Highschool DxD: Dragon's Ascent

~Venelana Gremory~

Venelana looked around the lobby of the newly built Auction House in amazement. It was pristine and certainly looked similar to the mansions of other noble families. It screamed wealth and importance but not to the point of being in your face or gaudy.

She hadn't expected Rias' new bishop to become so important so quickly. She had seen the rating game personally from the viewing zone and seen the terrifying battle prowess of the young man but such was expected of the Red Dragon Emperor albeit somewhat unexpected from such a young one.

She had also known he was an alchemist from Rias gushing about him over the phone. He sounded really competent and skilled from how Rias described him but she also considered her having a bias in her considerations.

What she hadn't expected was for him to shake up the entire underworld by announcing the opening and first auction of the Goch Grand Auction House in Lilith. The entire thing being endorsed by Satan Leviathan and Satan Beelzebub, rarely did any event of such scale backed up by such figures that would attend happen.

Even with the announcement he had chosen to remain relatively anonymous, she had heard people complaining that he wasn't showing his face around and not responding to their mails despite not even being a high-class devil. Regardless, most of the Pillar Families and the less important lower-ranked noble families had chosen to attend.

Most out of the desire to network with the enigmatic Beelzebub and Satan Leviathan. But they also had an interest in what the young alchemist devil had produced that would garner this much fanfare.

Annoying her no end, her husband Zeoticus hadn't wanted to attend because he was still sour from the young devil utterly destroying the relationship he was trying to form with the Phenex family. He had been sulking and sour the past few days because of it and even tried to not attend the Auction almost every other pillar family was attending.

Apparently because 'He is a young man, he doesn't know what he is doing it will probably turn out to be a big mess' or 'I don't want to see him' and even 'He is a part of Rias' peerage, isn't he? We don't need to attend this one'. He had plenty of excuses he tried to give but Venelana had dragged him along with her regardless.

Her husband was a childish man, and while it was charming it could easily become frustrating and a pain to deal with when he sulked like a child and she had to pick up after his slack. Even now Zeoticus was trying to find things to complain about but she largely tuned him out.

She found the apparent Homunculi attending manning the main lobby and approached the masked creature with a casual greeting as it bowed.

"Welcome to the Goch Grand Auction House, how may I assist you today Lady and Lord Gremory?" Hearing the Homunculi's impassive voice Zeoticus stood up and tried to look dignified before speaking.

"Yes, we were here about the auction held by my daughter's bishop? Do we get any special benefits or VIP passes?" Venelana noticed how the posture of the Homunculi shifted to a more defensive one. Something that Zeo had said had somehow managed to offend it despite its dubious sentience.

"No, and I hope that you would refer to Lord Katsuragi or Sekiryuutei by proper titles. Now, allow me to seat you, please follow me to the auction room." Venelana sighed and shook her head cutting off whatever her husband was about to say, ignoring her now sulking again husband they followed the homunculi maid into the very large auction room.

It resembled more like a large theatre that would host a play instead of an auction room but how it worked out remained to be seen, she could already see hundreds of devils sitting around waiting for the auction to start they had come a bit late because she had to convince Zeo to come and not cause any issues.

After a few minutes, the lights around the hall dimmed(not that it affected devils but it did set the mood) and a few warm spotlights illuminated the stage.

Then the enigmatic young man stepped out onto the stage, dressed impressively sharply like a stage magician accompanied by a homunculi girl wearing a bunny girl outfit that bowed in greeting of the guests.

"Greetings everyone, welcome to the first-ever auction held at the Goch Grand Auction House. I am Takumi Katsuragi Goch, the Red Dragon Emperor and I will be your host today." The young man had a strange and commanding presence as his eyes glowed a nuclear blue.

He waved his hands and the girl pulled out a large card and posed with it making him speak up.

"Let's not waste everyone's time and allow me to present the first item. Let's start off with an appetizer for what's to come." He snapped his fingers as another bunny girl homunculi wheeled in a glass case containing an ornate sword with a red blade and gold hilt with runes covered all over it.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the Flame Killer! A rune blade crafted personally by yours truly. It possesses the power to destroy fire and flame spells effortlessly by sealing all heat and fire from the spells inside of it. Even most high-rank devils would find themselves helpless against it. You can even take the mana in their flames for yourself!"

"And you won't have to worry about it ever getting stolen, the first hand that touches the blade will be recognized as its owner and no one else will be able to use it as anything other than a fancy stick. This would make an excellent gift for a knight or a king who fancies swordsmanship with a reliable blade. The bids for this excellent blade start at 50,000!"

She was impressed, she could just tell at a glance that it was a fearsome blade even though she herself never held a sword before. Also, she could easily see that it was a dig at the Phenex family and rubbing salt in their wound by making a blade that would counter them.

She shook her head in exasperation sighting the seething Lord Phenex seated on the other side of the hall. On the other hand, she heard numerous voices discussing the blade before some voices rose.

"75,000!" "89,000!" "91,000!"

Devil nobles raised their bids as Takumi called them out, before too long the bids stalled and Takumi announced the winner.

"This goes to the seat 19 for 128,000. Congratulations! Next up, let's spice things up!" The sword was wheeled out as 2 glass shelves were rolled in.

"Next up! A personal creation of mine, the exclusive first release of my potions! Although they will also be sold at the Goch Emporium these ones are more effective variants, their quality assured by Satan Leviathan and Beelzebub! This set includes 10 high-grade healing potions that recover your health in the blink of an eye. 10 High-grade mana potions that will recover your magic reserves easily. 10 High-grade stamina potions that..."

As Takumi listed them Venelana's eyes opened wide as she covered her mouth in surprise, what Takumi was announcing right now would change the underworld as a whole. Drinks that recover your health and mana were a grossly important commodity as seen by how incredibly wealthy the Phenex were and they couldn't mass produce their tears but Takumi presumably could to a lesser effect.

The other devils seemed to agree with her own thoughts as the entire hall was in uproar. Takumi seemed to just be amused that he sent the upper crust of the entire race into a frenzy.

'Oh dear, Rias seems to have pulled in a rather dangerous young man.'

The bids started coming in.

"2,340,00!" "3,420,000!" "3,690,000!"

The Devils were throwing absurd amounts of money around(Devil dollars are worth far more than human dollars) trying to outbid each other for the first potions that would presumably shake the entire underworld. Having the first potions would be a massive trophy for any family. The effects of the potions themselves aside.

She considered bidding herself but the Gremory family wasn't in such a great financial position to be throwing around tens of millions casually. Besides unlike other families, they had a direct access to Takumi, speaking of, she would have to meet the young man for some business soon and to personally meet her daughter's lover.

Eventually, the bidding slowed down and the winner was decided.

"The potions go to the seat 45 for 6,666,000! Congratulations(for your grossly overpriced potions). Now, next up!"

The bunny girl rolled in a fancy case containing a green ornate ring inside.

"The ring of the Hydra! One of my personal favourites! It binds itself to the wielder and grants them the ability to slowly regenerate even lost limbs! If you are wearing this ring, as long as you are below the ultimate rank, after a long rest you will be in top condition, just make sure you are well-fed!"

The items that Takumi put on display were truly absurd, he pulled out absurd items such as a ring of regeneration, an amulet that boosted the strengths of ice spells(that the Sitri took almost instantly), gauntlets that bolstered the wearer's strength, a ring that cured poisons and the list went on.

He was capable of creating items and trinkets that resembled Sacred Gears in effect. Even she had to pay a lot of gold to grab a ring that gave its user an increased perception as a gift for her grandson.

Takumi was going to throw the entire underworld into chaos she was sure of it. He had, in one day, managed to mark himself as one of the most important people in the underworld at the moment. She was concerned for him and about him as well.

Surely, everyone would be scrambling to get a piece of the Takumi pie that currently allied itself with no one in particular. And as the auction passed Takumi made one final announcement.

"Alright everyone, time for the final item I am going to display today! Here it is!" The bunny girl once again rolled in a glass case that contained a vibrant pink potion that Takumi grabbed and casually toyed with it in his hand, spinning it on the tip of his finger like it was a basketball as he started talking.

"This potion is actually a pretty neat one, although it was incredibly expensive to produce so for now I am choosing to only sell one here for now. Ladies and gentlemen allow me to introduce to you..." He stopped spinning the bottle and picked it up before pointing it at the audience.

"The Boosted Pure Vitality Elixir! Drinking this elixir will significantly boost the drinker's Vitality, improving their constitution, granting minor regenerative abilities, positively impacting their bloodline and even boosting their Virility or Fertility." Venelana's eyebrows rose in surprise as she was shocked silent as Takumi kept explaining with a cunning expression on his face.

"The effect itself is permanent and will pass some of the effects to their offspring too. It won't affect your genetics or bloodline at all, just improve what is already there. No side effects or drawbacks to ingesting it. This bottle of power can be yours, the starting price is 5,000,000."

The entire hall erupted into talks while Takumi smiled smugly, she could see the expressions of shock and disbelief on people's faces. After all, what Takumi had put on the table was a power that was almost exactly like a Pillar Bloodline if not a bit weaker but its power could not be underestimated. His skills were beyond any Alchemist she had seen herself.

Bids fiercely rose in competition as Takumi asserted his position as the Alchemist of Miracles in their minds. While Venelana was truly surprised, was that the reason why her daughter's peerage suddenly seemed stronger? Had he given out such elixirs to them freely?

Unfortunately, as much as she wanted to get the potion game itself the bids here were already getting astronomical. She would just have to ask Takumi himself if a deal could be sorted, she was sure Takumi would be receptive to helping out his king's nephew after all.

After a while, the final bid finally settled at...

"The Elixir is yours seat 99 for 28,423,000! Congratulations! Now then everyone, with that this auction has reached its conclusion. Don't forget to visit the Goch Emporium in 5 days! Almost every potion here and more will also be sold there as permanent stock! The homunculi maids will show you out."

This auction certainly went beyond even her wildest expectations. And she was fairly sure every devil in the premise shared the same thoughts.

What a man Rias had caught.

Maybe she could get an opportunity to talk with him after this?

A/N: As Takumi has promised, he has started to turn the underworld upside down. Also, I didn't think much about this before but once you think about it the Devil Pillar Families and their territories are actually small-medium country-sized rather than city-sized since Devil race numbers are comparable to humanity, hell the Gremory territory alone is stated to be larger than over half of Japan and probably more.

Also one of the best milfs in the series has taken a lot of interest in Takumi that can only go well. Now that Takumi has thrown the glove down and put his metaphorical cock on the table things will get more interesting, Takumi's existence and his skills are now public and everything that entails.

What did you guys think of the chapter? I would love to know so make sure to share your thoughts about it in the comments. Your comments help motivate me and help me improve.

_______________________________

If you like my works and want to support me and my works you can do so at my P*treon at: p*treon.com/BronzDeck. You can also read up to 10 chapters ahead on all of my works there.

Just replace the * with an a.