The next morning, the sun was shining brightly over the shrine's garden.
Elias and Baraqiel were standing in the middle of the yard, breathing heavily.
They were practicing.
Elias had two large, black bat wings stretching out from his back.
He was testing his brand-new Devil powers.
Baraqiel raised his hand and shot a fast bolt of yellow lightning.
Elias didn't use his Adaptivity to just take the hit. Instead, he used his new Devil magic.
He created a dark red shield in the air to block the lightning, then pushed off the ground with his wings.
He moved so fast he looked like a blur, appearing right behind Baraqiel.
Baraqiel blocked Elias's punch with his heavy forearm. The impact sent a strong wind through the trees.
"Good!"
Baraqiel laughed proudly, lowering his arms.
"Very good, Elias. You are still inexperienced with Devil magic, but you are learning incredibly fast. Most Devils take years to fly and cast shields that smoothly."
Elias landed softly on the grass. His black wings faded away, turning back into normal skin.
"Thank you, Baraqiel-tou san,"
Elias smiled, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"It feels natural. Like my body already knows what to do."
Baraqiel walked over to the wooden porch and handed Elias a cold bottle of water.
They both sat down on the edge of the porch to rest.
"By the way,"
Baraqiel said, taking a drink of water.
"When I was at headquarters yesterday, my boss, Azazel, was reading an American comic book. It was very interesting."
Elias almost choked on his water.
"A comic book?"
Elias coughed.
"Don't tell me... was it the one about Death of the Endless?"
"Yes,"
Baraqiel chuckled, his dark eyes filled with amusement.
"I read a few pages over his shoulder. I think you should read it, Elias. It is actually quite fun."
Elias groaned and hid his face in his hands.
"This is so embarrassing. My whole life is in a comic book in this world. What did it say about me?"
Baraqiel leaned back and smiled.
"Well, for starters, the Elias in the story is much, much older than you are now. The comic said you are about five billion years old."
Elias peeked through his fingers.
"Five billion?!"
"Yes,"
Baraqiel nodded.
"And that is not all. In the story, you don't just travel the multiverse with Dee. You actually have a lot of wives and children spread across different universes."
Elias's jaw dropped. He stared at his giant foster father in complete shock.
"Wives? Plural? And Dee is okay with that?"
Elias asked, remembering how easily Dee had accepted Akeno's feelings just a few days ago.
"According to the comic, yes,"
Baraqiel laughed, enjoying Elias's shocked face.
"The comic explained that the multiverse is endlessly huge. Being the Goddess of Death is a massive job. Dee was completely okay with you having other consorts and wives because you and everyone help her manage the multiverse. They help keep everything in balance."
Elias sat frozen on the porch. His brain was working very hard.
He thought back to what Dee had told him on the roof.
She had said human jealousy was a small, silly thing to her.
She had said she didn't mind sharing him with Akeno.
At the time, Elias thought Dee was just being nice.
But hearing the story from the comic book made him realize something deep.
Dee wasn't just a teenage girl. She truly was an eternal cosmic being.
To her, having a big, loving family to share eternity with made perfect sense.
"Five billion years..."
Elias whispered to himself, looking up at the blue sky.
"Lots of wives... Lots of kids..."
Baraqiel patted Elias heavily on the back, nearly knocking the boy off the porch.
"Don't worry too much about the future, son!"
Baraqiel grinned warmly.
"You have plenty of time to figure it out. But for now, you should focus on your first big task. You have a wedding to crash, remember?"
Elias blinked, snapping out of his deep thoughts.
He looked at his hands, feeling the powerful Devil magic, Dragon strength, and Angel light waiting inside him.
He smiled a confident, brave smile.
"Right,"
Elias said, standing up from the porch.
"First, I save Rias. The rest of the multiverse can wait."
Later that afternoon, Elias's phone buzzed in his pocket. It was a message from Rias.
"Riser is coming to the school today. Please hurry."
Elias put his phone away and grabbed his jacket. It was time to go to work.
He walked to the old school building and opened the door to the Occult Research Club room.
Rias and Akeno were not inside yet. But Elias was not alone.
There were three girls in the room.
One was a small, quiet girl with white hair.
She was sitting on the sofa, happily eating a chocolate bar. This was Koneko Toujo.
Standing near the window was a very beautiful young woman with short blonde hair.
She stood up straight like a proud knight. This was Yuki Kiba.
The third girl was sitting at a desk.
She had messy brown hair. As soon as Elias walked into the room, his new senses picked up something strange.
The brown-haired girl smelled exactly like a powerful, ancient dragon.
This was Seiko Hyuudo.
Elias walked over and sat down on the sofa, leaving a polite amount of space between himself and Koneko.
"Hello,"
Elias said with a friendly, easygoing smile.
"I am Elias. I am Akeno's older brother. Rias asked me to wait here for her."
Yuki smiled brightly and gave him a polite bow.
"It is very nice to meet you, Elias-san. I am Yuki. This is Koneko, and that is Seiko. We are Rias's peerage members."
Koneko just looked at him with calm, golden eyes.
She took another bite of her chocolate and gave him a tiny, silent nod.
She didn't talk much, but Elias could tell she was relaxed.
Elias then turned his head to look at the last girl.
Seiko Hyuudo was staring at him. But it was not a normal, polite look.
Her face was bright red, she was breathing a little heavily, and she was checking him out from head to toe with very, very perverted eyes.
She even wiped a little bit of drool away from the corner of her mouth.
"Wow..."
Seiko whispered to herself, staring at his arms.
"Akeno-senpai's brother is super hot..."
Elias felt a drop of sweat form on the back of his head.
He felt like a piece of meat sitting in front of a hungry wolf.
Something felt very weird about the way she was looking at him.
Back in his old world, if he had watched the anime, he might have known why the dragon girl acted like this.
But he didn't know anything about the actual story or the main characters.
'Maybe this is just how she normally is,'
Elias thought to himself. He decided to just let it go and not think too much about it.
"It is nice to meet you all,"
Elias said, keeping his voice calm and politely looking away from Seiko's intense stare.
"Do you want a piece?"
Koneko suddenly asked. She broke off a small square of her chocolate bar and held it out to him.
Elias smiled genuinely.
"Thank you."
He took the chocolate and ate it.
As they sat there making simple small talk about the weather and school, Elias kept his sharp senses focused.
He was completely calm, but his body was ready.
He was waiting for Riser Phenex to come.
Read up to chapter 44 at [email protected]/jelopy_jelopy for $5