[ Isaiah's PoV ]
The White Dragon Emperor.
Descendant of the original Satan. Battle maniac extraordinaire who'd eventually defect from the Khaos Brigade because even terrorists weren't entertaining enough for him.
Great. Just what I needed before a historic peace summit—the guy destined to be Issei's eternal rival, except Issei didn't exist in my peerage, which meant all that "fated battle between Red and White" bullshit might redirect itself at me instead.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
"Who are you?" I kept my voice casual. "I don't remember seeing you anywhere around here."
His grin was the kind that preceded violence. "Well, we'll be seeing each other soon enough, so I thought I'd introduce myself to the one who took care of Kokabiel by himself."
He extended his hand.
I shook it. His grip was strong—testing, not threatening. Like he was assessing strength difference.
"I'm Vali Lucifer. The White Dragon Emperor."
"Isaiah. Knight of Rias Gremory." I held his grip a second longer than necessary, matched his pressure exactly. "So is it angels or the fallen angels you're tagging along with?"
"Just wait till sunset and all your answers will be answered." That manic gleam in his silver eyes intensified. The look of someone who'd found a new toy and couldn't wait to break it. "Besides, I could care less about the peace treaty when I have a strong opponent to clash with. Tell me, Isaiah—do you seek to rise above stronger individuals?"
I felt Asia press closer to my side. Koneko had shifted her stance, ready to move.
Part of me wanted to tell him the truth. That I knew exactly who he was, what he wanted, where this conversation was heading. That Divine Dividing was impressive but ultimately just another overpowered Sacred Gear in a world full of them. That his entire "battle-hungry descendant of Lucifer" shtick was going to lead him down a path of diminishing returns until he ended up fighting alongside the people he currently worked against.
But that would require explaining how I knew the plot of a world I wasn't supposed to know was fictional.
So instead, I went with option two: crushing his expectations before he could get attached to them.
"I could care less about rising above strong individuals when I have a peace treaty to attend." I met his gaze, kept my voice level. "If you think I'm power hungry or a war maniac like Kokabiel, then you have nothing but disappointment from me."
Something shifted in his expression. Not quite disappointment—more like recalibration. He'd come here expecting a certain type of person and found someone else entirely.
Welcome to my life, buddy.
"Whatever it is." He stepped past me, close enough I could feel the raw power radiating off him. Divine Dividing's presence, coiled and waiting. "We both know peace is never an option for individuals like us. Our fates are destined to fight each other."
He walked past without even glancing at Asia or Koneko. Just kept moving with that predator's grace, hands in pockets, utterly confident.
Peace is never an option, huh?
The thing was, he wasn't entirely wrong.
Not because of destiny or fate or any of that predetermined narrative bullshit. But because people like Vali—people with that much power and that little impulse control—made peace functionally impossible. They needed the fight. Craved it. Built their entire identity around being the strongest.
And yeah, part of me understood the appeal.
I'd been itching for a real fight since Kokabiel. Someone who could actually push me. Divine Dividing was one of the Thirteen Longinus, a world-breaking Sacred Gear that let you halve your opponent's power every ten seconds and add it to your own.
Vali was the perfect one.
He wanted to fight the strongest, while I wanted to survive people trying to murder me for reasons I hadn't figured out yet. But that doesn't mean I would back off from a challenge.
Thinking about the future timeline helped me not think about the present problem—specifically, that someone had tried to kill me, Diodora hadn't asked about it, and I still had no fucking clue who was behind it.
We reached the school gates. Students streamed past, laughing about weekend plans and complaining about homework. Normal teenage shit. The kind of mundane problems that felt increasingly foreign.
I used to worry about math tests.
Now I worried about political assassinations and peace summits and whether the guy with the god-killing Sacred Gear was going to decide I'd make a fun punching bag.
Progress.
---
School hours blurred past, while I tried to stay awake through the whole ordeal.
I sat through Modern Literature while Rias's warning from yesterday echoed in my head "The peace treaty happens today. There might be some... work."
Work. What a nice euphemism for "supernatural politics that could restart a three-faction war if anyone fucks up."
The teacher droned about symbolism in contemporary fiction. I took notes automatically, mind elsewhere.
Canon had the peace summit happening without a major incident.
But canon also had Issei as the Red Dragon Emperor and Gasper as the time-stop Bishop during the summit and a dozen other differences that my presence had already invalidated.
Assuming things would follow the script was a good way to get killed.
And there was a good chance that Mr X might make his appearance or maybe put me in a bad spot to use this vial around my neck. Hope it's the prior one, but knowing my luck the second one was most likely the fate of mine. Curse of carrying the plot on your back, Not recommended!
The possibilities were endless and none of them were good.
"Isaiah senpai" Koneko's voice cut through my thoughts.
I blinked. Looked around. The classroom was empty except for us. When had the bell rung?
We walked into the hallway. Asia waited by her locker, face bright despite the tension I could see on her face. She'd been excited about the peace treaty ever since Rias mentioned it. The idea of angels and devils working together instead of fighting—it appealed to her optimistic nature.
"Isaiah-san!" She fell into step beside us. "Do you think we'll get to meet Michael-sama? I've heard he's beautiful."
"Probably," I said. "Though I doubt there'll be much conversation. This is politics, not a social call."
Koneko made a soft nod of agreement.
We headed toward the old school building.
Inside, the atmosphere was tense.
"Everything's in place" Rias said "My brother arrived an hour ago. Azazel and Michael are scheduled to appear at sunset."
I dropped into one of the chairs "What about the security? I heard from Grayfia san that each faction would have their forces for that"
"Grayfia established multiple barrier layers. The entire school grounds are warded by the forces like she said"
Akeno turned from the window "I can't believe this is really happening. Peace between the three factions"
Her voice held something I couldn't quite identify. Not quite hope, but adjacent to it. Akeno's relationship with her fallen angel heritage was complicated. A peace treaty that normalized relations between angels and fallen might give her some breathing room.
Or it might make things worse.
Hard to say with her remnants of family trauma.
Rias's blue-green eyes fixed on me. "About this morning. Vali."
"The White Dragon Emperor isn't standard anything. He's dangerous. More than Kokabiel in raw combat ability. And unlike Kokabiel, he's not blinded by ideology. He fights because he loves fighting."
"I got that impression."
"The Red and White Dragon Emperors have been enemies for countless generations. That kind of inherited rivalry..." She trailed off, studying my face. "You don't seem concerned."
Because I knew how it ended. Vali and Issei—or in this timeline, maybe Vali and whoever—would fight, realize they were more useful as allies, and team up against bigger threats. The Longinus wielders always followed that pattern.
Destined rivalry was just another word for "future teammate with extra steps."
But I couldn't explain that.
"I'm concerned," I said instead. "But worrying doesn't help. Right now, we focus on the summit. Everything else can wait."
Rias held my gaze for a long moment, then nodded. "Right. One catastrophe at a time."
---
Sunset painted the sky in shades of amber and crimson.
I stood in the hallway outside the meeting room, watching light fade through tall windows. The school was vacated long ago leaving behind the ones behind it.
The door opened.
I stepped inside.
The meeting room had been transformed. What was usually a student council chamber now looked like something from a fantasy novel. A massive round table dominated the center, inlaid with symbols from all three factions. Chairs surrounded it, each occupied by beings of terrible power.
Sirzechs Lucifer sat with that casual grace that didn't quite hide the power underneath.
Beside him, Serafall Leviathan looked deceptively cheerful in her formal attire. I knew better, she'd be better in her magical girl attire than this one. But in business she is serious even though it's a forced one, like I am right now.
Across the table sat Michael, with Xenovia and Irina behind him.
The leader of Heaven's forces radiated holy presence like a miniature sun. Twelve golden wings folded against his back. His face held that serene expression that came from being millions of years old and having seen literally everything and be content with it.
And next to Michael sat Azazel.
He leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled, watching everything with laid back smile on his face. I wish I could have this level of chill.
Behind Azazel stood Vali.
Our eyes met across the room, as he gave me a knowing look which I ignored and stood by the wall behind Sirzechs with Grayfia standing in front of me.
The rest of the Gremory peerage filed in behind me. Rias took her place near us, as we stood next to Akeno and Koneko who stood by themselves appropriately. Asia looked overwhelmed, trying not to stare at Michael.
"Now that all participants are here" Sirzechs said, leaning forward and clasping his hands.
"Let the summit commence"
As he said, a familiar sound resonated within my mind.
[ Quest : Survive the Peace Treaty Summit ]
[ Reward : 3 character Cards ]
"...."
. . .
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