"So, you agreed with my terms." Soma said as he drank some coffee in the Occult Research Club. In front of him was Rias who was trying hard to project strength even when she didn't truly feel it.

"Yes, I already talked with my brother and he gave me permission to lift the seal temporarily so you could meet Gasper. But for, this meeting, my brother's knight would be present as security to ensure you won't do anything to him." Rias said and Soma shrugged.

"Acceptable, but if he tries to be violent against me I will not passively let him attack me. And about me creating extra Bounded Fields in case I judge him as a danger to the rest of the school and city's population." Soma asked and Rias bristled at his words.

"He is not a danger to anyone. He is a kind and innocent boy!"

"I will be the judge of that, quite literally I might say." Soma said before crossing his legs and with a slight sneer that would make Gilgamesh proud, due to the sheer arrogance he was emanating, spoke. "So, when and how exactly do you intend to pay me the money for treatment? Do you want to pay it upfront or would you rather divide it into affordable installments with a 6% added interest monthly for each extra installment you need? Of course, with a penalty in case you can't pay up in time together with extra interests, say half percent of the total remaining value per day? I can work with that."

If anyone slightly knowledgeable about finances was here to advise the Gremory heiress they would be able to tell that this was an outrageous deal that even most loan sharks would feel is a bit much. However, Rias was used to having dozens of millions at her fingertips whenever she needed and being able to get whatever she wanted without worrying about the price tag so she had no real knowledge about finances and what was truly being requested. That, added to her desire for showing her independence, made her not take anyone to help her deal with the negotiations.

In truth, even normal clan heirs would never have accepted a deal like that since the understanding of how deals and transactions works is one of the first things they are taught in devil school for nobility, Babilus, but Rias simply never went to it and instead came to the human world to... let's be frank, she came over to play around and slack off while reading manga and pretending to be what she isn't.

"... I think I can pay in full within the month. It is just a few thousand dollars, after all. Just two or three of my jewels can pay for it, how hard is it to get that much?" Rias said confidently, and it was quite true that she had several accessories that could fetch such a price, not that she could actually sell them since they came from the hands of people related to the supernatural and, as such, were invalid.

"... You would be surprised." Soma said with a deadpan at the thought that obtaining so much money was easy. He then decided to just shrug off the comment anyway. "It is up to you really. If you want to pay in full in one month's time I won't say no as it is not my ass on the line. However, when, not if, WHEN you fail to get me my money we will have another meeting about your debt to renegotiate and there will be some necessary renegotiations and a small punishment for that."

"Humph, you are looking down on me. Who you think I am?" Rias said with false bravado.

"An incompetent girl who is about to hit her head in the floor in dogeza to apologize because she is unable to control a perverted beast that is a living breathing endorsement to abortion." Soma said, he might have agreed to help the pervert due to pragmatism, but he still hated Issei for making Aya sad and damaging the self-confidence she was starting to build.

His answer made Rias freeze at the reminder that she would have to basically grovel at Aya's feet and ask forgiveness to the girl, ask forgiveness for the half a dozen (in her mind) girls who overreacted to Issei's innocent actions (again, it was what she thought), and the worst was that Rias had to calm down and not react to the insult thrown at the poor boy in the hospital bed.

"Honestly, if you weren't Riser's future wife I wouldn't have been anywhere near this lenient with you or your pawn. If you were some other devil I would have either kicked you out for even proposing such a meeting or done worst than you can imagine to you AND that result of breeding between a trash bin and pure concentrated ignorance. You should thank Riser for the help next time you meet him as he is the only reason I even entertained the idea to be civil with you instead of spitting at your face when you came to me for help." Soma said in disgust at the pervert who hurt Aya and at Rias for endorsing his actions and permitting that sex maniac to act in whatever way he wanted.

Even an animal trainer knows better how to train the stupidest of beings.

"Oh, I will let him know exactly how thankful I am towards him next time we met." Rias said in an ominous tone that promised pain and retribution as she was convinced that Riser wanted to make her miserable through Soma. Seeing her expression the disgust in Soma's mind melted away slightly as he just shrugged at her antics.

Let the girl bolster and blister all she wanted, she was still but a child and would be learning the cold harsh reality soon enough anyway. And it was not like Soma HAD to fix her. Fixing her would be her family and husband's duty, Soma was just giving his friend a helping hand to start to slap some sense into her and that was that.

"Anyway, you want to pay in full then?" historical

"Yes, I will obtain this measly amount within this week." Rias said and Soma shook his head.

"... I will pretend I didn't hear this as I only have so many brain cells and I don't want them dying because of sheer stupidity." Soma said, feeling a migraine.

"Heh, I didn't know you were that stupid Soma." Rias quipped, trying to act smart.

Soma felt like shouting due to this, but he held it in and continued speaking as if he didn't hear her

"I will give you until the end of the month, meaning three weeks. I know it will be useless regardless, but even I think it would be too much bullying to actually believe you can get that money in just a week. If it is three weeks and you spend most of it bend over for the right people, I guess it would be possible so you at least have a fighting chance. Not much of a chance, but who knows. I heard that a highschool girl's virginity can be sold by quite a lot, and you might even like it." Soma said with a smirk that made Rias want to slap him for his comments, but she took it in and nodded her head.

"Very well. When do we sign this contract?" Rias asked and Soma shrugged.

"If you want I can write the Geass up right now and you just need to sign it." Soma said and Rias nodded.

"Very well, I do desire to be done with it already." She says and Soma nods, taking out the papirus he had prepared beforehand and the devil blood he had arranged for this.

It was one less stray devil hunting in town , how nice it was that so many strays come to Kuoh compared to other places. Well, they come mostly because everywhere else is much more well guarded and the two 'princesses' of town spend more time in school than in hunting them so it was safer than most other places to these escapees... or it was until Soma took action and let Rintaro hunt down any and all strays found.

Rintaro spent a lot less time in the house now due to this too, which was a nice bonus.

It was soon after that Rias signed the Geass and Soma nodded his head.

"Very well, you have until the end of the week to apologize to all those who your servant preyed upon before you dogeza to Aya in apology. Meanwhile, I want to see the Vampire now if possible." Soma said and Rias quickly agreed.

///---///

Soma's P.O.V.

What. The. FUCK?

Seriously, what the hell is going on here?

I came over to this place thinking there was a Dead Apostle here, a vampire that was pretending to be nice and gentle while just waiting for his chance to start his own zombie apocalypse for shits and giggles. A monstrous enemy that would force me to fight with all my might to suppress and kill it when it inevitably tried to attack me because of their instincts for destruction and consuming the life of others. Especially since it was sealed without any decent food source typical for a vampire and my blood, filled with magic energy, should be especially tempting.

Instead, instead, INSTEAD!

"Why are you dressed like a little girl?" I shout as the damphir squeals in fright and runs to a corner as Rias stands frozen in place while Lucifer's Bishop, Macgregor Mathers, just puts a hand to cover his obvious smirk.

"H-How are you moving?" He(?) squeals before ducking inside a... yep, it is a card box for some reason.

... Give it back. Give me back my image of a dangerous Dead Apostle and the epic fight I would be forced to have with it and would serve as another tale for my future legend.

I want to add to my resume 'vampire slayer', not 'bully to a trap'.

Sighing at my misfortune I shake my head and answer.

"Your time stop is honestly not nearly as strong as it was hyped up to be." I said honestly, and by the startled expression on his face it was likely an unexpected answer. But, truth be told, I wasn't lying or anything. He honestly was not anything all that great, just the simplest application of my own personal time manipulation magecraft was enough to make it where his skill was useless.

Well, considering how rare any form of time manipulation skill is the gear still was useful, but seeing as just being strong enough negates it and anyone with skill in the art could negate it, yeah it is best not to rely on it.

"R-Really?" He asks and I simply nod.

"Yeah, now how about we have a little talk? There were a lot of sacrifices for this meeting to happen, you know, we shouldn't waste this chance." I said with a smile as the little guy seems to tremble even while inside the box.

"S-Sacrifices? Did anyone got hurt because of me again?"

Noting the 'again' spoken I decide to lighten the mood a bit.

"Well, no one got hurt, except for Rias' pride soon enough and her spirit after experiencing real life, so there is that." I said jokingly.

"COUGH." The bishop behind me gave a fake cough which I promptly ignored.

Deciding to make something clear I ask.

"Gasper, would you rather I call you with male or female pronouns? I mean no offense, but you look a bit feminine and are dressed like a girl. I won't judge, either way, it is more for me to not offend or anything, a personal rule of mine so to say." I explain and his head barely leaves the card box (which, again, is a huge letdown for my first actual meeting with a vampire outside the Throne).

"I am a man, I just like dressing like this because I think it is cute."

"You know, there were two reasons I came here to see you." I say and he tilts his head in confusion. I then explain. "My first reason was to see if you are a danger to those around you. I cannot blindly trust a being whose race is known for sucking human's blood for sustenance and enslaving others to serve as either servants, ghouls, or blood banks."

As I explain I see he looked frightened at me saying I came to see him because I thought he was dangerous, but there was no sign he felt offended of my image of what a vampire is like. Interesting.

"Thankfully, I don't believe you are any real threat to the students around at the moment. However, I would still like to put an extra bounded field around this building to make sure no vampire can come inside or leave from it. I would release said bounded field if, in the future, you desire to leave and I don't catch any sign of an attack following your release." I explain, expecting him to object or shriek in terror at the thought of the seal I wanted to put.

Nothing of the sort happened as, instead, he looked at me hopefully.

"Please, put on that seal. I am always afraid someone from there might appear, if this seal can stop them from capturing me all the better." Gasper said in a slightly squeaky voice.

"Interesting, I don't mind though. I will leave the key to open the Bounded Field with Rias for the time you desire to leave, but remember that I will be able to sense when the seal is undone and if there is any attack..." I leave it at that and the little damphir nods fearfully.

It would likely take me a good chunk of time to do this, but it is for security sake so it is worth it.

Letting my words set in I wait for a bit before continuing.

"Gasper, I have another reason why I came to talk to you. I heard from my friend Riser how you have trouble with your sacred gear and as it so happens I am able to remove or trade sacred gears without any big risk."

"Eh? Y-You can do that?!" The little guy shouts as he finally gets out of the box due to sheer surprise and shock... only to crouch down inside it again.

Seriously, give me back my image of a Dead Apostle. I will need to bleach my mind to forget this disappointing sight, much like what I had to do when I was forced to watch Twilight by Aya in the movie night (glitter vegan vampires, what is wrong with this world?).

"Yes, I can." I said with a 'gentle' smile, profit being the main thing flashing in my mind. "I can take it, but you can choose what gear you desire in exchange. I currently have a few options and-"

"Can, can you do me a favor instead then?" Gasper said, making me stop my marketing and look at him. "I don't care about my Sacred Gear or having one, so can you do me a favor in exchange for taking it away?"

"... It depends on what you want." I said plainly and directly. I have no intentions of giving a 'blank check' to someone I don't know. "What I can do for now is simply hear you out and if your request is not outrageous, then I will think about it."

"I want you to save someone." Gasper said with a lot of sadness in his tone. "I want you to save my first friend, Vallerie."

///---///

I listened to his request. He explained to me about it all. I accepted his request. I almost mechanically left the office and went back home. I entered my workshop without speaking with anyone.

I look at the ceiling of my workshop. I take a deep breath.

"FFFFFUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKK!" I yell in utter fury at my predicament.

Seriously, even Zelretch would be hard-pressed to get me in any worse a situation than this.

The vampires have the Sephiroth Graal.

I honestly think that, amongst all my worst-case scenarios, this one was up there with a Beast class being managing to be unleashed into this world and a global war amongst all Pantheons.

Sure, it might not look like it, but it is an absurd concept to even think about.

The Sephiroth Graal is a purely supportive Sacred Gear and one I admit is better than anything I can do as of right now. It has no offensive skill, but it is still beyond dangerous and a bit of an insult to me due to how it can do what I can, but in a much faster and easier fashion without needing the person to have spent so long to learn about it.

It can remove the vampire race's weaknesses. It would mean that we have army generators, able to turn into mist to avoid attacks, with incredible physical prowess, and without any specific weakness and potentially unlimited life force and regenerative ability. Taking down one of the fuckers would be hard, their entire species? That would be damn near impossible unless one goes completely ballistics.

The Graal can heal any injure and modify one's body to be better. It is basically what I did to myself, but while what I did took me a long time for the Graal it might only take less than an hour. Even if my results are better the simple scale of how much the Graal would be able to do cannot be compared. And that is without considering monsters they could have researched or possibly research on creating chimeras or whatever.

Second, the Graal can resurrect the dead and manipulate them to an extent. That is terrifying, but what ig the Vampires were to, I dunno, resurrect the Christian God and make him create all manner of Sacred Gears? Or use the resurrected God to take over Heaven? Or resurrect evil beasts they would use to harm everyone around? Just think something like the Evil Dragons or the original Satans, if they could be brought back...

No this is a horrifying concept.

The Vampires have the keys to start an enslavement campaign against humanity, an apocalypse in the making as far as I can tell. Even if they are stopped by the supernatural factions eventually, who knows how many would die before that. It is an apocalypse just waiting to explode, it is a completely absurd idea to allow for that to continue.

Fuck any news about beasts or evil creatures, I must go and deal with this and make sure to exterminate every single vampire I find with extreme prejudice. They had the Graal in their hands for at least 8 years now, who knows what they could have created by now.

I have taken Gasper's gear after agreeing to his request. I normally would take my time researching it to make sure I fully comprehend it before slowly fusing it into the eyes I am making, but I lack the time to do something like that. Instead, I will simply have to ignore this sacred gear for now and implant what I have right now. It won't be as potent as it might have been, but I don't have the luxury of time to waste in small matters and I need the power boost the mystic eyes I developed bring me.

I have more to do than focus on a small power boost brought by an ability that might be useless if the enemy is strong enough, and with the vampires having the keys to armageddon I won't bank on them being weak.

No, what I need is to make anti-immortality weaponry and perhaps stock up in anti-army weapons as well as prepare ways to bring me my army of golems. It is a shame that the homunculus army is still not fully operational, but that will just have to wait. At least I think one of my pet projects will be done by the time I can leave as I just need a few days before it is done, which should be the time I will need to adapt to my mystic eyes as well as prepare everything else.

What else do I need before going?

... I also need information, lots of it. I can't go in blind with guns blazing, I need as much intel about the enemies as possible.

I pace in my workshop for a bit before I stop, realizing who would know the information I want and likely have an interest in helping me.

Jalter will likely kick me for it, but I have to visit the church to confess to some nuns about the sins I intend to inflict. Pretty sure mass genocide is a sin, after all.

///---///

AN:

So, yeah sorry for the delay. I got stuck a bit and have started a second project I think will be quite nice and kinda lost notion of time there.

But, to be fair, this chapter would have been released Sunday regardless, but the doc got corrupted and I had to remake it fully from scratch based on memories. Any writer can tell, this is utter hell when it happens.

This opens for the next arc, the vampire war. Soma and his team VS the Tepes Faction of vampires, this will be the first great test of Soma's powers and his true entrance to the world stage. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Anyway, if anyone is interested in this new project it would be a Rising of the Shield Hero fic, but instead of the MC being one of the heroes or something like that we start 10 years before CANON with the MC being the new Duke who controls the west coast of Melromark. Reincarnation and transmigration is a CANON thing in Shield Hero, but no matter how I searched for it there was not ONE fic that worked with this concept.

The MC knows CANON, he knows that shit will hit the fan very, very hard, and he doesn't want to trust in the 'reliable' hands of one decent hero and the three dead weights around. The MC also will have three Essences but will not become a Vassal Hero or anything of the sort, this is also not some brave warrior leading from the front and shouldering the hardships of fighting.

This is a kingdom and world building centered fic with the MC trying to create the strongest army to face the waves. I will expand on known concepts, think of new ones, and it will hopefully be interesting and original. Well, more original than most other Shield Hero fics that are so similar it is annoyinge.

Thanks for reading, please comment and follow.