I don't own anything.

It was not an uncommon sight anymore, to see it looming above everyone on the battlefield.

The entire world seemed to warp around it. Shadows contorted to wrap around it's form from where it was suspended above everyone. Any light that was around it seemed to be devoured as the temperature instantly felt below freezing, despite this being The Underworld.

"Not again..." The soldiers knew far too well who it was. This creature was the embodiment of destruction, of total annihilation.

Of death.

Some of the warriors tried to flee, to take their chances trying to outrun it. They were the first to die. Others, in a sudden bout of foolish courage, would try to attack it head on. They were also dispatched of in the blink of an eye.

Many, however, just gave up and waited for their inevitable death. And it would be given to them.

This creature left a trail of complete and utter devastation wherever it went. Thousands of soldiers would attack it, and they would all be cut down with ease. Any who saw it on the battlefield very rarely lived to tell the tale.

It's reason for doing this was unknown. All that was known is that it would show up every once in a while and kill. Angel, Fallen, Devil, Youkai, Humans, even Dragons, it didn't matter, it didn't care. No matter how strong, how weak, they'd be swiftly put down all the same.

It would come across a battle of the Great War...

And then just minutes later, there would be no battle. Just like that. Barely anything left to see that there was a battle in the first place.

Then it would disappear, and resurface at another battle.

Over and over again. With seemingly no end to it's crusade.

And the process would repeat itself somewhere else with more poor souls unfortunate enough to cross paths with it.

Soon enough, there was only one warrior left at this specific battle. A devil. Blonde, with fear in his eyes as the man hidden in shadows slowly approached it.

Whether it be out of desperation, or hope, or stupidity, or a combination of all three, the devil decided to make a final stand. He gathered flame in his hands.

And, to his horror, when he hurled it at his opponent, the flames disappeared. As if the shadows around it were a black hole.

Faster than the devils eyes could follow, it moved. In the blink of an eye, there was a pitch black claw around the devils throat.

Being this close to the creature was like looking into the void.

Infinite, empty, and absolute.

Another claw, just as dark and just as absolutely terrifying moved agonizingly slow in front of the devils face. Something bright flashed in front of the devils eyes.

Then, there was only darkness.

Issei Hyoudou sat at his desk, looking at the brochure for the new school his parents had signed him up for.

Kuoh Academy

The most prestigious school in the town. And the most expensive.

How his parents could afford this, Issei had no idea. Whenever asked, they had told him not to worry about it, that they could afford it, and it was worth it for him.

It's not like they had much of a choice, though. Issei was never really able to make friends. Thus, he ended up moving schools a lot. Sure, he knew they were starting to run out of schools, but he didn't think they'd send him to this place.

The teen couldn't figure out why they even chose this one. Now that he thought about it, his parents were acting odd, almost dazed, when they told him he would be transferring.

"Issei?"

The teen turned his head to look at the doorway, where his mother now stood.

"Excited for your new school?" Mrs. Hyoudou was a woman of average height, she had brown eyes and hair, much like her son.

Issei nodded his head, his attention not leaving the brochure in front of him.

Mrs. Hyoudou had a sad smile on her face. "I'm sure this one will be better."

She shut the door.

It wasn't.

Once again, Issei watched all of his classmates look anywhere but at him while he introduced himself. His teacher made more of an effort, at least looking in his general direction, but never meeting his eyes.

The teacher directed him to a seat in the back of the class, as far away from him as possible, and Issei obliged, burying his head in his arms, though not before seeing everyone in a desk around him try to inch away from him the best they could

Nobody acknowledged him for the rest of the day, other than very brief looks out of the corner of their eyes.

When the bell finally rang, Issei was one of the first ones to leave the school grounds.

He was unaware of the crimson haired girl watching him from a window.

Issei made the long trip home by himself.

As expected, he received a plethora of dirty looks from people he passed. Kids stopped laughing and instead adopted looks of fear, some older ones even had looks of hatred.

Issei kept his eyes forward, this had been going on for too long for him to show any hurt from it.

It had been like that since he was a young child. After his first and last friend, Irina, had left, he was unable to make any other friends. Everyone just started avoiding him.

After all the money his parents sunk into this school, it would be the same thing all over again. Silently, Issei promised to himself that he would stay at this school. That no matter what, he wouldn't transfer again, for nothing else than to make his parents financial investment worth it.

The sun was still relatively high in the sky, but all he felt was cold. Absentmindedly, he wondered if that's what people felt all the time around him.

Lost in his own thoughts, he almost didn't hear the voice behind him.

"You're Issei Hyoudou, right?... Would you go out with me?"

"Could you do something for me, Issei?"

"S-Sure! What is it?"

"Will you die for me?"

"So you're the kid Raynare killed. You're still alive? How annoying. No worries, I'll put you out of your misery..."

BEEP BEEP BEEP… BEEP BEEP BEEP

Issei's eyes flew open. His hand slammed down on his alarm clock.

"Another weird dream… What is it with-"

"It wasn't a dream." A voice to his left said. Issei jumped out of his bed and his head jerked over to the noise.

The first thing he noticed was her hair. An unbelievably vibrant shade of red, it perfectly framed her face. The second thing he noticed was her eyes. Calculating blue-green orbs looked at (scrutinized) him from where she leaned against his desk, sipping what looked like tea.

The third? Her chest, swaying with every small movement she took.

Issei was too stunned to talk. She carried on. "Yep. Everything that happened to you these last few days were real. All of it."

"W-who…"

"As you may or may not know, my name is Rias Gremory. What you don't know is, I am a devil. And your master." There was a small smirk on a perfect pale face. "Nice to meet you, Issei Hyoudou."

"A D-devil? Wha-"

"Yes, a devil. I'll answer all your questions soon. After school, someone will fetch you. Wait for them, okay?" At his small nod, she continued. "I must be going now. I believe your mother is currently coming up the stairs to wake you." She began to glow a faint red.

"H-how…?" In his panic at the implications of what she said, he failed to register that she was glowing. Issei's head whipped around towards the door, and then around his room.

"You need to-" When he turned around, Rias Gremory had vanished.

A moment later, Mrs. Hyoudou knocked on the door.

Like every other day at this school, Issei was avoided at all costs. He stared out the window by his seat, barely paying attention to the lessons. Due to being ignored by teacher and students alike, he was left to his own thoughts nearly all day, all of them about what's transpired the last two days.

Mainly, how he was stabbed and killed twice.

Once, when the only person outside of his parents who's been kind to him in years suddenly grew wings and threw a bright spear at him. He had believed at the time that it was a dream, especially when his parents said they had no recollection of her. The second was when another person with wings called him a stray (whatever the hell that was) and killed the next day.

Except this time, he woke up to the hottest girl in the entire school, which normally would to be great, except she said she was a devil and his master, which wasn't so great.

He had so many questions.

How were devils real? Why is one of them his 'master'? How is she his master? What did that even entail? What were those winged creatures that killed him? What is a Sacred Gear? Wh-

"Issei Hyoudou?" A voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

Issei's, and everyone else's, heads turned to the blonde teenager in the doorway.

"Kiba!" A handful of the girls squealed, accompanied with groans from the males in the classroom, particularly by two boys sitting in front of Issei.

"Will you come with me?" Kiba asked him with clearly faked politeness.

This is the guy sent to fetch me?

Issei got out of his seat without a word.

He heard someone whisper "What does Kiba want with him?" as he walked out.

Once Issei and Kiba reached the Clubroom, the blonde left, mumbling something about "The President" before leaving him.

Surveying the room, Issei's head turned just in time to see a small, white haired girl shudder on the couch. She ignored him.

The all too familiar pain welled up inside of him.

He wanted to flee; to leave this place and go home and stay there for the rest of his life. He-

"You're the new guy, huh?" He turned and saw a beautiful girl with black hair, one that initiated the conversation with him no less. His delight was short lived when he saw she had the same look on her face that Kiba did.

"I'm Akeno Himejima, it's very nice to meet you."

Issei gave his name and greeting, though considerably less forced than her own.

"Well, I better go prepare some tea."

Issei found himself sitting across from Kiba and the white haired girl, the blonde had said her name was Koneko, with Akeno serving tea to everyone. She served Issei last and hurried back into what he guessed was a kitchen area with the tray, reappearing a moment later and moving to stand behind Kiba and Koneko.

Rias Gremory leaned against her large wooden desk to the right of the couches.

"Now," she began, trying and failing to ignore the chills that ran down her spine because of him. "It is time we formally welcome you to the Occult Research Club" There was a smile on her face, but it failed to seem genuine.

"Though you should know, the club is just a front for what we really do."

"What?"

She smirked. "I'm not the only devil here, Issei. Everyone in this room is. Including you." To emphasize this point, her wings bursted out of her back. Everyone else did the same.

Once Issei's shock had subsided, Rias continued. "The winged man and the girl that killed you a few days ago were something else, Fallen Angels. They, along with Devils, make up two of the Three Great Factions, with Angels being the third one..." Even as she started her deeper explanation of the Three Factions, their current relationship, and other things relating to the supernatural world, Rias could tell Issei was completely dumbfounded. She sighed, he would have to catch up as they go.

Besides, there are much more pressing matters at hand anyway. Like his Sacred Gear.

"There is something I need you to do for me, Issei."

The chapters will be longer going forward. The first part will make a lot more sense (hopefully) soon.