DxD: DO System Chapter 38

Chapter 38: A Punchable Face

One would think the girl who had nearly suffered a mental breakdown just two days earlier would feel uneasy or act a little out of touch in front of the boy who had seen her at her worst—and in her naked glory.

But she wasn’t any of those things. Instead, she appeared confident, calm, and composed, just as she always did.

‘Don’t think much about it,’ Ddraig told the boy. ‘Powerful families teach their children to maintain a poker face from a young age.’

Issei wasn’t surprised; he had expected her to act normal in front of everyone. Still, it amused him.

“Any reports on the Fallen?” Rias asked, sitting in her usual spot. “There were three that we missed. Worst of all, they were the ones commanding the rest of the Fallen.” There was visible frustration on her face. “We need to find them. If they gathered an army once, they can do it again.”

‘I doubt that,’ Issei thought to himself but didn’t voice it. ‘I can still sense where Raynare is.’

He couldn’t sense Raynare in the usual way of pinpointing her location, but he could tell she was far away—very far away—and alive.

One might compare it to a metal detector. If she were close, he could pinpoint her. But if she were far, he could only get a general direction.

And right now, his senses told him she was very far away.

“They didn’t reveal anything to you, did they, Asia?” Rias asked the girl, who had finally been brought back to them by Issei. He had agreed that letting her spend time with Sona’s peerage was a good idea to help her adjust and figure things out.

But he also knew the importance of keeping her close if they wanted her to be an active and useful member of the peerage.

“No…” Asia looked down. “They only talked about my Sacred Gear.”

“Twilight Healing is a rare and extremely useful gear, so it makes sense that they focused on it,” Akeno commented, and no one denied the importance of Asia’s gear.

As for Issei, while he too valued the gear, he wasn’t particularly interested in it—or the Fallen discussions—at the moment.

“Don’t be nervous,” Issei whispered in Asia’s ear. “They’re just a little tense.”

Asia nodded meekly, hearing him. Issei couldn’t deny that she was cute, but he also wished she were more assertive.

‘She’ll need to change her personality a bit,’ Issei muttered to his dragon companion. ‘Otherwise, people will just push her around.’

‘Changing someone’s habits and personality isn’t an easy task,’ Ddraig commented. ‘But if you want her to be useful and capable, she’ll need to learn to stand up for herself.’

Issei realized he needed to spend time with her—more than just one day, a few days at least. But that’s where the issue lay: he didn’t have the time.

‘I’ll figure something out.’ It was more a promise to himself than a comment to Ddraig.

“Now, the next topic,” Rias once again drew everyone’s attention. “It’s about Issei and Kiba’s familiars.”

Both boys glanced at the heiress. Kiba had left his tortoise in the Familiar Forest, and in a way, he was eager to see his shelled companion again.

“We’ll have you two perform the linking pact, which will allow you to summon your familiars directly from the forest to your location,” she suggested. “That way, neither of you will have to physically visit the forest to see them.”

Kiba nodded, but Issei raised his hand.

“Is there something you’d like to add, Issei?” Rias asked, curious.

“About the familiar being in the Familiar Forest,” he began with an awkward smile, “I asked Zatouji back then if I could bring Cuddles back with me, and he gave me permission.”

“You mean…” Akeno’s eyes went wide, and even Koneko looked amused. “You brought the slime to the human world?”

“Don’t tell me you’re keeping the slime at your house, Issei,” Rias said with a forced smile. “Mixing the supernatural with the human world isn’t a smart choice. And besides, your parents live there.”

This was when Issei gave them an explanation. “I never said I kept Cuddles at my home, did I?”

“What do you mean?” Kiba asked. “There aren’t a lot of places where you can keep a familiar.”

“Well, I didn’t keep him at my house, but—”

“The little guy is with me,” Ddraig interrupted, his bad habit of cutting off Issei showing again.

This statement left everyone puzzled as they looked at Issei’s arm.

“You can do that?” Kiba asked, amazed.

“I haven’t heard of that being possible before,” Rias said, equally surprised.

“I can do a lot of things, Gremory,” Ddraig boasted. “Don’t think my titles are just for show.”

‘Didn’t expect the Dragon of Domination to be a liar,’ Issei joked. ‘Quite the boast, isn’t it?’

‘Shut it! Or do you not want my help?’

Issei decided not to drag the matter further and let the dragon have his moment.

“Then… I guess we won’t need Issei to perform a linking pact,” Rias concluded. “Now, the next agenda on our list is training.”

If the topic didn’t interest anyone else, it most certainly caught Issei’s attention.

“As you know, our team needs to improve its coordination, and along with that, we also need to enhance our individual abilities,” Rias explained. “We have strong powers, but we need to gain better control over them.”

‘Oh, they certainly do,’ Ddraig snickered. ‘As for you, you need more real battle experience.’

Issei couldn’t deny it. His biggest issue right now was a lack of real combat experience.

The time with the Fallens was more of a one-sided massacre than an actual fight. And with Hachiman, it was just training to adjust to his abilities.

There was no way to truly experience a battle with Hachiman. If Hachiman used even a fraction of his power, Issei knew he’d be a corpse.

“Hence, I’m thinking of organizing a bootcamp at—”

“It’s adorable to see you making plans for training, Rias~”

Interrupting their conversation was a certain smooth but aggravating voice.

“The last time Riser saw you train was when you first awakened your bloodline ability,” the voice chuckled. “Never since then.”

The voice immediately drew a combination of fear, nervousness, disgust, and other complex negative emotions from Rias.

Issei had never known a person could show so many expressions in such a short span of time, and it wasn’t just her. Everyone else’s faces were tinged with anger, and in some ways, hate too.

And he didn’t have to wait long to know why.

Popping out of an orange-yellow—almost golden—teleportation circle was a man.

What amused Issei more was the ridiculous size of the circle. He had never seen Rias use a teleportation circle that large.

But it made sense.

Rias’s peerage was small. However, the group accompanying this man was, simply put, ridiculous.

No fewer than fifteen girls surrounded the newly arrived man.

Yes, fifteen. Maybe more, but certainly not less.

And in the middle stood the man. Blonde, slicked-back hair. Sharp blue eyes. A handsome face overshadowed by terrible style.

His slicked-back hair looked like a rooster’s comb. His clothes seemed more like a costume—way too flamboyant, way too over the top.

And his face came pre-equipped with a smug, self-satisfied grin.

‘Riser Phenex,’ Issei identified the man for Ddraig. ‘I bet you remember this guy.’

‘Definitely,’ the dragon scoffed. ‘A sexual deviant of a devil with a very punchable face.’

“Why are you here?” Rias exclaimed. “There’s still time before the Rating Game!”

Everyone was on the defensive—not in terms of magic, but in terms of posture and expression.

“Now, now.” Riser laughed. “Don’t be so difficult, Rias. Riser just came here to check on his wife.”

“We are not married yet,” Rias snapped bitterly. “And we never will be. So do NOT call me your wife.”

Riser was clearly amused by her frazzled yet combative tone. He took it not as an offense but as playful banter.

“Riser is happy to see you too, darling~”

Unlike the rest, Issei wasn’t glaring at Riser. Instead, he was amused by his peerage.

‘Asian, European, tall, short, petite, voluptuous, fair, dark... Can’t say he has a type,’ Issei noted, equal parts amused and confused. ‘But what made him think this is a good peerage?’

‘By the number of members, they clearly cost only a single piece,’ Ddraig added. ‘Says enough about their potential.’

One could certainly grow strong enough even with a single Evil Piece, but their growth would always be slower than someone who took multiple pieces to reincarnate. And no matter how hard they tried, they would eventually hit the ceiling of their powers.

For those costing more pieces, that ceiling wouldn’t come for much longer.

‘He does have the quantity over Rias, though,’ Issei said, and Ddraig fully agreed.

‘Oh, definitely. If her peerage went against his, barring you, none of the members would win,’ the dragon said. ‘It would pose an issue even for you if you had to take on every single one of them alone.’

Compared to how it was originally supposed to proceed—with Issei losing embarrassingly—things were different now.

“But what truly brings you here, Lord Riser?” Akeno asked, clearly with a fake show of respect. “You clearly don’t visit the human world without a reason.”

Hearing this, Riser took a deep breath.

“It does smell like shit,” he commented. “Riser is still unable to figure out why you even chose to come here.”

“No one asked you to come here,” Rias grumbled, while Riser ignored her comment entirely.

Instead, he looked around and paused as he saw Issei. His face morphed into a look of confusion as he asked, “Who is this?”

“He is the new member of my peerage,” Rias answered, still holding onto her frown. “Issei Hyoudou. He cost me my pawns.”

‘She makes me sound like a slave she bought,’ Issei thought. He knew it wasn’t her intention, but it did sound that way.

‘Another reason to promote yourself to High Class,’ said the dragon.

Taking another breath, Riser walked closer. Issei saw that his peerage maintained the same positions, as if they were dolls instead of people.

“You have the stench of a human,” Riser said, scrunching his nose. “Were you a human?”

“I was,” Issei answered, unimpressed by the devil. Although Riser was taller than him, it still felt like the devil had to stand on his toes to appear bigger.

Hearing Issei admit to being a former human, Riser clicked his tongue. “Ah, Riser has told you before too, Rias. You should not have human males in your peerage.”

He swirled around, acting fancy, but to Issei, it looked more like a princess twirl.

“This won’t do,” Riser said. “Riser agreed to you keeping the blonde because he acts more like a homosexual. As for the other twink that you have, he looks feminine enough.”

“And about the blonde girl, she is a good choice,” Riser added with a nod, clearly pleased about Asia’s addition.

Issei could see Kiba scowling, but the knight was powerless.

“You will have to exchange the males with some other devil’s female members,” Riser said, flicking his wrist. “Riser won’t have his wife keep men in her peerage.”

“You don’t decide who I keep in my peerage, Riser,” Rias nearly growled in anger. “And for the last time, I am NOT your wife.”

He smirked. “You will be soon. And your peerage girls will warm my bed too.”

‘Alright, I’ve heard enough.’ Issei now found this more infuriating than amusing.

“Might I ask who you are?” he asked. “I don’t mind being the butt of a joke—if it’s clever, everyone deserves a laugh. But I will not accept you insulting me.”

This immediately put a frown on Riser’s face.

“Are you talking back to Riser, boy?” Riser asked, both shocked and furious.

“I think I am,” Issei said. “And I don’t think I can hear you refer to yourself in the third person like an absolute retard any longer.”

“Issei…” Akeno whispered, urging him to stay quiet, but it fell on deaf ears.

“That’s too much!” one of Riser’s peerage members—clearly his queen, with her more mature figure—gasped. “How dare a mere pawn talk back to Lord Riser?”

Rias, too, grew a little nervous, aware that Riser might take some unappreciated action.

“You have a lot of nerve, boy…” Riser spat, slamming his hands onto Issei’s chest and grabbing him by the collar. “You will apologize to Riser right now. Slam your head on the ground, bow, and beg. Riser might leave you unharmed.”

“Riser!” Rias yelled, but the devil didn’t care.

However, Issei did care.

“Remove your hand,” Issei said.

“What if Riser doesn’t, boy?” Riser sneered, tightening his grip as if daring Issei to act.

Issei’s voice dropped stone cold, “I’ll say this just once more. Remove… your… hand.”

Riser laughed. “And Riser asks, what if he doesn’t?”

What no one expected was the response.

The air in the room shifted instantly, heavy and suffocating. Everyone froze as an overwhelming pressure slammed down on them, crushing like a tidal wave. It wasn’t just power—it was something primal, terrifying, and impossible to fight.

<Warning: The Draconic Pressure released by the Dragon of Domination is exceeding safe thresholds for the host.>

But neither Issei nor Ddraig gave a damn. To them, their pride was more precious.

Riser’s hands trembled violently, his face pale and drenched with sweat as he struggled to maintain his grip on Issei’s collar.

Then came the voice—a guttural, otherworldly growl that reverberated through the very walls.

“Let go of him, boy” rumbled the draconic voice. “Or I’ll tear your damn arm off.”