Reborn as a Dragon Slayer in Draconic Deus

A/N:

" " : Dialogue,

' ' : Thought,

"Italicized text" : Telepathy,

[ ] : Spells, Techniques and Sacred Gear Casts,

"Bold text" : Ddraig & Albion.

———————————————————

Narrator POV

After Kuroka and Bikou were captured by Haruki, the three Dragon Kings and three devils all went to the hotel. Unbeknownst to most of them, two other members of the Khaos Brigade watched the commotion unfold from a distance. One of them was a bespectacled, blonde man dressed in a suit, and the other was a man with blood-red hair that stopped at the same level as his chin, who was wearing silver armor underneath a pitch-black cloak.

These were Arthur Pendragon and Leon Fernandes, two of the most skilled magic swordsmen in the Khaos Brigade, who were also natural-born Holy Sword wielders.

*Arthur Pendragon*

*Leon Fernandez*

"What a mess. I don't imagine that Vali would be pleased with what's happened now." Arthur said while readjusting his glasses. "Well, he'll have to bear with the situation, then. Even with our strength, going into such a situation would have been too disadvantageous, especially because of that green-haired Dragon King." Leon said with a stoic expression.

"Wait. Haruki-kun? How so?" Arthur asked, intrigued by Leon's opinion. "I'm not sure. It's just a gut feeling." Leon replied, his eyes still fixed on the area that Haruki and the others left not long ago. "A gut feeling, you say? Then we'd better get going, since that sixth sense of yours is yet to fail." Arthur said, then turned away, preparing to leave the area.

But as they moved to vacate the area, a leaf of paper seemingly flew in from nowhere and settled on the tree whose branches they were standing on. Leon picked it up, and on the paper read a message; "I'll send Bikou back, but you will not have Kuroka back as a teammate. Unless, of course, Ophis-chan calls for it herself. – Haruki." As soon as he finished reading it, the paper went up in flames, burning to cinders in an instant, and without warning, Bikou appeared from seemingly out of nowhere and crashed into the trunk of the tree that the two were standing on, getting shocked out of his unconsciousness.

Groaning in pain, Bikou got up, with Nyoi-Bo in his hand and a frown on his face. "Hey, don't try going back there." Leon said, as he put his hand on Bikou's shoulder, holding him back. "He took her!" Bikou said in protest. "And we know that. But going back there, even with all of us will be too risky." Leon said, putting more force into his grip.

Bikou still wanted to go back to get Kuroka, but acquiesced to Leon's words, as he knew that one of the most battle-hungry people telling you to stay out of a fight wasn't a good sign. "It's not just the Red Dragon Emperor and Haruki that were there. Tiamat and Tannin also arrived after you and Kuroka lost consciousness. Even with the three of us, fighting against three Dragon Kings and a Dragon Emperor is going to be a losing battle." Leon said solemnly.

"Damn it. Vali really isn't gonna like this." Bikou said, as he rubbed his back while channeling senjutsu to heal himself. "Shit! That guy really doesn't care how he leaves people." He said, this time concentrating most of his senjutsu to his midsection, where Haruki had hit him with a lightning fist.

"Fine." Bikou began. "Let's get back to Vali, then. But I'm telling him that you two stopped me from getting Kuroka back." He said as he pointed at the pair of swordsmen. "No problem. Now let's get out of here before someone starts looking for us." Arthur said, then the three of them teleported out of the Underworld.

…

In a conference room within Sirzechs' territory, multiple devils, angels and fallen angels were present, the most notable of them being the Satans, Tannin, Azazel, and Azazel's Vice-Governor Shemhaza, who was berating the vigilance of the devils, or rather the lack thereof.

The fact that Kuroka, an SS-Class fugitive of the devils, had managed to sneak a familiar into a party hosted by a Satan peeved him greatly. But he didn't go on for much longer with scolding, as the situation was speedily handled, mainly by Haruki.

 In as much as it was a problem that Kuroka and Bikou had infiltrated so deeply into the Underworld, the situation had been a net positive. Sirzechs' younger sister was safe, the Khaos Brigade had lost one of their stronger members, and the devils had gotten hold of a fugitive, or so they hoped.

Haruki had made it clear that he wasn't going to hand over Kuroka to any devil regardless of whatever they brought up. "If you want me to hand her over to you guys, my advice to you is to go and sleep. Because that'll only happen in your dreams." He said to the elder devils that had tried to pry Kuroka from his custody.

Of course, this made them bring up their complaints to Sirzechs, saying that he was disregarding their prestige as elders of devildom, only to disappointed once more. "He's not a devil, so I don't have any right to command him. And prestige… Do you actually believe you have greater prestige than a Dragon King?" He asked them, his message clear.

Of course, this didn't include all of the elder devils, as Lord Phenex and some others knew that they truly couldn't do anything in regard to Haruki's custody of Kuroka. So they simply accepted it and continued with their festivities, with many of them chatting in anticipation of the upcoming battle between Rias and Sona.

Tannin expressed great support for Rias and her peerage, particularly Issei, as he had trained him. Other devils commented on the changes that Azazel's knowledge had already brought and how they were likely to cause a great change in the Rating Games as a whole. Azazel watched all of this with a small smile, wondering if there was ever a time that all three Biblical factions had ever come together like this, without tension or enmity.

But everything got interrupted by the arrival of a new person. "Hmm. So youngsters nowadays don't have respect for an old man like me, huh?" An old man with a long, grey beard, wearing an old-looking hat and a monocle over his left eye said, as he trudged in with a walking staff. Behind him was a white-haired woman wearing armor.

"—Odin." One of the devils said as they identified the man. "It's been a while, old geezer of the northern countryside." Azazel said to Odin, the Skyfather of the Norse Pantheon. "It's been a while, fallen angel brat. It seems you've chosen to lay in bed with your enemies. Up to something crafty again?" The All-father said to Azazel.

"Nothing of the sort, geezer. Unlike countryside gods that stay stuck to their archaic and "conventional practices", we young people are more flexible. We prefer growth and progress over unnecessary hostility." Azazel said, and Odin scoffed at him.

"That's a loser's mindset appropriate for the weak. As is to be expected from a group of brats that lost their founding God and Satan." Odin said without mincing his words. "Wow, I knew that you were an insufferable geezer to me, but I guess you really don't discriminate." A voice familiar to almost everyone in the room said from behind Odin and the woman accompanying him.

"Ah, Haru-boya. I was wondering when you'd finally get here." Azazel said to Haruki, and Odin turned to face him. Seeing the tall, green-haired, green-eyed young man in front of him, memories of a much younger boy cropped up in Odin's mind. A boy that showed great talent as a runesmith and magician, who held a favorable, almost sibling-like relationship with the Valkyrie that he came to the Underworld with.

The young man in front of Odin felt so different from the boy in his memories that he almost believed that he was someone else. The fact that Haruki was now a Dragon King also contributed to the disconnect between the present and past versions of himself that Odin felt.

"Haruki?" The white-haired woman, a Valkyrie, said out as she walked closer to Haruki. "Yeah, it's been a long time, Rose-nee." Haruki replied with a smile, which quickly shifts from friendly to teasing. "Did you end up taking the geezer as your boyfriend after not being able to get one for so long?" He said with the most shit-eating grin he could make.

Haruki expected her to puff up in anger, but was caught off guard as tears began to pool in her eyes. "Hey, hey, hey. I was joking. I wouldn't want for you to have this perverted old man as a boyfriend." He said alarmedly, trying to calm her down. "Really?" She asked, sniffling. "Yeah." Haruki said with a nod.

"Okay." She said, wiping her eyes. Then she quickly sent a punch to Haruki's midsection, which he blocked. "Sorry, Rose-nee, but you can't sneak in blows that easily anymore." He said as he playfully grinned at the Valkyrie, who had a scrunched up expression, like an elder sister play-fighting with a little brother.

"So you're familiar with them, Haruki?" Sirzechs said as he walked toward them. "Yeah, Mom took me with her during a visit to Asgard. You know, as part of her "learning experience". It's thanks to Rossweisse here that I learnt most of the Norse magic that I know now." Haruki replied, as he quickly and smoothly knocked Rossweisse off balance, spun her around, then held her arms against her torso in a lock.

"Well, her and Göndul-baa-san." He said, holding Rossweisse as she struggled to get out of the lock. "This old pervert didn't even move a single bony finger of his to help me out." He said, as he loosened a finger to point at Odin, which Rossweisse used as a chance to escape his hold. "Well, you weren't all that important, brat." Odin said in retaliation.

"Haruki-kun, while Odin-sama has done things that don't shine a positive light on the reputation of Valhalla, such disrespect cannot be allowed." Rossweisse said, sighing at her memories of Odin's shenanigans. "Oh, don't worry. It's just some banter between men. If you remain so stuffy, you'll probably continue on without having a boyfriend." Odin said, his words hitting Rossweisse's heart like arrows and causing her to break into tears.

"Hey, Rose-nee may be a bit of a stick in the mud, but it doesn't mean that you should berate her for it." Haruki said in Rossweisse's defense, but inadvertently struck her in the heart as well. "If you ask me, she's got the chance to get out there now that she isn't holed up in Valhalla." He said, then turned to Rossweisse. "I'm rooting for you, Rose-nee." He said with a wink and a thumbs up.

Although their words had been hurtful, the clear support from the man she treated as her younger brother all those years ago gave Rossweisse some solace as she wiped her face.

"By the way, Sirzechs, Serafall. I heard your family members are fighting each other. Don't you think it's cruel to make your precious younger sisters fight each other even when they're close friends? You really are devils." Odin said as he clicked his teeth at the Satans.

"It's a challenge that she has to face. If she can't break through just this much, then her future as a devil would pretty much be crushed." Sirzechs said calmly. "It's already decided that my So-tan will win☆." Serafall said as she swung her wand about. Odin took it as a chance to look at her body, his eyes holding a perverted glint that could overwhelm even that of Issei's.

This was easily noticed by Azazel, Haruki and Rossweisse, who all looked at him with disapproval. Azazel because he felt that he was too blatant with his looks toward someone who had no sexual or romantic interest in him, Haruki because he generally disliked perverts that couldn't comport themselves in public, and Rossweisse because she felt that he was harming Valhalla's reputation with his antics.

"I see, I see." Odin said as he sat in an empty seat. "By the way, brat. I heard that the both of them are your lovers, so which of them do you think would win this?" He asked Haruki, who had taken a seat himself. Sirzechs and Serafall looked at him, wanting to hear his answer. "I'm honestly not gonna hold much expectation on who'll win." His words caused them to look at him with slight displeasure.

"I've trained them all, so I know their capabilities on a one-on-one level, but it's a different story if they come together to battle as a team. I can confidently tell you that it's a toss-up." Understanding where he was coming from, Azazel nodded, feeling that Haruki's words made sense. "But if it ends up as multiple one-on-one duels, Rias' group would win, no doubt." Haruki finished.

"Is that right?" Odin said as he stroked his beard. "So, when's the date?" He asked Sirzechs and Serafall with an intrigued smile. They continued to discuss in anticipation of the Rating Game, choosing to leave the matter of the Khaos Brigade's attack to be discussed at another time. Some of the family heads that held no animosity towards Haruki struck up some conversation with him, most notable of them being Lord Phenex, who was starting to get worried for Riser's mental condition.

Haruki made it a point of note to visit the Phenex territory after Rias and Sona's battle. While those discussions went on, Azazel made his way out of the room, choosing to take a break from mingling for the time being. He sat on a sofa in the hallway, only to notice Sirzechs right beside him.

"Hey, Azazel. I've got something to ask you before the games start." Sirzechs said. "Sure. What's it?" Azazel said, ready to answer any questions regarding Rias or Sona's peerages. "If you were to face Rias' group, who would you absolutely make sure to take out first?" Sirzechs asked, concerned for his younger sister.

"Ise-kun, mainly because of his destructive power and ability to empower the others. If you meant to break them down, then I don't think there's anyone in the peerage whose defeat would cause them to lose their fighting spirit so drastically." Azazel said, and Sirzechs caught the underlying message in his words.

"Hah, it's really him, huh." Sirzechs said with a sigh. "Yup. Haru-boya is their pillar, no matter how you look at it. And from what my gut is telling me, he's now a lot more difficult to beat than before." Azael said, impressed by Haruki's progress as someone who was still just 15 years old.

"If he wasn't on our side, I honestly feel that he'd have become one of our most difficult enemies." Sirzechs said as he looked up at the Underworld's purple sky. Azazel stayed quiet for a while, before he said something that changed the way Sirzechs thought of Haruki. "I don't think that he's on our side, per se."

"How so?" Sirzechs asked as looked at Azazel with a raised brow. "It's more that he has goals that happen to align with ours, and he's willing to rectify our issues if they get in the way of his goals. If anything, he's on his own side, and everyone else is either helpful or a problem to be taken care of." Azazel said, and Sirzechs eyes narrowed, then he looked towards the room, where Haruki was discussing with the others.

"Well, I hope that he doesn't become enemies with us, for Rias' sake." Sirzechs said. Suddenly, the door was opened, and Haruki walked out of the room, looked at them and waved, then dissipated into motes of magical light. Azazel had his jaw drop in realization, then began laughing. "Haha, to think that he'd sent a clone. With how well it was made, it even fooled us." He laughed, while Sirzechs' wariness of Haruki increased ever so slightly.

Chapter End.

Word Count: 2,678

🧷Cover Art Submissions🧷

Thanks for reading.