Location: The Gremory Residence (Human World)
Event: An Unexpected Visitor
It was teatime. Asia Argento was happily serving tea to the club members. Raiden was eating a tiered cake meant for ten people by himself.
The doorbell rang. A portal opened in the foyer.
A young man with green hair and a pretentious white suit stepped in. He carried a bouquet of green roses.
"Greetings, Gremory household," Diodora Astaroth smiled, though his eyes were cold and calculating. "I have come to pay my respects to the lovely Asia Argento."
Rias frowned, setting her cup down. "Diodora. We didn't receive notice of your visit."
"I prefer surprises," Diodora walked past Rias, heading straight for Asia. "Asia, my dear. I have come to propose. Be my Bishop. Be my wife. Leave these barbarians and come to a true noble house."
Asia shrank back, trembling. "I... I am happy here, Diodora-san."
"Nonsense," Diodora grabbed her wrist. "You are a Holy Maiden. You belong on a pedestal, not serving tea to low-born trash."
He glanced at Raiden, who was licking frosting off a spoon.
"Especially that one. The Eater. A walking abomination."
Raiden stopped eating. The room temperature dropped ten degrees.
He stood up slowly.
"You have three seconds to let go of her hand," Raiden said, his voice low and vibrating with a growl. "Or I will eat the arm."
Diodora sneered. "You think you can threaten a descendant of Beelzebub?"
Diodora snapped his fingers.
[Sacred Gear: Dimensional Gap (Counterfeit)]
A purple void opened beneath Asia.
"I'm not asking," Diodora laughed. "I'm taking."
"ASIA!" Issei screamed, diving forward.
He was too late. Asia fell into the void. Diodora winked and dropped into it himself.
"Catch me if you can, Glutton."
The portal snapped shut.
Silence filled the room. Then, the windows shattered outward from the sheer pressure of Raiden's aura.
Issei was punching the floor, crying. "I couldn't reach her! Again! I let her get taken again!"
Rias was pale. "Diodora... he has access to Old Satan magic. He could be anywhere in the Underworld."
Raiden walked to the spot where the portal had been. He knelt down and sniffed the floor.
"Rotting flowers," Raiden muttered. "And snake venom."
He stood up. His eyes had changed. The pupils were gone, replaced by swirling black voids.
"Ravel," Raiden spoke into the air.
Ravel (Comms): "I tracked the residual energy signature! It leads to a dimensional pocket near the Astaroth territory. It's a temple dedicated to the Evil Dragons."
"Send the coordinates to Sirzechs. Tell him I'm going for a walk."
"Raiden!" Rias grabbed his arm. "This is an act of war against a Noble House! If you attack without proof—"
Raiden looked at Rias.
"I don't care about your politics, Rias. He stole from my pantry."
He looked at Issei, Kiba, and Koneko.
"Issei. Stop crying. Get your armor. We're going to exterminate a pest."
Issei wiped his tears, his eyes burning with dragon fire. "OSSU!"
Location: The Evil Dragon Temple (Dimensional Pocket)
Diodora stood at the altar. Asia was chained to a cross of corrupted holy energy.
"Don't worry, my love," Diodora stroked Asia's cheek. "Once I fuse your Twilight Healing with the power of Ophis, I will be invincible. I will surpass the Maou!"
"Please..." Asia sobbed. "Raiden-san will come..."
"He won't find us here! This dimension is shielded by—"
CRUNCH.
The ceiling of the temple didn't explode. It was bitten off.
A massive, spectral jaw made of darkness crunched through the stone roof and the magical barriers instantly.
Debris rained down.
Raiden dropped from the hole, landing with a heavy thud that cracked the altar steps.
Issei, Kiba, and Koneko landed behind him.
"Knock knock," Raiden dusted off his coat.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Diodora shrieked. "That barrier was made by the Khaos Brigade!"
"Tasted like drywall," Raiden spat out a chunk of magical masonry. "Issei. The trash is yours. Diodora is mine."
"Right!" Issei roared. [BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!] "Dragon Shot!"
Issei blasted the army of mass-produced Evil Devils rushing them.
Raiden walked up the stairs toward the altar.
Diodora panicked. "Stay back! I am the heir of Beelzebub!"
He channeled his demonic power.
"Demonic Fly Swarm!"
Thousands of magical flies, each capable of eating flesh, swarmed Raiden.
Raiden didn't dodge. He inhaled deeply.
[Gluttony: Insectivore]
The swarm was sucked into Raiden's mouth.
Gulp.
"Needs salt," Raiden commented. "And they're dry."
"Y-You ate my magic?!" Diodora backed away, bumping into the altar.
"You call yourself a Beelzebub?" Raiden continued walking. "Beelzebub is the Lord of Gluttony in the Seven Deadly Sins. But you... you just have a small appetite."
Diodora's face twisted. He pulled out a bottle containing a snake. It was a power boost from the Ouroboros Dragon.
"I WILL KILL YOU!"
He drank the snake.
[Transformation: Astaroth Chaos Mode]
Diodora's body mutated. He grew insect wings and lizard scales. His power skyrocketed to High-Class Devil level.
"DIE!"
Diodora fired a beam of chaotic energy, mixing demonic power and light.
Raiden caught the beam with one hand.
His hand didn't burn. The tattoos on his arm glowed purple.
"You stole power from Ophis," Raiden said, crushing the beam until it shattered like glass. "You stole Asia. You steal everything because you're empty."
Raiden vanished.
He reappeared directly in front of Diodora.
"Let me show you what real hunger looks like."
Raiden grabbed Diodora by the face.
He didn't punch. He initiated a Drain.
[Skill: Gluttony - Essence Strip]
"NO! NOOO! MY POWER! IT'S DRAINING OUT!" Diodora screamed as his mutated form withered. The Ophis power, the Beelzebub lineage magic, it was all being siphoned into Raiden.
"It tastes rotten," Raiden snarled. "Like spoiled ambition."
Raiden ripped his hand away. Diodora fell to the ground, a shriveled, powerless husk. He was alive, but his magic circuits were permanently eaten. He was less than a human now.
Raiden stepped over him and shattered the chains holding Asia.
Asia fell forward. Raiden caught her.
"R-Raiden-san..." Asia cried, burying her face in his chest. "I was so scared..."
"It's over," Raiden patted her head awkwardly. "I'm hungry. Let's go home."
Issei finished beating up the last minion. He ran up.
"Asia! Are you okay?!"
"I am fine, Issei-san. Raiden-san... he ate the bad man's magic."
Diodora wheezed on the floor. "My... my father... Shalba... will kill you..."
Raiden turned back.
He leaned down close to Diodora's ear.
"Tell Shalba," Raiden whispered, his voice sounding like grinding bones. "That if he sends another fly, I'll eat the whole hive."
Raiden kicked Diodora down the stairs.
Location: Dimensional Gap
Shalba Beelzebub, the leader of the Old Satan Faction, watched the feed cut out.
"Diodora failed," Shalba said, unconcerned. "He was a useful idiot."
Beside him stood Creuserey (who was thought dead, but had merely been a clone earlier).
"That human," Shalba pointed at Raiden's image. "He possesses the [King of Gluttony]. It is a power that rivals the Longinus. He is eating our heritage."
"What do we do?"
Shalba grinned.
"We proceed with the plan. If he likes to eat... let's see if he can digest the Juggernaut Drive. We will force the Red Dragon Emperor to go berserk. Raiden will have to choose: kill his student, or be eaten by him."
Location: Gremory Household
Time: Evening
Asia was resting in bed. The crisis was averted.
Raiden was in the kitchen, making a sandwich.
Rossweisse walked in, looking pale. She was holding a piece of paper.
"Raiden-sama..."
"What?"
"The Astaroth family... they sent a bill for the destruction of their 'Historical Temple'."
Raiden took a bite of his sandwich. "How much?"
"Two billion yen."
Raiden paused.
"Send it to Sirzechs. Tell him it was a 'training exercise' for his sister."
"I CAN'T DO THAT!" Rossweisse cried. "Sirzechs-sama will dock my pay!"
Runeas Gremory walked in, looking amused. She took the bill from Rossweisse and burned it with a small flame.
"Don't worry, Valkyrie," Runeas smiled. "Diodora was acting illegally. The Astaroth family will disown him to save face. There is no bill."
Runeas wrapped her arms around Raiden's neck from behind.
"You were brutal today. I liked it."
"He touched the healer," Raiden said simply. "Nobody touches the white mage."
Runeas kissed his cheek.
"The Old Satan Faction is moving. Shalba Beelzebub is the real threat. He isn't a weakling like Diodora."
"Let him come," Raiden opened the fridge again. "I'm still not full."