(DxD x Tony Stark) Iron & Myth: Chapter 6 - A great lesson

Chapter 6 - A great lesson

Summary: Tony faces truth, makes allies, and learns magic’s deadly balance.

Tony coughed a little bit of blood, but that was nothing new to him—he had worse injuries. Hell, at one point in his past life he floated for months in space with a stab wound that went from his stomach all the way through his back. This much pain was totally manageable for him.

Another groan from near the fountain drew Tony's attention and he saw Raynare stirring awake and slowly trying to get up.

Tony ignored the pain and stood back up so he could point his repulsor at the woman, his weapon already whining the familiar sound that accompanied his blast.

Raynare looked panicked and stayed on her knees while crying loudly "Please! I didn't want to do that, I was forced to."

Tony lifted his eyebrow—he could tell she was being sincere, so he decided to let her enjoy the benefit of the doubt. He glanced back at Hyoudou only to find him passed out from the shock.

Tony sighed in relief—it was much better like that than dealing with a panicking teenage boy. He lowered his hand and began walking carefully closer to the winged woman, but he was not fool enough to let down his guard so he kept his gauntlet charged in case of a quick attack.

There was one thing that Tony needed to know more than anything "And what are you exactly?"

The girl tilted her head and said as if it was obvious "Fallen angel."

Tony blinked once, then twice. Many stories from the mythologies he read began coming to the front of his mind and he couldn't help but blurt "As in angels of God that were thrown out of heaven due to sinful behavior?"

Raynare nodded her head. Tony frowned "Say that's the truth..." And as much as Tony wanted to deny it there was too much evidence for this case "Why would a fallen angel try to kill a human? Was that this guy's sin?" Tony pointed at the dead fallen angel.

Raynare shook her head, her voice shaking a little as she said "Since the war there was always tension between the three factions, so once we detected a human with a powerful sacred gear in devil territory we were ordered to eliminate him."

If Tony wasn't a genius his mind would have probably been blown away by so much information all at once. But even though his mind was reeling he could still follow and note all the new info supplied in her answer.

Tony gave the fallen angel a long and hard stare—she really did look desperate, he didn't feel any hostile intention from her anymore.

He sighed heavily and hoped he wasn't making a mistake. He deactivated his gauntlet and boots, allowing them to melt away to their original form.

He crouched in front of her and said calmly and gently "I want to help you. If you answer some of my questions I would like to return the favor—what do you say?"

Raynare opened her mouth—Tony guessed to reject his offer—before she glanced at the body of her previous superior and she changed her mind. Nodding meekly instead.

Tony smiled at her and cheerfully said "Great. How about you tell me more about those factions and the war you mentioned."

Raynare looked surprised at how easy the question was before she explained meekly "A millennium ago there was a war between the Fallen angels, angels and devils. The war ended in tense terms when all the sides lost too much and decided to withdraw without any word."

Huh, so there were angels and devils as well. Made sense, and after you accept the fact of fallen angels the other two were hardly packing the same punch.

Tony hummed before he asked his next question "You mentioned Sacred Gears—care to tell me what that is?"

Raynare nodded her head, a little more self-assured when she saw how well he was taking the answers she gave "Sacred gears are power granted to humans by God himself so they could have a chance against the supernatural. For example, one of the most common ones are the ones that allow a human to double his strength three times a day. They come in different levels with the most powerful of them used to kill gods before."

Hmm, now that was interesting. Certainly something that he would like to look into, especially if he ended up going against one of those gods—and with his luck he eventually would.

Tony looked at the passed out classmate of his before turning back to Raynare and asked "Have any idea what his is? And how many others there are in this town?"

Raynare shook her head "You can't determine what sacred gear one possesses until he manifests it. And I'm not sure about your other question—they are rare and carved into the human's soul so it's very hard to read sometimes, especially with the weaker ones."

Tony nodded. Made sense. Well he probably got all he could handle for now so instead he diverted the questioning toward her situation "The other one mentioned some superior that's running your show."

Raynare looked away—he could see the fear etched into her face. "Hey." When she turned back toward him Tony pointed back to the body on the ground "I took him out with little issue, and trust me when I say it's far from what I'm capable of. So if you want my help I need answers about what I'm getting into first."

Raynare looked shocked by his statement but then took a deep breath "Yes. While the man in charge of the fallen faction put this team in charge of observing and if needed eliminating sacred gear users, there is someone else, who craves to restart the war and is trying to gather power for it. He put Zakariel-sama, who is a cadre level fallen in our team so he could force me and my friends to follow his and his other teammates' missions. I really didn't want it, and I know he is planning something even worse soon."

Tony pursed his lips. Well he got everything that he needed. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small device. The size and shape of a button, and held it out to the fallen angel.

The woman looked confused, not that Tony expected anything else "This thing will act as a GPS for your location, as well as a listening device. If you think there is something I should hear, tap the surface three times—if you are in danger and need emergency help, tap it twice."

Raynare looked at the device with wonder, and very carefully took it from his palm. Tony caught her arm and helped her to her feet as he stood up himself.

Raynare looked at him with a look he saw many times before—it was the look of someone unable to figure out what exactly he was doing "Who are you? You are human, I can sense that, but you took down a higher level fallen with ease and this was just a taste, you didn't use a single drop of magic, so how?"

Tony smirked "I already told you didn't I? I'm Tony Stark. If you stick around maybe you will catch on. Until then, I think you should fly off."

Raynare could only nod dumbly before she turned and with her wings took to the sky.

Tony stared for a while before turning to the body of the fallen angel. He walked closer to it and kneeled over the body. He hated to do it, but Tony really needed to learn more about these factions before they became a threat.

So with a small grimace he used the nanites to create a needle and stuck it in his arm, drawing a few vials of blood. While this was going on he also plucked a few feathers from his wings and quickly put them inside his jacket's inner pockets.

He could hear Hyoudou mumbling "Rias." And rolled his eyes as he pulled the needle out. Allowing the nanites to dissolve.

He was shocked when he saw a red, glowing circle appearing on the ground in front of Hyoudou, and even more so when after a flash of light, he was staring at the back of two women. One with long dark hair and the second with a signature, long red hair.

They didn't seem to notice him, which worked just fine for him as he had time to hide the vials of blood in his jacket while the two stared at Hyoudou.

Gremory's voice was confused "He doesn't seem injured to me and he's still breathing."

Tony stood up and put his hands behind his back, a finger already on his watch's screen, his guard up. He chose that moment to speak up "That's because he is alive and well. Just passed out."

Tony put on his signature smirk as both girls spun around to stare at him with wide eyes, displaying pure shock.

Tony took a moment to scan the girls now that he had a reference for magical signature. Gremory's signature was completely different from Raynare's which ruled out her being a fallen. Himejima's on the other hand had some resemblance to both Raynare's and Gremory's, though it leaned more heavily toward Gremory's.

And considering the behavior he witnessed so far from Himejima, calling it angelic would be a stretch. So that left one option.

Gremory asked in a voice full of surprise "Stark-san what are you doing here?"

Keeping his smirk in place he said dramatically, without moving his hands from their current position "Being a good upper-classman Ms. Gremory. I just saved Hyoudou's life."

Gremory frowned and asked carefully "Saved from what?"

Before Tony could answer the red-head, her friend gasped and pointed at the body behind Tony "President, it's a higher class fallen angel."

Gremory's eyes snapped to the body and the shock returned to them. Tony smirked even wider and replied easily "Him."

Himejima walked closer to the body and examined it for a moment, meanwhile Gremory was eyeing him carefully.

After a moment Himejima called out "He is dead." She then turned an uncharacteristic hard stare at him and asked "How did you kill him?"

Tony shrugged and said cheerfully "We all have our secrets Ms. Himejima, and I like to keep mine until I can decide who my enemies are."

Gremory frowned and said lowly "You don't know what you are talking about, and who you are dealing with Stark-san."

Tony couldn't help it—he always liked these shocking reveals. If his smirk could grow any more it would have as he asked mockingly "Are you asking me if I am willing to make a deal with a couple of devils, Ms. Gremory?"

Himejima covered her mouth to hide the gasp, while Gremory entered a defensive stance and asked harshly "How do you know that? Who are you?"

Tony shrugged "Your classmate Tony Stark. And I suggest you drop the hostilities Ms. Gremory."

Gremory's frown turned to a scowl, and she asked with a sharp edge to her voice "Or what? As you said I'm a devil and you are just a human, I can kill you without leaving a trace and wipe everyone's memories of you."

Tony chuckled mockingly "I think you will find it hard to erase my name from everyone's memories, unless you are capable of doing it on a global scale."

Ignoring her confusion Tony tilted his head toward the body and said in a mocking voice "He said the same thing you know, and you are barely stronger than him, while your friend there is weaker. It won't take me much effort to put you in the same state as him, but I would prefer not to."

He noticed the red-hair's eyes moving from him to her friend, to the body on the floor before she reluctantly returned her body to a non-threatening state and said between clenched teeth "So what are you suggesting?"

Tony's voice was much warmer when he suggested "How about we have a little chat tomorrow, in a more private and calm environment?"

Gremory seemed to consider for a moment before nodding stiffly "Very well. I accept."

Now feeling he could at least not be battle ready Tony clapped his hands and said cheerfully "Great." His eyes then moved to Hyoudou and he asked "Umm... does anyone know where he lives? I would rather not let a pervert into my house."

Himejima giggled and it looked like Gremory was trying to suppress a smile before sighing "We can take care of it." Her eyes shifted to the body "And that as well."

Tony smiled widely at them "Thanks. I was about to handle it but you will save me the trouble."

Gremory looked like she wanted to say something else before she shook her head and motioned Himejima to stand close to her. Soon enough another red circle appeared under the three and they were gone.

Hmm, so that's how their teleportation worked. "JARVIS please tell me you got it?"

One of the best sides of Vibranium was its absorption qualities which after a little tinkering turned it into the perfect scanner, especially for magical aspects. He never considered doing it with Strange's magic, but now it became a necessity.

JARVIS's reply was quick "Of course, Sir."

Tony couldn't wait to play around with this teleportation data.