**Chapter 10**
**Issei PoV**
So, since I didn't use Explosion, can I still Boost?
(Yes, that was really good thinking there, Partner.)
Yeah, it just clicked in my mind. I guess all that boxing training wasn't useless.
I began my descent into the horribly compact stairway.
Thank goodness, I am not claustrophobic.
One step at a time I got closer to my objective.
Finally light hit my face. And in my view came multiple things.
Asia, hanging on a cross by metal chains, Yuuma standing beside her and glaring at me.
And finally, Kalawarner and Mittlet, who were sitting silently.
My eyes scoured the room and I had only one response.
Is this a sex dungeon?
…
**Third Person PoV**
Koneko was just about to lay down on her bed and end her day, but it would seem the world didn't want that.
Her familiar, the white cat with hazel eyes, almost a match to Koneko walked up to her tummy and conveyed a message.
"What? My contractor died? I need to inform Rias-Buchou about this!"
Koneko walked up and immediately teleported inside Rias's room.
Rias was lying on her stomach on her lavender-colored bed, she was doing one of her late-night manga reading sessions.
A red glow covered the room and forced Rias to turn around.
"Buchou!"
Koneko almost shouted, making Rias sit up.
"My contractor has been killed!"
"What?! Quickly get Yuna, I will get Akeno."
Rias told Koneko and used magic to teleport to the shrine Akeno lives in.
Within a few minutes, the entire ORC was present in the club room, with the exception of Issei.
"Rias, Issei was the one who was going to handle that contract, did he?"
"Don't overthink, Akeno. Issei isn't the type of person to kill someone for no reason, it may be done by a stray priest, a fallen, or even a stray devil. First, we need to see where Issei is."
"I will go to his home to check, you three check out the contractor's house for clues."
"Hai, Buchou!"
The three said and Rias vanished in a crimson glow.
Rias appeared out of her household crest and stood in front of Issei's house.
She raised her finger to press the bell, but hesitated.
'Issei didn't want me to use my powers on his parents. If I ask them and he isn't here, I might need to use them. Let's just check his room directly, I can introduce myself later sometime, it's not a good first impression to meet someone's parents at midnight.'
Rias reasoned and brought her wings out, and flew near the window of Issei's room. The window was open, and she peeked inside, to find it empty.
'Maybe he is showering?'
She stepped inside and looked at the bathroom door, but no response came.
Finally, Rias concluded that Issei was not at home. She teleported to the house where the others were searching for clues and thought.
'Please, Issei!'
…
Rias came into the house and was disgusted by the overwhelming smell of blood filling the house.
Her heart raced as she entered the room to find a headless, naked body and another man crucified on the wall.
She then looked at the members of her peerage and asked.
"Where is Issei?"
"We don't know, Buchou. But he was here. The contractor was killed by a priest who was killed by Issei-senpai. And he also took the clothes and weapons of the priest. I can't figure out more."
"It's fine, Koneko. What is important is finding Issei. Any ideas, Akeno?"
"If he was serious about the Nun he picked up, then he should be at the church."
Akeno reasoned, Yuna said at that.
"Then we must hurry, he might be fighting priests and fallens. He is slightly hurt as well as weakened by Holy Water."
Yuna said, pointing to some blood on the ground and a broken vial.
This made Rias a little bit scared.
"Let's be quick. We can't directly teleport inside the church even if it is abandoned. We need to make our way now!"
Rias said and teleported all of them present here, just outside the barrier erected near the church.
The group of four devils raced as they neared the church.
…
A few minutes before Koneko is informed.
**Issei PoV**
"Just for confirmation, your name is Raynare, right?"
"Yeah, it is. Now scram. I will let you live."
"I just killed a dozen priests, and beat two fallens just to retreat, nah we are fighting."
The nerve of this girl. But damn does she look good in that BDSM outfit of hers.
"Issei-san?"
"Oh, Asia. Don't worry, I will save you."
"You are a devil?"
"Well yeah, thanks to Yuuma-chan here, our not-so-friendly neighborhood fallen angel-san."
"That is a fake name, Hyoudou Issei!"
"Where did Issei-kun go? You break my heart, Yuuma-chan. Now I am going to call you that only."
[BOOST!]
"I won't leave my job unfinished."
"Me too. And just so you know, I'm going to win."
We both locked our eyes and waited for a few seconds and then I jumped aside.
A red spear stabbed the ground and vanished.
So she didn't make it explode, that would be in my favor then.
My first plan was to stall until two or three more Boosts, then tire her out and finish her with a good Dragon Shot.
(Decent, but might need improvisation in the middle of the fight.)
I put my hands on one of the benches and threw it at Yuuma.
Asia was hanging a bit up, so hopefully she wouldn't be hurt.
Yuuma took out her wings and began to fly.
I really need to learn how to use my wings, aside from gliding and hovering.
Now that she had the high ground and more mobility, I needed to be more careful.
"It is over, Issei, I have the high ground!"
I jumped away to dodge one of her spears and said.
"Star Wars? Not a bad choice at all."
I ripped one of the halberd-like decorations from the table and chucked it at her. She twisted her body to dodge and retorted.
"It is decent, I suppose."
"Star Wars slander will not be tolerated here!"
I righteously said, seemingly agreeing with me, Ddraig voiced his opinion —
[BOOST!]
Feeling the unreal rush of energy in my body, I jumped and tried to latch onto Yuuma, hoping to enact a Kalawarner 2.0
But failed, shit!
Seeing my unstable posture, Yuuma capitalized on it.
She targeted me as well as the roof above me. Her aim was in reality the roof, but I couldn't take the risk of getting hit by a light spear.
I tried to smack the spear away but she was better at using spears than I thought.
The second spear had already made contact with the ceiling and exploded.
*Boom!*
Yuuma quickly moved aside but blocked my escape path with her spear.
With no option left, I unfurled my wings and tried to move aside from the path of falling debris, but failed.
(You shouldn't have used the wings!)
Ddraig reprimanded me as a concrete block struck the back of my head and I was buried underneath the roof.
"Fuck!"
I said, I felt my vision get blurry and my eyes closed.
(Wait for sometime! Stay awake!)
I barely managed to maintain my consciousness, thanks to Ddraig. But I could sense the grasp of sleep on me.
I felt the back of my shirt become wet with a thick, warm liquid. The pain was helping but I was quickly going to sleep.
Just need to stay awake till that Boost!
…
**Third Person PoV**
"Issei-San!"
Asia screamed as she saw her only friend get buried in the falling ceiling.
Kalawarner did not react, but Mittlet was grinning.
Raynare, now on the ground, said.
"Care to break out of your self-imposed prison, Kalawarner, and Mittlet?"
[BOOST!]
The voice of the Red Dragon of Domination echoed in the large room, and a hand emerged from the rubble.
"Who decided that?!"
Issei's voice echoed as he burst out from the concrete prison with blood flowing down his face like a river.
Without wasting any time, Issei rushed to Raynare. He couldn't let her get airborne again, and he was really running on fumes.
Raynare, too shocked, wasn't able to react quickly and was thus penalized by a body shot, luckily for her, her liver was spared.
*Ghrk!*
Before Issei could capitalize even more, Raynare created a small explosion of light. Damaging herself, but damaging Issei even more.
"Gahhhh!"
A scream tore from Issei's throat and as the glow of light died out, Raynare and Issei could both be seen.
Raynare was out of breath and was forced to plant her hands on her knees to stand up.
Her wings, although out, were drooping.
But Issei was doing even worse. His shoulder was charred. At the last moment, he turned around to reduce the damage.
But in exchange, his back was almost burned to a crisp.
Issei was about to fall but steadied due to —
[BOOST!]
[Dragon Shot!]
Again the trademark red orb did its job and landed at the abdomen of Raynare, not in any condition to dodge.
*Urgh!*
Raynare grunted as she was propelled back and crashed into a bench.
The bench was torn apart, but Issei was really running down on energy.
But he didn't give up and ran with all his might towards Raynare.
He knew punches wouldn't work right now and wanted to choke Raynare, hoping that she would pass out before he did.
…
**Issei PoV**
Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!
Why does this hurt so much? Why did I decide to come here, I should have just run away!
(Partner! Calm down? Were all the words you said just hollow promises? You are the Red Dragon Emperor, is some pain going to make you give up? Is your dream so out of your reach that you can give up so easily?
No, a dragon doesn't give up! So what if you are hurt? Pain is just one obstacle between you and your goal.
Move forward, Issei Hyoudou. The dream is yours to achieve!)
Yes, my dream isn't something pain can take away from me, I will move forward!
My legs moved forward. I ran with all my might towards Yuuma, she had just stood up.
Her eyes enlarged as she saw me run up to her.
She tried to shield her stomach in a panic, but I was done this time.
The index and middle finger of my right hand jabbed forward towards her mouth.
Just as they went in, I curled them and used that grip to execute a judo throw.
"Mmph—!?"
I was aiming specifically for this. There was a stone table beside us and her spine landed on the corner of it.
Her teeth bit into my fingers, but I pulled them out and kicked her just above where the sharp edge of the table was.
[BOOST!]
"AAAGHH-URRKK!"
Screams tore through her mouth and ended in a choking spasm.
But I wasn't done with her just yet, I needed to make sure she wasn't going to even be able to put up a fight.
I raised her up and turned her around. I needed her to not be unconscious right now, I don't have the energy to deal with her.
One of my arms went beneath her chin and one above her head. I pulled her into a tight rear naked choke.
She began to thrash, but I wasn't going to let her off.
Her elbow connected with my stomach, and my wound bled even more, but my grip only tightened.
Her legs began to thrash, hitting my shins. I raised her in the air.
Gradually, I felt her resistance wane away, and slowly her body went limp in my arms.
I kept the choke going for a few seconds more and then finally let her fall.
Her body dropped to the ground with a low thud, and I finally was free from all the fighting of today.
[BOOST!]
Ddraig stayed silent to help me focus. I think that was it.
I walked near Asia and broke the chains that held her on the cross.
"Issei-san, are you fine?"
"Yeah, I am. Just wait for a second."
I made Raynare's body sit back to back with her two companions and tied her up.
I was just about to tighten the last knot when Ddraig warned me about something
(Partner, look forward!)
My eyes wandered and I saw crimson hair.
Well, I am done for!
"Issei! What are you doing?"
Let's hope my plan works.
"This is not what it looks like! I swear!"
I raised my hands in the air instinctively, but to my surprise, instead of being angry, Rias came up to me and said.
"We can talk about this later, first you need to get healed!"
She fussed and began to heal me, I was touched. I had been sure that I'd be getting punished, but maybe she really does adore her peerage.
"Ah, then wait, Asia, a little healing please?"
Asia, in her tattered clothes, came near me and put up her hands near my back.
Twilight Healing appeared on her fingers and began to radiate a sublime green glow, and I immediately felt my pain lessen.
"Issei, you didn't tell me the Nun had Twilight Healing."
Rias stated as she glared at me.
"I forgot? But more importantly, what to do now?"
I asked her to probe if she had a plan or not.
*Sigh*
Rias sighed and said.
"I have nothing. There are eleven dead priests outside and one in the contractor's house. There is a stray nun and three fallen, one alive and one dead. The situation is very bad, a war is almost guaranteed."
"I have a plan, are you interested?"
"What is it?"
Rias asked, her expression clearly showed that she was just doing this out of formality, she had no idea that I was ready for this.
"Asia was excommunicated by the Vatican, so the fallens tried to recruit her. The stray priests heard of it and ambushed the fallen and Asia. I happened to pass by and saved the fallen and Asia."
This was pure bullshit, but as we had the initiative we can shape the story on our own terms.
"Asia, what are your thoughts about becoming a devil?"
I asked, my plan heavily depended upon her answer.
"I always thought that devils were evil, but I saw that not everything I heard was true, if it is fine with Devil-san, then I am okay with becoming a devil."
Okay, that is one thing down.
"Now, we can say Asia was killed by the priests and hence Rias-senpai reincarnated her as her peerage member. As for the fallen, one of them died and the other three chose to become our familiars or died, whichever they chose."
"I would rather die!!"
Mittlet hissed, I could also see Yuuma's body twitch, so she was awake.
"Well, you have the choice. I think we have someone here who is very capable of removing things."
I said, pointing to Rias, who glared at Mittlet, the goth loli gulped but kept her frown.
"Do we even have a choice?"
Yuuma finally asked.
"We don't really have time to ponder the philosophy behind the illusion of free choice."
I said, tapping my foot. Asia was nearly finished healing me.
"I agree to become a familiar."
Kalawarner said. Okay, the bait is taken.
"Doesn't work if only one or two of you become familiar, it would be suspicious. Either you all live or all die."
I put the final nail in the coffin, now what would the three do?
The silence stretched for a few moments. And finally, Yuuma said,
"Fine. We agree to become your familiars."
"Okay. Please take care of the rest. I am too tired."
I said and was about to teleport when Rias said.
"Just wait a second. You get them as your familiars. We all already have familiars and Asia can't keep them in check. Quick do the ceremony!"
Rias said and I agreed after some thought.
I learned what I had to do and began my work.
"In the name of Issei Hyoudou, I command thee to accept this pact to be my familiar."
A magic circle with a dragon's maw at its center appeared below the three fallens, it was red, not crimson as my magic was fueling it, not Gremory household's.
I made the pact and finally, I felt my body give out. All the Boosts vanished, and my body fell face-first into the ground.
[Reset!]
[Don't worry. Gremory, he is just tired and is asleep.]
"I see, Yuna put Issei in his bed. Koneko, take Asia with you for tonight. Akeno put these three in a spare room. We will handle the other matters tomorrow after class."
"Hai, Buchou!"
…
AN:- Arc 1 end.