40 Chapter 40

When I came to a form of awareness, I realized I wasn't actually 'conscious' as it were. I was surrounded by an endless realm of flames with the sole exception of the massive tree that I was nestled within its branches. And from within the tree, I could feel that very same essence of life from my unicorn bloodline.

"Ddraig, you waiting for an entrance or something?" I spoke out as I realized this was my 'inner world' or soul as it were because with a flash of willpower the silver and gem-encrusted Grail manifested in my hands and as it lay within my hands, I finally felt my own soul in its entirety and could even remotely feel Ddraig's presence who was sitting within the flames and just watching me.

"Hmph. I was waiting to see you if were going to go back to sleep, Jake." Ddraig growled as his titanically massive form broke through the flames and floated to curl around the tree, I was lying within its branch's almost like how Ladon would curl up around the tree that bore the divine Golden Apples.

For a moment we just shared a silence before I spoke out. "I take it I succeeded, and this isn't just you taking my soul into your gear after I died?" I asked with a joking lit to my tone as I held onto the grail in my hands and just fiddled with it by picking at the gems with my fingernails.

Ddraig loudly chuffed with a smoke cloud coming out of the massive red dragon's mouth before he began speaking again. "If you were dead, you wouldn't have that Grail in your hands, and this meeting wouldn't be in the core of your own soul and instead in the more habitable areas of my prison for the souls of my past partners," Ddraig explained and I hummed in agreement as I idly mapped out my soul and the connection, I had built between myself and my two Longinus sacred gears.

Now not only could my fleshcrafting affect my biology but with the grail in hand literally it was like my computer of fleshcrafting abilities got a flash drive with a bunch of new programs specifically for soul-based manipulation though the more esoteric uses like summoning up passed souls were out of my reach, at least within my own soul.

"Got any advice on how I can use the grail to strengthen myself other than shielding myself from soul-based attacks? Removing weaknesses that I hadn't already in my biology and finally strengthening my soul altogether?" I asked the millennia-old dragon who grunted.

"Honestly except for binding spirits and resurrecting some people, you already mentioned everything I know that the Sephiroth Graal is capable of. Most people who get the gear don't last long with it and when they do get it, they typically burn themselves trying to bring back a dead family member and end up dead." Ddraig bluntly said and I took his statement with the added warning about how much power it would take to use the Grail to do the heavy lifting to resurrect someone.

"So, I thought you would be more talkative. I mean we don't talk about much?" I asked Ddraig sighed.

"Look I get that you took me from my previous wielder and seeing as he didn't awaken me in a fit of emotions, I can tell he didn't die painfully in the transfer process. As for how I know. Well, every single time all the Sacred Gears with spirits of souls stuffed into them get put into God's little gacha system they are drained of power to fuel his system which puts us into a deep slumber of a coma as all our energy is drained which keeps us from eventually breaking out from the Gears." Ddraig began to monologue.

"I don't blame you for taking me from my previous host as I know after cultivating a wisp of his soul within my prison for some fifteen-plus years and him not activating it that he is still even alive. But as for why I am not all that talkative, well I am simply running low on power; your body is so efficient and guarded with its power that the Boosted Gear isn't absorbing much of it, so I am content to merely sleep until you fight the White One honestly." Ddraig finished off and I hummed in thought as I considered pushing more power to the dragon.

Or hell... Actually, I had a bit of an idea. "Could you cultivate a soul wisp of yourself that I can move with Sephiroth Graal into a body I can create for you in the real world? So, you can control it?" I asked as I pondered on making Ddraig a Kaiju body and just having the lazy dragon sleep in my estate back on Earth with him just needed to deal with intruders...

Would love to see Kokabiel's reaction to Ddraig asking what the little crow is doing in the neighborhood in a 'gentle manner'.

"I am willing to try... Thanks for the offer, Jake. Not many would give the source of their power some freedom." Ddraig spoke with some actual respect in his voice, and I nodded to his words though I actually didn't consider the Boosted Gear. 'The source of my power' Sure it was a good beat stick but my scalpel of fleshcrafting abilities was more useful though boosting more esoteric abilities making boosted super acid and toxins were also super useful.

I then pushed my will into the Grail and like when I took off the ground with my devil wings, I pushed my consciousness out of my soul and back into my normal body state so I could rest and attempt to wake up naturally.

-

In an indeterminate amount of time later I finally felt my tired body respond to me as I groggily opened my eyes to see where I was sitting right beside me and having her eyes closed and resting while sitting in a love seat was surprisingly Grayfia Lucifuge which startled me.

I expected Rias, Akeno, or maybe one of my creations but Rias's sister-in-law was the last person I expected to be at my bedside.

After my shock of seeing Grayfia beside me subsided I began taking note of my body's true state and I literally cringed groaning as Ddraig understated the strain it would put on my body.

Sure, I didn't have a couple of centuries years left to live like Issei did when he integrated that Divine Dividing chunk and had to snuggle with Koneko to recover his life force. But I had certainly lost a couple of centuries of lifespan in comparison to how he lost millennia.

Integrating scared gears within myself was a dangerous thing but with the grail. should I decide to do the same again it will be far less dangerous as I could offload the strain onto the grail and that's not including how my body is naturally going to more quickly strengthen over time due to having two Longinus within myself.

Hearing my grunt at the dismal state of my body, Grayfia shifted in her resting state and her eyes snapped open with her grey ones meeting my blue ones and she registered that I had finally awoken.

"I am glad that you have regained consciousness, Jake," Grayfia spoke with actual warmth in her still semi-formal form of speech but her change of tone when it came to me was obviously revealed. "You have been asleep for two days and that girl Arcueid that you created has been watching you on and off from literally in the shadows," Grayfia reported to me before she smiled softly as she leaned over and took one of my hands into her own.

"But regardless of if you are capable of saving Lord Gremory, I personally thank you with all my heart for extracting the toxins within my son Milicas." She spoke and I nodded lightly as I met her grey eyes and then our moment broke as she chuckled letting go of my hand as she leaned back into her love seat as began, staring up at the ceiling.

"It's a pity some of the girls that have worked here for more than a century have proved of having been traitors and needed to be dealt with... But after any information of value is extracted from them do you want them, Jake? By that, I mean for them to be repurposed completely." Grayfia spoke with a hidden venom in her speech, and I matched her stare at the ceiling before I sighed.

"Sure... I could use a couple of maids for my estate. If anything, swing by and teach them to meet your standard as a maid." I spoke making her smile a dangerous and vindictive thing.

Yeah, going after a devil's young child of a kid especially a powerful one like Grayfia's was not a good idea, to say the least.

"So, although I myself, have checked your body's state, and other than some lifeforce damage you don't seem to be facing any real issues. But you have far greater knowledge of your body's state than I do. Is there anything we the Gremory family can do to speed up your healing?" She asked and I nodded slowly.

"Other than slowly rearranging my lifeforce to very slowly heal over time I imagine Senjustu Bedroom arts to restore my lifeforce would be the best option. So, see if Ni and Li know it, and if not. Then... I guess ask Koneko if she would be comfortable teaching it to them if she isn't herself willing." I spoke with Grayfia nodding in understanding.

"Yes, crass as it may be, that method is most certainly the most effective at restoring and fixing lifeforce issues. So you can go about that when you return home to Earth later." Then Grayfia coughed as she looked to a corner of the room. "Arcueid you may as well pay your respects to your master now that he is awake." At the older devil's words in a dark shadow behind a wardrobe, the shadows behind it thickened and coalesced into Arcueid Brunsted wearing an ornate white and blue dress that matched her Archetype Earth outfit.

"Master I have kept my eyes upon on you at all times... Especially in which Lady Lucifuge has had to step away from your slumbering form." She spoke with her voice coming across like velvet and I realized that she had picked up a bit of my unicorn bloodline and that was why she was so elementally attuned to shadows at least. But rather than my pure holy, life, death, and even rebirth cycle of abilities. She had a far more muddled bloodline that manifested in a sort of divergence in the bloodline's abilities in allowing her being able to attune herself to only a single element at the same time.

"Good work Arcueid." I offered congratulations for her hard work, but she only tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"It was not work at all Master. It is simply my state of existence to protect and serve you which fills my soul with purpose and even the grails within me burn with purpose in your service as I have a blood connection to you Master." Arcueid spoke with relish... No even worship in her voice, which made Grayfia roll her eyes but then she gave me a look.

Sure, my other creations adored me and would quite willingly die in service to me. But they didn't have the same manic worship I could see within Arcueid's red eyes.

"Jake, servants like Arcueid here need a firm hand... The Gremory have a few of them, broken things they tend to pick up when they explore the Earth. Picking up orphans and wretches is the Gremory way and even after multiple millennia not a single one of those people has betrayed the Gremory family whether it was someone picked up by Lord Zeoticus, Lady Rias, or even the servants that still live that Lady Runeas recruited when she was the head of the family." Grayfia spoke wistfully and I heard her softly whisper next.

"Now I can only trust those around Milicas when I am busy..." Grayfia shook her head as she stood up and continued to speak to me. "Either way Jake, keep her on a tight leash until you are able to drill the rules of society into her as her kind will see an insult at you as a mortal sin and will go to the ends of the Underworld to repay that insult a hundred times." Grayfia finally warned me as she then told me that I was to rest here at least for another couple hours so Rias and Akeno could wake up to take me back to Earth where I would be safer from Devil politics with the added heads up that the traitors will likely be broken by tomorrow under Grayfia's own attentions...

Just lovely.

"Well, Arc come here I am cold and weak with my life force being hurt," I said weakly patting the bed and the blond hair vampire gracefully flowed into the bed before carefully wrapping her limbs around myself and tucking her head under my chin seemingly so her long blond hair would keep my neck warm.

"Even if master's warmth is like a tinder flickering in the wind, I will tend to it and do anything to feed it back into the blaze it once was... Do you think I could learn the Bedroom arts as well?" She asked bluntly but I stared up at the ceiling as I just laid a finger on her lips.

"Shh, let me rest dear," I said calmly as I was well used to the lack of boundaries in my creations.

"Yes, master." She said softly and I felt her 'relax' against me as I waited for Rias and Akeno to take me back home so I could get to finding a solution to my weak life force.