"Sekiryuutei...you have a really cute face. To be honest - I like it."

".... you do know I'm in my early twenties, right?"

"Sekiryuutei, I am attracted to males from their teens to their twenties."

"Oh.... we got a pedophile."

A week Earlier

"Mimir, who's that handsome young man right there?" Ethan points directly at the handsome man who sat on a throne

"That, my boy, is Crom Cruach... strongest evil dragons that is said to be matched with the two heavenly dragons. He may be an evil dragon but his personality is to be calm and quiet as he usually leans on nearby walls when on standby. He also appears to put his objectives first as, despite his love for battles, he was willing to leave after ten minutes when he was only told to hold off his enemies. He also seems to have a much greater amount of self-control. The lad is a battle maniac, prefers to fight alone and will mercilessly kill anyone who dare tries to intervene with him so it's best to watch from afar when the dragon is fighting." Mimir went to work by using Crom as a reference to draw "gotta say, this is the first time i ever came across 'im, maybe the best idea will to draw him down."

"Human..... you have a threatening aura." Crom Cruach jolted his back, senses a human that might be on par with him "explain, what the hell are you?"

"Ethan Elms, Humanity's Strongest Human/Hunter, and a side character." Ethan replied in full confidence

In his human form, Crom Cruach has the appearance of a tall handsome man wearing a black coat with a long mixture of black and blond hairs as well as heterochromatic eyes where his right eye is gold and his left eye is black and he has pointed ears.

"We both have heterochromia eyes, mine's hazel and blue. Left being blue and right being hazel. Twinsies!" Ethan points out the obvious ".... alright, that joke meant harm to you."

The boy had crossed a line to piss off Crom Cruach, but luckily Cruach has a long history of being patient towards his enemies for a limited amount of time before it's 'off to heaven with you' for them. There's ways to pull himself back behind that line but the outcome might be drastically reduced of their survival escaping Crom Cruach but the payoff will be worth it if Ethan uses his brain.

"Oh, lord of evil dragons, to what may we offer to become a pleasantry to your eyes?" Ethan kneels, speaking formally to the dragon "might be treasure? Food? Plain water brought from the human realm? Name your price, oh sacred evil dragon of all generation, and it shall be done."

".... lift up your head, human." Crom ordered

Following instructions, Ethan carefully read his opponents voice to see if any hostile intentions are behind any plans Crom had demanded, luckily there is nothing. Good, said Ethan in his head

"The humans history came from lowest end then bring themselves to a modern era, full of stars, cultures, and more humans than ever before. It is not the rich I seek, it is not the foods I seek, it is not the water I seek, what pleases me the most during my burst of anger... is singing. You, human... will you help me calm my urges?" Is Crom's wish

"Bloody hell, Strongest Evil Dragon demands a concert. Lad, give him your taste of heavenly voice. Crom Cruach might be an important ally to you in the near future." Mimir said

Ally? I wouldn't be considered an ally furthermore if he continues to grow ~(Crom)

"......fffuuuuu....... Sui~cide, baby~, it's the wor~st..... Think about the people that you'll hu~rt..... They won't even care about the things I'll choose to do, because all I am is all that I've been throu~~gh...... My skin is very young~, but my heart is very o~ld, my mind thinks lips and tongue, But my bones decide my home, my fears ran through my lu~ngs, And my eyes only saw gold... My room's where my throat hu~ng.... And my fingers turned purple~......... It's not worth it, baby~, I would know~......"

"Bwaahhh... one of my cherished treasures to be exact... at ease. Thank you, human." Crom simply bends his upper body 90°

"No, no! There's no reason to bow towards a human such as me! I simply traveled to the realm of Muspelheim in search of a dragon to kill - no offense on you perhaps!" Ethan still kept up with his antics "have you similarly came upon a gigantic claw mark before?"

".... I have. I've been in search of that dragon for quite a while... it appeared 8 months back and since then, it keeps escaping my range. Alone it'll be hard to track it down, but the help of a human like yours, my reign of searching will come to an end. Human, care to lend this creature a hand?" Crom Cruach, who's said to be stronger and on par with the Heavenly dragons, is in need of help catching a rebellious dragon

Jolly... what kind of human engaged peacefully with Crom Cruach?! Ohohoho~! Ethan Elms, might as well say: a light of hope for the humans! If this continues, humanity will receive protection for endless years ~(Mimir)

"Dragon hunting? Perfect." Ethan replied

_______

Think about it, for once in your life you gotten your dream job of working for one of the biggest companies out in the world which pays pretty handy to its workers, treats them well as human beings, throw parties like there ain't to tomorrow. This lucky fellow celebrated this day by drinking with his buddies, while assuring that nothing bad'll happen today. Besides, his mother gave him her lucky bandana... he can thank her for that. The man cannot go once without telling his buddies that he was hired.

"Fuck's sake. You done? I wanna drink while eating these nachos." Said his friend

"No! I'll repeat the phrase until you'll heart it every single time of the day!" He said, gulping down his beer "Ryan!"

"Oh shit, no! Don't!"

At the bar/restaurant, a football game is being broadcasted through the TV most of the customers can relax and lay back to watch their favorite teams compete with the opposing. Frankly, it came to 17 - 15 at a match, the fans were supporting to win this match or else they'll go bonkers and invade the field if everyone goes back disappointed that tickets well spent are wasted at a loss. It's close, super close! One final touchdown with the clock at 7 seconds left! Will they make it? Will they?!

"C'mon! C'mon!!" The newly employed man cheered for his team, savoring this bit as a core memory "C'mon!!"

Then.... lightbulbs suddenly exploded, causing a chain reaction to the city, including the football stadium. What kind of electricity current happened for the entire city to blackout? Whatever kids are involved at stupid times doing already? Cases such as this aren't too common but kids doing stupid shit are, so the blame were immediately put on them. It came from the sky. Everyone shot up from their seats and quickly stood next to the window. He spat out a gasp. Ryan discovered the same thing and his eyes visibly quaked. Just how could a thing like that appear in the middle of the sky?! They all stared at the massive... portal floating up high in the sky and muttered loudly....

"The hell is that?"

"Am I seeing things?"

"Jesus.... I gotta quit drinking."

A fellow agreed to that and dumped his liquor at the side. The massive size of the portal covering the heavens above the city of Salt Lake became terrifying that a strange anomaly came without any notice satellites couldn't pick up. And as a heavy, powerful silence descended on everyone in the room, the gigantic Gate that suddenly manifested itself in the sky continued to gently ripple about, as if to swallow everything that was down below. Right below the airborne Gate. The residents of the city formed a literal sea of people below it, knowing that there was no danger of a portal. They raised their smartphones and busily snapped shots of the portal dyeing the heavens black. It was the first.... thing to form in the middle of the sky. And its gigantic size was unprecedented, too. Although no one knew what would come out from there and should all be terrified as a result, people still couldn't rein in their curiosity. There were quite a few members of foreign press mixed among the crowd. Their cameras were working at full capacity to capture the scenes of this packed gathering of people.

[Yes, I'm currently standing right below the giant hole that has
covered the entirety of Salt Lake city's skies, and...]

[The strange blackhole you see before you is the biggest
one ever recorded since began appearing...]

[As you can see behind me, the crowd spectating on the
black hole itself are carrying bright expressions, but...]

[....This is Nick Powell from BBN News.]

Reporters from various nations carried serious, even grave, expressions and spoke their mother tongue towards the camera lenses. Japanese people had been interested in the ongoings of America for a while now, so a certain TV station even scheduled a special program to report extensively on the 'blackhole above Salt Lake city's sky'. Rias and her peerage turned to the news about this portal appearing in american soil, dumbfounded that something so strange is happening over there and not at her country. Devils, Fallen Angels, Angels, gods, Hero faction, Saiorag, and many other situations she's been put through as a test.

[Doctor, you have been researching the black holes
for a very long time, am I correct?]

[You're correct.]

[In that case, can you tell us your opinion on what would be the
smartest response we can come up with in this situation?]

Not just the audience members present, but even all the viewers at home watching their TV sets, leaned forward to pay closer attention to the good scientist's next words. Unfortunately for them, what he said was something everyone could say, too...

[We can only pray.]

He shifted his gaze over to the audience members and continued on....

[We can only pray that this unprecedented
event doesn't end in tragedy.]

Even as the expressions of the audience members became graver, is this the end of humanity? Where is Ethan when Earth needs him the most? The scientist carried on with his explanation...

[However, there is this one thing. One piece of news that can't be considered bad.] Doctor Illstrum's words, coming in just before the broadcast was about to end, managed to change the emcee's expression. Hoping to brighten the sorrowful, gloomy mood of the studio even by a little bit, the emcee quickly asked the scientist with an expectant face

[What could that news be, doctor?]

[It's rather fortunate that the location

Did this doctor hold some sort of personal grudge against America or something? Doctor Illstrum's shocking declaration left the audience members in noisy confusion. The expression of the Chief Producer of this program hardened in an instant, fearful that one wrong move now and he might end up with a broadcasting accident big enough to cause a serious diplomatic incident.

[It is strange that the occurring black hole is not sucking the city pieces by pieces,
so it's not safe to say that we should consider this an empty threat...
be wary for the future of the city. Evacuate the citizens,
have the armies from different parts of the world block off the city,
and us scientist will determine what lies inside...]

[And how long will that take, doctor?]

[Could be weeks, months, possibly years.]

Issei's sacred gear is somehow responding to the portal, releasing an aching pain as Ddraig is caught in a trance. Rias won't be able to handle this alone despite Issei unlocking Scale form alongside with her peerage gaining more power, she will have to make calls with other peerages and Satan's for a job like this.

"Rias, will we tell the world devils exist?" Xenovia asked, concern of the race of devils

"I.... humanity is our number one prior now, as Ethan said: 'if the gods won't protect the humans, then I will. If any gods dare to oppose me... then I will kill them'." Rias replies

______

"Rose, tell me about yourself." Ethan seems to be in the mood

"All suddenly?! What!? Did you hit your head or something? The Ethan I know would always make me go back to the mines and dig up his materials." Rossweisse checked his temperature

"I can never gain diseases, safe to say including ones that kills gods. I'm not lying, test it out if you will." Ethan pulled up his sleeve and gestured to insert a needle

"Nay, I believe you..... are you sur-"

"Fuck's sake, yes! Oh the urge to push you off this dragon is tempting."

"O-okay! Rather, I believe no blade can pierce your.... muscles...."

"Oh? Odin's bodyguard have a muscle fetish?" Ethan teases while flexing his biceps

"Guh! How preposterous! I'm the proud Valkyrie who works under Odin, granddaughter of a former Valkyrie, I shall not falter to a human's pride of their bodies."

"Hm. Okay." Ethan releases his grip "curious as I am, tell me, Rose."

"Gullible. Rose stands short for Rossweisse, my grandmother came up with it. Gotta be honest, Rose is a whole lot better than someone saying Rossweisse outloud, but I do like to keep authority on those. My whole life I spent living in the countryside of Asgard along with my grandmother, she tends to brush my hair, feed me rice and beans along with meat on the side (best dish ever, you gotta try it), bathe me, and supported me in becoming a Valkyrie. My parents gave me the name Rossweisse as it stood for-"

"White rose. Because of the hair, correct?" Ethan arched his back as he crossed his arms

"Yes. What does your stand for?" She asked

"Ethan, a name in Hebrew origin and most often means 'strong,' 'safe,' 'solid,' and 'firm'. It was a name given to me by my parents before their disappearance." Ethan replied

"Oh... I'm sorry, Ethan."

"Don't be. I just happened to know reasons on why I was left behind, more-so the fact I never once blamed them for dropping me off at an orphanage. Enough about me, continue on."

"Although my parents birthed one child, they cherished me and never had many encounters with dangerous reputation. Mostly in my childhood I spent with my grandmother. I um..... my parents.... sure my parents were there day by day, placing a radar on me whenever I leave the house but I never came to know much about them. It's funny to believe a child doesn't know about her parents yet was protected from harm.... one day, my grandmother and I sat outside, watching the watery alphabet of the clouds comes to sing upon the roof... other Valkyries came for a visit with my grandma becoming ecstatic about them...."

I can see where this is going ~(Ethan)

(I'm sorry, Göndul.... Rossweisse's dog.... passed...)

"My brain remembers those words as clear as day... i... I....." Rossweisse began to quiver slightly "I blamed myself... ha.... a Valkyrie blaming herself for the deaths of her dog.... stupid... stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, STUPID!"

Ethan had no reaction to her shout, much to say he kept that poker face without changing anything. He knows the feeling of losing a close one, adding the fact he is losing himself... the deeper he goes into becoming the strongest, less and less of his human side begins to decline.

"I ran, bolted out through the door... my grandmother chasing after me through a forest but I manage to struck my foot onto a stump, making me tumble down a ditch.... can you imagine a lone child lost inside a forest? A weak girl who can't defend herself from attackers or other people, she struggles with her desperation to live..." Rose recalls that dastardly forest filled with creatures of unknown "was it luck or did God bestow a savior on me... a huge, muscular shadow with glowing flame-like purple hair, glowing purple eyes, two curved black horns, and sharp claws. He wore jet-black armor and a long smoky black cloak, and wielded a pure black sword. He nourished my injuries and fed me all kinds of meat he had prepared for himself, strange that a man was living out in that forest with no danger all over the corners.... is he powerful? Is he a god? Once he removed that helmet, I was presented by a muscular and handsome young man with gray eyes, sharp facial features, and neat black hair."

"Gray eyes?" Ethan repeated

"Yes, he looked about your age - perhaps older. Don't have the slightest clue about him, but all I could say that he was nice enough to take care of me."

(You can leave, venture through that forest alone. Or stay for the time being until I head for the nearest village.)

(Nearest village... *gasp* I know a village!)

(Know? You mean after rolling down a steep hill, you come from the direction of a nearby village? Great, I could use some materials.)

(Can I get your name? The Valkyries will reward you for saving a granddaughter of a Valkyrie, even be invited at party thrown by Odin himself!)

(Please, too much for an old man such as me.)

(But a man never looks this young despite being old.)

(Ha. Once you lived for eons, you'll come to terms you're old enough to be considered an old man. Ashborn, is the name, young child.)

(You're not from around here, are you?)

(Never mentioned I was. My home... is long gone...)

The system has given a free pass to his name ~(Ethan)

"Ethan...promise me."

"Sure. Man of my word."

"If I'm ever being used.... will you kill me?"

"..... of course. For the greater good. To protect humanity and my loved ones, sacrifices must come." Ethan summoned Ian and had it be few inches away from her neck "I vowed myself on that promise, and I'll never plan on breaking it."

Ethan's eyes began to glow Cyanic due to his sword reacting to his power.

"The red dragon is a giant bitch when it comes to killing, so here comes a side character, fixing the mess they left behind or finish my own... " Ethan heard the system notifications

Quest: Courage of the Weak
Quest Requirements: ????
The !@#$ *&%$# !?#$&*!@ requires your will
For you to possess even greater power. Prove it
To him that you're a perfect candidate

Courage of the weak? Perfect candidate? Lately I've been sensing a strange presence around me. Does it have to do with this quest? ~(Ethan)

"Hoho. Good evening, Ophis." Crom Cruach smirked at the little girl

"Crom... along with Mimir, a Valkyrie, and a human.... what have you done?" Ophis asked, bluntly

Ophis, dragon god. Said that her power is infinite yet was clearly defeated by our old master. Recall the Abysswalker? ~(Ian)

Oh god, don't remind me losing my flesh to that fucking monster ~(Ethan)

Master, the Abysswalker is the same as her... perhaps less powerful... same as our old master, and Ashborn ~(Elle)

"What about that guy you mentioned?" Says Ethan outloud, gaining confused looks from everyone

"Lad.... who you reaching out to?" Mimir has some suspicions

Shit! You idiot! ~(Ian)

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