Chapter 33 Showing who is the king..

"Thank you Shield hero for protecting our village once again, we don't know how to ever repay you" said the village Chief.

"No need for rewards, maybe tho when we visit here once in a while and maybe we could get free room and breakfast next time" Said Issei.

"Y-yeah sure, that's excellent, but is that all you want?" Asked the village chief.

"Yeah, it's not like it was hard beating that arrogant fool anyways, and I unlocked a new skill too" Said Issei as he remembered the fire dragons shield.

"We have to move now, so cya I guess" Said Issei as he started to walk away with Raphtalia right by his side and Zin above them.

As they walked towards another village it got darker and Issei had a great idea to travel faster as he looked at Zin.

"Hey Raph, how about we fly towards the village?" Asked Issei.

"What? What do you mean fly?" Asked confused Raphtalia.

"I mean, you do remember that I'm a dragon. My true form is sealed but I can still use my dragon wings" Explained Issei.

"O-oh, I don't know, what if I fall off?" Asked Raphtalia scared.

"Don't worry, if you fall off, I'll save you I can't let my cute Raph get hurt" Said Issei confidently until he realised what he said.

'The hell is going on with me lately!?' Thought Issei and Ddraig's laughter didn't help either.

Raphtalia was blushing from issei's words.

They walked in silence for a bit until Raphtalia agreed on taking a flight.

"W-we can try flying" Said Raphtalia silently but Issei heard her clearly.

Issei unfolded his red majestic dragon wings and gave them a good stretch.

"That feels great" Said Issei as he hasn't been using his wings in a while, he then flapped them for a moment while Raphtalia watched in awe.

His wings looked beautiful and majestic in her eyes.

Issei stopped and crouched down in front of Raphtalia with his back turned towards her.

"Alright, get on" Said Issei.

"On your back?" Asked Raphtalia blushing.

"Yep where else? do you want me to carry you in a princess carry?" Asked Issei.

"I-I...I wouldn't mind" Said Raphtalia to herself with a huge blush, but Issei of course heard it all. He stood up and faced Raphtalia he immediately grabbed her in a princess carry surprising her.

"Comfortable?" Asked Issei.

Raphtalia wasn't able to talk out of embarrassment as she turned her gaze away from Issei as she wrapped her arms around issei's neck.

Issei with a strong flap of his wings took off into the air shocking Raphtalia while Zin flew behind.

As they reached the height that Issei wanted, he slowed down a bit so that Raphtalia could enjoy the flight too, but it was still at least ten or more times faster than walking.

He casted a small invisible barrier so that the wind wouldn't annoy Raphtalia.

"This is so cool, I love it!" Shouted Raphtalia.

"I know right? I love it too, it's so refreshing and the freedom is amazing" Said Issei with a huge smile.

Raphtalia looked at issei's face and saw just how much he enjoyed flying that smile of his told it all as well as his eyes, but suddenly Raphtalia started to blush as she continued to gaze at issei's face.

She didn't want Issei to see her in that kind of state so she turned away and just looked at the ground and enjoyed her flight. After an hour she fell asleep.

She looked so beautiful and cute while she slept, he couldn't keep his eyes away from her.

'Brother, don't make me repeat myself' Said Ddraig mentally not wanting to wake Raphtalia up or for her to hear their 'manly talk'

'I don't know Ddraig, but maybe I'll ask her when this mess will end' Replied Issei with a sigh.

'Just don't wait for too long before it's too late' Said Ddraig.

'Alright buddy, now go get some sleep too' Replied Issei with a smile.

Ddraig did just that and fell asleep almost instantly making Issei chuckle.

The next morning Raphtalia opened her eyes to find out that she was on the ground and not in the air anymore and something warm around her.

She looked to her side and saw Issei sleeping right next to her with his wings out and wrapped around Raphtalia to keep her warm and Zin was sleeping beside Issei on the other side.

Raphtalia smiled at issei's caring manner.

Issei woke up as he felt movement that was Raphtalia.

"Morning, slept well?" Greeted her Issei with a smile.

"Yes, it was really comfortable and warm, the flight was amazing too" Replied Raphtalia with a smile that captivated Issei for a few moments.

As they got up Issei opened his pocket dimension and took out two sandwiches for himself and Raphtalia and a piece of meat for Zin.

He found out that food doesn't get bad in the pocket dimension which was very useful.

After they ate their breakfast they continued to walk the rest of the way until they reached a small village beside the mountain.

As soon as they entered some old man stopped them.

"What brings you here to this cursed village?" Asked the old man.

"I'm the Shield hero we are just traveling around" Said Issei.

"The Shield hero!? Doctor!" Shouted the old man as he ran off somewhere.

After a couple of minutes he came back with a man in white robes.

"I'm the doctor of this village, and are you really the Shield hero?" Asked the younger looking man with a beard.

"Yes I am, and why did this old man say that the village is cursed?" Asked Issei.

"That's because a dragon lives here on this mountain and a few days ago he attacked some of the villagers, five died while fifteen were injured" Said the doctor.

"A dragon Huh? Can I deal with it?" Asked Issei.

"I mean sure, but we asked the sword hero to take care of the dragon, but he hasn't come for half a week already and we can't wait any longer, we fear that he will attack again" Said the doctor.

"Alright, you just sit back and take care of your people while I take care of the dragon" Said Issei as he and Raphtalia walked off up the mountain.

"Good luck brave hero and thank you" Said the doctor when Issei walked off.

As they walked up the mountain to reach the dragons nest they encountered tons of monsters but issei didn't want to play with them so he just destroyed them with dragon shots or aura bullets quickly.

They reached the top and saw at least twenty meters tall dragon sleeping on a large flat rock in front of them but it didn't look normal as it had six eyes and four black horns, it looked rather demonic.

"Alright Raphtalia, listen here, back off and don't do anything, I want to try something really quick" Said Issei.

With a nod Raphtalia backed away into a safe distance and watched Issei.

"Hey lazy, wake up!" Shouted Issei as he threw a rock at the dragon.

The said dragon immediately opened its red eyes and stared at Issei as he stood up slowly and directed its killing intent to Issei.

Issei ignored the killing intent and did as Ddraig suggested him to do when they were walking here.

He showed his wings as his eyes turned to slits.

Issei inhaled as much air as possible and let it all out in one mighty roar that shook the whole mountain and to make his point he leaked his aura.

The dragon in front of Issei trembled from the fear as he saw that Issei is leagues above itself and a dragon too.

So his instincts kicked in and he bowed down and acknowledged Issei as a dragon king.

Raphtalia watched in shock from afar.

"I thought that I would scare him off with this roar but he bowed down?" Said Issei out loud.

"I told you to do this because weaker dragons will acknowledge strong dragons that reached or surpassed the heavenly dragon level as their true kings or leaders tho I didn't really know how dragons react to this in other worlds" Explained Ddraig.

"Oh, that's amazing really" Said Issei with a smirk.

"Alright, listen up, here you won't harm any people again and fly somewhere else like a cave where no people go and I'll call you whenever I need you.

I suggest to leave immediately because someone is coming to kill you so until I call you get stronger if you can and before you leave give me one of your scales" Ordered Issei.

The dragon in front of him stood up normally and with a slight nod left the mountain to find a new place to live but not before leaving his scale.

"Well that was easier than I expected" Said Issei out loud but was happy nonetheless.

He took the scale and let the shield absorb it and he unlocked a new shield and his Dragon's will shield upgraded.

"What was that Issei?" Asked Raphtalia as she sprinted towards issei.

"As a stronger dragon he acknowledged me as its leader or king and he obeys me from now on" Explained Issei.

Raphtalia looked at him in disbelief wide eyed.

"That is so amazing Issei!" Exclaimed Raphtalia amazed by issei's performance.

"Yeah right? now let's go back Raph, and take a rest at the village until it gets dark so we can leave at night by flying again" Said Issei and with that they returned back to the village.

"O-oh shield hero, that was fast, are you alright? we heard a scary roar that shook the mountain" Said the doctor.

"Yep, I dealt with it, alright now let's get to the injured, I have some medicine for them" Said Issei.

Issei Raphtalia and the doctor came to a white house.

As they entered it, they saw a bunch of people in the beds with bandages wrapped all over their bodies.

Issei and Raphtalia started their work.

Issei used his shield to enhance the medicine that he made and gave them to the patients together with Raphtalia.

If people were seriously injured Issei used his boost and transfer ability to boost the effects of the medicine.

"Well that should do the job" Said Issei with a tired sigh.

"I don't know what to say... thank you so much for your help Shield hero not only did you defeat the dragon up the mountain but you also healed the people I can't express my gratitude.

Please take this as your reward, here you'll find two hundred silver" Said the doctor as he gave Issei a pouch full of silver.

"No problem doc, now we will take our leave" Said Issei.

"Yes and thank you again brave Shield hero" Said the doctor as Issei and Raphtalia left the building.

"Well that was an interesting day" Said Issei.

"That it was, but where will we go now?" Asked Raphtalia.

"I think we should return back and maybe buy you a new weapon?" Said Issei as he released his wing.

It got dark already so they got ready to leave.

Raphtalia didn't get enough time to get on his back nor react as Issei once again picked her up in a princess carry and immediately took off.

"Aaaaaaaahh!" Screamed startled Raphtalia.

"Sorry, did I scare you too much?" Asked Issei as he chuckled.

Raphtalia pouted as she looked away.

"Sorry I made you angry, but go to sleep now while we fly for a bit" Said Issei.

Raphtalia only nodded and closed her eyes.

The warmth from Issei helped her to fall asleep quickly.

"There you are making this cute sleeping face again" Said Issei to himself.

More than half of the night Issei continued to fly.

But he didn't want to fly all night because he didn't want to be sleepy during the day, so to get some rest too he landed near an open field and sat against a tree with Raphtalia in his arms, and he wrapped his wings around her to keep both of them warm, and so that they stayed safe, he casted a barrier from any harm.

Morning came and as Raphtalia opened her eyes she was met with issei's emerald ones.

"Morning, slept well?" Greeted her Issei.

"Yes I did, it was really comfortable and warm I really like your wings and I appreciate your care" Said Raphtalia with a sweet smile.

"Anything for my raccoon" Said Issei as he stood up while Raphtalia blushed.

He didn't realize what he said at all as he himself just woke up.

Soon Raphtalia stood up as well, and as she looked around, she didn't spot Zin.

"Issei where is Zin?" Asked Raphtalia.

"Oh? he's just checking out the territory so that we could stay safe, he will inform us if he finds anything" Replied Issei as he stretched.

Later they finished eating their breakfast that Raphtalia made.

"Damn, I can only taste your food, but it is damn delicious" Said Issei as he practically inhaled the sandwiches.

Raphtalia just giggled as a small blush formed on her cute cheeks.

They suddenly heard a small wing flapping and as they looked up they spotted Zin.

"Find anything interesting?" Asked Issei.

Zin nodded much to issei's surprise.

"I guess we can check it out what do you say Raph?" Asked Issei.

"Sure we can go" Replied Raphtalia cheerfully.

They then followed Zin as he led the way through the forest.

After ten minutes they found a bunch of filolials in one spot in another open field.

"Is that all you have to show?" Deadpanned Issei.

But suddenly he smelled a girls scent.

He started to walk closer to the filolials.

Raphtalia saw that Issei picked something up and decided to follow him without any questions.

As they almost reached them the feiolials ran away upon seeing Issei and Raphtalia getting closer to them.

But as they ran away a girl was left behind with purple hair, purple shinny eyes and a cute face, she wore a fancy purple dress which already indicated that she wasn't from around here.

"What are ya doing here?" Asked Issei.

"M-me?" Asked the girl.

"Well of course you, who else?" Chuckled Issei.

"W-well I was just playing with filolial because I really adore them, b-but who are you?" Asked the girl a bit scared.

"Well you should've introduced yourself first, but that doesn't matter, my name is Issei Y Ddraig Goch" Introduced Issei.

"My name is Raphtalia and I'm issei's sword" Introduced Raphtalia.

"And this is Zin our.... familiar" Introduced Issei Zin.

"Hello, m-my name is Melty" Introduced the girl now known as Melty.

"Well hello Melty, you don't need to be shy nor scared, we won't do any harm" Said Raphtalia.

Melty just nodded shyly.

"What are ya doing here? I can tell that you aren't from around here" Asked Issei.

"W-well I was traveling to the royal capital with my guards, but when I saw those filolial I ran to play with them but got lost after a while" Said Melty as she had some tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

Issei put his hand on her head and ruffled a bit to comfort her.

"Don't worry, we will get you there safely" Said Issei.

"R-really!? Thank you so much! my father will definitely award you for this!" Said Melty as she hugged Issei.

'Well it wouldn't hurt to earn some money' Thought Issei.

"No prob" Answered Issei with a chuckle.

"B-by the way, what are you?" Asked Melty.

"What do you mean?" Asked confused Issei.

"W-well you have wings" Said Melty as she pointed at his dragon wings.

Both Raphtalia's and issei's eyes widened at realization.

Issei didn't hide his wings as he forgot about them completely.

"Ee-h erm I ....I'm a dragon you see.." Said Issei as he looked away fearing that she will get scared and will run away but instead...

"A dragon?.... that's so cool!" Shouted Melty excited similarly like Raphtalia when she found out that Issei was a dragon.

"Not the reaction I expected but I'll roll with it" Said Issei as Raphtalia giggled.

"Alright, I want to get there as fast as I can but I can't fly in my human form with both of you so I'll use something that no one has seen in this world as of yet to travel there faster" Said Issei with a grin.

This excited the girls.

...Line break...

Dxd world...

I wonder what is Issei up to right now.." Said Katase with a bored sigh.

"He's probably trying his hardest to train so he could meet up with us as soon as he can" Replied Ingvild.

"What if we get stronger too.....I mean if he is the only one getting stronger it is kinda unfair to him because he will always worry about us" Said Valerica.

"Well even if we will be strong he will still worry about us" Said Tiamat.

"Yeah you're right about that but it won't worry him too much so I say we should train as hard as he trains because we can't always rely on him every time an apocalypse occurs, we can at least get stronger to help him out" Said Valerica.

"Yeah you're right, we should put some effort into getting stronger, he won't always be able to protect us" Said Murayama.

"I agree, we should go And get stronger, so who has sacred gears should go and ask Azazel for help as he is an expert in that department" Said Valerica.

"Me and Tiamat will stay here in the dragon territory and train with Tannin and ask for help of Vritra and Fafnir" Said Valerica.

"Murayama, Katase and Irina you will train with Artur with swords and later on you will practice your magic with hmmmmm how about Grayfia, yeah she is one of the most knowledgeable magicians I know, Ingvild and Valerie will join you to practice their magic" Said Valerica.

"Um but I gave a sacred gear too, so I guess me and Momo will go to Azazel" Said Ingvild.

"Wait, you have a sacred gear?" Asked a shocked Valerica.

"Yes, I haven't told anyone about it so I can't really show you either so I'll have to discuss about it with Azazel" Said Ingvild.

"Okay I guess we have everything planned out so we will start tomorrow morning" Said Tiamat.

Everyone agreed and went to do their own business mostly to prepare for the hard training.

To be continued.....