Witchcraft and Devilry Chapter 9 (Patreon)

Warning: this one gets really dark

Author's note: For non-dxd fans, this is my interpretation of an actual bit of backstory from the series.

Hermione woke up and sighed at the feeling of the remarkably comfortable bed she was in. The room was dark, incredibly so, and she assumed that it had to be rather early, but she felt very well rested. She was quite warm too, oddly so, and as she grabbed her pillow and pulled it down a bit to snuggle it as she slowly woke up, she felt her hand brush against the soft skin of someone’s arm.

“Ahh!” Hermione cried, wiggling her way out of the embrace of whoever was spooning her.

“Huh?” Luna asked, and instantly the room lit up in response to her desires. “What’s wrong, Hermione?”

Hermione flushed slightly in embarrassment as she realized that she had completely forgotten how she went to sleep the night before. In her defense, she had been completely emotionally drained by the time sleep finally claimed her and so exhausted that she didn’t even object when the strange blonde she’d spent much of the night speaking with suggested that they share the one bed, once she agreed to wear pajamas, anyway.

“Sorry, I just didn’t realize who was holding me,” she said. “Half-asleep, you know?”

“Oh, that’s alright,” Luna smiled serenely. “Happy Christmas, by the way.”

“Right,” Hermione sighed, remembering what day it was. “Happy Christmas, Luna.”

She looked across the room to where her dress and Luna’s were hanging and recalled the conversation that they’d had before she passed out.

“So how exactly did all of this start?” Hermione asked.

“Harry bumped into me in the hallway and was nice enough to catch me,” Luna replied. “He then noticed that I wasn’t wearing shoes because the nargles had taken them and cast a warming charm on my feet. I was so grateful that I decided to help him out in exchange and lent him my family’s book on devil summoning.”

Hermione sighed and said, “You do realize that summoning devils is highly illegal in Magical Britain and presumably most places, right?”

“So is aiding fugitives and setting men’s robes on fire,” Luna replied without heat, and Hermione’s jaw dropped at the casual references to her own crimes. “Harry needed help, and I figured that he’d be able to find one of the nicer devil families to get assistance from. I’d say it worked out fairly well, given how much Rias clearly cares for him.”

That, Hermione couldn’t deny, no matter how much she might have wanted to. That kind of concern couldn’t be faked, and the brunette felt like she was watching her own feelings played out by Rias when she expressed her fury at Harry for putting himself in danger.

“So Harry told you everything about our adventures, I take it?” she asked.

“Perhaps not everything, but he’s told me a lot,” Luna replied. “I don’t know why he’s so sure that I couldn’t find a way to befriend the acromantulas, but he made me swear not to try before he told me that part of the story.”

“They seem rather unpleasant, from what I was told,” Hermione said, shaking her head at the blonde. “So what exactly does Harry have with Rias? Clearly, they’re...together, but not exclusive?”

“Rias and Akeno were already lovers when she slept with Harry, so sharing them was easy for her, and both of them came to like me well enough to let me in,” Luna replied.

“And Harry managed to convince you that that was something you’d enjoy?” Hermione asked, confused.

“Harry?” Luna laughed. “I really like him, and I really want to sleep with him, but he’s incredibly dense when it comes to girls. I don’t think he even realized that I wanted him until I had his penis in my hand.”

“O...oh,” Hermione stammered, her face going red.

“I have no idea how much of him I’ll even be able to take, but I’m eager to find out,” Luna sighed dreamily.

“I can’t imagine sharing a man with other women,” Hermione sighed.

“Hmm,” Luna hummed to herself, looking like she was deep in thought for a moment. Suddenly a round stone basin full of murky water appeared before them, and she snapped her fingers, saying, “This should help!”

“What?” Hermione asked.

“This is a pensieve,” Luna explained. “They let you observe your memories and those of others. Do you want to view my memory of the time I bathed with Harry? Because I think that would make it much easier to imagine sharing him.”

“I…” Hermione trailed off, unable to speak for a moment. “That’s not what I meant!”

“So you can imagine sharing Harry?” Luna asked.

“Luna, that’s just a figure of speech,” Hermione said through gritted teeth as her red cheeks slowly started to return to normal. “I’m perfectly capable of imagining things.”

“Oh,” Luna said, and the pensieve disappeared. “That’s alright, then. I had heard of people who couldn’t visualize things in their minds before, something that I think might be a symptom of particularly bad wrackspurt infestations, and I feared that you might be one of them.”

Despite herself, Hermione laughed at that and sat down on the large bed in the center of the room.

“Nothing makes sense anymore,” she muttered to herself. “I feel like my whole world changed the moment Harry’s name came out of that damn goblet.”

Luna sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, saying, “Change is inevitable, but somethings are still the same. Harry still adores you; that hasn’t changed.”

Hermione smiled at that and said, “He and I still need to have a proper talk about the fact that I didn’t learn about any of this for weeks, but I’ll always support him, even if I don’t fully understand some of the decisions he’s made. I am grateful to Rias for helping him through the first task. I thought my heart was going to stop when I saw the horntail get brought out.”

“She was a very angry dragon,” Luna commented, “though I imagine that I’d be angry too if I was dragged away from my home and made to guard a golden egg for some game I didn’t understand.”

Hermione smiled and laid back, enjoying the way that the soft bed felt under her weary body.

“I guess there’s just one question left,” Luna commented, and she sat back up.

“Huh?” Hermione asked.

“What color do you want your toenails to be?” Luna asked, looking down at the vast assortment of nail polishes that the room had created for them.

Hermione just snorted.

“Luna, do you have much planned today?” Hermione asked.

“I need to write to Daddy, but other than that, not really,” Luna replied. “Why?”

“I’d like to see that book of yours if you wouldn’t mind,” Hermione replied, wanting to learn more about the world her best friend had stumbled into.

“Oh, okay,” Luna replied, smiling at her. “I could bring it up here after lunch.”

“That sounds great,” Hermione said.

It would give her time to see Harry and clear the air between them.

*****

“Pardon me, Miss?” Harry asked, rushing over to the nun.

“Oh, hello,” she said, her melodic voice sounding immensely sweet and cheerful.

“Pardon me, but Nico and I need to get home,” the woman whose son she had just healed said. “Thank you again, Sister. God bless you.”

“God bless,” the nun replied, smiling at the cheerful-looking boy again as the pair of them left. Turning to Harry, she asked, “Did you need something?”

“I…” Harry trailed off as something that hadn’t occurred to him before finally dawned on him. “You did that without a wand.”

“A wand?” the nun asked, cocking her head. “Why would I have a wand?”

He might have thought that she was playing dumb, but the nun looked so earnest in her response that he couldn’t help but think that she was being honest, which only made her more confusing. As she looked up at him with big, wide eyes, he thought for a moment that she reminded him a little of Luna.

“Was that not...magic?” Harry asked.

“Heavens no!” the nun replied. “I’m no witch, sir, just a servant of the Lord with a gift given by him.”

“So you can’t turn water into wine?” Harry quipped.

The nun frowned, saying, “Such things can only be done by God. I can heal people through his will, but that’s all.”

“Ah, how wonderful,” Harry said, inwardly wondering what the hell was going on.

“Harry,” Rias spoke through their link, “kindly return to the house. We’re about to leave.”

“On my way,” Harry replied mentally. Turning to the nun, he said, “Well, happy Christmas, miss...?”

“Asia Argento,” she replied. “and Merry Christmas.”

“I’m Harry Potter,” Harry said, smiling at her. “Farewell.”

“God bless,” Asia said warmly as he returned to the house.

“Did you find something?” Rias asked as he reentered the house. “If you hadn’t replied, I’d have gone looking for you.”

“Nothing related to the guy we’re looking for,” Harry said, his brow furrowed in confusion. “There was a nun outside who could do magic.”

“What!?” Rias asked.

“What kind of magic?” Akeno asked, looking up from the map of Italy she was staring at for a moment.

“She healed a young boy who had fallen and hurt himself,” Harry replied, his eyes widening as he saw that she had attached the severed finger to a chain and was spinning it above the map. “It was the weirdest thing, and I was about to chew her out for doing magic in front of muggles, when I realized that she wasn’t using a wand. That must be why she got away with it without ending up in trouble with her local ministry.”

Drawing his wand, he added, “The trace must be on the wands themselves.”

“Hand me your wand,” Rias said. “I should have taken a look at it earlier, actually. For the trace to work at all, it would have to link back to something else, and if that’s the case, I should be able to pinpoint the particular enchantment and destroy it. Did you speak with this nun?”

“Yes, and please be careful,” Harry said as he gave her his wand. “She claimed that she couldn’t do anything other than heal people and seemed a touch offended by the idea of being thought to be a witch. I figure she’s some untrained muggleborn who fell through the cracks here.”

“What did this healing look like?” Akeno asked.

“Nothing like what I’ve seen Madam Pomfrey do,” Harry replied. “Her hands glowed green, and the boy’s scrape shrank bit by bit until it was gone completely.”

“That was probably a sacred gear,” Akeno murmured.

“A what now?” Harry asked.

“The sacred gear system was created by the Tyrant to allow certain humans to perform miraculous feats,” Rias replied. “Certain people in every generation are born with innate abilities, like that nun’s healing powers, coming from the sacred gear inside them. The gear is an intrinsic part of their being and remains with them until they die. Got it!”

“You found the trace?” Harry asked, excited by the idea of not needing to worry about it again.

“And destroyed it,” Rias replied, tossing his wand back to him. “You’ll be able to defend yourself more freely now, though should we run into any trouble here in Italy, I’ll expect you to let us do the lion’s share of the fighting.”

“Speaking of trouble, I think I found our hunted friend,” Akeno piped up. “He’s still in the country, but he’s fled northwest of here, to the city of Naples.”

“Once we’re within a few miles of him, we should be able to use his finger to lead us straight to wherever he’s hiding,” Rias said. “Let’s go.”

She conjured a ritual circle, which Akeno and Harry both stepped into quickly, and the three of them disappeared, traveling many miles across the country in an instant.

“How did you find him?” Harry asked as he looked around the empty alleyway they’d appeared in.

“Scrying,” Akeno replied. “His finger is still part of him, even though it’s been severed, and I was able to use that connection to find the spot on that map of Italy I found in his desk that he’d gone to.”

“What if he had left the country?” Harry asked.

“Then it would have spun wide and quickly, indicating that I needed to go further afield,” Akeno replied. “I could actually use a map of Naples to find his exact location, but that won’t be necessary.”

“Not with this,” Rias said, picking up a small plastic bag that had been left in the alley.

“What will that do?” Harry asked.

“Mask the fact that I’m going to have a severed human finger floating in front of me,” Akeno replied with a grin, taking the bag from Rias.

She placed the finger inside the bag, something Harry was grateful for, and off they went. The image of the bag swaying in front of her was still odd, but it was a windy enough day that that could explain it, and they got a few looks as it was from the people largely distracted by the holiday. The three of them made their way through the small city, which, Harry noted, was at least as beautiful as Catanzaro.

“Did either of you find anything to indicate who might have been after Cadorna?” Harry asked.

“I don’t think that they were at his place for very long,” Akeno replied.

“Nor were they magical,” Rias replied. “I would expect fully-trained wizards to know how useful having a part of your target’s body can be.”

“They freaked him out enough that he splinched himself trying to get away,” Harry commented, “so they must be dangerous to some extent.”

“Let’s ask him ourselves,” Rias grinned as the finger turned abruptly towards a small, six-story apartment building.

“Is the finger pointing straight or upward?” Harry asked.

“Towards the top floor,” Rias said, looking around.

Once she was sure that no one was looking at them, she waved her hands over herself and Harry. Grabbing him, she flew up onto the roof, taking him with her, and he grinned widely at the sudden feeling of broomless flight. Akeno landed next to them a moment later, revealing herself once the risk of being seen flying past someone’s window had passed.

“Cadorna’s already had to flee for his life, and I expect him to be understandably skittish,” Akeno commented. “If we go to his front door, whether we get to it from the roof or the ground, I would expect him to bolt.”

“What about if we enter from his balcony?” Harry asked. “I assume the finger will indicate which unit is his.”

“That’s a good idea,” Rias said, walking along the roof until the finger pointed straight down. “This is it.”

Drawing his wand, Harry cast, “Homenum Revelio.” He peered down towards the ceiling of the apartment that Rias was pointing to, detecting a single figure underneath it. “He’s alone and nowhere near the balcony. Just a second.”

He moved towards the edge of the roof and, seeing that the balcony jutted out a ways from it, quickly lowered himself down easily enough.

“Either of us could have just flown you down,” Akeno whispered as they joined him.

“I can do some things myself,” Harry replied. “Sadly, detecting wards isn’t one of them. Is there anything here that we need to be wary of?”

“Nothing dangerous,” Akeno replied, reaching out with her magic to try and see what protective spells Cadorna had cast around the apartment. “It seems like he just cast a basic detection ward to alert him if anyone comes by.”

“I’ll be able to destroy that easily enough,” Rias replied. “The lack of more dangerous spells could mean that Cadorna’s simply not that powerful or knowledgeable, but I think it actually confirms what I suspected. The men who came after him were normal humans.”

“So he has no reason to think that they’d find him here quickly,” Harry murmured.

“What the hell?” Rias asked, a shiver going through her as she looked deeply concerned for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asked.

“Sirzechs wants a word,” Rias replied. “Well, he can wait a moment. I don’t want Cadorna to flee from us.”

Without another word, she reached out and, using the power of the destruction, tore the detection ward apart. Harry then tugged on the sliding balcony door, finding that it wasn’t even locked, and the three of them made their way inside.

“Who the hell are you?” a balding, middle-aged man with dark hair yelled at them.

He was covered in sweat and looked unwell, as though he hadn’t slept in a couple days. His right hand was bandaged, and there was a bloody spot on the linen where his pinky had been.

“I believe this belongs to you,” Rias said, holding his severed finger before her.

“My...you...you’re a witch?” Cadorna asked, sounding both confused and relieved.

“No,” Rias replied. “I am Rias Gremory.”

“Gremory?” Cadorna asked. “Oh, thank God...so to speak.”

“Lord Ajuka sent us with an order,” Rias said, taking the envelope containing his note out of her pocket. “Fulfill it, and I’ll reattach your finger for you.”

“Hand it over, and I can do that myself,” Cadorna replied, pointing to his wand, which was sitting next to him. “As for his lordship’s order...that’s going to be a problem.”

“What is this place?” Harry asked. “Oh, I’m Harry Potter, by the way.”

“Fuck me, you really are,” Cadorna replied, his eyes going straight to Harry’s forehead. “Matteo Cadorna, at your service. Don’t worry, kid. As funny as I might find England’s great child hero cavorting with devils, I’m not stupid enough to mention it to anyone else. To answer your question, this is my friend Luca’s place. He’s away for the holidays, and I needed a place to lay low from those church fucks, so I came here.”

“Church?” Akeno asked.

“There’s a forest in Piedmont, not far from Turin, that I go to from time to time looking for potions ingredients,” Cadorna replied. “I went there two days ago, looking for a couple magical plants that continue growing even when covered in snow, and stumbled across something that I really wish I hadn’t.”

“What did you find?” Harry asked.

“An old World War II bunker that some guys had moved into,” Cadorna replied. “I thought it was bums at first, or some stupid kids, but when I saw some of the things they were bringing inside, I began to wonder if it wasn’t the muggle government and my curiosity got the better of me. Instead of government goons, I found priests, who were performing bizarre experiments on children.

“Damn it,” Rias hissed. “Could you point me to the restroom?”

“Down the hall and to your right,” Cadorna replied. “Anyway, they seemed to want to isolate something inside the…”

Rias wished she could have heard the rest of that, but her brother was being oddly insistent, and Akeno could fill her in. Finding the restroom, she closed the door behind it and cast a quick spell to ensure that no sound would get in or out of it. She then placed her hand on the mirror hanging above the sink and tapped into the spell Sirzechs was using to reach out to her. A moment later, his face appeared in the mirror.

“Sorry, I didn’t reply sooner,” she said as soon as he appeared. “I was tracking someone down and just found him when you reached out to me the first time.”

“Hello, Rias,” Sirzechs said. “Ajuka tells me you’re in Italy.”

“I am,” Rias replied. “He needs something for a ritual involving Harry. Has he told you that he figured out what was causing the problem with the evil pieces?”

“He has,” Sirzechs replied, “but what I’m calling about has nothing to do with that. It’s fortuitous that you’re already in Italy, because I’d likely be sending you there if you weren’t. I’ve received word of something that I need investigated.”

“I did just track down Ajuka’s supplier, so I should be free soon enough,” Rias said. “What’s the matter?”

“A couple spies in my employ have learned of a top secret research project that the church has been conducting,” Sirzechs replied. “What exactly they’re trying to accomplish isn’t clear, but they seem to be working with children whom they believe might have some talent for wielding holy swords.”

“Um, might they be operating out of a facility somewhere near Turin?” Rias asked.

“Yes, hidden in a forest east of the city,” Sirzechs replied, blinking owlishly. “How do you…”

“It seems that Ajuka’s contact stumbled into it and ran afoul of the priests running the operation,” Rias chuckled. “What exactly do you want me to do?”

“For now, observe,” Sirzechs replied. “I’m not going to risk a direct confrontation unless I have no choice in the matter, but if they’re attempting, as I suspect, to increase the number of the holy sword wielders…”

“That could be really bad,” Rias shuddered. “Alright, I’ll take Akeno and Harry and get a closer look at this place. Do you have the rough coordinates?”

“Here,” Sirzechs said, waving his hand. A map of Piedmont appeared next to him on the mirror, with an x drawn a fair distance east of Turin. “That’s where our spies said that the building was, though again, it is supposedly well hidden in the forest.”

“Well out of the way of any prying eyes,” Rias murmured. “Well, I should report back in a few hours.”

“Engage them only if you have no choice,” Sirzechs ordered, “and good luck.”

“Thank you,” Rias said, smiling warmly as his image disappeared.

“...so while my things are all safely hidden under my house, I don’t dare approach it again for fear that those crazy priests will spot me,” Cadorna said as she reentered the living room.

“Matteo just finished telling us that he was followed all the way back to Catanzaro from the forest,” Akeno said.

“We’ll deal with them,” Rias promised, tossing him his finger. “Stay here and wait for us. Once it’s safe for you to return home, we’ll come get you.”

“Thank you,” Cadorna sighed as he looked over his finger. “You cast a stasis charm on this?”

“Something like that,” Akeno replied, smiling sweetly. “It should be perfectly possible to reattach it.”

“Come,” Rias said, ushering her and Harry over. “We need to be on our way.”

A crimson ritual circle appeared around the three of them, and they disappeared.

*****

“Isaiah, why have they brought us here?” Tosca asked weakly.

“I don’t know, Tosca,” Isaiah replied, giving the younger girl the most reassuring smile that he could, “but they must have their reasons.”

They had been brought to this new laboratory a few days earlier. It wasn’t the first time that they had been brought to a new facility for one reason or another, and Isaiah had no reason to think that there was anything different this time from that alone. The guards and the priests looked oddly grim, though, and he suspected that he knew why. No matter what they tried, they didn’t seem to be getting the results that they wanted. Bishop Galilei, in particular, had looked increasingly frustrated the last few times that he saw him.

“I hope it means that they’re giving us the day off,” Tosca admitted, sounding ashamed. “I’m so sore.”

“We were chosen by God,” Mark, the only one there older than Isaiah, spat. “If it is his will that we suffer, it is not our place to question it.”

“At least pretend to have a heart, Mark,” Grace said dryly. Turning to Tosca, she smiled warmly and said, “It’s Christmas. They let us rest and make merry last Christmas. I’m sure they will again.”

Tosca smiled at that and leaned on Isaiah, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. One of the benefits of being moved from one facility to another was that they weren’t subjected to the priests’ experiments on the road. They had resumed their work not long after arriving here, but it seemed like no one had had anything done to them yet today. Perhaps Grace was right. In any case, they knew that, as Mark had said, they were chosen by God and would, in time, become instruments of His holy will.

Each child present possessed some talent with swords and a limited potential to wield holy swords, those imbued with the lord’s divine power. They weren’t true wielders, and could not serve Heaven in that capacity yet, but Bishop Galilei and the others were working to fix that. Their training was grueling and the experiments terrible, but they knew that it would be worth it in the end. They just had to have faith.

“Are we waiting for the Bishop?” Grace asked the guard looking after them as the man drew close.

“We’re awaiting orders,” the man replied coldly, his tone making it clear that he did not wish to speak further.

It did seem strange that they were all grouped together in this one windowless room. In truth, their new location was strange in general, being more isolated than anywhere they’d been kept before. Isaiah didn’t think that much of it, however. As an orphan who had been taken in by the church when he was younger, he owed them much and had been thrilled when the bishop told him that he was special and blessed by the Lord.

“There he is,” Tosca whispered, pointing at the doorway, where Bishop Galilei was standing, dressed as he often was in his simple vestments.

His gray eyes had always been oddly cold, Isaiah thought, but he knew that the man could be warm at times. Those eyes, the same color that his moustache had turned over the last few years, looked exceptionally cold as he stared at them then, and the blonde boy strained to hear what he was saying to Antonio, his head of security.

“...failed,” the bishop hissed, sounding both resigned and furious.

“You’re sure, your grace?” Antonio asked.

“...been a source of...learned much, but...it’s time,” Bishop Galilei said, speaking so quietly that Isaiah couldn’t make out everything. “They cannot be discovered.”

“I see,” Antonio muttered, swallowing thickly. “His will be done.”

“Indeed,” Bishop Galilei said coldly, speaking more loudly. “Contact me when you’re done, and let the men know that they can return to their families afterward. It is Christmas, after all.”

The bishop looked out at the dozens of children gathered in the room then, and as his eyes reached Isaiah, the boy recoiled. There was something in them that he’d never seen before, something that went beyond simple coldness.

He recalled the time he’d snuck out of his room when he was younger and discovered two of the guards watching a movie called Jaws. He hadn’t seen much before he was discovered, but there was one line that sprang to mind. “...lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes,” and he shook his head in confusion, wondering why he was so suddenly frightened. There was no reason for him to be frightened by the good bishop.

Bishop Galilei left then, and Isaiah saw the priests follow after him, alongside what looked like most of the guards. They were carrying boxes full of papers and other things, which struck him as odd because most of what had been in the previous laboratory had yet to arrive at their new one from what he’s seen. Just as he was about to ask what was going on, Antonio and five other guards entered the room.

“I have good news,” Antonio said warmly, though there was an uncomfortable edge to his voice that put Isaiah further on edge. “There will be no training and no experiments today.”

“Thank God,” Tosca whispered.

“Please close your eyes and join us in prayer,” Antonio said.

Isaiah wondered why he was leading them in prayer instead of one of the priests or the bishop, but, thrilled by the fact that they were actually getting the day off, he didn’t question it, closing his eyes obediently.

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee…” Antonio began, and they all joined in immediately.

With the chorus of their voices echoing through the small room, it took Isaiah a moment to realize that the guards stopped praying after the first line. Not wanting to stop mid-prayer, he continued to recite the familiar lines, feeling that same sense of connection with God that he always did when he prayed. He reached for the silver crucifix around his neck, wrapping his hand around it.

“Holy Mary…” Mark coughed then, wheezing as he tried to continue, and Isaiah noticed that his own throat had become oddly irritated.

He opened his eyes, and they immediately went wide in horror as he saw that the guards were all wearing heavy gas masks and that the air around them was thick with a miasma of some sort of odorless gas.

“What…” Isaiah shouted, coughing uncontrollably. “What are you...doing!?”

“Sorry, kids,” Antonio sighed through his mask. “Orders are orders. I promise, it’ll be quick, though.”

Some of the others began to fall to their knees as burning pain lanced through Isaiah’s body.

“St...stop!” Grace screamed.

Isaiah looked over to Tosca, who was sitting down, her face a picture of shock and horror as she wrapped her arms around her knees. More of them were falling down, succumbing to the poison they had all inhaled, when suddenly, a sharp cry from behind him drew his attention.

“Get off of...NO!” one of the guards screamed in horror as Mark ripped his mask off with what had to be the last of his strength.

Antonio and the others ran over to drag their murder victim off of their comrade, and Isaiah saw that the path to the door was open. Looking around, desperately trying to find someone else still standing, he cried out in horror as he saw that he was the last one left.

“Run,” Grace gasped weakly. “Go!”

“Run.”

“Run.”

“Run.”

The chorus of soft, weak voices continued as those few who were still conscious begged him to flee. The guards were too preoccupied with trying to get Mark, who was struggling valiantly against them, off of the dying man before him. There would be no way to help him, and none of the others looked like they could stand, much less run. Wanting nothing more than to help the others, Isaiah wept and did the only thing he could do.

The door wasn’t locked, and by the time Antonio noticed what had happened and ordered his men to go after him, the blonde boy had already fled. Using strength he didn’t know he possessed, Isaiah did all that he could to ignore the pain spreading through his entire body and ran as fast as he could. He could only pray that the clean forest air outside would help drive the poison from his lungs, though the first thing he noticed as he ran into the snow-covered forest was just how cold it had gotten.

*****

“Why do I get the sense that there’s more to this than we know?” Akeno asked the moment they appeared in the forested region Rias had taken them to.

“That facility that Matteo Cadorna stumbled into is actually what Sirzechs wanted to talk to me about,” Rias replied, walking towards the spot that Sirzechs had specified to her. “His spies think that it might be the site of something that the Church is operating.”

“He did say that there were priests inside,” Harry commented. “Why would the church be running experiments on children, though?”

“Sirzechs thinks that this is about holy swords,” Rias replied. When he cocked an eyebrow, she explained, “Holy swords are swords imbued with holy power. Think the legendary sword Excalibur.”

“For a devil, even a minor wound from a holy sword can be fatal,” Akeno said.

“And we’re wandering over to see a bunch of priests running experiments involving them?” Harry asked.

“Rias and I are more than capable of taking down anyone in there who might possess one of them before they reach us,” Akeno said reassuringly, “and the likelihood that they have an actual wielder among them is low.”

“Why?” Harry asked.

“It’s exceedingly rare for a human to be able to wield one of the blades,” Rias replied. “People able to wield them properly and make use of their power are even rarer than people born with sacred gears.”

“Wait, hold up,” Harry said, looking down at the ground.

“What is it?” Rias asked.

“Fluxweed,” Harry replied, squatting down to get a better look at the plant. “It’s a magical plant and one of the ingredients in the potion that Crouch was using to look like Moody. If we’re finding magical plants, we’re probably in the spot that Cadorna was in when he found the building we’re looking for.”

“Good eye,” Akeno said. “I’ll take a look around and see if I can’t spot it from the air.”

“Just be careful not to be spotted,” Rias ordered. “Sirzechs made it clear that we’re only to engage them in battle if we need to. This is mostly a reconnaissance mission.”

“Will do,” Akeno said, making herself invisible before flying off into the air.

“I wondered why we didn’t just fly around,” Harry murmured.

“Even invisibility isn’t always perfect,” Rias said. “If it comes down to a fight, stay back.”

“I’m not completely incapable,” Harry muttered.

“You’ve been in fights before, in deadly situations, but that doesn’t mean you’re ready for major battles,” Rias argued. “If it comes down to a fight, support Akeno and I as best you can, but stay behind us. I brought you along because I expect minor trouble, if any, and I think it might be a good learning experience for you, but only if you don’t rush ahead.”

“I’ll follow your lead,” Harry promised. “It’s not like…”

“Um, Rias, we have a situation,” Akeno said as she reappeared and landed before them.

“Were you spotted?” Rias asked.

“No, they were far too distracted to even try to detect me,” Akeno replied. “The facility seems to be in chaos. Something has gone wrong, and men are running around frantically. Most of them seem to have already fled towards the nearest town.”

“Interesting,” Rias grinned, folding her arms under her large breasts as she considered the possibilities. “If the building’s already being abandoned, then most of the documentation is likely already gone, but if they’re fleeing from something, then they might have made a mistake that we can capitalize on.”

“You want to attack?” Akeno asked.

“I want to get a better look,” Rias replied. “Harry, stay behind us.”

Drawing his wand, Harry replied, “As I said, I’ll follow your lead.”

The three of them took off towards the facility, Akeno leading the way as she had actually seen it, and as they drew closer, they spotted what appeared to be very faint smoke coming from it.

“After him!” they heard a man shout as they reached a small clearing in the trees.

They couldn’t see what exactly they were after, but two men tore off away from the building in frantic pursuit of someone. A few others soon emerged from the front entrance and ran off in the other direction.

“Those four are going the same way as the others,” Akeno mentioned.

“Let’s follow the first two,” Rias said, “and stay away from the building. The smoke seems to be getting worse.”

“I don’t smell burning,” Harry commented, furrowing his brow in confusion as he followed Rias and Akeno.

The three of them pursued the pair of men they had first spotted, both of whom were dressed in simple dark muggle clothing. He saw nothing to suggest that they were priests, as Caderno seemed to think that they all were, but then it wouldn’t have made much sense to run through the woods in vestments anyway, he supposed.

“There, in the distance,” Akeno hissed. “There’s a boy.”

“There’s the little shit!” one of the men called out, seeming to notice his prey just after she did.

“Akeno, I want them alive,” Rias said as she saw the boy falter and fall.

“Gladly,” Akeno cooed, flying up into the air.

“Thought you’d get away from us, did yoAHHH!” one of the men screamed as Akeno electrocuted him.

The dark-haired beauty giggled as she rained lightning down on them both, holding their twitching, screaming forms under her terrible power until they fell unconscious, all while Rias flew off towards the boy. Harry ran after her, wand in hand, wanting to see what exactly was going on here. He might have felt bad watching Akeno inflict pain on the men behind him, if not for the sense he got that something truly terrible had happened at their hands.

“Must...live,” the boy gasped, sounding like his breath was torturous as he dragged himself along the snow-covered forest floor with his right arm, “must...survive...for...them.”

“Peace now,” Rias said, reaching out to him, only to recoil as she spotted the silver crucifix around his neck. “Your pursuers have either fled or are about to die. You’re safe.”

“Must…” the boy coughed.

“Can you do anything!?” Harry exclaimed, looking down and seeing the blood streaming from the blonde boy’s mouth and eyes. Reaching down, he grabbed the crucifix and tore it off, just in case it would interfere with her magic. “He’s really bad off.”

“He’s...oh no,” Rias gasped as she hovered her hand over the boy. Looking back at the facility, her face etched in horror, she said, “That wasn’t smoke. Those men must have torn off their gas masks as they reached the door.”

“Gas?” Harry asked, his eyes widening. “What the hell happened here?”

The boy went still as he asked the question, and Rias reached down, placing two fingers on his neck, only to sigh a moment later.

“His pulse is weak, and I think there are only two things I can do for him now,” she whispered. “He’s beyond any normal intervention, so I can either grant him mercy or offer him a new life as a devil, something he might not accept if that necklace is indicative of anything.”

“The evil pieces,” Harry breathed as he realized what she was getting at. “Would you?”

“I sense a degree of power in him, and I can’t help but admire how far he managed to flee from that nightmare despite the fact that he’d already inhaled a fatal amount of the poison gas,” Rias replied as she mulled it over. “I would speak with his murderers first, though.”

Harry and Rias returned to Akeno, finding that she had bound and gagged the men, who glared balefully at all three of them, having woken up.

“Ungag the short one,” Rias commanded.

“I don’t know who you are, witch, and I have no idea why your kind keep popping up around here, but when the others find out about this, you’re going to…” the man went to say.

“You’re the second man today to mistake me for a witch,” Rias laughed. “I assure you, I’m not.”

She unveiled her wings, and the man’s eyes went wide with terror.

“Devils?” he gasped, “Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomenAHHH”

“That’s quite enough of that,” Rias scowled, nodding to Akeno, who had electrocuted him again. “You’re going to die here; make no mistake of that, but whether you do so minutes or days from now is entirely up to you. What happened here?”

Given their crimes, Harry couldn’t bring himself to object at all to their deaths. The boy who lay dying next to them looked to be about a year or two younger than he was, but if the descriptions given by Caderno were accurate, he was probably older than most who had died in that massacre.

“Do what you will to me; I will not break,” the man spat.

“You will,” Akeno said cheerfully, “but hopefully not that quickly.”

The man’s screams echoed through the forest again as yellow bolts of lightning arced over his body. Harry felt bile rise in his throat as he watched the monster before him, who had clearly just attempted to murder at least one boy with poisoned gas, suffer. He could hardly claim that he didn’t deserve it, however.

Behind his gag, the other man raged at the three of them, moving about in his bindings nearly as much as his tortured friend.

Rias raised her hand, and Akeno relented, looking distinctly disappointed.

“Ready to talk yet?” the redhead asked.

“Go...fuck...yourself,” the man wheezed.

“Not yet then,” Rias said, and the man’s screams echoed through the forest again.

She asked him three more times if he would talk, her blue eyes trained on his increasingly bloodshot ones with keen interest. When she was denied the third time, she held out her hand, which was quickly filled with crimson energy, and, to the man’s horror, all of his clothes disintegrated around him. Harry looked away, looking over at the boy, whose chest was still moving almost imperceptibly.

“Technically speaking, priests don’t actually need testicles,” Akeno suggested gleefully, “and I am far more powerful than a car battery.”

“I’ll talk!” the man cried, openly weeping by that point. “I’ll talk, I’ll talk, I’ll talk, I’ll talk!”

“MMM!” the other man screamed against his gag, and a moment later, a ball of crimson energy relieved him of his head.

“What happened here?” Rias asked, her voice filled with rage as Harry looked at the sight in horror.

He still didn’t think that he could really blame either of his lovers for how they’d handled themselves here, but that didn’t make seeing such things any easier.

“Bishop Galilei wanted to find a way to make anyone capable of wielding holy swords,” the guard said slowly. “His research required test subjects, and so he ordered us to find him orphans with limited talent with the things.”

“Anyone capable of wielding them?” Akeno asked, sounding more disturbed than Harry had ever heard her. “That would…”

“What happened today?” Rias asked.

“It didn’t work,” the man replied, and Akeno and Rias both breathed a sigh of relief. “Antonio thinks that some of the higher ups had started to look more closely into what the bishop was doing than he liked, and he had us move the kids to this old abandoned bunker to make them harder to find. They started working with them again, but yesterday he said that the project was shutting down, and today he commanded us to liquidate them.”

“A bloody bishop ordered the massacre of children?” Harry asked incredulously.

“He wouldn’t have wanted word of what happened here getting out,” Rias replied, pinching the bridge of her nose in thought. “Harry, I want you to kill this man.”

“Please no!” the man begged.

“Be silent!” Rias barked, moving his gag back to his mouth.

“Me?” Harry asked.

“From your description of your fight with Crouch, it sounds like part of the problem was that you didn’t attempt any major damage early on when you could have,” Rias replied. “Killing isn’t easy for humans, most of them anyway, and no kill is harder than your first, but you have an entire organization out there of men and women who would happily try to kill you and everyone you hold dear if their master returned to them, which he could. As I’ve said before, you’re not going to have the luxury of a peaceful life if it’s going to be a long one.”

“And as far as people go, you’re not going to find many more deserving of death than this piece of shit,” Akeno chimed in. Holding her hand before her, a small dagger appeared in it.

“Could you talk him through this?” Rias asked. “I have an offer to make and not much time left to make it.”

She gave him a warm, reassuring hug and made her way over to the dying boy, leaving Harry alone with one of his killers and Akeno.

Flipping the blade over in her hand, she gave it to him and, making her way over to the struggling murderer, said, “They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but it’s actually between his fourth and fifth ribs, right here.”

She pointed to a spot on the man’s chest and beckoned Harry over.

“Awaken,” Rias said as she reached the boy, casting a spell on him that would force him back to consciousness at the expense of hastening his death, though that was a question of minutes at this point.

“Please…” the boy coughed. “Please...help...them.”

“I’m afraid your friends are gone by now,” Rias replied, “and you yourself are dying. I can save you if you wish. What is it that you desire?”

“I want...to live,” the boy replied, sounding like he struggled to get out each word. “Want to live...for them...my friends...and use...my talents...against my enemies.”

Rias smiled and summoned her bag of evil pieces, selecting one of the knights without a second thought. The young swordsman before her, who possessed some limited talent for using holy swords and who possessed something else, if she was correct, would make an excellent knight in her service.

“Your enemies are mine as well, and I would happily wield you against them if you would live as my devil servant,” Rias said. “What is your name?”

“Isaiah,” the boy replied, not reacting at all to the news that he would become a devil.

“Hmm,” Rias mused, “I’ll likely think of something else. For now, though, Isaiah, I order you, by the House of Gremory, to be reborn as a devil.”

She placed the knight piece against his chest and felt it enter his body with ease, smiling as she sensed it take root and begin its great task.

“Rest now,” Rias said, still thinking of what new name she would give him.

Harry looked into the eyes of the murderer in front of him, seeing the fear and pleading written all over them, and his grip on the knife in his hand tightened. He knew this was an objectively evil human being; no one could deny that, and yet he found himself hesitating to do what Rias and Akeno wanted him to. He had never intentionally killed anyone, as though Quirrell had died at his hands; Harry hadn’t known that his touch would be fatal to him until the man had already doomed himself. Quirrell had also been trying to kill him.

Part of him couldn’t help but think that Rias was right in her assessment of his fight with Crouch as well. Even at the end, when he was lying on the ground and the Death Eater was distracted by Dumbledore, his first instinct had been to aim for his fake leg. If he had aimed a cutting curse at the man’s throat, he wouldn’t have escaped. He hadn’t done that, however, and now that lunatic was free to harm others again, all because Harry didn’t want to dirty his hands.

This man was going to die today; there was no getting around that. If he couldn’t do it, Rias or Akeno would, and he was going to deserve it either way. He might not be actively trying to kill Harry as Quirrell had, but he was a mass murderer, and he needed to be put down. Taking a step forward, he pulled the blade back and plunged it where Akeno had instructed, driving it deep between the monster’s ribs.

His eyes widened, and he gurgled behind the gag. As Harry pulled the knife back, thick red blood spurted forth, and his face was speckled in the warm fluid. Harry’s stomach had been on a knife’s edge for a while now, and finding himself covered in the blood of a man he’d just killed proved to be too much. He threw up, vomiting all over the dying man and giving him the sort of dignified funeral he deserved.

“It’s okay,” Akeno said softly, rubbing his back as he continued to wretch. “You did well.”

“You did,” Rias murmured as she joined them, levitating the sleeping boy in front of her.

“He’s…” Akeno went to ask.

“My knight,” Rias replied, setting down gently and wrapping her arms around Harry from behind. “I promise, the next time you need to fight for your life, you’ll be ready to do whatever you need to to survive.”

“Tha...thank you,” Harry coughed.

Akeno cleaned him off with a quick spell, and he smiled gratefully at her.

“Akeno, go to Cadorna and tell him that he’s quite likely safe,” Rias ordered. “Take him back home and get Lord Ajuka’s order fulfilled. I doubt you’ll face any trouble, as the rest of these people are likely going to be focused on laying low or getting out of Italy entirely to worry about him, but if anyone attacks…”

“It’ll be the last thing they do,” Akeno promised. Gesturing to their new companion, she asked, “Are you taking him back to Kuoh?”

“Gremory Castle,” Rias replied. “Given what he’s been through, he’s going to need to rest, and I trust my family’s servants to be able to look after him.”

“Um, yeah, won’t he be at heightened risk of reacting poorly to becoming a devil, given the trauma he’s gone through?” Harry asked.

“It’s common enough for us to turn murder victims into devils,” Rias replied, shaking her head. “The next little while is going to be very difficult for him, but as I say, he’ll be well cared for. Given the inner strength he’s already shown, I think he’s going to pull through, and there’s a member of my brother’s peerage who I think might be uniquely able to help. You’re coming with me.”

“What’s one more trip to the Underworld?” Harry asked, transfiguring a nearby stick into a cup and summoning water for him to drink to get the taste of vomit out of his mouth.

“Should I go to the castle or straight to Agreas when I’m done?” Akeno asked.

“Go straight to Lord Ajuka,” Rias replied, handing her the note he had given her. “We’ll be along when we can.”

“Alright,” Akeno agreed immediately.

“Come,” Rias said after taking a moment to destroy the two bodies completely. “My family castle awaits.”

Harry moved in close to her, enjoying how her scent calmed his troubled mind, and soon enough, the two of them and the boy they’d rescued were whisked away.

“Hello!” Rias called out as they arrived, as they had last time, in the antechamber of the massive estate.

“My lady,” one of the maids, a pretty young blonde girl who was probably at least as old as Dumbledore, remarked as she spotted her.

“Hello, Ashild,” Rias said. “Find this one a room and put him to bed.”

“Yes, my lady,” Ashild replied, picking him up effortlessly.

“I forget sometimes that you’re practically royalty,” Harry murmured.

“Something you would do well to recall,” Venelana said as she entered the room. “I thought I sensed your presence, dear. Is something wrong?”

“Sirzechs had me look into something, and I ended up with a knight to show for it,” Rias replied. “He’s just turned and suffered a rather violent end before I happened upon him, so he’s going to need help.”

“I’ll have the servants look after him,” Venelana replied. “What’s his name?”

“Isaiah, for now,” Rias replied.

“Well, there must be something to him to make you take such a quick interest in him,” Venelana murmured. “You’ve been positively cautious up to now.”

“I have a good feeling, I suppose,” Rias replied.

“Mmm, Lana, darling, this biscuit cake is simply...oh, Rias!” a beautiful Brunette said as she wondered in, and Harry knew at a glance that this woman had to be related to Venelana.

She was slightly taller and a touch slimmer, and her face was slightly less angular, but her pale skin, light brown hair, and purple eyes were identical.

“Aunt Minobella!” Rias exclaimed, sounding just as surprised to see the woman as she was to see her. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Venelana was kind enough to invite her little sister over for tea,” Minobella replied. Spotting Harry, she said, “You there, prepare another space for Rias here at the…”

“Oh, Minnie, this isn’t one of the servants,” Venelana piped up. “This is Harry.”

“Oh, this is him?” Minobella asked, looking Harry up and down with new interest. “I pictured someone taller.”

“As much as I’d love to stay and chat, I need to check on my new servant,” Rias said, her face tight. “It was lovely seeing you again, Aunt Minobella.”

“Lovely seeing you, dear,” Minobella replied, sounding amused. “If you’re ever in Agares territory, do feel free to stop by the castle. I’m sure Seekvaira would love to see more of you.”

Rias took Harry’s hand and practically dragged him upstairs towards her bedroom.

“I thought we were checking on...you said his name is Isaiah?” Harry asked.

“No, I just didn’t want to deal with my aunt’s forked tongue,” Rias sighed, “and I doubted you needed to put up with it after the day you’ve had. How are you feeling?”

“I don’t think I am,” Harry replied. “In the past twenty-four hours, I got into a fight, lost, learned that I have a piece of my worst enemy in my forehead, and killed a child-murdering psychopath. Even by my standards, it’s been a day.”

“The numbness will pass,” Rias said, sitting down on her bed. With a wave of her hand, she switched into her school uniform and said, “Rest your head on my lap, Harry.”

Harry didn’t hesitate for a moment to follow that request and sighed in pleasure as he felt the soft, warm skin of her thighs against his cheek. He removed his glasses and enjoyed the simple pleasure of that feeling, something that was greatly enhanced when she started scratching his scalp.

“I’m sorry for worrying you,” he sighed.

“Water under the bridge,” Rias said softly. “I meant it when I said that I’m going to make a warrior out of you. There will come a day, and not that far in the future either, where you’ll be able to handle the likes of this Crouch man with ease.”

“I leave myself in your hands,” Harry murmured, taking one of her hands in his and bringing it to his lips to kiss it. “You never mentioned having an aunt.”

“She’s the only one I have,” Rias replied. “My father’s an only child, while my mother has Aunt Minobella and my uncle, the current Lord Bael.”

“I guess Seekvaira is her daughter, right?” Harry asked.

“Mmhmm,” Rias replied. “My cousin; she’s nicer than her mother, and I’ve always been fond of her.

“Your grandfather managed to have three kids,” Harry said. “That must be impressive by devil standards.”

“It is, though it took him three women to do it,” Rias replied. “My mother and Aunt Minobella were born months apart to two different mistresses of his. He managed to impregnate his wife years later.”

“Why don’t you rest here while I go give Sirzechs my report?” Rias asked, and Harry sat up, nodding.

Kicking off his shoes, he laid down on her bed and closed his eyes, only to see the terrified eyes of the man he’d killed staring at him. He opened them again and shuddered.

“He deserved it,” Harry thought to himself. “He really, really deserved it.”

He supposed that he was just going to continue saying that to himself until he came to terms with what he’d done. It wasn’t as though Rias was wrong about the sort of life he was stuck with. Eventually he was going to end up coming to blows with someone else like Crouch, perhaps even Voldemort himself, and that person wasn’t going to hold back like his supposed professor clearly did in their fight. If it came down to killing or being killed, he knew what outcome he preferred. He had too much to live for and had seen enough that day to know just how fleeting life could be.

“Harry?” Rias asked, and he looked over at the doorway, his jaw dropping as he saw her.

She had changed again, this time into a silk bathrobe that barely went lower than her hips and which he didn’t think she was wearing anything underneath of. Those suspicions were confirmed a moment later, when she opened the robe and let it fall freely, pooling at her feet.

“I thought you might want to...get your mind off of today,” Rias cooed, walking slowly towards him and rolling her hips exaggeratedly as she went.

“Well, this is definitely working,” Harry said, putting on his glasses and letting his eyes feast on her generous curves.

Every inch of her body was perfect; from the large, impossibly perky breasts that he knew had to be a result of devil physiology, to her narrow waist, to her wide hips, thick thighs, and long legs, she was a goddess. With a wave of her hand, he was naked, and his long, thick cock rose almost instantly to the occasion.

“You handled yourself well today,” Rias said as she reached him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she added, “From start to finish, you showed that you can follow orders in situations like that, contributed repeatedly, and didn’t shirk away from the more unpleasant parts.”

“Today might have had a few firsts for me, but it wasn’t my first time in danger,” Harry replied, placing his hands on her hips.

Rias kissed him, and he lost himself in her passion immediately, wanting nothing more than to focus on her and not the myriad issues floating through his mind. They hadn’t known each other all that long, but she had already become a source of calm and comfort for him that he craved. He returned the kiss hungrily, brushing his tongue against hers to draw it out and groaning as she sucked on it.

“I want her forever,” he thought to himself, pulling her in until she climbed into his lap.

Forever?

Forever could be an awfully long time for devils, and yet he found himself liking the thought of that more and more as they continued to kiss. He rolled her onto her back and kissed a trail down the slender column of her neck, making her moan softly. The sound went straight to his cock, which throbbed with need, but he knew that before he buried himself inside her tight, wet heat, he had to taste her again.

“Oh, Harry!” Rias sighed as he cupped her massive breasts and sucked on one of her nipples. “Make me scream so loud that my aunt knows exactly what a man you are.”

Harry chuckled at that and switched to the other nipple.

“What’s her deal anyway?” Harry asked before quickly returning to her breasts.

“Not much,” Rias replied. “Most devil noblewomen are sniping harpies at the best of times and she’s no different. She and my mother were the best of friends growing up, to hear her talk about them, but when they grew older and started seeking husbands, they began to drift apart. Minobella married Hafaer Agares, one of the wealthiest lords, and one far wealthier than my own father, but then my mother had Sirzechs.”

“I guess no one can compete with that,” Harry chuckled, kissing his way down along her flat belly.

“Nnagh,” Rias cried as he gave her clit a teasing kiss. “No, though the Agares’ grew much wealthier after the invention of the evil pieces.”

“Why?” Harry asked, peppering her inner thighs with kisses.

“They’re made from crystals found only in...oh fuck...their territory,” Rias replied, her nails digging into his scalp as she tried to pull him closer to her dripping quim. “It still doesn’t compare with being the mother of the most powerful devil in the Underworld, something not helped by the fact that my aunt only managed to have a child very recently, but it does give her something in their proverbial dick measuring contest.”

Harry snorted at that and gave her glistening nether lips a long lick with the flat of his tongue, making her moan loudly. Deciding that he’d heard enough for now, he feasted on her pussy, digging his fingers into her thighs and holding her in place as he lapped up her copious fluids.

“Oh fuck, that feels amazing,” Rias whimpered. “You’ve gotten so good at that, baby.”

“How could I not?” Harry chuckled. “I get enough practice.”

“Not nearly enough,” Rias disagreed vehemently. “I could have you eat me out night and day.”

“That might be a fun challenge when the school year’s over,” Harry murmured. “We could see just how many times I could make you cum on my tongue in one day.”

“It’s a date,” Rias moaned, “something we’ve yet to actually go on, really.”

“You took me to three beautiful places in Italy today,” Harry chuckled. “That doesn’t count?”

“Hardly AHHH!” Rias screamed as he sucked her clit into his mouth and vibrated his tongue against it hard.

He held her thrashing body down as she came so hard that she squirted all over his face, continuing to speak parseltongue against her throbbing little clit. Her thighs squeezed his head gently, and he reveled in the feeling of her soft skin against him, bothered only by the fact that she muffled the sounds of her own screams. He held her in constant orgasmic ecstasy for a couple minutes, watching as her eyes rolled back and her entire body became covered in a sheen of sweat that made her look even more beautiful. Eventually, he relented, and she fell limp instantly, breathing hard, as though she’d just run a marathon.

“I’ll never...get used to...that,” Rias panted.

“That’ll make two of us, I’m sure,” Harry chuckled, licking his lips.

“I want you...inside me,” Rias panted.

“Do you want me to give you a minute?” Harry asked, and when she shook her head, he grinned.

Fisting his length, he climbed into bed, lined himself up, and sank to the hilt inside her in one fluid motion. Fluid was the right word too, because she was incredibly wet, and Harry took a moment to just enjoy the feeling of her slick heat encasing his cock. Looking down into her eyes, he saw his own adoration reflected back at him and kissed her tenderly. She wrapped her arms and legs around him as he pulled most of his cock from her snug depths and thrust forward again.

“I love your cock so much!” Rias gasped, running her hands down along his muscular back. “You make me feel so wonderfully full.”

Harry grinned and kissed her languidly as he set a slower pace than they usually fucked at. He was perfectly capable of the more frenetic sex they loved in that moment, but he wanted something softer and gentler. Rias didn’t object at all, happy enough to rock her body up against his in time with his slow thrusts.

“You’re so tight,” Harry groaned against her neck. “You feel so good.”

She pulled him for another gentle kiss, and he let all the stress of the day and everything else melt away as the two continued to make love. He kept up that slow, gentle pace for a while, neither of them in any hurry to change things, until Rias finally broke the kiss.

“Harder,” Rias whispered, reaching up to cup his cheeks and rake her nails along his scalp.

He shivered at her tongue and picked up his pace, grinning as she cried out in pleasure almost immediately. The bed rocked under them, and Rias reached behind her, digging her fingers into the sheets behind her so hard that her knuckles turned white. Her beautiful face was a picture of pleasure as he fucked her harder and faster. It still wasn’t as hard as normal, but it was enough that her gorgeous breasts started jiggling across her chest.

When he felt her tight tunnel start to flutter around him, he knew that she was getting close and changed his angle slightly, seeking out that spot deep inside her that always made her scream. He licked the salt sweat from her neck and nibbled her earlobe, making her whimper, as he tried a few times to find what he was looking for.

“Oh fuck!” Rias screamed as he finally did, and Harry grinned.

Picking up his pace again, he hit that deep spot with each hard thrust, drawing a sharp cry from her full lips over and over until, finally, she came hard.

“HARRY!” she shrieked at the top of her lungs, her tight cunt spasming around and milking his pistoning cock as she came.

Harry had gotten much better at lasting since the first time he slept with Rias, and could usually hold out better than this, but after the emotionally draining day he’d had, he wanted nothing more than to finish inside her and let go with a strangled cry of her name. The two lovers writhed in each other’s arms as pleasure consumed them.

“Needed that,” Harry panted against her neck as he came down from the high of his orgasm.

Rias just smiled lovingly at him and rolled them over. Moving upward until the last of his cock slipped from her leaking slit with a wet plop, she settled her head on his chest and smiled widely as he wrapped his arms around her.

“I’ll always be here for you,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

“Lo…” Harry went to say, when the door to their room opened.

“Ahh, I missed it,” Akeno complained, and Harry just laughed.

“Hello, Akeno,” Rias said dryly, rolling onto her back and glaring peevishly at her queen. “How’d it go?”

“I helped Matteo get back into his place, fulfilled Lord Ajuka’s order, and brought the ingredient to Agreas,” Akeno replied. “He said that the ritual should be ready in a couple days.”

“Was there any trouble?” Harry asked.

“No, but Matteo will move anyway,” Akeno replied. “It’s something he said he does a lot anyway.”

“Ajuka mentioned that,” Harry nodded, yawning. “I hope whatever he has in mind works.”

“He’s probably the smartest man in the Underworld,” Rias said. “If he thinks it will work, it very likely will, and you know I’ll never stop looking for a way to free you from that thing in your head.”

“That makes two of us,” Akeno replied, and Harry blinked repeatedly as his eyes went misty.

“Thank you, both of you,” he whispered, not trusting his voice.

Rias smiled at him, and her smile turned feral as she looked over at Akeno and said, “You might have missed watching us have sex, but you know very well that one round is never enough for Harry here.”

“That’s true,” Akeno said, grinning and spelling her clothes off immediately.

Harry took in the sight of her curvaceous form and felt his cock twitch.

“If you want to really get him ready, there’s one thing he loves watching us do more than anything,” Rias purred, spreading her legs wide and crooking a finger to beckon Akeno over.

Akeno looked down at Rias’ gaping pussy and the river of cum leaking from it and climbed into bed.

“Fuck, you’re a good girl,” Rias moaned as the brunette started lapping at her folds.

As Harry watched Akeno slurp his cum out of Rias’ pussy, he felt his cock grow rapidly hard and finally put all thoughts of the day he’d had out of his mind. It had been incredibly difficult, and he was sure that it would haunt his dreams for some time to come, but he had survived and would move on. His life was likely never going to lack battles to fight, and he would have to rise to each challenge to come if he wanted to continue surviving. To do that, he needed to get stronger, and with Rias and Akeno on his side, he knew that he would.

“Fuck me, Harry,” Akeno moaned before burying her face back between Rias’ thighs.

Harry grinned and moved behind the brunette, lined himself up with her dripping slit, and buried himself to the hilt in one long thrust.

With perks like this to enjoy, how could he not dedicate himself completely to becoming the sort of warrior Rias wanted to make him into?