Chapter 31: The Exorcists Pt. 2

Looking at both of them with considering eyes, Issei makes his decision. At the end of the day, it’s the decision of a dragon. He’s truly not some human boy, to be wasting his time with courtships. Eyes sliding up and down Xenovia and Irina’s covered figures, he admits to himself the truth. He’s already decided that he wants them. All that’s left is adding them to his hoard. “These swords… belong to me now. By right of conquest, I claim them as my property. If you want them back, you’ll have to offer me something.” That gets the two exorcists’ attention. The cuties exchange a glance at that, silently communicating for several long seconds before Irina steps forward, her hands coming up out from under her white robe to clasp in front of her beseechingly. “Please, Issei… will you not give us the Excaliburs, in memory of our friendship if nothing else?” Issei… snorts derisively, not even remotely impressed by that heavy handed attempt at getting him to part with his treasure because of a childhood friendship long in the past. Irina flushes a little at his casual refusal and backs down without him even having to get exceedingly blunt and actually say no. Xenovia is the next to step up to the plate, the blue-haired young woman narrowing her eyes speculatively. “I am sure that the Church would offer you a fair finder’s fee for the recovery of some of our most precious artifacts. You need only-!” “Nah.” Waving a hand dismissively, Issei cuts Xenovia up, grinning slightly at the way she stiffens in faint outrage. Holding the Excalibits aloft, he looks them over for a moment before shrugging. “Like I said, claimed these by right of conquest. They’re part of my hoard now. Don’t know what you two have been taught about dragons but know this… it would take a lot more than a finder’s fee to part me with anything in my hoard.” His voice grows chillier with every word, until his last sentence is very nearly dripping with condensation and derision, a sneer even lifting up his upper lip as he practically snarls at the very thought of being given any paltry sum of gold for his treasures. It makes him almost violent with anger… but there’s no acceptable targets around here. No fat slug of a man like Valper, no sniveling conniving bastard like Kokabiel. Just Issei and a lot of pretty girls. Hmph, which meant he needed to channel his anger… productively. Allowing his sneer to transform into a vicious smirk, Issei pins Irina and Xenovia with his gaze. “’Sides, I’m not negotiating with the Church. I’m negotiating with you two. I don’t want money. So, what else can the pair of you possibly offer me?” Once again, Xenovia and Irina are forced to exchange glances, though this time both of them are frowning, their brows furrowed in consternation. Their opening salvos have both failed, and now the two pretty exorcists are left at a loss on what to do next. When they turn back to him and Irina opens her mouth to suggest something else, Issei doesn’t even let her get a word out before cutting them off and spelling it out simply. “Your virtues.” They each stiffen, though Issei doesn’t fail to notice how their eyes, independent of one another and at different times by just a couple of seconds, slip down his form. That pulse of draconic power earlier had done its job. Despite themselves, they were interested. Perhaps the two exorcists weren’t as naturally randy and eager to submit as the devils Issei had found himself surrounded with these past few months, but they were still young human women with their own desires and needs. Xenovia in particular stares at Issei’s crotch for a second longer than her partner, making Issei cock an eyebrow in mild surprise. He would have thought Irina would be the one to… no matter, in the end it’s ultimately already a moot point. He has decided the outcome of this encounter already. All that’s left is to push things in the direction he wants. Finally recovering, Xenovia narrows her eyes and responds first. “Excuse me?” Shrugging his shoulders, Issei smiles a vicious, draconic smile. “You’re both ladies of the Church, yes? Presumably, young as you are… you’ve never been bedded? Either of you? What if that’s what I want for the Excalibur fragments? What if I want to bed the two of you?” Their backs ramrod straight, their eyes wide, their faces slightly pinked, the two young women stare at him for a long moment, nonplussed and completely caught off guard. Finally, Irina speaks up hesitantly, tentatively, as if she’s fearful of what she might hear. “I-Issei… are you… a-are you a pervert?” Chuckling, Issei directs the same vicious draconic smile in his childhood friend’s direction as he gave Xenovia moments before. His answer is as succinct as it is honest. “Yes.” Clearly not expecting such a blunt affirmation, perhaps thinking he would try to vehemently deny it or something, Irina is clearly taken aback and at a serious loss for words, blushing and stuttering and stammering as she even takes a literal step back, as if afraid for her virtue. Xenovia, meanwhile, takes a step forward, seemingly recovering once again the fastest and glaring him down despite her lingering gaze from a few moments ago. “We are women of God. We do not offer ourselves up to be used by anyone who asks, no matter their power. And we certainly do not whore ourselves out for any price. You would do well to watch yourself, Red Dragon Emperor. You tread on dangerous territory with your words.” Issei hums at that, pretending to give her words the consideration they presumably warrant. And then he chuckles and just shakes his head, making Xenovia stiffen even further with outrage. Even Irina looks unhappy with him. Good, they’re right where he wants them. “Oh? Are you two going to teach me a lesson then? Ah, perhaps that’s what we should do. Have a duel for the swords. But of course, given I am the one who already owns the swords, you both will have to put up similar collateral for these blades. Three Excalibur fragments… why, the only bits of value I can see on your persons from here are your virtues after all.” And there it is, him laying his cards out on the table. Xenovia and Irina are primed for a fight, hell, they were already primed for a fight when he first arrived. The way that Xenovia had accused him of stealing the Excalibits in the first place, the way they’d tried to throw their weight around so quickly. They were spoiling for combat, these two. Issei wouldn’t put it past the two of them to be battle junkies like some of the other girls he knew. At the very least, he could tell even with those bulky robes of theirs that they were both high-class fighters who had likely been training all their lives as exorcists. That was all well and good… but Issei didn’t want to fight them. He wanted to fuck them. To get the latter though, he would happily do the former. Seeing the two looking supremely conflicted, indecision and a desire to teach him a lesson warring across their faces, Issei just smirks and spreads his arms wide, bundle of Excalibits very deliberately held out to one side. “Or you could both go scurrying home to the Church and inform your superiors that your missing Excalibur Fragments now belong to the Red Dragon Emperor. Perhaps they’ll send someone more… worthwhile to negotiate with me. Someone who can hold their own.” His words have the intended effect on Xenovia, making the blue-haired exorcist positively bristle at the insult as she grits her teeth and growls. But they have another effect on Irina, one that actually makes Issei feel a little guilty for half a moment. His childhood friend flinches back at his harsh words and almost seems to curl into herself as her eyes get a little watery. “Issei… you’ve changed…” Her murmur almost makes Issei rethink what he’s doing here. But the impact of her words is almost immediately blunted by Xenovia stepping forward and barking out a response of her own. “We accept your challenge! A duel, the two of us versus you, for the stolen Excaliburs!” “Wha-?! Xenovia!” But Xenovia ignores Irina’s exclamation and seeing this, Issei does the same. Smirking, he raises an eyebrow at Xenovia questioningly. “And if I win…” Positively snarling, Xenovia glares at him, not backing down for even a moment. “If you win, you may claim our virtues as you see fit, dragon!” Irina gasps, but when Issei moves his gaze over to her, she rallies in short order, swallowing down her emotions and straightening her spine as she juts out her chin and steps up to stand beside Xenovia. The two exorcists, unified in their common goal. Ah… this was exactly what Issei wanted. Was it fair? Not by a long shot. But would it be fun? Almost certainly~ -x-X-x- “R-Right then… as previously stated, this duel shall be between Issei Hyoudou, Red Dragon Emperor of Kuoh Town, and the exorcists Xenovia Quarta and Irina Shidou, representing the Church. The victor of this duel will walk away with ownership of Excalibur Rapidly, Excalibur Nightmare, and Excalibur Transparency. As well, the victor of the duel will also lay claim to the ownership… of the two exorcists’ virtue.” Rias Gremory looks almost uncertain as she presides over the impromptu duel about to take place in front of her. They’re out back behind Kuoh Academy, using a large field as their arena. Normally, this would probably be the sort of thing Rias’ co-ruler Sona would do… but the girl was still in no state to be doing anything after his little display of power, despite it having been almost half an hour ago. He’d really done a number on Sona and her peerage, hadn’t he? It wasn’t like with Rias and her girls, who he’d ended up taking piece meal. He’d… rocked Sona’s world, and the Student Council President might never be the same. Hm, he would have to look into that. Later though. For now, Issei has a pair of cute exorcists to fight. With the end of Rias’ little spiel, Issei tosses the bundle of Excalibits over her way, with them ultimately being caught by Akeno, who blushes profusely when he gives her a wink and a grin. Meanwhile, Xenovia and Irina are both scowling, determined looks on their cute faces as they whip off their robes to reveal extremely form-fitting, incredibly skintight black combat outfits underneath. Issei whistles at the sight, his eyes drinking in their curves. He’d been able to tell that they were both buxom, leggy girls even with the heavy white robes, but now… now he can practically see everything. As he faces off from the two exorcists, watching them get ready to fight him, Issei grins a wolfish grin. “I can’t wait to peel you both out of those things.” Xenovia and Irina both flush at that, though once again, Issei is pretty sure Xenovia has more latent pervert in her than Irina does. Still, his childhood friend is embarrassed enough as is thanks to the connection they once shared. Both exorcists look a little rattled at this point, clearly… taken off guard by his casual confidence. Have they already forgotten that he literally defeated Kokabiel to acquire the Excalibits? Or had they simply managed to convince themselves that he was lying, or that together, through the power of friendship (or more likely God or faith in him or whatever) they would prevail? Either way, Issei watches them draw their swords, his eyes taking in the blades. Oh, those are certainly impressive swords. He has absolutely no idea what they are, to be perfectly honest, but they radiate a sense of holy energy and power that can’t be denied. Each is equal to or stronger than the three Excalibits that Akeno is currently holding. How… exciting. “I’ll be blunt, girls. Come at me with everything you’ve got from the very beginning, or this fight won’t last long at all. Understand this… there’s something on the line here that I want very much. My pride as a dragon won’t allow me to hold back.” The eyes of the two exorcists across from him narrow at that. While Xenovia doesn’t say anything, merely pressing her lips together into a thin line, Irina does respond, scowling and blushing and stammering. “I-Issei! A p-pervert like you shouldn’t be s-saying cool things l-like that! I’m… I’m going to b-beat the pervert out of you, s-so be ready!” Issei just chuckles… and rather than taking up his own combat stance, spreads his arms wide in an open offer for the two girls to attack. They do so, of course, lunging forward… at middling speeds at best. Just as he thought, Kokabiel… the Grigori Lord would have slaughtered these two girls as easily as he would have slaughtered Rias and Sona and their peerages, if he’d gotten his way. Even as Issei ducks under Xenovia’s swing and catches Irina’s blade in his bare hand, he finds himself glad that he dealt with things as he did. Kokabiel couldn’t threaten any of these women anymore. Not the ones he’d already claimed for himself… nor the ones he was about to claim. Irina’s eyes go wide as she realizes her sword is caught in an unbreakable grip. Too little too late to stop his fist from planting itself in her gut, however. A choked noise leaves the pigtailed girl’s throat, and she falls like a sack of potatoes, collapsing to her knees and hacking as her grip loosens and he tears her sword from her grasp. Xenovia, meanwhile, is bringing that larger, more unwieldy sword of hers around for another swing. Issei deflects the bulkier blade with the blade of Irina’s sword, still holding it by the blade itself… and then proceeds to slam the pommel into Xenovia’s temple. The blue-haired exorcist also collapses like a puppet with its strings cut, falling to the ground with a sharp cry. He very deliberately doesn’t knock her out, but then… he doesn’t need to. Flipping it around, Issei brings Irina’s sword up under the hacking girl’s chin, watching her go still as she realizes she’s in danger of losing her head, or at the very least having her throat cut. At the same time, on the opposite side, Issei reaches down and grabs a still recovering Xenovia by the throat, lifting her up into the air so she can see Irina’s predicament when she looks down at him. “Drop it.”

Even now, Xenovia has ahold of her sword. Good for her. But, seeing the predicament that Irina is in, and realizing just how outmatched they are… the blue-haired exorcist drops her blade, disarming as he holds her aloft. With that, Issei has won the duel. It’s over, as simple as that, and he can see it dawning on the faces of the two exorcists as he drops Xenovia back to her knees right alongside Irina. They look up at him in horror and some fear… but more than that, behind those overwhelming emotions, Issei can see what he wants, can see what he desires. There’s a kernel of arousal in both of them, a smidgen of lust. There are parts of the two exorcists who want this… and Issei knows he’s going to enjoy coaxing those parts of them out into the open, one by one.