hugplx
patreon
Draconic Codex: Chapter 13
🕑 Added 2025-10-16 02:17:02 +0000 UTCChapter 13
The scream of the engine drowned out all other sounds on the mountain road.
Wind slipped through the gaps in Issei’s helmet, the air cool and sharp against his face as the road stretched on ahead like a ribbon of moonlit steel.
He leaned into the next curve and grinned inside his visor. The new bike handled like a dream, better than he’d ever imagined—responsive, effortless, alive. He’d only had it two days, but already it felt like an extension of himself.
Part of that was his awesome skills, sure. But mostly? It was magic.
He was still getting used to how easy everything came now. The Codex had changed him—he couldn’t deny it anymore. Buying that first mastery in Cosmomancy had turned what used to be fumbling frustration into instinct. Now he could tweak gravity, balance and traction like flicking dials on a console. With barely any effort.
He’d started small, adjusting the weight of the frame for better handling, trimming drag during acceleration, boosting grip when braking. A few rides later, he was doing it all at once, casually shaping the world around him to match his intent.
It should have been exhausting. Instead, it felt good. Natural. Easy.
The road straightened, revealing a small rest stop ahead—a lonely vending machine glowing in the dark, a few empty parking bays lined by trees. Issei eased off the throttle and rolled in, the bike purring down to silence.
He swung a leg over, hung his helmet from the handlebar, and stretched his sore arms. Even out here, in the quiet hills beyond Kuoh, he wasn’t worried about theft. Despite what pop culture would have you believe, that wasn’t really a thing he had to worry about, and the mountain roads were practically deserted at this hour anyway.
The engine ticked softly as it cooled, filling the air with the faint smell of oil and warm metal.
He rubbed at the back of his neck and groaned. It had been a long day—studying before work, falling further behind on his coursework no matter how hard he tried, then another soul-crushing night in the restaurant kitchen. Between the yelling, the heat, and the constant rush of tickets, he felt half-dead.
Even with his new, supernatural constitution, his mind still needed rest.
Resting’s for pussies.
As if in response to his thoughts, beneath the fatigue, something thrummed. A low hum of power under his skin that no amount of exhaustion could touch.
He was growing. Fast. He could feel it.
He walked over to the vending machine, fed it a few coins, and hit the familiar blue button. A cold can of Boss dropped into the slot, the metallic thunk echoing in the still night.
He cracked it open and took a long, refreshing sip, the chill cutting through the haze in his head.
‘I wonder if caffeine even works on me anymore…’
Said caffeine washed through him and, annoyingly, didn’t provide him with a solid answer. It was still delicious though—even if it didn’t work, maybe the placebo effect would carry?
He pulled out his phone, the screen lighting his face in pale blue, and scrolled up to Rias’s last message.
Rias: Please meet us after work at the following coordinates. It’s important and time sensitive.
Don’t be late.
He could practically hear her voice in the words—warm, patient, but with that subtle authority that meant she wasn’t joking. He wondered what this would be about. Devil business? Peerage business? He didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. His fiancée politely asked him to jump, his only response was to ask how high.
He was an awesome future-husband, after all.
He looked up from the screen. Two paths branched off the rest stop—one marked by a red torii gate, the other plain and unmarked, disappearing into the trees.
Looking back down at his phone, he pulled up the Maps app and saw the coordinates Rias had given him led him down the unmarked path with a dotted line.
He took another sip, savoring the last of the icy sweetness, and started down the unmarked trail. Gravel crunched beneath his boots. The night air cooled as the forest swallowed him, carrying the clean, sharp scent of cedar and damp earth.
Somewhere deeper in the trees, crickets sang in slow, steady rhythm, their faint chorus weaving through the hush of rustling leaves. A stray breeze tugged at the branches overhead, shaking loose a few dry ones that drifted down in lazy spirals. The world felt settled—cool, breathing, alive—the kind of calm only early autumn could hold.
Despite everything—the exhaustion, the late hour—he felt a calm buzz of contentment. He couldn’t wait to get whatever meeting Rias had planned over with. Then he could get back to the good part—training.
He already had a few ideas lined up, too.
Akeno owed him so many favours now, and he fully intended to cash in. Her lightning wasn’t just absurdly painful to the part of him that was still mostly devil—it was useful. The holy aspect in it had burned like acid in his veins at first, but it also fed straight into his cultivation. His body had started gaining a resistance to it, drawing power from what should’ve burned him.
Adapting.
That was the beauty of the Violet Dragon cultivation path—Aether was in everything, and thus everything became fuel. What should have been poison just made him tougher. The more he forced his body to swallow that light, the stronger he got.
He had other ideas for how to use that trick too, ideas that lined up nicely with the kind of mage he wanted to become. And if Akeno knew what was good for her, she’d smile sweetly, shake those ridiculous titties, and be his good little Aether battery whenever he asked.
Some might see the exchange as exploitative—and they’d be absolutely right. He had no issues taking advantage of the turboslut who’d tried to fry his dick off with holy lightning.
She’d been the one to set the rules of their little relationship—favours for favours. He was just abiding by the precedent she’d set.
Did he feel guilty using Akeno’s hunger for Rias’ body in his favour? Essentially pimping out Rias to earn favours?
He might have, had he not seen for himself the state of his fiancée when he’d come back from the hilarious fiasco at Matsuda’s.
Akeno was really butthurt about not being able to pleasure Rias as well as he could. She had applied all her turboslut powers to try and rebalance the scale.
Her efforts were adorable. Not that Rias minded her trying. Not good enough didn’t mean bad. And an eager and frustrated Akeno was a sexy Akeno—not that he’d ever tell her that.
He drained the last of the can and sighed, sad that it was already finished. Then he clicked his tongue in annoyance as he realised the obvious. He was in the middle of a forest trail, there was no bin in sight.
For a second, the urge to just toss it into the bushes tugged at him. But his mum had raised him better than that. Littering is bad, even if it was annoying as hell to carry trash around after a long shift.
He was about to cram it into his too-stuffed messenger bag, but paused as a thought struck him.
He turned the can over in his hand, feeling the cool metal against his skin. Thinking. Maybe he didn’t have to stuff it in his bag. His pockets weren’t huge though…
A grin tugged at his mouth. ‘If I can’t make my pockets bigger…?’
He focused, just a flicker of will, and the pull of gravity tightened around his fingers. The can gave a soft metallic crunch, the sound sharp in the quiet forest. A heartbeat later, it was the size of a coin—flattened, smooth, and warm from the pressure.
‘Heh, I’m awesome.’
Flipping the dense, yet surprisingly light can-coin in the air just as he’d done the other night when choosing his best man, his hand snapped out and caught it before slipping it in his pocket. His whistles joined the chirps of crickets and crunch of gravel fading behind him as he strolled through the dark forest, a pep in his step.
A short while later, he reached the coordinates he’d been given. The trees thinned, and suddenly he was out in the open.
Issei’s whistling cut off mid-note. The clearing ahead was small, lit by a break in the branches overhead. Moonlight poured through, turning the grass pale and throwing long shadows over the dirt. Three shadowed figures stood at the edge of the light, still as statues, all of them looking straight at him.
He froze.
Nothing else moved. He couldn’t even hear the perpetual sound of singing crickets anymore. Just empty space and the sound of his own breathing.
He resisted the urge to whisper the old cliche, but it rang out in his mind anyway.
It’s quiet… too quiet.
‘Any reason we’re meeting out in the middle of nowhere?’ he muttered, half to himself, full of self-bravado. ‘This feels sus as shit—’
Then it hit him.
His guts twisted in panic as the horrible realisation crystallised in his mind.
Lured out here by text. No call. No confirmation. Three silhouettes waiting for him in the dark.
‘Oh, shit!’
He threw himself behind the nearest tree. Bark scraped his palms as he pressed flat against the trunk, heart pounding in his ears. Any second now he was gonna get skewered by a beam of light—
It could happen at any moment.
Blink and you’d miss it!
It was only a matter of time.
…
Nothing.
What the fuck…?
A voice, soft but familiar, called out from behind the tree. ‘Issei… is everything okay?’
He resisted the urge to relax at the sound of his fiancée’s voice. He knew better than anyone the miracles of magic now. There were probably a shit-tonne of ways to copy someone’s voice.
He peeked around the tree and spotted Rias.
Or a doppleganger that looks just like her!
Moonlight caught in her red hair and, frankly, she looked stunning. But she looked way too calm for someone who’d just set up a successful ambush.
These guys are pros, you moron!
‘Nice try, you sneaky pigeon!’ he snapped, scuttling back like a crab as she rounded the tree and joined him in the foliage. ‘You’re not tricking me with your mind games!’
Rias blinked. Then sighed and rolled her eyes. ‘Honestly…’
She flicked her hand and purple aether wrapped around him before he could react. His stomach dropped as he was yanked forward before he could swallow and cultivate the Aether that had ensnared him, feet kicking uselessly until he slammed into her chest.
Her soft, pillowy, glorious chest.
‘Issei,’ she whispered, perfectly patient, the faintest hint of amused exasperation in her tone, ‘next time you suspect a possible ambush, perhaps try confirming before springing it?’
‘How do I know you’re the real Rias?’ he shot back, adrenaline still pumping in his veins despite the glorious boob-prison he found himself in. ‘You could’ve stolen her phone! How do I know?!’
Rather than sneer or groan in annoyance, her smile turned wicked. She leaned in, close enough that her breath tickled his ear.
‘Would a sneaky pigeon know that Akeno and I spent the majority of last night fucking you with a magical strap-on?’ She breathed, and Issei’s face lit up a brilliant crimson. ‘Would they know how adorable the sounds of your moans and groans were? How we laughed as your little baby dick bounced around in that tiny cage of yours?’
His face now matching his fiancée’s hair, Issei took a hurried step back, thankful for the cage’s presence in hiding just how turned on his girlfriend speaking dirty like that made him.
Rias chuckled and brushed the side of his face with the back of her hand before licking a finger and wiping away a smudge of dirt. ‘How was work?’
‘Fine,’ he coughed, getting over his embarrassment as the adrenaline faded. ‘I, err, brought some leftovers. If you’re all hungry.’
‘I already ate, but I’m sure the others will love it. You ready?’
Coughing into his fist, he looked around at the spooky forest before turning back to Rias. ‘You gonna tell me why we’re out here in the middle of bumfuck nowhere?’
She took his hand as her smile widened. ‘We’re here to teach you an important lesson.’
Rias hooked a hand under his arm and pulled him back out into the clearing. The other two figures had already stepped into the moonlight—Akeno, looking way too pleased with herself, and Kiba, all calm composure and perfectly styled, shiny blonde hair as usual.
Akeno’s grin was wicked. ‘You okay, Issei? We didn’t scare you too much, did we?’
He shot her the finger. ‘Hilarious. Thought about giving up prostitution and taking up a life of comedy?’
He ignored the narrowing of her violet eyes at the insult. What was she gonna do? Zap him?
He’d welcome it.
Still, a part of him wondered if that whole ambush panic said more about his headspace than he wanted to admit. Maybe the whole holy-spear-through-the-chest incident had left a mark after all.
And really, if he’d been in actual peril, his new danger-sense should’ve gone off long before he made a dick of himself.
He’d panicked. Lost his head.
That was on him.
Can’t let that happen again…
‘So,’ he said in a joking tone, dusting himself off, ‘why exactly are we out here in the middle of nowhere? We sacrificing virgins or something?’ He pointed up at the full, bright moon hanging above the treetops. ‘If so, what’s the plan and how do we get Koneko into the spell circle?’
Kiba and Rias rolled their eyes in perfect sync. Akeno tried—and failed—to hide a giggle behind her hand. ‘Big talk,’ she said, ‘from someone who just ran screaming like a little girl into the woods.’
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
Rias sighed. ‘Koneko’s on her way.’ Her head tilted suddenly, eyes flicking toward the far side of the clearing. ‘In fact… she’ll be here imminently.’
Kiba straightened and lifted a hand. Light flashed, dazzling and pure, and a slim rapier formed out of thin air—every inch of it glinting silver-white in the dark. Akeno stepped back, her smile fading, and Rias turned toward Issei, face calm but serious.
‘Issei,’ she said quietly, ‘this is perhaps the most important lesson you’ll ever learn. You’ve been growing fast—faster than any reincarnated devil I’ve ever seen—but you’re not infallible. A lot of the enemies you’ll face have been alive a very long time. Centuries. Millennia. Your progress is impressive, but it’s still early…’
A sudden crash split the night.
Dirt exploded out in all directions as Koneko dropped into the clearing hard enough to crater the ground around her feet. Twigs and leaves were tangled in her silver hair, but she didn’t look winded in the slightest. Her nose twitched once. Then again.
She turned toward Issei, eyes narrowing. ‘...Is that strawberry cheesecake in your bag?’
Issei grinned. ‘Depends. You gonna give your awesome Onii-chan a big old—what the FUCK?!’
From the same direction Koneko had appeared, half a dozen naked people burst out of the trees. Men and women both, their bodies slick with sweat and dirt, eyes glowing faintly red. They moved like a pack of wolves, snarling, teeth bared.
‘What the hell, Midget?!’ Issei yelled, pointing wildly. ‘Did you interrupt an orgy or something?!’
Rias’s tone cut clean through the chaos. ‘Issei—these are Demons.’
That shut him up.
She stepped forward, calm even as the naked newcomers fanned out around them. ‘This,’ she said, ‘is what happens when a devil gets careless with their cultivation.’
Issei blinked at her, then looked back at the group. Aside from the dirt and the murder-eyes, they honestly didn’t look that bad. His gaze skimmed over the men—no thanks—and lingered far longer on the women, all of whom were distractingly bare and ridiculously hot.
Which was all relative, of course. They may as well have been swamp hags standing so close to Rias and Akeno.
‘...You get naked and horny?’
Rias’s lips twitched. ‘Not quite.’
The naked strangers spread out in a loose circle, bodies glistening under the moonlight. Their movements weren’t natural—somehow both jerky and with a feline grace.
One of them, a woman with tangled hair and a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, giggled as her head tilted sideways, vertebrae popping like knuckles. ‘We’re gonna have so much fun fucking you all, little Devils,’ she sang, her tone almost childlike. ‘Then kill you. Not necessarily in that order.’
Another crouched low, dragging long nails through the dirt and leaving deep gouges in the packed earth. She eyed the statuesque Koneko with a sick, teasing smile, and despite all the shit-talking and name calling between them, Issei instantly felt a violent, protective urge surge up within him. ‘Thanks for bringing us dinner, little Devil kitty-cat,” she crooned, voice syrupy and frayed at the edges. ‘For that, we’ll leave you to last.’
Koneko said nothing, her face unreadable. Were it not for the all-too familiar flexing of jaw and grinding of teeth, Issei would think she was bored by all of this.
Maybe she still is? Can you be bored and angry? Bangry? Borngry?
Issei swallowed hard as he turned to examine the group again. There was just something…off with their glowing, red eyes. Something unsettling. He couldn’t put his finger on it. ‘What the hell is wrong with them?’ he hissed, uneasy despite himself.
Rias didn’t answer. Neither did Akeno. They just shifted their stances slightly—the kind of readiness that came from long experience. Issei subconsciously mirrored them, his danger sense a low thrum at the back of his mind.
Issei’s skin prickled. The demons were closing in now, smiling and whispering to each other. Their words were half-laughter, half-moan, like they couldn’t tell if they wanted to fight or fuck.
Alright, so they’re definitely crazy…
But watching as the women demons slinked towards them, their beauty offset by their deranged smiles, he found himself pausing.
I…I’d still hit. Not gonna lie.
They all froze when Kiba suddenly and unexpectedly sighed.
‘Sorry,’ he apologised lightly, almost regretful, a serene smile on his normally pursed lips, ‘you’re just not my type.’
Issei blinked. For a split second nothing happened—the demon’s heads all snapped in his direction, their eyes wild with lust and hunger—then there was a sharp crack of displaced air.
What the fuck—?!
One of the demons froze mid-lunge, eyes wide, the tip of Kiba’s rapier jutting clean through his skull. His body hit the ground before Issei even realised he’d moved, like a puppet with its strings cut.
There was a brief, stunned silence as the casual brutality took a moment to set in even with the bloodthirsty and psychotic demon pack—shock overwhelming their bloodlust.
Then one of the demon’s howled, the others following suit as the once still and tranquil forest came alive with motion and violence.
Rias’ aura flared. Akeno laughed—the sound somehow more deranged and psychotic than the demonic pack—and Koneko crouched low, knuckles cracking against the hard earth like a sprinter on the blocks.
Issei’s pulse kicked hard. He’d known his life was different now, ever since his reincarnation—Rias had made sure of that—but knowing it and experiencing it were two very different things.
Then… all hell broke loose.
Literally.
The first demon—the one who couldn’t decide between fucking or killing—arched backward with a scream that tore the air. Issei watched, horrified, as the lips of her vagina split open and upward like a flower opening the wrong way. What should’ve been flesh became a wet, fanged maw, rows of teeth glinting in the moonlight, a writhing mass of arm-thick, spiked tentacles sprouting from her womb.
Issei gagged, his hand flying to his mouth and nose as his dinner threatened to expel. ‘Oh, that’s fucking—’
The thing lunged, the mess of tentacles whipping out in every direction. One shot straight for his chest.
Koneko blurred between them, her small frame cracking the ground as she drove a fist into the tentacle mid-lunge. The impact sent black ichor splattering across the dirt as she pulverised the fleshy tendril.
‘Focus, Pervert!’ she snapped, and then, she was gone.
‘Pervert?! What the hell do you take me for?!’ Issei shrieked, stumbling back in shock as he tried to wipe the disgusting, viscous blood from his eyes. ‘I’m not turned on by that—that’s disgusting!’
Another shriek cut through the din. The second female’s hair writhed and lengthened, strands coiling and thickening until they lashed the air like whips. One bang snapped forward and sheared through a tree branch thicker than Issei’s arm.
Before she could cause any harm, he heard the painfully familiar sound of Akeno’s delighted cackling, then more screams—this time the demon’s—as her hair acted as conduits for the half Fallen’s Holy Lightning.
Issei swallowed as he watched his fiancée’s latest lover dispensing retribution on the unfortunate demon, her violet eyes wild with glee.
Is that how she looks when she’s zapping me? Why…what the fuck is wrong with me? Why am I getting turned on?!
Rias hadn’t moved. She stood beside Issei with her arms crossed, calm and unreadable, watching her peerage dismantle the corrupted pack with an almost bored indifference.
Kiba was a blur in the moonlight, weaving between two of the male demons. One of them had warped into something obscene, its flesh stretched and distorted around a central, pulsing mass the size of the tree trunks surrounding them. The sight alone made Issei’s stomach twist—he didn’t know whether to laugh or feel sympathy as his peerage mate looked to be dancing around a giant, demonic cock…
The other was a writhing knot of vines, every strand tipped with jagged thorns that snapped and flailed like hungry mouths.
Issei hadn’t quite appreciated how literal Rias had been when she said failing in one’s cultivation could corrupt them. He’d thought she’d meant…spiritually, mentally, but this?!
He sent a silent thanks to the Allmighty—ignoring the sharp yet manageable stab of pain that greeted his blasphemy—for saddling his soul with Ddraig. The overgrown lizard might be an arrogant, annoying, voyeuristic fuck, but at least it let him sidestep this craziness!
Kiba didn’t even flinch. His rapier darted between strikes, the blade flashing as he kept the larger dick-demon at bay, but the tangle of vines was closing in fast. He couldn’t stop the single, thin tendrils fast enough to offset the countless more that constantly grew from the mass like a thorny hydra—not while dodging and attacking the big demon, anyway.
He shifted, tossing the rapier into his off-hand and calling another blade into existence. This one curved—a slicing weapon that caught the moonlight along its edge.
The next swing was clean and effortless, catching multiple wriggling tendrils at once. The severed, fleshy bits hit the ground and started sizzling against the earth, melting into a puddle of acidic goo. The decapitated nubs on the other hand burst into flame, the fire racing back up the bleeding stumps toward the creature’s core.
It screamed as it ignited into a ball of unholy, sickly green fire, allowing Kiba to focus his attention on the tree-sized demon crashing its way through the clearing.
Issei was so caught up watching Kiba work that he completely lost track of the first pair of demons. The only warning he got was his danger sense screaming at him—Move. Duck. Now!
He actually listened this time, throwing himself sideways as a tentacle the size of his leg carved through the space where his head had been.
Heart pounding, he stared at the grotesque “pussy flower” as it lumbered toward him and Rias, teeth snapping in rows like pen-sized daggers, tentacles flailing wild.
He froze. How the hell was he supposed to use his magic on something that big? What was he supposed to do—make it heavier?
He didn’t think he’d be able to call on enough Aether for it to make a difference… Not yet, anyway.
Man I can’t wait to be able to launch these fucks into the stratosphere!
His hand darted into his pocket as he backed away, eyes never leaving the creature. Nothing. Nothing useful—just the coin he’d made out of his can of Boss Coffee.
He grinned despite himself, a crazy idea popping into his mind as his veins flooded with pure adrenaline.
Okay… let’s see if this works, then.
Improvisation had gotten him this far.
He flicked the aluminum coin into the air, watched it spin, and waited until it lined up with the monster’s gaping maw.
Time slowed, his breathing calmed and his mind locked the fuck in.
Aether became Cosmic Essence, then gravity bent to his will.
In an instant, the force acting on the coin shifted. No longer toward the ground, but toward the demon’s mouth. And not just normal gravity, either.
He cranked it to twenty Gs.
He’d shifted and amplified the field at once, causing the coin to shoot off like a bullet.
Isaac Newton, eat your heart out.
Would have been way cooler if I used an apple…
The coin moved so fast it was like it was mid air one second, then cracking against the demon’s head the next, bounced once, then came to a stop against the grotesque, tough hide.
If he squinted, Issei thought he could just make out the faintest of twitches.
Issei barely had time to register his failure before a tentacle slammed into his chest and sent him flying.
Right… maybe try that again with something that actually has some mass to it, dumbass.
He braced for impact—then blinked when he didn’t hit bark or dirt, but something far softer.
Pillowy heaven.
Looking up, he found Rias staring down at him, her expression once more a perfect blend of exasperation and amusement.
‘That… worked a lot better in my head, I promise,’ he wheezed, as he tried to refill his lungs with air.
Rias sighed. ‘And that is why you can’t just rely on your danger sense…’
Issei wanted to snap back with something clever, but the words caught in his throat. Or maybe that was his lungs trying to escape through it—hard to tell. Every breath burned, shallow and ragged, the air scraping down his throat like sandpaper.
He tried to move. Bad idea. A flash of pain tore through his chest, white-hot and sharp enough to make his vision swim. Something inside him shifted when he tried to push up, and his right arm gave out completely, dead weight against the ground.
He wheezed, blinking up at Rias’ face framed against the moonlight. There were worse places to crash-land than his fiancée’s divine lap, at least.
‘What did we learn, Issei?’
His gaze screamed “Are you serious right now?!” but Rias’ nonchalance spurred him on to answer regardless.
He couldn’t answer though—not yet. His chest refused to draw enough air to form words. He settled for glaring at her instead.
Rias, of course, didn’t even flinch. She waited, perfectly composed, while the sounds of chaos carried on around them. The distant crackle of Akeno’s lightning, Koneko’s blows hitting like thunderclaps, Kiba’s blades singing through the dark—it all blurred together.
If Rias wasn’t worried, he figured he didn’t have to be either. He focused on breathing without screaming and pulled at the Aether in the air to dull the agony. It helped, sort of. The energy felt thick and greasy, clinging to his insides like smoke.
Do Demons taint the fucking Aether around them…?
When his chest finally loosened enough to speak, he rasped, ‘I need to work on my situational awareness.’
Rias’ lips softened into a smile as she cradled his face. Her thumbs brushed his jaw, gentle and grounding.
‘Good. What else?’
He winced as another small movement made something grind in his chest. ‘Maybe get some actual combat training to go along with my magic training?’
Her laugh was low and warm, the sound vibrating through him. ‘That would help, yes. Anything else?’
He swallowed against the pain and managed a crooked grin. ‘I need to get stronger. A lot stronger. Fast.’
He would’ve called her smile angelic if it wouldn’t have been an insult.
A faint glow bloomed around her hands, soft green light spilling between her fingers. As his head rested in her lap, her palms slipped under his shirt to press gently against his ribs. The cool surge of healing Aether spread through him like water over fire—soothing, knitting, mending. He felt bones slide back into place, muscles unclenching, his body relaxing with blessed relief.
When the spell faded, he greedily drank in the leftover energy, pulling it into himself until every last trace was gone.
Well…it’s not like she was using it anymore.
‘I let you come tonight,’ Rias murmured, her tone soft but firm, ‘because you needed to see how far you still have to go. These Demons are weak. Soon, I expect you’ll be able to help cull them, take some of the burden from Kiba and Koneko—but you still have work to do. Kiba will be happy to train you.’
Issei grinned weakly. ‘Not Koneko?’
Her lips twitched. ‘Not unless you have a death wish. Or a really big cake in your pocket. You’d have better luck asking Lucien…’
Fuck that…the murderbutler will probably use it as an opportunity to arrange an accident…
He finally sat up, the worst of the pain gone. His chest still ached, but he could breathe again—proof, at least, that he wasn’t a sorry red smear on a tree.
Progress is progress.
It stung a little that Rias had felt the need to let him get flattened to teach him something, but… if he was honest with himself, would he have listened otherwise?
...Probably not.
Issei was man enough to admit that he’d been getting a little big for his britches.
His eyes narrowed and if he could glare at himself, he would.
Did I just self-own myself with a dick joke?!
When Issei finally stood, the clearing was quiet again. What was left of the Demons hissed and steamed, puddles of acid eating into the soil until even that sank away.
He frowned, watching the last of the sludge dissolve. The memory of their greasy, painfully wrong Aether still clung to him.
‘Do they always do that?’
Rias came up beside him and slipped her hand into his, resting her head lightly against his shoulder.
‘In their final moments, Demons often give themselves completely to their corruption. It eats away at them until nothing remains. Call it a final burst of power.’
His frown deepened as the others regrouped. ‘Nothing remains? You absolutely sure about that?’
Akeno arched a brow at his tone. ‘Spit it out, Issei. Serious and contemplative doesn’t suit you.’
Koneko grunted in agreement. ‘Pervert’s trying to act cool and mysterious. Funny.’
He ignored both of them. ‘I pulled in the Aether here earlier to try and heal myself…I don’t know if this is normal, but it felt wrong. Thick and dirty. Greasy even. You said Kuoh sits on a massive ley line, right?’
Rias looked up, concern flickering in her eyes.
‘You’re sure it just… dissipates?’ he pressed. ‘What if it’s polluting the ley line? That’d be bad, yeah? You’re the one who keeps saying how hard and expensive it is to cleanse impurities.’
He shuddered, remembering the texture of it—the way it dragged through him like oil. ‘I can’t think of a better word for it actually. Impure.’
The peerage exchanged uneasy glances. Nobody seemed to have an answer. Issei doubted he was some special genius when it came to sensing Aether. More likely, it was his unique, draconic cultivation method combined with all boosts to his Aether channelling that let him feel it at all.
Rias finally broke the silence. ‘We’ll find out more once I complete my ritual. Speaking of, I have a long night ahead of me. Anyone need a lift?’
A crimson portal blossomed open beside her, bathing the dark, moody clearing in demonic light. Ever since she’d gotten hold of the tablets he’d bought for her, her portals had grown huge and perfectly stable—no more anchors needed, no more piggybacking off the work of old monsters.
More proof I give the best gifts. Eat a dick, Turboslut.
Koneko shook her head. ‘I need to cultivate.’ She said, bouncing from foot-to-foot as the adrenaline from the fight bled out of her.
Right… Rias said she and Kiba are Wrath cultivators. They grow stronger from cultivating the powerful emotions felt through combat…
Kiba also declined. ‘I need to meet with Asia-san. We’re hunting Fallen tonight.’
Rias and Akeno traded identical knowing smiles. Kiba rolled his eyes and didn’t even bother gracing either of them with a response. Turning, he waved over his shoulder before disappearing into the woods. Koneko did likewise, though moving in the opposite direction, likely to find a quiet place to rest and meditate.
Issei watched her go, his eyes following the swish of her fluffy white tail and the twitch of her oversized ears.
His hand twitched, desperate to run a hand through the soft fur. He doubted he’d survive messing with her though. Koneko was so focused on cultivating she didn’t even bother hounding him about the cake he still had stored in his bag.
Shame. He’d made it just for her.
You will let your Onii-chan pet you Koneko, if it’s the last thing I do!
Akeno stretched, hands behind her back, that familiar sly grin curling her lips. ‘I think I’ll call one of my boys.’ She shot a teasing wink at Issei and Rias. ‘As much fun as we’ve had over the past several nights, I’m in need of a real man with a giant cock. Someone who knows what they're doing and will have me seeing stars.’
‘Charming,’ Rias replied with a roll of her eyes, her arms crossed under her breasts as she stepped through the portal.
‘Nu-uh.’ Issei jabbed a finger at Akeno, stopping her in her tracks as her wings, one feathered and one oily and devilish, unfurled from her back. ‘You can slut it up another night. I’m calling in one of the several favours you owe me.’
Both women turned, eyebrows raised in interest.
‘Oh?’ Akeno’s eyes lit with mischief. ‘Now this, I have to hear.’
‘Nothing pervy,’ he said, somewhat enjoying her sigh of disappointment. ‘I’m using you as an Aether battery for my cultivation. I got my hands on a new aid that’ll help me grow stronger. I need your help though. It’ll be easier to show than explain it all.’
Akeno pouted theatrically while Issei did his best to ignore Rias’ annoyed glare. He really should start warning her when he buys things from the Codex’s store.
Or maybe he just liked the punishments too much to bother?
I really am a pervert…
Akeno giggled. ‘Not quite the fun I had in mind… but if you insist. I do owe you a favour.’
Rias shook her head with an exasperated look on her face then, with a wave of her hand, the portal started to steadily wink out. ‘Have fun, both of you—and Akeno, let Issei give you a ride on his new bike.’ She grinned like an excited kid as the portal closed. ‘It really is very fun.’
Then it was just him and Akeno, alone in the moon-lit forest. Almost immediately, her cheeks flushed and her breathing quickened.
‘Oh, get a hold of yourself, you turboslut,’ he muttered, heading for his bike. ‘Honestly, you’re like a bitch in heat.’
‘I’ve refined my Holy Lightning since last time,’ she said sweetly, following close behind. ‘I hope to be of… incredible use to you.’
A week ago, that tone might have terrified him. Now, he could only grin. He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when her lightning barely tingled. The anger, the frustration…
Maybe she’ll bring out that toy again? Fuck it, I can’t even be bothered pretending like I don’t like it.
His real training would start that night. Provided Akeno doesn’t molest him first.
The next time he was called to fight…he’d be ready.
He’d make sure of it.
