DxD : A New Hero : Chapter 76

"Looks like the coast is clear Emiya. I'll be heading on now. I expect I'll to see you in class later on. And remember, keep this just between the two of us."

"I will Sensei. See you in class."

Then with a cheerful wink goodbye he was gone, slipping through the door and blending seamlessly with the crowds outside.

...

This time I did sigh as I resigned myself to my fate. There was no getting away from him now, not when he was in this mood. So instead of fruitlessly continuing my efforts to try and escape, I took a moment to examine the man that was lifting me off the ground in an over enthusiastic hug.

He was tall, topping even my height by at least a few inches. The crimson hair his clan was famed for fell down from his head, ending at his shoulders, giving him a rather noble appearance.

Blue eyes shone out from a handsome face, filled with such joy and open kindness that, along with his cheerful smile, made you instinctively want to trust him and smile right back.

A thin scar ran down one side of his chin but instead of blemishing his appearance it added to it, giving him a sense of character.

It was hard to believe that this was the face of a Devil. Not when he laughed so openly, but I knew better than anyone what he was. This was Sirzechs, the Lucifer himself. This was the Lord of the Demons and the strongest living Devil, one of the true rulers of the–

"Sirzechs stop pinching my cheek." I muttered out, as my line of thinking was derailed by Sirzechs reaching out and pulling on my right cheek. He stretched it out as if I was a baby, causing my words to come out slightly slurred.

Oh and there is one thing I had forgotten to mention. Despite how much I loathed him, and I made it no secret that I did, Sirzechs absolutely adores me.

"But Shirou," he snickered, "you so look cute when you're thinking like that I couldn't help it."

… I'll kill the bastard.

"There are no words Sirzechs," I calmly began, "not in all the spoken languages of man, nor in heaven or hell, that can adequately describe how much I despise you."

"Ohh~," The bastard cooed, actually cooed at me as he began poking my cheek, "I love you too you little tsun-tsun you."

"…For that Sirzechs, for that, I shall entice your people to rebel against you. Flaming their hatred of the status qua and the injustice of the Underworld, filling their ears with sweet promises of a better future.

Once the fires of rebellion has spread far and wide I shall then gather the uprising populace and arm them with weapons out of legends, blades and spears that can topple entire armies.

I will then lead them to your castle and there we will tear down its walls, sending them crashing down around you, while marching over the corpses of every man, women and child that stand between you and us when we do.

Then as you stand surrounded by the fallen remnants of your broken army, I will topple you from your throne and ascend as the new Maou, the new Lord of all Demons.

And then as I look upon your defeated and broken form, after I had taken everything you know and love from you, you will ask me 'why, why did I do this' and I will answer, 'tsun-tsun', before stomping on your balls. Hard."

And instead of cowering in fear and terror from my coming vengeance like he rightly should have, the bastard laughed, breaking down in a fit of laughter instead.

Wrapping his arms around his waist he bent double in laughter, releasing me as he did so. I landed lightly on my feet, and before I had so much as a chance to contemplate escaping I felt Sirzechs drape an arm around my shoulder and pull me in a one-armed hug.

"See, this is why I missed you so much." He wiped a tear from his eyes as his laughter finally began to taper off. "Now, speaking of being missed, I better hurry and get you back to your king. Who knows what she'd do to me if she finds out I've been hogging you to myself."

"You've seen Serafall?"

He nodded, "Of course, we arrived here together after all. As a matter of fact I was just with her until we split up a couple of minutes earlier. Oh, which reminds me." He gave me a friendly pat on the back.

"Thanks for telling on us that the class visits were today. While I knew Rias was rather embarrassed having her family visit her in school but I never suspected she'd go as far as lying to us about it.

If you hadn't told Serafall the real dates I wouldn't be here today, so thanks for that."

… I really shot myself in the foot with that one didn't I?

"Anyway we need to get going." Giving me a glance over his shoulder as he started walking away. "Knowing Serafall she's not likely to stick to one place for long, so we need to hurry before she disappears."

Giving one last longing look at the janitor closet, crushing my urge to dive back there and hide now that he had his back turned to me, I reluctantly began to follow Sirzechs through the crowd.

Despite how packed the corridor was, we had no trouble navigating through the mass of people. Whether it was due to his exotic appearance, his large build that towered over the average Japanese adult or some deep buried instinct that warned them what he was, the crowd parted before Sirzechs, people instinctively making way as he approached.

However the same could not be said about me. The moment Sirzechs passed by, the crowds surged back together, hindering my progress as I tried to follow him.

It was as if I was the Egyptians trying to chase Mosses into the sea only to have the waters close back up around me. I had to stick close to his back if I wanted to avoid being swept up with the crowds.

"You know, I've been meaning to thank you." Sirzechs kept looking ahead as he spoke. It took me a moment to recognize that he had switched speaking from Japanese to Latin of all things, the magic in me seamlessly granting me a native understanding for the language.

"For?" I asked, switching to Latin as well.

"Rias." He answered. "I want to thank you for helping her."

"There is no need to thank me for doing my job Sirzechs. Protecting her was one of the reason you and Serafall sent me here for."

"No, that's not what I meant." He shook his head, still not turning around. "Rias, she's well, she's not like me. Not just her but her entire generation is completely different than mine. Or any generation for that matter.

"We Devils, we have always been living in a time of unending war. We were raised in a world were death and violence was common place.

Where we were taught to never get too attached to anyone, so that it wouldn't it hurt so much when the time came to bury them.

And the few times that we were not fighting were spent preparing for the next war, so they couldn't rightfully be called peace.

"When I was Rias's age, I was already knew I was going to end up fighting in a war. Knew that I might see all my friends get cut down in the battlefield long before their time.

Be it the Civil War or Great War, war was unavoidable reality to me. I had been prepared for it since I could learn how to walk, just as my parents were and their parents before them as well.

And that was how it was for everyone. Since the dawn of time itself Devils have always lived either in a state of war or with the threat of it hanging over their heads.

"I remember when I was a child I asked my father how long could a Devil live for. Do you know what he told me Shirou?"

I thought back to my lessons before answering. "If I remember correctly, the oldest recorded age of a Devil is approximately 14,000 years. Add or take a few centuries."

"That's correct, though it's closer to thirteen thousand than fourteen but that wasn't the answer I was looking for. What I wanted to know was our natural lifespans. How long could we live before succumbing to old age?" He shook his head.

"My father did not know. He told me that no one did. There is a limit to our natural life-span that much is certain, but no one knows exactly how long it is.

That's because there had never been a Devil who got to live out the entirety of their natural life. We were always killed long before our time. Be it on the battlefield or off it, our lives always found their end on the edge of a blade.

"But things are different now. For the first time in our history we are living in an era of peace. For the first time, entire generations of children are born not knowing or living under the constant fear of war. These last 200 hundred years are by far the longest period of time Devils have lived in peace. And it was wonderful.

"Our children are living a carefree and happy childhood, something that was denied to me and all that came before me. Never before could parents love their children so unconditionally and not fear their hearts being broken when the time came to bury them.

We were finally allowed to shower them with all the love and affection that our parents could not afford to give us.

"And in the end it made them kinder. The happiness of their innocent childhood has made this generation far more caring and compassionate than any that came before it. And I believe that to be a good thing.

While some say it had made them soft, too soft, perhaps that is exactly what our race sorely needs.

Our lot has always been a cruel species. Too harsh and uncaring for the fates of others, and look where it has gotten us. Nothing but endless war after endless war. So maybe it is time to try something different.

"Yes, it was good thing, maybe even something wonderful… but it came at a price. One no one had seen coming.

Even I could not see it at first, so tiny was the change but with every passing years the truth had only continued to become more apparent. Each passing decade made it a little harder to ignore, until it reach the point that it was impossible for me to deny anymore.

"There was something wrong with our children. Something that is supposed to be there that was missing.

A certain fire, a burning hunger that had always been a part of Devil kind as surely as the wings on our back, was gone. Burned out like it was never there. It was then that I truly began to comprehend our folly.

That in our efforts to give our children the happiness that was denied us, we took something away from them, something essential.

"Ambition. The new generation of Devils are…content.

"They do not hunger for anything, they do not long for anything, and most importantly they do not strive for a better world or even a better future for themselves. They are simply satisfied with their lot in life and content with what they have.

"Without it, it has made me realize that we Devils do not know how to raise our children in a time of peace.

"During the Young Devil's Gathering, the participating Devils are expected to publicly declare their future goal, a single target that is to become their ambition in life.

Do you know what Rias answered when I asked her what she planned to say in this year's Gathering?"

I shook my head, before realizing that he couldn't see me, "No idea."

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Hey guys I really need you to throw some power Stones ;)

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