"Just now... what the fuck?" Antares thought reading what appeared to him... the system for the first time was now actually looking like what he had imagined.
He was aware of what the Architect had done to Ashborne, but now this system made a certain amount of sense...
'Shadow System...' He read it, then turned his gaze to his statuses... 'I'm weak...'
'It makes sense that I couldn't attack that angel... my strength is worth 6 points... that's below average. And I'm a demon...' He was then snapped out of his thoughts when he heard.
"Here's your tea," Akeno said with a smile, handing him the cup. "Have a seat." She said.
Antares paused for a moment, but only said, "Thank you." And he sat down on the sofa and enjoyed a good cup of tea... when he touched his mouth to the tea, his eyes opened in surprise.
"This is extremely tasty," he said with a slight smile, after all, what he really loved in this life was eating tasty things, it was what he had come up with to erase himself in this world.
"Well, well, that's very kind of you." Akeno replied with a sweet, mysterious smile, gently resting his hand on his cheek as he let out a charming giggle "Uhuhuhu..."
The soft, teasing sound echoed around the room, making Kiba just sigh discreetly, used to her theatrics, while Koneko remained silent as always.
Kiba and Koneko sat down by the table where there was a steaming kettle and some cups. Rias followed soon after, pulling up a chair with an almost distracted air, but his eyes were attentive.
"Akeno, come and sit here too." Rias' invitation sounded sweet, but the tone had a subtle, almost possessive firmness. As if to say, 'stay away from him'... without having to use those words.
Akeno just smiled, perfectly reading the message between the lines. "Of course, President."
She sat down next to the president, still with that twinkle in her eye.
And then all eyes turned to Antares, who stood firm, as if the whole thing was part of a play he already knew by heart.
Rias breathed in quietly. It was time to really get started.
"I'll get straight to the point," she said seriously. "Here, we're all demons."
She expected surprise. A shocked look, at least. But nothing. "From the look on your face... you don't believe what I'm saying."
"Yes, yes, I do." Antares' voice cut off his speech in a sharp, uncomplicated way. He crossed his arms and sighed, as if he were explaining something obvious to a child.
"Red Magic, Magic Circles, Teleportation, healing by hugging me, plus of course, me surviving fighting a man with bird wings, having the strength to break a spear of light, being able to see in the dark" Antares replied as if it were... normal...
The silence in the room was immediate. Even Koneko was no longer chewing the candy.
Rias opened his mouth for a moment, but didn't know whether to laugh or scold him.
"And honestly?" Antares continued, casting a calculated glance at those present. "Comparing your aura to mine... I'm at the very bottom of the food chain. Too weak."
Kiba, who until then had maintained a controlled posture, widened his eyes slightly. The frankness and calmness with which Antares expressed himself were... unusual, not to say disturbing. unusual, not to say disturbing.
Rias, who was leaning back in her chair with her legs crossed, watched the scene carefully. Antares' tone of voice was so confident that it made her posture seem almost indifferent. "You speak with a strange confidence for someone who has just become a demon."
Without hesitating, Antares leaned forward a little and, with an almost impassive glint in his eye, asked a curious question.
"Well... is there any way for me to become human again?" He asked, as if it were just a trivial doubt.
"No." Rias answered directly, without beating around the bush.
"Then what do I have to fear?" He continued, without changing his tone.
Akeno, who until then had been attentive to the dialog, let out a low chuckle, a soft "uhuhu..." that reflected more amusement than surprise. Her eyes were shining with a mixture of amusement and something more enigmatic.
Rias, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes and sighed, clearly exhausted from trying to deal with Antares' personality, but at the same time looking somewhat amusingly challenged. "I thought you were just inconsequential... but, apparently, you have more sense of your position than I thought. That's why you keep teasing me..." She gave a slightly tired, but still genuine smile.
Antares, with his sharp gaze, didn't let the moment pass. "Ah, but I'd like to know something, if that makes you feel more comfortable about wanting to explain..." He paused, watching Rias' expression, as if he knew that the next question could change the course of the conversation. "Why were two black pigeons after me?"
The question hung in the air. After all, Antares couldn't ignore the fact that he had been attacked more than once - once by a woman dressed in dominatrix lingerie, and once by a strange old man who attacked him for no apparent reason. If someone was after him, he wanted to understand who and why. The "who" already seemed clear, but the "why" was still a mystery.
Rias, objectively and quickly, answered without hesitation. "That was a Fallen Angel. They were angels who fell from heaven for bad intentions, and now they are our enemies, the demons."
Antares, with an air of understanding, nodded slowly, but it was Akeno who took the floor next, explaining the complexity of the scenario in more detail.
"We demons have been at war with the Fallen Angels since ancient times. We fight for control of the world of the dead, also known as Hell, for humans. The world of the dead is divided into two areas: one dominated by the demons and the other by the Fallen Angels. The demons form pacts with humans, receiving sacrifices that increase our strength. The Fallen Angels, on the other hand, control humans in order to eliminate demons. In addition to them, we also have the Angels, who come by divine order to try to exterminate both races." Akeno paused, and his gaze seemed to weigh the words carefully before he added: "The three forces have clashed since ancient times."
"I see..." Antares murmured, processing the explanation while analyzing every detail of the situation. "So, that guy, the Fallen Angel, was arguing about having a master, about this territory being Rias Gremory's... that makes some things pretty obvious." He looked around the room, as if trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. "He wouldn't attack me if I said I was from his clan, correct?"
Rias nodded, a serious expression on his face. "Yes, he wouldn't have done that."
Antares leaned back in his chair and looked around the room with a thoughtful expression, as if absorbing the surroundings and the information. "I see... so, I believe this place is just a front..." He murmured, as if he was realizing a great truth behind it all.
Kiba, who was more observant than ever, couldn't help but whisper: "You're very clever..."
"In fact, it's a pastime of mine. Actually, this is a meeting place for demons." Rias explained and then stood up,
"Amano Yuuma," she said, and Antares' eyes went wide. The woman who killed him the second time. "That day, you were on a date with Amano Yuuma, weren't you?"
Rias snapped his fingers, and Akeno showed him a photo. "This is her, isn't it? Amano Yuuma." Rias questioned.
"That girl is... No, that's a Fallen Angel. She's the same species as the one who attacked you last night." Rias explained calmly.
"Yes, now I know." Antares replied, his expression hardening.
"That Fallen Angel contacted you for a specific purpose. When she succeeded, she erased all trace of her." Rias began to explain, and that was exactly what Antares wanted to understand: why.
Admittedly, he had woken up shortly after the original owner of the body had been attacked and practically killed. But he had a grudge against the damned thing. He, the monarch of destruction, had died at the hands of some Fallen Angel... That wouldn't be acceptable. The only person he would allow to kill him would be the Monarch of Shadows. No one else would have that right. That's why he wanted to find her and erase her existence in a brutal and merciless way.
"What was her purpose with me?" Antares asked, his eyes beginning to glow slightly red, which made Rias realize that there was something peculiar about the man.
"To kill you." Rias replied calmly.
"Why?" he asked nervously.
"Calm down, Ise. It was inevitable... No, you were just unlucky. There are people with Sacred Gears who ended up not being killed..." Rias said, which made Antares even more furious.
"What do you mean 'I was unlucky'?" He snarled, hatred brimming in his voice. 'What do you mean I was murdered by chance? What kind of nonsense is that?
"The reason she approached you was to check if there was anything dangerous inside you. She must have sensed a slight signal coming from something... that's why she spent so much time with you. And that's when she confirmed it: you were a human possessing Sacred Gear." Rias explained, causing everyone to fall silent.
"Sacred Gear..." He had heard the term before. 'I'm sorry. You're a danger to us, so we decided to eliminate you early. If you want to blame someone, hate the god who put Sacred Gear on you. These words came to his mind, echoing bitterly.
Kiba then explained, "Sacred Gear is a type of irregular power granted to some humans. As an example, most of the people who have gone down in history are said to possess some Sacred Gear. They use the power of this Gear to leave their names eternalized in history."
Akeno continued, "Even today, there are people who have Sacred Gears inside their bodies. You know those important people who are known worldwide? Most of them have a Sacred Gear."
"Most Sacred Gears have characteristics that are only useful in human society. However, there are exceptional ones, which are a threat to both us Demons and the Fallen Angels." Rias concluded, and then ordered, "Ise, raise your hand high."
'Raise my hand?
"Go on, raise it soon." Rias insisted.
Antares, not understanding very well, obeyed. It seemed she wanted to prove a theory or something.
"Close your eyes and think of the most powerful thing you can imagine."
'Powerful in... that guy... he was powerful...' Antares thought, remembering Jinwoo...
"Your arm feels a bit strange, doesn't it?" Rias asked. "Considering that you can already feel our aura, it means that you must have already started using some of the demonic power. Focus that power on the arm that feels strange."
'Left arm...' Antares thought, and then concentrated the energy within himself.
FLASH!
His arm lit up completely.
'What is that?' he asked himself, watching the luminosity take shape and cover his left arm. When the light disappeared, he was wearing a red gauntlet. There was something shiny on the part that covered the gauntlet, looking more like a jewel than a simple gem.
"Is that... that...?" Antares asked, looking at the gauntlet with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.
"That's Sacred Gear. And it's all yours. Once it appears, you can use it whenever and wherever you want, at will." Rias explained as if it were something completely normal.
"That red gauntlet is Sacred Gear...?" He muttered, clearly surprised.
"The Fallen Angel Amano Yuuma perceived your Sacred Gear as a threat, so she decided to kill you." Kiba explained.
"You called me when you were on the verge of death. I was summoned through this flyer." Rias showed a pamphlet, and Antares, looking at it, immediately remembered Issei's memories.
'It was the original Issei who saved my soul...' Antares thought, his gaze becoming darker. 'The goddess only used him so that I could take over his body... Damn god...'
"This is one of the pamphlets we distributed. This magic circle is used to summon us demons. Nowadays, there are few people willing to draw it to summon us. So now we distribute these leaflets to those who seem to have the potential to summon us. This circle is very safe and easy to use. That day, a familiar spirit of ours, disguised as a human, distributed these leaflets in the streets. That's how you got it, Ise. After being attacked by the Fallen Angel, you called out to me when you were about to die. You wished for it so much that you ended up summoning me. Normally, my subordinates, like Akeno or others, would be called." Rias explained.
'It wasn't me...' Antares wanted to say, but remained silent, reflecting.
"When I was summoned and saw you, I immediately realized that you had Sacred Gear and had been attacked by a Fallen Angel. But now comes the problem. Ise, you were on the verge of death. Not only demons, but even humans die instantly if they are impaled by a Spear of Light. That was the condition you were in. So I decided to save your life."
"But as a demon. Ise, you were reborn as a Demon of mine, a subordinate of Rias Gremory. My subordinate demon."
PA!
At that moment, wings appeared on everyone's back, except Antares'. They were different from the wings of the Fallen Angels; they looked more like bat wings.
PA!
He felt something on his back too. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw that he now had black wings.
"Let's introduce ourselves again. Yuuto, please." Rias said, smiling.
"My name is Kiba Yuuto. As you already know, I'm a sophomore at Hyoudou Issei-kun. Mmmm, I'm also a Demon. Nice to meet you."
"First year... Toujou Koneko. It's a pleasure... I'm a demon too." Koneko introduced herself, tilting her head with a shy smile.
"My name is Himejima Akeno, and I'm a third year. I'm also vice-president of the Occult Research Club. It's a great pleasure to meet you. Although I look like this, I'm also a Demon, uhuhu." Akeno smiled, bowing his head respectfully.
Finally, it was Rias' turn. She shook her red hair and spoke bluntly:
"And I am their master and also a Demon of House Gremory, Rias Gremory. My house holds the title of Duke. Welcome to the family, Ise."
Antares watched all this, but only one thing was on his mind... 'Damned boy... even dead, he proved that I owe him... damned Issei... now I owe that woman a debt.' He looked at Rias Gremory, his gaze dark.
'Your wish... what was it?... Ah... yes... I wanted to have a harem...' Antares thought, then looked at the three girls. 'All right, let's sort it out...'
'I'm Hyoudou Issei, a second year student. Nice to meet you..." Antares said, trying to adjust to the situation.
'They don't seem to see it...' Antares said mentally as he looked at his right arm. A system tab appeared in his vision.
The reflection of the gauntlet on his right hand... But something was wrong. It was still red, but now it was more robust, more intimidating, with purple and black marks... as if it was being consumed.
[Chaos Gear: Gauntlet of the Emperor of Shadows and Chaos]
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