Chapter 77: Reflection

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"I'm home!" Rias stepped into the living room of her house in the Underworld, a few of the maids having greeted her and her peerage on the way in. 

"Rias-nee!" A small figure came running up to her, hugging her waist with more strength than Rias was used to as she returned the embrace. "It's almost been two weeks, what took you so long?" 

"Sorry Millicas, we had some other work to attend to before we could come." 

Only a few days were left before their scheduled Rating Game with Sairaorg Bael, which meant most of their training had been done in the human world. 

"Welcome back," an older woman soon joined them, being none other than Rias's mother. "I just finished making breakfast if you're hungry." 

The sound of Issei's stomach loudly gurgling caught everyone's attention, resulting in him letting out a slightly embarrassed chuckle. 

"I guess that answers that," she led them into the dining room. 

"Oh, are you trying out a new recipe?" Rias asked as she looked at the table, the food seeming reminiscent of something one would find in the human world rather than the Underworld.

"It's not mine, I learned it from a new friend. It's someone you're familiar with." She noticed her mother's expression grow a little uneasy. 

"A new friend?" 

An individual wearing an apron with a spatula in his hand walked out from the kitchen, stopping as he laid eyes upon the group. 

"Hi," he said indifferently. "You all can go ahead and take a seat, the rest of the food will be out in a minute." 

"Mom." 

"Yes?" 

"That isn't who I think it is, right?" 

"I'm afraid it is." 

"What are you all just standing around for? It'll get cold." 

Of course, it was none other than Takauji. 

"I'm going to ask this question as calmly as I can, what is he doing here?" Rias's eye twitched. 

Issei was about to take a step forward, but Kiba put a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head discouragingly. 

"Your brother hired him to be Millicas's training instructor until Grayfia is back," Rias had noticed that Millicas had put on some muscle. 

"Him? Brother hired him of all people?" 

"Hey, I was just as surprised," Takauji shrugged. "But he offered me more Dragon Apples in exchange, so how could I refuse?" He took out one of said apples and tossed them into his mouth. 

Koneko and Xenovia soon had to step in, assisting Kiba in restraining Issei from doing anything rash. 

But his brute strength was making it increasingly more difficult to do so, even without his [Boosted Gear] active. 

"And you're alright with this?" Rias asked her mother. 

"I mean, he's been doing a stellar job of it all things considered. And he's also a good help around the house handling most of the meals for me and your grandmother." 

If the other Dragon Kings heard that he was acting as a part-time housekeeper and babysitter, they'd probably blow a fuse. 

"Even if that's true, you know what the relationship between him and our peerage is like." She breathed a deep exhale, not sure how to handle the current situation. "How long will he be staying for?" 

"Like I said, until Grayfia is back." 

"And when will that be?" 

"No idea." 

"Pandora-sama," Alucard appeared out of his shadow. "I don't think they like you very much." 

"Don't worry, once they get a taste of my cooking their opinion will change." 

As one would expect, breakfast was rather awkward. 

Takauji, Alucard, and Millicas were happily eating away, as if everything was just fine. 

Whereas Venelana was keeping her daughter calm, and the entirety of Rias's peerage was watching Issei just in case he decided to blow a fuse. 

And the worst part of it was, the food was actually good! 

Which led to a strange sight in which everyone was glaring daggers at Takauji, but also unable to stop themselves from wolfing down the food he had made. 

With his draconic appetite, Takauji finished his food in seconds. Standing up and walking to the courtyard. 

Issei, being the only other dragon at the table, finished just as quickly, and decided to follow him outside. 

"Is he going to be alright?" Xenovia asked Kiba. 

"I hope." 

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Takauji threw his arms up, stretching as his bones let out a satisfactory crunch. 

"I see you still haven't fought Vali," he said as Issei approached him. "That's a shame." Right as he was about to respond, Takauji cut him off. "If you're planning on asking for another match, don't bother. It's not happening until you've fought him." 

"Bold of you to assume I need to ask," he activated his [Boosted Gear], earning a bored glance from Takauji. 

"So you're now up to 40%, not bad. But seeing as you still haven't absorbed Belzard or Elsha, I doubt it'll make any difference." 

Issei felt his frustration start to build, seeing not so much as an ounce of fighting intent spilling out of Takauji. 

"I have a question." 

"Ask it." 

"What exactly is your objective?" 

"I told you back then didn't I? To make you grow stronger⎼" 

"That's not what I'm asking! I'm talking about your end goal, everything you've done up till this point. Why?" 

"I just do what I feel like I'm doing, do I really need to have an explanation?" 

"You're lying. Even I can see that you have something you're working towards, and I want to know what it is." 

Takauji sighed, letting his head hang a little as he seemed to come to an understanding. 

"I see, for you to not know the motive of your oppressor is too painful for you to handle. You can't comprehend evil without reason, is that it?" 

He had been read like a book. 

"Yes, there is indeed a goal I have in mind." Those words seemed to grant Issei a strange sense of relief. "A living creature without purpose, couldn't be considered living in the first place. I am no exception." 

"Then what is it?" 

"Hmm. I guess I'll tell you half of it, since you're not qualified to know the other half. I'm bored, Hyoudou Issei. Terribly bored." 

"Boredom? You can't expect me to believe you did all of this out of boredom?" 

"Everytime I find someone who can match my strength, I end up surpassing them in what feels like an instant. You and Vali both have the potential to defeat me, but at the end of the day potential is just potential. I've understood that. Whether one can realize it is another story altogether." 

Takauji let out a dry chuckle. 

"What's so amusing?" 

"It's just that, even if I tried making myself weaker, it wouldn't amount to much. Do you want to know something funny? Even if I sat around all day, doing absolutely nothing, I would continue to grow stronger and stronger. That's why I decided to just embrace it and let my body grow at its desired pace. Otherwise I would've stopped training a while ago." 

He looked up, observing the sky for a few moments before continuing. 

"Honestly speaking, I'm not all too sure what more I can do at this point. You and Vali are both growing much faster than you should be thanks to my involvement, but it's still not enough. It hasn't been very long since you showed me your [Synthesis Drive], and already my physical strength alone is now enough to completely overpower you. Tell me, if you were in my position what would you do?" 

He stared at Issei, the latter finding himself unable to respond under the intensity of his gaze. 

"Yeah, I thought as much. Things just keep moving faster and faster than I can anticipate them, I don't even know if I'll be too late by the time you, Vali, and even Akeno have become complete." 

"Then, do you regret it?" Issei asked all of a sudden. 

"Regret?" He repeated, pondering for a bit. "Oh, you're asking me if I regret Asia, right. No, I don't regret it. I've killed a great deal of people up till now, why would I brood over some girl? The only reason I remember her name is because of your lingering attachment to her in the first place." 

Takauji sensed his rising fury, but this time it didn't seem to arouse much excitement in him. 

"Shura." 

"What?" 

"That's your name if you were wondering, it's Shura. Kind of like Asura. All Dragons are given their true name from my counterpart when they achieve a certain level of strength." 

"Is that why people are calling you Pandora?" 

"Not really, only Dragons will be able to figure out your name just by looking at you. Anyone else will have to be told, not that it really matters whether you choose to tell them or not. I personally don't care what people call me, a Dragon's name is only really important to the Dragon it belongs to." 

"I don't understand." 

"What's there not to understand? You chose the path of a Dragon didn't you? You're the same as me in that regard. It's only natural you have a name." 

Takauji reached into his ear, pulling out what looked to be a faint strand of iridescent energy. 

"I wasn't planning on giving this to you for a while, but apparently Red says it's necessary, and I'd rather not let her get cranky." The strand flew into Issei's right hand, the latter unable to react in time to do anything to it. "Then again, Ophis did the same with Vali so it's not really a big deal." 

"Ophis? What are you talking about?" 

"You haven't met Ophis?" 

"Of course not, he's the leader of Khaos Brigade. Why would I have?" 

He scratched his chin. "It seems I may have interfered a bit too much, that's no good. Oh well, I'll just reel back a bit." 

Getting rid of the Hero Faction, acquiring Samel, and bringing Valerie to their side, who had been revealed to be the possessor of a Longinus by the name of [Sephiroth Graal], had not only halted, but ruined a great number of Khaos Brigade's plans, especially the Old Satan Faction part of it. 

Hades could no longer take advantage of [Annihilation Maker], the plan to take control of Ophis using Samael could no longer happen. Unsealing the Evil Dragons with [Sephiroth Graal] was also now near impossible unless they tried to kidnap her. 

But seeing as she was being guarded by Masashige, Sayafushi, Benihime, Raynare, Yasaka, and probably a whole bunch of reinforcements Grigori and the Underworld had sent upon hearing about the reveal of her Sacred Gear, doing so would take colossal effort. 

All because of a high schooler who thought it'd be cool if he became a Dragon. 

They still had [Incinerate Anthem] on their side, and some heavy hitters who had yet to make their presence known, but how much damage they'd actually be able to do with the amount of firepower they lost remained to be seen. 

"Hey, Issei, do you think you're strong?" The question remained unanswered for a bit. "You haven't thought about it right? Neither have I until now. I guess that's what happens when you keep yourself busy." He smiled. "I used to read lots of fantasy books, and in those stories there were these characters who only acted because they seeked entertainment. I always thought it was a stupid way to live, and just an excuse to justify a character's motives without actually having to put any effort into creating one. But now, now I think I'm starting to understand. Just a little. Boredom is a lot more annoying to deal with than the word makes it sound." 

Takauji walked past Issei, patting him on the shoulder as he returned to the dining room. 

"That's enough monologuing from me, I'm going to be training Millicas in the evening, if you and your friends want to do some more preparation before fighting Sairaorg feel free to join in."