Demon Among Devils

Chapter 8: "Promise Me"

In the end, they had decided that he would be best suited as a Rook. It was a notion that he did not disagree with. A Knight was too fast, too swift, and though he had shown aptitude for close combat, he simply did not have the speed. His spar with Kiba had proven that. Unwavering defense had been his sole advantage, and he had relied on that to counter the blisteringly fast moves the sword-user threw his way until a final opening had revealed itself to him. His bout with Issei was much the same, though the boy was far from experienced, the advantage of speed his opponent possessed still surprised him. It seemed becoming a devil strengthened one's physical abilities far above human capabilities. Technically, he could match them if demanded. Their speed, that was. Hermes, Junpei's initial Persona, was the manifestation of the Greek God of the same name, and he had that in his collection as well. It had chosen to appear soon after Penthesilea when he first arrived on this world, along with the rest of SEES's Personas, reminding him of the power of the bonds he had forged. But Hermes was a god, not a demon, and he needed a demon to be of any help at all.

A Rook it was then, slower, steadier, but no less deadly in a Rating Game.

It was Rias who first raised an issue. It had taken all eight of her Pawn pieces to resurrect Issei, such was the strength and potential of his Boosted Gear. He had summoned Nidhoggr, a dragon just as powerful as the one stored in Issei's gauntlet, and she was genuinely afraid she did not have enough pieces left to have him in her peerage. It was a valid concern. But he had a good understanding of how things worked in this world from both observing them and listening to the explanations they sometimes offered.

The number of pieces required was dependent on the power of the Sacred Gear. This he had guessed earlier before Rias's request for the training session. Her words now merely confirmed that fact. Sacred Gears were the foundation on which the Rating Game was based on, and he had none to his name. The source of his power, the identities of his Personas came from the Sea of Souls and the unlimited potential that was his Wild Card. They were vastly different from the weapons he had seen Issei and Kiba use so far.

Rias's worry was unfounded. The ability to summon a Persona was not tied with Sacred Gears. It was not even tied with any power in this world as far as he could tell, and as a result, not tied with the amount of pieces needed. He had told that to her, mentioning that even a minor piece like a Pawn would most likely be sufficient. The devil had smiled at him and replied that it would be best to keep that a secret. He had seen the wisdom in her suggestion almost immediately.

The implantation process itself did not take long. There was no need for rituals or anything of the sort. The piece recognized the demon's essence as his own, accepted that he was a devil while he was truly not, and melded into his body flawlessly. On the outside, it was a smooth transfer of power, and Rias had stepped back in relief after it was done. On the inside, it was anything but.

An Archangel would never bow to an angel. A king would never kneel to his subjects. A demon would never grovel before a mere devil. It was the way power worked. Even in this world, where devils were not evil and humans could become devils, that tenet held true. A higher power would never submit to a lower one.

It was such the case here. Rias Gremory was a high-level devil, this he knew. He had seen the power she could wield when they still had been strangers in the ruined church, preparing to destroy the Fallen Angels that had already been judged. The presence within him would have crushed her without a second thought. The disparity between the two was too large, too huge for it to be a contest. So when she stepped back, thinking it had worked, in reality he was actively fighting the demon in his mind, preventing it from obliterating the piece that linked him to her peerage.