Spear Devil - 016 (Patreon)

Chapter 016 – Plans

[April – 2008]

Gasping in shock, Rias looked wide-eyed at her cute white-haired servant.

“A d-dragon? T-that … “, she stammered in disbelief, unsure how to react after Koneko had just burst into the clubroom and told her what she had found out.

And how could she not be shocked? Dragons were incredibly rare in the Supernatural World but each and every one of them was feared and respected. Dragons were symbols of power and were universally acknowledged as the strongest race, Gods aside.

Were it not for their small numbers, they would undoubtedly dominate the world. Though even as things stood, only fools would dare anger a dragon, as their tendency for violence was widely known.

Rias remembered very well the stories of the Two Heavenly Dragons clashing during the Great War, which forced the Three Factions to call for a truce and band together to fight them.

Even then, in their outrage the Dragon Emperors killed thousands of Devils, Angels, and Fallen before the leaders of the Three Factions finally managed to subdue them long enough for the God of the Bible to seal their souls into two Sacred Gears, creating the two most famous Longinus-type Sacred Gears in the process.

And now someone who called himself the son of the Welsh Dragon had appeared before her, apparently being half-human and attending Kuoh Academy.

Rias didn't know if she should believe what Koneko had told her, as it should be impossible for the Red Dragon Emperor to father a child in his sealed state, but could she risk not believing it?

And even if he had lied, Koneko's own instincts had identified him as a powerful human hybrid, which made for a perfect target for recruitment.

And what if had told the truth? Wouldn't the son of the Welsh Dragon be the best bet she had to escape her arranged marriage?

Rias didn't really want to fight in a Rating Game against Riser, as risking the safety of her Peerage was the last thing ever wanted to do, but at this point, her brother had made it clear that this was her only chance, as Sirzechs simply couldn't use his position as a Satan to interfere in the business of two very powerful noble Houses.

As a Satan, Sirzechs had to stay impartial, which was also the reason the Satans had left behind their old family names when they had ascended to their positions. And while Rias struggled to not be disappointed in her brother, she understood his reasoning very well.

One single marriage simply couldn't be the trigger that made Sirzechs's position amongst the Devil Race unstable, as he had no doubt many political enemies that would rejoice at the chance to exploit every weakness on his part.

If Akira though was the son of a Heavenly Dragon, a being that was feared even by Satan-class Devils, his potential would certainly be terrifying enough to risk everything to recruit him, as his power could help her win a Rating Game against Riser.

Rias, despite being very troubled by her engagement at this point in time, which hung over her head like a guillotine, also had greater ambitions than simply preventing herself from having to marry that scumbag Riser.

She wanted to be the Rating Game champion since the time she had seen the first game being broadcasted. She wanted to stand at the top with her precious Peerage by her side, having defeated every contender. And having the Red Dragon Emperor's son in her Peerage would certainly help to reach that goal.

Now she only had to confirm if he had indeed told the truth and figure out a way to convince him to join her.

Still, she couldn't help but wonder why had so easily revealed who he was to Koneko. Was it pride, arrogance, or something else entirely?

…

Back in class for the afternoon, I zoned out during the lesson on literature as I gazed out of the window.

Koneko had taken off quite quickly after my introduction during the lunch break, and by now she had probably told Rias about me, which suited my plans just fine.

Revealing myself like that had served multiple purposes, the most important of which being that I could now use the power I gained after devouring Ddraig's soul openly, without having to explain where I got my Power Multiplication and Transference from.

Saying I was Ddraig's son was answer enough, and if someone asked me how such a thing was possible, as the Red Dragon Emperor was supposedly sealed inside the Boosted Gear?

Well, I wasn't Ddraig, so how would I know how he escaped and fathered a child? I just awakened my draconic heritage a few weeks ago, and besides some general knowledge, which I received upon awakening, I knew nothing about anything.

I knew it was shameless but playing dumb was without question the best option I had for avoiding those rather unpleasant questions. After all, I didn't plan to tell even a living soul the truth about my existence and power until I was truly invincible, as anything else just screamed trouble.

And now that Rias knew about my existence and possible potential, she would undoubtedly try and recruit me, something that also was in my best interest.

Being an independent half-dragon in this world wasn't a good idea, as too many people would try and force me into their service or worse. The Fallen, the Old Satan Faction, the Hero Faction, and even other minor factions would not just let me be.

As soon as my existence became known, they would be after me, either to recruit me or to kill me.

Not to mention that joining Rias as a half-dragon gave me considerable leverage when negotiating the conditions for my service, doubly so considering the rather desperate situation she was facing with her engagement right around the corner, and not using that to my advantage would be downright idiotic.

I had thoughts of joining Sona too, as well as the Peerage of other Devils, but the crimson-haired Devil Princess was my best option.

Sona, even though she was much calmer in temperament and not as reckless, was also not as kind to her Peerage as Rias, though barely any Devil was, to be honest. Sona treated her Peerage as the subordinates that they were, and not like a family as Rias did.

And I certainly didn't plan to leash myself to anyone as an attack dog and 'servant'.

As for other Devils? Well, I barely knew anything about most of them, though the one thing I knew was that not all Devils gave their potential Peerage members a choice when it came to recruitment. Being forced to become a Devil and serve someone was most certainly worse than death itself.

And even if I could escape afterward and get my revenge, that would mark me as a Stray Devil, to be killed by any passing Devils, Fallen, or Angels as they pleased.

Not to mention that without Issei, this world was headed for some serious trouble with the Khaos Brigade running rampart, or later antagonists that I only knew about vaguely, like Loki or Trihexa.

Without my intervention, it was highly likely that total chaos would erupt with the next war between the Three Factions ending in mutual destruction that would leave the Biblical factions vulnerable to attacks from other Pantheons, and even minor factions.

And while this didn't seem to be my problem, I highly doubted that it wouldn't affect me greatly. And at that point, I might not be in a position to make any great impact to rectify the situation.

No, if I wanted to become powerful fast, and with the chance to live in peace for the foreseeable future, my best option was to join Rias Peerage …  for a price, of course.