, its instincts must be kicking in and probably views you as a potential mate.}

I AM NOT FUCKING A HUGE DRAGON. THAT'S JUST WEIRD.

{But isn't Shinka a big dragon…?}

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HER, WHO HAS A HUMAN FORM, AND THAT!

{I mean it still doesn't change anything.}

Hey… can you tell me something…?

{Mm?}

Is it at least a female?

{*Facepalm* I can't believe you… Yes it is…}

Alright, I feel a little bit better knowing that…

{I don't know why that comforts you bu-}

BECAUSE THAT MEANS I MUST BE A SEXY DRAGON OR SOMETHING RIGHT?!

{Were you not listening to me earlier? I said its instincts were marking you as a potential mate which means-}

That I'm hot right?

{LET ME FINISH!}

You didn't need to yell.

{*sigh* As I was saying, it's marking you as a potential mate which means that it senses how strong you are. Intelligent creatures are attracted to beings that can give them powerful offsprings. It's a whole thing to do with certain pheromones that are released, and can only be picked up by certain species. Dragons are among the most sensitive to this, so she's probably getting a full whiff of it right now.}

Well, that's a bit depressing… Do you think Shinka was attracted to me because of my pheromones?

{Why is that what you're questioning?}

Just answer dammit.

{No, you're weaker than her, and you were much weaker back then. It probably had little to no effect on her when you came here. She's attracted to you for you, not because of anything else.}

Well… I don't feel depressed anymore.

{Anything else before time goes back to normal?}

Can you give me a rating of each of them?

{Hmm… Gorgon is B2-, Dragon A3, and the Manticore is A4+}

So the manticore is almost on the level of a god?

{No, they're not THAT weak. Gods occupy mostly around mid-tier S. Considering the fact that a jump in the letter is huge, trust me, it's not that powerful.}

Okay fair.

{Two fights in one day. You're seriously getting your fill today.}

Yeah, it's not like I was actively searching for it though.

{Mm, I guess.}

Should I put some handicaps on myself this time or…?

{No, destroy them. Just obliterate them, don't even bother with doing something technical. Maybe experiment some of your spells.}

Sounds good.

{Also, for the love of fuck, hide the fact that you're a dragon.}

HEY! Earlier was a mistake dammit, and they were tough customers too!

{Yeah, yeah… Also, now that I think about it. You might want to try and free the dragon from the spell.}

Why? What's the benefit in that?

{Well for one, you gain another dragon as an ally if you're successful.}

Wouldn't that be illegal or some shit? Because it's their house defender.

{Actually about that, dragon's are a protected species in elven law. The only way to own one is by having the dragon choose to obey you. They cast a spell on the damn thing, so it's not legal by any means. The queen said that it was through a summoning pact, but I'm assuming, that's only they told her. This should mean that if you free it, it will actually be fine to leave, and it'll deal another blow to Gael. And I know how badly you want to wipe the shit-eating smirk off of his face. *evil chuckle*}

Hohoho, you're an evil genius and I love it!

{Aren't I?!}

This is why we're partners after all!

{You know what? For once, I agree with you.}

HELL YEAH!

{Alright, let's stop fucking around. You have a fight to get to.}

Yeah, thanks for the help as always Tomo-chan!

{Mm, destroy 'em for me!}

Will do!

Time reverts to normal.

"You should've quit while you had the chance!" Ugh, why is that the first voice I have to hear?

"This is so stupid…" I facepalmed at his antics. I'll be honest, I was pretty panicked before but Tomo-chan essentially wiped it away and gave me way too much confidence.

"Huh?!"

"Let's just get this over with already… It's stuffy here." I said while pulling on the hem of my shirt.

"Aha! So even a peasant like you understands the situation that you are in!"

"Are both combatants ready?!" Thank you, your majesty.

I give a thumbs up.

"Indeed, your majesty!"

"The duel will begin in…"

"3!" The fat bastard places some talisman on the ground underneath him.

I, on the other hand, do nothing.

"2!" A large blue transparent barrier surrounds him.

I was wondering how he was going to protect himself… That answers the question.

"1!" I pull my hands out of my pockets.

I'm not even going to bother pretending that I'm weak.

"BEGIN!"

The gorgon's eyes immediately began to glow, charging a red beam in front of it's irises. The manticore pounced, leaving it's position immediately, claws ready to tear me to shreds. And the dragon rose high into the air, electrical waves traveling through its wings.

You know, when you think about it, they're pretty cute. Except for the gorgon, that thing is hideous.

"This is the end for you!" Gael screams. I watch as the manticore is mere meters away from me, the gorgon and dragon look like they're just about ready to fire their spells.

"Shackles of Arcadia."

Tens of magic circles appear all around the arena. Golden chains shoot from them and wrap around the monsters. The manticore stops a few feet away from me, with the dragon and gorgon being brought down to the arena ground.

*RAWR* *SCREECH*

Man, doesn't it suck to be rendered completely useless by some random person?

They struggle in vain, trying to free themselves from their constraints. However, my chains won't budge an inch. They keep them perfectly locked to the ground.

*Whistle* I really got them good. To think they're THIS effective against non-infinite beings…

The arena which was cheering before falls into complete silence.

"So what was that about it being the end for me?"

"Impossible…" Gael looks at me with fear as he's probably realizing just how bad of an idea it was to mess with me.

"Not too smart of an idea was it?" I say mockingly.

"You're cheating! No one can be this powerful! No one can overpower my summo-"

"I don't want to hear that from someone that brought legendary monsters against a lone person. Hollow and hypocritical accusations only make ya look worse."

"That said… This manticore over here is giving me quite the dirty look. It's like it wants to tear me limb from limb. I don't really like it all that much. Let's fix it!" I smiled as I looked back at the snarling beast.

Let's try out some spells!

"Dissectum Ignis."

When the words left my mouth, a samurai of fire appeared next to me. It held a yumi bow made out of the same crimson flame. It drew back the string, with an arrow of fire in front of the drawstring.

As it released the shot, the samurai faded into thin air, but the arrow continued to travel towards the manticore. Almost instantaneously it made contact. The being of legends was engulfed by wild flames.

*RAWR*

It cried in pain and anguish but the flame continued its work. Eating through it's tough skin and fur quickly. Within moments, a pile of ashes laid in front of me. The chains that bound the monster had broken up into golden light.

THAT WAS SO COOL! DAMN LET'S TRY SOMETHING ELSE THIS TIME!

"Well, that's one down." Seriously? No one's screaming or anything? It's dead silent…

"I think the Gorgon is on the chopping block." It seemed to have understood what I said and began to try even harder to break out of my chains, not to attack me, but in evident fear.

Hehe… let's try a chant this time. I wonder if that'll scare him even more. Not that it's necessary… just seems kinda cool to do.

"Grieve."

A dark smoke began to form around the Gorgon.

"Laugh.

It grows until the snake is completely shrouded.

"Dance in the ways of old."

*SCREECH* *HISS*

"Praise the darkness that spews torment."

The smoke clears and the snake seems to be dried. As if all the blood and liquid has been pulled from its body.

"As you rot, honey lips chuckle."

A black sludge appears on its body and spreads from head to toe, completely engulfing it.

"Collapse, as thine fruit is revoked."

It slowly dissolves it, as smoke begins to rise from the consumed corpse.

"I chant and sing."

The smoke takes the shape of a rotting skull. With the body finally being fully melted, and the black slime disappearing.

"Fallen Grace!"

The skull shatters.

Damn… That was so fucking cool… I've only been able to use that on dummies until now, and it never looked like that before.

"Seriously? Still speechless? Not going to stop even when it's clear that you've lost?" Dude, how much pride do you have? Although, you keeping it allows me to just do more damage.

"I… refuse to submit to a filthy commoner! I AM GAEL ELDRIN! I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY THE LIKES OF YOU! ANIABRAXAS RISE!" It's kinda sad how the poor thing tries so hard to flap its wings and get off the ground, but it just can't...

"*sigh* Abusing a dragon like that isn't very nice. Your family doesn't deserve something like this…"

"Don't you dare touch it! I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO ELIMINATE YOU IF YOU DO ANYTHING TO ANIABRAXAS." He tried to come off as tough but I could tell. He was afraid of losing the family protector because of some duel. I knew that severe repercussions would be in line for him. That's perfect for me.

I stride towards the chained Dragon and look at its eyes.

Damn, they looked misty and glazed. Even If Tomo-chan didn't tell me that it was under some sort of spell, looking at this even I could tell that something was horribly wrong. I may not know much when it comes to information in this world, but this is just off to me.

I want to free it but how can I do that…

Is there any spell I know that can cancel curses and mind control magic?

Hm…

OH WAIT, THERE IS!

I place my hand on the dragon's head. It tries to shrink away and thrashes wildly to get my hand off of it. Although obviously none of it works.

"Dispel."

It flails even harder as if it is in agony. Trust me this is for your own good.

*SCREECH*

It slows down and eventually falls into unconsciousness. The golden chains once again shatter.

"W-w-what did you just do?!"

"Saved it from you assholes." The thought of the dragon being enslaved to them for God knows how long adds to my reasons to Joe Rogan kick this son of a bitch.

I moved towards the blue barrier that is protecting him.

"S-s-stay away from me!"

He backs up and trips over himself, falling ass-first onto the ground.

"Cute defense you have." I bring my arm out to the side and swipe it across the barrier. Creating a large tear, causing it to trickle into nothingness.

"Will you admit your defeat?"

"I AM GAEL ELDRIN I WILL N-"

"Wrong answer."

I dash in front of him, and while holding back, sock him in the jaw. My punch sent him skidding across the ground.

"That was for Miilan."

Somehow he is able to lean up and looks at me with fear.

"And this is for Aniabraxas." Appearing next to him, I deliver a powerful roundhouse that sends him flying to the other side of the arena.

I'm sure Joe Rogan would be proud of me if he saw that.

He causes a rippling indent in the wall, his eyes spiraling, clearly knocked out.

Nothing…

Does that mean I won?

…

…

...

Err… I won, didn't I?

"IT HAS BEEN DECIDED! THE WINNER IS ISSEI HYOUDOU!"

The crowd erupts into applause and cheers even louder than before. There are screams coming from the stands.

What a fucking pushover...

"Take that Gael!"

"Good job Hyoudou!"

"He beat him!"

"He finally got what he deserved!"

And all the like were supporting my actions. This feels oddly good.

"Thank you Issei-san!" Miilan tackles me with a hug. Shinka is a few feet away, smiling down at Miilan. I guess she dropped him off here.

"Mhm, I told you it was no problem."

'Thank you so much I don't know how I'll ever repay you!" His grip tightened around my midsection.

"We can just consider it a favor as I said before," I said as I patted his head.

"I'll do anything to make it up I promise! Just say the word and I'll do it!"

"Anything?" I said, an atomic blush appeared on his face.

OKAY SERIOUSLY, I'M GETTING TIRED OF THIS. YOU'RE A DUDE RIGHT?!

"If it's you, I don't mind using my b-b-body too…" HAAAAAHHHHHHHH?!

I look up from Miilan to see Shinka barely containing her laughter.

"I don't mean in a weird way though! L-l-like if you want to tour the place!" Miilan stammers out.

"Well that's enough thanking I think Mil-chan, you might want to get off of him though before misunderstandings start sprouting up." Since when did you give him a nickname?

"A-a-ah you're right!" He hastily gets off of me.

Little Issei has never been so confused in its life.

"That was quite the show Issei-san." A voice from behind me said.

I looked back to see the queen with a cheery attitude.

Also, somehow the arena was already vacant. Meaning only us 4 were here, minus the knocked out Gael and dragon.

"I hope you enjoyed it, your majesty."

"I most certainly did. Although I must apologize."

"Ehh, for what?"

"I had given you incorrect information. I didn't know he would summon two other monsters like that. For that, I apologize sincerely."

"Don't worry your majesty, no one could have expected him to do that."

"Thank you for your understanding. It is quite amazing how easily you dispatched them. And the magic spells you cast were rather terrifying."

"Ah, yeah I wanted to try them out, I was curious how it would work on a live target."

"You truly are an enigma Issei-san." She chuckled softly.

"Is that a good thing?"

"Indeed it is... I do have a question for you."

"What is it, your majesty?"

"Why did you spare the dragon? It is clear that it is still alive."

"So about that… All of the others were just senseless beings, but Aniabraxas was under a mind control spell."

"It was?!" She was visibly surprised.

"Mm… So I just freed it instead of killing it." Please don't ask how I knew about that. I have no way to answer that question.

"But how did you kn-... No this makes sense. You are a dragon after all Issei-san."

Well, that works too.

"Speaking of which, may I leave Aniabraxas in your training room until it wakes up?"

"I don't mind, but how will you bring it there?" She asked with confusion.

Shit, I didn't think about that.

"I got it," Shinka spoke up and snapped her fingers.

The dragon vanished from its spot, leaving only an imprint of its form on the ground.

"Ah? Um…?" Elhieardacil you are completely confused, and that is a totally okay reaction to this sort of thing. After all, it's not every day you see dragon Jesus poof things in and out.

"Don't worry your majesty, I only teleported her there."

"That's okay then I suppose…" I almost feel bad for her… Meeting two almighty dick heads in a single day, and they constantly break the rules that you've thought as fact all your life.

It's the end of the duel now. Wasn't I told to do something by that Chuo guy that appeared in my dreams?

'Just go to the hill, If nothing happens then you'll verify that I'm not here to help you. But I guarantee you, if you don't do anything. You'll definitely regret it in the future'

That's right… He wanted me to go visit that hill… I guess nothing can really go wrong. It's not like anything could really happen to people like me and Shinka after all.

"Your majesty, me and Shinka need to go somewhere right now. Is it alright if we leave?"

"We do?" Shinka looked at me with confusion.

"Yes we do."

"Of course, I apologize for taking up your time." The queen gives a small bow.

I grab Shinka by the hand and begin to lead her away.

"Thank you for all your help Issei-san!" Miilan says while waving at us.

"No problem! I'll see you guys later!" I picked up Shinka bridal style, earning a surprise yelp from her, then I summoned my wings and with a few strong flaps we were on our way.

"Where are we going that we needed to leave in such a hurry?" Shinka asked while relaxing into my arms.

"Ah, it's just somewhere that I thought would be nice for us to spend time together, since we meant to hang out but that kinda went down the drain…" I say with an apologetic voice.

I had no idea what the hell I was doing and to be honest I have no idea what Chuo was talking about. But I do see a large elevated piece of land in the distance so I'm going to assume that's the place.

"Don't worry, I still enjoyed the things that happened today."

"That's a bit comforting."

"By the way."

"Hm?"

"You looked really cool out there." She told me bashfully.

"Hehe, thanks Shinka. Did you like my spells?"

"Mm, I'm sure Gael is shitting himself in his dreams."

"He deserved it."

"Yeah, he did. I'm surprised you didn't do more to him."

"Well, while I may have wanted to kill him…" She gives me a sarcastic look.

"Okay, maybe I REALLY wanted to kill him, it's not worth having all the politics to deal with, and neither having nobles complaining to the queen."

"Wow, you actually thought of the consequences of your actions?"

"You're acting as if I don't."

"You don't…" She deadpanned.

"Like when?"

"This morning?" SERIOUSLY?

"OKAY THAT'S BULLSHIT AND YOU KNOW IT." I yelled, in response she covered her ears with her hands.

"We're right next to each other, you don't have to scream like that."

"Ah, sorry, but still, you know that doesn't count."

YOU KNOW IT DOESN'T!

"But did you think of what might happen if you barged in?"

"No… but that's because I was worried about you!"

"My point stands, you didn't think of the possibility."

"I swear, your reasoning is so fucked up." I said, while sighing.

"Not as much as your perverted brain." She flicked my forehead.

"Ow... what do you mean perverted brain?"

"I'm sure you were imagining erotic things after seeing me like that." I mean…

When I really think about it… the image is still perfect in my memory. Hehe she was so curvy all over the place-

"Your silence is only confirming my words." HOW CAN I NOT IMAGINE IT WHEN YOU BRING IT UP?!

"*sigh* I see nothing wrong in replaying the scene in my head."

"There's plenty wrong with that!"

"No there isn't, you're just dumb."

"You-"

"We're at our stop." I retracted my wings and landed behind a waist high railing. We were at the top of the hill, it was a small clearing that did indeed overlook the city and even had a bench for whatever soul decided to come up here.

I put her down, and she immediately ran to the railings and looked at the view.

"Have you never been here before?" I thought she's been here in the past.

"Nope, this is new, it wasn't here before." Wasn't here before?

"You mean like the whole hill?"

"Yeah, this was just flat land in the past. I guess they used it to create another tourist attraction.

That's insane…

I followed suit and went next to her to look at the city.

I have to admit, the view was definitely breathtaking. Since it was sunset, the whole city seemed to sparkle and shimmer in the light. All the trees and nature that led to the city also definitely helps with this whole thing. Adds some life and freshness to the picture.

It reminds me of the hill back in my old world…

Turning towards her, I can't help but look at her blissful appearance. She seems so happy, and like she's having the best time right now.

God, I can't remember a time in my life that I've had this much fun with someone else… Actually, I don't think I can think of a period in my life that I've had more fun in general. There's just something about this girl I swear, I always feel so goddamn relaxed whenever I'm near her and it's just… I really don't want our time like this to end.

It's weird though. I had sworn off getting these types of feelings for another person but now… It's impossible not to feel them anymore. If anything my body craves for more, it needs more, it wants it to be reciprocated.

{Aww, look at you two. What a great way to end your date.}

We're not on a date.

{You guys totally are, I mean you traveled around the city, had some food to eat, and now this. You can't even deny that.}

We're not even dating.

{Which is dumb, because you guys totally should be by this point.}

Then what do you suggest I do about it since you're making a problem out of it.

{Okay I'm not making this a problem, I'm just pointing out the obvious. And I would suggest… I don't know, dating her?}

No, kiss my ass not happening. Not yet.

{What why? What's wrong with that?}

I mean, we both live for basically forever right? A few months while it may be a lot to me, it's really not that much to someone like her. On top of that we have all that time to spend together, so what's the need to rush?

{While you aren't wrong by any means, not every girl wants to wait a thousand years before getting together with the man they want. She might just move on if she starts to feel hopeless that you'll never reciprocate her feelings.}

I know… it's just I'm not completely sure if I want to trust her with my heart… I just...

{Actually forget what I said earlier, I want a full top-down explanation of what the hell happened to you because this is ridiculous. Being this stupid is an insult to everyone and especially her. What do you even need to make sure of? That she loves you? Because she's proved that she clearly does.}

But you literally just said that you would wait for another day to ask about this. Again REASONS.

{And I also just said to completely disregard what I said. Because now you have me curious and I want to know NOW.}

Well, doesn't that suck because I don't recall you having a way to force it out of me. As far as I'm concerned, I'm the one that controls this whole thing.

{You know I could always just take over your body and do something to Shinka to get you decked in the schnoz right?}

What do you mean you can? How is that po- Oh wait. You did that yesterday to save me... You know you can just not do that and let me do it on my own terms right?

{You see I could, but I'm impatient and don't feel like waiting that long. So hurry up and spit it out so I can at least know why you act so fucking stupid.}

Are you serious? Would you really do that if I don't tell you right now?

{Do I sound like I'm screwing with you right now? I'm pretty sure I sound pretty serious.}

Ugh… Fine, I'll tell you but get your popcorn ready because this will be a long story. And please for fuck's sake, just let me tell the story in the entirety before you interrupt me or do anything of that nature.

(Alright, just gimme a sec then… *DING* *DING* Kay my popcorn is ready, start talking. *Crunch* *Crunch*}

I can't believe that you're actually eating popcorn… and one more thing, my life has a lot more bullshit, but this is sort of the main one.

{Kay Kay}

I guess my story goes all the way back to high school when I was a young little pervert. And when I mean little pervert I mean HUGE PERVERT, like I was the definition of human trash back then. Just to give you some insight, during school hours I wasn't paying any attention in class, and if you were to take a guess what I was doing and said 'watching porn' or 'reading porn' then you'd be right 100% of the time. My mind was filled to the brim with boobs, more boobs, a topping of boobs, and of course, thighs, because what cultured man doesn't have a solid appreciation for good legs? And then when I got home, what do you think I did? I would read the latest porn mag that arrived on my doorstep and do unspeakable things to little Issei. That was the kind of life that I lived for basically most of my high school days.

{*Crunch* *Crunch*}

But what made it worse was how much I failed to actually care and the lack of shame I had. Not only was I very outspoken about my desires and exactly what I wanted, I even had some buds that were somehow just like me, so of course we always stuck together and hung out with one another. We were huge pervs and jacking buddies. Somehow this is not even the lowest thing I would do. All of us would be jacking off to little peepholes that we would carve into the girl's clubs locker rooms. The thing about these holes, is that every time we did it they would catch us and beat us to an inch of our life. You would think that we would learn but nope! We kept coming back for more. Because, well, I had to get my rocks off somehow to something other than laminated breasts.

{Okay, sorry to interrupt even though I said I wouldn't, but how the fuck do you act like some innocent dumb ass now when not so long ago you were the essence of a piece of shit?}

Honestly, I'd be surprised if you didn't say anything so it's fine. And hold on, we'll get to that in a moment.

{Alright *Crunch*, then *Crunch* continue.}

Well, with that out of the way we can move onto the more juicy bits I guess.

It was the middle of my second year and of course, I was doing things like normal, for all I knew, it was gonna just be the average day of school and literally, nothing will happen. But that was wrong, oh was I so damn wrong about that. Normally, I walk home after school by myself since after all, I am an outcast, but for some reason this really really cute girl insisted on walking with me. At this point, I probably should've figured that something was up, but the prospect of having a girl walk me home was just way too good of an opportunity to pass up. So like the idiot I was, I let her without thinking anything of it, other than the fact that I thought that I was finally getting what I deserve, aka girls falling for me.

And this continued for a while, we ended up chatting a fair amount during the walk, because it was usually around 20 minutes to get back to my house when I go at a casual pace. For a few months, she would wait for me by the gates and sure enough, we went back together. After the first few days, we ended up talking in school too. I thought that my luck was really turning around. Because now a cute girl was even talking to me during school despite my shit reputation.

One day on the way back, by some miracle of Zeus, clouds formed out of nowhere and it poured like hell on us. So obviously we would need to book it for a shelter of some kind. The thing is her house is a few minutes away from mine, and we just so happened to be really close by when this all went down. So doing the glaringly obvious thing, we bolted for her place. When we got back it was just typical stuff of showering and drying off, just being typical people. BUT, when all of that extra crap was done, we ended up scooching together under a blanket watching random shows and laughing like idiots despite the programs being actual dog shit.

Then one thing led to another, and… I kissed her and she kissed back.

{And now you guys are dating? I thought this was supposed to be some kind of tragic backstory that will have me wailing on the floor with pity for you.}

Let me continue dammit, this is still the build-up.

{Fine, *Crunch*}

So, yes we started dating after that and It was to be honest, an amazing time of my life. Because of her, I reduced my perverted tendencies since I kinda didn't want to ruin the one chance I had at love. I even started working out a ton, to get a better physical image. After a few months I was in really good shape too, I was pretty ripped if i do say so myself. During this time she and I would go on dates all the time, weekends, holidays, after school, you name it. If there was a period of free time, then you could bet that we were probably out somewhere together.

I showered her with everything I had, time, love, affection, and a good amount of my wallet. I was so crazy that I would make sure that I wouldn't fall asleep before her when we texted, mainly because I didn't like the idea of her sleeping to the knowledge of me not being there over the phone ready to respond. This probably sounds insane on my part but ya know I really enjoyed those times and was ready to give up everything I had just to be with her.

{Aww how cute. *Crunch*}

My parents were exceedingly happy about this whole development too. They would never say it to my face but I could tell that they were extremely disappointed with what I had become. But when the whole turn around happened, they became more open and loving towards me. My father would give me however much money I needed because in his head, no matter how much he spends on me, it will always be cheaper than bailing me from jail.

But as is true in real life, every hill also has a downside

During the last month or two of our relationship something began to happen that I wasn't really keen on and didn't decide to dig into. Mainly it was her talking to a bunch of other dudes and they would be rather… 'grabby' with her even though people were never like this with her before, and she also seemed to become more distant. For the first one, I just thought to myself that she has a social life outside of me, so I should just leave her be unless I want to be a domineering cunt of course. And for the whole distant part, I just didn't really notice. Of course, I realized that the gaps between texts would be increasing but I just really didn't pay any mind to it and just thought that she was getting stressed out with classes. Since at the time she would justify the time gaps with the excuse that she was 'studying' or 'doing work', and like the disabled idiot I was, I believed her without a second thought. These were obvious red flags but for someone that was stupidly in love, my loyalty and trust in her were completely blind.

Now at this point, our one year anniversary was coming up. We had decided that we were gonna have a special date after school since we hadn't gone out on one in weeks. So of course, I was really excited about this whole thing. I planned out the whole thing in a small book, where we were going to eat, what to talk about, what I was gonna buy her, and how we would end it. Which by the way was really romantic and pretty well thought out.

The whole week leading up to it I was getting really excited and even asked my parents for extra money to make sure I had more than enough money to treat her to anything that she wanted. But then something strange happened.

On the day of our anniversary, with my heart in my throat, I woke up extra early to even freshen up and make sure that I looked my best for her. But during that time is when I got a text, asking if we can reschedule it tomorrow because she was sick. Obviously, I'm disappointed as hell and pretty annoyed but I didn't show any of it and just went along with the whole thing. So I ended up going to school in a shitty mood because of the whole thing just getting thrown off. But during class, while I'm spacing out, I thought of a great idea. What if I bought her some flowers and some food to surprise her after school. And now I have a plan of attack and all sorts.

So the last bell rings and now I dash out of school to get everything. I stop by a florist and grab a bouquet of roses since I do know for a fact that it is her favorite kind of flower. And then I stop by a small bakery to grab a bunch of different treats so that we can eat while watching TV or something like that. So at this point, I'm practically running to her house because as you could probably tell, I was hysterical with enthusiasm.

I reach her door, and as I'm about to knock to let her know I'm here so that she could open up. It turns out that it's already open. Strange right? But to me at the time it just seems like a really good coincidence since now I can really surprise her with this stuff. I was just imagining how happy she would be at seeing me despite not going to school and that sort of thing. So I silently walk up the stairs and go to her room. I'm about to open the door and then I... I hear weird noises coming from just beyond it.

Instead of barging through, I ever so slightly crack it open. And do you know what I saw?

{What did you see...?}

I saw her… having…

I… I… saw her…. And she…

She…

Ah.. I meant… she...

Ah…

I'm sorry…

She…

She…

Was there…

And…

Kazumi-chan… Kazumi-chan…

Oh… God…

Why did you do that to me…

Kazumi-chan why…

Why was I never enough…?

"Issei, what's wrong?"

"Huh?" Her voice snapped me out of my mental talk with Tomo-chan.

"You're crying Issei." she approached me and softly wrapped her arms around me while bringing my head into her shoulder.

I feel the saline stick to my fingers as I wipe it off my face.

"I don't know what's wrong but I won't ask." She said soothingly while rubbing one of her hands over the fabric that covered my back.

"Shinka…" I bring my arms around her and bring her in closer as I feel more tears welling up in my eyes.

So this is what it feels like for someone to really care for you… I've missed this feeling so much…

Her arms held me tightly in an almost possessive yet comforting way. It was as if she was trying to convey to me something through just her actions alone. I could feel the warmth spreading throughout my entire body from the simple act.

I couldn't help but do the same to her, I needed her to be as close to me as possible. I needed the relief that only she could bring to me.

"Don't worry Issei. I'm here for you, I'll always be here for you. Thick and thin. Good and bad. Even if this whole universe turned against you I would still stand by your side and face whatever is sent our way. I don't know why you're crying but whatever it is, I'll help you through it, no matter how long it takes."

"Shinka… Why would you go so far out of your way for me...? I haven't done anything to warrant this kind of treatment. If anything I've only been a burden to you this whole time. I suddenly invaded your living space where you lived by yourself for eternities. Then to keep me alive, you make food for me and accommodate all my needs. You're even training me and taking me out places so that I could have fun and enjoy the new place that I'm in." I removed my head from her chest and looked her straight in the eyes.

Her face unwavering looked straight back at me.

"Issei, you ask me all these things and say all these things but you don't even know what you're saying yourself. You think that you're a burden to me but I truly do enjoy doing things like this for you. You said it yourself, I've lived in solitude for so many eons. I outage everything around here with the exception of two people. But even then, the three of us aren't exactly on any terms past killing each other. Issei you're a treasured friend that, even though in comparison to how long I've lived we haven't known each other for that much time. I still truly enjoy every single moment I've spent around you. Whether it's kicking your ass in a game or in real life, or just doing stupid shit with you, it has been by far the most fun I've had in my extensive life." She then takes my hand and places it on the right side of her chest.

"Can you feel it, Issei?" She presses my hand into her chest more firmly.

I had no idea what she was talking about at first. But then I feel it. Her heart feels as if it's bouncing around in her chest. It's beating at a thousand pumps per minute. The pressure and rapid pulses, I know that feeling like the back of my hand…

"I don't understand why, but whenever I'm around you I get this weird feeling in my chest. I get all nervous and anxious for some reason and it feels like I'm going to explode. I get these urges to do all these things with, whether it's holding your hand or just being close to you. Sometimes it calms down but right now this is the most intense it's ever been. I want to get rid of it... but something about it just feels right and I don't understand why…" Her eyes were locked on mine.

"Issei do you know what this is?"

I know what I'm going to do… I have to do this… For her… .

"Shinka… it's… love." I steeled myself while the words came out of my mouth.

"Then… Issei if what you're saying is right… then… I love you." She leaned her face closer to mine. Her eyelids slowly closed as her lips neared mine.

"Shinka, no." I held onto her shoulders and pushed her away. Her eyes flew open as the emotion drained from her face and she became completely pale.

She looked as if she was about to cry. Her hands were trembling and her body began shaking.

"Issei… What do yo-"

"Shinka I want to be the one to tell you." I removed my hand from her shoulder and cupped the side of her face while inching closer to her.

Her face transformed once again, her eyes widened.

"I don't know why out of all the people you could've chosen you decided on an idiot like me. But for that, you've made me the happiest man alive. I promise to do the same for you, and to stay by your side until the day that I disappear from the land of the living. Heaven and hell can try, but no one will ever be able to take me away from being with you."

"I love you Shinka." I closed my eyes, leaned my head forward and closed the remaining distance that lies between us.

*Chu*

I pressed my lips into her own.

It took her a moment, but after the initial shock, she reciprocated it. Pushing her own lips against mine.

I could feel her hand move away from my body and place itself right over my own that was gently holding her face.

We stayed in that moment for what seemed like an eternity. Neither of us wanted the moment to end, as it was far deeper than just a kiss. It was more than just our lips mushing together. It was the start of our relationship and the sealing of our promises to one another. To love each other no matter the circumstance and situation.

Which is probably what I should be thinking, But all that filled my mind was how pillowy her lips were.

Eventually, we separated from our extremely long kiss, both of us gasping for air.

I leaned on her forehead as she returned it with a loving gaze.

"Shinka I-"

"That was really mean you know... I thought you really rejected me..."

"I'm sorry, I wanted to be the one to say it."

"It's okay I forgive you... but now you have to let me do this."

She pushed forward and met my mouth again.

I felt myself getting lost in the motions, my arms slid behind her and pulled her in closer.

Oh god… her lips are so soft… I think I'm getting addicted to it…

I want more…

I open my mouth and slightly lick her lips. In return, she opens hers too.

Haah… it's so sweet…

Shinka…

Shinka…

Shinka…

More…

I want more…

I push harder into her mouth.

"Nnn… Haah… Unnnn…"

I could feel our fingers intertwine, as I explored all of the parts of her mouth…

We eventually break away with a trail of saliva connecting our lips. Both of us were breathing heavily.

"Shinka…" I couldn't help but gaze at her.

"Issei… more…"

Without replying I lean back into her.

This time she takes the initiative and bypasses my lips with her tongue.

"Mm…"

I search for her own mouth, and begin my own assault.

"Nn!..."

*Slurp*

She starts to suck on it.

I want to do that to you too…

I pull away slightly, with my tongue getting released from her lips as if it slipped out.

"Iss-!" I don't give her a chance to recover.

Once again, she slides it past my lips.

But this time, instead of returning it…

*SLURP*

"Mm!"

I suck on her tongue. Hard.

I greedily gulp down the saliva that I'm able to get.

This taste… I'm already hooked…

Without realizing it, I start sucking even harder.

"Nnn-nnn!"

That sound is music to my ears…

Let me hear more.

"Nnnn…!"

"Ah… Unn.."

My head was going blank…

I couldn't think of anything else…

We pulled away from each other… resting on each other's forehead.

"I'll never let you go Issei…"

"I'll never leave you either..."

…

…

…

…

...

"Ne… Issei."

"Hmm?"

"Can you say that you love me again…?"

"You want to hear it again…?"

"Mm."

"I love you so much Shinka…"

"Hehe… I love you so much too… darling…"

Omake

"Your majesty?"

The maid had made tea, because of the queen's request… but she wasn't here…

"I shall wait until she returns."

It wasn't until the next day that Elhieardacil found the maid holding a tray with several cups of tea and bags under her eyes.

With many apologies later, the maid was given the next few days off.

Omake 2

"I still can't believe that you sent all those videos and messages to the big boss! You got him fired and fined so much money!" Ai exclaimed before taking a sip of beer.

"Me and Senpai made sure to get our hands on as much incriminating evidence as possible." Eisuke said with a puff of his chest. "Now there's no way in hell he's getting a respectable job again!"

"Hey Eisuke…" Her face was flushed.

"What's up?"

"I want you to put your hands on me…"

"Ah shit… I forgot how low her alcohol tolerance was…"

Not much to say other than that Eisuke had a great night… and morning… and noon… and afternoon… and night… before his room finally fell into silence.

A/N: Okay, so I listen to every review with a clear and objective mind. And yes THIS STORY WAS VERY SLOW.

The whole point was for their relationship to grow realistically. But I guess everyone was way too impatient for them to just grow naturally.

SO YES I caved in a bit to the pressure and it feels like I rushed it if I'm being totally honest. I wanted to at least have a few more, but whatever. Most Issei's on this site are on haremette number 30450 by the time they reach this many words so whatever.

So don't complain that I rushed their relationship, you guys wanted it, so I gave it to you.

Also, quick note, I must've made over 200k words with the amount of rewrites the scenes went through.

For example... Miilan was originally a girl named Eris. But I felt having a girl being all touchy with Issei and him doing typical protag shit is well... TYPICAL. So fuck that, let's throw a trap in and make him cute as fuck.

Anyway, I'm probably missing something, but maybe not idk.

OH YEAH! Underneath the reviews, I'm leaving an index for all of the spells and shit that Issei uses, maybe it'll help and maybe some of you will like it? Sigh... no one probably cares... and no one will read it either... I'll update it whenever a new spell comes out, regardless if any of you even like it.

As usual please Follow, Favorite, and Review Respectfully

See ya next time 3

- Chibi3x

Reviews:

Kevin J Rosario Cruz - Dude, don't worry. You're review is harsh yes, but you're speaking honestly and upfront. You clearly don't like a certain aspect and you are addressing me as such. I have a tremendous amount of respect that you've stated your opinion, I may be wrong but to me. You care enough, and think this story is worthwhile enough that you put a review in the hopes that I will see it and make changes. I understand your sentiments about what you're saying. Yes the last few chapters were meant to set up the character traits and to force the reader to have a closer bond to the 2 and maybe ship them harder. I slowly developed them on purpose, if you don't like this then I'm sorry.

Issei, is less clueless than disbelief. But you should already understand from this chapter if you read it.

Thank you for reviewing and leaving an honest opinion about how you feel. Have a wonderful day my good sir!

look2019 - Hehe thanks mate! I'm glad you were able to pull some kind of enjoyment out of it! Have a great day!

IluLugal - Ahhh... you're reviews are always so refreshing to read senpai... Long thought out things that really just make me so happy!

Yeah macro is a... well bitch is a soft word.

Hahah, i wanted to keep it slow but I guess people aren't too patient with me so I have to speed it up! Maybe it's not to your liking since in your stories you have careful but in-depth development (Which by the way is not a bad thing, it's actually a really good thing and what I was trying to pull off).

I'm not really that good at writing though... thank you for encouraging me nonetheless!

I'm always willing to throw in some good ol' competition but not yet... It'll look bad on me if I can only make females that love Issei...

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a great day mateeeeeeee!

autor godz - Oh snap, a compliment in spanish?! Hell yeah! Thanks for the encouraging words! Have a terrific day!

Rintaro55 - Yeah I made sure to prioritize it! That's actually a big reason why this chapter took so long, besides the fact that it's MASSIVE AS HELL!

Ahh... I hope this chapter satisfied you then. You should now know though, he's not really clueless. He did figure it... just... ya know wasn't ready yet.

Well, I made a second Omake specifically for that!

Thanks for reviewing! Have a great day!

Redripper666 - I wanted to develop them, that's the main reason why it's basically just them fucking around for the first few chapters. I wanted to show their relationship and it's characteristics. Which are a fine mixture of lovey dovey and teasing.

I hope this chapter made up for the lack of content! Thank you for leaving a review! Have a wonderful day!

Guest - Thanks so much! I don't really think it's that good in the first place or that it's even getting better but I appreciate the kind words! Also... make an account so I can actually address you properly XD.

Thanks for reviewing and have a splendid day!

L.B.N - Hahaha, well I hope this chapter makes you love it a little bit more! I tried really hard to please everyone so I hope this satisfied you're hunger for now!

Thanks for reviewing! Have an amazing day!

Gaming and Readnig 4ever - Yes, I understand your sentiments with that. Reading through someone's life is not normal as it is a huge invasion of privacy in many different respects. But you have to understand that he was angry at first, he didn't want her to know his memories, but it was her response that killed his anger. Instead of focusing on the fact that she looked through his memories, his attention was swapped to his former life and the things that happened. This caused his anger to dissipate and to temporarily just feel hollow, I guess I wasn't clear enough on wording or context clues. I apologize for my inadequacy.

Um... I'm not quite sure how to respond to the second half of your review... I'll just respond to that first sentence. Absolute pure power is not necessarily everything, experience, finesse, instincts, and a bunch of other things are important factors to consider too. Sure, Issei is overwhelmingly powerful, yes he has plenty of combat experience, but never has he felt so much hatred and killing intent pointed at him. Most people would freeze up if a guy with a knife glared at them with a heated stare.

Thank you for reviewing! Have a great day!

XxDragonToothxX - Geez... saying these kinds of things... It truly makes me happy that you feel that way about this kind of story. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I don't particularly think my story is that good, and I don't feel myself improving as a story writer. I'm still very far from having enough skill to be called decent. But I REALLY REALLY do appreciate your words and your willingness to stay with my story! I promise dude, I refuse to let this story die. I WILL UPDATE IT NO MATTER THE CIRCUMSTANCE... unless I actually die then it becomes kinda impossible.

Hohoho, she won't need to buy anything to cosplay let me tell you sir... Just wait until I can get a chapter about just them alone in that big ol' mansion they live in...

Mhm TOTALLY NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!

Thanks for reviewing! Have an amazing amazing day!

An Anonymoose - So you say... but it is not! If my story is still alive then I have faith in your love life!

I'm rooting for you! FIGHTING!

Stab Resistance - {Passive Skill} an immunity to wounds that are caused by the thrusting of an object through the body. (May not work if scales are not in use.)

Pain Nullification - {Passive Skill} an immunity to all pain stimuli.

Heat Resistance - {Passive Skill} a strong resistance to damage caused by heat.

Cold Resistance - {Passive Skill} a strong resistance to damage caused by cold.

Temperature Fluctuation Defiance - {Passive Skill} an immunity to rapid changes in temperature. Additionally buffs Heat Resistance and Cold Resistance to cause extreme temperatures to have borderline no effect on the user.

Natural Attraction - {Passive Skill} a strong attraction by those around the user, favorable terms are established immediately without the requirement of action.

Destined for Greatness - {Passive Skill} Do I really need to explain this?

High Magic Affinity - {Passive Skill} The user is a natural for all forms of magic regardless of type.

Fighting Genius - {Passive Skill} The user is a genius at strike combat, opponents will often be outmatched by their prowess.

Supreme Combatant - {Passive Skill} The user is a natural at all types of combat, they are gifted with the ability of both magic and physical forms of attack. The user has an uncanny instinct and can focus on many targets at once. Magic reserves are greatly increased, speed and agility are greatly increased.

Machiavellianism - {Passive Skill} ?

Excessive Masochism - {Passive Skill} The user enjoys the feeling of pain, they will have the desire to get into situations where bodily harm is inevitable.

Endless Fighting Spirit - {Passive Skill} The user will never give up in a fight. They're fueled with determination in the midst of combat and refuse to stand down. Suppresses ability Excessive Masochism.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe - {Passive Skill} The user obtains a fully comprehensible guide to help them through their life.

Accelerated Axolotl Regrowth - {Passive Skill} The user gains the ability of self regeneration that is as powerful as the name is shitty.

Partial Conversion - {Active Skill} The user can transform the clothes they wear into that of which they imagine.

Visual Light Fluctuation Resistance - {Passive Skill} The user is immune to changes in light intensity.

Boundless Depravity - {Active Skill} The user summons a black hole that absorbs all incoming attacks.

Alcohol Tolerance - {Passive Skill} Immunity to the effects of alcohol.

Panacea - {Active Skill} Legendary spell that can heal most wounds whilst also restoring stamina and energy to the target.

Shackles of Arcadia - {Active Skill} Chains from the Heavens that have the power to restrict anything, so long as the user is more powerful than the given target.

Absolute Barrier - (Active Skill) The user casts a powerful barrier that has a self regenerative layer, while being able to hold out against most attacks.

Sunburst - (Active Skill) The user casts a large blinding light that engulfs the immediate vicinity.

Paralysis - (Active Skill) The user passes a paralyzing sensation into the target, completely prohibiting movements unless healed or worn off.

Bind - (Active Skill) The user summons magically reinforced silk string to wrap around the given target.

Re-Gather - (Active Skill) The user returns to their previous form.

Visual Copy - {Active Skill} The user takes a perfect picture of his vision, getting stored away in an endless vault for future retrieval.

Visual Copy: Retrieve - {Active Skill} The user is able to retrieve a previously taken picture from the Visual Copy Vault.

Close Menu - {Active Skill} The user closes the interface menu.

Dissectum Ignis - (Active Skill) A legendary spell that takes the shape of a Samurai firing an ignited arrow. Can be used multiple times at once.

Fallen Grace - (Active Skill) A cursed spell that torments it's target before dissipating them into nothingness.

Dispel - (Active Skill) The user is able to take away any ailment from the target.