Highschool DxD : The Time Devil

Chapter 10- Reminiscence and Future Plans

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In my previous life, I lost both my parents in a car accident during my late teens. I'd always been a genius, so adoption wasn't a concern—I was nearly 18 and could take care of myself. With no family left, I threw myself into research, focusing on time itself. At first, I wanted to go back and save my parents from that accident. But the more I studied time and space, the more I got hooked. It turned into an obsession that took over my life. Eventually, I forgot about saving my parents and got lost in the research just because it fascinated me.

Ironically, when I was finally close to a breakthrough, everything went wrong. The experiment failed, and I died. I had a lot of regrets—mostly about the life I didn't live. I had no friends, barely socialized, and never had a serious relationship. No, I didn't die a virgin, so I wasn't exactly on the path to sainthood, but I wasn't much better off. Reincarnating as a devil, with powers over space and time, felt like I was given a second shot at my old dream. And this time, I'm determined to make the most of it. At nine years old, I already have a fiancée, so I can safely say this second life is off to a better start.

In this life, I made a goal to avoid my past mistakes. I work on my social skills, although I'm far from being a social butterfly. I haven't done much scientific research either, though I have better physical abilities now. I know I'll never reach the same level of expertise as before, mainly because I don't have the same obsessive drive. Sure, I have a distant goal to explore beyond this universe, but that's a long way off. Right now, I'm focused on advancing my strength. Moving from Ultimate rank to Satan rank feels like a huge leap. According to my estimates, I should be able to reach Satan rank by age ten, which gives me about a year to train.

After that, reaching Super Devil rank will be even harder. Super Devils are rare—there have only been two in history. But I'm confident I'll make it. From what I remember from the original story, becoming a Super Devil means pushing one power to its absolute limit, so it forms a unique domain. Sirzechs Lucifer has his Aura of Destruction, and Ajuka Beelzebub has his Kankara Formula. I've already decided that my Super Devil form will focus on space-time abilities. Right now, I'm working on sharpening my reality-bending skills and adding some heavy-hitting moves. I need more destructive power, so I'm developing two new attacks. First, I'm practicing controlled black hole creation. I can make them now, but controlling them precisely is tricky. Second, I'm working on a space-time sword. It's a simple concept but difficult to pull off: condensing space and time energy into a blade that cuts through anything. Only defenses on par with my Eternal Sanctuary might withstand it.

Meanwhile, over the past year, I've had to endure my mom's etiquette lessons. She's finally decided I'm "barely passable," so I'm free from those torture sessions for now. My father, on the other hand, has been teaching me mostly boring stuff like the history of noble houses, their political alignments, and how they typically act. It's dry information, but I suppose it'll come in handy someday.

My little sister, Seekvaira—Seek-chan, for short—is now seven and has started her own training. Thankfully, she's spared the political lessons since I'm the eldest, but she still has to build her strength. In devil society, power is everything, so even girls are expected to fight. My fiancée, Rias, has also started warming up to the engagement. She occasionally talks about making an anime together after we get married. Her otaku side is starting to show, and so is her lazy streak. Not that it bothers me; I don't expect her to be a fighter.

Lately, I've started planning my peerage, remembering characters from the original story who could be powerful allies. I already have two candidates in mind: Lavinia Reni and Kuroka. Lavinia should be orphaned around this time, so I plan to go to Italy soon to find her and fool her, I mean graciously accept her, making her a part of my family (peerage). Kuroka, on the other hand, will require a bit more work to recruit since she has ties with the Nekomata and was probably already a reincarnated devil, so I will wait till the point Koneko was taken in by Rias, or take action sometime before that, so that I have enough evidence to accuse the small devil house she is part of now, and make her part of my peerage righteously . Both have incredible potential, but I'll need to carefully plan my approach to bring them over to my side. I'm confident I can pull it off—after all, I'm the smartest devil around. I've got plenty of tricks up my sleeve for situations like this, or atleast I can think of a few plans such situations.

Thinking back, my past life was all about the pursuit of one goal, but this life is different. I'm still driven, but I'm not letting it consume me. I'm making time for other things too. With these new powers and opportunities, I plan to enjoy this life a lot more, all while aiming to reach the top. My second shot at life is going great, and I intend to keep it that way.

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