The Tyrant

Summary: Issei Hyoudou was nothing in his family's eyes. He was a sinner, his sister a saint. He was nothing but scum to them, pushing him into a corner. No one thought about how far Issei would go to start pushing back. "You called me trash. You called me worthless. But here I stand, above you. With the spirits by my side, I shall rise and become a King. This is my Fated Ascension."

Warnings: Bashing, Non-Sacred Gear Issei, Twin Sister, Less Perverted Issei, Dark Issei, Human Issei

Inspired by various Servant Class Card Fanfictions and other FGO/DxD Crossovers

Crossovers: Fate (Primary), High School of the Dead (Minor, characters only), Heaven's Lost Property (Characters Only), possibly more to come.

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V: Element, Origin, Assassin

Circe was a harsh teacher. While she had yet to create the formal craft circle, it didn't stop her from teaching me what she could about Magecraft before we could determine my origin and element.

It wasn't so much that Circe wanted perfection, she just didn't want you to make mistakes. You might think there's no difference, but there actually is. Perfection meant you always got things absolutely right, no matter what. Not making a mistake meant you didn't do the wrong thing. You didn't have to be perfect to not make a mistake, and that was all Circe asked: to not make mistakes.

If I did end up making a mistake, she would turn the look on me. It was a look of sheer disappointment, as if all the expectations she had expected of you had crashed, burned, and turned to dust in that one moment. It was an awful look that I never wanted directed at me again for as long as I lived.

Still, I thought I'd done rather well for my first session in proper Magecraft. At the very least, my unique Magecraft finding ability that manifested in sight was now more controllable. I couldn't shut it off completely, but I'd only see wisps of energy from people instead of a full-on aura from them.

She'd also begun teaching me the bare basics of Magecraft: Structural Analysis, Gradation Air, and Reinforcement. In her words, Gradation Air was worthless unless you 'had the disposition for it,' and she assured me that I definitely didn't. On top of that, it was a more advanced but useless version of what would be our main focus, so we decided to only bother with it for the sake of training.

Our main focus was going to be Reinforcement; a Magecraft that would be used to strengthen objects and, with a high enough level of mastery, could even be used to strengthen one's own body. The beautiful part about Reinforcement was that it had a deep secret nobody considered, the power to strength the concept within objects. For example, you could reinforce a sword's sharpness, or the nourishment of food.

The concept in question, however, had to be concrete. It couldn't be something vague like power, it had to be something specific that could be 'improved' upon, which was why sharpness was viable.

I felt I was doing rather well in my Magecraft training, and my physical conditioning with Caenis was also going well. She was no great teacher, but she had learned under a great teacher in Chiron and had definitely picked up some things. At the very least, she was able to teach me how to properly through punches and kicks with maximum power and minimal strain.

She was a strict teacher, but I didn't mind at all. I wanted to be pushed to do better and having her threatening to kick my ass if I didn't do the last few push ups or pull ups certainly helped with that.

It also helped that she tended to wear shorts and a sports bra when we were training that gave me a fantastic view no matter what angle I looked at her from.

God bless the man who invented those shorts and sports bra… Or woman, I don't discriminate.

Sadly, my summoning for Assassin was delayed, but only by a couple of days as I decided it was better to determine my origin and element first, then summoning Assassin. It only took two days for the lead-based paint to arrive, something Circe proudly proclaimed at breakfast the morning after it arrived.

"I finally got my hands on lead-based paint," she said proudly over the breakfast table. "Which means I can finally make a formal craft circle, and we can determine Issei-sama's origin and element! Which means I will finally know just what direction that I should take his Magecraft in! Basically, we can move on from 'beginner' to intermediate."

"That is good news," Caenis nodded, looking at me. "Aren't you happy, master?"

"Yeah, I am," I nodded, and I meant that. I was looking forward to finding out just what my Element was, since I wasn't going to be allowed to learn what my origin was.

"Your Magecraft lessons will be cancelled today, and we'll perform the check as soon as I'm done," Circe told me, which made me relieved. Circe's lessons, while definitely helpful, were rough. Especially if it was something I had trouble understanding, and she turned the look on me.

"That's fine by me," I told her. "It means I get a bit of down time. How long will it take you to set up the circle?"

"The one I set up will be a permanent one, so it will take about 5 hours or so."

"That long?"

She nodded. "Of course! Formal Craft circles are meant to be used to create Magecraft safely! It wouldn't do to make a mistake and to have your 'spell' blow up in your face, after all. I could easily have made a temporary one, but it would be a waste of resources and time, better to set up a permanent one, it's better that way."

I gave a nod of understanding at her words. "Is there anything I should know?" I asked her.

"Yes," her face grew serious. "I've said it before, but I will repeat it now, and again when we are about to perform the check. You are not allowed to learn what your origin is. Your element is fine, but your origin must not be known to you. If you were awakened to it, then it would become a driving force in your life that would be impossible to ignore. It would be especially bad if your origin ended up being something like… Worthlessness, or something."

I blinked. "Is that actually possible? For someone to have an origin of worthlessness?"

"Yes," Circe nodded seriously. "An origin can be anything and everything. Obsession, Vengeance, Consumption… Hades, some of the heroic spirits in the throne have the origin of 'Sword.' It will tell us a lot about your core as a person though, which will help me decide how to direct your Magecraft going forward."

I gulped… Some of those didn't sound pleasant, but it didn't sound like how I acted- well, maybe Vengeance did a bit- so I held out hope that my origin wouldn't be something negative.

Then again, I wouldn't be finding out just what my origin was anyway, so it was no skin off of my nose, I suppose.

"You're going to get to work on it right after breakfast then?" I asked Circe, who nodded. "Well, just give me a call when you're ready then. After that, I plan to summon out an Assassin. I've been thinking about it, and I've decided who I want to summon."

"Oh?" Caenis raised an eye, finally getting involved in the conversation again. "Anyone we know, Issei?"

"I don't think so," I told Caenis. "They aren't Greek, that's for sure. Whether or not you know them is a different matter. You talk like you know other heroic spirits, but the one I'm summoning came long after the both of you."

I saw them both look thoughtful at that, clearly wondering just who it was I was planning to summon. I gave a small grin as I ate my breakfast. I was sure that I was going to shock the both of them with just who I had in mind.

Finishing up her own breakfast, Circe stood up. "Could I ask one of you to do the dishes for breakfast? I'd like to get started on the circle so it will be ready either just before, or just after lunch."

"I'll do it," I told her, getting up. "You go and do what you have to do."

She gave me a warm smile, one that made me blush a bit as I glanced away. "Thank you, Issei-sama."

"It's no trouble at all," I responded as I picked up the plates and headed to the kitchen to do the dishes, Circe's giggling ringing in my ears before she skipped away to go and make the formal craft circle.

I just chuckled softly as I began to work on the dishes, humming softly… I blinked in surprise when Caenis slipped in, starting to dry the dishes as I washed others.

"You and Circe are getting close," Caenis noted.

"Um, I guess, yeah," I nodded at her words. "I mean, you did say that she was going to try and get close to be, with her being love starved."

Caenis nodded. "Yes, I just wasn't expecting you to both get as close as you already had," she admitted. "It's only been a few days, but you're so relaxed with her and I. It's honestly a bit surprising."

"Well, I trust you both," I told her with a shrug. "Unlike other people, I know the both of you won't stab me in the back unless I do something that really goes against your morals. And considering you're a tyrant, and Circe had a habit of turning people into literal guinea pigs, that's probably not going to happen."

Caenis let out a bark of laughter. "You're right about that, master! Honestly, there's few things you could do to get us to turn our backs on you. Or me, at least. This is the most fun I've had in being summoned! Sure, constant fights were fun last time, but this is way more interesting than something like bringing back the age of the gods or fighting to defend humanity!"

"… Uh, what?"

"Later," she waved it off. "For now, let's do these dishes. I don't want Circe on our asses if they don't get finished."

…

…

…

Circe stared down at her papers, her face tinged with intrigue.

She had just performed appropriate Magecraft to determine her lord's Element and Origin- she wasn't a fan of soul diving, it was too personal and thus she didn't like performing it- and they were… Interesting, to say the least.

First was his element. He was aligned to one natural element, and two unnatural elements. Fire was his natural element. That wasn't too much of a surprise given her master's perverse desires (she was no fool, she knew the gaze of a lustful man). Fire was an element aligned with passion, desires. As such, that element was normal for her master to have.

The other two elements were rather fascinating, however. His first irregular element was Ice. While not wholly irregular, it was still an irregular element. Usually people would have a dual element of Wind and Water to represent ice, but his element was instead firmly 'ice.'

The element of ice represented rigidity, coldness, and an absence of love. What was most interesting was that it was a contradiction to fire which represented passion and desires, where ice represented a lack of them. Thus, a contradiction.

Luckily, in this case, it wasn't causing an issue because they were both his element, not his origin. Had they been his origin, she would be concerned on how he was even functioning. Luckily, the elements only represented a small piece of him, not all of him like his element did.

His second irregular element was even more intriguing.

Steel.

Unlike Counter Guardian EMIYA, who's element was sword, Issei had Steel. Steel, a combination of Iron and Carbon. Some considered Steel to be 'evolved' Iron, and thus it symbolised enhanced Iron. Iron was the metal of Mars, a symbol of strength, honour, courage, tenacity, determination, war. Steel was the 'King of Metals' despite the fact that other, stronger metals existed simply due to how 'flexible' steel was.

His three elements opened up very different avenues of Magecraft for him to pursue… He might even be able to use EMIYA's Magecraft, though not as well. He wouldn't be able to re-create things like Noble Phantasms- she thought, couldn't be sure- but high-quality weapons and mystic codes? Those would certainly be possible.

What most interested her, however, was undoubtedly his origin.

Over Circe's time- both alive and as a servant- she had seen countless origins. Sword, Bind and Sever, Liberation, countless.

But never had she heard of an origin like this before in her life. More than anything, this re-assured Circe that this man was one she could trust, one who would never turn his back on her or betray her.

After all, an origin like this… Was beyond comprehension. The only thing that even came close was Ryougi Shiki's element of 'Void.' Only the incarnation of Akasha came close to an origin like this if you asked her.

"Oi, Circe!" Caenis banged her hand on the door. "Master's about to call out the Assassin! Come on, we gotta be there in case they end up being hostile."

"Just a moment," Circe called back, organising her papers and stuffing them in her secure safe. It wouldn't do for her master to stumble on those by accident, after all. She wasn't lying about awakening to one's origin causing issues down the line, after all.

Circe had a fond smile on her face as she walked out of the room.

Truly, she never expected her master- a young man who had been wronged most of his life- could possess such a wonderous origin.

In Circe's private safe, a single word was written neatly next to the word Origin.

Utopia.

.

.

.

I took a deep breath as I stood in the summoning room that Circe had prepared for all future summoning of heroic spirits. It was an underground space with plenty of room in case a fight broke out and Caenis and Circe had to protect me, nearby the training room.

I took a breath as I held up the golden assassin card in my hand. "Both of you get ready. This one… Well, her alignment is Lawful – Evil, take that how you will."

"Are you sure?" Caenis asked. "I mean, hell, I'm Neutral – Evil, and despite being Chaotic – Neutral, Circe wasn't exactly an angel you know. But even so, both of us are pretty chill for the most part. You sure you wanna summon a Lawful – Evil."

"I'm sure," I nodded. "This is… Well, given the situation, she's probably the best Assassin that I can think of. And I considered a lot of Assassins."

I couldn't help but think back to some of the other assassins I had considered.

Hassan of the Hundred Faces, 'Personas' as some called her. One of the Hassan-I-Sabbah, the old men of the mountain, that had the ability to split themselves into 100 separate bodies. The sheer amount of information one could gather from that was… Crazy.

Still, he had decided against it. Not because she wouldn't be a good assassin, but because the individual strength of each assassin was severely weakened. Should they spy on the wrong person, they would lose them and that would just be a travesty.

Jack the Ripper had been considered for a moment before he'd discarded it. Let it not be said Jack wasn't perhaps one of the stronger Assassins, but her obsession with 'returning to the womb' was more likely to get Issei killed. On top of that, both Circe and Caenis were female, so Jack would have an advantage against them.

With two females eliminated, Issei had taken a step back, swallowed his lust and thought, 'What about a male?'

Kiritsugu Emiya. Time Altering Magecraft, the highest level of Presence Concealment and Independent Action meaning he wouldn't require as much mana. The issue was that, while he was Chaotic – Evil, he also had morals and a desire to be a 'Hero of Justice,' he just went about it in a very dark way. Thus, he wasn't really a choice to Issei.

His next thought had been Yan Qing. A Martial Arts master, an ability that allowed him to transform into other people, even his Noble Phantasm made use of a cloning technique of sorts let him move so swiftly that his shadow doesn't even touch the ground…

However, his Presence Concealment was average, and he lacked independent action. That would be heavier on his mana reserves, he wanted someone who didn't require as much mana to sustain, even willing to sacrifice presence concealment if there was something that could make up for it.

That was when he'd finally found an Assassin that intrigued him.

Independent Action at the highest rank, EX. Beyond measure. A shapeshifting ability at A rank, allowing them to change their appearance as they desired. They didn't have presence concealment, but they had other skills on top of everything that solidified his decision.

He took a breath. "Okay you two, get ready."

Caenis nodded and readied her spear and shield, standing beside me. Circe stood behind us, staff raised and magic circles manifesting for in case the one I summoned became violent.

I slowly lifted the golden card and filled it with my mana. It let out a hot glow before I tossed it out. "I summon you!"

Light burst out and blinded my vision.

.

.

.

How interesting… A summoning. For her, of all people.

She wasn't like other servants. She was an enemy of humankind, a beast of humanity. She delighted in killing humans, exceptionally good at it, and was watched over by Amaterasu- a Goddess more akin to a Beast than Divinity.

And yet, someone had called out to her for a summoning?

She couldn't deny, she was intrigued. Only one foolish person had called out to her before, and they hadn't trusted her. With good reason, of course. But to think another person would be so foolish as to seek her help?

She would have usually ignored a summoning, but the idea that yet another person required her help had spiked her curiosity. She just couldn't help herself.

How would she ruin this master? Or would they prove themselves worthy of her?

A vicious grin crawled onto her face.

"Well then, foolish human… Entertain me."

.

.

.

The light slowly died down, and I could feel Caenis tense beside me as the figure was slowly revealed to our eyes.

"Of all people… You summoned… Her?"

The woman in question was… Gorgeous. She had long, pink hair done in a side swept ponytail, a ribbon holding her hair in place. Her brown eyes glittered with amusement behind a pair of glasses, a smirk crawling onto her gorgeous face.

She was clad in a bodysuit, the zip undone so as to show off her chest, with her outer thighs and parts of her hips exposed. She noticed my staring because she cocked her hips as if to show off, placing one of her gloved hands on the exposed flesh with a smirk.

Atop her head was a pair of pink fox ears that stood upright, a matching, puffy tail swaying behind her.

"Thank you very much for summoning me, Master~" She cooed out in a sweet voice. "I am Tamamovitch, Koyanskaya of Light, representative of NFF, provider of all of humanity's needs! Infiltration, manufacturing, negotiation, marketing, anything at all!"

Despite the sweetness of her voice, the smirk on her face was that of a femme fatale, a seductress who loved to toy with men and watch them fall.

And I was her next target.

"Please accept my humble visit!"

"Can I touch your tail?"

Her ears twitch and her smile faded, giving way to a look of surprise.

"Um… What?"