Chapter XV: Start of a Fire

A Chapter by Oran

Elementals are beings in the form of Humans that are given sheer power derived from a single element. It is said that their bodies house a massive amount of energy that could slay entire armies. They can use this energy to give themselves unmatched power; however, it will slowly sap away their life in the process. It's their choice if they want to gain more powers and lose whatever humanity is left in them, or if they want to hide that power and use it only when needed the most. I'd love to have such powers, but if I'm gonna lose what makes me human, it makes no sense to me anymore. What about you?

Let's get things straight. The writer wrote that last part, not me. It seems he wanted to add his own philosophy to the novel. But let's face it, no one wants to here an unnamed man's sayings. How about we just continue the story before I write an entire paragraph about the writer's incompetence?

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Inside the Blood Well, a clash of flesh and steel, lust and purity, rage on. Neither one would fall against each others' exchange of blows, showing no sign of attrition. It's actually going on for a while now; it's getting boring by the second. Lina's been sitting and watching it for a pretty long time now.

"Enough!", says Issei striking Credo in the neck with his right arm. Looks like he's tired of playing around too.

Credo flinches from the attack, but then immediately recovers and quickly stabs him clean on the gut. That should probably kill him, at least I hope it does. The Demon's eyes widen as he finds his own blood on his hands. The Demon Hunter pulls off the sword and kicks down his target to his knees. It appears Issei is still breathing.

"You give up yet?", Credo tells him with the sharp edge of his Gunblade on Issei's throat.

"Fine...."

That being said, the Blood Well, implodes and brings them back to the house. It's pretty much destroyed now. There's a lot of debris around the place. All that's left were the corner stones. It's been raining pretty hard too. Wanna know what else was there? About a hundred naked ladies which Issei victimized laying unconscious on the wet ground around the ruined house, probably because they've also been released from the Blood Well. I think they're still alive, just not awake.

"You have any regrets?", says Credo, about to execute him.

Issei lowers his head to his knees. "[1]Rias. I couldn't take her virginity. Plus, I let one get away. It would be nice to taste a little bit of her...."

"You're sick!", Lina remarks.

He was about to pull the trigger, but a gust of wind from Issei's wings throws him off as he soars upward trying to flee from Credo. By then, Credo returns to his stable form with his hair and skin turning back to its original state. He shrivels down from the exhaustion of retaining his power.

"Can you still walk?", says Lina concerned about her partner.

"Yeah", he says as he stands up. As he gets back on his feet, he sees a lot of women around the house. "Any of them look familiar to you?", he asks Lina.

"Let's see..."

She finds a lot of familiar characters among them. Let's see.... There's [2]Huntress Wizard, Kirisaki Kyoko, Tobichii Origami, Sherry Berkin, Caitlyn of Piltover, Alyx Vance, and Paulita Gomez. After a little bit of surveying, Lina suddenly finds something so unspeakable, so shameless, that she shrieks in abhor.

"What? What is it?"

"It's... it's...."

Credo takes a closer look at what Lina was referring to. It was one of the victims Issei had conquered, only, this one was about 11 years old. Who knew the guy had a Lolita Complex?

"How old do you think she is?" Dude, I said she was 11. Oh wait, you can't hear me.

"Enough about that! He's still out there somewhere."

"Don't worry", Credo implies, "The guy's bleeding out and he knows it. Probably went somewhere to make one last fap."

"I don't think you should do that when you're about to die."

"Well, what else would a pubescent, lustful, and boorish Demon who's about to die do besides that?", he says.

They suddenly look at each other as if knowing the answer to that question. Without a moment to lose, the pair dash away to see if what they thought was right and chase after their target.

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Night time already. The small candle inside Anna's room wasn't bright enough to act as a nightlight, but it was enough to show that Rylai was sleeping on her coffee table. In times like this, she just wishes she could fall asleep in an instant and wake up to the sunlit sky so she doesn't have to see it so dark. But then again, sleep means dreams, and dreams mean nightmares. She really hates being like this. Every night she has to fall to her own fear just to rest for tomorrow, all because of Issei.

Her eyes were open and staring at the ceiling. You know that feeling you get that you want to sleep but can't because of the thoughts on your head? She's going through that right now. She's worried about Credo.

"I wonder if he'll be able to catch some sleep", she thinks to herself.

Credo was very dear to her. There were a lot of things she was afraid of as a child, and he did all he could to fight it for her. He always stood by her when she was in any sort of mess. He was the best part of her childhood, and when he left, all she could do was wait and pray for him to come back again. Now he's finally able to be with her again, and just like before, he's doing everything for her again.

"What can I do?"

She tosses and turns around her bed, trying to find an easy position. When she finally settles, she hears her window pry open and she takes a look at what it is, just like in her nightmares.

Over and over again, she sees these visions in her sleep: A tall, dark guy with wings slowly walking toward her in her bedroom. His eyes were dark red and glowing ominously. He puts his wretched hands on her and looks at her dead in the eye. It usually stops there. Unfortunately this time, she's awake. This time, it's real.

His fingers slowly inch down to her neck. She couldn't do anything. In fact, no one would be able to do anything when they're frozen in fear.

"Anna!", says Rylai rushing toward her partner.

Rylai is able to change the shape of her tail since it's part water. Her tail is made up of a malleable type of liquid metal that can solidify once she changes its form. In this case, she molds a part of it into a fist, but before she could hit him, Issei knocks her down with his wing.

"It's been a while...."

She couldn't speak. She couldn't even scream for help knowing that her fear has come alive.

He puts his other hand to her chin. "Now...", he licks his lips with the same lewd face he had when he first met her. "... Let's continue, shall we?"

There was only one thing in her mind:

"Credo... help me..."

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"I'm coming, Anna!", Credo screams inside his head as he climbs up the steps to Anna's room.

"Hurry up!", says Lina riding on Credo's shoulder. "I don't want that pedo' touching Anna!"

He finally makes it to the level where Anna's room would be, and there he scans it to find her room.

"Why the hell are there so many rooms!", he complains.

Suddenly he hears a painful scream on one of the rooms, but it didn't sound like Anna's. It sounded like a guy's voice when he gets hit by a bullet or something.

The door slams open with Credo calling out: "Anna!"

Inside the room was Anna and Issei, and of course Rylai who was knocked-out on the floor. Anna's left hand was smoldering with red hot flames, stuck against Issei's chest cavity where his heart would be. It appears she's gotten tired of being afraid, tired of not being able to fight her fears. She's had enough of spending every waking moment worrying about her safety from these Demons. Three years of her torment taught her that running away will tire you eventually. Now, she applies her learning.

"I'm not afraid of you... anymore."

Both the Demon and the Demon Hunter were shocked with what they beheld.

Issei's eyes darken as he falls down to Anna's feet when she pulls away. He's definitely dead now.

Something warm came down dripping on her eyes when she begins to let go of her straight face. She faced her fear, and she couldn't believe it. She looks at Credo with all the tears she wasted from this horror that she's been holding back this entire time.

"Credo?", she speaks weakly, trying to find comfort.

"Anna...."

She falls to him, with tears flooding her pretty face. For a while, just a little while, she wanted him to hold her until she can recover from extinguishing this living hell.

"I was so scared!", she wails at him at the top of her lungs.

"I'm here now", he tries to calm her down, "I will never let anyone hurt you like that ever again."

This slightly tones her down. "Then...", her grip gets tighter, "... do you promise?"

"I promise."

Now, she's a calmer. "Don't forget, okay?", she smiles at him while trying to wipe off her own tears. "If you forget, I'll kill you."

"Sure."

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Morning the very next day, everyone was already prepared to go. They were given a small carriage driven by two horses for their journey. Solis was all stocked with supplies for hunting that he had to leave a few behind. The rest of them were already boarding except for Credo and Anna. The two were being given final instructions from her father.

"Remember: You don't always have to fight. All you have to do is gather the others, open the gate to Hell, toss the Demons in there, and then close it back, got it?"

"Yes, sir", Credo concurs.

"Anna, if you know you can't handle the situation, always ask Credo for help. I don't want you putting yourself at risk just because of your duties."

"I'll be fine, father."

"And you", he refers to Credo, "If my daughter doesn't come back home in one piece and still breathing, I'll have you raped."

"I'd die before I let that happen, sir." Credo means he'd be dead before Anna dies or before he gets raped.

"Then off with you."

"Goodbye, father", she kisses him goodbye.

"Take care, Anna."

Anna takes off but her father has one other thing to tell Credo. When she gets to the carriage, she introduces herself to the rest as Nashor is surprised that she's gonna have to deal with the "Princess" on her trip with Credo.

"I believe my daughter is in good hands. Don't prove me wrong", her father demands.

"Not a chance, sir."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that extra pay for finishing early."

"Yes!", Lina pumps her fists.

"Winston!", he calls aloud for his servant who instantly ran to his side after hearing. "Go and get their reward."

Winston runs off faster than the speed of sound to get what his master was talking about.

"So how much do we get, old man?", Lina asks the old man, impolitely.

He chuckles lightly. "Oh, I'm not giving you my money."

"What?", she spouts, "What about my waffles?"

"Then, what is our reward, sir?"

"Sorry for making you wait, Mr. Lavoisier", a girl's voice said running toward them.

As you can imagine, Credo doesn't do jobs without a proper contract, but this time it looks like he didn't really sign a contract, meaning he could be rewarded with anything regardless of how much he values it. Apparently, he was rewarded with his personal maid.

"Credo, this is Lanette", Anna's father introduces them. Damn, this story's getting out of hand. First it's Nash, then Anna, and now Lanette! What's with this guy?

"Lanette?", Credo questions, looking very surprised.

"What's wrong, son? If you want, I have seven more maids for replacement."

"No... wait.... She's the reward?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Um....", Lanette looks at him with her cutely embarrassed face. " Am... Am I not good enough?"

That adorable face could make anyone blush, including Credo. "So... you're saying... you're coming with us... as my servant?"

"If... if it's okay with you", she says with a shy tone in her voice.

"Come on, boy-o!", the old man pats his back. "It's not like you have any relationships to stand by, right?"

"I... suppose", he scratches his hair.

Lanette smiles with that answer.

"Hey, Credo!", Solis shouts at him from the shotgun seat of the carriage. "Let's go already! The Lower Kingdom's Fatalis is waiting for me!"

"Shall we go, Master?", Lanette suggests.

"Yeah... but you don't have to call me master, just Credo, like always."

"As you wish, Credo."

And so the Elementals and their new companions start travelling once again to get to the Lower Kingdom. Solis and Eve- I mean, Mea, were on the front seat while Credo, Nash, Anna, and Lanatte were inside the vehicle. One guy, three hot ladies, and a bunch of supernatural felines inside a small carraige. What could go wrong?

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1. Main heroine of Highschool DxD(R-18)

2. All are female characters with their respective references: "Adventure Time", "To-Love-Ru", "Date A Live", "Resident Evil", "League of Legends", "Half-Life 2", "El Filibusterismo"

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