Chiron
The hero-maker.
The divine trainer.
The god who tragically died at the hands of his favorite student, at least in some versions.
A minor god, but one with tight connections to a bunch of Olympian big shots.
"And this is the guy who snatched Thrax…"
Talk about bad timing and rotten luck.
Sanguinius wasn't sure about the divine entity's strength. But he figured Chiron was probably a notch below Heracles.
Why that guess?
Heracles managed to take down Thanatos in the legends, and in the DxD universe, Thanatos is Ultimate-class in power.
"As his master and a god, Chiron's probably at the low end of Ultimate-class."
Could he take him?
Hell yeah, no question.
Sanguinius spread his angelic wings, now shining brighter than they ever did back in his celestial days.
He hid his draconic features and set off to confront the cunning god who'd stolen a talent from under his nose.
Normally, tracking down a single human in the vastness of Greece would be a pain.
But Sanguinius had told Cortana to slip a chip into the kid's body.
Official reason? To keep tabs on the knowledge he'd shared.
Real reason?
To avoid betrayal.
Something the AI didn't need to know.
In the end, he used it to track down and save the little punk.
"He went from a mountain area near the Mediterranean to northern Greece?"
It wasn't the location that surprised him, but how fast he got there.
Only logical explanation? Teleportation.
*Boom*
With a sonic boom, Sanguinius cranked up his flight speed, breaking the sound barrier.
It didn't take long for him to stumble across a landscape that hit him with its beauty and the sheer number and quality of supernatural beings living there.
"Nymphs, centaurs, sacred oaks, dryads?"
Tons of European monsters and legendary creatures he'd only heard about as myths in his past life.
Despite their perfect cover from mortal eyes, they couldn't hide from his draconic senses.
Soon enough, he picked up an energy similar to his father's, but way less pure and powerful.
With a light flap of his wings, he landed in front of a cave.
"Chiron, show yourself." His voice was calm as he called out the bold god.
No need for pleasantries with a thief.
Sanguinius didn't bother hiding his presence.
He stood in front of the cave, with no intention of waltzing in just yet.
"What brings such an esteemed archangel to my doorstep?" A neutral voice, laced with a hint of hostility, finally echoed from the cave.
A creature that looked like a centaur, but whose presence was clearly on another level, stepped out.
Now, Sanguinius was a big guy, standing at about 2.05 meters, but Chiron towered over him.
For the first time in a while, Sanguinius was the one being looked down on.
Chiron eyed the six pairs of wings on Sanguinius's back before locking eyes with him.
A flurry of thoughts raced through the god's mind, but most of them boiled down to one thing:
'Why's the Biblical God sending a servant this powerful after me?'
Yeah, Sanguinius had caught up to Azazel in Holy Power.
He used it to mask his massive magical energy and preferred to avoid using magic in the DxD universe's human world.
"I'm not here on Father's behalf. I'm here to take back the kid named Thrax."
At the mention of Thrax, the divine centaur subtly moved his hand toward his bow.
Sanguinius didn't explicitly stop the sneaky move, but he just locked his angelic eyes onto Chiron's.
The air got heavy.
His Holy Power flooded the area, smothering the divine trainer's godly aura.
Every creature nearby knew Chiron was in trouble with some unknown entity.
"Tch… that kid's a descendant of an Olympian… he can't serve under another faction's god," Chiron said, his tone firm.
Despite the intimidating aura, Chiron didn't back down.
His hooves even dug in, as he blocked the cave's entrance.
"If it weren't for my servant, that kid would be dead or just some feral nobody," Sanguinius shot back, stepping toward the centaur.
"I've poured time and hard-to-get resources into him, and you think I'm just gonna hand him over, Chiron?"
Chiron didn't answer.
As a teacher, he knew better than anyone the satisfaction of watching a student grow under your guidance.
"I… I get it, but… Greece is going through rough times. Mortals haven't earned the gods' favor yet… they need a hero."
Sanguinius was a bit thrown by the turn of events.
From Chiron's stance, he'd thought a fight was coming, but the god seemed to want to talk it out.
"Haven't you already got enough hero wannabes in that cave?"
Even from outside, Sanguinius could sense the presence of several kids.
If he didn't know Chiron's rep, he might've thought the god had some weird tendencies.
After all, this was Greece.
But Sanguinius had lost the right to judge Olympians after starting a thing with a lich… *cough*… necrophile.
"I've been picking up kids from all over for that reason. I was headed to Arcadia, looking for a better, more promising talent, and… I saw little Thrax."
Chiron explained his motives with some serious eloquence, wrapping up by restating his request to keep Thrax in his cave.
"I get it… I'll talk to Thrax. If he wants to stay, he can stay, but only after he's 18."
Chiron didn't look thrilled, but Sanguinius didn't budge.
You gotta understand, there's a specific window for turning someone into a Space Marine.
Thrax was already 13. He couldn't go another year without starting the surgical process.
So, no room for negotiation or other concessions.
"Fine, it's just five years… I'll figure out a way to help him catch up," Chiron said, finally leading the way.
It took the duo about ten seconds to find Thrax, instead of a bunch of passed-out kids.
"You were really gonna try escaping a god's lair? Haha," Chiron laughed at the sight, but shot a disapproving look at the other apprentices.
"This time, I'm not losing to your cheap tricks," Thrax said, releasing a whitish mist from his mouth.
The air around the kid turned dangerous, but the two in front of him didn't even flinch.
"Cool it, Thrax. You'll get another shot at Chiron in five years, unless you don't wanna come back here."
Thrax glanced at Sanguinius for a moment before stopping his breathing technique.
'Despite his shitty attitude, he's not a bad kid.'
Sanguinius walked up to Thrax.
The kid was caught off guard by the sudden ruffle of his hair but didn't stop the man.
He just clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Chiron… I've never been here, right?"
Unlike a lot of Olympians and Greek gods, Chiron wasn't dumb.
He just nodded, then gave a small warning.
"That kid's father won't let him go if he ever spots him. He should lay low until we meet again."