Harbinger of Ruin: Ch.36

'Ichi! Ni! San Shi Go! Roku! Shichi! Hachi Kyu!', I grunted as I finished the last attack of the Kuzuryusen, the thrust piercing through the centre of the dummy and leaving a gaping hole in its chest.

Seconds later, the rest of the dummy fell into eight pieces on the floor, but I grimaced as I saw some of the pieces still looking a bit uneven.

'Damn, almost had it,' I thought as I lowered Sky Slicer, my new sword-spear that I had made to try and diversify my arsenal. Honestly, I think I'm starting to run out of things to name them because I already have about eighteen different blades and that's the ones I remember.

“You know what? No more naming swords. I think I'm going to run out of names to give before I make even half of the blades I wanted. Speaking of blades, though…” Raising my hand, the spear in it dispersed before placing my hand on the ground, numerous Lilith's Lullaby and Boosters forming in a square pattern around me.

Standing up as the Devil's Playground formed in the 3x3 area made by the blades, I grunted two ukumi in each hand, taking a deep breath before waving my arms about and letting the blades leave shallow cuts across my body.

“Activate,” I murmured as I flared my demonic energy, a hiss escaping my lips as the cuts glowed and vanished before I was forced to a knee.

'D-Damn, maybe picking Kira from Blea-Oh, Satans, it's hard to breathe. Maybe picking his ability wasn't the best idea,' It wasn't on par with his as while his doubles the gravity on everything it touches, mine only increases it by a factor of x0.5.

The effects don't last long either, having only a timer of one to three minutes depending on how many times one is cut, but considering I just littered my body with cuts, I'd say I'm very heavy right about now.

“N-Now, time to speed this up,” I muttered as I created a pair of broadswords in my hands, slowly swinging each one to get used to the new heavy weight on me.

Taking a deep breath, I thrust the right blade forward, spinning and swinging the left in a quick slash before stabbing the right sword behind me.

'Okay, I think I'm getting a little bit used to it,' I thought as I slashed downwards with both blades, flipping the left into a vertical grip before stabbing at the foot with it while thrusting the right blade up at the imaginary figure's head.

The next few motions felt a bit smoother as my body adjusted more to the air resistance, grunting as I stabbed forward with the right sword while dismissing the left, lunging back before swinging it with a flourish.

Slashing downwards, I stopped halfway before slicing to the side, bringing the sword back with another slash before thrusting forward with a grunt.

“Hah, that's good, but it's not enough,” I am good with a sword, but I had to take a snake to even stand a chance against Katerea and even then, it was only a temporary boost.

Therefore, I needed to push myself to that next level, reach the next point of power. While Ophis' Snake has given me the headstart that I needed, I still had a ways to go before I can get to that point.

'And it's supposed to start with that Touki thing Okita told me about. From what he told me, it's supposed to somewhat similar to Nen from Hunter x Hunter or Ki from Dragon Ball. I'm supposed to use my life force to enhance my physical capabilities.'

“Okay, if it's like ki, then maybe I can use my DBZ knowledge for that,” I murmured as I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly while closing my eyes. When Gohan taught Videl about ki, he told her to feel for a warmth in her body and then pull that energy outwards, but that's usually how most power systems are explained in manga/ anime.

'Then again, that's because it's a basic concept that it works like that. Alright, then. Time to learn Touki,' Keeping my breathing even as I stood with my arms at my side, I closed my eyes and felt for my demonic energy.

However, instead of pulling it forward, I pushed it to the side while searching deeper, looking for that warmth I was told to seek. It was faint and buried far behind my energy, but I smiled as I felt it.

It was a spark, like the heavy thumping of a heart beating after a long sprint or like the feeling of warmth spreading through your body when you put on a jacket in the winter.

'There you are,' I thought as I zeroed in on the energy, not grabbing onto it but just letting it know I was aware.

If I know anything about energy in stories, it's that it will resist if you try to force it to go where you want, so instead of using force, one must coerce it into moving as you wanted.

'Like Aizen said, it's all according to plan,' I thought as I began to layer out a path, feeling as the energy resisted before it slowly began to crawl along the metaphysical canals that I was building.

'From the core, up to the chest and down to the groin. From the chest to the shoulders to the arms to the elbows to the forearms to the wrists to the hands to the fingers. From the groin to the thighs to the hips to the thighs to the knees to the shins to the ankles to the feet to the toes. Further up the chest to the neck, the chin, the mouth, the nose, the eyes and ears and finally, the crown of the head.'

“And once the path is complete…”, I trailed off softly as I opened my eyes, smiling pleased at the pure white energy wafting around my body.

“Mind, body and soul are unified.”

“Well, that's quite the move there,”

“And there it goes,” I murmured as Rias' voice broke my concentration, feeling the energy be pulled back into my body while looking over to see the sheepish smile on her face.

“Right, sorry about that.”

“No worries. I was about to finish anyway,” I responded as I dispersed the swords around me, Rias raising an eyebrow as my body staggered now and again with the air pressure that was fading away.

“New sword. It intensifies the gravity my body experiences by x0.5 for every time I get cut.”

“Oh, do those stack on each other. No, it's only for the area I cut along with a 5 cm radius around the cut so I had to cut myself numerous times.”

“…So, you're just being a bit of a masochist with your training again?”

“Kind of. The training I had with Akeno helped me increase my speed substantially so I wanted to see if that would help with taking me further, especially since Okita seems to love them.”

“Speaking of Okita, was that Touki you just used?”, She asked with a raised eyebrow and I blinked at that, which she noticed as she giggled and shrugged.

“Sairaorg is said to be a master in it so I know a bit about it from what he's told me, though I have to admit that he said it would be a lot harder for someone to achieve it.”

“Well, I have been training in swordsmanship for most of my life so I think that might have helped me with it,” I spoke with a smile as I clenched my fist, feeling the burning of demonic energy and the now familiar spark of Touki under my skin.

“That is true. Well, then, it's a good thing you figured it out when you did.”

“Why is that?”

“…Did you seriously forget?”, She asked with a raised eyebrow and I furrowed my brow before my eyes widened as she giggled.

“You did~”

“…Hah, looks like I'm going to have to put on my best face.”

'After all, not many get a party thrown for them in the Underworld.'

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“Could we not just…teleport to the Underworld?”, Asia asked with a confused look, to which I chuckled and shook my head as all of us from Rias' peerage along with the King herself stood at the railway to Hell.

'Or the highway to Hell~ Hehehe…I'll see myself out.'

“If it's a devil first official time in the Underworld, they must take the Hellish Railway to the station inside of the territory of their master's family. Once we pass through the dimensions, you new devils shall be registered on the database and we'll be allowed to teleport in and out as we please.”

“…Huh, that's a lot more complicated than I was expecting,” Raynare murmured and I rolled my eyes as Rias just raised an eyebrow at her.

“Is that your way of saying that you thought we were dumb?”

“Yes. So, how does it feel to a High-Class devil?”

“Not all that different from being a lower-ranking one. The only difference is that now I actually have to start learning all the subtleties that is being a noble.”

“Oh, don't worry. Mother's probably going to have you be fluent in nobility before the week is over,” Rias spoke with a shrug and I smiled before the train rolled in, the group swiftly climbing onto it.

“Unfortunately, the first compartment is only for those that have already been registered by the government. The rest of you are going to have to wait until we pass through the gateway before you move on to the front.”

“You aren't just saying that because you girls want to be alone with him? Also, if that's true, why the hell is Xenovia even here?”

“Not a devil so I do not need to be registered,” I snickered at Xenovia's flat response as she walked into the first compartment, Akeno and Rias following after her before I looked to Koneko and Gasper.

“I-I think I'm going to stay back here with Asia and the others.”

“Same. Everyone knows what's going to happen at the front.”

“Nothing is going to happen…I think.”

“Kiba, come here~”, Rias called and I turned only to blink as she peeked from the door with a smile.

“Cuddle time~”

“…Okay, there's going to be cuddles, but that's about it.”

“You and three of your girlfriends on a ride that may last the next hour or longer…Yeah, we're passing up on it.”

“Hah, hopefully I make it out of here with my innocence in tact.”

“You really want that to happen?”

“…Not really, no. See you guys when we get to the Underworld,” I spoke with a smile as I walked through the door, hearing it close behind me while sagging into the first chair I could find and closed my eyes.

The peace did not last long as a weight settled onto my lap, the familiar scent of lavender making me open my eyes to see Xenovia making herself comfortable.

“Where's the other two?”

“Sleeping. We were going to do a group huddle, but Rias has too much work and Akeno is helping her.”

“And you took the opportunity to sit with me? How devilish of you, Xenovia Quarta.”

“It is. Now, hug me and let's sleep,” She murmured as she laid her head against my shoulder, making me chuckle as I pulled her closer before resting my head against the seat.

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“We welcome Lady Rias and her peerage back to the territory of House Gremory!”

“I knew you were rich, but…this is rich-rich,” Mittelt murmured with wide eyes as we climbed off the train, Rias looking smug while us older members of the peerage smiled at the surprise the newer members held.

In the supernatural world, being rich is something most are quite used to considering how long the different factions have been alive, but there's a difference between the average supernatural level of rich and the rich of a devil house that's had millennia to build its wealth.

That was shown with the town of maids and butlers we were greeted by, which was also one of the many dozen towns of servants across the Gremory territory.

“If this blows your mind, you are not ready for the castle.”

“Didn't we already see if after you won against Riser?”

“Oh, no. That was like our celebration castle where we throw small parties,” Rias spoke with a wave of her hand as we walked to the carriage, a bark of laughter escaping my lips when Mittelt blinked before slowly turning to her fellow former fallen.

“And you guys wanted to piss her off?”

“Don't look at me. It was Raynare's plan.”

“No, it wasn't!”

“Really like blowing people's mind, don't you?”, I whispered as I walked beside her, Akeno and Xenovia following after us as she smirked and nodded.

“I do. It's one of the few things that give me pleasure.”

“And what are the others?”

“There's only one other. You.”

“So not even my presence is a pleasure to you anymore? My, my~ How little Rias has grown.”

“Oh, be quiet, Akeno,” She spoke with a huff and I chuckled at Akeno's giggle before opening the door, letting the three of them climb in and following in after them.

“So, how bad is this party going to be?”

“Well, considering you're the first reincarnated devil to become a High-Class devil in the past couple of decades and since you're also the youngest reincarnated devil to become a High-Class devil, you can be assured that Father and Mother are most definitely not holding anything back.”

“In other words, we're spending a lot of money on this, which means I'm going to have to be on my absolute best behaviour, aren't I?”, I asked, sighing as Rias just nodded with a smile while Akeno giggled.

“Look at it this way. You know that your mother-in-law and father-in-law actually care for you.”

“…That is true. You want me to propose as well?”

“W-W-What?!”, Rias squeaked with a bright red blush, making me snicker as Akeno giggled and Xenovia smiled as I wrapped an arm around the red-head to pull her closer.

“Don't worry. It's still far too early for that.”

“O-Of course! You just love messing with me, don't you?”

“It's one of the few things that I adore. Now then, let's get ready for this party.”

A/N: A bit of a slice of life chapter for the day before we move onto the next arc and with our own original filler added into it.

What that's going to be? Find out next time~!

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!