Chapter 14 - Blonde Sword Boy & Crimson Princess

One year had passed since Fujimai and her daughters became residents of Arcadia.

Because she had gained his trust, Ryuuga decided to give her the Healer Card since she didn't like to fight and preferred to use her power to heal.

Not only that, her two daughters also received Servant Cards from him. Shirone got the Brawler Card because, in the original series, she was talented in close combat fighting, and her older sister Kuroka got the Caster Card because she was skilled in using Monster Arts.

Now, the two of them were really attached to Ryuuga and always wanted to be petted like cats.

After saving Fujimai and her daughters and greatly altering the future plot, Ryuuga obtained a whole 50,000 Destiny Energy from them. Now, he had 113,000 Destiny Energy and hadn't used any of it yet.

A day after she came back, Ryuuga decided to do research with her on Sage Arts (Senjutsu) and Monster Arts (Youjutsu).

Sage Arts were similar to how his Qi worked, but this power allowed him to manipulate the Qi of an existence. For example, he could disrupt the Qi inside his enemy and make them burst like a balloon.

Monster Arts were similar to magic as they could create supernatural phenomena, but they could only be used by youkai because only youkai had Monster Energy (Youki).

Well, Ryuuga was an exception though. After researching with Fujimai, he was now able to generate Monster Energy and use both Sage Arts and Monster Arts.

Not only that, maybe because the Monster Energy his body adapted to belonged to Fujimai, a Nekoshou, he could now also manifest a pair of cat ears.

His ability to manipulate Sage Arts was quite good because he was already skilled in manipulating Qi. Now, he could use a technique called Battle Qi (Touki) to cover his body with Qi, increasing his attack, defense, and speed.

Additionally, he learned a special power that could only be used by Nekomata called Burning Chariot (Kasha). This power allowed him to summon many fire wheels to burn enemies with dark attributes, such as devils and vampires. The fire was inextinguishable unless the enemies could change their dark attribute to light.

However, his cultivation had not advanced at all. This was because he hadn't found any suitable prey to devour. The thing was, energy from low-level enemies couldn't make him advance even if he devoured hundreds of them.

Even a hundred Ultimate-Class Devils couldn't help him rank up. Well, let's not worry about that. He had plenty of time to get stronger.

From Fujimai, he learned a really interesting fact.

She belonged to the East Youkai Faction, headed by Nurarihyon the Supreme Commander. What Ryuuga found intriguing was that the East Youkai Faction in this world was also called the Nura Clan.

Nurarihyon had a son named Nura Rihan, who was the successor of the Nura Clan.

When Ryuuga heard this, he was confused. Nura Rihan and the Nura Clan belonged to a different series from High School DXD called Nurarihyon no Mago.

But the protagonist's name is Nura Rikuo, and he is the grandson of Nurarihyon. It seems like he hasn't been born yet.

Wait... Nura Rihan was supposed to live in the Edo Era, right? This is the modern era, and he should be dead after being killed by Hagoromo Gitsune.

Well, maybe because the two worlds combined into one, the timeline got adjusted slightly. Wait... if that world is here, could other worlds have combined into this one too? Ryuuga was intrigued. It would be interesting to see what other series had merged into this High School DXD world.

Now, Ryuuga was in Italy with Lavinia. Today was her day off, and she wanted to show him around her hometown.

Besides that, he agreed to go because of something else. The Holy Sword Project should be about to close down based on the timeline.

"How is it? It's delicious, right?" Lavinia asked Ryuuga with a smile. They were both eating gelato on a park bench. Although it was winter, neither of them was afraid of the cold because of their powers.

Meanwhile, the other people in the park were looking at them weirdly. Who eats gelato in the middle of winter?

"Not bad." Ryuuga answered simply as he licked his gelato.

Ryuuga then looked at the watch on his left wrist. As the hands pointed to 2 P.M., he got up from the park bench.

"Let's go, there's a place I want to visit." Ryuuga said, glancing at Lavinia and walking away without waiting for her response.

"Eh? Okay~" Lavinia replied with a smile, standing up to follow him.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Ryuuga and Lavinia were now in an open field buried in snow. A pair of cat ears stuck out from Ryuuga's head.

He was currently using his Nekoshou form to enhance his sense of smell. He was searching for and following the scent of a Sacred Gear, which he recognized from having smelled Reni's.

Lo and behold, they arrived at the right place. In front of Ryuuga, a shadowy figure was slowly walking toward them.

"Who?" Lavinia frowned and stood in front of Ryuuga. She wanted to be useful so he wouldn't have to handle it himself.

As the figure got closer, they saw a boy the same age as Ryuuga, walking toward them with his face covered in blood. His eyes showed desperation as he stumbled forward.

"H...el...p..." the boy said as he saw Ryuuga and Lavinia. Perhaps because his adrenaline had worn off, he immediately fell into the pile of snow.

Ryuuga then walked toward the boy with a smile. He was the target he had been searching for.

His name was Isaiah, though he would be better known as Kiba Yuuto in the future. He was one of the two survivors of the Holy Sword Project and the wielder of the Sacred Gear Sword Birth.

"Can you give me your Sacred Gear?" Ryuuga squatted down and asked the blonde boy with a smile. He had originally wanted to save him because he would be useful in the future, but he decided not to.

If there was one thing he learned in his past life, it was not to trust something called a friend. How many so-called friends had betrayed him before?

It was different for the maids in Arcadia, though. They were his maids, his possessions. Their lives were all in Ryuuga's hands. If he could give them power, he could take it back. The moment they agreed to become his vassals, they knew their lives were also his to decide.

As long as they didn't betray him and showed their usefulness, he didn't care what they did.

It sounded cruel, but experience had taught him not to trust anyone completely except himself.

Since he had abandoned the idea of recruiting Isaiah, Ryuuga was there solely for his Sacred Gear, which was categorized as High-Class.

After all, it could create demonic swords as many as he wanted, with their power, effects, and durability based on the wielder's strength. Even the created demonic swords could surpass real demonic swords.

When Ryuuga asked him for the Sacred Gear, Isaiah was confused. He didn't know what Sacred Gear Ryuuga was talking about, but he had a feeling it must be the strange power he had always sensed inside his body.

"Re...ven...ge..." Isaiah muttered, looking at Ryuuga with weak but determined eyes. He knew that if the power inside him was taken, he would die. But, he couldn't forget the revenge he had promised to the other victims.

"Don't worry. Your revenge will be carried out." Ryuuga replied with a nod. He wasn't so cruel as to ignore the boy's wish for vengeance. At least, consider it payment for taking his Sacred Gear.

"Thank... you..." Isaiah said with a smile as tears streamed down his face. He slowly closed his eyes, his spirit relieved, allowing his body to finally rest.

Suddenly, as he died, his chest glowed with a faint golden light, and something emerged. It was a dark badge with three swords pointing upward carved on it.

"Don't run away." Ryuuga said, recognizing the badge as Isaiah's Sacred Gear, attempting to find a new host since its current one had died.

"Sealing Prison." He activated one of his Sealing Magic spells, and chains appeared from the surroundings, binding the Sacred Gear. The chains formed a cage around it.

Sword Birth struggled for a while, but eventually, it stopped moving, realizing it was futile.

Sacred Gears could only change hosts when their former host died. They were then guided to their next host, who was in their mother's womb at that time. That's why they were considered congenital powers, but also not.

Most Sacred Gears didn't have any consciousness and were guided to their next host through a system created by the God of the Bible.

With a smile, Ryuuga made the Sealing Prison disappear, storing the Sacred Gear inside Arcadia.

"Rest in peace." Ryuuga muttered as he glanced at Isaiah's corpse. He didn't feel any pity at all. He was already used to this kind of thing.

Meanwhile, Lavinia was crying silently.

"Do you think I'm being cruel?" Ryuuga asked her with a smile.

"..." Lavinia didn't know how to respond and remained silent. She did feel that he was a bit too cruel for taking the Sacred Gear from a boy on his deathbed. She knew he could have healed him but chose not to.

"I read his memories, you know?" Ryuuga continued. "He was separated from his parents, and both of them were killed by church members. Then, he was experimented on to recreate the so-called Holy Sword Wielder. I'm being sympathetic here by reuniting him with his parents and carrying out his revenge."

Lavinia felt a pang of understanding. Living with a desire for revenge was quite painful, something she was all too familiar with.

"Then... Why didn't you do the same to me?" Lavinia asked, her tears having already stopped. She looked at him, seeking confirmation.

"You're different from him. Your potential is far greater. I need you."

"...You're making me blush, Ryuu~" Lavinia said with a smile in her usual tone. Her cheeks turned slightly red at his answer, and she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes.

Despite knowing he was just a seven-year-old boy, his way of speaking and acting was incredibly mature. It matched her romantic preferences...

In conclusion, Ryuuga searched for the nearest large tree. Using Earth Magic, he created a hole in the ground in front of the tree and buried Isaiah there. Then, he crafted a tombstone to ensure that Isaiah's grave would remain known.

Suddenly, Ryuuga and Lavinia frowned. They smelled the presence of devils behind them—two, to be exact.

When they turned around, they saw an old man and a young girl. The old man had gray hair and a mustache, but he still had a strong posture and didn't seem to hunch at all. He was wearing a butler's uniform.

The young girl, who seemed to be around Akeno's age, had a beautiful and cute face, and her crimson hair stood out the most.

"Pleased to meet you both. My name is Rias Gremory, heir of the Gremory Clan. This is my butler, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa." The girl with crimson hair introduced herself with a slight smile, lifting the hem of her dress in a polite gesture.

Yes, she was the heroine of the High School DXD series, Rias Gremory. The butler beside her was her father's bishop and a former well-known human magician, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa.

"..." Ryuuga and Lavinia didn't answer. They both looked at Rias and Agrippa with interest. Ryuuga's current power should be enough to deal with ten Agrippa, so he wasn't afraid of them at all. Not even her father could make him afraid.