DxD: Final Judgment

A/N: Here's yet another chapter! My body was itching to write this one. I think it turned out pretty well. Tell me what you guys think through comments.

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I was shocked. How had what I assumed to be hours of being unconscious turned into multiple days?

'For now… I've got to deal with this annoying hunger.'

[Satiated]

With my increased energy reserves, the attribute barely consumed any energy relative to the total.

"I have many questions for you. But right now, you must be hungry," Rias spoke up, funnily enough.

"Not really," I responded casually, "Let's sit down and talk."

"But, you have not eaten anything for days. You are only human, aren't you?"

She sounded unsure towards the end of her question. It even felt like she was probing something. Well, if she had asked me yesterday, I would've said yes I was human, even if a bit skeptical due to what I saw in the reflection.

Now? I was definitely beyond just an ordinary human. While I hadn't exactly changed my race completely, I did have a nonhuman organ beating inside me. Something which I would have to extensively study later, once I had the chance to.

"Not exactly, no," I responded, noticing an expression on her face that suggested a confirmation of suspicion.

"Well, in that case, let us talk."

Having said that, Rias approached the bed and sat on its right side. Not feeling particularly shy, I walked over and sat close to her.

At that moment, I properly observed her and what she was wearing. First and foremost — she was a drop-dead gorgeous beauty. Through my last encounter with her, I didn't have much of an opportunity to observe her properly, mostly because my mind was preoccupied with all sorts of things.

But now… I truly understood what "country-toppling beauty" looked like.

Her long, silky crimson hair flowed around a delicate, pale face, accentuated by striking, bright blue eyes. What truly caught my attention was the strand of hair that stood from atop her head.

'An ahoge… it feels weird to see one in person.'

As for what she wore – it was the standard uniform of the school she attended: Kouh Academy.

A white, pinstriped button-down shirt with a black ribbon on the collar. Plus, a black shoulder cape and a matching corset over it. Lastly, a magenta skirt.

Now, Rias was particularly well-endowed, and it showed. With my experience with women being essentially null, I found myself staring – something she reacted to with a smug grin.

"Sorry," I apologized as I shifted my focus to her eyes.

"It's fine. I'm used it."

"Right…" what was I even supposed to say to that?

"Now then," Rias spoke, her voice much more serious now, "can you please tell me what was going on with you? Why do you look so different now?"

"Right, about that," I started, "it's pretty simple actually: I noticed that I needed to be stronger, so I used any means necessary to achieve that."

"How, exactly?" She probed.

"Well, uh, I have a bit of control over my body. Made some changes here and there. Nothing too big, just made myself able to do this."

With that said, I rose my hand and imagined a ball of water manifesting. Similar to the flames from earlier, it occurred.

'Nice…'

Focusing back on Rias, I notice that she's not surprised in the slightest, to my surprise.

"As expected…" she muttered as she curiously observed the floating ball of water.

"What do you mean expected?" I asked exasperatedly. I mean, yeah, I showed elemental immunity and such, but I just told her I had gained the ability to do this — meaning that it wasn't something I was capable of earlier. Surely, she should've been surprised?

"How much do you remember from the last three days?" Rias suddenly asked as her eyes bore into mine.

"Uh, didn't you say I was unconscious the entire time?"

For a moment, she seemed taken aback and began to contemplate telling me something. Ultimately, she giggled before saying, "Not exactly, no."

'Oh no. I've got a bad feeling about this.'

"I'm not sure what exactly was going on with you, but it was truly an interesting process. You kept on writhing about in bed while groaning and shouting in anguish."

She paused for a moment, closed her eyes, and then continued.

"I considered bringing someone over to take a look at you and see what was wrong with you."

'Oh fuck.'

"But then I noticed that your condition was… abnormal. Something was changing, and it didn't seem like you were dying. Then the thought crossed my mind that you might not want any attention on you, so I decided against brining anyone over."

"Thank God," I voiced with relief, which made Rias flinch.

'Right, she's a Devil.'

"Sorry about that. Force of habit."

"It's okay, I get it," she quickly dismissed it.

"Now, where were we?" Rias got serious again, "At times, you would regain clarity… sort of. You said some weird things. Some I understood, others that confused me a lot. Also… you really do know a lot more than you let on, huh?"

For that last part, Rias smiled wryly. Just what had I said? I hoped I hadn't blabbed about my true "origins" and the "truth" of this world.

"Do you really remember none of it?" Rias asked, an odd glint in her eyes.

"No?" I truly recalled nothing. Maybe it was just me mumbling unconsciously — I convinced myself.

"Not even you reaching out to grab my hand, look me in the eyes, and tell me about how lonely you felt? How I was the first woman whose hand you ever held?"

'No. No, no, no. Fucking hell, no.'

Rias, for her part, seemed all too amused as she continued to tell me.

"You even shed a tear as you told me I was your only hope to deal with your regrets."

"NO," I couldn't hold it in anymore, "Enough!"

I had my hands pressed against the sides of my head as I felt myself die inside. This was the worst possible thing to have happened.

It was so bad that I began considering means of erasing her memory of it all.

[Mindflow]

'Maybe I can give her an attribute that puts her in a coma, and then grant her an attribute that slowly erases her memory, starting from the latest ones.'

'No… what if I granted her a "hypnotized" attribute before commanding her to forget those specific memories?'

It was a solid way to go about it. Pretty simple, even.

But…

'I don't want to do that.'

The mere idea about practically mindfucking someone I could be close to in the future disgusted me. Especially when she had done nothing wrong.

It felt wrong. I hated it. I now had a window of opportunity to build a proper relationship for once. Was I ready to set it ablaze right from the get-go?

[Calm]

With the attribute applied, I felt much better. Could think clearer.

'As embarrassing as this is, it's beneficial when it comes to building a friendly relationship. Something about vulnerabilities, and all that.'

[Revoke: Mindflow]

The flow of time from my viewpoint returned to normal. My emotions were still kept in bay thanks to the 'Calm' attribute.

"Sorry for the outburst," I apologized as I lowered my arms.

"You did something just now," Rias said, not as a question, but as a firm statement. She sounded confident.

"Did I now?" I asked calmly.

"These few days, I noticed something inside you. It was changing you around… here."

Rias pressed a finger against my chest, where my heart was.

"Whatever it is… I have never seen anything like it before. So much so that I'm starting to think your claim about being from another world is true."

"Already getting so touchy-feely?" I remarked, not a speck of emotion apparent on my face.

Perhaps because I didn't give her the reaction she wanted, Rias pouted before saying, "How boring."

[Revoke - Calm]

"My bad for being a clown for your entertainment," I joked as I raised my arm and lightly nudged the side of her head.

Rias apparently took my words seriously, as a look of hurt flashed across her face. "I'm sorry, that wasn't what I meant, I promise."

"Don't think too much of it," I spoke with a grin, "was just kidding."

She heaved a sigh of relief before lowering her head.

'Seems like she's thinking of something. I suppose I'll wait for her to make up her mind.'

"Hey… Mercury," she spoke, her use of my name causing my breath to hitch momentarily. Whatever she had to say was damn important, I could tell.

"Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?" I probed.

"Yesterday, you grabbed my wrist and told me something. No, you promised me something."

'Oh boy…'

"What did I promise?"

Rias lifted her head before turning it to face me, "You promised that you'd save me. Said that you had hundreds of ways to do so. Claimed that with you on my side, I was all but guaranteed to be free soon."

'Ah…'

My mind blanked. Apparently, half-conscious me which I couldn't remember was a damn white knight in shining armor.

From the look on Rias's face, I could see that she was very much serious about her question. Something had happened to make her see me differently — it was obvious.

As I continued to ponder, I noticed her expression slowly shift.

Realizing that I better be decisive, I raised my arm and placed my hand atop her shoulder. "Yes. I'll do it. I'm absolutely certain about my claim."

With everything I knew about my power already, I could already come up with critical plans to deal with Riser… the one she is arranged to marry by her family. It was something that Rias really didn't want.

Hearing my response, a bright smile formed on Rias's face as she lowered her head. "Thank you."

If it weren't for my now-enhanced hearing, I would've probably not heard her.

Seeing her like that, I found an irresistible urge to move my hand from her shoulder over to her head.

'Fuck… did I just give the Princess of Destruction a headpat?'

The fact that I had done it stunned me into inaction, rendering me incapable of retracting my hand.

Oddly enough, Rias hadn't swatted my hand away.

I was under no delusion that he had suddenly fallen for me. She was either humoring it to not hurt me emotionally, or there was some other reason.

"Mercury," Rias spoke as she turned her head, my hand sliding off of it, "You knew me, right? I don't know how, but you knew me."

'Ah, shit. Did I mention the DxD anime after all?'

"You said some things that no one aside from those closest to me should know. And I find myself doubting that you knew because of your power."

'Just what the hell was wrong with half-conscious me!? Why is he making my life harder!?'

"About that…" I thought about it for a moment and then said, "I will admit that I do know you. Or rather… a version of you."

I seriously didn't want to tell her that she was an anime character in a heavily ecchi show made for perverts.

Somehow, there was a look of understanding in Rias's eyes as she nodded. "I get it."

'You do!?'

My mind speculated about what plausible deduction she could have made from that statement.

Eventually, an odd idea popped up in my head: What if she thinks I'm from another timeline?

It was a wild notion to entertain, but somehow I couldn't just bring myself to dismiss it. Heck, it made sense in a way. Rias taking my 'other world' statement not as a whole other dimension thing, but rather as a 'previous timeline'.

But was that truly the case? Was there even a way to check that?

[Enhanced Instincts]

Rias raised a brow as she looked down at where my energy reserves would be.

'Well, I'll be damned. She can now tell when I grant an attribute? That's a problem.'

"You did something."

"I did," there was no point in denying it.

"What did you do?"

"Just confirming something. Let's say… I'm checking to see how much you now know."

That last part I said deliberately. If I was right, and apparently my instincts were telling me that I was, it would play well into her idea of me being from a separate timeline of sorts.

At the same time, I wondered just how many mental gymnastics she went through to make it make sense.

In all honesty, I felt bad. I felt like a hypocrite.

While yes, I refrained from using my power to affect her mind, I was doing much the same by fooling her with words. But when I thought of the alternative, I could only sigh.

It worked, if the flash of understanding that marred her face for a brief moment was anything to go by.

"Your power is truly fascinating," Rias remarked with a small smile.

"It sure is," I agreed.

Silence ensued as I had no idea what to say, and Rias appeared to be much the same.

"By the way," she eventually spoke, "I never got the rest of your name."

"Don't have one."

"I see. Since I had no idea what it was, I had to pick something for you when forging an identity. I hope you don't mind," she explained, sounding a bit nervous toward the end.

"It's fine. What did you pick?" I was curious, to say the least.

It was then I felt my instincts churn. 'Oh right, I still had the 'enhanced instincts' attribute active.'

"Uh… mo…y"

"What?" She said something, but even with my enhanced hearing, I couldn't make it out due to how low her voice was.

"I said, Gremory!" she practically exclaimed.

…

…

"You brother-zoned me!?"

"What!? No!" Rias's face flushed as she gawked at me wide-eyed.

"What then? Cousin-zoned? Uncle-zoned?"

"Can you please stop it!?" Rias cried, her face now almost sharing the same shade as her hair, "I did not 'zone' you in any way! Besides, is this a confession I'm hearing?"

Probably trying to get back at me, she threw me a curveball. A metallic, spiked ball of flaming iron.

Now, I was a loner, yes, but not a moron. I knew for a fact that if I said I liked her romantically, it would be a complete game over.

And so, I did the next best thing: Ignore it.

"Sorry, my bad. Couldn't help it," I said with an awkward laugh.

Thankfully, Rias didn't press me for an answer, instead just sighing as she lowered her head. "Are you always so, uh, difficult?"

I pretended to be offended as I pressed a hand against my chest in mock shock, gasped and said, "How could you say that?"

She simply huffed and said, "Forget it. Now, you get it, right? From now on, you're Mercury Gremory."

"First, why? Second, how?"

"For the why, I realized that it would be best if you attended the academy I go to. Being my relative, it would make shared activities appear normal. And the 'how' wasn't that difficult."

"Seriously?" I asked with a baffled look on my face, "Your family was just fine with that?"

Somehow, Rias's already flushed face got a shade redder. "I… didn't tell them."

At that point, I was simply out of words. Her 'reason' was a horrible one. I knew about the Occult Research Club – just being a member would've solved the issue. I did not need her family name in any way, at least, not as a matter of necessity. That brought up the next issue – the fact that she had done it behind her family's back for whatever reason.

'Just what was she thinking!? Actually, was she even thinking!?'

I had come to realize that ever since I had found myself in this new world, I was constantly surprised. However, this… it surpassed it all.

It took me a solid ten seconds or so to finally relax. I couldn't even bother to do it through an attribute.

"Rias."

My voice made her flinch.

"I know there is more to this. But, I won't ask why. I choose to trust you." My still active 'enhanced instincts' were telling me to just go along with it, so might as well. Though, I made it an objective of mine to figure out the truth from her sooner or later.

"Really!?" Rias was taken aback. Apparently, she had imagined I'd oppose the decision.

"Yeah, yeah," I said with a sigh. Second — no, fifth(?) day in this world, and I was somehow unofficially a part of a Devil family because their precious princess decided it.

'Still won't be joining her peerage.'

There was no changing that.

…

What if that was the answer? Rias somehow found out I won't be joining her peerage, so she resorted to doing this. My enhanced instincts were not helping me — it felt muddy. Was it because there was more to it?

[Revoke - Enhanced Instincts]

Now, the only active attributes were 'Perfect Adaptability' and 'Satiated'.

Suddenly, I felt something soft press against me. The next thing I felt was warmth.

Rias was hugging me.

As a loner that never had experienced the touch of a woman, I did the most logical thing: Mechanically raise my arms and hug her back.

I felt her hold on me tighten.

'This changes nothing. She still doesn't like me romantically. I know it. Don't think too much of it.'

A myriad of reasons crossed my mind for her actions — relief, gratefulness, comfort, and such. Romance? Heh, who was I kidding? As if it would be that easy.

After a short while, she broke the hug and created a bit of distance between us. Her cheeks? Still pretty damn red. At this point, I wondered if she had any blood left in the rest of the body, or had it all flowed to her head.

"So… now what?" I asked awkwardly.

"Ah, here," she raises her arm, a magic circle appeared, then the next moment, a card emerged from it. She grabbed the card and presented it to me.

Taking it into my hand, I began inspecting it. The name was as expected "Mercury Gremory". Age… 17?

"Eighteen?" I said out loud.

"Yes," she responded matter-of-factly.

"Which part of me looks eighteen to you?" I couldn't help but ask.

"What? You look young enough!" Rias somehow sounded offended.

"Right…"

I had automatically assumed that when she said I'd go to Kuoh Academy earlier, it would be as someone employed there or something.

Little did I expect for a Devil to intend for me to experience high school life once again. Truly devilish.

In all honesty, I wasn't against the idea. I doubted I could be forced to be an ordinary student anyway. Heck… I might've subconsciously wanted it. Thinking back to how I used to be at school, I had a lot that I wanted to 'fix'. All just to feel a bit more fulfilled — how selfish of me.

Focusing back on the ID card, I focused on the image — one of myself after my transformation. This meant that either Rias made the ID after seeing me having transformed, or she had made it earlier, saw the change, went ahead and updated the ID photo.

The rest of the information on the card was guesswork… or so I hoped.

"All right, if you have any other bombs to drop on me, please just do it all at once. I've had enough surprises for one day."

To that, Rias only giggled oddly as she shrunk into herself.

It was charming, so I once again found myself patting her head. Only this time, I didn't panic. We were already past that point… or so I liked to think.

After a few seconds, I retracted my hand before asking her, "That reminds me, did you settle the matter of my residence as well?"

"Yes!" a bit too enthusiastically, "I found a nice house close to the academy. The family living there had moved out roughly a month ago."

"Great. No longer homeless. Still a gigolo though, apparently."

"Gigolo?" Rias repeated, not getting what I meant. And then it clicked.

The result? A light knock against my head. "Can you not speak normally!?"

"Like I said, I can't help it," I responded as I laughed at her embarrassed state.

'Seriously, what's with this adorable girl?'

But then I also wondered how I was handling her so well. 'Eh, must be my natural charm' — is the conclusion I would've come to if I was retarded.

'It's got to be the 'Perfect Adaptability' attribute. Definitely.'

That was the only conceivable way for someone like me, who barely interacted with others in person, could act so assertively.

Heaving a sigh, I got up from the bed and pocketed the ID card. "I said I'd help you, right?"

Instead of answering, Rias also got up, crossed her arms and waited for me to continue.

"Do you know of any empty place where we'd be far from prying eyes?"

"Yes, I can teleport us there," she said before stepping closer to me and waving her hand.

The next moment, a red magic circle appeared beneath us, with the two of us at its center.

[Photographic Memory]

I didn't waste the opportunity, of course.

A red flash blinded me, and the next I knew, we were on top of some hill. The morning light lit the area up.

"What time is it anyway?" I muttered.

"It's still early in the morning," the Devil beside me said, "Students are still going through the first class of the day."

I nodded at that before looking over at Rias. Her crimson hair appeared to shine under the sunlight.

'Weren't Devils weaker during the day?'

"Hey Rias," I spoke, drawing her attention, "You are weaker now than you would have been if it were nighttime, correct?"

"That's right," she responded with a nod.

"Let me try something," I said before reaching out and placing my palm atop her head. I was a half a head taller than her, so it was easy.

Fortunately, Rias seemed to now trust me enough to not give any looks when I attempted something.

[Light Resistance]

I made sure to chip in a good supply of energy.

"What did you do?" Rias asked as her eyes scanned my body, my arm, and then herself, "I feel different…"

"What do you mean by different?"

"Stronger," she responded quickly before she flexed her arms, "and faster."

I grinned.

"It's simple," I said, before pausing for a dramatic effect, "all I did was negate your weakness to light."

To say that Rias was shocked would be an understatement. I could've probably fit a whole egg into her mouth if I had any with me at that moment.

"What!? How!? It's one thing to deal with magic or the elements, but dealing with an inherent weakness of the Devil race!? This is absurd! And all you had to do—"

"Was to touch you, yes," I interrupted.

If Rias's blush had subsided, it now returned with grace. But that didn't stop her from asking more questions.

"Is this difficult to do? How many times can you do this? Is it permanent? If not, how long does it last?"

"Calm down," I said with a chuckle, finding her enthusiasm endearing, "I will answer your questions one at a time."

"Okay, okay, fine…" Rias muttered as she breathed in and out to calm herself down.

"Cute," I accidentally (definitely) said out loud.

If Rias heard me, I couldn't tell. She neither reacted nor did her face turn into an undiscovered shade of red.

"For starters, this is not difficult. The amount of times I can do it depends on how much energy I use. It's not permanent, but it does last until I revoke it."

Rias had a look of awe on her face, and I could practically see the wheels in her head spin. 'If I'm guessing right, Rias knows that it is possible for my energy to grow.'

I almost laughed as I considered what Rias could be imagining. If anything, I could sense just how happy she was.

'My gamble paid off!' - or something along those lines must've been going through her mind.

"Rias," I spoke, breaking her out of her reverie, "you can gush about my capabilities later. For now, we should focus on what we came here for."

"Easy for you to say!" she complained with a huff.

"Now then… let's start training."

While I would be in fact helping Rias improve, I also had another objective in mind: See how I'd fare against a High-Class Devil.

'Baby steps…'