High School DxD: Inheritor of Malevolence is a High School D×D fanfiction story by dvdryms
. It was posted on January 25, 2022.
The story follows Takeshi Ryuugamine, an Original Character, as the protagonist, replacing Issei Hyoudou. A seemingly ordinary first-year student, apart from the fact that most people seem to be avoiding him for some inexplicable reason, Takeshi's life takes a strange turn when he comes across a Stray Devil, manifests a mysterious belt, and is rescued by Rias and her Peerage. This marks the beginning of Takeshi's journey as he strives to thrive in a harsh new world and master his Sacred Gear while fighting off the influence of the malevolent creatures sealed within.
As of January 24, 2024, this fanfic has been stated to have been abandoned by the author and is now up for adoption. It still exists on fanfiction.net. The Archive of Our Own link has been deleted.
High School DxD: Inheritor of Malevolence provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Almost every female character in the story qualifies for this.
- Adaptation Species Change: Instead of being reincarnated into a Devil, Asia is reincarnated into an Angel, becoming the Queen of Archangel Raphael's Brave Saints.
- Adaptational Early Appearance:
- The Evil Dragons that were part of Qlippoth in canon. Nidhogg appears during Volume 1, Grendel during Volume 3, Yamata no Orochi during Volume 5, Crom Cruach during Volume 6, Ladon during Volume 7, and Aži Dahāka during Volume 9.
- Sona and her Peerage (except for Saji and Ruruko) appear during the events of Volume 2.
- Kiyome Abe and Aika Kiryuu appear during the events of Volume 3.
- Sairaorg Bael shows up during the victory party following the Gremory Peerage's victory over Riser in Volume 4.
- Tobio Ikuse makes a brief appearance during the events of Volume 5.
- Ingvild Leviathan appears briefly after the Three Factions peace conference's conclusion in Volume 6, though her comatose body is taken over by Katerea Leviathan, whose soul was placed into it following her defeat at the hands of Sirzechs during the conference battle.
- Nurarihyon, Magari, Suzaku Himejima, and Lavinia Reni appear during the events of Volume 7. Kuroka also shows up briefly during the volume's conclusion.
- Bova Tannin, Gabriel, Natsume Minagawa, Kouki Samejima, Shigune Nanadaru, and Koga Hyousuke make an appearance during Volume 8.
- The Evil God Angra Mainyu appears during the conclusion of Volume 9.
- Adaptational Heroism: While Vali's defection to the Khaos Brigade is genuine at first in the novels, here Vali joins them only to act as a double agent for the Three Factions and provide information to the leaders from the inside, making him a heroic character from the start.
- Adaptational Superpower Change:
- Apart from their generic ability to generate and manipulate holy power, the Seraphs Michael and Gabriel display the ability to control the elements of wind and water respectively.
- During their imprisonment in Dudael, several Fallen Angel Cadres obtained unique abilities for reasons related to their personalities and actions. Azazel can generate a tar-like substance from his wings (which he claims is the darkness of the abyss) that can devour almost anything, Shemhazai's Eyes of the Watcher can peer through anything and view things invisible to the naked eye, and Kokabiel's light constructs take the shape of constellations.
- Apart from her Power of Destruction, Rias also possesses an original second clan trait from the Gremory side of her family, Lock Control. Its abilities are loosely based on those of Mukuro Hoshimiya from the Light Novel series Date A Live.
- Xenovia is reincarnated into a Devil through a Rook piece instead of a Knight piece like in canon. Moreover, instead of wielding Excalibur as her second blade, she instead receives Almace, a Holy Sword with supernatural phenomena nullification abilities, from Azazel during the Gremory group's summer training.
- Akeno learns how to control magnetism from Baraqiel during the Gremory group's summer training.
- Compared to the novels, Yuuto is far more creative with his Sacred Gear in this story, creating a plethora of swords with various effects, and later on, creating hybrid blades that combine two abilities in a single sword.
- Gasper can use his Sacred Gear to accelerate time, aging up everything in his field of vision and turning them to dust.
- Unlike canon, Katerea can use the Leviathan clan's trait, Sea Serpent of the End, thanks to Ophis' snake. Creuserey can also wield the Asmodeus clan's trait, Starsend Moment (which is portrayed as an ability that can remove a target's five senses, magnify pain and pleasure to nigh intolerable amounts, and trap an opponent in an idyllic illusion), for the same reason presumably, while Shalba and his OC sister Lalasyu wield a modified version of the Beelzebub clan's trait, Lord of the Flies, that enables them to summon and control mutant flies that can perform various functions.
- Vali wields two original clan traits due to his Lucifer blood; Evil Light, a silver light that can absorb holy power and is harmful to Angels, Fallen Angels and Devils alike, and Origin Blaze, an azure-colored flame that can consume demonic power to grow stronger.
- Saji acquires an original Vritra-type Sacred Gear, Drought Call, along with his three canon ones prior to the Gremory-Sitri Rating Game.
- Instead of wielding the Artificial Sacred Gear Scouting Persona, Reya Kusaka of the Sitri Peerage is given Proteus Visage, an Artificial Sacred Gear that creates masks that enable the wearer to change their appearance into that of another person. In addition, apart from Twinkle Aegis, Tsubasa Yura from the same group is given Buster Cestus, a gauntlet-shaped Artificial Sacred Gear that increases the force behind her blows as long as she keeps attacking without interruption. Finally, Tsubaki Shinra, the group's Queen, receives the Tonbokiri spear.
- Diodora uses an original clan trait, Vile Breath, which is described as a black steam-like substance that can erode everything surrounding the user. Zephyrdor can also use Falbium's signature technique, Absolute Defense, which is depicted here as the Glasya-Labolas' clan trait.
- Lint Sellzen is the wielder of Unknown Dictator instead of Incinerate Anthem.
- Affectionate Nickname:
- Koneko calls Takeshi 'Chuuni Evil Dragon' at times.
- Takeshi calls Pandora 'Princess'.
- All Myths Are True: While explaining everything about the Three Factions to Takeshi in Chapter 2, Rias takes the opportunity to reveal over the course of their conversation that all religions and mythologies in the world are real, much to his shock.
- Alternate Universe Fic: The existence of Takeshi Ryuugamine, the story's main character, as well as the Evil Dragons being sealed in the Sacred Gear he wields, results in several deviations from canon.
- Arc Villain:
- Volume 1 (Chapters 1-4): The Stray Devil Cluster led by Nell.
- Volume 2 (Chapters 5-9): The fallen Oni Hisaya.
- Volume 3 (Chapters 10-15): The Fallen Angels Turel and Zephon.
- Volume 4 (Chapters 16-20): Riser Phenex.
- Volume 5 (Chapters 21-26): The Fallen Angel Cadre Kokabiel.
- Volume 6 (Chapters 27-32): Katerea Leviathan.
- Volume 7 (Chapters 33-37): The evil Onmyouji Ashiya Douman.
- Volume 8 (Chapters 38-45): The Old Devil King Faction and the Titan Worshippers' forces.
- Volume 9 (Chapters 46-54): Shalba Beelzebub and Memnon.
- Bad Powers, Good People: Although his Sacred Gear contains the souls of the seven most powerful Evil Dragons in history, who are determined to either drive their host insane or destroy their body, Takeshi remains a heroic individual who uses his powers to assist his friends, defeat various villains and help others.
- Badass Biker: Takeshi qualifies for this due to owning a motorcycle. Leon does so as well after obtaining his own custom motorcycle later on.
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: Grendel drags Takeshi into his Sacred Gear for one such battle during Chapter 18 in an attempt to break the latter's mind completely. In the end, Takeshi prevails thanks to his strong will and recently taught Senjutsu meditation techniques, subduing Grendel and gaining access to Berserk Devastator's Balance Breaker.
- Beware the Nice Ones: The Seraph Gabriel might be a kind and gentle soul who hates conflict in general, but when she has to fight, her personality makes a drastic shift, becoming a cold and merciless warrior. The Khaos Brigade members she fought in Chapter 43 found that out the hard way.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- In Chapter 1, Rias and her Peerage arrive just in the nick of time to save Takeshi from the Stray Devil Selia.
- Takeshi shows up in the middle of the battle between the Stray Devil Cluster and the Gremory Peerage to save Yuuto from Valdes and the golems accompanying him during Chapter 4.
- In Chapter 6, Chiharu intervenes to save Takeshi and Koneko from the Oni led by Rengokuki.
- Big Damn Reunion: While fighting against the Fallen Angel Gadreel and the Rogue Exorcist Jacob Torres, Takeshi is reunited with his old friend Leon Ainsworth in the process, a Church agent accompanying Irina and Xenovia during their search for the missing Excaliburs. Later on in the volume, Takeshi and Leon are reunited with their other childhood friend, Vali Lucifer, following the conclusion of the fight against Kokabiel and his allies.
- Character Catchphrase:
- Takeshi: "You'll be eradicated without fail!" (pre-battle), "Victory was never an option for you." (post-battle), and catchphrases from various Kamen Rider series.
- Leon: "Now, it's time to repent for your sins!" (pre-battle), "The only thing awaiting the wicked is despair!" (post-battle).
- Chaste Hero: Despite how outspoken and bold his female teammates are in their attempts to seduce him, Vali finds them more of an irritation than anything else, with Kuroka labelling him as celibate.
- Chick Magnet: Takeshi is this by default as the protagonist of a High School D×D fanfic.
- Childhood Friends: Takeshi, Leon and Vali met in Takeshi's old hometown when they were ten years old and bonded over their shared love of tokusatsu.
- Chuunibyou: Takeshi, Vali, and Leon often tend to act as one due to their shared fascination with the tokusatsu genre.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Takeshi overwhelms Riser with ease during the final stages of the Gremory-Phenex Rating Game, with the only damage he sustained being a result of his chosen Balance Breaker's adverse effects.
- During the Khaos Brigade's attack on the Peace Conference, Vortigern takes on the combined front of Rias, Takeshi, Yuuto, and Xenovia, defeating them without much trouble. They manage to avoid death only thanks to Grayfia's timely intervention.
- Upon activating his imperfect final Balance Breaker with the aid of a control unit given to him previously by Michael, Takeshi delivers a severe beatdown on Leon and Vali, knocking them out of their Juggernaut Drive forms and almost killing the latter if not for Takeshi reasserting full control over his body.
- Vali takes down Lalasyu Beelzebub with little effort during the Khaos Brigade's intrusion in the Gremory-Astaroth game. To add insult to injury, he does so without even moving at all during their fight.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Poor Pandora. She lost her parents due to her hometown's destruction when she was five years old and was abducted by a group of Titan Worshippers, with Pandora suspecting they were the ones behind the destruction. She spent most of her youth isolated from the outside world, being only allowed to leave the cult's base when they staged attacks at Greek demigod camps. After their base was destroyed by a group of Greek demigods, Pandora was captured and spent a year-and-a-half in their prison before escaping. Then, she was captured by Fallen Angels, with their intent being to use her in their plan to eliminate the Gremory and Sitri Peerages.
- Deadly Upgrade:
- All of Takeshi's Balance Breakers so far either intensify one of his base Sacred Gears' adverse effects or have a new downside to their use.
- The Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing's Juggernaut Drive fall under that category due to their life-draining and madness-inducing effects.
- The main antagonist of Volume 2, the fallen Oni Hisaya absorbs the God-slaying flames contained within the magatama to power himself up and match Takeshi in his Balance Breaker state. The downside is that his lifespan is reduced and his body starts falling apart due to the strain.
- Death by Adaptation: While Kokabiel is sealed in Cocytus following his defeat at the hands of Vali in canon, in this story, he is killed by Leon and Takeshi during Volume 5's climax.
- Decomposite Character: Leon may be the current Red Dragon Emperor, but Issei does still exist and occasionally interacts with Takeshi.
- Demoted to Extra: Issei and Asia's roles are reduced compared to canon.
- Determinator:
- Despite the risk to his health and the possibility of death from using Savage Predator Incarnation, the Balance Breaker of Berserk Devastator, Takeshi pays no heed to it and uses it to great effect in his showdown against Riser Phenex in the Gremory-Phenex Rating Game.
- When fighting Ashiya Douman during Volume 7's climax, Takeshi receives plenty of damage, with the pain being amplified by his equipped Balance Breaker's demerits, and ends up getting skewered through the abdomen. Even so, through sheer force of will and ingenuity, he turns the tables on his opponent and defeats him.
- While training inside the Maw, Takeshi is brought close to his breaking point when facing a pack of feral Evil Dragons led by an intelligent one due to the harsh environment, repeated battles, lack of sleep, malnutrition, and Ladon's preaching. Despite that, he ends up refuting Ladon's philosophy and declares that he will keep on fighting no matter what, allowing him to access Hesperides Fort's Balance Breaker and defeat his attackers.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation:
- The Fallen Angels Kalawarner, Mittelt, Dohnaseek and Raynare. The first three are killed by Akeno, Koneko, and Yuuto respectively during Chapter 13, while Raynare is executed by Zephon in Chapter 14 for her incompetence.
- Instead of being killed by Yuuto during the Diodora arc, Freed is killed by Takeshi in Chapter 14.
- Shalba Beelzebub is killed by Vali during the hijacked Rating Game between Gremory and Astaroth after he, Leon and Takeshi defeat him in his mutated state.
- Door Stopper: As of January, this story has 58 chapters and over 750,000 words.
- The Dreaded: Most individuals who encounter Takeshi are instinctively afraid of him due to the malicious aura his Sacred Gear releases at all times. As a result, he spent most of his middle school years and part of his high school years without making any friends due to his surroundings avoiding him like the plague.
- Fake Defector:
- During Volume 2's climax, Takeshi seemingly accepts Hisaya's earlier offer to join his side and abandons his friends mid-battle. Turns out, it was all a ruse to get into the center of the Oni's makeshift fortress and free Koneko.
- Vali only joined the Khaos Brigade in order to act as a double agent for the leaders of the Three Factions.
- First Kiss: Takeshi receives his first kiss from Koneko in Chapter 18.
- Grand Theft Me: Pandora's former wet nurse, Phaedra, uses the hypnotic suggestions implanted within Pandora to knock her out and proceeds to transfer her soul into her body, asserting full control during the Khaos Brigade's attack on the Gremory-Astaroth game. She is eventually forced out of it thanks to Takeshi using Aži Dahāka's magic.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The masked men Alkaid and Megrez, the mysterious youth Adam, and Vortigern are implied to be along with the Inner Circle of the Khaos Brigade they belong to.
- Groin Attack: In Chapter 53, Rias finishes her fight with Diodora by kneeing him in the groin, vaporizing his genitals due to enveloping her knee with the Power of Destruction.
- Healing Factor: Nidhogg possesses a powerful regeneration ability that allows him to recover from all but the most catastrophic of injuries. His Sacred Gear reflects that ability on the wielder, but acts as a double-edged sword due to the fact that it's fueled by the host's lifespan, something especially problematic for short-lived species like humans.
- Horsemen of the Apocalypse: While the Horsemen were killed during the Great War by Lucifer according to Uriel's words, fragaments of their bodies endured and were collected by Church agents, who experimented on them for centuries. The end result was the creation of Adam, an artificial Miracle Child capable of wielding the Horsemen's power, about a century prior to the events of the story.
- Humble Pie: Riser receives one after his loss to Takeshi during the Gremory-Phenex Rating Game. Unlike what happened in canon, however, he acknowledges his opponents' strength and determination, and resolves to improve himself.
- A Lady on Each Arm: In Chapter 22, Takeshi walks to school with both Rias and Koneko clinging on to him, much to the shock of everyone present.
- Loophole Abuse: While Rias would have normally been unable to reincarnate Takeshi into a Devil due to the Evil Pieces being incapable of reincarnating an individual if their potential power is too high, she managed to circumvent that rule due to the unique nature of Takeshi's Sacred Gear, which prevented the Evil Pieces from accurately gauging his full potential.
- Named by the Adaptation: Matsuda and Motohama receive the first names Eiji and Naoto respectively.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In Volume 2, upon learning of Koneko's importance to Hisaya's goals, Chiharu, a Guardian Oni who has a deep grudge towards him for the death of her sister at his hands, abducts Koneko with the intent to use her as bait to capture him. Unfortunately, things quickly go south when Hisaya reveals that he counted on Chiharu reacting in such a manner before using a fruit from Yomi to drive all her comrades insane and seizing Koneko, with Chiharu being spared only due to her allies' timely intervention.
- Nightmare Sequence: Following the awakening of Ladon's Sacred Gear, Hesperides Fort, Takeshi began experiencing a variety of horrific and very realistic nightmares every night during his sleep (such as seeing his friends killed or dying in grotesque ways) that ended up almost breaking him.
- Original Character: Takeshi Ryuugamine, the protagonist of this fanfic, is the most notable example. Others include Pandora Othrys, Rias' second Knight following the events of Volume 3, and Leon Ainsworth, an old friend of Takeshi's, an Inquisitor belonging to the Orthodox Church, and most importantly, the current Red Dragon Emperor.
- Polyamory:
- Takeshi has a harem which consists of Koneko, Rias, Akeno and Pandora as of yet.
- During Volume 7, Tobio is revealed to have a harem of his own which consists of Sae Toujou, Lavinia Reni, Natsume Minagawa, Shigune Nanadaru, and Suzaku Himejima.
- Power at a Price:
- Takeshi suffers from a plethora of side effects when using the auxiliary Sacred Gears contained within Cataclysm Zone. Mayhem Striker drains his life force each time it mends his injuries. Berserk Devastator shuts off his sense of pain and can drive him to rampage. Blight Current magnifies the pain from his injuries. Hesperides Fort increases his energy consumption during battle along with plaguing him with hyper-realistic nightmares during his sleep. Daeva Scope places a heavy burden on his mind and attempts to supplant his personality with that of Aži Dahāka, while also altering select memories in order to invert his personality. His Balance Breakers also magnify these effects or have a new downside to their use.
- Using her Lock Control puts a lot of strain on Rias' body due to her being more accustomed to using the Power of Destruction.
- Creating Demonic Swords or Holy Demonic Swords with two abilities on them is far more taxing for Yuuto.
- Overusing his Sacred Gear strains Gasper's eyes, causing them to swell and bleed.
- Power Incontinence:
- Pandora can use her Spirit Magic only for a brief period of time before the curse afflicting her drives the spirits she summons mad, resulting in her losing control of her powers and attacking both friends and foes. That ceases to be an issue after the events of Volume 9.
- Upon unlocking Berserk Devastator and using it during battle over a certain period of time, Takeshi would eventually lose control of himself due to Grendel's influence, leading him to rampage uncontrollably, with the Evil Dragon's influence growing stronger over time. This issue was fixed when Takeshi subjugated Grendel and unlocked his Sacred Gear's Balance Breaker.
- Powered Armor:
- Takeshi's Balance Breakers are an example of this.
- The Stray Exorcists the Gremory Peerage fights against in Volume 3 use powered suits of armor to increase their capabilities.
- Leon, Vali and Azazel's Scale Mails are also included in this.
- Pragmatic Hero: When Karlamine reveals herself and challenges the Gremory Peerage to come out and face her in a duel during the Gremory-Phenex Rating Game, Takeshi wastes no time shooting at her in an attempt to retire her.
- Running Gag: Takeshi is a horrible singer, to the point where his singing drove off a hostile group of Kappa. He says he's just as bad with all sorts of instruments.
- Shout-Out:
- Due to being a huge tokusatsu fan, especially Kamen Rider, Takeshi often uses catchphrases from various Kamen Rider shows while fighting or refers to tropes used within said shows. When it comes to Finishing Moves, most of them are also inspired by the various finishers Kamen Riders used. Both Leon and Vali also share the aforementioned traits as tokusatsu fans on the same level as Takeshi.
- Takeshi's Sacred Gear, Cataclysm Zone, is based on the Arcle and Altering from Kamen Rider Kuuga and Kamen Rider Agito respectively with elements borrowed from the Demons Driver featured in Kamen Rider Revice.
- When activating his Sacred Gear for the second time in the ORC clubroom, Takeshi mimics Ren Akiyama/Kamen Rider Knight's transformation pose from Kamen Rider Ryuki.
- Irina is revealed to be a Super Sentai fan during the events of Arc 5, with her favorite series being Tensou Sentai Goseiger. Takeshi wastes no time in revealing that his favorite Sentai is Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger, while Leon's is Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger.
- Rias' Destruction Avatar technique is based on the Susanoo technique from Naruto, something which she acknowledges in-universe.
- Pandora references the Hyperbolic Time Chamber from Dragon Ball when she and the Peerage first discover Ajuka's time-dilation barrier. Later, during the game against Riser, she uses the catchphrase of Avdol from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure when finishing off one of her opponents. During Gasper's introduction, she references Dio Brando and the Pillar Men from the latter series, while Koneko references Yoshikage Kira.
- During a conversation with Leon, Aria Enfield mentions the Beta Capsule and the Sparklence, the transformation devices used by Ultraman and Ultraman Tiga respectively.
- Super-Soldier:
- In Chapter 29, Leon reveals that he is the result of a clandestine Church experiment called the Theotokos Project. Its purpose was to create Miracle Children by mimicking the Immaculate Conception by implanting the aura of various Seraphs into female Exorcists and nuns, with the end goal being giving birth to an offspring of the deceased Deus Trinity by using his lingering aura. Leon is one of the ten Miracle Children created through this process, born through Archangel Michael's holy aura.
- Adam is revealed to be the result of an earlier experiment to create Miracle Children performed by the Protestant Church's Section Thirteen almost a century before the story's start, on which the Theotokos Project was based on. The remnants of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were also implanted into his body, allowing him to manifest their powers.
- Superpower Lottery:
- Leon not only inherited an abnormal amount of holy aura from his 'father', the Archangel Michael, he also got the Boosted Gear in birth, making him a force to be reckoned with.
- Vali has the same advantages as in canon with the addition of two original clan traits that belonged to Lucifer, making him even more of an exception since Devil King descendants have difficulty inheriting their forefathers' traits as a general rule.
- Their First Time:
- Rias and Takeshi have their first time in Chapter 20.
- Koneko and Takeshi have their first time in Chapter 36.
- Akeno and Takeshi have their first time in Chapter 56.
- Training from Hell:
- As preparation for their Rating Game against Riser, Grayfia subjects the Gremory Peerage to an intense training course involving moving in increased gravity within a hypoxic environment among other things.
- Takeshi's summer training under Tannin starts with daily bouts against the Dragon King and culminates in him being thrown into a pit/prison filled with feral Evil Dragons and asked to make his way to the exit while facing constant attacks, lack of food and a poisonous environment.
- Transformation Is a Free Action: Enforced. When Shalba Beelzebub begins to mutate in Chapter 53, Takeshi attempts to attack him, only for Aži Dahāka to forcibly paralyze him due to his curiosity and desire to crush the Devil King descendant at full strength.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Takeshi's decision to mount an unauthorized one-man rescue attempt for Pandora during Volume 3 leads to Rias taking the fall for him to prevent his imprisonment or execution. As a result, her reputation takes a major hit, the Peerage as a whole is penalized by having half of their earnings from contracts withheld, and Rias' parents are forced to expedite her marriage to Riser as a means to restore the family's standing, leading to the events of Volume 4.
- Unwitting Pawn: As the final scene of Chapter 9 reveals, the actions of Hisaya and his Oni merely served as a distraction for the mysterious Alkaid and Megrez to acquire a lead to one of their unspecified targets, with Alkaid remarking that whether they succeeded in their goal or not, it wouldn't affect their plans in the slightest.
- Villainesses Want Heroes: Tamamo-no-Mae, one of the malevolent Youkai leaders, attempts to seduce Takeshi on two separate occasions during Volume 7 due to being attracted to his malicious aura and good looks. However, he turns down her advances both times, much to her frustration.
- Year Inside, Hour Outside: Ajuka Beelzebub has developed technology that allows him to create time dilation barriers in which time flows slower compared to the outside. The Gremory Peerage takes full advantage of this during their ten-day training period for their game against Riser and starts using them in their regular training afterwards along with the Sitri Peerage.
