The Book of Solomon - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Solomon lay on his new futon on the living room floor. He'd given Asia the bedroom, against her protests. He'd chosen to get a pair of traditional futons rather than a new mattress. The futons could be folded and put in the closet to they led to the place feeling more spacious. That would help a lot now that two people were living in a place meant for a single person. Or possibly a couple, but definitely not for two people not sharing the same bed.

He'd also gotten himself a brand new thirty-two inch flat screen TV. He could have bought bigger, but it wouldn't have fit the nook he already had. He also didn't really need bigger. He'd also grabbed himself both a Playstation 2 and an Xbox 360 along with a handful of games. It was a big bit of nostalgia for him to be using such 'old; systems. But, to him, they were almost forty years out of date.

Anyway, he'd splurged a bit and didn't regret it at all. He didn't spend all his time training with the others so he needed something to do to pass the time. He sure as hell wasn't going to be doing homework! He chuckled at the looks he was starting to get from the teachers at his constant failure to hand in anything. He participated in class, but that was it. He fully expected to fail the full year and it kind of made him giggle.

He could remember how much effort he put into school in his last life, always working hard to get straight A's in his classes. Then doing the best he could in college to maintain his grades. Then working his ass off in his first dead end job. Well... he remembered less about it in detail, he just knew he'd done the corporate thing and hated it. Even just thinking about living a corporate life sent a shiver of dread down his spine.

He would, mostly, live the life he wanted this time around. He was strong enough that the number of people who could tell him what to do via threat was rather limited. There were still rules and laws he would have to abide by or risk having EVERYONE in the supernatural world gunning for him, like no breaking the masquerade. The very thing that had gotten him in his current bit of trouble.

The only issue he could see would be earning money. Thankfully, he had a fair bit of time before that became a huge worry. The money from Rias helped. He snuggled down into his new futon a bit with a yawn and decided to get some sleep.

-----Line Break-----

Solomon hummed as he was walking home from the electronics shop. He'd forgotten something important when shopping yesterday, a laptop! He planned to teach Asia how to use it so she could do research and learn about the real world. With school and ORC training, he didn't have a ton of free time to teach her himself. She understood, naturally, but he still wanted to do whatever he could for her.

About half way to his place his phone rang making him frown. No one should be calling him. He pulled the phone out and checked who the caller was. An unknown number. Oh! He hoped it was a spam call! He LOVED messing with them soooo much. He hit the accept button and spoke with a cheery voice, “Thank you for calling the Road Kill Cafe! You kill it, we grill it! What's on the menu today?”

There was a long pause, “I... I'm trying to reach a young man named Solomon.”

He had no idea who the young sounding woman on the phone was but he was mildly curious so he said, “You've got him. So, what's for dinner tonight? Racoon? Oh! Opossum? Deer? It's been a while since Elk has come through.”

There's another long pause before the very confused woman on the other end manages to say, “Please hold for Azazel.”

Solomon promptly hangs up and slips his phone back in hos pocket. It's less than a minute later when his phone rings again, “County morgue! You stab 'em, we slab 'em!”

There's a definite male snort on the other side of the phone, “Funny, kid.”

That's as far as Azazel got before Solomon hung up on him. He couldn't think of a single reason he needed to talk to Azazel other than for Azazel to blame him for whatever trouble Serafall is stirring up with her prisoners. He couldn't think of any other possible reason he would...

He picked up his ringing phone once more with a bright smile, though he started panting like he'd just sprinted for a full mile, “It's done boss.” He puffed a few more times and breathed deeply, “What should I do with the body?”

“Very fun...”

He hung up again with a smirk. This was kind of fun! His phone rang immediately. He calmly answered in a high pitched voice, “Solomon's Bait, Tackle, and Lingerie Shop, Solomon speaking, how can I help you?”

“Listen... Lingerie?”

The feeling of hanging up on that one was particularly satisfying. He answered his phone as it rang again, his mouth opening to pump out another line when Azazel spoke rapidly first, “Just shut up and listen already!”

Solomon huffed in annoyance, he had a good one lined up. He supposed that he could give Azazel a minute for providing him so much entertainment, “Fine. What do you want?”

Azazel let out a long sigh, “Considering how you screwed me over by turning those idiots over to Serafall, I want a favor.”

“No thanks.” and Solomon hung up again.

He did pick up his phone when it rang again because it was amusing the hell out of him. Though, once again, Azazel cut him off, “Fine! Maybe you don't owe me, but I need a favor.”

Solomon hummed, “Alright, I'm listening.”

“After getting the idiots that attacked you back, I interrogated them myself. I want you to understand, they were not acting under my orders. There's something rotten in my organization, but that's not what I called about.”

He continued after a sigh, “One of their idiotic plans involved ripping a Sacred Gear out of an innocent soul. I would never condone something like that. The poor girl should already be in Kuoh. I need you to find her and protect her from both fallen and the devils. I'm not sure for how long, but at least long enough for me to clean up my organization so I can truly offer her a safe place to stay.”

Solomon hummed, “Are you referring to Asia Argento?”

There was a moment of silence before Azazel's voice became serious, “How do you know that name? Did something happen to her?”

Solomon shrugged his shoulders even though he knew Azazel couldn't see it, “I ran into her yesterday. She was on the street, lost and confused while asking for directions to the church.”

“Where is she? Is she safe? Please tell me she hasn't been grabbed by one of the devils.”

“She's fine. I already took her in. She has my protection until she decides what she wants to do.”

Azazel let out a deep sigh and spoke with a relieved tone, “That's good. I don't know what the hell happened in the church, but something is definitely going on for them to be stupid enough to kick her out.”

Solomon snorted, “Shocker, the leadership of the kiddy diddlers is shit. I can already tell you what happened just from listening to Asia's story.”

Sounding curious Azazel asked, “Oh? Mind filling me in?”

So, Solomon explained his thoughts on Asia's situation, the setup, the likely corruption and betrayal, and then added, “I'm honestly expecting the devil she 'saved' to come looking for her. It wouldn't surprise me if this was his skeevy attempt to get her into his peerage. Twilight Healing would be a game changer for any peerage.”

He heard something cracking on the other side of the call before Azazel spoke in a restrained voice, “I see. What you're saying makes sense, though there's no proof. That means that she needs to be protected all the more.”

“I agree. I will do everything I can to protect her. I'm no slouch in the strength department.” He hummed, “But it would be easier if she didn't have to stay locked up in my miniature apartment all the time.”

“I can help with that. I'll see what I can do on my end and get back to you. Just keep her safe for a while and I'll owe you one.”

“No problem, Azazel. I'll do everything I can to keep her safe.”

“Alright, let me see what I can work out. After that, I'll call you back.”

This time it was Azazel who hung up on Solomon making the latter laugh. He turned on his heels and made his way back to the electronics store. He'd realized that he needed to get Asia something important, a cell phone. It would be best if she had a way to contact him in emergencies.

-----Line Break-----

It was a few days later that Solomon's phone rang with an unknown number again. Picking it up he was instantly cut off from saying hello by Azazel's voice, “Don't! I'm calling about the arrangements I've managed.”

Solomon considered messing with Azazel, but since this was for Asia... He sighed, “Alright, what's up?“

“I've spoken with Serafall and made it clear that Asia Argento is under the protection of the Grigori through you. As such, you have permission to do whatever you see fit to keep her safe, as long as it doesn't threaten the truce.” He grumbled a bit before he continued, “Asia will be expected to attend Kuoh as a second year student. To help with the language barrier I've sent over a special bracelet that will work as a translator for her. While I can't forbid Asia from joining a peerage, or ordering you to prevent it, I can ask you to... encourage Asia to not do so.”

Solomon nodded along and sighed as the school requirement, “Poor girl. The devils are going to harass the hell out of her to get her into their peerages.”

Azazel grunted in acknowledgment, “After I hang up I'll be texting you an address. It's the residence you will be sharing with Asia while you protect her. Do a good job and maybe I'll let you stay there even after she leaves.”

“Alright. Anything else?”

“No, that's all for now. Though the sooner you move, the better. The new place has magical protections to help keep you two safe. I'll call you with updates in the future.”

And then he hung up. Solomon was certain Azazel was smirking. Joke was on him, Solomon didn't give a crap that Azazel hung up like that! He opened his contacts while stuffing some food in his mouth. Azazel had called during lunch, which he was certain was deliberate. There were very few on the list so it was easy to pull up Asia and hit the call button.

Asia answered after a few rings, “H-hello?”

“Hello, Asia.”

“S-solomon! Is something wrong?”

He smiled brightly at the concern in her tone. Things had been a tiny bit awkward between them due to the small apartment. Asia felt guilty for taking his room so she tried to help out around the apartment. Unfortunately, she had zero experience with household chores, cooking, or anything else remotely domestic. He'd had to take the time to teach her how the TV worked for crying out loud! Not to mention the cell phone he'd bought her. Those church assholes had to have gone out of their way to keep her that sheltered!

He smiled warmly and made sure she could hear it in his voice, “Nothing is wrong Asia. I just got off the phone with Azazel.” Just as he said the man's name his phone chimed, he ignored it and continued, “I'll give you all the details tonight, but he did find us a bigger place to live so we'll have more room. I'll skip out on my club activities today and come right home, alright?”

“A-alright, I'll see you in a few hours then.”

“Goodbye Asia.”

“Goodbye Solomon.”

-----Line Break-----

Solomon stepped through the door and smiled when he spotted Asia in the living room on her laptop while the TV played a childish show. His smile grew when Asia spotted him and let out a little 'eep' before quickly using the remote to turn off the TV. Given the blush she was now sporting, he assumed she was embarrassed by the kids cartoon, not that he saw why she should be.

“W-welcome home.”

He gave her a bright smile, nothing beat coming home to the cute blonde, “I'm back. How was your day?”

She fidgeted a little, she was still getting used to living with not just an 'evil' Dhampire, but a boy and tended to stutter a bit when first speaking. He found it adorable and never brought it up. It took a supreme effort of will on his part to not tease her to draw out more adorable reactions. Still not looking at him while rubbing her hands together she shyly answered, “I-It was nice. What about yours?”

He shrugged while kicking off his shoes and setting his bag down by the door, then made his way into the living room to sit on the couch with a huff, “Boring. But, I did have that conversation with Azazel. He's decided to take responsibility for you and wants me to act as your protection. He had to make a deal with the devils in order for this to happen. In exchange for letting you stay and allowing me to protect you, you're going to be joining me at Kuoh.”

Asia's eyes widened and she began to practically vibrate in excitement, “You mean... I get to go to school? Like a normal school?”

Solomon chuckled, “Pretty normal, minus the devils. Which we need to address. While neither Azazel nor myself will forbid you from joining a peerage, it has to be your choice. I can't stop the devils from requesting that you join them, but they cannot force you. If they get too aggressive, or begin to cause you too much trouble, let me know and I will deal with them.”

She pondered that for a moment, then nodded, “Alright. I don't want to join them though.” she clasped her hands together and looked toward the ceiling as she mumbled a quiet prayer. It was something she did rather often.

He nodded in acceptance and waited for her to finish before he continued, “I expected as much. I'll take school off on Saturday and we'll move to the new place then. Next Monday you'll start school. Azazel is sending a magical bracelet over to help you with the language barrier.” He paused, “And... I think that's it.”

Asia once again looked excited, “I can't wait! I've always wanted to go to school, to make friends, to be... normal.”

She looked slightly sad as she finished, prompting Solomon to jump in, “We need to celebrate! What do you want to do for dinner? Anything you want, just name it!”

The bright smile she shot him made everything he did for her worth it.

-----Line Break-----

Maybe not everything. They stood together and stared at their new home. It had clearly been abandoned for years and was in disrepair. It was a more western style house, from what little he could see past the massively overgrown lawn. Windows were shattered, several covered in wooden panels, and the paint was a disaster.

“I-is this really where we'll be living?”

Solomon sighed and pulled his phone out. At this point he had a direct line to Azazel and he wasn't afraid to use it. The phone rang a few times before Azazel answered, before the fallen leader could say anything, Solomon started, “What the hell kind of run down shitty ass place are you trying to make Asia live in?!”

There was a beat of silence before Azazel's familiar voice came over the line, “I... don't know?”

Solomon paused, “What do you mean you don't know? You bought this place right?”

“Yeah, but it's not like I went there in person to examine it or anything. I had to go through official channels for this since so many eyes are on you. This was the only building they were willing to sell me.” He grunted, “They massively overcharged for it too.”

Solomon sighed, “Did they tell you anything about it?”

“Only that it had been abandoned for about a decade because no humans would buy it. Apparently it's where the last overseer of Kuoh lived before she and her lover were murdered. Apparently, humans are all weirded out about living somewhere there's been a murder or two.”

Solomon grunted, though he was partially intrigued. He remembered a little about that from the story. He forgot her name, but he remembered she fell in love with a human priest, and also found out about the King pieces being used to cheat in the Rating Games. Wasn't it something like everyone but the number one and Tanin were cheating? Close enough, probably.

Solomong grunted, “Fine. I'll clean the place up. Just don't forget to send Asia money for the bills.”

“I won't. There anything else you want to bitch about or can I get back to hunting down traitors?”

“How's that going?”

“None of your business. If anything potentially involving Asia comes up, I'll let you know.”

“Fine. Good luck.”

The line went dead and Solomon stuffed the phone back in his pocket. He turned to Asia with an apologetic smile, “Alright, it looks like we're not moving for a few more days still. I'm sorry about that. Just give me a few days to clean this place up and make it livable for us, alright?”

She turned to him with an understanding smile, “It's alright! We can make it our home, together.” She blushed slightly as she realized what she said.

Solomon smiled brightly, “Alright! We'll get started with the heavy work first thing tomorrow. Just don't forget, the day after that you start school so we'll only be able to work after classes.”

That got a brilliant smile of excitement from Asia. She was clearly looking forward to going to school and making new friends. He was rooting for her, but expected she would quickly make friends with her open honesty. She was just the cutest little cinnamon roll, there was no way the whole class wouldn't be fawning over her within minutes.

Solomon looked back at the house, “For now, what do you say we go inside and see just how bad it is?”

Asia looked at the house, which honestly looked like it was haunted, then nodded, “We should so we know what to do first.”

He gave her a brilliant grin, “That's some good thinking.”

She blushed lightly while they both walked toward the house. The closer they got, the closer Asia moved toward him. As they got to the door, she tentatively reached out and gently gripped his left hand. He glanced at her and saw how nervous she looked so he said nothing and just gently gripped her much smaller hand in his own.

The door wasn't locked. Then again, even if it was the wood was so rotten a gentle kick would have shattered it, so security was clearly not much of an issue. He gently pushed the door open, which creaked ominously, naturally.

The interior was dark, the boarded up windows only letting in thin beams of light to illuminate the interior. Solomon didn't have any trouble seeing, though Asia did. The interior was filled with rotted furniture but nothing to show who previously lived there, all personal items were gone. Someone had clearly removed the things that mattered and left behind what didn't.

After looking around a while, Solomon decided the place would do nicely for them. It had two floors. The first floor was the kitchen, living room, dining room, and a half bath. The second floor was three bedrooms and a single massive bathroom with a tub big enough for four adults. Given the last person to live there was a devil, the opulent bathroom made sense. One of the bedrooms was larger with a walk in closet marking it as the master bedroom while the last two were identical mirrors of each other.

He looked at Asia and gestured to the master bedroom, “That will be your room.”

Asia looked at the room then back to Solomon, “But... shouldn't the biggest room be yours?”

He shook his head and gestured to the huge closet, “Nope, you're going to need all that closet space for all the cute new clothing you'll be getting. And shoes! Every girl needs a large collection of shoes. It's the law.”

Asia pouted, “That can't be true.”

Solomon chuckled, “Alright, maybe that's not a law, but that doesn't mean you don't deserve to have a nice closet full of clothing and shoes like every girl your age deserves.”

She pouted and did her best to glare at him, “We're the same age.”

And hadn't that been a shock to learn? Asia was seventeen! He would have sworn she was fifteen or sixteen with how tiny she was, but nope, she was seventeen! The only reason she was going to second year at Kuoh High was her lack of education. The rest of the second year would give her time to catch up and be ready for her third year.

He gave her hand a squeeze, which brought her attention to their hand holding, which immediately made her so embarrassed that she began to blush profusely. He grinned at her flustered state and decided to tease her a little more. He lifted their joined hands up while leaning down and placed a soft kiss on the back of her hand. Her blush instantly went nuclear and he thought she might pass out. With a wicked grin he commented, “Maybe, but we both know I'm more immature. I'm not wrong though. You deserve to have all the cute clothes and shoes you desire.”

Asia huffed a little and looked away, “I don't need that much.”

Solomon snorted, “Just because the Church didn't treat you like the treasure you are doesn't mean I won't.”

Even with her looking away, he could see her ears turning red even in the dark gloom of the abandoned house. He smirked at a job well done. There wasn't anything else to really look at so they left, still hand-in-hand.

-----Line Break-----

Solomon sat on the couch next to Asia while she watched an educational program for young children. The bracelet from Azazel helped her verbally communicate by mimicking the magic Devil, Fallen, and even Solomon used to speak and understand other languages. That meant it didn't help with the written word. So, Asia took to watching children's programs to learn how to read and write. He would never, ever, mention how adorable it was when she sang along with the songs or copied the little dances. It was goddamn adorable and a memory to cherish forever.

While she did that, he pulled out one of his Rare Candies. He needed to study some magic and this was the easiest way. He knew repair magic so he could use that to handle the repair work at their new house, but he had nothing on yard work or maintenance. It wouldn't take much effort to learn but he could also use the time to learn how to mimic Asia's usage of Twilight Healing. He'd seen her use it a couple of times, mostly when he 'accidentally' cut himself while cooking. He had to practically cut the tip of his finger off to keep his own regeneration from healing it too quickly. It was painful, but worth it.

He was also close to a breakthrough on learning how to use the Destruction magic on his own instead of through his Sacred Gears. Being able to summon beings that could use that particular magic made it easier to study. He would do the same with Twilight Healing. Once he had the candy unwrapped, he checked all around himself and even used a pulse of magic to make sure no one was nearby but Asia. He sensed, as usual, a familiar nearby. He wasn't sure whose familiar it was, but there was always at least one not too far away from his house keeping an eye on him. He snorted at that and carefully stuck the candy in his mouth.

After crunching it to pieces and eating it carefully, he went through the six months of learning. When it ended his lips curled into a massive grin. He had it! He could use the Power of Destruction and the magic of Twilight Healing with his own magic! The growth in his own personal power was ignored. Unless there was a massive qualitative change in his power, he would always be Ultimate Class.

He did spend some time learning magic to use for making their new house livable. That took hardly any time at all. It wasn't like it was complex magic. He now had all the tools he would need to clean, repair, and maintain every aspect of their new home. He even went a step further and taught himself some construction magic so he could build new things if they needed it.

He smirked and began to juggle s tiny spark of Destruction magic on the tips of his fingers, moving it back and forth as he watched the black and red flame-like magic writhe in the air. Now, he just needed a good chance to get into a fight with Riser to copy his regeneration magic. If he learned that, he'd be launched into the higher echelons of powerful beings.

Yeah, he could regenerate from just about anything with enough power and time, but it was still nothing compared to the power of the Phenex clan's regeneration. A Phenex could have their entire head reduced to nothing and regenerate from it. If just a quarter of Solomon's brain was destroyed he would die. Copying the Phenex regeneration would take care of that last major weakness. It wouldn't make him invincible or anything, but it would definitely increase his ability to survive massively.

It was something to look forward to.

-----Line Break-----

Solomon walked side-by-side with Asia as they left through the front gates of Kuoh Academy. Asia was practically skipping from sheer happiness as she walked. He could see how badly she wanted to talk so he asked the obvious, “How was your day?”

Her already bright green eyes somehow got even brighter, “It was wonderful! Everyone was so nice. Although, I remembered what you told me about those two boys. You were right, they said things no one should say in public, let alone a school.”

He nodded knowingly. Even with the death of Issei, the remains of the perverted trio hadn't changed at all. The loss of Issei hadn't even slowed them down or had them give any thought at all to how they were living their lives. He was certain both of them would end up in jail. He was also certain the lolicon one would die within a month of being sentenced. Provided Japanese convicts felt the same way about those type of people as American convicts did.

He put them out of his mind, their fates were none of his business, “Did you make any friends?”

She pondered that for a moment, “I think so. When I told the class I was living with you, one of the girls got really excited and said she was going to take me under her wing. I thought there might've been something wrong with her at first with how heavily she was breathing. When I asked if she was okay, she muttered something about needing you to give her a hot beef injection. Do you know what she meant?”

Solomon actually stumbled a bit at the unexpected question. He clears his throat and gives her a soft smile, “Don't worry about it, that girl says strange things sometimes.”

He was going to have to have a talk with Aika, the last thing he needed was for that female pervert to corrupt Asia. Also... she was kind of cute and he hadn't been laid in quite a long time. There might be a bit of harmless fun to have there. He changed the subject, “How were the classes?”

She winced a little, “It wasn't too hard to follow along when the teachers were talking, but I'm still struggling to read and write.”

Solomon considered that for a moment, then smiled, “I think I have something that can help you out with that. I'll give it to you when we get to the new place.”

That got him a smile so bright he worried it would blind him, “Thank you Solomon!”

They continued to walk while Asia regaled him with stories about her first day of school. It would have been clear to a blind, deaf, mute that she was happy. She wasn't even close to winding down when they arrived at the run down house.

While Asia continued to talk, Solomon got to work. First he put up a quick barrier to keep mundane people from noticing what's going on. The house was off by itself so there were no nearby neighbors to worry about. But they weren't too far from a main road so people walking by might notice something.

With the barrier up he began using magic to work on the yard. A spell sliced through an area of long grass and weeds. Another vanished the mess. Another plucked out all the weeds roots, which were vanished as well. He repeated this process clearing out a couple of square feet at a time. The grass left behind didn't look so great, but that would be fixed with time and care. The front and back yards were a nice size so it took him almost half an hour to clean it up.

From there he moved on to repair spells. He waves his hand and the chipped and ruined paint repairs in large swathes while dirt and grime vanishes. He removes the boards on the windows and casts repair spells on the broken glass. It doesn't always work though. For the repair spell to work the majority of the missing or damaged materials need to be nearby. For the stuff that didn't repair properly, he conjured replacement parts. It would do as a temporary fix until he was within one of his infinite magic zones so he could make the conjurations last a few hundred years.

When they made their way into the house he had to change his casting a bit. It was mostly cleaning and repair spells, especially closer to the once broken windows. Even after being boarded up, there was still plenty of water damage. Honestly, if this house had been sold to a normal mortal, it would have been better to tear the whole place down to the foundation. It actually took a rather large amount of magic to repair the damage that had been done by nature. Given that, it was no surprise it took entire teams of people to do this kind of work usually.

The repaired furniture though... He'd get rid of it later. With the dirt removed and the fabric cleaned and repaired, it became very obvious a girly woman had lived in the house. All the furniture was covered in flowers and other brightly colored feminine imagery. Maybe Asia would want some of it, but the rest would have to go. It was tacky and an eyesore.

As they moved into the master bedroom, his cleaning spell revealed a small floor safe under the damaged carpet. Curious, he knelt down next to it and checked it. Of course, it was locked. That wasn't about to stop him though! A little cutting magic let him remove the safe from the floor and carry it to a repaired table for examination.

It turns out to not be a normal safe, it's clearly a supernatural one as it flat out ignored a simple unlocking spell. Solomon might have taken a little... or a lot of spell ideas from Harry Potter. Who didn't want spells to do their dishes for them, or to clean the house?! Thanks to that he had spells for just about every household chore and more besides.

Asia spoke up while he was examining the safe, “Should we really be trying to open that?”

Solomon nodded, “Yup. I honestly doubt there's anything inside of it. This place was clearly pretty cleaned out. But I'm curious and I can't resist a good bit of temptation.” He gave Asia a playful wink that made her blush lightly.

Since magic didn't automatically work, he tried physical violence next. It didn't come up much outside of spars with Koneko, but he was rather powerful physically. Add in the various ways he could use magic to boost his physical might and he became a powerhouse. Unfortunately, even the usage of Mana Burst didn't let him rip the safe open.

After failing to break it he huffed, “This thing is definitely well made. Now I'm super curious!”

He swapped back to magic and began using scanning magic to see what he could learn. It took him a while to parse the information his spell was feeding him before he smirked, “Oh, wow.”

Asia looked curious now too, “What is it?”

Solomon chuckled and began slowly turning the knob for the combination lock, “Whoever designed this thing was a genius.” He chuckled, “And an idiot. They warded the safe against magic and physical force. Nothing short of me going all out would even damage this thing. No magical spell I know of could ever hope to force it open. It would take someone dedicating real time into designing a spell to break through the protections.”

Asia looked interested, “That does sound impressive.”

Solomon nodded, “It is. I know, for certain, that I currently couldn't hope to enchant anything even remotely this well.” He spun the wheel in the opposite direction, “However, they left one major flaw that makes all that protection pointless.”

She frowned, “What?”

He reversed direction on the spin again, “They didn't use any form of obfuscation magic to keep a basic scanning spell from being able to determine the combination.”

As he finished speaking, he let got of the combination lock knob and gave the handle a twist. With a light click the door swung open, “Meaning any two bit magical thief with even a basic scanning spell could learn the combination and open it like normal.”

Asia giggled, “So what's inside?”

Solomon reaches in and is surprised to find himself pulling out a highly polished dark wooden box, “I'm not sure. Let's find out together.”

He set the box down and they stood side by side as he opened the box. Seeing what was inside made his blood run cold, “Oh. Fuck.”

Asia looked up at him concerned, he tended to try to watch his language around her so him swearing was rare. She gripped his sleeve tightly and looked at the open box, “What's so bad about chess pieces? They don't even all match.”

Sitting innocently within the nice wooden box was a full set of sixteen chess pieces. Most of them were white with red lines wrapping around them. Two of the pieces, one rook and the queen, were discolored and showed a different pattern on them than the other pieces. And there, sitting in the middle, was a crimson colored King Piece.

Solomon closed the wooden case with a loud snap. Without a word he opened the door to his dimensional closet and stuck the case in the pocket of a random hoodie. The closet closed and he turned to Asia, “That, Asia, was something we can never talk about again. That was what devils use to reincarnate people into more devils, the Evil Pieces. I don't want to say much more. It would be best if you forget you ever saw it. I honestly wish I could.”

Asia looked simultaneously scared and concerned, “Can't you just give them back and tell them how you found them?”

Solomon sighed, “Normally? Probably. But that one pure red piece? If they find out we know about it, let alone seen and possess one, they won't hesitate to kill us.”

She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. He nodded seriously, “So please, forget you ever saw them and I will do the same. They can remain locked in my closet for all of eternity, alright?”

Still looking a little shaken, Asia nods slowly, “I understand.”

Solomon nodded seriously, then took a deep breath, and got back to work as if nothing happened. Spells began flying again and in a little over three hours, he'd turned the house from a haunted building into a perfectly livable home.

-----Line Break-----

That night they were back at his apartment. The new house still needed the utilities connected and they needed more furniture before moving in. That just meant another day or two before moving day. Asia didn't mind, but she was also still clearly uncomfortable with Solomon choosing to sleep in the living room while she took his bedroom.

It was after midnight and he was certain Asia was asleep. He, however, couldn't sleep. Not after what he'd seen in that box. The Evil Pieces alone were no big deal. If that's all it was, he'd take them right over to Rias or Sona and give them back. Even the two mutation pieces weren't that big a deal, even if they were super rare. It was the one piece in the set that shouldn't have been there that stopped him from doing so.

The King Piece.

The cheat in the Evil Pieces system. The cheat hoarded by the Great King Faction that allowed them to cheat their way to the top. The piece that would give whoever used it a boost between ten and one hundred times in their power. A piece so dangerous strong people couldn't use it for fear of the excess power actually being too much and killing them.

A piece that would see him as the number one target for all devil assassins if the wrong people found out he even knew they existed.

Part of him was clearly terrified. He might be a cocky jerk, but he wasn't stupid. He knew there was no way in hell he could survive having an entire faction of the devil underworld coming for his head. All it would take is one lucky hit and BAM! He was dead, probably permanently. There was no guarantee he would get yet another life.

If he knew a perfect way to do so, he would destroy all of the pieces and never think about it again...

Except...

There was some pretty major temptation attached to that box. His soul was protected from changes. No one could reincarnate him. At least, not without his permission. The protections on his mind and soul to keep them from being tampered with could be lowered at will. That meant that, technically, he could be changed into a Devil by the Evil Pieces.

Which meant he could use the King piece on himself.

Now, obviously, turning into a devil didn't present a huge number of great benefits for him. The extended lifespan? Already had it. Wings and flight? Had it. Imagination based magic? Had it, and more.

No, there were only two benefits to using the King piece on himself. First, obviously the power boost. Even just the minimal ten times boost would make him ten times stronger than Serafall. If he scored a jackpot and got the full one hundred times boost? He had no idea how powerful that would make him! At a minimum, he would be stronger than some, if not most, gods! Second, he would be a devil and that would give him a way to increase his political power. He hated politics, but devil politics really just came down to who had the biggest... stick.

If he was ten times, or more, powerful than Serafall, that meant he would be stronger than just about every devil that existed. He still wasn't sure about Sirzech's if he was going all out. As for Ajuka... well that mans Kankura Formula was just plain cheating so he didn't have much hope of beating him even with overwhelming power. Knowledge was power, and Ajuka made that truth.

The only possible reason he could see for joining in such a thing though was to protect himself. While he loved being independent, he knew they wouldn't let it last long. By they, he meant every faction out there. He knew he couldn't keep his true skills hidden for very long, not living in Kuoh. Even if the events with Riser had nothing to do with him, he knew that one fallen angel asshole would come next. He knew, without a doubt, that somehow he would be dragged right into that mess. He didn't know how much he would have to reveal, but he knew that whatever he did reveal would just bring more attention to himself.

If there was any faction he was interested in joining, it was the devils. The angels... just no. He knew himself enough to know he'd never fit in with them. The fallen angels? Not necessarily a terrible choice, but Azazel was a shitty ass leader. He also didn't really want to deal with the 'family' dynamic between the two angel groups.

There were other groups, of course. Though he had no idea if the Yokai would welcome him or try to kill him. Not to mention they weren't exactly... strong. They had a few strong members, especially Yasaka, but she was also very limited due to her connection to the leylines. The Norse? Pass. Odin was just as shit a leader as Azazel. The Hindu Pantheon? Fuck no. Wasn't one of those idiots behind Cao Cao and his dumbass crusade?

He'd rather die than join Kaos Brigade. That was nothing but a group of absolute morons and dumbasses pretending to be monsters, or just straight monsters who were stupid. All in all, it was just a jumbled mess of stupid.

The devils? Also a big mess of stupid. However, they were a mess of stupid that had leaders trying to get them to grow past what they were meant to be into something newer and better. Devils were just living super weapons created by Lucifer to fight his father. Now they had leaders trying to push for being better, for growing past their roots. It wasn't perfect, but they at least cared about their faction.

Well... it was something to think about in his spare time. As tempting as grabbing that King piece and using it was, he couldn't risk it right that moment. He knew, without a doubt, that if the boost was too strong, he would die.

Still, on the bright side, he wouldn't be anyone's servant if or when he used the piece. That put a smile on his face because he could use it as an emergency 'Fuck You' and turn himself and prevent others from finding out they couldn't turn him. That was an important secret to keep. Just thinking of the look on some asshole devils face when he becomes a devil without them... That put a smile on his face as he drifted off to sleep.

-----Line Break-----

Solomon walked next to Asia as they made their way to the ORC building. With the house cleaned, repaired, furnished, and with all utilities up and running, they'd moved in weeks ago. Asia had chosen to join the ORC, but not Rias's peerage, so she could join Solomon in the club and at the spars. The others loved her because she always healed them after the fights. Rias had asked her to join her peerage, naturally, but Asia had declined. Rias respected that.

Sona, not so much. She too had asked Asia to join, but wasn't taking no for an answer. She'd tried different methods of tempting Asia to join her peerage. As long as she stuck with persuasion and just asking, Solomon had no issue with it, despite finding it annoying. If she did more, he'd step in and put Sona in her place. She was laughably weaker than he was and just a flex of his power would crush her. Not that he'd ever hurt Sona because he didn't want to have to deal with a rage-mode Serafall.

As they got close to the building, he saw Serafall walking away. Her gaze snapped to Asia, but for once she didn't stop them to talk to her and just kept walking. They shortly arrived at the club room to find everyone else there waiting. When Rias spotted them, she smiled, “Good timing. Sona just informed me that we will have some guests shortly.”

Solomon and Asia sat on a love seat together. Things like that had made the entire school think they were dating, which always seemed to make Asia blush and stutter. Naturally, that just made the rumors more... lascivious. Solomon didn't mind them and would happily date Asia. He just hadn't asked because he didn't think she was in the right state of mind just yet. It's only been a couple of months since she lost everything she knew. It would take longer than that for her to find what she truly wanted in life. He was more than happy to let her have that time.

He did wonder why Sona was informing Rias of Riser's arrival, but whatever. He'd been curious about when things would kick off. He'd expected it to be a lot sooner, but he couldn't remember explicit mentions of how much time was passing. He kept glancing over to the teleportation circle inlaid in the floor expecting it to light up.

So, he was rather surprised when there was a knock on the door to the club room. Rias looked to the door and put her 'serious' face on, “Come in.”

His surprise grew when two clearly female forms wearing cloaks with hoods up opened the door and walked into the room. His eyebrows rose as they pushed down their hoods to reveal two people he was not expecting to see, Xenovia Quarta and Irina Shidou. What the hell was going on? Riser was the first big bad not Koko-puffs or whatever his name was. Shit, did Issei's death change that?

His mind whirred and he realized that it was likely that Issei being dead had changed things with Riser. With no Red Dragon Emperor, Rias posed no threat to Riser and his peerage. He didn't know if there were rules or laws that made it so Rias would have to report or register her peerage members or something. But, he was sure she would have told her family about having a Longinus user in her peerage. Her father wouldn't like that. It would be a threat to his plans with the Phenex jackasses. So... recruiting Issei and bragging about him being the Red Dragon Emperor led to the marriage being rushed before Issei could grow strong enough to prevent it? It made sense to him... Which meant Riser was not going to show up as a threat anytime soon.

Well. Fuck.

“Sona informed me why you two have come to Kuoh, but I would prefer to hear it from you for myself.” Rias addressed the pair.

Irina was the one to speak first, “Recently three of the Holy Excalibur Swords were stolen from the Church.”

Solomon glanced to the side to check on Kiba, sure enough the guy looked livid. He'd not done anything to try and help any of Rias's peerage get over their individual traumas. It wasn't any of his business and he wouldn't be able to explain how he knew anything that he knew. So, he'd just ignored it. Now it looked like it was going to lead to something similar to what he would have expected.

Irina continued, “This discussion is about how one was stolen from each of the Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches and brought to this land.”

Rias crossed her arms, which naturally drew attention to her bust as she lifted it higher, “How careless. So, who would do such a thing?”

Xenovia was the one to answer, her tone flat, almost careless, “The thief is one of the leaders of the fallen angels, Kokabiel.”

Rias looks slightly shocked then concerned, “A leader of the fallen, not to mention one explicitely mentioned in the bible.”

Xenovis nodded, “He wiped out the exorcists covertly dispatched a few days ago.” Her eyes narrowed as she focused on Rias, “Which brings us to our rewuest... No, our demand. The devils must keep out of the fight between Grigori and us over the Excaliburs. In other words, we came here to tell you to keep your noses out of this incident.”

Rias glared at Xenovia, “You're full of yourself aren't you?”

Solomon laughed, loudly, as he agreed with Rias. That drew the two exorcists gazes to himself and Asia sitting next to him. He see's the moment they recognize her though they say noting, yet. He focuses on the two with his red eyes, “I feel so sorry for you two.” They both fixed him with glares while he continued without a care, “See Asia? I told you there was something wrong with the Church. The corruption must run truly deep for them to send these two out on this mission.”

That got hot glares from both church girls, Xenovia spoke with a hiss in her voice, “Watch your words blood sucker or I'll remove your tongue, along with the rest of your head.”

Solomon snorted, not the least bit afraid, “Tell me I'm wrong. You two are weak, laughably weak. I know the church has stronger members but they sent you two. Not only are you weak, but you're even carrying two more of the Excalibur swords. I don't know how stupid or corrupt your boss is but it's clear as day to anyone with two brain cells to rub together that you were not only sent out to die pointlessly, but to deliver two more swords to Kokabiel.”

His gaze was laser focused on the pair, “Unless you two are conceited enough to believe you even stand a chance in hell at defeating one of the strongest angels to ever exist.” He dismissed them and focused on Rias, “I'd suggest telling them to get the fuck out of your territory. Clearly the church, or someone within it, is attempting to support whatever Kokabiel is up to by sending him two more Excaliburs gift wrapped.”

Irina and Xenovia glared hatefully at him. Irina is the one to speak, “We knew the risks before coming here. Only an Excalibur can stand against an Excalibur. We have faith we will emerge victorious.”

Rias studies the pair, “I fully agree with Solomon. You two have been sent to commit suicide against Kokabiel. Whether that's specifically to deliver your Excaliburs to him or not is debatable, but is the likely outcome. I'm not fond of the idea of even more Church members dying in my territory after your covert group was clearly wiped out.” She glared at the two, “The fact that a covert group was even sent into my territory in the first place could become grounds for the war to reignite. You two will leave my territory, immediately. I will not have your deaths used as an excuse to reignite the war by attempting to blame it on us.”

The two girls stood with Xenovia speaking, “We don't need your permission. Our business is concluded, let's go Irina.”

As they turned to go, Xenovia paused and turned to look at Asia, “You're the 'witch' Asia Argento, are you not?”

Asia's eyes widened and she began to tremble, reminded of a terrible moment in her life. Irina leaned closer, “Weren't you considered a 'holy maiden' at one point? I had heard you drifted off somewhere, but to actually be spending time with devils? Did you become one?”

Asia was frozen with indecision, only able to squeak out, “Uh...um...”

Irina looked disappointed, “It's okay, I won't let the higher ups know you're here. It'd be a real shock for people who were around the 'saint' Asia to hear of your current situation.”

Before the two could say anything else to upset Asia, Solomon moved light lightning. One moment he was sitting comfortably on the love seat with Asia, the next he was completely across the room holding each of the church girls up by the neck. Their backs slammed hard into the wall from the speed he'd moved at.

He growled as he held them hard against the wall. To their credit, both of them, while shocked, didn't let it stop them from reaching for their weapons. Solomon wasn't about to let them pull shit with him, “Touch those swords and I will snap your pretty little necks like twigs.”

He focused the full weight of his magical might on the pair causing them to freeze. His red eyes blazed with power while his fangs elongated, “I will not sit by and let you two disparage Asia for the incompetence of the Church.” His lips curled into a cold smile, “Unless you two can explain how a devil got so close to someone referred to as a 'saint' and 'holy maiden' who should have been protected.” He leaned closer, “I double dare you to talk shit about her Sacred Gear being able to heal Devils, after all it was made by your Lord the way HE wanted it to be. Do you DARE to pass judgment on a tool HE made being used the way HE made it to be used?”

“S-solomon, i-it's okay. You can let them go.”

He slowly turned his head until he could see Asia in his peripheral vision, “Are you sure? I could send them back to their idiot masters missing a limb or two as a message.”

Asia smiled softly, knowing he was at least partially joking, “That won't be necessary.”

Rias chimed in, “Probably not a good idea. The church can be super petty about things like that.”

Solomon hummed, “Alright. I won't maim them then.” He turned his focus back on both women, “However, you dared to disparage Rias in her own territory, that deserves punishment.”

Kiba chimes in, “Perfect. I'll be the opponent of one of them then.”

Solomon let the two girls down and stepped back next to Kiba. After coughing a bit to clear their throats, both of them looked at Solomon and Kiba. Xenovia was the one to ask, “And who are you supposed to be?”

Kiba glared at her with pure hatred, “I'm your senpai, though a failed creation.”

-----Line Break-----

Minutes later they stood in the familiar sparring area. Kiba stood across from Xenovia and Solomon stood across from Irina. The rules had already been agreed upon. It was a two versus two and was private, not to be concerned with the Devil or Church factions. Naturally, death was forbidden, but a few broken bones was acceptable. Asia could fix anything short of death.

Kiba began to chuckle as he stared at Xenovia with pure venom. She focused on him as she asked, “Are you laughing?”

Kiba tilted his head back and continued to glare hatefully, “The one thing in the whole world I so wish to destroy has appeared in front of me. How could I not be happy?”

He lifted his hand and did something that made Solomon want to face palm, he summoned his Sword of Destruction, the one capable of using the Power of Destruction. Solomon just summoned a wooden sword, mostly to insult Irina. Seeing him summon the blade though, Irina perks up, “You have Sword Birth too? How nifty! It won't do you any good though!”

She grabs the string tied around her bicep and pulls it off. With a flick of her wrist the string transforms into a katana that she points directly at him, “My Excalibur Mimic can turn into any weapon!” She paused looking at the wooden sword in his hand, “Uhm... shouldn't you maybe use something else?”

He studied her and snorted, “For you? This is already more than you can handle. In fact...”

He does dismiss the wooden sword, then turns around and moves toward the trees while everyone watches him in confusion. Finally, he bends over and picks up a relatively straight fallen stick. When he returns, Irina is glaring at him. He smirks and holds this stick up, “This is more your speed.”

“Snrk.”

He glances over to see Kiba covering his mouth and looking rather embarrassed at the sound he just emitted. Solomon gave him a smirk then focused on a no longer happy looking Irina. Her smile is gone and her eyes are cold, “Are you making fun of me?”

Solomon shook his head, “Nope. I'm taking you as seriously as I feel you deserve.”

Irina grits her teeth and says nothing more while she blitzes forward toward Solomon. She slashes quickly with her sword attempting to give him a deep gash across his chest. Solomon calmly and smoothly steps to the right, dodging her slash cleanly. The stick lashes out and stabs right into Irina's wrist, specifically the one holding her sword. Her hand automatically pops open from him stabbing the tendons in her wrist.

Before anyone can react, Solomon catches Excalibur Mimic by the handle and holds it with ease. Despite being a Dhampire who should be burning from holding the blade, he holds it with ease thanks to The Swordsman. That wonderful ability lets him use any sword safely, regardless of restrictions or drawbacks as if the sword was specifically made just for him. Irina is staring at him like she's seeing something impossible, as is everyone else aside from Xenovia and Kiba who are too focused on fighting each other.

Unlike in canon, Kiba was actually pushing Xenovia rather hard. Her 'surprise' explosions from Excalibur Destruction didn't even phase Kiba as Solomon had once thrown explosive swords at him as a surprise attack.

Solomon gave his wrist a flick, Excalibur Mimic turning into a simple leather bracer wrapped around his arm, “I think I'll keep this until the Church apologizes to Rias for daring to try to throw their weight around in her territory and to Asia for their abject failure and incompetence in protecting her.”

Irina gapes at him before sputtering, “Y-you can't! This will mean war!”

Solomon snorts, “No, it won't. I'm independent. If anything, the Church would have to go after the vampire covens. Attacking Rias or her territory will only lead to the attackers being slaughtered, by me.”

He blitzes across the small gap between them and grabs Irina by the throat once more. He glares deep into her eyes, “And to make sure you deliver the message properly...”

Magic flares from his hand causing a magic circle to appear in front of her forehead. Irina screams in agony as the spell slowly begins to brand her unblemished skin. Her screams cause Xenovia to look over in concern taking her eyes off of her opponent.

Kiba takes full advantage of her distraction. His Sword of Destruction slams into the side of Excalibur Destruction while he channels as much demonic power into it as he can muster. The red and black aura from the Power of Destruction roars to life and begins to devour the Excalibur. By the time Xenovia refocuses on her fight, Excalibur Destruction is heavily damaged in one area. The edge of the blade has a divot eaten out of it while the area around it is covered in pock marks and small holes.

She stares in horror at the damage done to her blade while Kiba falls to one knee panting and sweating heavily. He has a look stuck between disappointment and triumph while he mutters, “Not enough, yet. But soon!”

Xenovia looks away from the damage done to Excalibur Destruction to glare at Solomon who is now holding a no longer screaming, but now limp Irina in his grip, “What did you do?!”

Solomon calmly tosses Irina toward Xenovia, her body hitting the ground and rolling to a stop at her feet, “The same thing that's about to happen to you.”

Xenovia lifts her sword but it does her no good. Solomon appears in front of her faster than she can blink. His left hand lashes out and easily smacks the sword from her hand while his right grabs her by the throat. The same magic circle appears and another brand is burned into Xenovia's forehead while she screams.

When the spell finishes, he drops Xenovia on the ground next to Irina. Unlike Irina, Xenovia hasn't passed out from the pain. She looks weak, but is glaring at Solomon with hatred, “What did you do?!”

Solomon grins, “It's simple. You have one hour to leave the bounds of Rias's territory before the brands on your foreheads reduce your head to pulp. They will not disappear until you've returned to the Vatican and delivered my message to them.”

He grabs Excalibur Destruction and sets it on his shoulder, “I'll be keeping your swords until you two deliver my message and it's followed to the letter. If they try anything funny, I'll destroy the swords, permanently.”

She glared at him, “We'll be back to destroy you. This I swear.”

Solomon looked down at her in a bored manner, “Don't make promises you can't keep. It's the same as lying.”

He walked away with Excalibur Destruction still resting on his shoulder and Xenovia glaring at him hatefully. He looked over his shoulder, “Fifty nine minutes left.”

-----Line Break-----

AN

Just over 10k words and a nice place to stop.

So, a bit happened in this chapter. I look forward to hearing what you all think of the changes to canon that Solomon is introducing. But I bet no one saw me skipping the entire Riser arc!

Things will be going a bit differently than expected going forward as well. Solomon is growing more confident in himself and his power. Yeah, he was kind of a dick to the church girls, but Asia is a total cinnamon roll and someone had to smack them with life a little bit. Plus, it let Solomon steal two of the Excaliburs. Which will be fun. hehe. And yeah, he's going to have to do a lot of explaining reaaaaaal soon. lol.

Comment and let me know how this went!