DxD: The Truth of the World

CHAPTER 5

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Fallen Angels.

Angels created by the biblical God who fell from grace after breaking the sacred laws of Heaven, most often victims of their own desires as they were corrupted by "impure thoughts" that strayed from the teachings of God.

Many succumbed to temptation, particularly their fascination with humans. In fact, several of the current Cadres among the Fallen lost their place in Heaven after having sex with mortals.

Cast out and forsaken, they were banished from Heaven, with their halos crumbling into dust while their once-pure wings darkened as a mark for their fall. They were no longer angels, yet not quite demons. So, with nowhere else to go, they banded together and formed the Grigori, The Watchers of the Children of God.

Currently, the faction was led by Azazel, the Scapegoat of God, and as rumors have it, he was consistently mentioned to be searching for Sacred Gear users to further his research.

The reputation of Azazel and the sudden appearance of a Fallen Angel arriving and contacting Issei specifically in Kuoh could only be for one reason, he guessed.

The Grigori wants to recruit Issei into their faction.

What a headache.

If the Grigori truly intended to extend their arms toward Issei, that meant his little brother was about to be dragged into the supernatural. Something that he preferably would have liked to avoid with a foot-long pole.

Issei wasn't ready for all of this yet, even with the training that Ren snuck in from time to time. Hell, he's just a 16-year-old boy who still doesn't know that he has a Sacred Gear, let alone the fact that it was one of the Longinus that most factions would fight tooth and nail to get their hands on.

Moreover, given the fact that Azazel had a perverse streak of his own, the Fallen wouldn’t hesitate to think of dangling the ultimate temptation in front of a fellow pervert.

A harem, or better yet, the power to build one with his own hands, should Issei join the Grigori.

"Still though, how did they even find out about it?"

Ren muttered as he rummaged through his belongings in the shed to search for something.

Normal means would be useless when trying to detect a Sacred Gear; the only reason he even found out a while ago was coincidental.

His movements halted for a second, his head tilted as if listening to something before he continued his search, a little frustration leaking out as he mentally made a note to move the duffel bag, currently buried deep in the shed, back to his room now that this fiasco was starting to take shape.

"Yes, yes. The Grigori is a net positive in the scale of things. I already knew that I couldn't train Issei to his full potential with the whole supernatural starting to breathe down our necks. The Fallen, especially Azazel, can help nurture Issei safely with the current peaceful "no-kill-unless-needed" approach that he implemented in the faction. But the supernatural is still dangerous for a normal person."

He retorted as he finally found the duffel bag hidden underneath the floorboard that he had installed all those years ago. Dusting the dirt and grime that had accumulated over time, he yanked it out; the seeming weight of the duffel bag made it impossible to be hefted unless someone with inhuman strength could manage it.

Inspecting the insides of the bag, Ren nodded with satisfaction as everything seemed in order. The larger equipment he’d packed to avoid any interest from his parents back then, the tools and the gear—all of it was exactly where it should be.

A sudden thought entered his mind as he winced at the possibility. The Biblical factions are already a headache to deal with; imagine if someone from Greco-Roman Mythology poaches Issei?

Myths are stories of old; as twisted as they are in the modern world, they still hold true in a sense. He honestly preferred Issei join Grigori instead, as the things that they do in the Greco-Roman faction make him shudder in disgust.

Slinging the duffel bag over his shoulder, he listened once more before sighing.

"True, between the three factions under the Biblical Mythology, Issei only has the real option of joining the Grigori."

Personally, he disliked the choice to join the side of the Underworld for a sole reason: if Issei became a Devil, his perverted nature would go out of hand, as the Devil faction would simply indulge his perversion.

Lust was a deadly sin that they proudly embraced, and Ren knew it would only escalate with the influence of the Devils, even more so due to the fact that they respect power.

He grimaced at the thought.

The idea of a super pervert like Issei holding any kind of power within the Devil hierarchy was a terrifying prospect, especially when all the Maous are perverts in their own nature.

As for the remaining option in the list, the Heaven faction...

He doubts that the Church would accept such a lecherous person; that door was instantly shut the moment Issei started his perverse tendencies at a young age.

Honestly, the only logical choice was the Grigori.

Given the circumstances that Issei had in the Sacred Gear department, it will catch Azazel's attention like a moth to a flame, which means better security and protection.

Not only that, but the Grigori's M.O. was always for the betterment of the humans blessed by their Father... At least most of the time.

He didn’t like the idea of Issei being caught in the supernatural, but deep down, Ren had always known that it was inevitable.

Issei was going to attract attention as this generation's Sekiryuutei either way; there was no way around it.

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Ren sighed as the latest update came through on his cell phone, sinking deeper into his chair as he thought.

He was scheduled to head to Kyoto for a two-day training session.

The first day was dedicated to the newly implemented syllabus criteria mandated by the government, while the second day was reserved for fulfilling the yearly professional development requirements for teachers with less than five years of experience, along with a meeting to assess adjustments based on feedback from the previous year's teaching.

He wasn’t thrilled about it, especially with everything going on.

Yesterday, Amano Yuuma contacted Issei once more to ask him out on a date scheduled for Sunday.

His trip to Kyoto was set for Friday, with his compulsory training spanning the following two days. At the earliest, he'd be able to return home at the dawn of Monday, leaving him with no time to check in on Issei or intervene if anything went wrong.

He tried to ask for a delay or replacement, hoping there might be some way to postpone the trip or send someone else in his place, but all his requests were met with firm denials.

Left with no other options, he reluctantly decided to let go of his protectiveness over Issei.

At the end of the day, this would benefit Issei more in the long run. The boy was smarter than he looked, and Ren had to trust that he’d make the right choice on his own, hopefully delaying any decisions until all the facts had been laid out before him.

He actually thought about contacting someone to confirm his suspicions, but he hesitantly decided against it.

Any news or question would only increase the attention on Issei exponentially, and that would paint a target on his back for all the Mythologies across the world.

The existence of a new Sekiryuutei with zero combat experience would force every bloodthirsty faction to expend resources to crush the "problem" before it is allowed to grow into a bigger threat in the future.

He also decided not to tell Sera.

As much as he trusted her with his life, he knew that no matter how secure or protected a secret was, information always found a way to leak.

But just in case, for the sake of easing his paranoia of anything going wrong, Ren went home and made sure to repeatedly tell Issei to wear his necklace after modifying it slightly to sport an additional bead along with the original paper armband fit for a child.

Though, even he doubted that it was necessary to use the full potential of the necklace.

Worst-case scenario, Yuuma would be disappointed and simply walk away, leaving Issei alone after he miraculously rejected the temptation to join the Grigori.

It’s not like the Fallen were dumb enough to eliminate a Boosted Gear user on Devil grounds, inside the territory where two sisters of the Maous govern, right?