Rias Gremory observed the boy lying at her feet with a practiced, calculating gaze.
Hyoudou Issei was exactly where she expected him to be—impaled, bleeding out, his Sacred Gear reacting just in time to summon her. Everything had gone according to plan.
Mostly.
Issei would live. He always would have. His survival was guaranteed the moment the summoning circle activated.
No, the real problem lay a few steps away.
Rias turned her attention back to the blond-haired boy sprawled in a widening pool of blood.
Uzumaki Naruto.
A human.
And yet… still breathing.
Rias frowned.
That alone was impossible.
She had allowed the fallen angel's actions to proceed because she was certain of the outcome. Issei possessed a Sacred Gear. He would die, summon her, and she would resurrect him as her servant. Clean. Efficient. Predictable.
This boy, however, was not part of that equation.
She had noticed him before—on the rooftop. The strange acrobatics. The ease with which he moved. A human, yet not entirely ordinary. Curious, but not enough to intervene.
He was not supposed to be here.
A sudden cough broke the quiet.
Rias stiffened.
Her head snapped toward the sound just in time to see blood spill from Naruto's lips as his body convulsed weakly. His fingers dug into the ground, carving shallow grooves into stone and earth alike as if clinging to the world through sheer will alone.
Her eyes widened.
"…You're still alive."
That should not have been possible.
Moving quickly, Rias knelt beside him, skirts brushing the blood-soaked grass as she assessed his injuries. The sight made even her experienced stomach tighten.
A gaping hole pierced straight through the center of his chest.
Not a glancing wound. Not survivable. Not even delayable.
Any normal human would have bled out long ago.
And yet…
She leaned closer.
Naruto's breathing was shallow and uneven, each breath rattling wetly in his lungs. His eyes flickered—bright blue dulling toward gray, then flashing back again—as if his soul itself couldn't decide whether to stay.
He was dying.
But far too slowly.
Rias narrowed her eyes.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
She placed two fingers near the edge of the wound, careful not to touch it directly. The light residue left behind by the fallen angel's weapon still lingered—normally enough to prevent any form of regeneration, holy or demonic.
Yet the flesh at the edges of the wound… was moving.
Barely.
So slowly it was almost imperceptible, as if time itself had been stretched thin around his body.
Healing.
"No…" Rias murmured.
That couldn't be right.
He was human. She could sense that clearly. No demonic aura. No divine presence. No holy artifact active—at least, none she could feel.
Even if he possessed demonic regeneration, fallen angel light should have suppressed it completely.
Unless…
Her gaze sharpened.
"Do you have a Sacred Gear?" she whispered.
Naruto's eyes shifted.
They locked onto hers.
Azure met blue-green.
There was no fear in his gaze.
Only exhaustion.
And something else.
Awareness.
For a fleeting moment, his eyes flicked past her shoulder—toward the summoning circle still fading behind her—before returning to her face.
Then, impossibly, he smiled.
Blood stained his teeth. His lips trembled as he tried to speak, lungs filling with fluid.
"Such…" he coughed violently, crimson spilling freely now. "…such… beautiful… red hair…"
Rias froze.
Of all the things she expected him to say, that wasn't one of them.
Heat crept unexpectedly into her cheeks.
No one had ever complimented her hair like that—softly, sincerely, without desire or calculation. And certainly not while dying.
Especially not while dying.
Absently, she reached up and caught a strand of her crimson hair between her fingers, twirling it once as she stared down at him.
"…Idiot," she muttered, more quietly than intended.
For a moment, she hesitated.
This boy had not been meant to die here. Not for her plans. Not for Issei. Not at all.
In a very real way, he was dying because she had chosen not to act sooner.
Rias exhaled slowly.
Very well.
If the world insisted on breaking pattern, she would adapt.
She snapped her fingers.
A brief flash of light formed in her palm, condensing into a familiar shape.
A chess piece.
A rook.
A standard piece of her peerage.
With it, she could resurrect him—bind him to her, grant him demonic life.
She placed the rook on Naruto's chest, just above the wound, and stepped back.
Her voice shifted as she began the incantation, ancient words flowing smoothly from her lips as magic activated.
The piece glowed.
The circle formed.
And then—
Nothing.
The glow faded.
Rias frowned.
She tried again, this time using a bishop.
Nothing.
Then a knight.
Still nothing.
Her expression darkened as she stepped back, mind racing.
That should not be possible.
Unless…
"…You don't fit," she murmured.
Did his soul reject the piece? Was a single fragment not enough?
Her thoughts halted as another voice echoed in her memory.
"Consider this a gift from your dear brother…"
Rias' eyes widened.
She raised her hand, summoning another chess piece from her magic reserves.
It appeared heavier than the others.
Different.
It glowed red.
Not the polished crimson of her hair, but something deeper—darker—like blood under moonlight.
The piece didn't resemble any standard chess role. It wasn't a pawn, rook, bishop, knight, queen, or king.
It was mutated.
"I believe you'll find an interesting use for this," Sirzechs' voice echoed in her mind. "Don't worry. You'll know when to use it."
Her gaze flicked back to Naruto.
One month.
Sirzechs had given her this piece exactly one month ago.
The same month Naruto Uzumaki had enrolled at Kuoh Academy—on a scholarship fund Sirzechs himself had established.
Coincidence?
Rias did not believe in coincidences.
"…Brother," she sighed softly. "You're going to explain this."
Decision made, she knelt once more and placed the mutated piece on Naruto's chest.
Its glow was immediate.
Violent.
Red light flared, pushing back the shadows as the piece pulsed like a living heart.
Naruto's body jerked.
His fingers spasmed.
One eye cracked open.
"I command thee, Uzumaki Naruto," Rias declared, her voice resonating with authority. "On my name, Rias Gremory."
The glow intensified.
"Become my servant and walk these lands as a Devil."
The mutated chess piece began to sink into Naruto's chest, merging with flesh and bone alike.
"Thou shalt lead a new life," Rias continued, unwavering, "as a member of my peerage."
The light vanished.
Naruto gasped violently, his body arching as air rushed back into his lungs. His heart slammed once—twice—then settled into a steady rhythm.
Life returned.
Rias watched carefully.
The wound in his chest remained—but it no longer bled freely.
"…Incomplete," she noted.
She would have to heal that manually later.
Rias stood and turned her attention back toward Issei.
As she prepared to resurrect her original pawn, her thoughts lingered on the boy behind her.
Whatever Uzumaki Naruto was—
He was not normal.
And if her brother had involved himself…
Then things were about to become very interesting.