DxD: The Truth of the World

CHAPTER 9

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Granted, letting a Devil in the house was not a recommended move by quite a lot of Personas in his psyche, but dammit, the reaction of his parents devolving into muttering messes the moment his mother found out that Issei "did it" with a foreign beauty was amazing.

Though it was really annoying that they were shooting at his mental health in the midst of things.

Yes, he still hasn't had a girlfriend after 25 years of roaming the Earth. Yes, he still was a virgin when their Ise had seemingly "graduated."

But could they at least tone down the public execution? He... Uh—Right!

Research shows that women in his generation are seeking three things in a man, the infamous "666" combination. 6-figure salary, 6 feet tall, and 6-pack abs. Technically he has all three 6s, but in regard to the 6-figure salary, his net worth already reached 6 figures a while ago, but his monthly salary didn't.

And as for his virginity... He had to focus on his career? That was a weak excuse; he had nothing.

Kuh, he wanted to lose his V-card, too, you know? What kind of guy doesn't? It's just that... He still thinks that he's lacking in both the money department and the mental department.

He wanted to have a stable flow of income first before getting a girlfriend. Going out with a girlfriend costs money, and money doesn't grow on trees!

And he's already a quarter into his life and still a virgin; if someone suddenly asks to do "it" with him, he's afraid that his skills would not be up to par with men his age. He'd probably implode from the shame and embarrassment of not delivering a good performance.

Ahem! Moving on!

As the Hyodo family and Rias Gremory were having breakfast, he felt the wave of magic wash over the dining table. It was similar in structure to the Brain Jack Ailment Skill.

And his hypothesis was proven correct as his parents had hollow eyes, as if possessed; it's definitely a brainwash spell. Ren's eyes came into contact with Issei's, who looked confused after Rias Gremory's whispers about the usage of her powers.

So, Rias had told Issei about his condition.

He gave Issei a wink, whose jaw suddenly dropped at the realization.

"N-Nii-san—?!"

He stopped abruptly as Rias pinched his side, causing him to yelp in surprise.

"No shouting on the table, Ise. The questions that you have will be answered after school, so keep it to yourself for now, alright?"

Returning to his breakfast, he made the mental note to release his parents' current ailment with an Energy Shower once the two started their trek to school, along with a light Makajamaon to avoid any suspicion.

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Since he had hours upon hours of overtime clocked in, he requested an early day once school ended, and HR, knowing full well how much extra work he’d put in, granted it without question.

In fact, the person that managed his early leave was crying for joy at the request. Looking at the screen regarding his clock-in and clock-out ratio compared to other employees, he couldn't help but let out a sheepish chuckle at the insane difference.

It was… a bit horrifying, actually. The second-highest worker didn’t even break 60% of his total hours.

"Maybe I do need a break, but the school year just started, and there's just too much stuff to do... Hmm, I'll take one once everything dies down."

He muttered to himself as he exited the office and started to walk to the Student Council room. Classes had ended just a moment ago, so he passed through the busy hallway filled with students leaving for the day, saying his goodbyes to his students as they waved enthusiastically.

"Sensei, see you tomorrow!"

"Thank you for the extra notes, Sensei!"

Eventually, the chatter faded behind him as he made his way up the stairs to the quiet part of the school where the Student Council room resided. Reaching the door, he gave it a knock and waited.

The doorknob twisted as Nimura opened the door and greeted him with a cheerful smile.

"Ah, sensei! You came just in time; everyone's present already."

"Nimura-san, I hope that I'm not intruding."

He offered her a small smile and nodded, stepping inside as she moved aside to let him in.

Entering into the lavish Student Council room, he noted the difference between both clubs. If the ORC was leaning into the Victorian-style aesthetic, the Student Council club was leaning more into the modern-era office-style aesthetic.

It actually looked the same as the Student Council room layout when he was a student here at Kuoh Academy. He spent most of his third year in this exact room, so he was pretty sure that it remained the same.

"Professional" would be the apt description of this room compared to the ORC's "Mysterious" description.

Looking around, he did notice the lack of the ORC members in this meeting, so he inquired about it.

"Rias has decided to induct your brother as her newest Pawn to her Peerage, so this meeting will be just the nine of us. However, I will pass along the meeting minutes to her later, so please be aware that this meeting will be recorded for that purpose."

"That is fine; I have no problems with it."

Nodding, he took a seat on the vacant couch facing the center desk, where the Kaicho sat. The tension in the room was far lighter than during their first meeting, which ended abruptly.

Pushing her glasses up, Sona Sitri leaned slightly forward before glancing at Tsubaki, her fukukaicho.

"Tsubaki, please start recording the minutes for this meeting from this point onward. Momo, assist her with the visual recording."

""Yes, Kaicho.""

Sona then turned her attention to Ren, interlacing her fingers and resting her hands on the desk. Kusaka stood up from her seat, approaching the desk with a document in hand.

"First, I apologize for not mobilizing my Peerage during your brother’s time of need. The limited space and the fact that you, sensei, were still seen as a potential threat to our Peerages, with no prior show of allegiance, were my main concerns."

The short bow from Sona made him quickly wave his hand to stop her.

"Please, raise your head. In fact, I preferred your approach; it is sound and understandable. You have seven lives in your hands; one wrong decision and judgment as the King would cost heavily."

A small smile graced her face at his reply. As she raised her head, she nodded her thanks to Kusaka for the document. Opening it, her expression sharpened as the time for formalities was over, and serious matters had arrived to be addressed.

"Hyodo Ren, born in September 1983 at Kuoh Hospital, precisely at 12 p.m. From elementary to high school, your grades were stellar, and your college years were exemplary, to the point where sensei was able to skip two entire years of your degree."

He coughed into his fist as the looks of awe from the Student Council members caused his face to burn up slightly. Flipping the document in her hands, the Sitri heir continued.

"For a year, sensei interned for Kuoh Academy before being accepted as a full-time teacher with a unanimous vote by the board of directors. Your report during the internship period was filled with impressive comments and remarks from your seniors."

Placing the file on the table, her glasses seemed to glint before she questioned.

"A perfect background, yet there is no such activity of the supernatural present. Furthermore, a Summoning Sacred Gear is already uncommon, but one with elemental magic is beyond rare. When did you awaken it? And from the performance shown yesterday, you are, without a doubt, powerful. So how did you get this far without arousing interest from the major factions? It would be foolish to not consider such a powerful ally."

As expected, the Sitri heir started firing her questions at a rapid pace. They both are so similar even though their demeanors are a complete one-eighty in terms of attitude and seriousness.

Hah, and she complains that their compatibility isn't high.

He struggled to stop a grin from dawning on his face as he raised a hand gently to stop the barrage of questions.

"Sorry for stopping you; I'll answer your questions later once I resolve this slight misunderstanding."

Sona paused, her brows slightly furrowed, but she stayed silent as she signaled him to continue. With a deep breath, he explained.

"I am a human, yes, but I do not have a Sacred Gear. God did not grant me his miracle."

His right hand raised as power coursed through his veins at a single thought. A substantial pressure exerted from his being, blanketing the Student Council room as the ethereal card of The Fool manifested in his palm.

The card had a blue border and featured the illustration of a laughing man gazing down from a cliff, a dog at his side. The words The Fool and the number 0 were inscribed on the same side as the illustration.

Gently pushing the card forward, it oscillates in the air as it moves towards and stops just before the main desk of the Student Council room. Curious, Sona stood up before walking forward to the card, eyes wide with interest.

"A card? What's that English word on the bottom?"

He heard Saji whisper in confusion as his King educated him in an intrigued tone.

"The Fool, it is the first in line of 22 tarot cards used primarily for divination purposes in the past. The card represents innocence, freedom, and creativity when faced upright, while representing madness, inexperience, and chaos when reversed."

"The being that I summon, it is called a Persona. The physical manifestation of one's psyche, formed through the resolution of the mind and spirit."

The eight stared at him for a moment.

"Sensei, could it be that you grew up with this power and thought of its manifestation as this... Persona, while in reality it was just the Sacred Gear revealing itself?"

Meguri questioned with a skeptical look as Sona sat back down in her seat. He didn't really blame her, though; the ability of a Persona was similar to a Sacred Gear, as it too is driven with the power of the mind's resolution.

Of course, he had already experienced this skepticism, so he had the perfect response prepared.

"I reckon that you have information regarding the Persona that I summoned yesterday?"

Sona nodded, explaining her understanding to the Peerage members who were lost on its identity.

"Alighieri. A human that hailed from Italy in the 1200s. According to human mythology, he's considered the greatest Italian poet, best known for The Divine Comedy, though I didn't expect his appearance to look like that. The familiar uses fire magic that can render through Fallen Angel flesh, which is said to be as tough as steel."

Good, it seems that she did her research before this meeting.

"From what I understand, Sacred Gears can only cast one element at a time, correct? And a Summoning Sacred Gear can only summon one type of familiar?"

The Student Council President simply stared at him before nodding with a confused expression.

"Well, yes."

He suspected that much. Though he didn't get much explanation regarding Sacred Gears from her other than cutely drawn images of various Sacred Gear categories, he understood the personality of the God in Heaven, who had a habit of restricting limits to His creations.

Personas, however, were innately human, no matter how one may differ from the other.

They had limitless potential.

Letting the card of The Fool recede back into his psyche, he delved into the Sea of Souls once more to request a helping hand for his explanation.

His other self responded to his call with an excited giggle before he returned back to the real world, replacing one of the Personas in his immediate reach with the one from the Sea of Souls.

As his consciousness returned to reality, a faint shimmer of blue light flickered around him before he reopened his eyes.

The pressure in the room shifted to a lighter, calming atmosphere, a stark difference from the stuffy pressure exerted from his body a moment ago. It was as if the person exerting the pressure was suddenly switched.

Another ethereal card manifests in the palm of his hand, this time different from the previous card. The illustration of the card had changed, a man standing between two women, one mature and serious, the other youthful and beautiful, while Cupid hovered above preparing to shoot a single arrow. The title The Fool was gone, replaced by The Lovers, and the number 0 had shifted to 6.

"Pixie."

Familiar power flooded through him as he crushed the card, the sound of glass shattering echoing throughout the room. From a flash of blue, a lithe fairy emerged, wearing a velvet blue leotard with matching gloves and thigh highs.

Flapping her wings attached to her back, she floated for a second before deciding to land on his head, sitting comfortably as he heard Sona exclaim from her seat, standing in shock.

He honestly hadn't heard from Pixie for quite some time, so he asked about her disappearance.

Hmph! There's just too much testosterone in that psyche of yours; I had to retreat back to the Sea to meet up with the girlies!

Oh, and we gossiped a lot, especially regarding you and Se—

He quickly dismissed her from reality before she embarrassed him, only for her to somehow reform back into the real world as she lay on his head with a mischievous giggle. He held back a sigh as he looked at the shocked expression on the older Student Council members, while the newer members simply looked at their comrades with confusion.

To nail the point deeper, he let the power within him simmer before forcing it to release outwards through his Persona as he commanded Pixie to use her preferred element.

"Zio."

Launching from his head, sparks of yellow lightning danced in her hands as it coagulated before she fired it to the furthest wall from them. From her hands, a streak of lightning flashed before it struck the wall with a loud crack, a ripple of static bouncing across its surface as a faint scorch mark sizzled at the point of impact.

He glanced at the Student Council in hopes that he had convinced them, but it seemed that he still hadn't from the flicker of doubt in their eyes. They were trying to decide if Pixie was another ability that his supposed Sacred Gear had.

He hummed as he thought back on the short lessons regarding Sacred Gears until he recalled that healing Sacred Gears was a rare dime in the supernatural. The Student Council shouldn’t know about his healing ability either, especially since he had used it before the ORC arrived unless one of the ORC members had shared their experience.

So, he decided to put the nail in the coffin. From his suit, he calmly drew a black kogatana, unsheathing it with precision. Before anyone could protest, he flipped the blade toward himself and drove it into his arm, blood leaking in droplets down his limb.

"W-What?!"

"Sensei!"

"What'dya do that for?"

He smiled at the panicked expressions of his students before turning his gaze to the floating Pixie after safely returning the kogatana back into his suit.

"Would you mind, Pixie?"

She sighed at his antics but flew close to his injured arm.

"Dia."

With a simple touch, a green glow enveloped his arm. He raised it for everyone to see as the healing process unfolded before their eyes. Muscles severed by the blade reknitted themselves, and the gash gradually sealed as if it had never been there at all.

He clenched his hand as a showing of the healing properties that his Personas could perform, though it remained slightly sluggish since the Dia Skill Tree didn't restore much blood. However, the stunned looks of those around him made it clear that he had successed in proving his point.

"A Sacred Gear can never be this flexible. As I said; this, is the power of a Persona."