A/N: Ah, and I'm back. What a wonderful feeling~! I've been busier than usual lately so update speed might slow down to about once or twice a month, but in any case, here's a chapter I'm sure you've all been waiting for. Because when shit hits the fan... shit hits the fan. Anyway a part of this was inspired by a comic I read some time ago, never remembered who wrote it or where it came from, but I did remember the message.

+ The Devil's Dark Knight +

Chapter 4:

The Four Devils

How utterly convenient had it been for him to have regained some control and amount of his chakra the moment he needed it most? To have found himself stuck behind enemy lines and in a perilous situation, and then to mythically regain the ability to solve his problem with as much as the blink of an eye?

Of course, Uchiha Sasuke was never that lucky. It hadn't been luck.

Something had granted him some form of reprieve from his seal and sent the chakra flowing down his system again, and with that chakra, came the familiar lull of activating the Sharingan.

His eyes snapped open as he felt the familiar form of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan come into his vision, and it was as though the time of the world had slowed down infinitely.

No. Time hadn't slowed down infinitely.

Time had stopped.

His eyes, could see the world as though time itself had stood still, and it was utterly amazing, every single thing came into his vision, and he took it all in and memorized every single little detail in his sight with the clarity of an ultra large flat screen high-definition television.

The difference was like night and day, as though he had been viewing the world in monochrome before, and now, he was seeing color for the first time.

Then, he tested the strength of his techniques. He willed forth a small spark of black flame to come forth –

The building exploded.

~~~~~~~~~~~ The Devil's Dark Knight – Revamped ~~~~~~~~~

Underworld

Agreas

Agreas was the pinnacle of research for the Underworld and for devils. As it was currently being managed by Ajuka Beelzebub, the man responsible for the development of the Evil Pieces system, it had rapidly bloomed into a technological marvel that easily made some of the world's greatest human inventions look like the work of cavemen striking rocks against each other.

The facility was of such great import that it was an entire island which floated in the sky of the underworld, and it held several tourists and visitors on a day to day basis. Of course, they were not privy to some of the Island's more sensitive and hidden locations, one of which was the laboratory belonging to none other than the Beelzebub himself.

So they had no way of knowing or expecting the fact that a person of mass destruction was upon the Island.

A person of mass destruction who had been abducted without his permission or will, and as such, considered anything and everything within his general vicinity as a threat.

So it was quite the scene when an Island floating in the sky roughly twice the size of the city of Tokyo abruptly exploded.

Then there was fire.

Rias had seen various forms and kinds of fire in her brief few years in existence, but she had never seen any such flames like these. Fire, like anything else, was a tool. It could be used to light the way or to bring forth warmth and heat, and similarly it could be used to warm up food and cook delicious meals.

Rias did love delicious meals. Perhaps a small part of her preferred the unique taste and blend of the Japanese cuisine to any other part of the world, considering that she had tasted various foods from all over.

Maybe when she was done she'd see to it that she would travel to France once more for a visit, other than the food the sheer atmosphere and everything about the place was absolutely wonderful. Of course she wasn't sure which monument she liked best, the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty… wait, that wasn't in France… was it?

"RIAS!"

Rias blinked.

Why was her sister-in-law wearing a bikini? And why were they people in daffy duck costumes behind her?

"Rias, listen to me, this fire… it's not normal. The heat is causing you hallucinate. Focus."

Oh, that was right, she was getting delirious from the heat.

It was utterly absurd, she had seen fire before, and she had dealt with it in several varying levels, but she had never seen black flames before.

Such magnanimous black flames with the weird smell of dusty water, turning everything to ash.

The heiress of the Gremory Clan laughed as she stared at the pillar of flames that was slowly consuming everything and anything in sight.

"Pretty…"

It was pretty, to watch destruction.

The island was burning.

Everything was burning.

From where she sat, up onto the horizon as far as she could see, there was only fire.

She watched as Grayfia tried to quench the flames with her abilities, but her ice turned to steam the second she manifested it. The heat was far above what even her own powers could manage.

The incandescence of the black flames seemed to glow more eerily than she had thought possible, they emitted a dark light that seemed to take upon the very nature of what light was and shredded it into a quintillion pieces before snuffing it out of existence.

Everywhere was hot, everything hot, her school uniform had barely survived against the heat and had already flayed away into shreds of fabric which barely protected her modesty, and she kept sweating more than she thought possible.

The black flames seemed to surround them, and Rias watched on in delirious glee at what she had assumed would be her final resting place, before all at once, the flames stopped.

Then like a ghastly apparition returning to the beyond, the flames vanished.

And all at once, she felt a sharp pain on her arm and the feeling of crackling lightning against her neck.

~~~~~~~~~~ The Devil's Dark Knight – Revamped ~~~~~~~~

Rage, Sasuke noted, was a double-edged sword. It was a lethal weapon against enemies, but it was twice as lethal against yourself. It had taken him several years to learn this of course, but this didn't change the fact that there was a violation of his own personal rules and boundaries which made him feel that there needed to be an outlet of release.

Contrary to what most people felt, to Sasuke, anger wasn't a negative emotion. After all, the things which could cause you to be angry were always things that went against your personal values or beliefs, or people who had crossed boundaries and lines that they had no right to even see in the first place.

His mind was saying that it was futile, that it would be best for him to just let it go and then end things on civil terms, seeing as how he needed information more.

His 'heart' agreed, and said it would let it go once four burnt corpses were buried, the shovel was tossed into the ocean and he was riding on his bike off into the sunset.

And so, in the aftermath of the black flames of the apocalypse, he found his target, sweaty and barely clothed as she was and he grabbed the arm of the red haired girl, caring little for how the sick pop he heard as he had accidently dislocated it, and he placed a sword made of pure lightning chakra against her neck.

He ignored her scream of pain.

"RIAS!"

Sasuke turned to spot the other members of the room who had emerged, all in similar tattered clothing and sweaty, and his eyes connected with that of the red-haired man, his mind rapidly making deductions based on physical similarities.

"Stay back or your sister dies."

The man seemed to stall his attack for the briefest of seconds, as Sasuke's sharpened weapon drew a small amount of blood from the woman's neck whilst shocking her all at the same time.

Sasuke didn't know why, but his entire body was shaking, he could hear the beating and pounding of his heart even as it threatened to burst forth out of his throat. He could hear Rias' frantic heartbeat, and even as the fire alarms blared, and the situation looked grim, he found himself feeling dry-mouthed, and no matter how much he gulped, he couldn't seem the swallow the perpetual lump which lay in his throat.

Ah, yes, it was the adrenaline. He would blame the extra moist mouth on the surge of adrenaline which flowed through his body, but did not lubricate his throat properly enough. It was, after all, the most logical answer he could possibly bring forth at that moment.

"Coward! You'd take a woman hostage?"

Sasuke turned to the only other woman in the room, his cold crimson eyes boring into her with all the dispassionate empathy of a feudal lord who had stepped in dog shit.

"A kidnapper speaks of chivalry? How amusing."

Rias squirmed in pain, but if anything Sasuke only kept his hold on her tighter. It was odd, feeling the invasion of privacy as the girl's sweaty, barely clothed body was extremely close to him, for what had been the second time he had recalled. Unlike the first time, she wasn't holding him out of fear of falling off a bike, no, he was the one in control of her every action, her every movement, her every breath. He had total control of every firing neuron in her brain and every single living cell in her body, and should he wish it, he would end her existence with but the flick of a wrist.

His throat felt dryer and his Chidori Sword flared.

He didn't know why he felt so odd toward the girl, he had no qualms about breaking her second arm just to make sure she didn't try any stupid stunts. If anything her grunts of pain seemed to fill him with more disgust and annoyance and hatred than he had thought possible.

Then, oddly enough he realized why.

Quietly, and softly enough to no one else could hear, he uttered four simple words that made him realize why he had to hold back the tremble of his hands as his makeshift blade pressed against her neck.

"I died for you."

As stupid as it was for him, for a trained shinobi, much less Uchiha Sasuke of all people, to have had the benefit of the doubt for someone, only to be proven wrong… it was utterly damning.

He had believed the young woman was someone in this world worth his while, someone who possessed a weird mix of intrigue and sensuality to whom he would not mind being acquainted with.

However, rather than explaining to him the events that had surrounded their rather odd meeting, the second she feared his power she had instantly ran with her tail between her legs to her superior officers, and she didn't have the damned common courtesy to even so much as utter him an explanation.

To not so much as utter an explanation to the very person who had, on some whim of fate, saved your life, and instead throwing him to the dogs when the going got tough?

She was trash.

"Uchiha-san I-I –"

"Shut. Up."

It was taking all of Sasuke's willpower to keep the weapon settled firmly on her neck and not just slit her throat outright. He needed to think rationally, in his experience, hostage situations usually never ended well, for either the hostage or the hostage-taker. He was in the open, in an unknown location, surrounded by three enemies of which he did not know their abilities or their potential attack power, and as he spoke, reinforcements could possibly be on the way.

He had the upper hand for now, and he had dislocated the girl's shoulder so they knew that he meant business and that if he wanted to he could easily kill her, so he needed to think of a way out of this situation and he needed to think of one now.

Of course, the sheer notion that he, of all people, had been abducted, was one that grated on Uchiha Sasuke's nerves more than he would like to admit. With his newly enhanced senses, he had been able to hear and smell the assault coming before it did, however, he was unable to react in time to stop it. It was like the limitation he had previously had on his Sharingan, in which case the eyes would be able to predict and track his opponents' movements, but if he was not fast enough to evade or counter, then he could do nothing but watch himself get beaten in slow motion.

"In this order, tell me: your names, where we are, and why I was taken." Sasuke said, "Try to stall and she dies. Move an inch and she dies."

The atmosphere seemed to feel like ice.

"You won't kill her," the green haired man said, "She's more valuable to you alive than dead."

Sasuke broke her left thumb.

She let out another scream of pain and the three devils flinched.

"No stalling," Sasuke's eyes narrowed "I may need her alive, but that doesn't mean I won't break every bone in her body if I have to."

The last Uchiha heard the breathing of the red-haired man rapidly increase and tendrils of power began surrounding him.

"Hurting Rias – You will pay!"

He broke three more fingers, and watched as the man flinched back with each one he heard break.

"I don't respond to threats. I make them." Sasuke said, "You have thirty seconds to answer before I decide to start working on her other hand."

The blare of the alarms seem to only get louder over the mind numbing silence.

"Uchiha-san let's not get hasty here," the green haired man said raising his hands in surrender "I'm Ajuka Beelzebub, he is Sirzechs Lucifer, Rias' brother; and that's his wife, Grayfia Lucifuge. You're in Agareas, which is where my personal facility in the Underworld was located."

"Ajuka-sama, are you actually compromising with this animal?!"

"There is a time and a place for pride Grayfia, and this is neither."

Sasuke gazed into the cold eyes of the man, Ajuka, and he noted that the man was far more dangerous than his casual appearance would indicate. His heartbeat was as steady and calm as though he were simply reading a book rather than facing off a hostage situation, and the Uchiha immediately knew that he was the most deadly person present.

"Why was I brought here?"

"Because Rias was afraid of you, as she had every right to be," Ajuka said walking forward with his hands in whatever was left of his pockets "Your very existence is an abnormality, you possess power beyond what we could expect, you killed a Cadre Class Fallen Angel while you were dead, you possess the mark of one of the most dangerous beings in existence and you just burned down an island, yet, you hide under the guise of a common school boy."

Two things caught Sasuke's attention, the first being the death of a fallen angel, and the second being the mark, the weird tattoo that had been sealing his chakra away. However, his expression gave nothing away as he was content to let Ajuka continue.

"Do you see the picture now Uchiha-san? My colleagues and I sincerely apologize for the way we kidnapped you, but of course, I sorely doubt walking up to you and asking you to come to a lab to be examined under a microscope so we could dissect your secrets would have ended any differently."

Sasuke glanced towards the man blankly. He understood of course, that he would eventually be taken somewhere for some interrogation. If this were the Elemental Nations, and some foreign, unknown entity with a lot of potential power for destruction had appeared seemingly out of thin air, he would have been instantly dragged to Torture and Interrogation where they'd either lock him up, or find a way to use him as a weapon.

So, from a logical standpoint, Sasuke understood why they had so abruptly abducted him. He understood, but this didn't mean he liked it, nor did it mean he was going to forget about it any time soon.

"Now do tell me, is there anything else you would like to know Uchiha-san, before you go off breaking anymore of Rias' bones? I do believe she's rather attached to them."

Ajuka's smile was downright syrupy.

"What's this about a Fallen Angel and a mark?"

"The name of the Fallen Angel you killed is called Kokabiel. He was a Cadre Class commander of the Grigori, the Fallen Angel organization, and of course, they are most likely calling for your blood as we speak." Ajuka said blandly, "There is a mark on your body, its purpose I cannot tell, but it is the symbol of the Dragon God of Infinity, Ophis."

It wasn't the first time Sasuke had heard the name, and judging by the reactions of everyone, it seemed that the Dragon God was indeed a known and feared figure. He remembered that Kokabiel, the Fallen Angel who had killed him, had invited him to join an organization created by said Dragon God… and now, he found out that she was the same person who had locked his chakra?

He needed answers, and now, he had a name.

"Where do I find her?"

"I'd advice you against that course of action –"

"Where?"

Ajuka let out a sigh. "She is known to reside in a place called the Dimensional Gap."

For now however, his anger had been slightly subsided, and his mind worked out a way to end the hostage situation. There was no doubt in his mind that he would be attacked the very second he let Rias go, which meant she was the key to his escape.

"Stay back, all of you."

Ajuka seemed amused, and it reaffirmed Sasuke's opinion of the man being extremely perilous.

"Tell me Uchiha-san, how do you honestly believe this situation will end?" Ajuka said, his tone almost one of sheer curiosity "You are holding the sister of the Lucifer hostage, you are in a location of which you know nothing about, in a realm different from earth, with no means of escape."

As though proving his point, Sasuke's enhanced hearing began to pick up the sounds of guards rapidly approaching their location.

"For now, let's make a simple deal Uchiha-san." Ajuka said, "We got off on the wrong foot, so if you could just return Rias and refrain from hurting her any further, we can be able to sit down and talk."

Sasuke could tell from the man's voice and from his heartbeat that he wasn't lying. Or at the very least, he believed himself to be telling the truth, and though he was clearly not inclined to believe him, his options as to how to proceed were somewhat limited.

"You want to sit down and talk?"

"Yes."

"Funny how you now realize that such an option exists."

"Uchiha-san, we have apologized –"

"Because all it takes to rectify mistakes are apologies."

Sasuke paid close attention to the man as he seemed to let up his hands in surrender.

"All right Uchiha-san. Tell me, what do you want?"

Sasuke thought over the question. There were a lot of things he wanted, he wanted to go home, he wanted to find out if the Naruto or if Kaguya were still alive, he wanted to find the being that had locked his chakra, he wanted to unlock his chakra. There were too many things he wanted, too many things he wished he could attain, but for now, from these people, here and now, there was only one thing he wanted from them.

"I want you to leave me alone."

~~~~~~~~ The Devil's Dark Knight – Revamped ~~~~~~~~

Kuoh

Kuoh Academy

Occult Research Club

Akeno walked back into the Occult Research Club and managed to let out a small sigh. Rias had hurried off to the Underworld, and not long after, the Four Satans drop in unannounced and abruptly abduct Uchiha Sasuke from Sona's office. The day seemed to stretch on and on, and she was extremely glad that the school day was finally over.

Neither Rias nor Sasuke had returned however, so she could only hope for the best and that they were able to find the source of the problem and fix the situation. For now, Issei had been slightly left in the dark about what was going on truly, and though it was not the reception the pervert had been expecting, it was the one he unfortunately had to settle for.

On entering the club, she noticed something odd, Koneko was sitting with her legs crossed and her cheeks were visibly flushed, even though her face remained in its perfect stoic appearance, there was no mistaking the slight pink hue on her face.

Hyoudou Issei on the other hand, seemed to be groaning as he held his stomach on the chair. Akeno could guess what happened, but she decided it was best to let it go for now.

"Koneko-chan, where's Kiba?"

"He had some school business to take care of sempai."

Akeno nodded slowly, before she turned her gaze to the Hyoudou.

"Hyoudou-san, how are you adapting?"

"You mean after being upstaged and forgotten in favor of Uchiha-sempai?."

Akeno blinked.

"Ara ara, Hyoudou-san, you almost sound jealous."

"I am."

The rather blunt declaration hit Akeno by surprise and she found herself wondering if she had misjudged Hyoudou Issei.

"I mean, it's hard not to be jealous of the guy right? He's got the looks, the money, and all the girls in the school fawn over him yet he barely gives them the time of day. Hell, I heard Katase confessed to him and he flat out turned her down." Issei seemed to look up with a longing look in his eyes "If I got confessed to, I'd be jumping for joy and thanking the stars. But I'm sure the cold bastard barely even knows the name of the person whose heart he broke."

"Fufufu, my Hyoudou-san, aren't you being a bit hasty about judging Uchiha-san? He may surprise you."

The boy shook his head.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

Akeno then recalled the words he had said earlier, and felt it was better to nip it in the bun now.

"Hyoudou-san, you weren't forgotten and upstaged –"

"It looked like it. It felt like it. I mean, you all zoned out and went Uchiha-this, Uchiha-that after he brought up those wings."

"I'm sorry if it felt that way to you Hyoudou-san… there was a rather… delicate problem which needed to be taken care off."

"It's fine… actually, it makes this easier… I wanted to ask you for a favor Akeno-sempai."

"Ara ara, a favor?"

The boy approached, and then all at once, he bowed his head as formally as possible, and Akeno had never see the pervert bow to anyone in her entire life. Neither had she heard that he had performed such a feat to anyone else… so why was he doing it now? What in the world was serious enough to warrant him actually humbling himself to grace her with such a request?

"Akeno-sempai, will you be willing to take my virginity?"

She blinked, the words seem to fly over her head until she managed to put them together and had to stifle the warmth that was radiating on her cheeks.

"W-what?"

"Will you be willing to take my virginity?"

Akeno had to restrain her eyes from twitching as she managed to put on the 'sweetest' smile she had.

"Fufufu, that's a rather brazen request Hyoudou-san."

She realized that the boy's head was still bowed, and that we was indeed patiently waiting for an answer. Wait… he… he was actually being serious?

"I'm afraid I can't help you with that Hyoudou-san." She said, amused, with her eyes twinkling in mirth as she turned to Koneko "Why don't you ask Koneko-chan –"

"I already did."

Akeno blinked, turning to glance at the girl who had looked away.

"Y-you did? What did she say?"

"She called me a pervert and punched my stomach."

Akeno managed to let a small smile of merriment escape unto her lips as she could just picture the scene, and it sounded exactly like something Koneko would have done.

"I'm afraid I can't fault her Hyoudou-san. Why would you even ask that question?"

The boy seemed to fidget in place, before he let out a sigh, and Akeno saw a look in his eyes that she didn't believe possible.

"I'm just thinking, before I die today, I would at least want to make sure I don't die a virgin again."

There were certain alarm bells which began ringing in Akeno's head.

"You're not going to die today Hyoudou-san"

He laughed.

He actually laughed, and Akeno found herself feeling somewhat concerned.

"Hyoudou-san?"

"Sorry, it's just…" he shook his head "Those were the exact same words I told myself yesterday."

Oh. Oh.

"Are you… feeling alright Hyoudou-san?"

"I died Akeno-sempai." He said "If I was able to just forget it and act as though nothing happened after that, I'd have to be seriously messed up."

As much as Akeno didn't want to admit it, she knew that he had a very valid point.

"I still remember it. The blade… the laughter… the taunting words…" he shook his head. "There and then my entire life played back and do you know what I felt watching it?"

"No."

"Stupid. I felt stupid."

He shook his head. "I mean, can you picture it? Imagine on my tombstone, written: here lies Hyoudou Issei, a pervert who was killed on his first date. What would that say of my entire life? What would my parents do after losing me? What?"

"I –"

Akeno didn't know how to answer the question. When she thought about it however, she realized that if Rias hadn't brought the boy back to live, he would have had a rather sad and pathetic tale, he would have lived an utterly unfulfilled life and would have died filled with more regrets than she could even possibly imagine.

He was an unrepentant, slightly annoying pervert who had spent his days idly trying to peep at the naked forms of women and having some of the most ludicrous of goals… but he was still human. He wasn't scum, he hadn't ever tried to force himself on anyone, and he had never committed vile crimes or atrocities.

There were over a million people in the world much more evil than this boy who deserved to die.

"I mean… there is nothing special about me." He said, "I come from a long line of regular people. There is nothing extraordinary about my dad or my mom and there was nothing extraordinary about their dads and their moms or their parents before them."

Issei sighed.

"There are no prophecies or legends about my coming. I don't believe I'm destined to do great things. Even if my parents were to have died, I'd be left with little money and possessions. There are no great riches waiting for me, there are no secrets about me."

He stared at her, for once, his brown eyes displaying an odd level of introspection and depth that Akeno never expected to see.

"I am me and nothing more."

"Hyoudou-san…"

"So I thought, I felt I could believe…" he said scratching his head.

"That there is no path set out for me, so anything I accomplish, anything I become… whether it was a monster, or prince charming or a knight in shining armor or even a pervert…"

He seemed to have a melancholic smile on his face.

"I believed it would be truly my own."

It was stunning to Akeno, who had expected very little of Hyoudou Issei, to realize the boy had a side to him in which she had never seen before. Even Koneko had been listening raptly, despite how she made it seemed that she wasn't interested in what he was saying.

"And it will be."

"No. Not anymore." Issei said, shaking his head "If my own life isn't mine anymore… my own species isn't mine anymore… what more my actions? What more my dreams?"

"Hyoudou-san… what are you saying?"

"I want to go out there and do the things I have always been too afraid to. I want to explore all that the world has to offer, to drink and eat and laugh my fill. I want to go out and make love to as many women as I can, I don't care if I'm called a sleazebag for it, and I want to do it because I chose to."

More alarm bells began ringing in Akeno's mind.

"I want to party hard, make mistakes, and do crazy and stupid things. I want to fall in love, feel love, fight for it, relish in it, and hope that I never lose it. I want to live, so the next time my life flashes before my eyes, I won't feel like my existence has been worth nothing."

Then, under his breath, he muttered "I don't want to die again, filled with regret."

"Issei… you can't –"

He bowed.

"Thank you Akeno-sempai, for taking care of me. And I also wish to thank buchou for bringing me back to life. Without her, I would never have this second chance."

"Sempai…" Koneko spoke up at last "You can't leave… you'll be declared a stray devil… you'll be hunted no matter where you go."

"And I will happily live it, knowing that the decision was my own."

Akeno watched almost unable to speak as Issei walked up to Koneko, and kissed the girl on the forehead.

Koneko froze solid.

Akeno watched as he reached the door, his hand reaching for the knob as he turned to Akeno.

"You're not going to stop me?"

The Gremory Queen shook her head.

"Would you let me?'

Issei smiled. "No. No I wouldn't."

Akeno watched as Hyoudou Issei left the clubroom.

For the first and the last time.

~~~~~~~~ The Devil's Dark Knight – Revamped ~~~~~~~~

Underworld

Agreas

Three devils stood in the ashy remains of what was once a great and thriving city, and two of them felt a great amount of anger and irritation towards the third.

"Ajuka, what in the world were you thinking?"

Sasuke had declared that he wished to be left alone, and to that effect, he would be declared an independent devil. Of course, he didn't take Ajuka's word for it, and had instead decided to take Rias as his hostage until he was certain that the Beelzebub had upheld his own part of the bargain.

"Calm down Sirzechs, Rias isn't in any danger."

"Not in any danger? Ajuka-sama, did you see what we saw? He dislocated her arm! Broke her fingers!" a feminine voice said with no small amount of anger.

"The first was clearly an accident made to look deliberate, the second was just a show of force for us to take him seriously."

"That doesn't make him any less dangerous! He has my sister hostage –"

"A hostage which he does not truly require and would most likely slow down his attempt to escape. He won't kill her; that would be entirely redundant. He won't injure her any further, for it would be an utterly unnecessary display of barbarity. From the way he looks at her, it's clear that she's in no risk of sexual assault either, so as I said, she isn't in any danger."

"Am I really to believe that?"

"Sirzechs, in all the years we have known each other, have you ever known me to be wrong?"

There was a long stretching silence.

"I can still send Grayfia to find him –"

Ajuka punched him. Hard.

The Lucifer blinked, staring at his best friend as the sudden attack had sent him to the ground, and watching as even Grayfia had been too stunned to react.

"This is particularly why it was best for me to handle the situation! All of this is happening because we listened to you, and kidnapped the boy – and look at where that led us! Ash!" Ajuka said, gesturing to the rising smoke and crumbling buildings.

"Sirzechs I understand that you love your sister, but when it comes to protecting her, you stop thinking and just do whatever it is that you feel can end the situation quickly! That only ends up escalating things and making it worse!"

Sirzechs stood up, slowly massaging the bridge of his bleeding nose.

"I'm sorry… I just –"

Ajuka shook his head. "Forget it. We have more important things right now to do than point fingers."

Ajuka sighed. This was a sign that a storm was coming, an indication of a great change that had already begun spinning and that the wheels of fate had been set into motion.

Something was going to happen. He just didn't know what.

~~~~~~~~~~ The Devil's Dark Knight – Revamped ~~~~~~~~

Underworld

Unknown Location

Four.

For some odd reason, Uchiha Sasuke had always despised that number, and not due to any inherent connections to the numbers relation to death, but rather, because of how he could find the number connected to his life even when he wasn't actively trying.

He came from a family of four. He had originally belonged to a four man cell. He had betrayed his village with the help of four shinobi. He had set forth on his quest to find Itachi in a team of another four shinobi. He had participated in the Fourth Shinobi World War… and on and on it went.

For that matter, the Original Sharingan had four stages, the first three where it was the ordinary sharingan, then the forth when it evolved into the Mangekyou. Then, to attain the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, you needed to implant two other eyes into your own eye sockets.

Regardless, the most annoying set of fours he had met so far, would belong to the team of the Satans, and of course, the four individuals who had been present when Sasuke had awoken from his kidnapped state and promptly set their world on fire.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the weird seal on his neck hadn't been removed, it had only been weakened. He had gained access to his Chakra as a result, but he had wrongly assumed that he had all his chakra back, and then he consumed all the chakra available to him, leading to a mild case of chakra exhaustion.

Fortunately, the portion that was unlocked was now available to him once he fully recovered, and it was better to have half a loaf of bread than none at all. Strangely enough, he couldn't activate his Rinnegan yet. He had always known that the Rinnegan was slightly chakra demanding, but simply trying to activate it drained his available reserves at a ridiculous rate than he had believed possible.

Of course, if his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan was now strong enough to see time stopped, he didn't even know what sort of powers his Rinnegan now possessed that made activating so chakra intensive.

Regardless of his current chakra-less state, Sasuke managed to come to a stop at a cave, finally dropping his hostage off his back.

Staring at her, he loosened his Kuoh Academy tie and rolled the tie up into a ball, before he gestured it to Rias.

"Bite."

She glanced at him, and he picked up that her eyes were still misty from the pain of having carried her around with her dislocated arm but she was wiser than to refuse. She slowly bit onto the ball of a tie and Sasuke shook his head.

"Harder."

She bit into it as instructed, and not a second too soon as Sasuke socketed her arm back in place.

Thankfully, her scream was muffled by the article of clothing, but it seemed that she had endured more than enough pain for one day, and she eventually passed out.

He propped her against the ground as thoughts ran through his head. So she had been scared of him, no, she was terrified of him, despite trying to put up a brave face the entire time, there had been an overwhelming amount of terror deep seated within her.

Of course, it was to be expected, he was powerful, and with that power came the awe and reverence that he had so often longed for. Fear was an attribute that was to be followed, and he had forgotten, that your allies could fear you just as much as your enemies, if not even more.

Was she his ally?

That had so far remained to be seen.

Sasuke instead turned his gaze towards the exit, he ought to begin his search for his target, the Dragon God, and from there on, it was only a matter of time for his chakra to be fully unlocked before he then eventually found his way home.

Most likely the man, Ajuka, had already acquiesced to his demands and granted him his own personal anonymity, which was just fine by Sasuke's standards.

Not that it mattered, despite his chakra being as it was, his goal for now was to leave this weird, twisted dimension and head back to the Elemental Nations.

This dimension was far too complicated for his own liking.

Sasuke's mind did however recall a few things that the man had been saying, when he realized something.

The Fallen Angel… that ten-winged being who was responsible for killing him. The man who had been spouting all sorts of nonsense about joining some form of brigade, and the man who had been responsible for the death of the pervert Hyoudou Issei. There was only one problem however…

He did not remember killing him

He was certain that he had not killed the man. After he had taken the man's attacks, he had blacked out. For all he knew, he had assumed that Rias had been able to escape as quickly as she could, because he sorely doubted she would have been able to match him in combat.

So what had happened on that night? More so, why was his Sharingan so strong and his flames even stronger? There were so many questions he had, and it seemed the more answers he got, the more questions would pop up.

That left him with his goal of eventually finding out what was truly going on, and he would either find out from Rias, or from this Dragon God who he believed had something to do with all of this.

He began walking out of the cave, only to pause as he heard the girl seem to utter out a few words in her sleep.

"Sasuke… I'm… sorry…"

Sasuke stopped, staring at the form of the girl in confusion. Why was she apologizing to him? Even in her unconscious state, she was apologizing to him? Was it because she felt guilty for not telling him the truth before reporting to her superior officers? Or was it because she felt guilty that she was the reason that he had been kidnapped? Or that she was the reason he had died in the first place? That if she had not appeared in the middle of the battlefield when she had, he would still be human?

He didn't know. He didn't know what she was apologizing for, nor did he even know why she was apologizing, all he knew was that she was.

But of course, as he had told Ajuka, apologies don't solve problems. They don't undo all the damage and harm and chaos that had been caused by the actions of the repentant party.

An apology was more or less a formality, a trait of one who sought redemption, a way to cleanse the personal soul. People didn't apologize because they were genuinely bothered by the amount of pain they had caused to others, they did it because they sought to alleviate the amount of pain which was they held burdened upon themselves. They did it to hear to comforting sound of acceptance and know that their misdeeds had been forgiving, so they could begin to move forward.

And all at once, Sasuke realized why he had rejected Ajuka's apology.

And once more, he found himself questioning his motivations for returning to the Elemental Nations.

"Redemption…" he almost scoffed at the notion "…how quaint."

~~~~~~~~~~~ The Devil's Dark Knight – Revamped ~~~~~~~~~~

Underworld

Gremory Territory

"One hundred and fourteen grievously injured and billions lost in infrastructural damages and scientific projects, and you're saying we do, nothing?"

Sirzechs Lucifer was in a rather precarious position as he massaged his forehead.

"Was anyone killed in the fire?"

"Thanks to Serafall-sama, no one died. But –"

"Then we do nothing."

"But –!"

"We. Do. Nothing." Sirzechs said, "The Satans have made their decision Agares-san. Now, is there anything else you wish to discuss for the meanwhile?"

The man let out a series of grumbling guttural sounds as he left the Lucifer's office, leaving the red-haired devil to sigh as he fell back in his seat.

It seemed to be one thing after the other, and the entire Underworld was buzzing about the destruction of Agreas as well as the Black Flames that had completely swelled up the island and could be visible for miles around, as long as anyone had been looking in the direction of the island.

There was no sweeping it under the rug, and of course, it hadn't taken time for the entire Underworld to begin buzzing about the potential arrival of a new Super-Devil, or that there was a devil with a new potentially powerful bloodline that had emerged.

The Satans had tried retaining information from the public, but news spread faster than those black flames, and in time, almost every clan head of the remaining 72 Pillars had begun sending them letters one after the other, each trying to see if they could attain this new devil, and hoping that whatever power the devil possessed was genetic, meaning that they could eventually end up elevating their ranking and status even further through marriage contracts.

Uchiha Sasuke had, in the span of a day, become the most eligible bachelor in the entire underworld.

Then, it got out that he was responsible for the death of a Cadre Class Fallen Angel.

He had gone from most eligible bachelor, to becoming an Urban Legend, with different wild tales and rumors spreading about how he had attained such a feat.

Sirzechs considered it ironic that within a single day, he had gained more political clout than most devils could ever dream of achieving in all the years of their existence.

Of course there were still so many questions left unanswered… who was Uchiha Sasuke? Sirzechs had looked into his record, and though it was extremely convincing, it was beyond clear to him that it was faked. Everything was fake, from his ID to his medical records, maybe even his age was faked for all he knew.

Then, there was the power that the boy possessed. Black, flames. The only beings in existence he knew of to be able to produce black flames were gods… more specifically, the Shinto Goddess Amaterasu. Of course, Ajuka had felt the same, and they had checked, but they found nothing, Uchiha Sasuke was not some demigod child of the Goddess. Everything about him said that he had been a perfectly normal human.

But… that was impossible.

Normal humans couldn't do what the boy could do, normal humans or newly-reincarnated devils didn't have that much power.

Their only clue was Ophis' tattoo which lay on his lower neck. It possibly meant that he was blessed by the Dragon God of Infinity, as Ophis was known to bless people who caught her fancy.

The question was… where in the world had he stumbled open the fancy of one of the strongest beings in existence? And how?

For now, Sasuke and Rias' location remained unknown, and even though Ajuka had eventually convinced him to go on with the rest of the deal and declare the Uchiha an Independent Devil, they had neither seen nor heard from either of them. Sirzechs was left in a spot that had him concerned for his sister, but at the same time, he needed to avoid doing something rash once more.

So he was going to work in faith.

Sirzechs however, was certain that his friend, Ajuka, was aware of certain things about the Uchiha, but he was keeping it to himself. Ever since his lab had been destroyed, he had dedicated all his time to rebuilding it, and Sirzechs knew that when his friend threw himself one hundred percent into his work, it meant he had discovered something that intrigued or excited him, and he was trying to hide it.

"Lucifer-sama, there's someone here to see you."

Sirzechs sighed. "Who is it?"

"It's… Riser Phenix."

~~~~~~~~~ The Devil's Dark Knight – Revamped ~~~~~~~~

Kuoh

Present Time: 7:47 PM

Faith, Asia felt, was a truly beautiful thing.

It was the personal consternation and strong willed belief of a young blonde nun that everything which happened in the world happened for a reason. There was a divine plan set in place for each and every person, and every setback, every disadvantage, every ill-fated moment was all part of the test, all part of the process to make you become the greatest version of yourself.

This belief didn't stop her stomach from growling loudly in protest at it being the seventh day she had gone without eating something tangible.

She sighed to herself, and felt her hands grasp around the silver cross which lay on her neck and uttered a brief prayer to the heavens. The son of man had fasted for forty days and forty nights, a mere seven days without food was just another way of testing her perseverance. She was sure, somewhere up there, the father and his angels were watching over her, that they saw her for who she was, for all the good she had done, and in spite of being persecuted, that her heart was always in the right place.

She had been to the church, expecting to find some sort of solace or shelter with the Fallen Angels there, but she had been unable to find them. They had all left, scattered to the winds, and now it left her homeless, wandering the streets of Kuoh as she tried to find a decent place to stay.

However, a lack of food and water was becoming her undoing as her vision became misty and the world began spinning on its axis. Her legs became cooked spaghetti, metaphorically and literally, as she began hallucinating on the various forms of food she desperately wished she could eat.

She had even begun hallucinating things that made absolutely no sense to her, as she blinked and noticed a severed head hopping around in a trash can.

The hallucination looked so real, as the muddied hair of what she had assumed was a pure pristine white even moved so realistically.

The head turned to her and she stared into the veiny bulging orbs of the eyes.

"You there, girl, your assistance is required. You may aid me."

Asia blinked. The catholic nun shook her head and let out a long sad sigh.

"Mou… I'm so hungry I'm starting to imagine things."

She moaned, her stomach letting out another growl as she made away from the figure, only to blink when the severed head barreled straight into her and knocked her down onto the floor.

"I am not a figment of your imagination girl! I am as real as you are, perhaps even much more so!"

Asia shook her head, and then tilted it as she stared at the weird object. Surely, she had just fallen down because she was dizzy, there was no way this could be real.

Her fingers rolled over the head, pinching the cheeks and softly patting the head.

"Should you appreciate the use of your hands, you would restrain from petting me lest you lose them!"

Asia was beginning to think that she wasn't just hallucinating.

"I am not a stray dog to be picked up on the whim of others! Neither am I some sort of toy to be meant to be used for fancy! The sheer arrogance of the being who attempted to use my mouth for coitus astounds me!"

Asia tilted her head in confusion. Then she pinched her own cheeks, shook her head twice and then stared, once more confirming that she wasn't hallucinating.

"Y-you're r-real!"

"Did we not just establish that? Are you unable to comprehend simple information, or is there another reason for this incompetence?"

For whatever odd reason, Asia felt insulted. She didn't let it show, instead she managed an uneasy smile as she tried to understand what exactly was going on.

"Ano…"

"I am beginning to believe you might truly be mentally inept."

"E-eh?"

"I just questioned your intellect. Twice now girl, and yet you sit there and smile like a blithering hyena. Why is that?"

So she was insulting her. Intentionally too it seemed.

"Ano, you just seem… angry, s-so I understand." Asia said, gently clasping her hands together "People say and do mean things when they're angry, but it doesn't mean they aren't good people. They're just having a bad day."

The severed head seemed to stare at her with those white piercing eyes and Asia didn't know why she felt so nervous.

"You girl, you intrigue me. You are the one of the few to have come across me and not run screaming in fear of my tremendous power."

'I don't think that's why they were running though.' Asia thought as she let out another awkwardly forced smile.

She wasn't scared because she had been a member of the Catholic Church, she had seen exorcists exorcise stray devils and other forms of supernatural beasts, or even cast out demonic possessions, and on the list of scary things, the angry talking head of a (possibly) blind woman was not on her top ten.

"In any case girl, hurry up and aid me. My regeneration has slowed to a stiver of what it previously was due to the interference of that accursed liz- dragon. I require food and a place to recuperate, for all I know he may still be hunting me."

"I don't have any money… or any place to stay either…"

"What?" the severed head seem to get angrier "Of course, I finally meet a person who is not afraid of my power, but she seems to be in a sorrier state than I am."

"I'm s-sorry –"

Asia was treated to the feeling of a rather nasty head-butt.

"Ow!"

"Don't apologize! Where is your backbone? Your spine?"

"E-eh?"

"You are kind, which is good. An ideal trait for a woman, an even more ideal trait for a mother."

"A m-m-mother?" Asia felt her cheeks heat up at the praise.

"However, a nimiety of kindness is the same as meekness, and meekness equals weakness. A weak woman is a terrible mother, a terrible mother brings forth terrible children, and terrible children do terrible things."

Asia nodded, slowly, her mind trying to wrap around the idea of what the woman was saying, even if she didn't understand it exactly.

"Now, take me to your greatest healers. The state of this world looks much more advanced than mine, surely you should have healers capable of restoring lost body parts."

"Ano… doctors… can't do that."

"They can't? Then who can?"

"I c-can heal people with my Sacred Gear… Twilight Healing. B-but I've never tried to r-regenerate a b-body before."

"What? You could heal all this while and you are just now informing me?"

"W-well,"

"Just get on with it!"

"H-hai!"

Asia brought forth her hands, a familiar green glow lighting it up as she placed it down on the head, working on the neck, seeing as how it seemed to be a good place to start from.

She didn't know what she was doing, or if she was even doing it right, until she noticed the woman's head began moving.

"Yes… with this, my regeneration can begin."

Then rapidly, from her neck, a circulatory system began to form.

It was one of the creepiest, but most enchanting things the nun had ever seen in her entire life. It was odd, as she watched another circulatory system seemed to form, one in which she had never seen before, and one in which she knew not the purpose.

Regardless, the worked together, and soon, bones began to grow, a full skeleton emerged, and it was rapidly covered over with muscle, tissue, skin and flesh.

The mud seemed to fall of her hair, washed by some unknown force, and similarly, her face cleared of all previous dirt and grime.

Asia felt drained as the entire process was over, but once it was, she found herself staring at one of the most beautifully enchanting being she had ever seen, standing with all the might and exoticness of a woman, all the foreign unparalleled strength and power of a queen, and the matching ephemeral inexplicable quintessence of... a…

Deity.

The naked woman strut forth, her long hair falling around her, as she paid no heed to her bare form, if anything, relishing in her perfectly unmarred beauty.

"You have my gratitude girl, and for that, you shall know my name."

It suddenly occurred to Asia that she was not in the presence of a mere mortal woman.

"I am the Progenitor of Chakra."

The shy nun felt her heart leap to her throat at encountering an aposiopesis of all womankind.

"The Mother of the Sage of Six Paths."

She was in a state of limerence, utterly and completely inveigled by the mellifluous voice and the iridescent body of the being that lay before her.

"I am Kaguya Otutsuki."

Asia stared, enthralled by the woman, and as though proving her power, she opened forth her hand, gesturing towards her, and within it, Asia found a brilliant red apple.

"Your assistance is… greatly appreciated."

As her eyes stared down at what would possibly be the first thing she would eat in days, Asia ignored her wet cheeks and her blurry eyes in favor of kindly accepting the gift.

"Thank you."

Faith was a truly beautiful thing.

It was a beautiful thing indeed.

~~~~~~ The Devil's Dark Knight - Revamped ~~~~~~

A/N: The diversion from canon could not be any clearer from this point on... And yes, I do indeed follow a numerological naming system for the story's chapters - each chapter having a theme corresponding with it's number. Regardless, do tell me what your favorite parts of this chapter was.

R&R!

Ja Ne!