I woke up the next morning and began my usual routine. Get up, freshen up, and most importantly...
Start training.
It doesn't matter if there's a war or if the climate is against me. I have to get up and grind.
I formed my bow, drawing arrows with my left hand. The motion felt natural, too natural.
My body remembered the process, even if my mind struggled to catch up. Muscle memory, maybe. Still, it was taking longer than I expected to fully regain the skill.
Baby steps. There's a first time for everything.
Forming the bow was harder than I thought. It demanded absurd levels of control. Fortunately, all those hours grinding Qi control exercises paid off. For the past week, I had focused entirely on manipulating Reishi. Without that foundation, I wouldn't have even made it this far.
Still… how did I manage to use this bow in the first place? That white bastard never gave me a straight answer. He only hinted that I should try forming the bow after improving my Reiryoku control.
'Sneaky bastard.'
'Not that I'm complaining.'
"Sounds like you are, Chief."
I sighed as Yuzūi's familiar voice echoed in my mind.
"Don't sweat the small stuff," I shot back mentally, waving him off. In my head, I pictured him clenching his fists, ready to tear me apart.
I chuckled softly, because I knew that's exactly what he was doing.
Despite the difficulty, I was getting the hang of it. My natural ability to learn fast sped up the process. It took a week of relentless grinding to form the bow properly. It's still far from perfect, but for someone who started from scratch, I'd say it's progress.
"Phew… That's enough for today," I muttered, lowering the bow. "I'm not ready to use this in battle yet. A few more months of training, and maybe…"
Still, a lingering thought gnawed at me.
'Am I revealing too much to the enemy?'
---
In a camp dozens of miles away, a camo was seated in a desolate area. There were several tents, but there was one that stood out for it's sheer size and the gloomy aura surrounding it. No one dared come any closer, every devil avoiding it like a plaque.
"What do we know about this unknown opponent of ours?" one of the devils asked, his tone cold as he laid a map across the table. Another devil, standing in front of him, silently handed over a file.
The middle-aged man, likely in his forties, accepted the file without a word. He had long, dark silver hair that flowed past his shoulders and sharp hazel eyes that missed nothing. His aura was vast, unyielding.
An oppressive weight that suggested nothing could scale its heights.
Silver-plated armor, adorned with jagged shoulder pads, encased his frame. A matching silver cape trailed behind him, its color complementing his hair while adding to his regal, commanding presence.
"We know he has immense power," another devil began, his voice wavering slightly. "Power capable of rivaling the of you my lords and ladies… even at full strength."
The silver-haired devil's gaze sharpened, cutting through the speaker's composure like a blade. Under that scrutiny, the man flinched—barely—but enough to be noticed.
He has doubts.
"So, you assume he's Satan-Class?" a tall, bespectacled woman interrupted, her tone laced with curiosity and a hint of challenge.
Her tan skin glowed faintly under the dim light, accentuating the curves of her voluptuous figure. Long brown hair, tied into a bun, hung loosely behind her, while her blue-grey eyes gleamed behind her glasses.
She wore an extremely low-cut purple dress with high slits—revealing far more than was necessary—showing off her cleavage and the smooth curves of her legs.
"Not exactly," the man replied, struggling to regain his composure. "When he cast that spell. W-When he blocked your combined attack, his energy spiked… but only for a moment. It returned to normal right after."
"Meaning?" the woman pressed, her voice steady.
The silver-haired devil answered without hesitation. "He either possesses some kind of artifact… or he's using a secret technique. One that allows him to temporarily ascend an entire Class."
A tense silence fell over the room. Then the woman spoke again, her words cutting through the quiet.
"Then he must be eliminated. He's too much of a threat. What about his abilities? Weaknesses?"
The man in black armor leaned forward, his voice smooth but carrying an edge. "As of now, our intel is limited. What we do know," he paused, his eyes narrowing. "is that he possesses extraordinary energy control, wields lightning with terrifying precision, has massive destructive capabilities, and is a highly efficient combatant."
His long brown hair fell over his face as he shifted, concealing one of his cold, calculating eyes beneath the messy bangs. His black armor gleamed, a crimson cape hanging loosely from his shoulders.
"This does sound like a problem," he continued, turning his attention to the bespectacled woman. "Katerea, did you sense any other energy spikes? Anything similar to the one he used for the barrier?"
Katerea crossed her arms, her expression turning thoughtful. "They occurred, but none were as significant as the one he used to block us."
The silver-haired devil hummed in thought, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the wooden table. "Our primary objective is clear," he finally said. "Locate the target. Capture him. Extract everything he knows. A technique that lets someone jump an entire Class… would be invaluable."
A soft chuckle broke the tension. "You better not be thinking about yourself, Rizevim," Katerea said, her tone icy as she leveled a glare at the smirking man.
Rizevim Livan Lucifer, draped lazily across his seat, raised his hands in mock innocence. His silver hair, similar in color to the other devil but wild in appearance, fell across his face as his violet eyes sparkled with amusement.
"Me? Selfish?" He grinned, a devilish gleam dancing in his eyes. "Perish the thought, darling."
In the midst of these discussions, a silver-haired woman with crimson eyes observed the conversation from the shadows, her expression distant and unreadable.
No matter how much Grayfia tried to focus on the discussion unfolding before her, her thoughts kept circling back to his words.
Words she couldn't forget.
"You will lose everything."
A cold shiver traced down her spine. No matter how absurd it seemed, those words clung to her mind.
'Was he warning me… or threatening me?'
Grayfia's grip tightened at her sides, nails digging into her palms as a wave of unease settled deep within her chest. A rational voice told her it was a ploy, a carefully crafted deception meant to unnerve her
However, a more primal part of her, the instincts she had trusted through countless battles, whispered something far more dangerous.
'What if he's telling the truth?'
The thought festered, gnawing at her resolve.
'If… if I switched to his side, maybe I could avoid a world of grief.'
It was a dangerous idea, treasonous. She could die if she does this, in fact, thinking about it was insane. Yet, the seed had already been planted.
'But still…
He could be lying.'
And yet, the weight in her chest refused to lift. Her instincts, so rarely wrong, urged her to tread carefully. If her distrust led her down the wrong path, it wouldn't be just her life on the line. It would be her family. Her loved ones.
'And if he was right…'
'Would I lose everything?'
For the first time in a long while, Grayfia, the heiress of the Lucifuge Clan, felt the stirrings of fear.
---
"Achuu!"
A young man fell flat on his rear inside a dimly lit tent. Hisashi blinked, caught off guard by the sudden sneeze. At the entrance, a head of black hair with pink tips poked in, accompanied by a strained smile.
"The great Hisashi," Serafall drawled, her voice dripping with mockery, "who's faced so many things like the immovable mountain he is… just got taken down by a little sneeze!"
Hisashi scowled, brushing off his pants as he stood up. "Someone's talking about me, Serafall. And now that we're at war, I don't expect it to be good news."
Huh?
What is this idiot talking about?
"Don't look at me like that, woman!" Hisashi snapped, narrowing his eyes at her bewildered expression.
Serafall, unfazed, released a long, exaggerated sigh, her eyes half-lidded in that way she always did when she was about to say something irritating. "You're the weirdest person I've ever met in my entire life. And considering how long I've been around… that's saying something."
"Ack—!" Hisashi clutched his chest as if her words had pierced his heart. "Serafall, you're over sixty! And I'm the weirdest person you've ever met? That's cruel."
Her lips twitched into a smirk, clearly satisfied with the reaction.
"Hisashi," she said, her playful tone fading.
His teasing demeanor shifted the moment he caught the faint trace of concern in her sapphire-blue eyes.
"If you really think someone's talking about you…" Her voice softened, serious now. "Then maybe we should be prepared."
Hisashi let out a breath, the weight of her words sinking in. "Don't worry," he said, a glint of confidence flashing in his crimson eyes. "I still have a couple of cards left in my deck."
And if someone was watching from the shadows....
He'd be ready.
––––––
Happy Reading Everybody!
I will be honest with you, this was a terrible week. I was on the brink of dropping this fanfic and my project. I dropped the project for a later date, but I will have my full attention on my fanfic.
Anyways, there are a few worlds I plan to intergrate into DxD...
1. The Quintessential Quintuplets
2. The Testament Of The Devil Sisters
3. The Misfit of The Demon King Academy (Now this will be a complicated one to intergrate)
4. To Love Ru
...
These are the worlds I have in mind and though there are more, I need your input as well. If you want to add more to the list, I suggest you do. You have only 5 days from now till the Poll starts and if your lucky, the world you want me to write about will be intergrated into DxD.
The second Chapter of the day will be released today. If you are familiar with my Schedule then should be about 9 hours from now.
Also, I think I will release 3 Chapters a week from now on. How does that sound?