The Rising of the Hero King

Haruto and Rias along with their peerage members were all teleported to Kuoh Academy, more precisely at the front gate of the school.

Haruto looked at the Gremory heiress and her peerages. But when his eyes fell on her queen, he made a slightly confused face because he still wasn't able to figure out why Akeno was acting weird. His thoughts were interrupted by Rias, "Thank you again, Haruto-kun." Rias said bashfully as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

Haruto smiled which didn't reach his eyes, "Anytime."

Seeing Rias wanting to add more, he quickly intervened, "We had a long day. I think it is better if we get some rest."

Rias smiled back, though she was a bit disheartened which was clearly showing on her face, and replied, "You're right, so see you all tomorrow at school?"

Haruto nodded and motioned to his peerage members. All of them bowed silently at Rias and her peerage members except for Asia. She looked from side to side in surprise and then quickly bowed down, earning a small chuckle from everyone around her. After their farewell was done, Haruto snapped his fingers to activate his teleportation circle below him and his peerage members, which was directly linked to his dining room. But the moment they all arrived at Haruto's place, everyone felt another presence there. Haruto immediately put his arm up before everyone else could ready themselves for combat. He looked at all of them and slowly nodded his head indicating that it was alright. He then turned to Asia, who was the only one with no clue what was going on, and gave a wide smile, "Why don't you all take Asia out for dinner? I am pretty sure she deserved that after her extraordinary performance in her first battle. And she does need to get to know all of you better."

Haku, Gaara, and Ken looked at each other and then at Asia, who looked back at them confusedly. Shaking his head, Haku came and gently asked Asia, "So. What do you say?"

Asia looked at Haruto, "Aren't you coming, Haruto-niisama?"

"He has some business he needs to attend." Sakura spoke for her lover, "And don't worry," Seeing the worried face of Asia, she elaborated, "I will be with him as well."

Haruto raised an eyebrow at that, but he knew there was no point in arguing.

All of his members except Sakura left the house, through teleportation magic. And when Haruto felt that their presence was nowhere near, he went to his studies room, Sakura following closely behind.

Haruto entered first and then Sakura. She saw the man sitting comfortably on the chair. The man looked ordinary and extraordinary at the same time. He had heterochromia; his left eye was blue, while the right was red, even his hair matched his unique eye. But everything clicked for Sakura when she saw the ring on his hand.

Sakura gasped because the one who was in front of her was,

"Long time no see, Lord Mephisto." Haruto bowed slightly as he went and sat down on the chair directly opposite of him.

"Five years isn't long for someone like me, Haruto." Mephisto chuckled lightly.

Getting out of her stupor, Sakura went and stood behind Haruto but was surprised when Haruto patted the arm of the chair, directly indicating her to sit there. Slowly she came forward and sat there, and the moment she did that, Haruto rested one of his arms on her lap.

She was a bit confused when she saw the warm smile on Mephisto's face after what Haruto did.

"So I am guessing you started recovering?"

"I am sure you are not here for that."

"You know that I will not move onto the main topic unless you answer."

Haruto couldn't help but chuckle. He leaned toward Sakura and took a good whiff of her beautiful hair, "I have a lover, a sister, a teacher and best friends that will die for me. That's the most you are getting out of me for now, Lord Mephisto."

"Still as distant as ever, Haruto. Even though we have known each other for so long."

The smile on Haruto's face disappeared, "You and my grandfather knew each other well, not me. And I told you, I have trust issues. It is not hard to believe after all the shits I went through in the past, now is it?"

Closing his eyes, Mephisto replied sadly, "The fate that befell upon your family was truly tragic, I …"

"Like I said Lord Mephisto, I know you are not here for that. So please let's not talk about the past when you clearly want to talk about the present." Haruto cut in sharply. Sakura immediately started to brush his hair with one hand. Haruto took a long breath and leaned slightly toward Sakura again, his eyes not moving away from Mephisto.

Mephisto's facial features softened, his eyes were now dancing with amusement as he looked at Haruto, "You really are one of a kind, Young Belial. Yes, I am here for the rating match but,"

The smirk on Mephisto's face made Haruto uncomfortable, "I am not here to know about your evil pieces if that's what you think. What I want to know, is about Regalia."

Time seemed to freeze for both Haruto and Sakura; but Haruto quickly recovered, "How do you know about this?" One thing Haruto knew from all the interactions he had with Mephisto that there was no point in telling lies in front of this man, no matter how good of a liar one could be.

"Your grandfather told me," seeing the surprised look of Haruto's turning into an angry one, Mephisto continued gently, "Before I tell you why he informed me about that, there is something you should know, Haruto."

Mephisto waited till Haruto visibly calmed down, once again by the help of his lover. When he nodded, the old devil continued, "He knew that something was wrong at that time and that there was a high possibility that he might die. And he trusted me with you, in case something happened. And for that purpose, he told me a few things about you."

Haruto closed his eyes, and smiled sadly, "It does sound like him. But my question is why you?"

"That's a story for another time." Mephisto chuckled.

Haruto opened his eyes and gave Mephisto a blank stare. But seeing that the old man wouldn't budge, he then threw another question at him, "Then why didn't you look after me like he said?"

"When we last met, I saw a boy who could change the world, for better or for worse. So I didn't want to influence him in any way or shape." Mephisto replied back.

"I was only thirteen years old."

"Are you complaining?"

Haruto laughed at the question, "No, no I am not."

When Haruto felt Sakura's discomfort, he tightened his hold on her slightly to reassure her. Before in any important talks similar to this, most of the time he would bring Sakura but he would never act like this around her. The reason for him doing now was to make her understand that he wanted her to be by his side, as an equal.

After that confrontation a week ago, he truly opened his heart for his pawn, which was long overdue according to him. Even though he wanted to take their relationship slowly, one step at a time, he couldn't. It was as if all the restrictions had been lifted off. His previous self started to resurface just for her and along with his new persona, he was being too possessive and demanding of her. And the fact that she liked it, made it harder for him to control his emotions. But instead of telling her outright about his feelings, his stubborn self wanted to do it in a way that she would never forget in her life.

Haruto looked at Mephisto and grinned, "I do not mind telling you about 'Regalia' but I am not going to do it for free. It doesn't matter if you were my grandfather's best friend or he told you to, I need something of an equal level of significance." Haruto's grin widened as he looked at the ancient devil challengingly, "After all, it is one of the sources of my pride. I can't tell you about it for free, now can I?"

Mephisto looked at Haruto for some time before he started to laugh again.

"You truly are one of a kind." He said between his laughter. He continued when his laughter died down, "I knew something like this might happen, so here."

Mephisto took out a book, out of nowhere, and threw it to Haruto. Seeing his confused face, he elaborated, "That book holds all the information regarding the devil world from the past to the present and of all the clans, from those who perished and those who thrived, as well as many kinds of individual that holds any kind of importance, whether he is dead or he lost his worth. Everything that you need to know about the devil world is right in that book."

Haruto looked at the book curiously. It looked like an ancient book but it was too thin to contain all the information Mephisto was pointing out about. Haruto chuckled at the aged devil, "The princess of Gremory is quite smitten by me. And also I made quite the impression in that rating game, I can get this kind of information quite easily."

Mephisto finally showed a different emotion other than being jolly or indifferent. His eyes sharpened and his face went blank, "I am a devil of pride Haruto, just like you. And I take pride in the information that I possess, some of them are impossible to get hold of. And the fact that you are comparing my eons of hard-earned knowledge to that of a seventeen years old new-born devil, is quite … degrading."

Haruto couldn't help but smile wryly. He felt Sakura tensing up again. He squeezed her reassuringly and then bowed his head, as much as he could from his position, and apologized, "I sincerely apologize for my blunder, Lord Mephisto. I spoke out of line."

Closing his eyes, Mephisto sighed, "As long as you understand."

Haruto raised his head and looked at Mephisto critically, "Thank you. But if what you say is correct then you are giving me the linchpin of the whole underworld. Why are you trusting me with this kind of information?"

Mephisto chuckled, "You are thinking too highly of yourself, Haruto. You alone cannot take down an entire faction."

For a second, Haruto's eyes had a dangerous glint but it was gone as soon as it came, but he was sure Mephisto caught it. Giving the book the Sakura, he looked at the ceiling, "You should know that knowledge can be as deadly as raw power, in lots of wars it was the knowledge that decided the battle, not the strength. But you are right," Haruto then looked at Mephisto with a smirk, "What can a mere devil do?"

The stare-down between them continued before Haruto smiling and speaking up, "I will gladly accept this gift. I will tell you about 'Regalia' but do keep in mind that I cannot tell everything though I will try to as much as I can."

"Fair enough."

"I will go straight to the point, 'Regalia' can be considered as the second generation 'Longinus'."

There was a pin drop silence after those words were spoken.

Then just for a split of a second Sakura was able to feel Mephisto's true power. If she was any less experienced, she would have shuddered visibly. It was the first time since she saw an angry expression on the ancient devil.

Mephisto said in a low but powerful voice, "The only one who can make Longinus is the Biblical God. Haruto, are you comparing yourself to a god now?"

The tension in the room was rising, and it was rising fast. But it was swiftly cut down by Haruto, "I do consider myself as a very strong individual but make no mistake Lord Mephisto, I do not compare myself to any kinds of gods or godly beings."

Haruto relaxed on his chair before continuing, "You have to understand Lord Mephisto that my 'Sacred Gear' is the only one that had evolved from a first tier 'Sacred Gear' to a genuine 'Longinus'. I mean according to the official records and to my knowledge that is. I have witnessed firsthand the birth and the outline of a 'Longinus'. And let's not forget the fact that I worked alongside quite a lot of original Longinus-wielders. This knowledge along with the 'core skill' of my Longinus I was able to … more like I got close to breaking 'The Origin' of Longinus."

"Yet you didn't deny the fact you consider these 'Regalia' of yours are as strong as Longinus."

Haruto didn't answer immediately as he was deep in his thoughts, an internal conflict within himself of how much he should let out. He took some time to decide before answering, "I believe this will stay between us."

"I don't usually exchange information but if I do, I give the information that I learned through my observation or by my own experience. I have lots of secrets of others that I hold, and in no circumstances, I have ever exposed them in any way. So you can rest assured that this conversation will stay here. And I expect you to do the same with the information I have given to you." Mephisto replied.

"I will take your word on that." Then Haruto looked at Sakura and smiled, "As for the information you have given me, the only people who will know the full content will be me and Sakura. As for the rest of my peerages, I will only tell them what they need to know, nothing more and nothing less."

"Fine by me, so where were we?"

Taking a deep breath, Haruto continued from where they left, "Let me approach this in a different way. You know how 'Boosted Gear' and 'Divine Dividing' were created. After the fall of the two heavenly dragons, Biblical god used their souls, separately, to create two Longinus."

"So?"

Haruto chuckled, it was always fun to see how everyone would disregard these small details, "If you take out the complicated procedures like 'Sacred Gear System' and 'Reincarnation Method', things become quite simple. The Biblical god used two objects that symbolize the two heavenly dragon's power respectively and then sealed their souls into those objects. The humans that wielded the two Longinus, used the power of the heavenly dragons through those objects. You get where I am going with this?"

The anger turned into amusement as Mephisto's eyes were now full of curiosity, "It does sound quite simple but not all of the Longinus follow this simple method, now do they?"

Haruto chuckled, "No, they do not. The top tier and the Holy Longinus use a very complicated system. It will take years before I can understand even one fraction of how they work."

"I see, but the main question still remains, does it not? How can you say the 'Regalia' you make is as strong as real Longinus?" Mephisto asked challengingly.

Haruto tried to keep his smile down but couldn't because he knew full well what Mephisto was doing, but he still answered, "I choose a strong entity and then make a contract with him. After that using my Longinus I make a weapon that symbolizes an important aspect of that being. Then I gave the pseudo Longinus to someone who has the most compatibility with it."

Mephisto grinned, "Why do I get a feeling that it is not that simple as you're making it sound like."

"It is not, but that's the best you are getting out of me." Haruto mimicked Mephisto's smile, "So, is that enough?"

"I gave you the full overview of the underworld, the original and pure knowledge not the one scripted by the victor. I think I can get to ask few more questions." Mephisto argued back.

"Damn this old geezer." Haruto grumbled, but he knew he was beaten, "Fine ask away."

Mephisto chuckled and shook his head, "Why not I make this the last question? But please answer me properly. Can you tell me everything about one Regalia?"

Haruto chuckled, he knew this was coming sooner or later, "Sure, why not? Let me tell you about my Knight's Regalia. Ever heard of the legendary tanuki, Shukaku?"

"Yes, the legendary Dai-youkai, who was defeated by the first leader of the Youkai faction. He was sealed afterward for reasons unknown." Mephisto replied.

"Yes, you are right. Although we learned why he was sealed, I am sincerely sorry about this but I don't have the permission to tell you. The thing is, we found the place where he was sealed and made a contract with him. I won't go into details of what the contract entailed but I gave him an offer that he simply couldn't refuse. After creating a proper and sacred weapon that symbolizes his power, I sealed him in there and then gave it to my knight who earned the respect of the dai-youkai."

"Why do you make everything sound so simple yet I have the feeling that it is anything but that." Haruto laughed openly hearing his words.

"Like I said, everything sounds simple if you take away a few small details. And for my information, I told you everything that I am allowed to tell." Haruto grinned. Seeing Mephisto sighing, he continued, "So my knight got the Regalia which is known as 'The Incarnation of Earth'. It gave him the ability to control and manipulate earth freely as well as it gave him a huge power boost."

"I failed to see how it can be compared to a Longinus." Mephisto looked critically at Haruto after asking.

"My knight can manipulate earth to a degree where he can freely control most of the minerals the land can provide him with. And on the next level, he can manipulate the gravity itself." Haruto answered back honestly.

"I see. So that was why he was able to use sand against Riser's queen."

"He can use more than just sand. But for some reason he likes to use sand the most, don't know why." Haruto shrugged.

Mephisto nodded absentmindedly. There were so many things he had learned, and he needed to analyze this new information. Then he looked at the clock as an excuse, "I think I have stayed long enough."

"I don't mind if you stay longer," Haruto replied back politely, although he knew the real reason.

"Glad to hear that but I should be going now. But before that, there is something that I want to tell you." Mephisto said in a serious manner which alarmed Haruto.

"That would be?"

"Regarding the book about the underworld, finish it as soon as you can. Because trust me, you are going to need it sooner than you think."