Author's note: Was busy with some uni stuff and also tried another idea that was itching inside my brain. Busy busy days, but everything should return to normal. At least for a couple of weeks.
Anyway! If you like Naruto, check the chapter I posted and tell me what you think! I will upload that one every once in a while.
A Marvelous Devil.
Chapter 41: Offspring?
Kuoh, Japan.
Dante Andromalius.
Sona was already waiting for us at the door of her house before the Dark Force even returned to my body.
And despite her fear of the bratty fog that still didn't like her much, I barely had time to register the petite missile that collided against my chest, thin arms wrapping around my neck and pulling me down into a kiss that was far too heated for a normal greeting.
I did such a good job with my adorable devil. The Sona of two years ago would have drowned anyone saying she would do something like this. But here she was, being such a perfect host.
Not that I did much to cause such a change, to be honest. It was all her, losing every inhibition because I didn't allow her a reprieve. It was as amusing as it was hot. But it was all hers.
"Missed me?" I murmured, feeling Tandy snort behind me.
"Don't be insufferable, Dante. It doesn't suit you," Sona said, adjusting her glasses.
They were fogged, adorably enough. By now, I knew that Sona didn't need them, but she liked the style and 'seriousness' it gave her. And I had to admit that they suited her well.
She noticed where I was looking, blushed, and cleaned them, glaring at me.
I grinned, earning a scowl.
But before I could say something clever, Sona pulled me down again, this time to my ear.
"Rias is genuinely grasping straws now," she whispered, her breath hot against my skin. "She's going to ask you for help with something I know you can help with. Please say yes."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Depending on how much you do, I'll make it worth your while," she continued, and I could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks without even seeing them. "If you're surpass my expectations, I'll gift you something… special."
My lips twitched. Sona Sitri, asking me to help her rival. Truly, we devils were creators of miracles. If only the ones who knew me before could see me now.
"And here I thought you'd be more jealous, given your game with Tandy," I chuckled, meeting her eyes. "Why now? Are you not having fun anymore?"
A guilty expression passed through her usual stoicism, but she hid it as fast as it appeared.
Her blush didn't diminish in the slightest; if anything, it got even redder.
"I did enjoy it," she admitted quietly. "It was nice having attention for once. But she's my friend, and I want her to be happy."
"And do you think I'd make her happy?" I asked curiously.
"Happy enough," she pinched my chest, "I know you'll treat her good, just as you do to me. And I can't say I never imagined having her under me… You have no idea how many times I had to cover for her."
I laughed loudly at that, conceding her point with a nod. She had told me enough times what Rias made her go through.
"Fair enough, and I won't lie and say she hasn't piqued my interest. I want to see how far she goes in her attempts, at the very least."
"You say that as if you aren't imagining her tits around your cock right now," Sona rolled her eyes even as they brightened with the image she brought with her words.
Truly, I corrupted her so well.
"I'm not that crass, love," I replied. But now I would be thinking about it.
"Now let's go see how low your rival can go."
Sona smiled her tiny smile before her expression went to the usual neutrality, "Keep in mind what I said, Dante. You'll love your present if you go beyond. And feel free to rip her off, she deserves it at least a bit."
She murmured under her breath, shook her head, and grabbed my hand and Tandy's. As she led us to the door, she said, "Lucifer knows how much she deserves it. Maybe I'll get something out of her just in case."
Ah. There it was. Sona helping Rias wasn't exactly altruistic.
In part, it probably was, but there was also politics at play. Sona knew that Rias had more potential than she did in strength and that Rias's peerage surpassed hers by a large margin.
They didn't need to play that song and dance, but since they'd known each other since they were babies, they probably enjoyed owing each other something.
Fun game to play.
Sona was just so cute.
Hell… I was feeling a bit bad because I hadn't clued her into my secrets. Maybe I could start training her in other interesting ways, her and Rias for good measure.
Tandy fell into step beside me, her hand finding the crook of my arm. "She can be quite naughty when she wants to, right?"
"You know it," I said, grinning.
We laughed in unison, seeing Sona almost trip, before she glared at us.
The interior of Sona's house was as immaculate as it had been the last time. It was a bit too orderly for my tastes, but I knew how much that mattered to Sona, so I didn't make fun of her for it.
Even if I really wanted to.
And in the middle of it all, sitting on the couch like she was posing for a portrait, was Rias Gremory.
I almost stopped walking.
Not because she looked different than usual, or because I didn't expect her to be here. Sona had warned me about her already.
But damn.
Even Tandy looked open-mouthed at the scene of Rias wearing something that could only be generously called a skirt. If you stretched the meaning of the word.
By a lot.
It was black, obviously. Tight in every place it needed to be and nonexistent in several places it probably shouldn't be.
It was also high enough to hint at everything while not allowing anything to be seen. She crossed her legs just enough to block the sight, and as tight as it was, I just knew she wasn't wearing anything underneath.
Her hair was down, cascading over her shoulders as she watched me with those big eyes of hers, biting her lip between shame and excitement.
People liked to say the eyes were the window to the soul, and there had never been a moment in history where it was truer than this moment.
The pure naughtiness, the sense of doing something that you shouldn't… it elevated all feelings Rias had at the moment to something so delicious that I couldn't help but marvel quietly at her form.
She wanted me to look. She needed me to look.
And at that point, the effort alone required a reward. So I did.
My eyes wandered slowly from below, the cute painted toes coming out of her sandals. Painted red, because no other color fit the occasion, to her pale, long legs that were blemish free.
My eyes lingered in her midsection, earning the biggest deep breath from her that I had seen in a while; her legs shivered, like she wanted to move them but barely managed to keep them in place.
Then they went up, watching that lacy shirt that barely managed to keep her impressive chest hidden from the world until they locked into her bright blue eyes.
I smiled at her, "You look stunning, Rias."
The words worked as intended, as a thousand-watt smile lit on her face. The embarrassment was there, but also hunger in her eyes as I saw my whole attention on her, unlike most times I visited.
"Thanks," she said, her voice just steady. "Thought I'd dress up for our guests."
"I'll thank Misla for that, then," I chuckled. "You look simply divine."
She uncrossed her legs for a moment, and the milky white of her plump thighs was the only thing on my mind.
Behind me, Sona cleared her throat, giving me a look that was between hunger, irritation, and amusement. The last one only felt because I could see through her quite easily at this point.
Tandy closed her mouth, eyeing Rias with the same amount of curiosity she had shared with Sona during our adventures.
She approached Rias and hugged the redhead, whispering something in her ear before stepping back.
If only she wasn't grinning like that. Was she planning something?
"Speaking of Misla," Rias cleared her throat like Sona earlier. "How is she? I heard reporters have been hounding your territory for months, wanting to speak with her and your father."
She sat back down a bit more demurely as she asked curiously.
"They have," Tandy rolled her eyes, "not that they dare to act like they usually do after Sai got one trying to trespass. They have been quite polite after that, but Dad and Misla always have a group tailing them just in case. It's not only the reporters we're worried about."
"The Baels," Sona nodded seriously, "you told me a bit the last time I… visited."
She blushed at that, earning a huff from Rias and a perverse giggle from Akeno, who had stayed silent, looking at our reactions.
Sona glared at Akeno, cutting her laughter.
"Rias's uncle has been quite insistent," I snorted, "you would guess he'd gotten the hint after I ignored the first three letters."
"Dante," Sona sighed. "He won't give up. He's Lord Bael. As much as he's at fault, Misla is still his wife. They're only holding back because you're an unknown, but that won't last."
Rias looked worried at that.
"I've got it handled," I assured her. "Trust me."
Sona didn't say anything, just nodded. Rias, on the other hand, didn't look that assuaged.
"What about you, Akeno? You've been quiet. Cat got your tongue after our last spar?" Tandy teased.
I barely managed to stifle a snort at that.
One could say that they didn't get along… if you didn't have enhanced senses and couldn't smell the sheer musk out of Akeno after Tandy mopped the floor with her.
Their friendship started a little… rocky. No, that was saying it lightly. It was horrible, and I suspected it had something to do with her angelic part, but Akeno didn't like the fact that Tandy used light as her usual weapon.
I hadn't asked because I was busy with other things, but Akeno couldn't hide the stench of Yahweh from me.
It was surprisingly pure, though.
It was one of the reasons I was curious about her. I was curious about this world counterpart to the one I knew, because of all the inconsistencies surrounding the figure that hasn't shown his mug in centuries.
The other? She was an irredeemable pervert, one who would love and enjoy being chained under my bed.
Did I need someone like that? Not exactly, but you couldn't say it wouldn't be fun.
For a time, I thought to tease Akeno more than Rias while I continued to ignore the redhead, but I felt that she would probably attack me in irritation, so I stayed my hand.
Now that I wasn't planning on keeping up the charade, things might change.
"Forgive my manners," Rias clapped her hands, "please take a seat, I believe Tsubaki will bring the tea shortly."
Then she beamed at Tandy.
"I still can't thank you enough for that, by the way," she giggled, "this one is so much more potent than the one in the market. And it tastes so damn good."
Tandy smiled at Rias after taking a seat on my lap, the tease.
They both knew that I had a perfect view of Rias from this position, and Tandy didn't wait a single moment before grinding on my lap.
I ignored the wink my light sent the redhead's way, even as Akeno shook her head amusedly.
"So, I was already planning on visiting, but Misla mentioned you needed something, Rias?" I asked quite curiously what this was about. "She threatened to drag me here if I didn't hurry, in fact. Something about owed birthday presents."
Rias's expression grew warm at that, "I always liked my her. She was much nicer than the mom's brother. He grew ever worse after Milicas was born."
"Then you should visit her more often," Tandy tutted, "she's awake, Rias, but she's lonely inside the castle. Even if Sai visits daily, he's the only one who does it because no one wants to piss off her husband. Even her parents have only sent letters for the moment."
"That's horrible... and sad," Sona grimaced.
"That's politics for you," I shook my head, "the Vapulas paid a lot for Misla to marry into the Baels, as you might suspect. After she gave birth to a… defective heir and then fell sick, they didn't get scot-free from the powerful family."
"We're planning on arranging a meeting, though," Tandy was quick to calm them down, "we just want to make sure nothing untoward will happen to either of them in case people learn of it before it happens."
"They wouldn't dare," Rias scowled.
"Rias, dear… we're devils," I snorted, "I know you have part angel somewhere in there, but not everyone is like you."
"Or you," she glared at me with a tiny, but happy smile.
At that, both Tandy and Sona snorted in disbelief.
"Dante is worse than they are combined. You're just lucky that he likes you." Tandy shook her head.
I just sent an innocent smile Rias's way, which earned a smirk from Akeno.
The door opened once more, and Tsubaki entered with some cups levitating behind her. After the pleasantries, she put the cups in front of us as we prepared for business.
"So, Rias… What do you desire?" After sipping from the cup, I asked, "What can this devil do for you?"
Rias turned serious at that.
"I want another deal."
Kuoh, Japan.
Rias Gremory.
I practiced this speech over a hundred times during the previous month.
It really mattered to me. I didn't want to fail in something like this.
In front of the mirror, in the shower, in bed before falling asleep, and a couple of times when Akeno used illusions to take Dante's form while teasing me like the sadist she was, all to get rid of my embarrassment.
Did it work? I had no idea.
Did she have fun? Yes, terribly so.
Did I feel bad for having her service me in that form? Not in the slightest. They both owed me that, at the minimum.
But somehow, sitting across from Dante while he sipped his tea with that infuriatingly calm expression, every rehearsed word disappeared from my memory.
"I've been training as we agreed," I said instead, wanting to make it clear that I was fulfilling my part of our previous deal. The one he made only to help me.
And I wasn't lying. I had grown significantly stronger, but it wasn't enough. I knew that, and as much as I hated admitting it, I couldn't delude myself into thinking that I had what I needed to defeat Riser without the dagger Dante took out of his ass.
"I noticed that, and I'm proud of you, my dear," he said calmly, and I had to do everything in my power to avoid preening under his praise.
"But it is not enough. We're not… No, I am not ready to defeat him by myself," I continued, pushing through the humiliation of saying it out loud. "And while looking for answers, I found someone. A human with a sacred gear. And I believe she is the answer I need."
"And you want my opinion?" Dante asked curiously.
"I want your experience." I shook my head firmly. "I know what I want to do, but I don't know if I'm capable of doing it. There's something weird with her, and you reincarnated Tandy. She was human, and from what I know, her power is the complete antithesis to us devils. And yet, you managed to make it work with your evil pieces. I want your help making sure I can reincarnate Isane despite her… weird things."
Tandy perked up at my words, sending an amused glance in Dante's direction. Her power was bullshit, but it only showed that Dante knew what he was doing.
"I don't know your secrets, but there has to be something that you do differently than the rest of us." I looked down at my lap, uncaring of what I was showing him at the moment. And no, I wasn't expecting that showing my skin would change his answer; this was beyond the game we were playing. "Sona also reincarnated someone that she couldn't have done before with a single piece. A single pawn to get a high-tier sacred gear inside her peerage last week."
Dante glanced at Sona, who met his gaze with an expression so innocent it couldn't possibly be genuine.
"It is the first time I hear of that," he chuckled at Sona, with Sona just smirking in return.
He also looked a bit amused, and Sona nodded proudly before biting her lip with an expression I didn't know she was capable of.
Ugh. I was so fucking jealous of them.
"I know some things," Dante tapped his fingers on the cup rhythmically. "And I'm sure I can make a deal with you, Rias. But now you've left me curious. Is it possible that I see who you're talking about?"
"And the price?" I asked nervously.
"Two favors," he grinned sharply, and I felt heat rushing up my cheeks when his gaze lowered to my short skirt.
"And they are?" I swallowed, feeling my saliva thicker than usual.
"A date, to a dance club. Just the two of us," his eyes went up and down my form, and I fought a shiver of pure arousal from showing, "and a chance to finally meet your secret bishop. I'm quite curious about the power he has."
"Deal!" I didn't even realize I stood up with a bright grin, and even less that I pumped my fist in the air with a victorious expression.
I didn't know why Tandy and Sona were giving me pitying looks. I won! I finally won! And he didn't rip me off!
I nodded at Akeno, who gave a fond sigh before slipping out of the room, and a minute later, Kiba walked in with a confused-looking human woman trailing behind him.
Isane Hyoudou.
She was... ordinary, at first glance. Brown hair, bright eyes, a cheerful face that suggested she spent most of her time with a smirk carved on her face. Average height, average build, except for a chest that drew stares from every person she passed.
Even I looked once or twice. I was jealous of their perkiness. For a human, there was something unnatural about them.
She was dressed in cute jeans and a red sweater, looking around the house with wonder. From what I knew about her economic situation, I didn't fault her. The Hyoudou weren't that rich to begin with, and Serafall had gone beyond what was needed for her little sister.
Just as Sirzechs had.
"Um," Isane said, looking around the room. "Gremory-senpai? Will you finally explain what all this is about? You said that it was super important and I had to skip going to the karaoke with Aika."
Now came the hard part. I never liked letting normal humans into the supernatural because they always panicked when they understood how dangerous the world truly was.
I opened my mouth to give my carefully prepared introduction.
And then I noticed Dante.
His teacup had stopped halfway to his lips. His body was completely still, with only his eyes moving.
His mouth was open. In shock.
And he was staring directly at Isane's chest.
For a long, confused second, I thought Dante had finally cracked and was ogling a human in a way he never did to me. I felt a spike of indignation, disappointment, and something uncomfortably close to jealousy.
Then I looked at Sona and Tandy.
Which, instead of acting the same way as I did, just looked tense.
Like, genuinely concerned. Tandy's hand touching Dante's arm and squeezing hard enough to get his attention. To no avail.
"Dante?" Tandy said quietly. "What's wrong?"
He didn't answer. His eyes hadn't moved from Isane, from her chest.
Then his eyes started to twitch violently. Like Sona's veins, whenever I forgot to fulfill my duties as a governor of the town.
"What the..." he breathed, and his voice carried something I had never heard from the usually smug devil.
Genuine bewilderment.
"Dante." Sona's voice was sharper now, her eyes going between Isane and Dante. "What's gotten into you?"
He set his teacup down with exaggerated care, and I saw his hand tremble, just slightly. He closed his eyes and sighed, a deep, rumbling sigh.
He looked like he wanted to do something more, but I didn't know what.
"Um, is he okay?" Isane asked, taking a step back. "He's kind of weird, even if he's the hottest man I've seen. He's even hotter than Kiba."
Nobody answered her. Kiba just snorted while looking confusedly at Dante.
Then Dante's power swelled.
Aggressively, and uncaring that Isane didn't know about the supernatural. The room darkened as a black fog came out of his hands before it curled around his fingers before it thickened.
Then he clenched his fist, and the fog shot downward through the floor.
Something slammed into the ground behind the couch hard enough to crack the tile.
Everyone jumped. Isane shrieked and dove behind Kiba, who had his sword half-drawn with a deep frown. Akeno's lightning crackled at her fingertips from the outside of the room. Sona's water materialized in spinning snakes around her body.
My power of destruction also tinged my fingers despite trusting Dante. Because the thing that dropped onto the floor felt strong.
I couldn't sense its depth.
And on the floor, groaning and cursing in a deep voice, lay a man who hadn't been there a second ago.
A man built like a mountain, with hair redder than even mine and covered in tattoos. He smelled like cheap beer.
"Oh, hey, bestie!" Tandy greeted the man who seemed to ignore her as he glared at Dante with those yellow eyes that froze me on the spot.
"You ABSOLUTE BASTARD!" the man roared, scrambling to his knees. "I was invited to something called pole dance for the first time!"
Dante grabbed his face with one hand. Tight enough that I heard his fingers crack. He turned the man's head toward Isane, who was peeking out from behind Kiba with wide, terrified eyes.
He stopped cursing instantly.
"Tell me," Dante said in a tone I had never heard from him. It was almost demonic, and I felt his words reverberate inside my chest, "When exactly were you planning to tell me that you had an offspring?"
The man looked at Isane.
Isane looked at the man.
And then the red-haired stranger burst into the loudest, most obnoxious laughter I had ever heard in my life. Loud enough that the cups on the table broke just from the sound.
"Offspring?!"
Dante Andromalius.
Kuoh.
It was rare for me to find myself confused. Or shocked enough to act like an idiot.
It simply wasn't the norm, not when you were alive for as long as I had been.
But this? I couldn't fault myself for not caring about what they heard or knew.
It's not like they knew who the dumbass laughing on the floor was, and I had no plan of explaining more.
Instead, I lifted Red with one hand and dragged him toward the farthest wall before erecting a barrier to hide us from view. And sound, and everything.
"Red, what the fuck?!" I gripped his jaw tight, "Why does she smell like you?! And why does it only come from her fucking tits?!"
That was the thing that confused me the most. Yes, the offspring comment was wrong, and I was already thinking about how to play it off. Because the human didn't come from Red's loins or was created by him.
Or at least, not all of her.
Only her fucking tits.
Red snorted loudly, his eyes locked onto Isane's form, then he snorted again.
"… What?" I asked, my eye twitching hard enough that it bothered me.
"Do you remember the first time we met in this life?" he finally asked once his breathing was under control. "That I mentioned I felt some probes from the other bastards wanting to get a leg inside this universe?"
I stared at him in silence.
"I recall," I said after a moment. "I don't remember being that pissed off at someone in eons. Not even Mephisto made me feel that way when he killed me."
I took a deep breath, "you said there was the one you knew and another weird one you dealt with. What does that have to do with why that human's tits smell like you?"
"I'm getting there," he snorted once more, wiping tears from his eyes, "so, the second entity that tried to get inside. It was strong, and like… a spiritual being. Something I had never seen before in this world."
"A spiritual entity…" I mused, "like the Vishanti, probably."
"How strong? What does it have as an authority? You should be able to glean something like that since you dealt with it, no?"
Red smirked, his eyes full of mirth, before he sobered. "The authority is breasts."
I deadpanned at the idiot. "You're joking."
I waited for him to respond, but he looked serious.
"Really?" I gaped at him. "An authority over tits? What the fuck is that? Is it like a sexual god or something?"
"Or something," he waved his hand, "but don't let that fool you. Whatever it is, it was strong. Easily above me."
My mouth literally wouldn't close.
"Red, I meant no disrespect, but what the fuck is wrong with your reality?"
The idiot just shrugged, "Either way, as I said before, I felt it trying to scurry into a human womb eighteen years ago. It was subtle, but I was paying attention because I didn't want Mephisto to pay a visit and hunt your ass down, so I noticed. Barely."
"And what did you do? Also, what does it have to do with her?" I asked, morbidly curious.
"She was in the womb," he said calmly, "and as I said, I dealt with it."
I waited for him to continue because I genuinely had no words.
"The blessing it gave him wasn't… benign. I don't know whether they are enemies, but the energy began to corrupt his soul even before his body was fully formed. If I did nothing, he would grow into a complete degenerate obsessed with breasts."
"… You must be joking."
"I wish I was," he shook his head before falling silent.
"Wait a fucking minute, he?" I found myself asking.
Red snorted, "Yes, he was supposed to be a male. But when I grabbed the entity's energy, I found it was fighting my power, despite being only a blessing. Deciding that erasing it would probably alert said entity, I used a bit of my flesh to seal it."
"So you made her tits?!"
Red nodded proudly, "Since I got a bit of experience after messing with your soul, I moved things around until she was born this way, and since said entity has conceptual powers over breasts, what better place to seal it but a pair of them?"
"… why? Just why?"
"I found it deeply ironic," he said after a moment, then his eyes lit up like he was remembering something, "Ah, she's also the wielder of Ddraig, by the way."
I blinked, before accepting that it was indeed ironic. And a bit funny. And of course she was the host to one of the Longinus.
"The Red Dragon Emperor?" I frowned, "Does he know how you messed with his host? Will he know about this?"
"Meh," Red shrugged uncaringly, "he should know to keep his mouth shut. If nothing else, you can tell him you can get him out if he behaves, and if he doesn't, you will take him out for a moment for me to punt him into Jupiter one more time. That should keep him in line."
"For fucks sake, Red," I sighed, "I genuinely don't know what to say."
"It was a good plan," he defended himself, "Either way, you can help the devil reincarnate her, unless you want her for yourself. With my flesh, her whole self must have mutated into something acceptable for you. Either way, you can study the energy at your leisure to prepare to pay me back."
I nodded, opening my mouth.
"Now, I have a dance to go back to. And to fix your messes of the Dark Force eating me in the middle of a bunch of humans," he lifted his clawed hand for a moment before lowering it down and opening a portal, "see you later, Dante. And have fun. Tell blondie I said hi."
What a fucking bastard.
I lowered the privacy spell, watching everyone glance in my direction in confusion and a bit of fear. It was amusing how they, in unison, took a sigh of relief seeing that Red wasn't here anymore.
"My apologies, everyone. It was a false alarm," I gave the most innocent smile I could muster. "Where were we? Ah, it's a pleasure, Isane. You can call me Dante. And welcome to the supernatural world!"
The human eeped behind Kiba, and I found my eyes focusing on her chest for the last time before I snorted.
Fucking mess of a reality.
"And I believe there's much we need to talk about."
The wielder of the Red Dragon Emperor, blessed by a tit god, sealed by an idiot dragon, and about to become a devil under another one that couldn't beat her own fiancé.
And here I thought I had seen everything the universe had to offer. This sounded like the plot to a bad hentai that Tandy liked to read at this point.
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