Chapter 1: Prologue
The sky surged with fury; the wind sliced through the air transforming raindrops into torrents of bullets endlessly assaulting the windows of the Occult Research Club's main office. Inside the office, however, silence reigned. Rias lounged behind her desk, shaking her head an amused smile stealing across her rose lips.
Issei stared frozen in horror mouth agape. The flash of light emanating from his left arm finally faded.
Akeno, watching the demonstration from the sofa, stopped shielding her eyes and gaped at Asia's naked form. The spell had shredded Asia's school uniform sending bits of material in an explosion of confetti in all directions. Despite her shock, Akeno subconsciously licked her lips. Asia's light skin, tinged slightly pink in embarrassment, glowed in soft perfection. Her shapely thighs gracefully transitioned into the blossoming curves of her rear. Her hair fell in long glistening strands passed her shoulders and down her back further highlighting her pearly essence. Akeno looked her up and down snatching this chance to capture Asia's body in her memory without fear of judgment.
As the silence stretched into eons, Asia, whose eyes had been tightly shut, glanced up meeting Issei's gaze. His startled expression immediately awoke a thousand self-deprecating thoughts. She quickly squeezed her thighs together and slammed her eyes shut as her arms simultaneously flew to cover her breasts. They're too small… She bit her lip and took a deep breath to hold back the torrent of shame and worthlessness that threatened to overwhelm her. I…I know I can't measure up to Rias-sama or…or Akeno-senpai. Another deep breath. If she cried, it would only solidify her shame. She fought to hold onto her last vestige of dignity.
Another breath, inhale…exhale. She forced her eyes open and suddenly realized Issei's face didn't showcase disgust or disappointment… but fear… terror even. More importantly, he wasn't looking at her, but passed her. Curiosity mixed with relief as Asia quickly turned to see what had Issei's attention.
Akeno, who had fixated on the blonde's lusciously presented cheeks which had been forced outward when she pressed her legs together, flinched like a schoolgirl caught cheating on an exam. She quickly averted her eyes, her face coloring in combination of embarrassment and annoyance.
It was only then that Akeno noticed as she glanced down, her body was bare! Her eyes shot up to Asia's face which exuded surprise with saucer-shaped eyes and open mouth to Issei who looked petrified but unable to look away. Akeno couldn't deny that she felt a strong sense of satisfaction at fully capturing Issei's attention despite the naked beauty standing directly in front of him. Akeno wasn't embarrassed to show off her body; she rather enjoyed teasing Issei. An evil grin stole across her face. This was the perfect excuse to satiate her sadism.
She snapped her fingers. A spark of electricity connected her thumb and forefinger, then shot outward streaking through the air crackling as it crashed into Issei's chest. He convulsed for a moment, then collapsed to the floor moaning apologies. The pungent scent of singed hair filled the room. Akeno smiled; this was almost a fantasy come true. Sitting naked, beside an also naked Asia, while punishing Issei. She raised her hand to summon another lightning bolt.
"Enough." The order came from the president.
Something else had captured Akeno's attention however. She snapped her fingers her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
Issei tensed preparing for another round of electric shock.
"Akeno!" Rias shouted furiously, hand raised in preparation to cast a spell of her own.
Akeno's eyes shifted to Rias who was standing and no longer amused. She stared at her hand, then slowly lowered it. What… what's happening? Has anyone else noticed? Her calculating eyes shot from person to person. No. Maybe it's just me. She glanced at the scarlet-haired president's glowing palm. Rias is always so protective of Issei… hm. She knew better than to push her luck, however. Rias was less than level-headed when someone threatened her "adorable servant".
She forced a high-pitched laugh. "My apologies."
Rias nodded and dropped back into her chair.
"Pervert." piped up a small voice from the back of the room. Koneko's eyes blazed golden in her disgust.
A still-dazed Issei, felt heat rise within him. He didn't need to see her to know who had spoken. "I didn't mean for that to happen!" he snapped with less conviction than he'd intended. He quickly continued, his voice rising in desperation to absolve himself. "This version of the spell is a bit more powerful…, and… and the blast zone was a little bigger than I realized, so—!"
"You're the worst." Came the cold, quiet response. "Pervert and incompetent too. Is this what you've been putting Asia-senpai through all week?" Her eyes blazed with indignation. "Just an excuse to see her naked." Her voice never rose much higher than a whisper, but the steely disapproval was unmistakable.
"No! Th-the point is to…to surprise our enemies!" Issei retorted defensively. "In our upcoming fight, we'll be facing many girls who will likely…."
His voice trailed off as Koneko shut her eyes and turned away from him raising her nose to the ceiling. "Hmph!" Her quiet sound dismissed his explanation. Without further response, she stood and walked out the door.
Issei released a defeated sigh. He turned toward Rias searching for a clearer head. "I—you must see how much more powerful the spell is! If a female opponent encountered it, she would likely freeze up or let her guard down… at least for a few seconds. That opening could be all we need to—!"
"My, my. Even dear Asia-chan and myself are not enough to satiate your lust?" Akeno inquired feigning surprise and hurt.
"Wha—?" Issei's head snapped back toward Akeno.
He blushed drinking in her perfection. The soft curve of her hips foreshadowed a delightful view of firm, well-developed cheeks. She seemed to read his mind shifting just slightly to expose a hint of their curvaceous glory. She was toying with him. They both knew it, but he couldn't look away. His gaze swept up her sleek, toned stomach to her extravagant breasts as she slowly sucked in a deep breath thrusting her chest out as if inviting—no daring—him to partake.
Her breasts, large, full, and round hanging in abundance from her chest, promised a velvet pillow of rose petal warmth sloping to unassuming light-pink areolas and teasing, erect nipples.
Their eyes met. Hers violet, intelligent, experienced. Her taunting confidence and her body's bedeviling maturity starkly contrasted with Asia's timid innocence.
An insistent squeak broke the spell. Akeno and Issei turned in unison to a crimson-faced Asia. She had watched the two of them have their silent moment for as long as she could endure, but finally jealousy and perhaps a little hurt forced her to cry out for attention.
Before either could speak, Rias cracked her knuckles drawing the attention of all in the room and crossed her arms grasping the bottom of her shirt. She slowly began to lift it above her waist.
"Well now, if those two aren't enough for you… surely I can satisfy you!"
Issei slapped his palm across his forehead.
"How can I expect her to take me seriously if the two of you won't!" he asked exasperated.
Behind him, Akeno giggled. In moments the contagion spread; Asia began to laugh as well followed by Rias who couldn't quite cover the spark of disappointment in her eyes.
"We have faith in you, Issei." Rias began.
"It's just so entertaining to tease you." Akeno finished flashing him a genuine smile that brightened his mood significantly. "Now, I have a question." She added focusing on Issei.
"What is it?" He asked turning his head toward her.
"Is that all the spell does?" she asked pointedly.
"What do you mean?"
"How does it work exactly?" She clarified.
"Well," Issei began slowly. "I've been working with Ddraig to produce a barrier, sort of like a shield. It's hard for me to understand exactly how it works, but what I do know is that after producing the barrier, a huge gust of force is quickly dispersed. It doesn't really have enough energy to hurt anyone, but it's enough to shred clothing." He noticed Akeno staring intently at him as he spoke. He suddenly felt self-conscious as though his spell were foolish. "So… well… I've been working with Asia to concentrate the dispersion in a single direction. I've mostly gotten the hang of it… but I guess the size of the blast is a little bigger than I thought…"
Rias stifled another giggle and nodded a twinkle in her eyes. She took a deep breath and continued. "Good work. This type of spell is so… you. Dress Break 2.0, I imagine? And you've improved it so you don't even have to touch their clothes anymore! I can't really scold you when I know how useful it could be."
"Thanks… I call it 'Strip Gale' actually!" Issei explained a little heartened.
Rias smiled appreciatively.
"What sort of barrier is Ddraig helping you create?" Akeno asked. She caught Rias' eye; the latter finally realizing something was amiss.
"He just said it's a sort of magic barrier." Issei tried to explain. "It kind of breaks down magic into its base energies and disperses it so that it can't hurt me."
Rias turned to Akeno. "What's wrong?"
"Forgive me, Rias-sama, but I disobeyed your order." Rias raised an eyebrow, spurring Akeno to continue. "I cast a second lightning spell at Issei-kun."
Rias' eyes widened in surprise. She looked from Akeno to Issei. "The barrier?"
"I can't think of anything else…" Akeno confirmed.
"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Issei asked frustrated at not being included in this discussion.
"Your barrier prevented Akeno's spell from forming." Rias explained impressed.
"R-really?" Issei asked surprised.
"It's much worse than that…" Akeno announced drawing all eyes to herself. "I can feel my stamina is gone. I feel weaker…I'm too tired to cast another spell…, and I bet…" She stood, turned, and grasped the bottom of the sofa she had been sitting on. She appeared to struggle for a moment, nodded to herself, and dropped back into the sofa with a sigh.
Asia and Issei traded confused looks, but Rias looked absolutely stunned. She turned her astonished gaze from Akeno to Issei. "You've neutralized my queen!" She stated in a shock.
"What…what does that mean?" Issei asked afraid he'd accidentally done something horrible.
"Issei-kun, think about what we just learned. Akeno was unable to cast a second lightning spell, and just now she was unable to lift the sofa…"
I neutralized her queen she said…. Issei thought to himself. Suddenly it all fell into place. "A queen has the powers of all the Evil Pieces."
Rias nodded.
"Akeno should be able to lift the sofa with a Rook's strength…"
Rias nodded again.
"And as a bishop… she should have increased magic power and stamina to cast spells… but she doesn't."
"You have literally disabled my queen abilities." Akeno acknowledged just as astounded as Rias."
Issei quickly turned to Asia. "You—when we were training you got really tired! I thought it was because we were doing it late at night…, but it was because you're bishop powers were being neutralized!"
Asia put a finger to her chin and stared at the ceiling a moment. "I didn't really know why, but it certainly felt like I had a smaller reserve of magic to heal you…" She admitted. "But I just thought it was the time too!"
Rias tapped her chin for a moment. "Issei-kun?"
"Uh, yeah?" he responded.
"Dispel the barrier, please."
"Oh! Right, sure." He closed his eyes focusing. His left arm glowed for a moment. Issei looked up and nodded. "Done."
Rias turned to Akeno with a questioning glance.
"I can feel my spell stamina and demonic power returning… slowly though; it's not instant."
Rias nodded. "Interesting." She thought for a moment. "Why wasn't this the focus of your demonstration?"
Issei exclaimed, "Well…I didn't know it could do that!" He chuckled and explained, "I haven't really gotten it down yet. Ddraig says that I'm making progress, but the barrier should be much larger and more powerful if I want to fully disassemble complex spells. So… when I discovered the dispersion side-effect, I realized, if I could master that on the side, I'd have a double-effect sorta, and Asia was nice enough to help me."
Asia blushed softly, "It was nothing! I've basically just been a target and doing my regular healing duty."
Rias flashed her an approving smile. "No, this is above and beyond, Asia. Thank you for helping Issei."
"You're such a good girl, Asia!" Akeno told her warmly. "Issei would never have discovered this power without you!"
"Issei-kun, you need to focus on developing this shield." Rias began. "It will be a powerful defensive weapon, even in one on one fights. Imagine if you could just remove your opponent's Evil Piece abilities. They would return to being only slightly more powerful than a regular human! If you could find a way to project it to a large area, it would be unparalleled. Entire armies could be neutralized."
Issei stared mouth agape. "I…I'll practice using it as much as I can!" He promised.
"Just be careful." Rias warned. "An ability this powerful will certainly attract enemies who wish to use you or destroy you. Keep it quiet for now, but develop it."
Issei nodded solemnly though his mind seemed elsewhere.
Akeno laughed. "You're still upset about Koneko, aren't you? You barely even care that you've stumbled onto a monumental new power!"
Issei shrugged sheepishly.
"Oh, cheer up, Issei-san!" Asia scolded.
Finally, Issei chuckled as well.
"Alright, alright. It's just that Koneko always seems to assume the worst when it comes to me. I know I'm accident prone. I've—ahem—stumbled into more than a few awkward situations…, but she would never talk to you or Akeno like that or treat the two of you like me." He sighed again.
"Can't you talk to her?" he asked directing the request to Rias.
"No." She replied simply. "Before you go and pout, nothing I say to her will give you what you want." Her eyes turned sympathetic but shone bright with experience like a motherly friend offering advice. "I can tell her to be nice to you… but it'll be forced."
Issei frowned nodding.
"What you really want is to make her respect you." She quickly added, "I agree that Koneko is often rude and violent toward you; she has a bratty side she gets away with because she's cute. But—" She trailed off rising to her feet and moving closer to him before locking eyes to emphasize her point. "Be a man; go and speak to her and deal with it yourself."
The sincerity in her voice pushed the message beyond Issei's ego allowing it to take root.
He stood quietly for a moment considering her words. Then, suddenly, he nodded and flashed that same old "everything-is-going-to-be-alright" smile he carried perpetually. "You're right. A real man would go and deal with this himself rather than depend on his superiors to make her be nice."
Rias beamed. She prized this quality in Issei above almost all others. He could put aside his pride long enough to take advice from those more experienced than himself. This rare quality would take him far.
Issei turned to Akeno, put on a sly smile and quipped, "I'm shocked that you're such an exhibitionist!"
Akeno rolled her eyes, shook her head, and laughed at the lame joke.
Turning to Asia, he winked and divulged, "Thank you for all your help this week, Asia, I really appreciate it. It's been…quite a pleasurable experience."
He stayed long enough to watch Asia turn scarlet from head to toe then turned and walked out the door missing the "He's incorrigible" looks exchanged between Akeno and Rias.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone