On The Bench (AOT/DxD)

[Shaedy Hoe]

So... what this story about? Where is it set? What type of xover is it?

 

[Kalstorm22]

Great chapter! I'm curious how Eren seems to have the Founder power and how it works for him now, also I'm really interested in just what the bench is. It's quite interesting also that the bench has allowed Eren to seemingly fool Mikasa into believing that he is weaker than he really is. See you Friday on the bench.

 

[AaryanBhende]

"I need to know why he did it then so I can know why he's doing it now," Sona said through gritted teeth. "The 'why' is the most crucial part. Even if I disagree with him, even if I can't imagine so much death and destruction, I need to know why. Only then can I know what to teach without bias or distorting history. Only then can I help prevent another Eren Yeager from being born."

Click to shrink...

I am also curious why eren willing to go through this hell again when he despised it the first time, there is no threat of genocide to his people so why is he doing this?

 

[Xmaster3000]

So... what this story about? Where is it set? What type of xover is it?

Click to shrink...

To sum it up; the events of Attack On Titan happened in full. Eren martyr'ed himself to eliminate titans once and for all, and Mikasa moved on and died of old age. Then Eren reincarnated into the universe of Highschool DxD with all of his powers except the Founder's powers and went on to become a founding member of Khaos Brigade. Meanwhile, Mikasa's coffin was discovered by Serafall Leviathan, who used one of her Evil Pieces, a Pawn, to resurrect her. At age seventeen, shortly before the start of Highschool DxD, Eren is discovered by Sona Sitri sitting on a bench on the grounds of Kuoh Academy, blindfolded, with no indication of having tripped any magical alerts whatsoever. Want/Because of A Nail ensures, and while most of the events of Highschool DxD still happen, they happen differently.

One such difference is that Eren basically steals half of Issei's canon harem without even trying. Hope this helps!

 

[ReadingDangerously]

"Eren," Georg said with a scowl as he poked his head in through the door. "He's here."

Eren didn't answer, continuing to look out the window at the training going on below. The only movement he made was to sip from his Grail.

That was fine, Georg wasn't expecting an answer, so he simply withdrew.

He didn't bother to hide the distaste on his face as he passed the devil on the stairs, and when he reached the ground level of the temporary building, he saw that the others had similar looks on their faces.

Rizevim Livan Lucifer's smirk grew at the looks he received.

He always so enjoyed visiting the 'Hero Faction.' They almost entirely relied on Sacred Gears and knew they could do nothing to him due to his power.

It was funny how scared the other factions were of the 'True Longinus' and the 'Titan' yet had no idea they were entirely helpless in the face of the world's first Super Devil.

Their anger and helplessness gave him the warm and fuzzies whenever they failed to hold their disgust back. He might have killed a few of them if he didn't find them so amusing.

"Hellloooo~" Rizevim said as he passed through the doorway to Eren's 'office' without bothering to knock. Not that it was much of one, almost entirely barren as it was. How boring. "Long time no see~ How's my favourite abomination doing?"

"Rizevim." Eren 'greeted,' not turning in his chair.

"Is that all you have to say for your partner in crime? It's been years~," The son of Lucifer taunted playfully. Eren didn't respond. "I see our time apart hasn't made you any more fun to be around. Or are you in a bad mood because your pet ran away?"

Rizevim's smirk widened slightly at how the brat's hands tightened around the Grail.

Ah, love, such a pitiful thing, yet so ripe for entertainment.

"Really, Eren," Rizevim chided playfully. "You should have listened to me. Cats are no good. You never know when they'll wander off... or find new masters. You really should have seen this coming."

"I did," Eren said simply, but the Super Devil delighted in the subdued anger contained in his voice. "Kuroka served her purpose. I don't need her anymore."

"Yet you didn't kill her," Rizevim pointed out, his humour fading in place of cynicism. "You should have."

"Her betrayal is part of the plan. She's moving the Underworld how I want it."

"Ah, well, I'll take your word," Rizevim regained his humour and held up his hands as if in surrender. "You're the one who can see the future after all. I do have a question. Where is Ophis?"

Eren didn't answer, taking another sip.

"See," Rizevim continued conversationally. "When I heard you were back, I was overcome with joy. Finally, our long-awaited dream would come true. So imagine my surprise when one of my little bats tells me that Ophis has disappeared."

"She does what she wants. I don't control anyone."

"See, it's just that it's not the only one that disappeared," Rizevim prodded. "I can't help but notice all your allies seem to be betraying you. How... sad."

"Your point?"

"Well~" Rizevim singsonged as he approached Eren's seat by the window. He sneered at the humans practicing below. "It's an interesting coincidence, is all. First, your lover stabs you in the back. Now, your friends," he snorted at the word. "Take off to join her, taking our little snake with them. It makes one wonder... What were you doing while you disappeared?"

"I was getting the last part of the plan," Eren answered simply, resting the empty Grail on the table beside him. "The Red Dragon Emperor."

"Is that why dear little Vali left," Rizevim gasped in faux shock. "He got jealous? His dear Titan not paying enough attention to him? How pitiful."

"They left because they learned of the rest of my plan. Vali likes to fight, but he doesn't want to destroy the Underworld," Eren said simply, not rising to the bait. "Couldn't stomach it."

He never did, but that didn't mean needling him wasn't fun. And Eren was helpless to do anything in response, which just made it funnier.

"My grandson always was a disappointment," Rizevim agreed amiably. "Even with Divine Dividing, he's weak, just like his father. Shame I won't be the one to kill him. I have a streak going with my descendants. And it has been a while since I killed one of the Heavenly Duo."

"He'll try and stop me," Eren simply said. "Him and the entire Underworld. They'll die trying to stop me."

"And our little snake? The rank and file will get... testy without their power source for the battle," Rizevim sniffed haughtily. "I ended up killing a few when they came begging."

He really didn't see the need for minions. More often than not, they were more of a hassle than they were worth. Case in point, all those 'new recruits' that had flooded in after the death of that pitiful excuse for a god.

Seriously, a god dying to a human? It was just so... pathetic that Rizevim would have found it amusing if not for his disgust.

"They won't be able to complain soon," Eren ignored the problem without a blink. "We are moving out in a few days. After that, they'll fall in line out of fear. As for Ophis, she's the bait."

"This is what I like about you, Eren," Rizevim chuckled as he joined his partner in watching the rats practice for their 'final battle' or whatever. "You're more devil-like than most of my kind. Using one of the Dragon Gods as bait, then food? It's great."

"So long as you uphold our deal, I don't care if I have to be the Devil," Eren said, staring out over a field of men and women who'd be dead in a weak. "If it's to build the world that I want, I will do whatever it takes. Even if it means killing everyone in the Underworld. Or you. So don't push it."

"Good thing I'm on your side then," Rizevim chuckled. "Though, if you are going to keep these slaves around, you should have them do something with this office. It's really dull."

"It's temporary. If you don't like it, leave."

The Super Devil chuckled at the naked animosity in the human's voice.

Rizevim honestly didn't care if Eren destroyed the Underworld or not; it would die eventually based on what he had planned. He was simply using Eren to clear the path a bit.

If Eren wanted to unseal Malacoda and attract its interest, he needed to do something no one had ever done before. Something impossible.

If he succeeded, Rizevim won.

If he lost? Rizevim got to watch an amusing show, and then he'd proceed with his plan anyway.

That wasn't to say he wasn't grateful to the runt. He was. That's why Rizevim could play with him so much. The boy's power proved the existence of other worlds, so Rizevim would let him live... for a few more days at least.

Then, Lucifer's son would be in a more interesting world, and this one would be nothing more than a very dull memory.

Centuries of boredom would be ending soon and Rizevim wouldn't have a use for this world anymore, so it could be destroyed for all he cared, Malabrache or no.

It didn't matter if Eren planned on betraying him. Rizevim had never trusted him in the first place, and none of Eren's minions or pets were a threat without the Titan.

There had never been a question of who would come out on top in this little power struggle of theirs. Rizevim had been around much longer than a human boy, second life or not.

And now? Now Rizevim had the Titan's weakness.

It was a shame that Eren Yeager was so assured in his ability to see the future, or he might have been paying better attention to his guest instead of the insects training below.

If he had been paying attention, he might have noticed the malicious smile that crossed Rizevim's face as he activated his power on the Grail resting on the table.

Then again, would he have cared?

Eren Yeager was going to die anyway. What did it matter if he died a bit early?

********

"Oh, right," Issei nodded as he remembered. "You're a descendant of the original Lucifer. I forgot."

Half the room stared at the boy in disbelief.

Azazel started laughing lightly.

"What," Issei said defensively. "A lot's happened. And you never really seemed that interested in the whole rivalry thing. And you helped Asia and saved us with Loki. I kinda just... had other things on my mind."

Azazel's laughter got harder.

It was a good sound, Akeno decided, despite her remaining distaste for the fallen. Everyone was still torn about what they just heard about Eren and Aunty's world and... what they had gone through.

What Eren had done.

So, yes, any sort of humour was welcome.

Still, for the Rook to forget that his destined rival was a descendant of one of the original Satans... It sounded just like Issei and Akeno couldn't help but crack the smallest of smiles.

She was one of the only ones.

"I still want to fight you," Vali said, shrugging his shoulders and not caring about his heritage being dismissed. "I want a shot at that Wall of yours. But Eren's plan needed the Red Dragon Emperor, so I've known for years I wouldn't be the one to deal with Ddraig's host this generation and was going to wait for the next. As I see it, if you survive, we can fight later. If you don't, I've lost nothing I wasn't expecting to lose."

"Why does Eren want Issei anyway?" Rias asked, and Akeno was sure she wasn't the only one to notice the exhaustion in the redhead's voice.

They had barely moved in the last few hours, but it had been an emotional roller coaster.

Akeno could speak from experience that they needed sleep, actual rest, and time to process everything.

Right now they were just too... numb, too overwhelmed to think straight.

If they were like her, imaginary scenes, half-formed thoughts, and a confusing melange of emotions must be fighting a bloody battle in her mind.

"Eren's always kept his full plan close to his chest," Arthur's lips were a thin line as he spoke. "He mostly just tells people what they need to do. Still, besides Kuroka, we've known him the longest, and we've picked up a few things here and there. He trusted us to care for Ophis when he and Kuroka were gone."

Said Dragon God had climbed into the Black Cat's lap and forcefully placed one of the former Stray's hands on her head. Kuroka barely paid any attention to what was happening as she rubbed the 'little girl's head, her face still deathly pale and eyes vacantly staring at nothing.

Eren was responsible for a truly mind-boggling amount of death and destruction. Even if she lived till she was ten thousand years old, Akeno didn't think she'd even meet a billion and a half people.

"That being said, we aren't completely useless," Bikou hurried to add. "Kuroka probably told you most things, but we know some stuff she doesn't, just because we've been around since Eren came back."

Yet... Eren had his reasons. Not only was he scared and traumatized by his world, and most of the people he killed were part of nations calling for a genocide of their own.

But eighty percent!

"Why don't you go over his plan anyway," Serafall said, crossing her arms and smiling at Vali's Team. "Just so we can compare notes. We'd hate to have gotten it wrong, after all. And I totally remember, yessiree!"

'And we don't trust you, so your stories better match.' That part went unsaid.

But the Rumbling had worked. Mikasa had been characteristically blunt about Eren's plan working. Eldia had survived till her death, Titans had been wiped from the planet, and all his remaining friends had lived long and happy lives. Armin, instead of dying at twenty-eight, had outlived Mikasa.

Eren's plan worked!

Still... one and a half billion dead! The vast majority of which had never directly hurt Eren.

"Fine," Vali said simply. "You already know that Kuroka was the first he recruited after they saved each other in the Underworld. We were the second. He approached us, looking to build a team."

"I had been curious where you disappeared to every few days," Azazel teased. "Tobio told me, but I figured you were out getting into fights... or practicing one of those lines from your little notebooks. What were they again? Book of Skill. Book of Technique. And... Book of Heart! That's what it was."

"I don't want to hear that from you, Mr. Blazer Shining!" Vali snapped back at his adopted father figure.

But hadn't Eren already been punished for it? Trapped in an endless hell of his own making. Akeno couldn't imagine being forced to see from her mother's killer's perspective once, let alone living it every second of every day. That was a level of suffering she couldn't even imagine.

But it was genocide. Wanton murder, plain and simple.

Even if she could ignore the death of every person who had grown up to hate Eldians, could Akeno ignore the death of those who never grew up at all?

He must have killed countless newborns, innumerable children, and others who had never even learned about the history of the world, let alone how to hate someone for their race.

There could be no excuses for something like that, right? Someone like that shouldn't be allowed to be happy, right?

"Anyway," Arthur continued where Vali left off before an argument could start. "We lived with him for a few years, trained with him, then helped him recruit the Hero Faction. They were already a group, mostly Anti-inhuman in mindset. Eren just took them over. With a sizeable faction of Longinus wielders already under his control, he approached Rizevim."

"I should never have told Eren about the bastard," Vali snorted, crossing his arms. "But, Eren needed someone who could get access to the Malebranche. Anyway, Eren exchanged the location of the Malebranche for aid in setting up the Brigade. All he needed was the Lucifer name to call in a few factions to the table, and from there, he took full control, using Ophis as a central figure."

But it was Eren. Her friend. And he had clearly regretted it.

Akeno remembered how he had been when she and Rias had first peeked at him so long ago. A husk of a man waiting to die.

Before meeting them, he had lived his entire second life haunted by what he had done. And even when he finally smiled, it hadn't been because he forgot.

But he was still going to do something similar with Chaos Brigade, wasn't he? Why would he do something so horrible again if he was so regretful? Would he really unleash the equivalent of The Rumbling on a world that hadn't hurt him anywhere close to the degree he had been hurt before?

"I, scared them straight," Ophis pumped a tiny fist in the air from Kuroka's lap. "My first cookie."

"After that, it was mostly just growing support, recruiting, that kind of thing," Bikou gave the loli a wry smile as he spoke. "Specifically, Eren, despite his power and practical immortality, wasn't strong enough to face everyone in the world he wanted to get rid of, and he didn't trust most of the Brigade. That's why he needs the strongest Malebranche, Malacoda." Serafall's and Azazel's eyes narrowed dangerously. "And with Rizevim's help, he devised a way to get it, unseal it, and use it. In exchange, Rizevim gets the other eleven."

"Anyone who manages to unlock Malacoda and use it to its full power wouldn't care about the other eleven," Serafall agreed seriously. "It's that dangerous. The world could handle the other eleven, even all at once. 'Only Malacoda must never be awakened.' That's one of the only things we have from the Original Satans on the subject. Falbium has been searching for the lab ever since we learned of it, and we've already begun discrete evacuations of Agares, just in case. That's how deadly it is."

Akeno knew why.

Because he was Eren.

He was always advancing. Always moving forward. Always attacking.

Eren wouldn't be able to help himself from lashing out at those he saw as wrong if he had the power to fight it.

"He needed a few tools to even qualify to work with it," Le Fay said quietly. "He... we created a plan to fit the power requirement and entice it. It's a gradual evolution. Step-by-step growth that would turn Eren into the fourth strongest being in the world. Then, he'd have enough power to kill anyone he wanted..."

"His main target has always been devil society as a whole," Arthur picked up the story when his sister trailed off. "Because of how strong it has grown recently, but after he's done with that, he plans to use the various factions of Brigade against their own Pantheons, using his newfound power to ensure they wipe each other out."

"A blank slate," Rias muttered despondently. "He's wiping off the chessboard. He told me that's what devils needed."

"So far, all you've said has matched up with what Kuroka told us," Mikasa nodded toward the Black Cat, who didn't even stir at her name. "But you said you knew more than her."

He hadn't lied to her about killing his parents. If he genuinely hadn't cared about them or had just been manipulating them, then Eren would never have needed to share something so personal with her.

Which meant Eren did care.

Which meant that it hadn't been a lie.

Which made everything so much more complicated.

"The bastard was the one who told him how to entice Malacoda," Vali scowled at the idea of his grandfather. "All Eren has to do is ensure that the current era is chaotic and violent enough that the Malabranche would want to get involved, even worse than the Civil War, and that Eren, specifically, was at the center of it. Eren will accomplish that by attacking the Underworld with the Hero Faction while the other Factions simultaneously launch their own strikes against the other Pantheons."

"I... It was my theories that created the plan," Le Fay said, her eyes not meeting anyone else. "Rizevim told him how to unseal them and use them, but Eren still needed something else. Eren... He doesn't have any magic or Demonic Power. I devised a way for him to fake it long enough to gain a Malabranche, who would then produce it themselves. There was a problem, though. My plan would put a lot of stress on his body. He was already reinforced with Senjutsu, so it can handle strain pretty well, but with his... condition deteriorating, we needed to find a way to prevent him from dying. I figured that a regular healing Gear wouldn't work. We needed the Sephiroth Grail."

"The Grail can move his soul to a new body," Rossweiss interrupted. "Now that they have it, why won't they just do that?"

"Eren is the only person in the world who can transform into a Titan," Mikasa answered immediately, not even needing to think about it. "I can't. If they heal him, he still can't use magic, loses the physical advantages of being a Titan, and all he'll have left is Senjutsu. They might plan on changing things... later, but for now, Eren has to live with Ymir's Curse if he wants to continue his plan."

"My idea was a... ritual of sorts," Le Fay continued after the brief interruption. "Eren absorbs Ophis' power, which will act as a replacement for Demonic Power. Have you noticed how devils, humans, or any being can use them? Her snakes are... universal donors in magical terms." "I, rock." "But it's temporary. We'd use the Grail to prepare his body to handle the power needed to entice a Malabranche, a more permanent solution."

"And Issei?" Azazel asked. "Where does the Boosted Gear fit into this?"

"It's..." Le Fay looked up for a bit to shoot Issei an apologetic look. "It's a way for Eren to maintain more of Ophis' power for longer and his key to using Malacoda later. We couldn't be sure Ddraig would work with Eren, so we only counted on having the basic Boosted Gear abilities, not the Balance Breaker. Eren uses Ophis' power to Boost every ten seconds, extending how long he can fight. Even then, it will be a narrow window."

"How narrow?" Mikasa asked.

"By my calculations, Eren will only have a few days max before Ophis' power dissipates. That is with the Boosted Gear extending it. Without it, he has hours at best. More than most, thanks to Senjutsu, but nowhere near enough. In that time, he needs to accomplish his goals in the Underworld, gain Malacoda, unseal it, and Transfer Ophis' power to it. Once that happens, he'll be strong enough to do whatever he wants... Assuming Malacoda goes along with it, of course."

Issei just smiled awkwardly as if telling her he didn't blame her. It didn't reach his eyes.

Ddraig probably had his own opinions about being torn out of his host and reduced to a rechargeable battery pack.

"Or Ddraig becomes a Wall," Ophis said from Kuroka's lap, crossing her arms and nodding. "Gives power to Eren. Eren beats up Baka Red."

"You give out your power all the time," Azazel said. "Too much, actually. It's pretty annoying. Why don't you want Eren to have it?"

"Hurts."

"The plan requires a lot of power," Bikou smiled awkwardly. "Like, 'Top Ten' levels. Ophis will go along with it if it gets her the Gap back, but she doesn't want to be... limited."

"Hurts," Ophis repeated stubbornly.

Akeno could almost imagine a young Eren discovering the supernatural world and its injustices, dragging his tired soul forward, fighting against what he thought was wrong with the world.

He didn't care about race, but he couldn't abide a society built on slavery as he would see it? So he built himself an army of those he didn't care if they lived or died.

All to destroy a society he would hate as soon as he discovered it.

"As we built the Brigade, we kept an eye out for the Red Dragon Emperor and the holder of the Sephiroth Grail," Arthur took over. "We discovered Valerie a few years ago, but we would need a Sacred Gear Extractor and the Red Dragon Emperor anyway, so we waited on taking her. Didn't want her to die or escape once we captured her."

"All the Extractors I made are either destroyed or kept very safe," Azazel said with narrowed eyes. "Since you took her, it means you have one. How?"

"One of the ones that were 'destroyed,'" Bikou chuckled. "Wasn't. Kokabiel wouldn't work with the Brigade and couldn't stand other races, but he would trade information for information, and he wanted to know where the Excaliburs were kept. Which we had. He faked the Extractor's destruction and sent it out into the world."

"Ended up here in Kuoh, believe it or not," Arthur gave a tired smile of amusement. "Some low-level mooks or something were going to use it to get Twilight Healing from Asia before giving it to us, but they got taken out, so the Hero Brigade just took it."

Akeno... couldn't even say Eren was wholly wrong after seeing Diodora Asteroth and the other members of the Old Satan faction. Would they still be alive and exploiting others if Eren did not use them as minions? He had let them live but had set them up to fail. Hadn't Kuroka said Eren wanted the Old Satan faction to die?

Eren was using what he saw as a cancer on the world to deal with the other cancers. No matter who died, Eren would win.

Akeno had always known about the dark side of the world. Had seen her mother killed by the 'good guys' of the Sacred Clans just because she married someone of a different race and had a 'tainted child.' She wasn't the only one to have suffered at the hands of the 'light side.'

The entire Gremory Peerage was filled with victims of a terrible world filled with monsters. Humans. Devils. Vampires. Fallen angels. Angels.

It was like... the race didn't matter. As soon as someone gained power, they became monsters.

"They were here!" Serafall hissed, arms wrapping protectively around Sona. The younger girl didn't struggle. She didn't even blink. "If I had known I wouldda-" Instead of finishing her sentence, the Satan made vague waving motions with her pink wand.

"After they had the Extractor, and Issei was well known by that point, we grabbed Valerie," Vali shrugged. "Everything was in place. We just needed Eren. But he had been missing for over a year."

"Why did he show up in Kuoh?" Sona asked out of nowhere, not even reacting to the fact her head was squished in between the most famous breasts in the Underworld. "That's something I don't get. He just... appeared one day and never left. All his paperwork checked out. His background. His funds. Everything. But he didn't know Issei was the Red Dragon Emperor and didn't approach us. We approached him. So why was he here?"

Akeno's hands ghosted over her cheek as the phantom sensation returned.

Knowing what she did now, she knew Eren could have killed her with that punch. She hadn't been in control or the deadliest person on the bench that day.

Eren had been.

It spoke to how emotionally exhausted and confused Akeno felt that she couldn't even muster up the arousal she'd usually feel at the idea.

"I...uh... I," Kuroka blinked slowly, gaze still vacant and distant as she spoke without her usual confidence or flirtation. "Eren told me he was going to look for the Boosted Gear. I... asked him to check on Shirone before he got started."

"It was Eren's idea to use human means as a cover for our operation," Le Fay pointed out. "Almost any group can access databases, international records, or governmental information, if only from hypnotism. When someone suspicious shows up, it's one of the first things a faction searches for because of how easy it is to do. And when nothing shows up, it's clear proof of something supernatural going on. It's one of the reasons the Brigade was able to be a secret for so long."

"But he wasn't looking for the Red Dragon Emperor," Sona pressed. "It was just dumb luck that Issei was nearby."

"As far as we can tell," Vali shrugged. "Eren always planned on leaving us. Everyone else was searching for the Boosted Gear so he could take time off. I think he just needed to get away from Brigade for a while. Satans know I would have killed them if I had to be in charge all the time. We didn't think to look in Kuoh since the sisters of the New Satans were there, and Eren never hid how much he disliked devil Kings."

Akeno was a devil and a fallen, a hybrid of the two primary races that made the Underworld their home. She was the Queen of a high-ranking Peerage. Rias and Sona were both Kings and the sisters of the current Satans.

Their group couldn't be more established within the society he hated, yet Eren hadn't acted against them even once. He had befriended them. Talked with them. Comforted them. Counciled them... Laughed with them.

He hadn't acted like a monster hell-bent on destroying another world or even a sociopathic killer. He has simply been... Eren.

Yet he'd keep advancing all the same. No matter how much it hurt. No matter his fate.

Until he died.

Even after he died.

Because that was who Eren Yeager was.

"He planned on meeting someone," Sona breathed, looking worn out and tired. "But he had no idea who or when. We thought he was waiting to die, but that's not it at all, is it? He was simply waiting for news of the Red Dragon Emperor showing up... but we kept the Supernatural from him. Even if he could sense Issei had a Sacred Gear, he didn't know which one until after we returned this summer."

"Don't know about that," Vali shrugged again. "We just heard about the Boob Dragon when rumours spread about him attaining Balance Breaker during the fight with the Phenex. After that, we started looking for Eren in earnest and poked around the area during the Peace Conference. Since Issei was in the area, figured Eren might also be around. Couldn't find him, though."

"...Kept Eren away," Koneko said quietly, carefully not looking at Serafall. "Worried about him getting hurt."

Akeno buried her head in her arms.

This would be so much easier if she could hate Eren. If he truly was an uncaring monster. If he was the evil big bad looking to destroy the world for no reason or upending a society for power.

If Akeno could believe for even an instant that the last year and a half had all been a manipulative lie, she wouldn't feel this confused.

This lost.

But there were no 'good guys.'

So Akeno, like everyone else, would have to determine for herself what she'd fight for.

"Anything else?" Mikasa asked, crossing her arms. "So far, you haven't told us anything we don't know."

"Then how about this," Vali smirked. "Eren's almost done using the Grail to strengthen his body. He doesn't need it for long. After that, he will use Ophis' power, extract the Boosted Gear from Issei, and then attack the Underworld. Within the week."

All eyes snapped back to Vali, even Akeno and Rias, who had been lost in thought.

"When?" Mikasa asked, stepping forward, her every muscle tense.

"Don't know the exact date," Vali admitted. "But Georg let slip something when he dropped off Valerie. He'll be heading to Cocyctus with Eren soon."

"Kokabiel?" Azazel asked but then shook his head. "No, he wouldn't work the Brigade. He's after another prisoner. Who?"

"Samael," Vali said seriously, gesturing to both Issei and Ophis. "The Dragon Eater. That's how he will tear the power from Ophis and kill Issei."

********

Whew, since the exposition of last weekend is over, we can focus on the story and characters again.

Akeno doesn't say a single word in this chapter, but I didn't want her to. Just because a character isn't speaking doesn't mean they aren't growing, changing, and reevaluating everything. After hearing from Mikasa, just because they aren't having a massive blowout with tears and screams doesn't mean the characters aren't struggling with the new information.

This brings me to a topic I have seen a lot of discussion on in the last chapter. The End of AOT, The Rumbling specifically. It's one of the most controversial endings in all anime/manga of all time.

And that is a good thing.

There is no right answer.

Was what Eren did horrendous? Yes. Anyone who says a genocide of hundreds of millions isn't a horrific act that eclipses any figure of our actual history by orders of magnitude is someone I wouldn't trust near my cat, let alone people.

Did it work? Yes. People see the destruction of Eldia in the credit scene and think Eren failed. He didn't. That happens centuries after both Mikasa and Armin have died, having lived long lives. The Rumbling unequivocally saved Eldia and Eren's friends.

The question the ending poses isn't one of 'right vs wrong' or 'good vs evil,' but 'what does it mean to be human?' and 'What would you do to get revenge/protect your home/save your friends.'

The mere fact that we can argue about it instead of forgetting it speaks to the quality of the ending of the 'story,' even if we don't like it.

Since last week, I've received feedback on how I am pardoning Eren by making it seem like it wasn't his fault. Or that I am making excuses for him. At the same time, I have people quitting the story because readers think I am bashing Eren. I can only take it as a compliment that I am receiving both these types of complaints.

This fanfiction is not a story created to say Eren was right/wrong. This story is not a moral judgment/chastisement of certain characters that are disliked in the fandom.

This story was created to come to terms with the ending we got, not one we wanted. As we near the end with every passing week, it is important to keep that in mind. I'll be waiting for everyone on the bench.

 

[kz3838]

Thank you for the great chapter, stay safe out there and keep up the good work!

 

[PintSizedSlasher]

Wonder if Eren is aware of the grail being fucked with and is letting Luci Jr believe he's fucking up his plans or if he genuinely doesn't know.... can't wait to find out!

 

[NowaifuNolaifu]

So...

The grail can play Legos with your soul and genetics. And Eren has an eternal savescumming engine near on PtV levels.

Rizzman is about to get folded like laundry

 

[D.KnightOfShadows]

It was a shame that Eren Yeager was so assured in his ability to see the future, or he might have been paying better attention to his guest instead of the insects training below.

If he had been paying attention, he might have noticed the malicious smile that crossed Rizevim's face as he activated his power on the Grail resting on the table.

Then again, would he have cared?

Eren Yeager was going to die anyway. What did it matter if he died a bit early?

Click to shrink...

Eren: (internally) oh noes, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal. Fucking finally, i can only give you so many openings by deliberately not looking at you.

Rizevim's really going on in on the whole "im smarter than everyone else, all the time" juice.

Then again, Rizevim doesnt have the knowledge that Mikasa and co. have access to, nor does he know Eren is going into this not just expecting to die, but having already seen and experienced how it will happen.

He's still a smug idiot, though.

And here we see the endgame approach, those bells ring.

And Eren, as always, scatters the seeds of his own downfall so they can be watered.

For hope to bloom, and the world he wants to see happen to grow, he needs to water all of these crops in blood and death, including his own.

Thanks Rizevim.

You dont know it, but you played your part perfectly, little Tool.

we can only hope you learn that fact before the end.

 

[Gwynx]

Now that I remember, Georg is like Floch, always loyal even though he is against the world.

 

[Kalstorm22]

Amazing chapter! It's very interesting that Rizevim is so confident in being able to beat Eren, it seems like he believes that his Sacred Gear Canceler would be able to trip up Eren and also thinks quite little of him, so much so that he thinks he can circumvent Eren's future sight, and freely taunt and mock him. I do wonder how much of Eren's supposed reactions to the taunts are real and not a part of his manipulating of Rizevim. Also, I'm excited to learn how much Kuroka, Vali and the rest of the team are lying about Eren's plan, as Vali at least lied about when he found Eren. I also really enjoyed seeing how Akeno is silently dealing with all of this knowledge and is trying to think it all through with the implication that most of the cast is doing the same, all looking for the right answer. See you next time on the bench.

 

[Larff]

Kuroka should say them about power of bench

 

[ReadingDangerously]

"Where are we going," Le Fay asked curiously.

Arthur wished he had an answer for his sister.

Wished he had a better plan than to get excommunicated by stealing the family sword, thereby preventing his marriage so he could be with Elaine.

Wished his sister hadn't gotten caught up in his mess because he and her mentor had fallen in love.

But Arthur didn't have an answer besides that one, so he simply smiled at the young girl, squeezing her hand, and lied to her face.

"Don't worry, I have it all figured out," Arthur said with complete (false) confidence. "We'll lie low for a bit and let the heat die down."

"Kay," Le Fay agreed cheerfully, utterly oblivious to Arthur's internal turmoil.

He didn't have a plan. All his contacts and connections were attached to the Pendragon family. All he had was Collbrande, his tea set, and a vague idea of where to find the lost Excalibur.

They wouldn't have any trouble getting by, thanks to Le Fay's magic and Collbrande's ability to teleport through space, but as for what to do exactly?

Arthur was at a loss.

So, one could imagine his surprise when he noticed a dark-haired woman waving them down.

At first, Arthur had believed she was gesturing to someone else, as the streets of Leon were decently packed at this time of day, and nobody should know who they were since he had teleported them to a random city in France.

But Arthur tensed up when the young woman met his eyes and gave a feline smile.

"Is that who we're here to meet?" Le Fay asked curiously. "Who's she?"

Arthur had no idea, but he couldn't sense her presence at all.

Was she an agent of the family? She didn't look like one in the revealing garb she wore. It looked Asian, rather than anything the servants usually wore, and it certainly wasn't designed to blend in.

Arthur tensed as she approached. She wasn't moving quickly, but her every action spoke of confidence.

"You must be Arthur and Le Fay Pendragon, nyaa," the woman greeted with a grin. "Eren told me to come to pick you up. Said you needed a place to stay for a while."

Arthur had no idea who 'Eren' or this woman was, but as soon as she made the slightest move, Collbrande would cut her down.

Unaware of her brother's tenseness, Le Fay simply greeted the older woman.

"Who are you?" She asked brightly. "And where are we going?"

"I'm Kuroka," the woman puffed out her chest in pride as a pair of black cat ears appeared on her head and two cat tails swished behind her. "And this beautiful Onee-sama is here to bring you two home. Come on, Eren promised to have cookies ready when we got there."

It was, surprisingly, Le Fay who identified the woman first.

The young witch stepped back quickly, half hiding behind her brother as she levelled her wand at Kuroka.

"You're Black Cat Kuroka! A Stray Devil!"

Arthur had Collbrande ready in an instant, poised to cut off the woman's head.

Arthur might not recognize the name Kuroka, but he had heard of the Black Cat. Every faction kept tabs on the powerful rogues of the others, either for defence or potential recruitment.

And a master of Senjutsu, who had managed to kill her King and escape the Underworld when it tried to hunt her down, was definitely worth keeping tabs on.

"Nyahahahahaha," the nekoshou giggled as her body shimmered, disappearing from in front of them. An illusion! When had she put it up? Was that why he couldn't sense her? "None of that. Nyasty thing, that sword. Especially for poor little Onee-sama."

Collbrande could cut through anything, even space... but Arthur had never tried cutting an illusion before. Would cutting space disrupt it? Or would it leave him open for a counterattack?

Arthur placed himself in front of his sister as the Stray's voice echoed around them from everywhere and nowhere.

"What do you want with us?" Arthur asked with a charming smile, discreetly gesturing for his sister to continue to look for the devil.

Despite her young age, she was a prodigy of magic like few others and, of the two of them, had the best chance of finding the Black Cat. As soon as he knew where she was hiding, Collbrande would have her head.

"To bring you home~" the voice purred in his ear, but Arthur was controlled enough not to flinch or even move from the distraction. "Pooey, you're no fun."

"I'm afraid we'll have to decline your invitation," Arthur said genially, eyes scanning the area. At some point, all the human traffic had left. Another illusion? Or a barrier? "We are occupied at the moment. If you will be so kind as to tell us what you wish us for, we can consider it and return to this conversation at a later time."

"Are you sure~" Kuroka teased, voice dancing on the air. "I can promise you a safe place to live. Strong enemies to train against. Help finding Excalibur Ruler. Access to magic you wouldn't learn with Golden Dawn. The best cookies in the world. Two of the greatest familiars a witch could ever ask for~ Even your ancestors would be jealous of this opportunity, nyahahahaha."

"You seem to know quite a bit about us," Arthur said, his tone remaining polite despite how worried he was becoming. Had someone been following him? How else would they know about Ruler? "But I am afraid I will still need to decline. Deals with devils and all that, you understand."

"Not a deal with me, nyaa," Kuroka chuckled, reappearing where she had initially been on the street only a few moments ago. Arthur still couldn't sense her presence, so he kept his eyes on a swivel in case this was another illusion. "A deal with my partner. My partner who can see the future."

"Impossible," Le Fay denied before Arthur could say anything. "Only one being has ever been confirmed to have clairvoyance. Other gods just have limited omniscience. Does he have Sephiroth Grail or Telos Karma? Both have had users in the past fake the ability, but it was never actual foresight."

"Nope," Kuroka said with a casual laugh. "The real deal. It's how he knew where to send me to meet you."

"Then he'd know we will not be joining you," Arthur said, his smile just as gentlemanly as ever. "I trust he will not be disappointed."

"See, he told me I'd need to convince you," Kuroka's smile gained a bit more teeth. "Said you wouldn't agree until he promised to reunite you with Elaine."

Collbrande flashed, and the illusion dissolved.

"Apologies," Arthur said, genial smile still in place. "A stray twitch. Now, what were you saying about my sister's tutor?"

"Nyahahahahaha," Kuroka's laughter resounded, and she sauntered out of a side alley. "That all she is, nyaa? A bit much for a twitch."

Arthur's mind raced a mile a minute. They had been discreet, almost past the bounds of paranoia, thanks to the Pendragon's rules on marriage and bloodlines. How had they been discovered?

"Arthur?" Le Fay asked, curiosity budding in her young voice. Then she shook her head and refocused. "That's the real her. I'm sure."

"Of course I'm real," Kuroka said, a magic circle appearing below her feet. Le Fay's whisper of 'teleportation' alerted him to what it did. "I've said all I've needed to to get you interested, didn't I? And if you don't like the offer, you can always use that sword to leave. Nothing to lose, everything to gain."

For a long moment, nobody said anything as both girls looked at Arthur.

Damned if the Stray wasn't right. If there was a threat to Elaine or even someone who would tell the Pendragons about their affair, he needed to deal with it. And since they had just left, he had nowhere to put Le Fay that he trusted her to be safe without him.

Arthur grabbed his sister's hand, held Collbrande in the other, and stepped into the teleportation circle under the smiling eyes of the Stray Devil.

Whatever the descendants of King Arthur had expected to be on the other side of the teleportation, the reality was vastly different.

Instead of some lavish mansion filled with servants, a secret base rigged with traps, or a menacing magical laboratory, the siblings and their cat companion found themselves in front of a cottage in the middle of nowhere.

That wasn't hyperbole.

They were in a long, wide valley between two bare mountain ranges, and Arthur felt his ears pop from the elevation change. There was no one and nothing for kilometres in any direction except for fields, a few cops of trees, and mountains.

The only sign of habitation was the lone wood building, small enough to contain only four or five rooms.

Kuroka, uncaring for her guests' confusion, sauntered up to the door and opened it without knocking.

"Eren! I'm back! Are the cookies ready?"

"They came out of the oven a few minutes ago," a boy's voice responded without emotional inflection. "Arthur, Le Fay, come in."

Sharing a look filled with warning with his sister and not letting go of his sword, Arthur stepped into the cabin.

It was... cozy. Bare and functional, with simple furniture and appliances, but definitely had the marks of being lived despite being very clean.

It was also occupied.

Two boys sat at a table surrounded by six chairs, watching the new arrivals with interest. One was young, only a few years older than Le Fay and felt like a devil to Arthur's senses, while the other was some sort of monkey hybrid, maybe a Yokai, that Arthur couldn't sense.

Their catnapper had pulled a third boy, also only a few years older than Le Fay, into her arms and was squishing him against her chest. Around them, some sort of white bone-like material flowed, holding a pan and cleaning up the kitchen.

"A Holy Sword user and a magician," the young devil at the table said as he eyed the siblings with crossed arms. "Are they worthy of joining my team?"

A piece of the white material flew from the kitchen and smacked into the boy's forehead the second he finished talking.

"Ha," the monkey laughed as the boy rubbed his forehead. Turning to the still-wary siblings, he waved casually. "Don't mind Vali. He's a bit of a brat to those he doesn't know. I'm Bikou. You've met Kuroka, sorry about that, and that's Eren."

"Charmed," Arthur smiled but didn't release his hold on his sister or his weapon. "To what do we owe this... invitation?"

While this group was nowhere near the worst possibility, both in numbers, race, or power, it still didn't answer the question of what they wanted with him in his sister or how they knew about him and Elaine.

"I needed you," Eren said simply, not reacting to Kuroka carrying him to a seat at the table and sitting down with him on her lap.

"Whatever for? I am afraid that we are no longer welcome within the Pendragon estate or Golden Dawn. We will not be of much use."

Arthur didn't let himself be distracted. They wanted something from him and they had him at a disadvantage. He needed to remain calm, or he'd fall even further behind.

"You two are the last members of a team I am putting together," Eren said, slipping from Kuroka's arms.

She pouted, but her displeasure was short-lived as a tray of fresh cookies was laid on the table. Everyone dug in with relish.

"Who is this team? What is its goal? And why should we join you?"

Arthur asked the questions rapid-fire, trying to gain more information. And keep Le Fay from reaching for a cookie.

They did smell really good.

"You can have some," Eren said to the girl. "I still have thirty-seven attempts to go before they are perfect and five more after that to make them that way every time. These are alright, though."

"Alright, he says," Kuroka muttered through a mouthful of cookies. "These are already better than the Naberius' chefs. Shirone will love these." Both boys at the table nodded.

"Even if I know the recipe, I have to practice for my body to move properly," Eren answered. "Just like Senjutsu. And stop making a mess."

Kuroka stuck out her tongue at the boy, getting crumbs everywhere.

Le Fay looked at her brother and, still seeing no threat and trusting her to check for poison, Arthur gave her a tiny nod.

Her smile lit up the room as she reached for a cookie, remaining within arms reach of Arthur just in case. That smile melted into one of gooey bliss as she took her first bite.

Judging that she was fine for the moment, Arthur refocused on the boy in front of him. The way he talked, so emotionless yet confident, was putting him on edge.

"You didn't answer my questions."

Arthur didn't notice that when Le Fay reached for her fourth cookie, she found a folded note under the treat.

"I can see the future," Eren said plainly. "Soon, I will contact and take control of a faction of hero descendants and reincarnations. They will have multiple Longinus users among them. Using them as a base, I will create an organization made up of multiple factions, each dissatisfied with the Peace Treaty that will be signed between the angels, fallen, and devils in a few years. I will throw them against each other, weakening every supernatural faction in the world."

That was... a lot. Also completely unbelievable.

"Nobody can see the future," Arthur said with complete confidence. Anyone with that kind of ability would be world-famous.

"I can," Eren replied without any outward dissatisfaction at being doubted. "Because I come from beyond the Dimensional Gap, from a world where the rules are different."

Ah. That's what this was.

Arthur finally got it. The boy was delusional, like many boys his age were, and his power, whatever that white material was, had fed into that delusion. He had found a group of similarly young and deluded people willing to play along with him.

Arthur couldn't even really blame him, as he had been like that at one point as well. Who hadn't believed themselves to be the reincarnation of King Arthur, destined to recreate Camelot?

Thankfully, Le Fay was too young to remember her older brother going around 'knighting' all the servants... or that they played along with his fantasies.

Still, just because it was understandable didn't mean he wanted his sister or himself anywhere near someone who lived in their own delusions.

For now, he needed to find out how they knew about Elaine, plug that leak, and then they could leave.

"And why do you need me or my sister?" Arthur asked with his usual charming smile. Then, almost as if he were speaking an afterthought, he continued. "And why did you promise to reunite me with Elaine? She is my sister's tutor, not mine."

"I need you all because there will be missions I cannot trust to the Chaos Brigade," Eren said simply. "Watching Ophis, for example. Or working against certain factions secretly so they don't become too powerful."

Ophis? The Oroborous Dragon!? One of the Divine Duo?

Arthur's instinctual fear must have shown on his face because Eren 'reassured' him.

"I will deal with Ophis. That's what the cookies are for." What. "And I knew about Elaine because of this conversation we are having now."

"So, you saw me ask about Elaine in the future and used it to bring me to you, so I would ask about it?" Arthur said doubtfully. He was ignoring the Ophis topic for the moment, for his peace of mind, if nothing else. Nobody wanted to be in the same country as one of the Dragon Gods, let alone in the same room. "You will pardon me, I am sure, if I find that unlikely."

"Ask your sister."

For a quick moment, Arthur felt a flash of fear, and his head snapped toward Le Fay.

She was fine, but her eyes were wide in shock. They darted between him and a piece of paper in her hands.

The three others at the table had remained silent, but they were all grinning at Arthur.

Le Fay, eyes still wide and not saying a word, handed Arthur the paper.

There, in tight rows of words to fit on the page, was the exact conversation he had just had with Eren.

Word for word.

It even included the gestures and expressions Arthur had been making as they talked!

"Hahahahaha!" Bikou laughed loudly, and Kuroka giggled. The devil boy, Vali, just smirked. "You were right. Seeing it happen to someone else is hilarious."

"What sort of trick is this?" Arthur asked suspiciously, crumpling the paper in his hand.

"No trick," Eren said, stepping forward.

Arthur instinctively raised Collbrande to face the younger boy, but Eren didn't even blink.

Instead, he stepped forward again, and the Holy Sword bit into his shoulder effortlessly. Blood flowed freely.

Holy Light hurt everyone, even angels and humans. Eren just grit his teeth in pain and stepped forward again, driving the sword deeper into his shoulder.

His companions just watched, not doing anything, as the boy mutilated himself on one of the strongest swords in the world.

"This world respects strength," Eren bit out through clenched teeth. "No matter what I do, no matter what tricks I use, nobody believes me unless I prove I have power."

Eren reached out a hand and a haze of Ki surrounded it.

He grabbed the blade of Collbrande, the same one that was cutting into him, and yanked it upward, tearing a large hole through his shoulder and sending blood splattering.

By coincidence or design, not a drop landed near the table.

Arthur, stunned by the self-mutilation, watched in horrified confusion as Eren held up his completely undamaged hand. His shoulder steamed, and it was completely healed in the blink of an eye and a haze of Ki.

Only the blood splatter proved there had been a wound at all.

"You tell me to not make a mess, and look what you do," Kuroka pouted playfully at Eren, but he ignored her.

"I won't make your choices for you," Eren said, looking from Arthur to the equally stunned Le Fay. "I just promise that if you follow me, I will give you the chance to reunite with Elaine. Everything Kuroka promised came from me."

"You..." Arthur's affable smile had fallen. "What is it you want, exactly? Why do all this?"

"There is a specific future I want," Eren said simply. "I need you two to help me get there. To do that, I will go against the entire world."

"Enough of the talking!" Vali suddenly said, standing up and smashing his hands on the table with a 'BANG.'

Of course, all the cookies had been eaten by that point. Vali wouldn't risk any falling on the floor.

Everybody flinched at the noise except for Eren, but Vali didn't care. His grin was excited and filled with childish fervour.

"You, Holy Sword wielder," he said, pointing at Arthur. "Let's fight."

Kuroka groaned, Bikou laughed, and Le Fay finished her last cookie.

"True camaraderie will be forged on the battlefield," Vali declared passionately. "Only then can the descendants of King Arthur and Lucifer become brothers in arms!"

Arthur... wasn't sure he understood what was going on anymore.

"He means he wants to fight you to see if you're worthy of joining his team," Kuroka explained with a roll of her eyes.

"Is... Isn't he in charge," Le Fay asked nervously, pointing at Eren.

"Yes," Eren said simply.

"Only until I defeat you!" Vali declared with a growl.

"Vali will lead the team," Eren continued as if he hadn't heard the young devil. "But that is years away. For now, go out into the valley to practice with Vali. Don't worry. Kuroka and I are protecting it with Senjutsu, and Bikou will clean it up after you. Go all out."

Eren turned, a ribbon of the white material bringing a mop to his hand, and he started cleaning up the blood.

"What's stopping us from leaving?" Arthur asked suspiciously, still trying to grasp what, exactly, was going on.

Except for Vali. He was pretty sure the boy was just as delusional as he had thought Eren to be.

"Nothing," Eren answered, dipping his mop in the water. "I never force anyone to do anything. You can leave and I won't do anything to you. But you won't. Le Fay is too curious about how my powers work, and you want me to fulfil my promises."

"Will you?"

"I will. Go play with Vali. Bikou will want a turn afterward."

Arthur still wasn't sure he believed the boy, but he'd ride it out for now, not dropping his guard.

That and the looks he was getting from the devil and yokai boys ignited his competitive spirit.

"Wait," Kuroka said, sitting up from where she was lounging in her chair and stopping anyone from moving. Except for Eren. He kept mopping. "Did you just recruit another battle maniac?"

"Le Fay is a magic maniac," Eren 'answered,' not looking at the nekoshou. "I'll be working with her on ironing out my long-term plan."

"Don't you already know what it will be?" Le Fay asked, leaning forward with interest.

"Yes," Eren said. "But only because you come up with it. So I need to make sure you do. Don't worry, there's no rush. This valley will be our home for a while."

"Don't ignore my question, nyaa!" Kuroka demanded. "What type of mad team are you building here?"

"One that will fight anyone and anything," Eren said, wringing out the bloody mop.

"Come on," Bikou tugged on Arthur's arm, trying to lead him out the door. "When Kuroka decides to play with Eren, we should be somewhere else, or she'll drag us in."

Arthur resisted long enough to share a look with his sister. He trusted her well enough, but these were strangers. If anything happened, her first order of business was to escape.

"We're having noodles tonight," Vali yelled as white and blue wings burst from his back. He took off into the valley's far edge before anyone could respond.

"Was that-"

"Divine Dividing," Bikou nodded with a laugh, tapping his staff on his shoulder. "Vali Lucifer is the generation's White Dragon Emperor. And I'm the grandson of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong. Kuroka is an SS-class Stray Devil, and you are the natural Holy Sword wielder of Collebrand. Le Fay's some sort of magic prodigy, right?" Bikou rubbed his hands together in excitement. "This is gonna be great."

"And Eren," Arthur asked. "What's he?"

"I'm human," Eren said, poking his head out of the door. "Tell Vali we're not having noodles for dinner again, no matter how much he begs."

"Gocha," Bikou nodded. "Will you be coming out? If we're gonna be a team, we're gonna need to practice fighting someone together."

"After dinner," Eren said, reentering the house. "The sheets for their beds are dry, and I need to finish making up their rooms."

"...Is he really human?"

"So he says," the monkey Yokai shrugged, uncaring. "He says his powers just work differently than ours because they are from another world."

"What can he do," Arthur asked warily. "He mentioned Senjutsu. Besides that and his supposed future sight, anything else?"

Bikou just laughed ominously.

********

"We don't have much time before someone notices my illusions," Kuroka told Vali's team as she met them on the roof of the Hyoudou Residence.

If her voice was lacking its usual seductive charm, well... It was only understandable.

She had just learned that the love of her life had been responsible for the death of a billion and a half people and that his entire life had been a long series of nightmares, one after the other, leading to his 'suicide by lover.'

Kuroka could be pardoned for not being in a very seductive mood.

"...What are we going to do," Arthur asked, his face lacking its charming smile.

"What we said we would," Vali answered, crossing his arms and leaning against the roof. "We're going to protect Ophis, try and stop Eren, and if that fails, we'll fight him."

"You can't beat him," Le Fay said despondently. "You've tried for years, and even at your best, before Eren got any power up, you never came close."

"I wasn't there," Fenrir rumbled a growl. "I will aid in tearing this Titan to shreds."

"That's not what we mean," Bikou gave their newest member a wan smile. "Yes, Eren is strong. But without this plan, he doesn't break the Top Ten. Yet Hades and Indra listen to him. That's because Eren doesn't lose. If he can't win a fight, he's always in a situation where something will happen to ensure he wins. You heard that Mikasa woman. He planned his own decapitation. That's what seeing the future means. He's never wrong. Even when he's hurt, it's just to further his plan."

No. That was wrong. That's not how Eren's ability worked at all. Eren simply chose a future and walked toward it. He could win, he could lose, he could even die. The only guarantee was that the future would turn out as he willed it at the moment of his death.

They were just living in a world where the ending Eren was walking toward required a mythos of invincibility.

"Who says we can't beat him," Vali grinned cooly. "For all we know, he planned to have us go against him so we could be the ones to beat him in the end."

"...You think he's doing it again," Arthur nodded. "Using us like he used the scouts last time. We fight him, clearing our names by being the ones to beat him."

"Or we could be the 'Zeke' of the story," Vali shrugged. "Maniupalated till the end. Or we could be the Yeagerists, soldiers he sent to die. It doesn't matter."

"Of course, it matters," Arthur disagreed sadly. "I will not let Le Fay die as a martyr to a cause I am not even certain of. We joined Eren because he made us promises. Promises he hasn't kept. Kuroka's has been fulfilled, but ours? We're still waiting."

"I have not forgotten his promise," Vali grimaced. "But that's why it doesn't matter. I never depended on him to fulfill it alone. Neither did you. We might have joined him for them, but that's not why we stayed with him. You know that."

Arthur didn't answer.

"The way I see it," Vali's grin returned. "The future Eren saw will happen one way or the other. We have no way of knowing if he lied, if we're going to die, or if the world is going to end once he gets Malacoda. To be honest, I'd forgotten this feeling. Will I win? Will I lose?"

"You just want to fight him again," Le Fay pouted.

"We are talking about a possible battle for the entire Underworld, maybe even the whole world," Vali said, clenching his fists in eagerness. "We could all die standing against Eren. You can't tell me you're not excited."

Kuroka didn't need to be a master of Senjutsu to notice how Bikou stood a bit straighter or how Arthur's hand twitched to his swords.

Battle maniacs, the lot of them.

Still, Kuroka had known these fools for years. She could read under the lines.

They might not know the specifics of what Eren planned to do with all that power besides a vague 'destroy the Underworld' type goal, but it wouldn't be small.

These thugs might be battle-crazy idiots, but they were not the types who could let something like The Rumbling happen.

They were all for fighting gods, heroes, dragons, and even destroying most of the Pillar houses of the Underworld, but none of these boys would allow something like a genocide on the helpless to pass before their eyes.

Not that they would ever say it.

It wouldn't be 'cool.'

Still, she couldn't waste any more time up here. Right now, the Satan and fallen angel Governor were no doubt keeping a careful watch on the temporary rooms Vali's teams were given.

Kuroka was good, but she had no confidence in keeping their secret rendevous hidden for long against those old monsters.

"Why didn't you tell them Eren can use the Founder," Kuroka asked plainly, not beating around the bush. "That's what you were talking about in that barrier, right? You told the full story, removing his ability to see the future. Why not explain everything?"

"Why didn't you tell them," Bikou asked back, though his tone was teasing rather than harsh.

Kuroka just looked at Vali.

"...When I found Eren on that bench, we talked for a bit," Vali answered. "One thing he insisted on is that if any of the leaders of the three factions learn of his abilities, he will fail. I'm pretty sure it's because of that Mikasa woman. She'd find out if they did."

"Then we should tell them," Fenrir said.

"But the last thing he told me was that I could tell them if I wanted," Vali continued soberly. "Even if it meant he failed. Because he wouldn't be fighting for a future where his friends weren't free to stand against him if they thought they needed to."

Nobody said anything.

"Maybe he saw us fighting him," Vali sighed. "Maybe I am being manipulated and doing what he wants to ensure the future that he wants. It doesn't matter. He hasn't betrayed me yet, and I can't see the future like he can. So what matters is my choice, here and now. I will fight Eren. But I will not betray him."

Kuroka thought about Vali's words as she snuck back toward her room.

After everything she had learned tonight, she felt utterly exhausted, yet her mind continued to go in circles.

Eren was smiling at the end. How? Why?

What was the truth? What was the lie? Was his plan as destructive as The Rumbling? Eren had let slip that it would be worse than it, but if so, why was he smiling?

Eren had been right, though. She hadn't understood at the time. She would never have understood if not for the bit- Mikasa.

Even now, Kuroka was struggling to understand.

Kuroka honestly didn't think she'd be getting any sleep that night.

But a surprise was waiting outside her door.

Shirone stood in the hall in her sleeping clothes. Her hand was half raised as if to knock on the door, but it was frozen and not moving.

As Kuroka watched, Shirone lowered her arm and turned to leave without knocking.

Kuroka let her illusion fall.

"Shironyaa," she purred softly to not alert the others in nearby rooms. Koneko jumped anyway. "What are you doing here?"

"...Couldn't sleep," the younger girl muttered, looking away as her face flushed slightly. "Akeno is with Rias."

Kuroka repressed the urge to grab her sister in a tight hug at the cuteness overload. It was best not to push things too far too quickly. Already, Shirone had been more affectionate with her tonight than she could have ever hoped for so soon after their reunion.

Then again, listening to Eren's past like that had probably affected her just like everyone else.

"...Would you like to sleep with Onee-sama?" Kuroka asked softly, opening her door so the younger girl could enter by herself if she wanted.

Shirone looked torn, biting her lip.

Kuroka didn't press her. Eren had been right.

All Kuroka could do was work towards forgiveness.

It was up to Shirone to give it.

Eventually, Shirone gave the tiniest of nods.

Kuroka smiled, even when they climbed into bed together, and Shirone sleepily muttered, 'Just for tonight.'

Weirdly enough, despite their trouble falling asleep before, both fell asleep quickly after that.

It could be the emotional exhaustion, the late time of night, or a mixture of factors.

A significant part of it was undoubtedly the familiar arms, warm bodies, and nostalgic smells of long-separated sisters reunited, if only for a moment of shared comfort and mutual support.

********

A heartwarming chapter, as well as some characterization for Team Vali, before things start picking up speed again.

I've seen a lot of comments asking about Eren's motivations/plans/desires so far. I won't spoil anything, though I've left several hints. Like AOT, only Eren and I know the ending. That is one of my favourite parts of AOT, not gonna lie.

Throughout the entire series, we, the readers/watchers, see things from the 'scouts' perspective. We learn as they learn. The world slowly expands as they push outward. But when you reread it, you see it from Eren and Isayama's perspective, knowing everything that will happen and setting up dominoes for an ending.

I am trying my hand at recreating something like that, if to a lesser scale, with On The Bench. Hopefully, you enjoy the experience.

I'll be waiting for you at the usual time at the usual place on the bench.

 

[kz3838]

Thank you for the great chapter, stay safe out there and keep up the good work!

 

[Vanbers]

Like AOT, only Eren and I know the ending.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: Eren

Are you sure about that?

 

[Kalstorm22]

Great chapter! it's nice to see team Vali getting some screen time. Vali talking about how he will fight Eren but won't betray him is some serious warrior vibes to me, and usually Vali is a little to edgy for me in stories but this time he was cool. See you next time on the bench.

 

[ReadingDangerously]

The soul-searing cold seeped into Eren as he stared at the laughing face in the ice.

"Let's hurry this up, boss!" Herc yelled, teeth chattering. "I'm freezing my balls off here!"

"Not like you use them for anything," Jeanne teased, though her face was also wholly red from the cold.

Despite being cold himself, Cao Cao joined Eren in looking down at one of the prisoners in Cocytus's freezing waters, careful not to let his magic bring him too close to the Underworld's river.

Even with the True Longinus and his body reinforced by the Grail, touching the glacial torrents would freeze him solid if he wasn't careful.

"You told him he'd fail," Cao Cao said with a vindictive smile. "Serves the crow right. He could have worked with us."

"He served his purpose," Eren said simply, not a flicker of emotion in his voice. "We all do."

"Why do you think he's laughing?" Georg asked curiously, being the caster of the spell to carry himself and Eren. "It must be excruciating in there."

"Who knows," Eren muttered, turning away from Kokabiel and directing Georg to where they needed to go.

If anyone had been around in this, the lowest and coldest layer of the Underworld, they might have seen the flash of lighting and watched a titanic figure rise from the depths of Cocytus's waters.

They might have seen it carry a half dragon, half fallen angel abomination, crucified and sealed, out and over the water to lay it at Eren's feet.

But nobody was around to see any of this.

All the usual guards had been diverted and subverted by the Lord of the Dead and were conveniently away. Not a Grim Reaper to be seen around.

Once the Titan's body of white bone and flesh dissolved, no trace remained that the Poison of God had been taken from its eternal prison

********

Given how tense everything was in the enormous hall, someone could be forgiven for believing a war could break out at any moment.

They could also be forgiven for running for their lives, given the sources of that tension.

But nobody could run.

Either because they had been threatened into coming to this meeting, because a reward they needed had been promised, or because they were trying their very best not to attract the attention of the prominent figures in today's meeting.

Whether by coincidence or design, the two seats closest to the end of the table had been segregated from all others...

Then again, it could be that nobody wanted to sit anywhere near two of the Top Ten existences in the world.

It was almost as if power had determined placement... no, that was definitely the case.

With the skeletal Hades, garbed in his gold and black robes and holding his skeleton staff on one side of the long table and the relaxed form of Indra, in his floral print shirt and sunglasses on the other, it was almost a test of a sort to see where someone dared to sit.

Near the front, fellow gods, such as Loki and Angra Mainyu, still maintaining a respectful distance. Beyond them were the influential members of large factions, such as Kokabiel, or just strong enough to qualify as a faction on their own, like Crom Cruach.

Despite their displeasure, Shalba Beelzebub and the descendants of the Old Satans sat further down the table from that group. While they considered themselves just as powerful if not more so, than Kokabiel, they were also not stupid enough to insist on sitting next to the strongest Evil Dragon.

The Old Satan Faction acted almost as a gate, far from the truly powerful and far from those too weak to have any actual say in a meeting like this.

Far, far in the back were the more minor, weaker factions. Black magic societies, representatives of magical terrorist organizations, and a mighty wanderer or two without affiliation.

Altogether, the beings in this room represented a significant portion of all the power in the world. Outcasts. Rejects. Villains. Monsters. Evil Gods and Dragons.

They were the dark side of the supernatural world, those discontent with current systems, rulers, or laws.

They were carrion who would feast more on death and destruction rather than try to ensure peace and stability.

And they all, to a one, hated each other.

Thus, the tension.

Still, nobody wanted to make the first move when so many other powerful forces were present and thus, a quiet peace of sorts had settled, maintained by Hades' and Indra's continued silence.

They, for their own part, kept quiet because they were waiting. Their eyes scanned over Rizevim Lucifer, who had been the one to 'invite' them. The Super Devil sat not at the table but to the side.

Perhaps even his arrogance faltered at the idea of taking the head of the table with so many powerful beings present.

From Rizevim, their focus switched to the 'guards' lined along the walls. All of them were human, many young, but the aura of the spear leaning against their leader's shoulder kept many of the weaker guests in check and the Old Satan faction quiet while simultaneously intriguing the stronger ones.

Whoever could use the holder of the True Longinus as a guard would be interesting, no doubt. Indra, in particular, was keen on finding out who such a being was and his patience led to Hades keeping quiet for the moment. It wasn't like he was without time, after all.

If Rizevim had planned this, the Lord of the Dead would grudgingly give the bat some respect for how well he had planned it.

Even if the idea of being here because of a bat angered him.

The tense silence lasted for a minute or so after the last arrival found a seat. A representative of Nilrem, who almost had a heart attack and hurried to hide in the back when he noticed who else was present, found a seat.

Things finally began when a teleportation circle appeared near the head of the table, and six people stepped out.

Perhaps everyone had been holding their breath, but the release of tension at the sight of six... children appearing in front of this august group led to more than a few noises of surprise and confusion.

"Sorry we're late," a monkey yokai said, trying to sound casual. Almost everyone there could hear the nerves in his voice as he and his companions were stared down by some of the world's strongest and most dangerous beings. "A bit, uh, delayed."

Barely anyone paid attention to the nervous young man as another advanced to take the seat at the head of the table.

The teenager didn't seem to care that almost everyone stared at him in shock as he casually sat down.

"My name is Eren Yeager," the boy said without emotion as he stared down some of the strongest beings in the world. Rimmed in odd curving markings, his dead grey eyes did not give anything away. "We are now a unified organization, and I am your leader. You will do what I say, and you will succeed. Do not, and you will fail and die."

Perhaps the sheer shock, or maybe curiosity, stopped anyone from doing anything when the boy waved his hand.

The four-tailed nekomata, visibly more nervous than the boy but with the barest hint of a smile, advanced and passed him three sheets of paper, which he slid across the table to stop in front of Indra, Hades, and Crom Cruach.

By the time they stopped, though, the shock had worn off.

"What-"

"Who do you-"

"Are you-"

"A human-"

"HA! You think-"

"Enough."

One word and a burst of power was all it took to silence everyone in the room.

That was what it meant to be in the Top Ten.

Not even other gods like Loki or Angra Mainyu could stand up to the displeasure of Hades, Lord of the Dead.

"Bat," the Skeleton God barked out, displeasure clear in his voice as he addressed Rizevim, who had been watching all this with a smirk from his seat in the corner. "You better have a reason for this."

He didn't bother looking at the paper in front of him.

"Hey, hey," the Super Devil held up his hand in lazily, his smirk widening. "I just invited everyone. This is all Eren's show. I'm not the one doing all the work. I'm just a... Silent partner of sorts."

"Rizevim will have no place in day-to-day operations," Eren continued voice just as dead and empty as ever. As if the weight of displeasure from Hades was nothing. "My orders will be relayed by my team here or from the Hero Faction you see around you."

"Why should we listen to you?" Shalba Beelzebub, bolstered by the presence of Lucifer's son, spoke up. He didn't draw closer for fear of angering the stronger beings higher on the table, but he did stand up. Creuserey Asmodeus and Katerea Leviathan joined him to leer at the seated boy. "You are a human, surrounded by humans, half-breeds, and Stray rats."

Everyone heard the crackle of lightning.

Everybody saw and felt the explosive displacement of air.

The weaker members, further down the table, flinched and backed away. The more vigilant readied weapon and spell for battle.

The truly strong those closer to the head of the table just watched curiously as an enormous figure erupted from below the table in an explosion of wood and concussive force.

Weirdly, the destroyed part of the table stopped right before reaching Crom Cruach and the lesser forces, as if it had been planned beforehand.

Most didn't notice that fact, too busy staring at the odd summoned being.

Shaped like the upper torso of a human, only meters large, it shattered the table with its appearance, massive jaws clamping around the legs of the Beelzebub descendant.

With enormous white eyes, rows of teeth that split the face in half, and skin and hair made of some sort of white material, it looked like some sort of chalk sculpture carved into the vague form of a human's upper torso by a demented cartoonist.

The titanic being, even just the shoulders and up, took up almost the entire space of the enormous meeting room, leaving only a meter between it and the ceiling.

Credit where it was due, the three descendants of the original Satans were not strangers to conflict and had been on edge since before their arrival.

The suddenness of the attack meant Shalba was trapped in its mouth, sharp teeth digging painfully into his thighs, but neither Katerea nor Creuserey wasted any time unleashing their power upon the monstrosity.

Blasts of demonic power struck the giant and did nothing as a haze of Ki surrounded it.

"ARGH!" Shaba screamed as the humanoid... thing started putting even more pressure on his leg.

"This is a Titan," Eren said, voice not wavering in the slightest at the sudden bout of violence.

He even went so far as to rest his head on one hand, leaning against the table as if bored.

"I can create them at will. Only a few of those gathered here are strong enough to pierce my Senjutsu. You are not among them."

As he spoke in that empty voice, more attacks had landed on the monster to no avail. Shalba, after getting over the surprise and pain, managed to grit his teeth and unleash his own power.

King of Flies, the ability inherited from the original Beelzebub, conjured forth an army of demonic flies. Each was a monstrous creature in their own right, and these small manifestations of demonic power formed a magic circle of their own, rivalling the other descendants' power and unleashing them all on the Titan.

A rain of explosive destruction fell upon the white monster from the innumerable flies and Katerea and Creuserey.

To their credit, all working together, they pierced further into the Touki than before, but only so deep as to mark the white skin.

Another crackle of lightning and another Titan, only six meters tall but fully formed, appeared in the hall. The humanoid figure, shaped like a skinny man with a broad smile, advanced toward the three devils.

Katerea and Creuserey took further to the air, gaining some distance from the Titans and leaving Shalba trapped. They tried to attack the new arrival but had no more success than before.

Another crackle of lightning and another white titan.

This one was bulkier and larger than the six-meter one, but because it walked on all fours, like some sort of cross between a toddler and a spider, it still only reached seven meters tall.

"You've made your point," Creuserey called out through grit teeth down at Eren. "Cease this, and we will talk."

"I haven't proven anything yet," Eren said without inflection.

To prove his point, a fourth crackle of lightning filled the room.

This Titan was the largest yet. It was shaped like an anorexic man, unnaturally thin but so tall that it sat hunched against one of the side walls, legs splayed out before it on the ground and back hunched against the ceiling so it loomed over the room.

Enormous, bulbous eyes looked down at Shalba Beelzebub, still trapped in the first Titan's mouth, with almost childlike curiosity.

The second Titan had reached the devil by then, ignoring the continual attacks on it by the army of flies, it reached up and grabbed one of the devil's arms and dragged it towards its mouth.

"AAAARRRRGGGG" Shalba screamed again. This Titan's teeth were human, meaning the front ones were flat. The sound of bones grinding was almost swallowed by the screams. Almost. "Stop! Stop!"

"No."

Desperate to stop the pain, as well as save his life, Shalba Beelzebub tried everything. He tried to fly away, teleport out, and reinforce himself with magic. Anything at all.

Nothing worked.

Through the haze of pain and terror, the old devil realized something.

Eren could have killed him instantly. Could have these, these, these monsters kill him with a simple Senjutsu-powered punch.

He was choosing not to. Choosing to inflict pain and terror on him before killing him.

Rage, mad, frothing rage unlike any he had ever felt, welled up in Shalba's chest. Never had he felt such anger, not in the Civil War or since, when the usurper took Shalba's rightful position and title.

So mad was he that when the descendant of Beelzebub felt the third Titan grab his free arm with its jaws, he gave up all pretense of escape or defence.

Instead, he decided he would kill the bastard who thought he could end him, a descendant of Beelzebub, without consequences.

All the summons conjured by the Lord of Flies turned and unleashed everything they had upon Eren Yeager.

A rain of Demonic Power fell upon where Eren Yeager sat.

Eyes widened as the boy simply sat without moving, instead of blocking them with Senjutsu or trying to dodge.

Most had been spread out in a net to prevent evasion, but a few still landed.

They tore into him, carving bloody holes through his body. His right shoulder was blown off. Another blast carved through the table, destroying his heart.

The third and most deadly struck his head. He had been leaning at an angle, so it did not take it off completely, but the entire top half of his face was blown away.

Blood and flesh fell, and from the hole in his skull, the remains of his brain fell onto the ground with a wet SPLAT.

Many believed the boy's arrogance meant he didn't expect a surprise attack in return.

Some believed it to be an illusion.

The more observant noted how none of the 'guards,' the teens with Eren, or Rizevim Lucifer, reacted in any way except to wince slightly, grimace in disgust, or give a knowing smirk.

Except for the blond man with the Holy Sword. He covered the younger girl's eyes with one hand.

Shalba Beelzebub didn't notice any of that.

His entire focus was on the bloody corpse, not even falling over due to how suddenly it had died.

"HA!" The devil barked out a triumphant laugh. "That's what happ- ARGH!"

The third Titan bit down on his arm and began to tear.

Through the tears of pain and surprise, Shalba saw the impossible.

The mangled corpse moved.

There was a haze of Ki around the body as flesh and bone regrew. In a flash of Ki and steam, the gruesome body was replaced with the human boy, looking as dead-eyed and empty as ever.

As if nothing had happened.

Shalba Beelzebub screamed.

Eren blinked, and spikes of white bone pierced every one of his flies instantly.

The giant Titan lowered its head toward where Shalba Beelzebub was held aloft.

"If you want us to work for you," Katerea Leviathan snarled, but her voice shook with fear. "You'll let him go."

Shalba saw an enormous mouth, larger than his entire body, open above him.

"I do not force anyone to work with me," Eren said simply. "If you want to leave, you can. I won't attack or even fight you. You will just fail. It's your choice to stay. But while you stay, you will do as I say, when I say it. Attempts to argue, fight back, or undermine me will end with your death and the complete failure of all your goals."

With surprising delicateness, the teeth closed around Shalba's screaming head. Not crushing it, just grasping it.

"We didn't do anything like that!" Creuserey tried to argue. Eren didn't answer, so he turned to another avenue. "Lord Lucifer! Can you please control your pet!"

The enormous Titan's hand wrapped around the torso not in the first Titan's mouth, and held him fast.

"As I said," Rizevim responded with a smirk. "I'm just here to watch. This is Eren's show. If you want to kill him, go ahead. And if he kills you? That just means you weren't devilish enough."

All four Titans began to pull.

"The Old Satan faction might be the largest of those here," Eren said plainly, voice carrying over the screams of the devil slowly being torn apart. "But you are also the one I like the least. I don't need all three of you to lead your faction."

The screaming ceased with a disgusting crunch.

Bloody limbs and the pulped remains of what was once the last scion of the Beelzebub family fell in a shower of visceral bone and brain matter.

The four white titans fell over as if they died with their prey and began to steam and dissolve.

They left a silent room behind.

A few had tried attacking the Titans when they first appeared, on reflex more than anything, but once it became clear only the devil who spoke was the target, many had sat back and watched.

Devils generally weren't liked, and the Old Satan faction, in particular, was not well regarded, so nobody was going to risk their necks to save them.

It might have something to do with their highly outspoken desire to kill or enslave all other races, but that was just guesswork.

The silence also came from the sense of shock. Not at the power the boy displayed. Many here had seen Senjutsu before, and the 'Titans' were just odd summons.

No, it was the regeneration that shocked them.

To anyone here, decapitation or the destruction of their heart would be fatal, even to Indra.

To be sure, it was almost impossible to do that to the gods, given how strong their bodies were. A hallmark of a powerful being was how tough it was to damage them, either through pure power, racial traits, or the like.

But regeneration was exceedingly rare. Regrowing a limb was almost unheard of.

What Eren Yeager had just done, regrowing his brain and heart without apparent effort was impossible.

For the first time, some began to consider the boy might have a reason to have his confidence.

The silence didn't remain long.

"That is was the stick," Eren said simply. "Here is the carrot. In a few years, the three factions will sign a peace treaty, officially ending the Great War once and for all."

That got noise from the room.

Everyone here was familiar with death and destruction. Most had even committed brutalities far worse than what they had just witnessed, but to hear that the longest and deadliest war in history would be officially coming to an end was something they could not, would not, believe.

"You lie!" Kokabiel snarled.

Both Katarea and Creuserey, with looks toward the bloody remains, had retaken seats at the long table. They were notably further down, leaving Kokabiel, the only member of the Three Factions present beside them and Rizevim, to speak up.

"I do not," Eren answered calmly.

"If you think that killing a devil or two will get me to believe something like that, you are mad," Kokabiel leered over the boy, all his wings flared to their full extent. "You do not understand of what you speak, boy! The Great War is something a human mind cannot even begin to comprehend!"

"I know more about war and death than anyone in this room." Eren said it simply, calmly, as his empty eyes flitted from Kokabiel's to Loki's, to Hades' and finally resting on Indra's. "And you will believe me because I can see the future."

A pause.

Then a snort.

"'See the future?'" Loki snorted in laughter. "You put on a good show. I'll give you that. But nobody can see the future."

"He's telling the truth."

Loki's laughter died with Indra's words.

The God of War's face had lost the lackadaisical smile as he stared at Eren.

Indra held up the paper that had been placed in front of him facing down the table so everyone could see it. Three words were written clearly across the page.

'Read my mind.'

"I've seen this entire meeting happen a dozen times, from start to end, in his mind," Indra said seriously. Then, he faced a different direction, addressing one of the guards. "Is this truly your path, Cao Cao?"

"It is," the wielder of the Longinus met the gods' eyes with a firm conviction. "This is the type of Hero I will become. A future I choose."

"An illusion he witnessed beforehand, then," Loki explained away. "It's not hard to predict the bats will act up, and he'd kill them."

"Do you think I can't tell the difference between an illusion and a memory," Indra asked with a casual smile, and Loki visibly shivered.

Not everyone was cowed by the Hindu god, though,

"Hey," Crom Cruach spoke up, his voice casual as he held his own page in front of him. "Why did I get a paper?"

The paper in front of Hades remained face down on the table, and the god of the dead made no move to look at it.

"A gesture of respect for the Top Ten members in the room," Eren said simply.

All eyes but that of Indra and Hades snapped to the Evil Dragon in surprise, who just grinned.

"Haha, you know about that?" Crom Cruach laughed, not denying it.

"I know a lot of things," Eren nodded simply. "As you are now, you're stronger than Hades but weaker than Indra."

Even Hades turned to look at the dragon mid-way down the table now, though his skeletal expression was unreadable.

"I've been practicing," Crom laughed again. "I'm always looking for the next fight. What do you say, White Dragon Emperor? I want a rematch with Albion."

"I wish I could," Vali sighed, sounding genuinely regretful.

"I guess you'd need a few years to grow a bit more before it would be interesting," the dragon shaped like a man muttered. "Still, if you know how strong I am and can see the future, why did you give me this?"

Like Indra, Crom Cruach held up his paper for everyone to see.

Once again, three words were written on it.

'You will die.'

"Because no matter what I do or say, you will try and fight me," Eren answered simply.

"And you think you can kill me?" There was an eagerness to the dragon's words as he leaned forward.

Members in the back of the room left their seats again to back up from the power he was getting off.

"If you challenge me, you will die because of me," Eren answered with a nod.

"Crom," Indra said seriously. "Do not. He does not care about your rules of engagement, and you will not enjoy the battle. If you ever challenge him, you will die."

The dragon's grin got ever wider.

"When you put it like that, I gotta try, don't I?" Crom Cruach said, standing from his seat. "I'll be coming after you and Shiva soon enough. Can't back down here. I'm a dragon, after all."

Indra sighed sadly.

"Even when you try, nothing will change the future. All you do is ensure it will happen. I have already seen it," Eren told the god. Then he faced Crom Cruach again. "This is your choice. You know the consequences."

"You invited me here to kill me," Crom's smile was all teeth. "I'm curious how you will do it."

"Your death will be a catalyst for the creation of the Chaos Brigade," Eren said simply, his voice as dead as it had been this whole time. "But you can still leave. Nobody here will interfere if you leave or fight. I won't hurt you or harm you. You won't, but you need to know you can."

In response, Crom Cruach let loose all the power he had been keeping suppressed.

The building shook.

The back end of the table was destroyed as the weaker members threw up what shielding they could.

The front half maintained its form only because the gods there spread their own power to counter the pressure from the dragon.

Not even the 'guards' were unaffected, and Le Fay quickly threw up a magical barrier to keep the pressure from bringing their members to their knees. It began to crack within seconds.

Parts of the walls of this building, created just for this meeting, started to collapse, revealing the wall of mist from Georg's Sacred Gear.

Even Dimension Lost seemed to vibrate under the power of Crom Cruach, an Evil Dragon who had spent centuries training to surpass the Heavenly Dragons.

"Well," Crom asked, his very being radiating enough magic and pressure to make even the gods frown. "Shall I fight like this or in my true form? I'm just as strong in either."

Eren, whose only action so far had been to support himself and his chair with Senjutsu, sat up straight once more.

He tapped the table once. A saucer of white bone appeared in front of him.

Eren held out his hand, and Kuroka stepped forward. Unlike the boy, she was shaking from the pressure, but that didn't stop her. The Stray handed the boy something, which Eren placed on the plate.

He flicked the saucer toward Crom Cruach, and it slid. The shaking ground nudged it, so it stopped perfectly before the Evil Dragon.

Bemused but interested, Crom didn't attack the boy as he did all this. He wanted a fight. An ambush like that would only spoil things.

A spell ended around the saucer, and the scent of a freshly baked cookie met everyone's sensitive noses.

Confusion didn't have time to spread.

Barely had anyone had time to register the human's odd behaviour, then Crom Cruach's power completely disappeared.

Everyone froze.

From Eren to Indra, from Rizevim to the weakest magician present, everyone found themselves unable to move.

A little girl appeared over the table.

It was not teleportation. They just willed themselves into this dimension through the Sacred Gear and every magical protection in place.

Every bit of magic and power was ruthlessly blown away. Or perhaps carelessly was a better word. The creature before them probably didn't even notice a Top Ten contender's magic.

After all, neither of the Divine Duo were on the Top Ten list for the simple fact that either of them eclipsed the whole thing alone.

"I, am here for you," the little girl said with only the barest hint of emotion as she stared down Crom Cruach. "Help me beat up Great Red."

"Ophis."

Crom Cruach breathed out the name with so many complicated emotions.

Awe. Fear. Eagerness. Shock. Wonder.

Even in this new form, he would recognize the power of the Ouroboros Dragon anywhere. It was literally Infinite.

This was one of the dragons he hoped to challenge one day.

"Crom Cruach." Ophis 'greeted.' It was more like it said it to recognize his existence. Then she turned, looking around the room and noteing all the faces frozen in terror. Her placid eyes turned to the head of the table. "Indra. Albion. Hades. Help Crom Cruach help me beat up Great Red."

"Ophis."

With all his power, with all the Senjutsu he could muster and all reinforced strength, that was all Eren could say, unlike Crom, who, while frozen, could still speak under his own power.

Eren mouth tore, cheeks splitting, and teeth shattering to get that one word out under the immense pressure of the Infinite Dragon God.

That was enough to grab the little girl's attention for a split second.

It looked at the unfamiliar, weak human in front of it, eyes briefly scanning and judging him useless in a moment.

Then its eyes fell on the piece of paper held aloft by a spike of white bone next to the human's face.

The same piece of paper placed in front of Indra was pierced through, but the writing was still legible, even as the material started crumbling.

'Read my mind.'

It did so without a care and just to satisfy a moment's curiosity.

Its eyes widened a fraction of a millimetre in shock.

"I, see."

Ophis turned back to Crom Cruach, face completely impassive.

"You are in the way."

The Evil Dragon realized what was going to happen right before it did.

Realized that this had all been a show, a trap. He and his power had been the bait for Ophis.

His death would solidify this organization around Eren Yeager and Ophis.

Crom Cruach exploded in power like never before in that moment of shock and anger.

For the first time in centuries, millennia of life, he was sure he was going to die, and that gave him something he had never had before.

Desperation.

Crom Cruach, in that split second, unleashed everything he had, everything he was.

For that one instant, he was the strongest he had ever been.

Or ever would be.

Because all his training, all his desperation, and all his rage did not matter in the face of the Infinite.

Ophis didn't even move as it protected the area from the Evil Dragon's transformation.

It just raised a hand casually, forefinger extended, and lowered its thumb.

"Bang."

The geyser of purple-black power obliterated the Evil Dragon that had accidentally called in the first place.

Crom Cruach, in his last, most desperate moment, held on for a second against the Infinite Dragon God.

Then he was gone as the unending torrent of power tore through him, the wall, the dimension, and into the void of the Dimensional Gap beyond.

His one consolation was that he died to another dragon, as he had always wished.

Nobody moved.

Ophis was no longer holding them in place, but nobody so much as blinked for fear of something similar happening to them.

Ophis dropped from the table with a little hop, landing where Crom Cruach once stood. She reached for the saucer and picked up the cookie.

Looking at it for a second, sniffing it slightly, she hesitantly took a bite.

Her eyes widened significantly, and she devoured the cookie with gusto, getting crumbs everywhere.

A white bone tendril carried over a clothe and started wiping her face clean.

She allowed it without complaint.

"Here is how this will work," Eren spoke into the silence. "Anyone who wishes to leave can do so without fear, with only one requirement. Complete secrecy. So long as secrecy is kept, I will not come after you."

His point was further enunciated when Ophis appeared beside him, looking up at him with eager eyes as she tugged on his shirt.

He gave her a banana without looking at her.

"Those who wish to join will follow my orders, passed to you through the humans you see around you."

Ophis looked at the fruit in confusion. Then she bit into it, peel and all.

Her face scrunched up slightly in distaste.

"I have invited you all because you are those who are dissatisfied with peace. Those who will not be happy with an end to war. Your goal is simple. Spread chaos."

A second banana was held in front of the Dragon God in the shape of a little girl, and Ophis watched curiously as strands of white bone peeled it.

She took the bare fruit hesitantly, looking between it, to the peel on the floor, and up at Eren who was still speaking to the room.

She bit into the soft fruit.

"You do not need to work together except when I tell you to, but you will not work against each other. Ophis will pass out parts of her power to those who need it to succeed. I will ensure you have all the tools you need for your goals. Preparing for war, researching forbidden magics, eliminating an enemy, or whatever else. So long as you let this world know that if it wants peace, it will have to wrench it from our cold, dead hands."

"What did you do to it?" Hades asked, the first to speak up since Crom Cruach's death. The light in his empty eye sockets were locked on the Dragon God.

"I showed her a memory of the future I saw," Eren answered in his empty voice.

"Eren will kill Great Red," Ophis muttered through a mouth full of banana. "Do what he says."

Eren eyes did not leave the Skeleton god's.

Staring at the upstart human, Hades reached forward, and bony fingers finally flipped the paper in front of him over.

It was completely blank.

Eren looked around the room once more, dead eyes staring at and through everyone here to the future and past.

"Any questions?"

********

DxD power levels are so vague that it is genuinely hard to give them any coherence. Indra and Shiva can both just casually read minds whenever they want, and so can Ophis and Great Red. Is it a power thing? Or the nature of their existence? Why can't other gods? Argh, you're killing me, Ishibumi!

For example, the 'Top Ten' is frequently referenced, but we are never given a list of who exactly is on it. We know Ablion and Ddraig, at their peak, were about mid-way up it and that Crom Cruach in the modern day is about their equal, but that's all we really have. Shiva and Indra are both on it, and so are Hades, Sirzechs, and Adjuka, though those three are closer to the bottom. Ophis and Great Red? Neither are part of this nebulous 'Top Ten' because they are too powerful. But we rarely see them do anything!

It's mildly infuriating, falling prey to the shonen curse of 'forever escalation' where it just becomes absurd after a while because the series needs to justify its continued serialization. (Looking at you, Dragon Ball and Naruto!)

Whew. Mini rant over.

For the chapter itself, I hope it answered a few questions and introduced a few more. Context for those who don't know DxD that well, at least.

I did enjoy the opportunity to show off why I think everyone is so freaked out with Ophis. Fresh out of the Dimensional Gap, she's almost entirely emotionless, so angering her is virtually impossible because she's so strong that she just doesn't need to care. On the other hand, that lack of emotion also means that if she decides to kill you, nothing can save you. Only by interacting with the 'mortal world' did she start to develop any sort of emotional range in DxD.

I am excited for the following few chapters, some of which are scenes I've had in my mind since before I started writing this fic. I look forward to meeting you all once more on the bench.

PS: To clarify what I meant in my author's note at the end of the last chapter, I consider the 'Eren Yeager' who starts the Rumbling as an almost separate character from the boy who gets his head shot off. It is his perspective, like Ymir and Isayama's, that I was talking about because all three know how the story ends. Before that, Eren is considered a part of the 'scouts' perspective with the audience, learning about the world step by step.

 

[Orphus]

What does the blank paper mean?

 

[ScriptGenius12]

That was awesome. Eren is so cool I'm rooting for him to win and killdoze the Underworld.

Just like in the manga.

 

[soulreaper22]

What does the blank paper mean?

Click to shrink...

it could mean that Eren foresaw that Hades wouldn't make any trouble for him or the group or that they would have a secret meeting in the future

 

[kz3838]

Thank you for the great chapter, I really like how you wrote Ophis here. I am very curious though, did Eren show Ophis a memory of an alternate path? Or is he truly going to kill Great Red? Regardless, stay safe out there and keep up the good work!

 

[Kalstorm22]

Great chapter! Seeing how the Chaos Brigade was formed is very interesting, it would also be intriguing to know what beings like Hades and Indra think about Eren and his plans especially in the modern day in comparison to Rizevim. I'm also interested in learning if Eren ever had to display his power against a greater foe, to prove his personal strength against a "Top Ten" like opponent. See you next time on the bench.

 

[ReadingDangerously]

"I, am coming out of the closet."

"GAH!"

Though the deadpan voice woke everyone up, their reactions varied.

Issei jumped to his feet, forgetting he was on a bed in his surprise, and promptly fell off, landing on his face.

"Meep!" Asia squeaked, hurrying to cover herself with the blanket. "Ophis!"

"Huh." Was Xenovia's intelligent response as she sat up, blinking blearily and uncaring that the sheets had fallen, leaving her top completely bare.

That prevented Issei from standing up as he caught sight of his girlfriend, and his brain got hypnotized by the Magnificent Oppai. (Capitalization is essential.)

It didn't matter that he could hold, fondle, kiss, and suck them whenever he wanted, as he had proved last night. Oppai would forever hold sway over Hyoudou Issei.

"Ah. Vali, Bikou, Arthur, and Eren do this," Ophis said, looking down at the boy sprawled at her feet and putting a tiny fist on her small palm in realization.

Then she sat on Issei's back.

And used her magic to increase her weight a hundredfold.

Issei could barely let out a groan as he was pressed into the floor.

"Sun will be here in two hours," the little girl who weighed a mountain told the boy under her. "You are late for training. I, help Ddraig."

This was going to be a long day. He could just tell.

Freaking battle maniacs.

********

"Senpai," Gasper said, tilting his head in confusion. "What is going on?"

"I, am helping," Ophis answered instead of Issei.

Which was for the best. Issei really wasn't sure how to explain the fact that he was up at the un-satanly hour of the morning with the Infinite Dragon standing on his head.

As in literally standing on his head.

Her feet were planted on his skull, and no matter how he bent, twisted, walked, or jumped, she remained perfectly balanced on his head.

The only blessing was that she had lightened her weight to only fifty times its usual, allowing him to actually walk.

The only relief Issei had all morning was during breakfast because it was the 'Most important meal. Beside snack time.'- according to Ophis.

What little joy he found during those few minutes was countered by the fact that nobody else seemed to find the hour as terrible as he did.

Issei had always known that a reincarnated devil faced more difficulty waking up in the morning than regular humans. He had felt it himself since becoming a Rook. Devils were simply nocturnal creatures.

He hadn't known that everyone else in the Gremory Group, other new devils included, was used to waking up early anyway.

Apparently, Issei was unique among the Gremory Group in that he usually slept in a bit on the weekends. It wasn't even that late, like eight at most, but everyone else was usually already well into their routines by then. Asia and Xenovia were also exceptions when they spent the night with him, but both were used to the early hours from their time with the church.

Issei spent most of his free time training already, but once more, he was overcome with the difference in mentality everyone else seemed to have that he was lacking.

Rias had taken pity on the boy and explained that it hadn't always been the case. She had just upped her training in the last year, and the rest of the Peerage followed suit. Most devils didn't work nearly as hard as Issei. They were just the anomalies.

That hadn't been as much comfort as she had hoped because Vali and his team were already up and about as well.

Seeing the White Dragon Emperor's smirk when he heard Rias explain fired Issei up, allowing him to shake off the fatigue slightly.

Then breakfast was over, and Ophis was back on his head.

Issei was once again reminded that training was gruelling and arduous work.

Why couldn't life be an anime?

Give him a time skip already!

Still, Issei (Plus Ophis) dragged himself to one of the underground training rooms. It wouldn't allow him to train in anything destructive, at least without risking destroying the house, but right now, Issei was mainly focused on increasing his baseline stats, so he didn't need anything flashy. The higher they were, the more there was to Boost.

Gasper's presence was a surprise, though.

This room was one of the few with dedicated equipment rather than open space for battle training. Issei had thought he (Plus Ophis) would have been alone.

Asia was with Koneko right now, just in case, as his fellow Rook was working with her sister on Senjutsu. Mikasa, Xenovia, and Kiba were also with them to keep an eye on the Black Cat and get their own training. Everyone else was outside of Kuoh as their training in magic was too destructive for the town.

Vali's team was somewhere doing something or other. Unlike Kuroka, who was nominally a 'prisoner of war' or something like that, they were still technically free agents.

Honestly, Issei didn't get the politics involved. All he knew was that they showed up for meals and to check on Ophis, then spent the rest of the time doing whatever they wanted.

Issei already couldn't wait till lunch when he could have Asia heal the soreness he was undoubtedly going to have. She truly was an angel.

Which reminded him that Irina had been acting odd lately. Maybe it had something to do with how her wings would occasionally darken around him.

(It should be noted that after Issei asked Asia out, he became aware of the opposite sex's interest in him. He had, after all, irrefutable proof that someone liked him, even if he didn't quite understand why.

That, and once Xenovia learned about him and Asia, had bluntly told him they were dating now with the goal to eventually have children together.

Issei hadn't protested. No way was he going to turn her down since Asia didn't really have a problem with it either.

He was dumb and dense but not braindead.

But even his newfound and limited self-awareness had its limits. Trauma was still trauma, after all.

Ravel was close to breaking through the Density Field, but Irina faced an uphill battle. Not only was she an angel, not a devil, but Issei had thought of her as a boy for most of his life.

Fight on, Childhood Friend! You can do it!)

Gasper, who hadn't been at breakfast or usually joined any sort of physical training, would usually be in his room this time of day. Either sleeping or working on his contracts online.

Or he could be visiting the still-unconscious Valerie.

To see him here honestly shocked Issei more than Ophis appearing from his closet.

The younger boy, in a girl's gym uniform, was already on a treadmill when he arrived. It wasn't going super fast, even for a human, but Gasper's physical condition was so poor that he was already sweating.

"Just..." Issei sighed with a slump. Ophis gave a little stomp when his shoulders bent, increasing her weight slightly, and Issei immediately straightened. "Just training a bit."

"To beat up Baka Red."

"What are you doing here this early," Issei asked, ignoring the dragon in the room.

Gasper wasn't lazy by any stretch of the imagination, but usually, he had to be dragged to any sort of training because of his fear of his power, aversion to sunlight, or desire to remain inside.

To put it bluntly, if Issei was a regular boy still adjusting to the supernatural, Gasper Vladi was a supernatural shut-in.

And a cross-dresser, but that was neither here nor there.

"I... I need to get stronger," the blonde dhampir muttered quietly through panting breaths. "I need to get Val's Gear back."

Despite the ache in his spine and the seriousness of the topic, Issei couldn't help the wide grin on his face.

"That's right!" The boy agreed cheerfully. "Us boys are outnumbered a lot, so we gotta step up. Us men have to be strong enough and tough enough to protect everyone!"

"R-right," Gasper tried to cheer, but he stumbled over his own feet, falling onto his face.

Issei hurried to help him up as the small blond boy rubbed his head in pain.

"Balor is weak," Ophis said bluntly. Gasper's eyes started to water, and he tried to hide behind Issei from her deadpan gaze. Ophis just turned around on Issei's head to look down at the dhampir. "I, help."

A black snake of power fell from her hand, crashing into the floor hard enough to dent it despite only being the size of her hand, and it hissed at the cross-dresser.

"Wah!" Gasper cried, trying to run away.

The snake chased, nipping at the boy's heels whenever it got close.

"Hey! Leave Gasper alone," Issei cried, trying to look up at the Dragon God.

She remained perfectly vertical on his scalp, and Issei almost fell over as the dragon's weight became completely perpendicular to his own.

"Why?" Ophis asked. "I, am helping."

"HELP!" Gasper yelled as the black snake bit his heel again.

"He's crying!"

"So? Vali says tears are weakness leaving the body."

Freaking battle maniacs.

"There is a difference between tears of effort and tears of fear," Issei said in exasperation.

"There is?"

Issei was getting nowhere fast, and as Gasper raced past him to continue fleeing the snake, he dove at the creature, trying to wrestle it down.

Faster than he could blink, the snake slithered out of his grasp and closer to the fleeing dhampir.

"He wants to be fast," Ophis 'explained.' "Ddraig needs to be strong and tough. I help both."

Her body grew heavier again, and Issei had to force himself to sit up.

"Wah!" Gasper cried again. He immediately turned into a group of bats, trying to escape into the air.

The snake split itself and flew after every bat.

"Why are you helping like this?" Issei grunted out, pushing up on his hands and knees.

"Le Fay says I need to help to get help," Ophis said simply. "Giving Ddraig power won't help with training. Ddraig can't have another cookie. I, help this way. Ddraig gets stronger. Balor gets stronger. Ddraig and Balor help Eren beat up Baka Red."

"We're not going to help Eren!" Issei repeated for the dozenth time.

"I, help more. Then, Ddraig has to help Eren."

At any other point, Issei would appreciate the kuudere's simple and pure approach to life. Ophis wasn't evil. She just didn't understand or care about complexities. She wanted something and would pursue it.

He couldn't appreciate it because that same pursuit was aiding Eren, who was leading a terrorist organization, seemed hell-bent on destroying the Underworld, and needed to sacrifice Issei to get Boosted Gear to do it all.

And it was his friend doing all this on top of it.

Still, knowing she was just trying to help instead of hurt the younger boy stopped him from summoning the Boosted Gear to aid his fellow devil.

Gasper was moving faster than before, after all.

By the time Issei managed to stand up again, panting and wheezing under the Dragon God's magically enhanced weight, Gasper had reformed into his devil body and was lying face down on the ground.

With stumbling steps, the Rook checked on the cross-dresser and found he had just passed out from exhaustion.

"Balor needs more stamina," Ophis pointed out bluntly.

"He's a Bishop," Issei said, picking up the younger boy.

The weight was nothing compared to the small girl on his head. Issei managed to carry Gasper over to a nearby mat and lay him in a more comfortable position.

"So?"

Issei sighed again. It seemed like he was doing that a lot today.

And the sun wasn't even up yet.

Issei dragged his already sore body toward the magically enhanced weights.

For a few minutes, as he started his workout, Issei let his mind wander to his friends, his place in the world, and the future.

He was half confined to the Hyoudou Residence with Ophis, seeing as Eren was supposedly after them both, and couldn't help but wonder when he'd be able to take Asia out again.

He hoped they figured something out soon. He wanted to visit the burger place he first took her to for their six-month anniversary.

That was something boyfriends did, right? Die for me? It wouldn't bore her, right?

Still, the thoughts prompted him to speak up with a question.

"Hey, Ophis?" Issei asked suddenly to the girl. She had migrated from his head to his chest as he exercised.

Still weighed the same, though and every breath was a struggle for the Red Dragon Emperor.

"Yes?"

"Why are you helping Eren?"

"Eren will kill Baka Red."

So she claimed. Issei had no idea how anyone could think of killing Ophis, let alone something that kicked her out of her home.

"Right," Issei grunted with effort. "But you don't want to go through with his plan, right?"

"Right."

"So why are you going to keep helping him?"

"I, do not understand." Ophis tilted her head. "Is Ddraig stupid? To beat up Baka Red."

Issei never thought he'd have to do this, but if he was going to get any answers, he'd have to dumb things down.

"Why do you want to beat up Great Red?"

"Baka Red is loud," Ophis frowned in one of the greatest displays of emotion Issei had seen from her yet. "Annoying. I, want silence."

"But, can't you just, I don't know, go to space or something?" Issei vaguely remembered something about sound not travelling in space.

Was that from school? No, now he remembered. It was from 'Uchuujin Oppai Three: Invasion of the Space Oppai.'

"Space is loud. Everything is loud. Home was quiet. Before Baka Red."

Issei didn't get it, and that was clear on his face. Ophis pouted.

"Air is loud. People are loud. Ground is loud. Underworld is loud." Ophis vaguely gestured around herself. "Everything is loud."

Issei still didn't get it.

[Partner,] Ddraig spoke up within Issei. [Ophis is the Dragon of Infinite. She was born of the infinite nothingness of the Dimension Gap. She is the oldest being in existence, even more than Great Red. When she left the Gap, Great Red, who was born from the infinite dreams of our world, filled the void she left. She isn't talking about actual sound but about 'reality.' Or perhaps 'anything that prevents her from being infinite.' Or, 'anything not me.' She just calls it sound because there is no word for it.]

"Oh!" Issei finally got it. "You have synesthesia!"

Issei was proud that he knew the word, even if it was only because it was the main gameplay gimmick in 'Erotic Whispers.'

Issei was pretty sure Ophis hearing certain sounds didn't translate to a sensation of pleasure, but it gave him a basis to grasp.

Ophis just tilted her head at the unfamiliar word.

"I, do not know what that is." Ophis nodded despite her confusion. "Ddraig is right. 'Reality' is loud. And Baka Red is annoying. His stunts are lame."

"But, if Eren goes through with his plan, you'll be limited as well?" Issei asked, confused about the exact mechanics.

Supposedly, this 'Samael' was the manifestation of the God of the Bible's hatred for dragons and was created to be their perfect counter but was sealed away in Cocytus before ever being used against either Ophis or Great Red.

That same seal that Leviathan-sama told them they found empty a few days after Ackerman-sensei told them of... of the past.

"Yes. I, will be limited. Weak." Ophis nodded. "Only twice as strong as Ddraig or Albion."

Issei couldn't help but compare their definitions of 'weak.' Twice as strong as the Heavenly Dragons, who fought all three factions during the Great War, was 'weak' to the girl on his chest, yet Issei would be thrilled if he ever got that strong.

Certainly, nobody would attack them then, right? Call me Senpai. He'd be strong enough to bring Eren home then, right?

"That's why you don't want to do it?"

Ophis nodded.

Then, she shook her head.

With a grunt of effort, Issei put down the weights.

"That's not the only reason?" Issei guessed as he wiped the sweat from his face.

"Hurts," Ophis nodded.

"I can imagine," Issei muttered, absently rubbing his chest where, only a few months ago, a spear had pierced it.

Ophis nodded her head, then shook it again.

"Hurst. Silence is worth power. But..." Ophis trailed off as if searching for the right words. "Taking my power will hurt Ddraig. Eren will hurt. Kuroka. Vali. Bikou. Arthur. Le Fay. Hurts them, too. That hurts."

It took Issei a moment of thought to realize what the Dragon God was talking about.

"The pain hurts, but taking your power will hurt me, which will hurt Eren, which will hurt the others? Physically? Emotionally?" Issei guessed. "And you don't want them to be hurt?"

Ophis nodded, and only his long-time training with Koneko and, recently, Mikasa allowed him to notice the almost imperceptible frown on her face.

"It makes you sad, right," Issei said, unable to stop himself from reaching out and patting the girl's head. "You don't want people you care about to be sad. That's why you ran away from Eren, isn't it? If I help him willingly, he won't have to hurt me, so he won't be sad."

"Ddraig becomes a Wall," Ophis nodded simply. "Gives power to Eren. Eren beats up Baka Red. Nobody is sad."

"But I can't do that," Issei shook his head. "I don't know Eren's full plan, but it's going to kill a lot of people. And a lot of people are going to be sad. Like me and my friends."

"Eren's plan," Ophis shook her head as well. "It makes him sad as well. My plan is better. Nobody is sad."

"You care about him a lot," Issei said wryly, wishing things were as simple as the Dragon God thought them to be.

He fully believed Eren didn't wish to kill a bunch of people, or at least innocent people in his eyes. Issei might not know Senpai as well as Ackerman-sensei or Kuroka, but he remembered their conversations well.

Eren... he had wanted to be a hero, hadn't he? Like Issei. He'd mentioned something about it when talking about saving Mikasa as a child.

But the world was too complicated, too cruel for heroes. Hearing about it all from Mikasa, Issei could vividly imagine himself in his Senpai's place.

Expectations pilled up on him, and he pushed through all the pain to try and meet them, only to get more pain in the end as the very world betrayed him.

Nobody was a protagonist. Nobody was a hero.

They were just a bunch of idiots chasing their dreams.

"Eren is a grumpy mom," Ophis nodded. "Kuroka is a lazy dad. Vali, Bikou, and Arthur are troublesome big brothers. Le Fay is fun little sister."

"That... is one way to think of him," Issei said with a wry grin.

Personally, he always thought of Eren as the 'mysterious sensei' type more than a mom, but he hadn't really lived with him to know what he was like off the bench.

"I, miss silence," Ophis muttered, staring off into the distance. "...and home."

"The Gap?"

"Home is Gap and... a valley. That way." The little girl pointed in a direction but Issei had no idea what was in that direction. Maybe west? Or north?

"Where you stayed with Vali?" Issei asked as he lay back down on the bench, his little break over.

"And Eren, before he left," Ophis nodded.

"Well, it might not be the Dimensional Gap, but after we stop Eren, you can go back there with him."

"Ddraig can not beat Eren."

"Maybe not," Issei shrugged, getting back into position. "I'm pretty dumb, though. I'm gonna try. And even if I don't win, I just gotta be tough enough that he can't beat me either. Then he'll have to stop to talk."

"...Ddraig is dumb." Ophis deadpaned in agreement.

Ouch.

"Call me Issei," the Red Dragon Emperor sighed as he resumed exercising.

Ophis nodded once, then left his chest to sit on the bar, adding a thousand pounds of weight to it.

Rook strength or not, Issei hadn't used any Boosts.

The heavy metal fell onto his chest, crushing the air from his lungs.

"I, help dumb Issei," Ophis said as Issei struggled to lift the material choking him out.

"Thank. You." Issei wheezed out, face turning red.

Gasper chose that moment to wake up.

Seeing the Infinite Dragon God choking his senpai out, he screamed, freezing time for Issei.

When it wore off, Issei was still under the bar, and Ophis had resumed her snake to chase the cross-dressing dhampir again.

The worst part?

Devil and Sacred Gear growth rate being what they were, both Issei and Gasper did get some decent gains before they joined their friends for combat training after lunch.

Ophis, of course, continued to 'help' Issei as she stayed at the Hyoudou Residence, much to his consternation and Asia's shyness.

Xenovia didn't care that the little girl would barge in on them at all hours of the day, claiming it was 'training time.'

Issei seriously admired her lack of shame.

It was hard for Issei to stay mad at the Dragon God, even as she continued to insist he help Eren. She was just trying to protect her friends.

That, and seeing her watch Oppai Dragon on Le Fay's lap, was too cute, even for him.

Issei could have done without the commentary on how 'weak' Oppai Dragon was, though.

Even if his exhaustion continued to grow as the week wore on. Every day was more stressful than the last as everyone seemed to be waiting for some signal, some sign, that Eren would be making his move.

Ophis' interruptions were just a cherry on top of the tense atmosphere and were a bit of comic relief to the dreary mood everyone seemed to be in.

After one such interruption at four in the morning on a school night, Issei dragged himself down the stairs to grab something to eat before starting the day.

He had mistakenly trained with Ophis on an empty stomach exactly once. Never again.

Issei could be forgiven for not noticing the abnormality right away. Not only was he tired and stressed, but despite his best efforts, he hadn't been around threats to his life long enough to really develop the sense of incongruity many did when something was off.

Issei wasn't a soldier and had only seen combat outside Rating Games a few times. For all his power, he simply had not developed the kind of instinct those exposed to long-time danger did.

So, while sleepily munching on a piece of toast and looking out the window, he didn't make any particular note of how misty the morning was.

He did notice the two figures on the street, however.

He barely heard the vague sounds of the others coming down the stairs as his brain caught up to what he was looking at.

Despite the mist, the street lamp gave enough light for Issei's devil eyes to identify Ophis without issue.

The other figure was deeper into the mist and out of the light, but it hadn't been so long that Issei Hyoudou had forgotten what his Senpai looked like as Eren held out a hand for Ophis to take.

********

Well, shit's about to go down. A bit of characterization on Ophis, but this is mainly a transitory chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it, though, and the tone, baring the end, is almost wholly comedic, which has been lacking in part 4 so far.

Not much to say here. A bit of a difference in Issei is that because he and the Gremory Group didn't have to deal with the waves of Hero Faction mooks attacking them, their combat experience is limited to Rating Games, Diodora, Loki, Kokabiel, Raynare, and a few strays here and there. While a few of them were life-threatening, they were not a constant wave of attacks, which led to a bit more of a lax mindset, I imagine. At the same time, everyone is more dedicated to training for their own reasons.

I imagine I will have much more to say in the coming chapters, so I'll leave it here for now. I'll meet you all on Friday on the bench.

 

[PintSizedSlasher]

Okay so Luci Jr knows about Eren's future telling powers and still decided to fuck with the grail.... either he knows a way around it, him fucking with it doesn't matter in any significant way or he thought he was smarter than he actually was and this too was part of Eren's plan....

Cute to see how much Ophis cares for Eren, shame he's gonna die alone on a bench in about a month

 

[DiscardedNotes]

I never realized that Issei would be traumatized by Raynare, but it makes sense. He was a boy who wanted love and when he first got the opportunity to date a girl he was betrayed and literally murdered by her.

A density borne of pain, instead of stupidity.

 

[kz3838]

Thank you for the great chapter, stay safe out there and keep up the good work!

 

[Kalstorm22]

Good chapter, I like the characterization that Ophis got, she really feels like an ancient being that is slowly learning how to feel emotions, which I have rarely seen before in a way that wasn't just lewd, also her feelings on Eren, Kuroka, and team Vali were both funny and interesting giving an idea on how their dynamic worked, from her perspective at least. See you Friday on the bench.

 

[ReadingDangerously]

"Eren has Ophis!"

The yell burst from Issei's lips in a panic, loud enough that half the house would have heard it despite its size.

Maybe, if Issei hadn't been so tired, so surprised, or overcome by desperation, Issei would have chosen different words.

Maybe he would have waited for others to join him.

Maybe he wouldn't have thrown himself out the kitchen window, Boosted Gear Scale Mail covering his form instantly as he shattered glass and wood in his rush to reach his Senpai before he took Ophis.

... Maybe Issei would have said goodbye.

He didn't.

He moved on instinct, trusting his friends to be right behind him.

It was not a conscious thought, just the habit he had formed from his desire to be the wall protecting his friends.

And, as much as she was driving him to exhaustion with her 'help,' Ophis was still someone Issei wanted to protect.

All Issei could think about was the boy he hadn't seen since that night on the beach and the pure, simple dragon that didn't want to hurt her family.

All Issei could think of was stopping a plan that would hurt Ophis, his friends, his family, the children of the Underworld, and even Eren.

[Boost!]

As he ran, Issei vaguely heard the girls making their way down the stairs freeze, exclaiming in surprise and Xenovia jumping the remaining distance on the stairs as she rushed toward the kitchen to join him.

[Boost!]
[Boost!]

Issei didn't hear his girlfriend call his name in confusion as she stared out the shattered window into an empty street.

There was no sign of Eren, Ophis, or Issei in the fading mist.

[Boost!]
[Boost!]
[Boost!]
[Boost!]

All Issei could hear was the sound of his Boosts, the beating of his heart, and Ophis speaking as Dimension Lost closed around him.

"Don't want to hurt-" Ophis cut off as the red armoured form slid between her and the boy with an outstretched arm. "Ddraig."

Eren looked- He looked the same. No different in body than he had been only a few weeks ago on that beach.

His face, though... It was empty. Dead.

Hollow in a way Issei had never seen, even on Senpai's worst day.

Blank silver eyes looked at Issei, not really seeing him or reacting to his appearance. Then, without even acknowledging the boy, he returned his empty gaze to Ophis once more.

"Sen-"BOOM!

Issei's attempt to talk was interrupted by a fist crashing into the side of his armoured skull, an explosion detonating with the impact that sent him flying across the barren land of this pocket dimension.

Eren kept talking, even through the noise.

"It will only hurt for a bit. Then you'll have silence."

Issei couldn't pay any attention to that conversation as he suddenly found himself in a precarious position.

"Red Dragon Emperor," the massive man who had punched him grinned at Issei. He punched a fist into a palm, tiny explosions igniting with the impact. "Name's Heracles. Yeah. That Heracles. Got his spirit. So let's have a bit of a fight before you die."

[Issei.]

'I know.'

As he landed, Issei had taken a look around to orient himself.

He wasn't in front of his house anymore but in a large expanse. Just ground and mist as far as the eye could see without a sky above.

Issei was alone in this world, and he still couldn't teleport worth a damn.

Everyone's efforts to keep him and Ophis safe had gone out the window because he was an impulsive idiot who acted without thought.

'Sorry. But I can't let him have Ophis.'

It was a bad situation all around, but there was an easy way out.

Get Ophis.

There wasn't a barrier in the world that could stop her if she decided to leave. Issei might be stranded because of his own faults, but she wasn't. He just needed to convince her to leave.

And if he could finally talk to Eren, finally ask the questions burning in his heart while he did so, then all the better.

"Where is he?" Mikasa asked, swords already drawn as she appeared in the wreckage of the kitchen.

"Get out of my way," Issei growled at the mountain of muscle. He continued to Boost, every second growing stronger but also risking Eren doing... whatever he needed to do with Ophis. "I'm not letting you guys get your hands on Ophis!"

"Try and stop us then," Herc's grin redoubled as he launched himself at the Rook with an explosion.

Issei quickly found he didn't have time to focus on anything else but defence as the hero laid into him with everything he had.

Every punch, every kick, and even a headbutt was accompanied by an explosion that deafened Issei slightly. It singed his armour, tossing him this way and that with every blast of fire and force.

Heracles wasn't without skill, either. He fought with more technique than one would expect from someone of his stature, his every blow leading to another. Every explosion destabilized Issei just enough for him to be unable to counterattack.

It was clear that Heracles had spent considerable effort mastering his Sacred Gear, Variant Destruction.

"I don't know," Xenovia continued to whirl around, looking for her boyfriend. Fear welling up in her with every second of silence that passed.

Yet... Issei was the Red Dragon Emperor.

Every second, he grew exponentially stronger, faster, and tougher.

It only took three seconds for him to be able to endure the explosions without flinching.

It only took five seconds for Issei to reach his current Boost limit.

The limit he could hold indefinitely, at least.

Usually, the strategy was to continue to Boost until one reached the limit their body could hold, then expel that power as a burst in one devastating attack. Repeat as needed.

Issei usually did the same when he had those around him who could cover him as he regained his power between blasts.

Balance Breaker shorted the time between each Boost to only a second instead of ten, but Issei knew he couldn't allow himself even that time.

"Georg," Kuroka said plainly as she teleported beside the growing crowd of teenagers, all looking worried and on edge. "He could be anywhere by now. I can't sense Ophis either."

Not here, alone, far from any help.

Issei wasn't anywhere near helpless, though.

As a Rook and one who spent considerable time training, Issei could hold more than almost all other Boosted Gear holders in the past in a low-level simmer.

He was possibly only second to Ddraig himself, though the full might of the Red Dragon Emperor was still a fair bit out of Issei's reach.

Dragons were just that broken.

Still, holding twelve Boosts without expending them? The equivalent of over four thousand times his base strength as a Rook?

The explosion detonated in Issei's face without moving him, and Issei used the cover to throw himself at the hero.

"Shit!"

The ground cratered and dented with the force of the punch that the reincarnated hero barely dodged. The strange ground ruptured with an earthquake of power that shook the entire dimension.

Issei had only half a year with the Boosted Gear, a minuscule fraction of time compared to the monsters of the world who spent decades, or even centuries, training. Who knew what he could become if he had more time to grow.

...If he had time to grow.

[Partner!]

Issei threw himself out of the way at Ddraig's warning, barely avoiding a blade that would have severed his leg.

"I can't use Casteling," Rias declared, panic seeping into her voice despite her best efforts.

"Ha," the blonde woman laughed as she hopped backward, her holy sword trailing a line of light through the dust cloud of the battle so far. "He almost got you, Herc."

"Shut up," the giant man grumbled, standing up and brushing himself off. "I'd have been fine."

[Watch out!] One of the Senpais in the Gear called out, and the panic in their voice had Issei throw himself away again, putting even more distance between him and the heroes as two blades sought to impale him from behind.

It also pushed him further from Eren and Ophis.

"Perhaps," a more serious voice spoke. "We ought to work together? This is the only warm-up we'll get before the big day."

He looked like Freed, Issei realized. The silver hair. The face. The casual arrogance. It all reminded him of the crazed exorcists he had met that first week as a devil.

And the swords in his hands. One was a light sword, the same as Freed, while the other was...

[Gram.] The Senpai who warned him earlier said gravely. [Be careful, Issei. Gram is one of the strongest Demonic Swords in the world and is a dragon-slaying weapon. It killed me.]

Issei had no intention of going easy on any of these people, and both the Holy Sword and Dragon Slaying Sword wouldn't care about his Rook durability, even Boosted, and could be fatal to him.

"I can't teleport to my mark on him either," Le Fay said sadly. "Either they are blocking us, or they destroyed it."

Still, Issei had to ask.

"Why are you doing this?"

All three heroes looked at Issei, the blonde woman tilting her head in surprise.

"What do you mean, Oppai Dragon?"

Issei didn't even comment on the choice of name, his attention half on them and half on Eren and Ophis in the distance.

They seemed to be arguing, though not strongly, and Ophis kept looking toward Issei, but she was too far for Issei to make out any expression on her otherwise placid face.

Eren didn't look at him once.

"Why are you helping Eren?" Issei demanded. "He's gonna kill a lot of innocent people! You are heroes, right?"

He recognized these three from Kuroka's list of notable members of the Hero Faction, but he just couldn't wrap his mind around why people who wanted to be heroes would work with the other factions of the Chaos Brigade.

"What can we do," Xenovia looked around, eyes wide and terrified. "There has to be some way we can get to him!"

All three looked at Issei like he was stupid.

"Oh, I get it!" The girl suddenly exclaimed in realization. "He thinks we're heroes like in his show." Then she laughed. "That's not it at all."

"Man, you're dumb," Heracles snorted out a laugh as well.

"Don't mind these two," the silver-haired man said, though he was smiling as well. "What they mean is that we aren't the type of heroes that save people. We are heroes that kill monsters."

"You work with monsters!"

"Yep, yep," the blonde nodded. "A bunch of them. But see, using monsters to kill monsters just makes good sense, don't it?"

"Jeanne has a point," the dual sword wielder said. "Oh, I'm Siegfried by the way, Issei Hyoudou. If nothing else, you deserve to know the enemies who kill you."

"We don't have to be enemies," Issei tried to argue them down. "Just let me talk to Eren. You don't have to hurt Ophis, and we don't have to fight. Just step away."

"Can't do that," Heracles shrugged, but the smile on his face showed how little he actually regretted the action. "The Boss ain't done with her."

"We can't," Azazel said grimly. "Dimension Lost is a Longinus for a reason. Our entire plan to keep Issei safe was based on the notion they'd come and attack. Once he left the wards, we couldn't stop them from scooping him up."

In the distance, Issei saw Ophis shaking her head.

"We're not being cruel, Oppai Dragon-kun," Jeanne said, her smile turning a bit melancholy. "We are trying to save the world, ya know? And to do that, you gotta die. Sorry about that."

Eren extended his hand and a young man appeared beside him from the mist.

"Hate us if you wish," Siegfried sighed. "If there is an actual hell, we'll join you there soon enough, so don't feel too bad. But if we have to become the villains of the story to save the world? Well, we are heroes, after all."

Another swirl of mist and... it appeared.

Issei had seen a lot of unsettling things since becoming a devil, from mutated stray devils to the aftermath of Freed's slaughter of one of their clients.

This was wrong. Vile. Disgusting. An abomination that should never have existed.

It was large, larger than any humanoid Issei had seen so far, and its upper body was vaguely shaped like a fallen angel, but that was where its normal features ended.

Its entire lower body was that of an eastern, serpentine dragon, and its face was just as draconic, with a fang-filled mouth. Its eyes, hidden behind a blindfold, wept continuous streams of blood.

And it was crucified.

All over its body, in its wings, tail, arms, legs, torso, and even its neck, were impaled by nails driven cruelly into flesh, radiating light from golden runes that hurt Issei to look at.

The creature radiated so much pain, jealousy, resentment, and suffering that Issei could physically feel it even from this distance.

Its cross was held beside Eren by tendrils of white bone, and the second it appeared, it let out a howl of pain and hatred that lit Issei's heart with fear like nothing ever before.

[Samael.] Ddraig growled. [You cannot let it touch you, Issei. No matter how many Boosts, you will die. Body and soul.]

Holy swords. Dragon Slaying swords. Samael.

Everything in this dimension could be fatal to Issei.

He wouldn't let that stop him.

"I should have considered Eren would know how to lure him away," Sona, still in her nightgown, bit the tip of her finger as she thought. "He knows Issei."

Issei's stomach fell as the thing's tongue shot out like a squid's tentacle, wrapping around Ophis.

Power. Unending, infinite power flowed from the small girl's body through the creature and gathered in a chalice Eren held in his hand.

"Ah."

It was not loud. It was not an agonized wail of pain that tore at the soul.

But the fact that Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God, was even making sounds as her power was torn from her told Issei what sort of agony she must be going through.

Issei couldn't waste any more time.

Hardening his heart and gritting his teeth, Issei launched himself toward Eren and Ophis.

[Boost!]

Eight thousand times.

The eyes of the heroes widened, but they didn't falter, placing themselves between Issei and Eren.

Issei bowled over Heracles, even as the hero detonated everything around him.

A stomp on the ground pushed Issei above Jeanne's lunge.

Siegfried was there, with four extra arms grown from nowhere, each wielding a demonic blade of their own.

Issei didn't try and fly away, nor did he try to fight the man. He had no chance of overcoming the man's skill with his own.

So he went right through.

[Boost!]

Sixteen thousand times his base strength and durability.

Issei crashed into Siegfried, knocking the swordsman from the air with his burst of sudden speed before he could bring any of his weapons to bear.

Issei landed with a cratering explosion, his body straining with every muscle twitch.

"And now Issei is trapped by that genocidal madman!" Xenovia growled in helpless rage. She whirled her glare on Mikasa and Kuroka. "Where would the Child of Evil take him?"

The entire reason the Crimson World Wall worked so well was because Issei never moved, reducing the burden all those Boosts placed on his body.

Moving at these speeds while actively using the power, instead of storing it up, would tear him apart, Rook or no.

Issei didn't care.

Issei launched himself, not to attack Eren or Sameal, but to free Ophis, whose normally placid face was contorted in a paroxysm of pain.

"Let her go!"

Issei Hyoudou, with all the strength he could, tore Ophis from Sameal's tongue.

And, in doing so, he pricked himself on the tiny thorn of white bone placed on Eren had subtly placed on her body right before Issei's arrival.

"Eren wouldn't take him anywhere," Mikasa's mouth was a thin line, and her eyes were hard. "He'd do everything as soon as possible to prevent anything from going wrong. That's what he did with the Warhammer."

Issei never saw the tiny needle.

It was too small and thin, and his entire focus was on getting him and Ophis out of there.

But he certainly felt it.

The needle, coated in the blood Samael continued to weep, passed through his Scale Mail as if it weren't even there.

[Reset!]

Boosted Gear dissolved around Issei as he crashed into the ground, Ophis in his arms as all strength fled his body.

[ISSEI!] Ddraig roared in his mind. [How- Hang in there! We can-]

Issei barely heard the dragon's panicked shouting in his mind.

Pain. Agonizing, soul-searing pain overcame Issei. It originated from one of the arms still wrapped around Ophis and quickly began to spread through his body.

"...Eren won't kill Issei," Koneko said, but her voice held no conviction.

"...Why?" Ophis asked, looking at Issei blankly and not moving from his arms. She had chosen this, chosen her silence over everything else. She hadn't asked to be saved.

Issei could barely hear her over the rush of blood to his head, his heart beating a thunderous cacophony as he desperately tried to keep conscious through the sudden onslaught of unexpected pain.

The best he could do was force out one word between teeth clenched so tightly they began to crack.

"...Hurts."

Ophis eyes widened slightly, but Issei couldn't notice.

The agony had spread to his chest.

And a boot crashed into his head, kicking him away from the weakened dragon.

Issei felt a tooth loose as his Rook durability failed him.

Bleary, unfocused eyes recognized the older boy with grey eyes glaring down at Issei.

"I saw your match," Sen- Eren spat in anger, the first proper show of emotion on his face Issei had seen today.

He hadn't even blinked as he violently tore power from Ophis. Said power was contained in the cup he held, violently bubbling and overflowing as the Grail failed to contain the Infinite.

Issei didn't notice.

His eyes were only on the man in front of him.

"I cannot tell you how much I hate Walls."

"If it was to accomplish a goal he saw as worth even his life?" Kuroka held her sister's hand tightly.

Issei wanted to tell Eren that he knew. That Mikasa had told him, told them all of Eren's world. Of what he had gone through.

What Eren had done.

But his tongue was like lead in his mouth as Samael's poison spread.

All Issei could do was weakly extend his still-moving arm, grasping Eren's ankle in a futile attempt to... something.

Stop him? Communicate? Beg for his life? Yell at him?

Tell him of the children who didn't deserve to die just because they had been born a certain race?

Issei wanted to say all that and more. He longed to have one more afternoon on the bench with his Senpai where they could talk one last time.

His plan had never been to fight Eren, just stop him. Talk to him.

Because Eren wasn't a villain. Even now, even on the edge of death, Issei couldn't bring himself to think of Eren as the bad guy.

He still held out hope that he could be reasoned with. Talked down from his plan.

But Issei couldn't even say a word.

Eren kicked him again, and Issei flew, rolling helplessly along the ground.

He came to a stop at the foot of a metal cross.

Not Samael's. The Dragon Eater had disappeared at some point, its job completed.

Another had appeared in its place, a complex symbol already drawn on the ground and powered by a vaguely familiar man with a spear that made Issei's soul shudder.

This crucifix was for a different if no less sinister, purpose.

"Start the ritual," Eren ordered Cao Cao as white bone lifted Issei roughly and affixed him to the device.

Issei, barely cognizant, spotted Ophis in the distance. She hadn't moved from where he had pulled her from Samael's grasp.

Ophis's eyes darted between Eren and Issei, then back to Eren. Issei. Eren. Issei.

Talking was well beyond Issei at this point. There was no air in his lungs, and his tongue wouldn't move.

As Ophis stared at him with her blank eyes, those same eyes that had begged him to help save her small family, Issei wished he could have said... something to her.

He wanted to tell her he didn't blame her. It was his own actions that led to this failure.

He wanted to beg her to go, to tell his friends he had failed. That Eren had everything he needed for his plan.

Issei... Issei wanted to beg her to save him... so he could live. He had so much he still wanted to do, so many things he hadn't accomplished.

It was all a mess of confusing thoughts, vague emotions and fears as the poison reached his head.

Issei went slack, all tension leaving his body immovable as Samael's poison continued to do its terrible work.

Issei's vision darkened around the edge, and he barely felt the power of the device course through him, so minuscule was the pain it inflicted compared to the suffering he was already going through.

Eren's angry voice was the last sound Issei heard before his hearing failed.

"He would."

"All Walls fall." Grey eyes rimmed in Titan Shifter marks met dying brown. Was Senpai talking to Issei? Or to himself? "All Walls must fall."

Silence.

A deafening, echoing silence.

[Issei.] Elsha-senpai sounded sad. [We can't save your life.]

'I know.' At least in his own mind, Issei could still speak, though his thoughts grew increasingly murky. 'Sorry. My fault.'

[Sameal's poison is destroying your body and soul.] Belzard-senpai said grufly. His voice was oddly wet, though. [There'll be nothing left. You won't even join us in the Gear.]

'Sorry.'

[Don't worry about it. You did good, kid.] Belzard sighed. [...I'm just sorry I won't get to see season two.]

It was all Issei's fault. He let down the children. He let down his senpais. He let down his friends. He let down his girlfriends. He let down Ddraig.

Issei... didn't want to die.

He wanted to continue living as a devil. He wanted to continue fighting in rating games. He wanted to keep being Oppai Dragon for the children of the supernatural world. He wanted to help his friends with their dreams. He wanted to be a Harem King. He wanted to keep being a wall they could rely on.

Issei wanted to hold Xenovia again.

"I have faith that Issei will come home," Asia gave the dour group a watery smile.

Issei wanted to see Asia's smile.

Ultimately, Issei Hyoudou was just a teenage boy who had gained power by a stroke of luck. One whose normal, everyday life had been upended when his first girlfriend impaled him in the chest.

Did he deserve the joy the power brought? The danger and death that accompanied it? Maybe. Maybe not. It didn't matter.

Nobody deserves anything.

'Ddraig. Sorry. Wasn't. Good. Partner.'

Now, Issei couldn't even form a proper sentence in his mind anymore.

The pain was gone, and numbness overcame him.

Issei could vaguely make out blurry shapes, amorphous blobs in his vision. They were talking, but Issei could not hear the words.

He could see the light, though.

The red light emerging from his chest seemed to be the only thing he could see.

That, and Eren.

Eren was... hovering. The details were a mess to Issei's failing body and mind, but he absently noticed the ritual circle disappear with the ground under him.

All the heroes had gathered together, watching Issei die as they floated in the void.

[...You were the best wielder I could ever hope for.]

A kind lie. Ddraig would have many partners in the future, Issei was sure. The first would be...

'Protect. Everyone.'

[You can count on me, Partner.]

Issei couldn't find any relief at the thought, overwhelmed as he was by regret at his failures.

Issei's last thought wasn't of home, of his girlfriends, of his regrets and failures.

No, his last thought was a confused, half-conscious thing created by a dying mind trying to make sense of the world.

Eren was there, floating in front of Issei.

Eren was... flying.

Yet... Eren wasn't... smiling.

That... seemed... so... wrong...

...

Issei Hyoudou died when Boosted Gear left his chest.

Barely three minutes had passed since he crashed through his kitchen window.

It was short. It was violent. It was painful.

It was fatal.

Eren's plan did not allow for any last-minute heroics, a surprise rescue, secret powerups or even the ability to say goodbye.

Issei Hyoudou just died without ceremony and without fanfare, and the empty body was tossed aside like trash.

Sometimes, the world was just that cruel.

Issei's corpse floated adrift in the infinite vastness of the Dimensional Gap.

Not for long.

Three seconds after the barrier keeping her from Issei disappeared, a gathering of desperate rescuers appeared in the colourful void beside the body of the Rook.

They were too late.

All they accomplished that day was to bring Issei Hyoudou's body home.

********

...I'll meet you all on Sunday, on the bench.

 

[liquid_oni]

Damn, I cannot wait for the next chapter

 

[kz3838]

Hot damn, I did not expect that. I am very curious to see where you take this next, stay safe out there and keep up the good work!