Harbinger Of Ruin: Ch.4

'Well, canon is gone.' I thought with a soft & subtle sigh as Koneko & I leaned against the wall, both of us standing with our arms crossed and while she had her eyes closed, mine was filled with rapid thoughts as I pondered upon our current predicament.

Issei was now on the Sitri's side and only four of us were left to face Riser & his team in a couple of years when Rias finished university.

While they were happy that we got so much time, I knew that we had a month at most before that timeline went from a couple of years to ten days when Riser comes to visit and to be frank, I don't believe we can beat him easily.

Can we beat him? If I force the girls to start training now to get used to their abilities, we'd win quite easily, but our two heaviest hitters are stuck with trauma & that isn't something one can shake off after just a pep-talk or two.

'Hah~You know, I should have just gone & stolen Issei's Sacred Gear with that cross thingy of the Fallen Angels and then Rias wouldn't be so sad, but no~ I just had to feel like I could do something without it and now we're going to have to fight them without him. Hopefully, my plan works because if not…hah, it's going to be a long fight.'

“Think we can win?” I was knocked from my thoughts by the voice of Koneko, looking down to see the girl looking up at me with a stoic look, but there was no hiding the slight concern in her eyes as I frowned.

“You want the answer you want to hear or the answer you need to hear?”

“The latter.” She spoke and I scratched the back of my head as I ran through what I knew of the three ORC girls that I knew at this time before shrugging.

“It's a toss-up. If we train intensely, we could possibly beat him with ease, but the problem comes when he finds out that we are training intensely. He'll then try & persuade both parents to push the marriage closer so that they can 'have grandchildren earlier' which could make our deadline go from a couple of years to just a year or maybe even a month in the worse case scenario. In that scenario…it's honestly a toss-up on who actually will win.”

“So…we just have to train & we'll win.”

“Intensely. I mean like we'll have to break bones, tear muscles & go beyond our limits or else we'll lose before we can even beat all of his pawns let alone the other pieces.” I clarified and she sighed right before we looked up as Rias' door opened.

“She finally asleep?” I asked as Akeno walked out of Rias' room, the girl sighing & nodding as she rubbed her temples.

“She finally went to sleep, but I can say for certain that she's probably never trusting Sona again.”

“Oh, that's for certain. Their friendship is going to be more like an acquaintanceship from now on until Sona either wins back her trust or give her something of equal value to Issei.”

'The more I grow attached to this body, the more I realize just how little care for the fact that I'm a literal slave in all but name.' The thought had flashed through my mind a few times, but I didn't really care for to even entertain it because I also know that House Gremory cared for their servants/ slaves like family so it didn't really matter.

It wasn't a bad thought; just one that came to mind a few times.

'Or, I could just have some kind of slave-kink?...Nah, probably not.'

“Oh, definitely, but I don't see how she can make this up to her. Perhaps a new peerage member?” Akeno proposed and Koneko & I both raised an eyebrow before the white-haired girl spoke up.

“There are none.”

“She's right. Issei was the last one available, wasn't he?”

“I know, I know. Just…I want to give her a reason to be happy.” She muttered and I frowned slightly before an idea came to mind.

“How long do you think she'll be asleep?” I asked as I pushed off of the wall, gesturing for the two confused girls to follow me as we made out way to the stairs down.

“Uh, half an hour at most. Why?”

“Good, because I have something I want to test out and I need some help to do so.”

“Like what? And why are we heading to your training room?” She asked as we walked in the direction of it, to which I smiled as I opened the door & walked in while taking off my school jacket.

“Simple. I've been working on a few stuff and I need your help in testing them out.” I spoke as the Gremory crest appeared on my palm right before a dark red rapier with a silver hilt materialized from thin air in my grasp, swinging the blade a few times right before I stabbed it into the ground.

“Stand right here, please.” I asked Akeno while walking away, the girl frowning a bit at my request but nodding as she walked over to the rapier right as I created four rapier & stabbed them at four other points on the floor to make a pentagram with the first one I stabbed with.

“Now, turn to us & fire a lightning bolt. A weak one, please.” I quickly added as I watched the busty girl look at us with a sadistic glint in her eyes, which quickly faded as she let out a disappointed moan right before her hands sparked & thunder boomed in the room.

However, as Koneko went to jump out of the way, her eyes widened along with Akeno's as the lightning bolt curved away & impacted the rapier to our far right.

The lightning didn't stop there as it jumped from rapier to rapier, Akeno looking surprised as she was surrounded in a cage of lightning within minutes before I winced as an audible moan escaped her lips the moment the lightning touched her.

“Ecchi.”

“She is indeed.” I spoke in agreement with Koneko's words as the lightning cage fizzled out, the rapier's still sparking while Akeno stared at me with an aroused yet hungry look in her eyes as she panted heavily.

“What…was that?” She asked/ gasped out and I smiled as I flicked a finger up, surprising them both as all five rapiers were shifted from the floor before disintegrating into motes of light.

“I call it Lightning Rod. It's a sword made to both attract & redirect a sudden electrostatic discharge in a five meter area around it. In other words, it's a lightning rod, but that's not all. It is also a blade that can link up with other Lightning Rod to form what I call the Thunder Palace, an area made when five Lightning Rods are stabbed within ten meters of each other in a pentagram formation. It isolates the static charges in that specific area & uses the lightning it has absorbed to create a powerful cage of lightning that's effectively as powerful as a C4 explosion concentrated in one specific spot.”

“…And you made this?” Koneko asked with shock and I smiled as I created another Lightning Rod in my grasp.

“Yep, it was a fun one to make, but it is only part of the plan that I have to defeat Riser. I recently found out that I can add two enchantments to a sword so I want you all to help me figure out how I can add more. In doing so, I want to create one singular sword that we can use as a group to take out Riser in either one powerful attack or continuous fatal attacks.”

“Like perhaps a Thunder Palace that also partially nullifies his regeneration, flames & winds?” Akeno asked with a thoughtful look and I nodded as I dismissed the rapier in my grasp.

“Yes, but I don't want to make the enchantments too powerful or else I'll be stuck to one blade. Instead of doing so, I want to make the blades have numerous weak enchantments that I can then make countless off which we can then use together…”

“To create one powerful enchantment.” Koneko whispered with her eyes wide, my own widening as well with joy as I nodded slowly before turning to Akeno as she spoke up.

“If that's the case, then we need to figure out how you can make the blades themselves stronger to make sure they are still very durable without the enchantments added to them.”

“Precisely, which brings me to my next question. Do you know if we have any books in the library on blacksmithing and perhaps runes that even a novice could understand?”

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“Okay, test number…which one is this?” I asked Akeno as the two of us stood in the middle of my training room, with her looking just as tired as I did as she shrugged while creating a shield in the form of the Gremory crest in front of us.

“Who cares? Why do you even do this?”

“For science. Anyway, this is test number 'Who cares', the last one for the day. We have successfully managed to figure out how to add minor enchantments to the sword, but the study of runic languages is still a struggle. It turns out that being able to speak every language doesn't carry over to being able to read, write & understand them on paper.”

“I'm all for being teased & edged, but either you make the blade or I'm making you spank me.” Akeno spoke with a frown and I looked at her for long enough that she gave me an amused smile before shaking my head as I walked over to the middle of the floor.

With a grunt, I created five Lightning Rods in my grasp, but this time, each had a few added markings on the hilts as I stabbed them into the ground into the same pentagram formation like the numerous others we've done before, taking a few steps back.

“Okay! Fire when read-!” My eyes widened & I quickly created a wall of swords right as a fireball, a bolt of lightning & a blast of wind impacted the swords furthest away from me.

Gritting my teeth & awaiting the explosion, I was surprised to hear nothing happening, the top of the sword wall shattering with a thought as I looked over it before an ecstatic smile appeared on my face as I saw the Thunder Palace sparking beautifully while the fireball & the blast of wind were being contained inside of it.

I could see how the swords started with siphoning just small bits of demonic energy from the spells before the siphoning rate grew bigger & bigger with every second, the spells not lasting more than thirty seconds before they were gone & the Thunder Palace fizzled out.

“Yay~!! We did it!” Knocked out from my ecstasy, I looked over at Akeno jumping & cheering in joy & relief from not having to do spells any more, taking a deep breath to stop my horniness as her tits were bouncing despite being kept captured in her lacy purple bra before shaking my head as I walked over to her.

“Kiba, we did I-!” I didn't let her finish her sentence as I held a finger up to her lips, Akeno finally realizing that I was not excited as she was as I looked down at her with a piercing stern look in my eyes.

“Did you think of warning me before firing off the spells?”

“I did…but then I didn't.”

“…Did you do that on purpose just so I could get mad & actually punish you?” I asked with an incredulous look, watching as the girl looked away with a blush before shaking my head while rubbing my temples.

“You know you're supposed to be the oldest out of us two, right?”

“I'm also a sadomasochist that hasn't had any playtime in like sixteen hours so I am a bit pent-up.” She admitted bluntly and I simply looked at her before looking up at the ceiling.

'God-Ow! I don't know what this girl is, but please give me strength-Ow! What, so even mental praying hurts me? Well, fuck you then, you big bastard. See if I pray again.' I grumbled as I looked back down on Akeno, who had an innocent look in her eyes despite the seductive & sadistic smile on her face.

“You know, for the past two to three days, you've changed quite a bit.”

“I've always been like this. It just got too tiring to keep up the perfect prince act at home.”

“So, what you're saying is that little Kiba has always been this confident hunk in front of me?” She whispered softly as she leaned up to me, our faces barely a few centimeters as I looked directly in her eyes before giving my best charming smile as I leaned forward & making her eyes widen as it looked like I went for a kiss before moving my face to the side to whisper in her ear.

“Gotcha.” With a smile, I pulled back and was amused by the glare she gave me as her breathing was a bit heavy, her chest bouncing with each breath as I stood back just as the door opened.

“Hey, Koneko said you guys were bu-Are we interrupting something?” Rias asked with a raised eyebrow as she walked into the room, noting Akeno's blush & heavy breathing as well as both of us being covered in a sheen of sweat.

“Oh, nothing much. Just Akeno helping me with some plans I have for Riser.”

“Wait, really? Can I hear them?” She asked and I nodded as I reached over & pulled a glaring Akeno closer.

“Sure. Akeno, you explain. I'm going to take a shower.”

“Wait, what? It's your idea!” She exclaimed and I just gave a salute over my shoulders as I passed the two girls towards the door.

“You're the fundamental part of the strategy so you'll explain it better.” I spoke with a smile before closing the door behind me, a bit of swagger in my walk as I made my way back to my room to finally get this sweat off of me.

Today was a good day~

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“So, this plan of yours, what are the chances of it failing?” Rias asked as the four of us sat at the dinner table, to which I looked at her with a hum before answering.

“There is a 7 in 10 chance of the demonic power overcharging the swords & making them explode, but I'm currently working on that and we could use it to our advantage by making the trap into bombs.”

“I see. Harm him with them and then activate the trap when he's weakened to make sure we beat him.”

“That's right.”

“How does it work exactly? Akeno explained, but even she said that she only understood the basics.”

'You sly minx.' I thought with a smirk & a narrowed gaze at Akeno, who gave me a teasing smile back before turning back to stare at a curious Rias.

“It's a very simple one. There are four enchantments on the blade: One to absorb & redirect a sudden electrostatic charge from the surrounding 5 meters around the blade, one to link the blade's enchantments with each other, another that activates when the Thunder Palace is activated & works by siphoning off any demonic energy inside the Palace and the final one redirects the demonic energy the sword absorbs to the other enchantments on it. Thus…”

“It's a leech. A leech that starts off weak but grows stronger & stronger the longer Riser stays inside of it.” Rias whispered in awe as she realized the power of the spell, to which I winked & nodded before turning to Akeno as she cleared her throat.

“Ahem! It's a good spell, but there's just one problem. Kiba here doesn't seem to be able to make a sword that is strong enough to withstand the effects of the enchantments.”

“That's because my sword is made out of a mystical metal that cannot be found anywhere, but that's where I came up with an idea and it's one that I need your help with.”

“And what is that?” Rias asked with a frown and I scratched the back of my head before answering.

“Does you perhaps have any metallic alloys lying around that I may borrow for a day or two to see what I can make more powerful swords out of?”

“Oh, just that? That's pretty easy.”

“It is?” I said/ asked and she responded by snapping her fingers, a Gremory crest appearing in front of me right before my eyes widened as the plates and cutlery in front of me were all replaced by a dozen different metal blocks.

“You don't have to give that back. Mother wanted to be sure we're prepared for anything so one of the sealed-off rooms in the basements has nearly a football field's worth of minerals & metals, both from Earth & the Underworld. There's tungsten, mythril, titatium, forged steel and a few others I think would fit with what you have planned.”

“…Have I ever told how much I love you?” I asked as I looked up at Rias, who just rolled her eyes besides the blush on her face as I caught Akeno giggling and even Koneko giving a small smirk at my words.

“Oh, hush you. So, what did you need it for?” She asked and I didn't answer as I placed a hand on the first metal bar, taking a few deep breaths before flushing my demonic energy into the bar as I activated the one spell I've been training constantly since I arrived.

“Trace…on.”

A/N: For those wondering, yes, I'm going with the Gilgamesh/ Archer build here.

This is because Kiba, before he became a reincarnated devil, was just a human while Koneko is a Nekoshou & Akeno is a Fallen Angel hybrid so the SI wanted something to put him over the edge.

However, it's not as OP as Archer's is right now to the point that he knows anything & everything about the object. For now, it's just something to help him scan the structural form of an inanimate object.

Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!