Devils and Choices (½)

{Rias Gremory}

How... did he do that?

"Gremory and Himejima?" I never sensed any magic from him before today, nor did I sense any Sacred Gear.

"What... are you two doing here?"

Sacred Gears can often awaken at awkward times, and the bearer is usually unaware of their existence. But it is usually not the case for magic users; they either train for it or are born with it.

It just doesn't happen that you start accidentally using it one day—at least at this age.

"Magic." I didn't lose my smile, despite my suspicion. "How long have you been hiding it from us?"

This made him look curious. "What do you mean?" he asked before looking around. "Let me get down first."

And with that, he stepped down, and with each step, the earthen stairs descended to join the ground.

"You hid being a magician, hid your magic for so long despite knowing that Kuoh is under our supervision, and now you decide to use your magic at this random hour and place?" Akeno asked the question I had been wanting to ask. "You better have a good explanation for it."

However, he seemed to grow more and more confused as we questioned him.

"Under your supervision?" He raised an eyebrow as he walked forward. "Before today, I didn't even know about the existence of magic. I'm still shocked at how you two arrived here when I saw no one earlier."

He looked around, curious to see if there were more people hiding.

"And most importantly, why do I need to inform you about my magic?" He frowned. "And how did you even know I possess magic before seeing this?"

This made both Akeno and me look at each other. We wondered if he was playing dumb—highly likely—or if this was a rare instance of truth, where he genuinely had no clue.

Which, in my case, was a great opportunity.

"So... What you're saying is that you don't know anything that's going on?" I had to ask because it made very little sense.

"Am I supposed to know something?" He looked puzzled. "And how are you two so calm after seeing someone use real magic?"

Once again, Akeno and I exchanged glances while Akeno muttered, "Does he really not know anything?"

I have never heard of such an event happening with magicians. But if, by the slightest possibility, this was not a lie—

"Do you know who we are?" I finally decided to ask, and to my amusement, he gave the funniest answer.

"Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima, the Two Great Ladies of Kuoh."

It felt embarrassing hearing it directly from someone while they kept a straight face.

I already knew that people called us by that name, but never had I heard it said to my face.

"Y-You don't know anything else about me, about us?"

I got a little flustered and nearly stammered my words too, while the boy kept surprising me.

"That... you're a foreigner, and your family is very rich and is responsible for funding the school generously?"

Oh.

He truly didn't know anything.

"How is this even possible?" Akeno was as shocked as me, and when he heard Akeno speak, he appeared a little embarrassed.

"I should say I am sorry, but I don't know much about you, Himejima, other than that you are very popular in school and that you are Rias' best friend."

How could he be this clueless?

Magicians were some of the smartest humans out there and they had more knowledge of the supernatural than even many other supernatural beings. Magicians studied magic diligently and knew the world thoroughly.

But he seemed clueless, and I couldn't sense him lying either.

"Now that I have answered your questions," he stared directly at me. "I also have some questions."

Of course.

"How did you know about my magic, and why do you not appear surprised at seeing magic?" His frown deepened. "And how did you even appear here? I certainly saw no one when I was on that elevated surface."

If he was telling the truth, or even if he wasn't, he at least needed to know about the rules of Kuoh and about us, the supervisors.

"We know about magic because we too can use it." The moment I said that, he was shocked.

And to make sure that he believed us, Akeno decided to show a little of her magic.

"Fufu~ I too can use the thunder that you used~" She extended her hand, formed a much bigger bolt of lightning than he previously did, and threw it directly at the half-melted swing, shattering it instantly.

He was left gobsmacked, seeing the intensity of her magical power.

I wonder what kind of expression he would have made if I showed him my Power of Destruction.

"That... actually makes a lot of sense." He tried to process the situation. "Of course, I am not the only magic user in this world."

So, he knew nothing.

"As for how we got here," I couldn't show it to him now, so I just told him. "We teleported here."

He looked at us once again like we were aliens.

"And once again, I am just average, even with magic at my disposal."

I didn't get what he meant by that, and just as I was about to ask, he asked the important questions.

"What did you mean by you are the supervisors of Kuoh, and why exactly did you come here?"

We decided to answer this question of his.

"We came here because non-permitted and irresponsible use of magic is forbidden here." That was a rule we set the moment we reached Kuoh.

As the supernatural and as the ones in charge of Kuoh, it was necessary to protect both the innocent humans and ourselves.

"As for why I called myself a supervisor—" I looked at Akeno, who nodded and looked at the boy, explaining to him.

"We are responsible for maintaining the peace of Kuoh, protecting the people who know nothing about the world of the supernatural."

At Akeno's explanation, he asked, "And why exactly is it you who is the supervisor?"

"That is because—"

This time, I wanted to be the one to answer.

"That is because I am Rias Gremory, of the House Gremory, one of the 72 Pillars of the Underworld." He had the right to know. "And as the Heir of House Gremory, I got the right to look after Kuoh."

This had him immediately frowning. "Underworld... You mean—"

I nodded. "Yes, what you are thinking is right."

And with that explanation, we finally decided to show him.

Sprouting our wings to his absolute astonishment.

"We are Devils."

…

…

[Minutes Later — Caffè Mocha, Kuoh]

Just what did I get myself into?

"So, you are not here for my soul, are you?"

I asked after they assured me they had put up a magical sound barrier around us, preventing any sound from leaking out.

"You can rest assured, we are nothing like what is shown in shows and movies." Rias laughed, finally comfortable enough to talk calmly.

But well, I wasn't.

"We have been looking after Kuoh for a while now." Akeno's statement made me curious.

"How old are you guys exactly?"

This instantly made the black-haired girl laugh. "No, we are not old. We are the same age as you. I just meant that we have been looking after this place since we joined Kuoh Academy."

"Before that, Kuoh was being looked after by a certain faction, but with some political arrangements, we got the charge of looking after Kuoh and a chance to study among the humans." Rias smiled. "And it is a great experience so far."

"Why study among humans as a devil?" It didn't make much sense. Different species, different lifestyles, and certainly different morals and beliefs.

"Same reason as you have exchange students from other countries." Akeno explained, "Mostly to experience the human lifestyle, understand other beings and their culture, and to get away from the same old boring life."

"You know what?" This made me chuckle. "It makes a lot of sense."

The two beautiful girls giggled at that.

"But did you really just awaken your magic today?" They found it difficult to believe.

"That I did." I explained to them without telling them everything. "The early morning gust inside the class, that was me testing out my magic."

"How did you progress from barely casting a gust of wind to erecting pillars of earth and summoning thunderbolts from the sky?" Akeno found it difficult to believe, just like Rias.

"It... just happened." I explained a little more. "I learned that I have magic, so I used my imagination, like what I see in games and shows, wizards casting spells and forming spells. I took inspiration from such shows and games to form my spells."

"Wait."

Hm?

Did I say something wrong? Because they appeared shocked and confused.

"Did you just say you use your imagination to cast magic spells?" Rias asked, looking baffled.

"Yeah?" Why was it so surprising?

"You are not playing a joke, right?" Akeno asked, astonished.

"You mean you don't make any complex calculations before casting your spells?" Rias nearly slammed her palms on the table as she scooted her face closer to mine.

It was awkward, almost made me flustered.

Almost.

"Err... If by complex calculations you mean deciding the direction of the spell, then I do think about where to cast it. Like left or right, top or bottom."

"You are not making any sense." Rias shook her head. "You are supposed to be calculating everything before casting your spells, not casting them through your imagination."

Huh?

Now I was confused.

"I don't think I understand what you mean."

The two girls looked at each other.

"Do you know how different species cast magic? Especially humans and other supernatural beings?" Akeno asked, leaning back in her chair and tilting her head toward me.

"Pretty sure that it's my first day interacting with the supernatural."

My joke didn't make them laugh; instead, they frowned.

"Do you know?"

"I don't." This time, I answered honestly.

"Because magic of imagination is specific to every supernatural being, except humans." Rias announced, but I still didn't understand what she meant by specific.

"Humans, be it any human, need to do extreme calculations, create and solve horrifyingly difficult equations to cast even the simplest of spells." Akeno finally explained, "Magic is not natural to humans, thus they have never been blessed with the ability to cast magic using their imagination. Magic to humans is artificial, thus they are required to go through such a complex process to cast spells."

"We were blessed by Him with magic, which humans weren't."

This drew my interest. "Him? Who?"

"The one who created life." Rias answered, which made me raise an eyebrow.

"God?" The moment I said the name, both of them pressed their temples as if it physically hurt them.

But God was real?

I was about to ask, yet paused instantly, realizing that if devils were real, then why wouldn't He be real?

"Can you explain a little more?"

The girls thought for a bit, wondering if they should be telling me more or not.

"Before that, answer one thing," Rias took a deep breath. "Are you an enemy?"

I could have made a joke about it, but seeing their faces, I understood that saying anything inappropriate would be in bad taste.

"No." I answered honestly. "If anything, I should be asking you that."

They might appear friendly, but in the end, they were still devils.

And if anything, we have always been taught to stay away from the words of the devil, much less being close to multiple devils.

"Long ago, He created life." Rias explained, "And you know most of it, Adam and Eve and their story."

I nodded; it was common knowledge for most.

"But that story is not entirely correct, but it also does not matter in the context of your question." She explained, but I looked at her with raised eyebrows.

I mean, wait, doesn't that play a major role in the story?

You are saying that the very story of the creation of life is not accurate?

Oh, the believers would pop quite the blood vessels hearing this.

"But things happened, and Lucifer and his followers started living in the underworld. And alongside Lilith, Lucifer created the first generation of the noble devils, whose descendants we are."

Her explanation was rather amusing and scary to think about.

So, Lucifer, the devil, populated the entire underworld?

That cannot be good.

"How many devils are there again?" I asked, but Akeno shook her head.

"Far fewer than you think." She said, "The chances of a devil conceiving a child are extremely low. The fertility rate is ridiculously low."

Maybe that is one way to balance the world.

Imagine eight billion devils.

We would be cooked alive.

Even if they say they are not evil, with that large of a population you would be bound to have quite a few evil seeds. And with the power of devils, just a dozen would be enough to flatten the human world.

"We do have other ways to expand our population," Rias explained. "But that is for later."

I was certainly curious, but I let her continue.

"But besides the devils, there have been other beings that He created too."

From this, I understood one thing.

They cannot say God. If they do, they get a severe headache.

And it makes a lot of sense considering them being devils.

"Angels, and the angels that rebelled—the Fallen Angels." She continued, "And Gods and Deities of other faiths: Greek, Shinto, Hinduism, Aztec, and many more."

Wait, wait, wait.

Not only was the Christian God real, but so were the Gods and Goddesses of every other faith?

This...

was quite the statement.

And certainly enough to start a war.

"And the general discomfort between each faction and pantheon grew with time, leading to the greatest and bloodiest war."

So, when she explained the war, I wasn't surprised—not one bit.

"Many devils perished, even the founding devils such as Lucifer." Rias sighed, surprising me.

Lucifer died?

What?

Where do devils go when they die, though?

I didn't ask; I knew it was a stupid question.

"To fill that void, other devils who took an active part in the war and saved the Underworld were given the title of the original founding devils as an honor."

Interesting.

"But do you know what the humans did in that time?" Akeno asked, instantly making me freeze.

Wait.

"How did the humans, with no special powers, survive this war?" My question made Akeno show a small smile.

"He always loved his humans," Akeno said. "And so, he blessed them with something that could protect them."

"Sacred Gears," Rias explained. "That's what he created and gifted to humans—Weapons of mass destruction and immense defense to protect humans against supernatural threats."

"Not every human received them, but enough did that they could help save the human race." Akeno added, prompting me to ask.

"What do these Sacred Gears actually provide?"

"Abilities, immense and extremely powerful abilities." Rias eased down in her chair. "From simple abilities like increasing base strength to unbelievable ones like splitting the sky and manipulating weather and climate."

"Sacred Gears are divided into tiers: Common Gears that do not grant anything earth-shattering but provide enough to make a human succeed in life."

"Like better strength and intelligence?" I asked, and the girls nodded.

"Then comes the mid to high-tier Sacred Gears that can shift the flow of power from cities and countries." Rias looked at me. "And I believe you can imagine powers that can do that."

"I do."

"Then you have already guessed what those gears can do." Akeno smiled.

"And finally comes Top or Ultimate Tier, the Longinus."

Longinus? As in the spear that impaled Jesus? Named after the guy who stabbed Jesus and also had the same name—Longinus?

"They again are divided into tiers from low to high and then Ultimate." Rias paused, taking a deep breath. "Even the weakest of those Longinus could shatter continents, and the strongest could make entire supernatural species quake in their boots."

This…

Felt like a story.

But it was real.

"And to top it all off, humans learned magic through mathematics and science, figuring the laws of nature and bending them with equations—creating a branch of magic for humans, weaker obviously but still magic." Akeno looked at Rias and then at me. "And that's how humans survived the war."

"That is also why other supernaturals, especially Fallens, hunt them, and devils and angels bring them under their protection." Rias said before asking, "So, tell me truthfully, do you truly use magic using only your imagination?"

I finally understood the severity of my magic, and how overpowered it was.

"I truly don't." Once again, I answered honestly.

Akeno looked at Rias, "A Sacred Gear perhaps?"

It could be.

I mean, I didn't know what types of Sacred Gears were out there.

"There are Sacred Gears that allow for magic usage, but if it was a Sacred Gear… we would have felt it." Rias answered, "Maybe…"

"A Longinus?" Akeno raised her eyebrows.

"I don't know." Rias said, "But it does not fall under any known Longinus either. So, maybe it is not a Longinus. It is not else…"

I did not think about it; I certainly could not find an answer on my own, so there was no point in thinking.

And for some reason, I just did not want to tell them about the system.

It didn't feel right to tell anyone about it.

"But if you reveal this power more, which most might have already sensed—they certainly would be after you." Rias frowned, "And if the fallen find out, they would be after your life."

"Aren't you protecting Kuoh?" I asked, and she nodded.

"I am, but you can never be fully prepared for the worst."

That was true.

"So…" Rias breathed out, "Do you remember we said there were ways devils increased their population despite their low fertility?"

"Yeah?"

She looked at Akeno, and they both simultaneously nodded—weird.

"Devils can turn humans and other beings into devils by making them join their peerage—a form of family living and surviving under one king, the one that turned them into a devil."

This…

Was interesting.

"By becoming a devil, you would gain extreme power, strength, agility, and more. Not to mention an extended lifespan and wealth." Akeno smiled, "And most importantly, protection."

"If you join us, you will never have to worry about your safety, finances, or sickness." Rias said, "If you join me, if you become a member of my peerage, you will gain it all."

{First Quest Created!}

"So, would you like to join my Peerage and become a devil?"

{Quest: Choose Your Fate!}

"Are you willing to let go of your humanity for a better future?"

{Become a Devil!}

"If you do, you will never regret it."

{OR!}

"And you can get other things too." Akeno said, pressing her breasts against the table, pushing her head over it, and whispering into my ear. "A lot more."

{Remain a Human!}

Quite the tempting offer.

{Reward: Dependent on your choice!}

Certainly the devil's temptation.

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[[A/N: Read 175+ Advanced Chapters on Patreon (including all stories).

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P.S. MC will not join any peerages even in the future. He will be faced with issues and even temptations where it might look like it's better he joins a peerage.

But this is a purely Human MC fic.

And well, humans have the greatest adaptive and evolution scope.

]]