Chapter Text
Third Person Point of View
— ○ ● ○ —
That man was born without anything to himself. He was born with a weak and fragile body that did not have any demonic energy in it, so he was shunned by his own father, and by those around him. His only ally and solace was his own mother.
This young man tried to fit in, but because of his unique circ*mstances no one paid him mind—no one wanted to be his friend. Eventually, he and his mother were sent away to the countryside where they lived their days peacefully...that was until tragedy struck.
The Devil Sleep Disease is a unique disease to devils that afflicts both ordinary and noble Devils. When devils develop this disease, they fall into a deep sleep and won't be able to wake up. Then their bodies gradually starts to become weak, and they will meet death.
To the young Sairaorg Bael, his mother, Misla Bael contracted the disease and before she fell into her deep slumber, she made a single promise to her son.
—To become stronger than anyone else.
This was the promise he made to his mother. Sairaorg held onto that promise as he didn't want an unfair world where anyone he held dear would be subjected to the hardships he had to face. However, a miracle happened and he didn't have to go through it all alone.
After training for many years, and building his body up from nothing, he faced a certain haughty female devil. To the young Sairaorg Bael, it was just another noble devil who was brought up with everything they wanted—someone he would eventually put down with those rugged and ugly fists of his.
"You! State your name!" the young woman demanded.
The young girl was tall in height, with straight waist-length blue hair that had bangs split on both sides. She had deep purple eyes and she wore lavish and extravagant female noble attire. Beside her was her butler who looked indifferent as he stared at Sairaorg.
"I am under no obligation to tell you that!" Sairaorg replied defiantly. At this point in his life, he hadn't gathered a peerage yet. He was still yet to receive his [Evil Pieces], but he would have to receive them through a ceremony.
Sairaorg's defiant nature left the young lady speechless as she stood there, mouth agape and staring at the young Bael who had his arms crossed. The butler was amused by the situation so he decided not to interfere here.
"Y-you...!" she shouted and aimed her hand towards him while holding an umbrella with the other. A ball of demonic energy formed in front of her and flew towards Sairaorg.
The young Bael had been training for this very moment, his eyes sharpened and he pulled his arm back. To the shock of both the young lady and the butler, the young man threw his fist forward and hit the demonic ball—obliterating it.
'...A young man recklessly training on top of a certain mountain. His fists shake those very mountains as he desperately chases after something...could this young man be...?' thought the butler as he stared at Sairaorg.
Sairaorg in an instant appeared in front of the young lady who was surprised and fell on her back. She stared up at Sairaorg with fear in her eyes.
"Remember this well, because these fists will eventually be known throughout the Underworld. I am Sairaorg Bael—the man that will become a Satan one day!" he declared.
'It is him! The Bael who wasn't born with the [Power of Destruction]! Because of this he has trained his body—those fists to be able to destroy demonic energy at such a young age!' the butler was surprised and giddy at the same time, but knew he had to step in.
"Sairaorg Bael-sama, please forgive the young lady Stolas. She didn't know who you were," he said and bowed.
The young Sairaorg stared at the now-terrified and young Silveteela Stolas. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes tinged with a bit of arrogance.
That was the fateful meeting between Sairaorg Bael and Silveteela Stolas.
— ○ ● ○ —
Over the years as both young devils grew up, Sairaorg continued his diligent training—to hone and shape the perfect body for himself, a body that could become [Destruction] itself. Through those fists of his, he would produce the [Destruction] that the Bael family was known for, but his 'destruction' was different.
Silveteela Stolas also began to master the abilities of her clan, which enabled her to produce very potent and toxic poisons. They also grew their own herbs and were good at identifying different types of gems and stones at a glance. The trait for the poison of their clan was called [Sutanrete]. It's a poison that's effective against all types of creatures, but the Stolas clan themselves were immune to it.
The young Silveteela stalked Sairaorg wherever he went, however, the young Bael caught on and told her to stop it, or just spend time with him like a normal devil. Eventually, she agreed and it became less awkward between the two.
While Sairaorg continued his training and the honing of his body, he received his [Evil Pieces] and began his search for his peerage. To Sairaorg it didn't matter if you were of a noble, common, human or even hybrid background, he would accept anyone into his peerage, and that's how his peerage came to be.
It started with his [Queen]. He found Kuisha Abaddon after she was shunned from her clan, the Abaddon clan of devils. According to Kuisha herself, she had a low demonic pool and power. This made her own [Holes] from her clan to be tiny in size compared to the rest, so she was shunned much like Sairaorg.
This was rare among devils as most would usually have high demonic reserves. However, since she was like Sairaorg who was shunned because of her lack of power within him, he accepted her and they went back to train after that day—but during that time, the Stolas' clan's demise began.
It was already in decline for many years, but the decline accelerated once Lord Stolas, the current head perished. The cause at the time was unknown but it was due to the Khaos Brigade which eventually turned into the Khaos Order.
During those years, Silveteela had to become the next head and tried her best at keeping her clan afloat. Sairaorg was aware of this and assisted her as much as he could. But since he had his own dreams and ambitions, he had to focus on that—Silveteela also told him that one day.
In the gardens of the withering Stolas clan stood Silveteela Stolas and Sairaorg Bael. They were at the ripe age of thirteen years old.
"Sairaorg, I am grateful that you're assisting me and my house, but you have to focus on your own dreams," she told him.
"Do not fret, Silveteela, I—"
She shook her head. "No. You made that promise to Misla-sama, did you not? Achieving that dream takes priority over helping me and my crumbling clan. I appreciate the assistance, but please let me handle it—and before we temporarily part ways, I would like to apologize for my behavior all those years ago."
Sairaorg was surprised by this, but he smiled in the end. "We were both young back then, so do not agonize over things you said back then. I have already forgiven you. But are you sure? I have my peerage now and we can assist you."
"Have you forgotten that I also have my own peerage? I have a [Queen] and [Knight] now, Sairaorg, I will be fine. All I need to do is become a competent head and we'll pull through this," she said with a reassuring smile.
The young man stared at her for a few seconds and nodded. "Very well. I will accept this decision, but!" he shouted and stepped forward. Sairaorg then embraced Silveteela which made her blush. "When you truly need my help, do not hesitate to call me!" He looked at her with a gentle smile. "I'll come running to help you. I did not forget your attempts at looking at herbs and stones that would help wake my mother up, Teela."
With a face as red as the Gremory's hair, Silveteela Stolas nodded in embarrassment.
"I will hold you to that, Sairaorg," she replied and hugged him back.
In the distance was Silveteela Stolas' butler who watched her grow up and her current peerage. The butler had a handkerchief in his hand as he wiped tears from his face.
"Oooh! The youth of today...! The love...! Seeing them grow up...!" he said and wiped the tears from his eyes. Both the [Queen] and [Knight] watched on, happy for their [King].
— ○ ● ○ —
Not too long after those two temporarily parted ways, Sairaorg found the rest of his pieces besides the [Pawn]. He had also challenged his half-brother to a duel and the seat of head...to which he won and became the next head of the Bael clan.
He along with his peerage moved into the main house but Sairaorg visited his sleeping mother daily. He tried to have her moved, but Lord Bael, the current head was against it. He wanted to bring the issue up with the First-Generation Bael, but held back since he would only ever go to that figure if he was up against a wall.
Eventually Sairaorg came across...a peculiar sight. A golden lion was fighting devils in a certain area of the Underworld. He had gone out to train by himself and came across such a sight—and once the golden lion was finished attacking its attackers, it turned to Sairaorg and attacked him.
He accepted the challenge and after a gruesome battle, he came out victorious and tamed the lion thanks to his mother's original clan's ability, lion taming from the Vapula clan of devils. However, much to his surprise he had attained one of the original 13 Longinus.
"[Regulus Nemea], huh? To think you would be down here in the Underworld, was your previous master a hybrid of a human and devil?" Sairaorg asked the now transformed Sacred Gear.
[Regulus Nemea] in his human form, he had the appearance of a young boy with spiked dark orange hair, golden eyes, and facial markings.
"Yes, that was my previous master, but he was ambushed and...as you saw, I killed the attackers, but he lost his life. However, I thought you were part of their group that's why I attacked, you please forgive me," replied the Sacred Gear.
Sairaorg nodded. "I will help bury him...but after that, what will you do? Normally don't Sacred Gear return to Heaven and then given to a new wielder?" he asked.
"Yes, but I believe a bug occurred and I became like this, so right now...I am roaming and looking for a new master. With that said, I'd like you to be my next master," he said surprising Sairaorg. "I can feel some sort of pull towards you. I do not know why though."
Sairaorg couldn't help but smile. "It must be because of my mother's blood," he told him and explained to the Sacred Gear.
The Sacred Gear nodded. "I see...the ability to tame lions, certainly if you had the blood within you—that's why I felt a pull...so what is your answer? I have an axe form, and I can—"
"I do not use weapons! These fists of mine are more than enough!" Sairaorg suddenly shouted, surprising the Sacred Gear.
"Certainly, your fists are powerful..." replied [Regulus Nemea]. "...Then how about my Balance Breaker? From what I can tell you should be able to use it since your body is trained enough. It will clad you in golden lion armor and since you use your fists to fight, then you'll get a boost in power as well as defense when utilizing my armor."
Sairaorg sat there staring at the Sacred Gear, and it continued. "You will still need to train to lessen the stamina drain and increase your mastery over it, so it's not a cheap and easy way of gaining power."
Sairaorg smiled. "Very well. However, I will turn you into my [Pawn], how does that sound?"
"I do not mind, since you are my new master," replied the Sacred Gear.
"Good. But I will call you a different name, saying [Regulus Nemea] every time is a mouth full...then how about just 'Regulus'?" asked Sairaorg.
"Yes, master!" replied Regulus happily. Sairaorg laughed and brought out his [Evil Pieces]. He put a single [Pawn] piece and saw it wasn't enough, and he started adding more until seven pieces were used and Regulus was finally reincarnated.
"I didn't expect that," said Sairaorg as he stared at his last piece—a single [Pawn] piece that was mutated. "But as expected of a Scared Gear and one of the original Longinus. Now then, let us go back home!"
"Yes, Master!"
That day, Sairaorg Bael obtained a Sacred Gear and the last member of his peerage, and when he returned home, the rest of his peerage were shocked to say the least.
— ○ ● ○ —
Time slowly passed and Sairaorg and Silveteela reconnected as she started to bring back the Stolas clan out of financial ruin. However, as the years passed, both of them became worried that Sairaorg's mother wouldn't wake up from her sleeping disease...until they heard a rumor.
'—Someone called the Middleman is boasting about bringing peace to the supernatural world and will do requests and jobs for peace from any of them.'
When the two of them heard that from their servants, they were skeptical. However, being desperate, Sairaorg took the chance and asked his cousin Sirzechs Lucifer about the man, and he soon enough, said man showed up right at his doorsteps.
At that time, Sairaorg was surprised that it was someone close to age as him and he became slightly spectacle. However, due to how he interacted with Satan Lucifer and the strongest [Queen] of the Underworld at the time, he held out hope.
However, that hope quickly came back as his mother who had been sleeping for a very long time woke up. He couldn't help but feel relief as he felt her stroking his head and he spent many minutes telling her of his adventures and hardships over the years.
"...Doesn't that mean you love her?" his mother suddenly said. Sairaorg froze upon hearing that statement. His mother smiled and added, "Apart from your training and becoming the next head of the clan, she's the one you speak of the most. Sairaorg, follow your heart and you'll arrive at that answer."
"...Yes mother, I will," he replied. "I will go and thank the man responsible for this."
His mother agreed and Sairaorg went back outside. Once there he was offered a wheelchair and he accepted gracefully. He wanted to thank the man, but at the same time his fighting spirit told him that he had to fight him too—at a quick glance, the man in front of him looked relaxed, but he knew that he was powerful.
"Jin, I'd like to have a sparring match with you," he told him. Sairaorg didn't expect for him to accept since such a request was sudden and out of the blue.
Instead, the man chuckled and said, "Sure, I don't mind. But where did this come from all of a sudden?"
Sairaorg explained a bit of his past and they finally went to the nearby colosseum and had a sparring match. He was ousted of having a Sacred Gear, forced to use it and still badly lost—according to everyone around him, he was injured quite badly. Soon after that, Jin, the newly appointed Middleman left.
"...I'd like to fight him again someday," Sairaorg muttered. "But I need to get stronger first."
Soon after that, his friend Silveteela found out about what had happened and scolded him.
"Are you an idiot?! No, you are. I've always known you were an idiot! A blockhead! Muscle brain!" she said in frustration while also worried for him. "You're lucky he healed you..."
"Fuhahaha! I am fine, Teela. You worry too much!" replied Sairaorg. Both of them were in her office in the Stolas territory. Silveteela put a hand on her head, annoyed and frustrated by her friend. "But I believe he will do a lot of good in the coming months. Call it a gut feeling."
"...Your intuition has always been right, so I'll trust you but you really need to be more aware of your surroundings. Especially to the people who are worried about your well-being. You know as well as I that you're strong, but there are limits to that and you felt that against the Middleman, right?" she asked.
Sairaorg couldn't deny that. Even as they fought, he felt inside of him that he couldn't win. However, his pride wouldn't let him back down and he kept on fighting until the end. However, it also showed him that he wasn't at his limit yet and he could keep growing.
As Sairaorg thought of what to say back, he instinctively got closer to Silveteela and got behind her desk. He then peered at her face making her blush. As he did that, he remembered his mother's words. He pulled away, looked at the large glass window in front of him and nodded. These set of actions confused Silveteela.
"Um, Sairaorg—" As she was bout to ask him what he was thinking about, the man leaned back down and kissed her much to her surprise. But she quickly put her hands on his chest and kissed him back. After a few seconds they separated. Silveteela blushed the entire time.
"Mother woke up and told me to follow my heart. I have always done that, but romance and other things...were just at the back of my head. I guess because of various things happening recently, it made me think about the future more—my own personal future that doesn't involve being a Satan or the next head, but as just Sairaorg Bael," explained Sairaorg.
Sairaorg gentle grasped both of her hands into his. "These are rugged and ugly hands that's mainly used for fighting, the same with my body—in truth I'm just a muscle brain idiot as you said, but...if possible, can you stay by my side even more? If possible, not as a friend but as a lover."
"...Those fists can be gentle too, Sai. Even after you've been through you still remain a kind person, and even treated me the same after our initial meeting. You kindly helped me when my house was falling apart. It would be pretty difficult for me not to fall in love with you after all that," she said and kissed him again.
...Outside the door was Silveteela's butler. He had planned on bringing some tea and snacks for the both of them, but heard that conversation outside the door and couldn't bring himself to go in. Instead, he simply stood outside and quietly cried.
"Finally...it's finally happening...Lady Stolas...!" he whispered to himself.
The Lady of the house of Stolas took her own life a year after the decline of the house. However, before that she was a loving mother and wife to her daughter and husband. It may have looked selfish, but Lady Stolas had a sickness she kept secret from everyone and knew that the medical bills would be too much for the household, so she left one day and took her own life. It was only four months after her disappearance that her body was found along with a letter to her daughter and Sairaorg.
That day, Sairaorg Bael and Silveteela Stolas entered into a secret relationship.
— ○ ● ○ —
Aaron Toole's Soliloquy
— ○ ● ○ —
Right after the match between [Team Phantastic Dragons] and [Team Trump Card of Heaven], I along with a few others immediately headed to the Underworld to perform a live show for the Oppai Dragon show. Instead of letting my avatar do it, I thought it would be an enjoyable change of pace by doing it myself.
The show itself ended on a good note as everyone performed well, and the children enjoyed watching it. Even after Kiba became Yumi and the character was revealed to be a woman pretending to be a man, her popularity just skyrocketed even more. However, I fear I gave future generations a new fetish...
— ○ ● ○ —
Several hours after our performance, event signings, and meetup were held, we moved to another location. The truth of the matter is our schedule today was filled with events like these. We had a hero show at an outdoor theater during the daytime, and in the evening, there was going to be a talk show between young Kings.
The topic of the show was [The Future of the International Rating Game, the Avezza Cup]. As for the people appearing in the show, they were young Devils who were currently participating in the International Rating Game and were superstars among the citizens of the Underworld.
Rias and Sairaorg were invited, and I was invited along as an honorable guest and one of the organizers. Meanwhile, Sona and Seekvaira were also invited but couldn't make it because of their own schedules not fitting in with the talk show.
Right now, we were on the talk show and the host stood in front of the podium and explained to the audience what the topic we were going to speak about tonight.
"Then, without further ado, we'll call upon the two most anticipated Kings in this game as well as one of the organizers. Please come forward."
Rias, Sairaorg and I came up to the stage while receiving applause and as instructed by the host, we sat down on the chairs prepared for us. Rias and Sairaorg were at the front while mine were a bit behind them. When looking around the stadium, I saw that every single chair was filled, not a single one of them was empty. There were even some standing up to see us.
"Now that Prince Sairaorg, Princess Rias and Jin Skyward-sama have arrived, we'll start the show. To begin, the beginning of the [Avezza Cup], the International Rating Game which has been a main focus for many different factions..."
During the talk, the host briefly recalled some of the highlights of the games so far and talked about the current events. He also talked about the games that Sairaorg, Rias and I (exhibition match) had participated in, and also asked about our feelings about the game as well.
"I am very thankful that many different factions came together to make this event a reality. As one of the participants, I am honored to be included in such an event, and as one of the Devils in the game, I cannot let my guard down," Sairaorg said seriously.
"As a game that anyone can participate in, I think there's a high chance we can find someone who deserves some attention or possesses a hidden genius or an unknown talent. I want to meet those people and fight against those people. It's most likely that we'll be able to meet people who can not only help during the competition, but also help the Underworld and the supernatural world at large," said Rias.
I then received a certain question.
"As a person responsible for our current peace as well as one of the organizers of the tournament, you boldly said you'd grant any wish to the winners, is that true?"
Thinking about it for a second, I looked at the ground then back up at everyone.
"It is not just me who is the reason for our peace existing. Many people contributed to it, so they deserve as much praise and attention. As for your second question, I can, and as long as it's not anything like starting a war, or turning one's self into a god, I can grant it, but there will be restrictions. It will be revealed to the winners when the time comes."
The host smiled and nodded. He then followed up with, "I see. Then the upcoming match between [Team Leisure of the Kings] and [Team Golden Rakshasa] is getting a lot of attention. What are your thoughts on that? How about Princess Rias and your rival, the White Dragon Emperor's match? As well as Prince Sairaorg and Cao Cao's match, he is your subordinate now too, correct?"
"Because of the viewers at home, they wish to see me fight Vidar, and I will wholeheartedly fight him during that game. As for Rias' and Vali's match...I will be cheering for both my fiancé and my little brother. They've grown a lot and I look forward to seeing that in the game."
"For Sairaorg and Cao Cao's game...it's also another match I look forward to seeing. I owe a great debt to Sairaorg and he's an excellent friend of mine. As for Cao Cao...we had a rough start, but he's also changed since then, so I eagerly look forward to seeing his performance in the match," I told them.
"So, theoretically, if your 'little brother', the White Dragon Emperor makes it to the finals and wins, the fated battle between the two Heavenly Dragons will be seen by the entire supernatural, correct?" the host asked.
"I would assume so, yes," I replied.
When I gave that answer, the entire place cried 'Ooooo!' and the place became excited. Because Vali was entering under the name 'Vali Lucifer', so many devils in the Underworld became known to his circ*mstances as the last living blood relative of the original Lucifer.
I also heard from Serafall and Sirzechs that some of the older devils are becoming shady again as they found out about the original Satans revival and wish to contact them. I've prevented it from happening since that would become a bigger headache than necessary.
And just like that, the show continued with all three of us answering various types of questions. Then, near the end, it happened. As Sairaorg was answering a question about 'The future of the devil players who were participating in the game'.
"...Therefore, I think that it's not an awful thing for pro players to lose to other teams. Instead, they should take that as a lesson to create a much better team—"
"You cheat!!" someone from the audience shouted, interrupting him. One male audience member stood up and looked at us. No, he glared at Sairaorg.
"Yeah! You used the [King] piece, didn't you?!"
"That's why you're that strong without having any powers!"
"You're the heir to the Great King, aren't you?! Then there's no doubt about it! You used it!"
Words of criticism came flooding in and the number of people standing up from their seats increased.
"P-please everyone calm down. This is time for the International Rating Game, not—"
The host tried his best to keep the situation under control, but the voices of resentment only grew and grew.
Another audience member couldn't hold his anger and shouted, "You protected the politicians in the Great King faction as well! I bet you did that to hide your own duty!"
They even started to go after the politicians. I knew that this would happen, because of the use of the [King] piece by certain people, the House of Bael would be scrutinized by the people, because some of those people that used it were backed by them.
Although, hearing a friend of mine be accused of that annoys me. They had no evidence of him using it, and Rias and I knew that he didn't use it. He got that strong because of his own hard work and a bit of help from me. That guy built himself from the ground up. He wouldn't resort to such underhanded tactics...
"Scum!"
It only took one person to say that before the others started to chant it in unison.
"Scum! Scum!"
"Scum!"
Nearly everyone in the venue started to shouted 'scum' at Sairaorg. As I mentioned, not everyone did it, but a significant amount did and it couldn't just be ignored. In the meantime, Sairaorg kept silent and took the abuse in stride. He wasn't angry and kept his composure.
I let out a hot and frustrated sigh through my nose. Losing my cool here wouldn't do anyone any favors. But as much as I wanted to defend my friend, it would probably worsen it.
Rias, who had moved her chair back near mine, put her hand above mine, indicating that she was frustrated at the situation. Both of us wanted to do something, but we didn't. Rias and her peerage would come under attack and suspicion.
She, along with many others associated with me grew strong, incredibly so, but it was accelerated at such an abnormal rate and speed, that the crowd would definitely start accusing her too.
I would also come under fire since I said I could grant any wish, so it wouldn't be far-fetched to say that I could create the [King] piece and give it to them, right? Or use another method to increase their strength—the fact that we're friends will also make them think I'm doing it in favor of them.
'You're a king and also a ruler now. Protecting yourself, as well as your subordinates, allies, friends and loved ones comes first and is your prime duty. However, you also can't act recklessly to endanger them socially,' said Rudra. 'This is the start; you can't let this get to you.'
He was right, so I closed my eyes. I will do my best in helping him once we were in a more private setting, but for now...I'll hold my tongue and anger.
"You cheat! Go get burned by the angels!"
Curses were still thrown at Sairaorg while he was getting escorted out by the security. He would never resort to that, as someone who exchanged blows with those fists—that person, I understood that very well. He's a man who wouldn't resort to those things, ever. He even refused me trying to give him the [Power of Destruction] as well as access to demonic powers...
As he was about to leave the venue, Sairaorg said, "...Please watch my future fights. I request that everyone here to watch my battles from now on, that's all I can say at this point."
When he said that, the people who were cursing and throwing things his way became silent. For the rest of the interview, I maintained my regular composure, but silently seethed. However, as he said, I'd let Sairaorg's actions speak for themselves during his upcoming game.
— ○ ● ○ —
After finishing the talk show and the hero show, we stayed in a high-class hotel at Lilith. I was in my own room with Lavinia who came with me as well as Rossweisse, however, neither of them could come with me onto the stage so they were in the backstage. Rias travelled back to the Gremory territory as she was summoned by Venelana.
Lavinia left earlier to buy some food around Lilith along with Rossweisse, so I was by myself in our room, until I heard a knock on the door and I got up to see who it was. When I opened it, I was surprised to see Serafall there with Scathach.
"That's a rather odd combination. Come in, and how can I help you guys?" I asked as they came into my room.
"My schedule cleared up, so I have time to come home more often! The android fairy-chan is really the MVP in my job, but it's not just paperwork anymore and a lot of talks, I'm tired..." replied Serafall as she jumped towards and I caught her.
"Fufu, she is lying. She watched the fiasco that happened at that show live. Sairaorg was targeted after all, but it was clear that you were frustrated by the whole thing," said Scathach as she came up and touched my cheek.
"Well, I can't just lash out or it would make things worst for him and me. Anyway, we still have tomorrow's shows to do and then they'll have their match the day after," I told them and sat on bed.
"We're back! Oh? Sera and Scathy~ I didn't think you two would be here~" Lavinia said as she and Rossweisse came back to our hotel room with several bags and food. "Will you two stay here with us for the night?"
"S-Scathy...? Well...that was the plan," replied Scathach as she seemed confused by the sudden nickname.
"Yeeeeeeeeees! Seeeeeeeex!" Serafall screamed and put her arms up while rubbing herself against me. Seeing her like this makes me wonder who enjoys the act more. Me or her?
The rest of the night passed with not much incident and unfortunately for Serafall there was no sex, but we did do a little something in the bath.
— ○ ● ○ —
The next morning, it was still quite early and I sneaked out and headed to a nearby park around the hotel. I saw this place from my hotel window. Sairaorg was training in a remote part of the park alone. After seeing him training in his work clothes, so I decided to join him.
The rest of his peerage was also in another hotel. It seems like he decided to go to another one so we wouldn't be bothered by the people that hated him. He was too considerate.
But I do have to commend him for training straight after that fiasco last night, even more so for doing it openly, even if it's early in the morning.
When I approached him, he turned his attention to me. Looking at him, I asked, "Do you mind if I run with you?"
Initially shocked at seeing me and my offer, he shook his head and quickly agreed with a bitter smile. We ran through the early morning of the capital in silence. After a few kilometers, he spoke to me.
"Physical training, this is something you need to do regularly. I even did it in our 100 years in your dimension. Although I noticed that you had done it earlier when everyone was still asleep. It's one of the trainings I like the most," he said."
"...I don't get to do it quite as often, but if given the chance, I'll just hop into a dimension, change the time dilation and run for a few kilometers, around 10 km or 20 km for the day," I replied. It wasn't often though...I got into the habit while in isolation for 10,000 years.
We fell back into silence as we ran through the park. Eventually, we saw four figures in front of us. They were Silveteela Stolas, his fiancé, Lavinia, Kuisha and Scathach. They were also in workout clothes and joined us. The silence continued though as we jogged.
Sairaorg then said after a few minutes, "It seems like you got mad on my behalf.
Everyone there glanced at me as I sighed. Perhaps I was too obvious with my emotions? Or he knew me well enough to know I would react like that. Either way, the cursing, and hate directed at Sairaorg didn't stop after he left.
"...It's as you said, all you need to do is to prove to them that you don't have the [King] piece through your future games, and that will shut them up," I told him and smirked. I wanted to do more, obviously, but as I said, it would just make things more difficult for both parties.
Sairaorg laughed wholeheartedly and said, "Hahaha! I'm thankful for that gesture alone. I was informed of your evolution and isolation, so I believe you have more on your plate than I do now. As the leader and face of Team [DxD], as the Oppai Dragon, and as the leader of an up-and-coming faction, you can't afford to let things like that get on your nerve."
"This is basically my destiny for being born into the House of Bael. To tell you the truth, I'm slightly happy that I got into this situation in the first place," he told me.
"This is definitely not an easy life, but many people regard me as a Devil of the House of Bael, or the Heir of the House of Bael. It's a painful and tiring situation...but it's worth it, and I genuinely want to sort this situation out as well."
Even after being ridiculed and accused of using the [King] piece and having his own powers questioned, this person still took pride in being a Bael. When looking at his life so far, it has certainly been full of hardships, but he has gained his powers and position legitimately.
Whatever things came his way, this person wouldn't become flustered at all since he already went through countless instances of pain and suffering to get to where he was.
When I think about it again, he's still amazing. I can't compare. My struggles so far seem like nothing...no, I can't think like that. All of our hardships have shaped all of us, belittling another is just a stupid way of thinking.
Sairaorg continued and said, "Aaron Toole. I'm just a stupid devil. Towards my comrades, citizens and loved ones, I can't do anything but be honest. I've trained this body after countless losses, but I have to keep moving forward and towards my goal and just win."
He suddenly stopped running and so did we. He lifted up his fist to the sky and added, "So that I can reach anything with these ugly fists of mine, I'll keep on training and become a better person."
His fists were riddled with scars and the skin had become rigid. It was well trained so that it didn't look like a fist that belonged to a noble prince.
"In spite of this, others were born with their natural talent and I was not. You've surely seen and experienced this throughout your one-year journey, right?" he asked.
If I hadn't been given my powers, I would have surely struggled with many enemies. In my eyes they were geniuses and hard workers... Yumi, Vali, Cao Cao and various others. Men and women I fought who trained most of their lives.
At times, I wondered if I really deserved it. However, I also trained on my own, even if it wasn't in front of many others. But it also felt weird until I evolved and trained for those 10,000 years.
"However! There are limits to what talent alone can do, and soon, those people will realize their limits too. But there is no end to patching up what you lack and training will definitely improve them."
"If what you lack is speed, then you need to train in that. If you lack physical strength, then you need to train in that. If you would like to be more unpredictable, then you just need to interact with the unknown," he declared and put his fist in front of me, asking for a fist bump.
"You just have to keep training. I heard from Kuisha that you doubt yourself at times. During those 100 years, I saw you train when no one was looking, even Cúntóir-dono told us as much. At a glance, you seem to have a lot of power because of what you are, but you still train regardless of that. You must not deny the efforts you have made. That is the real enemy."
I stared at Sairaorg as he waited for me to bump fists with him. As I raised my arm, a memory flashed in my head. It was from my past life; Ryan and I were hanging out normally and he was frustrated with me about something and he snapped.
'You keep saying you're not good enough, but holy sh*t, dude! You're at the top of our class! Your dad just keeps on sh*tting on you to downplay your achievements! f*ck him! Just look at your grades for f*ck sake!'
'The Toole I know is a hard worker. I don't know what weird delusional thinking you have, but you need to get out of it or I'll punch you! And I'm f*ckin' serious!'
A grinned appeared on my face as I bumped fists with him. As I was about to reply to him, all of us turned to our right and saw another person there.
"...Ah, what a coincidence."
He had short black hair, blue eyes and wore a training jersey—it was Cao Cao.
"Cao Cao...why are you here? I thought you were training in my home," I said.
"Heracles came here, so I went with him. We stayed the night, but I didn't think I would come across all of you," he said and glanced at everyone.
While some people have forgiven him and his comrades for their past actions, not everyone has. Like what Yasaka and Kunou said, some youkai still hate him. The same applies with the devils of the Underworld because of the [Demonic Beast Riots].
"Hmm? Is something on my face, Silveteela Stolas?" he asked.
She shook her head and said, "No, it's just that this is the first time I've seen you without your spear. You're usually carrying it around..."
He smirked. "It wouldn't be wise to do that. I understand that not everyone has forgiven me, nor do I expect them to, so if I carried my newly acquired spear around, I would have the devil authorities called on me," he replied.
However, the man beside me only coldly glared at Cao Cao since he showed up. The others also noticed this too, but in a way, it was understandable since they were going to be fighting in the next game. Both [Kings] met by chance here in a park in the Underworld of all places.
Cao Cao himself glared at Sairaorg for the next few seconds.
However, Scathach added fuel to the fire. She said, "Youth, it's splendid, yes, let's glare more at each other."
"Don't provoke them..." I chided. She responded with a smirk.
The glaring eventually stopped as he walked past Sairaorg and said, "I'm looking forward to the match, Great Lion King."
With a provocative smile on his face, Sairaorg responded with, "Heh, I'll see you at the arena then, former wielder of the Holy Spear."
And just like that, the short exchange between both men ended. One was known as the incarnation of strength of the devils while the other was known for his former spear. They didn't need to exchange too many words, as those simple ones were enough to convey their feelings.
Even though the most anticipated game that was coming was between [Team Leisure of the Kings] and [Team Golden Rakshasa], this one was also all over the newspapers of the Underworld.
"So, what's up with the slight animosity?" I asked, knowing exactly how he would answer.
He shook his head and said, "Ah, well, it's just that I only ever meet that guy when something big is about to happen. The Kyoto incident, and the [Demonic Beast Riots]. I know he repented and even risked his life to fight for another universe, but..."
"Are you curious?" I asked while grinning at him. Sairaorg nodded in response.
"The power and mastery he possessed while still wielding the holy spear was second to none. However, since he lost it you informed us you bestowed him a new spear, one that rivals or is stronger than the [True Longinus]...I can't help but be curious about it," he said while looking at Cao Cao's back.
"In addition, I can't help but think that his life so far has been very complicated, maybe even more than mine..." he added.
A life that can't be summed up in just a sentence. The life of the man who previously possessed the strongest holy spear, the [True Longinus]. Sairaorg and the rest of the group can only imagine how a man lived such a life.
"...It makes me wonder why he decided to challenge supernatural beings," said Lavinia as she came to my side and grabbed my hand.
"Did he not say that it was the humans—the heroes' job to topple down such beings?" asked Scathach.
"Perhaps that was his initial reasoning, but after experiencing the changes throughout the year, I wonder what his new stance is now? For a man who lost everything and gained something new, what kind of thoughts does he have now?" Sairaorg asked and then started jogging again.
...I knew, as someone who knows everything now—I know what he's thinking. The man who once thought he had it all, the man who once had the strongest holy spear, the man who led others who had heroes' blood in them.
To him, toppling thing such as gods and buddhas don't matter as much anymore. He only wishes to get stronger for various other reasons. But to Cao Cao right now, the reason for his participation can be summed up in two words. For growth and for love.
The day he spoke to Vasco Strada changed his life, as well as his visit to the Phantasma. Both of these men have something to work for—and those dreams will keep pushing them.
This match will be talked about for a long time. A match between two people whose dreams are pitted against each other.
The Great King that didn't have the [Destruction] of the Bael clan and the man who had the blood of a hero in his veins and who lost one of the greatest spears in the world. Who would come out on top?
As we watched Sairaorg jog away, I said, "The man whose fists became [Destruction] themselves or the [Spear of the Universe], it makes you think who would win in an all-out fight, right?"
— ○ ● ○ —
Third Person Point of View
— ○ ● ○ —
That man was born with the greatest spear in his hand, yet he lost it—he lost it to that man and his dream of peace.
— ○ ● ○ —
A boy was born in a village in a remote mountainous region in China. The family members of this house in which the boy was born into had been traditional farmers.
The boy's grandparents, great grandparents, and so on had all lived their whole lives in that village as farmers. This boy also started his farm life as he grew older, learning how to farm from his parents day in and day out.
It was a farming village. There were no televisions, let alone electricity in the village. The house the boy lived in was just a shack, but so were all the other houses in the village. That was the way of life there.
The boy enjoyed running around the mountains and playing with children his age. His heart jumped whenever he heard stories with 'monsters' in them. He liked playing 'monster hunting' with his friends in the mountains.
That boy had a place to go whenever he was happy or upset or when he was scolded. His own special place. He climbed up the tallest tree in the village and looked up at the nameless mountain in front of him.
The tallest mountain he could see from his village. The boy's dream was to climb to the top of that mountain one day. The calming and static life in the village, the boy thought life wouldn't change in his lifetime.
But that sort of life wouldn't remain the same. One day, an incident happened. It happened when he stepped into the mountains to play with his friends again. He was the only one who got lost and ended up losing his way deep inside the forest.
The thing he met there was a monster he had never seen before. The boy saw the monster eating an animal by chance, and unfortunately, he was spotted by the monster right there. The monster said that it was his first time in a long time to taste a human and jumped at the boy.
The boy ran for his life as fast as he could, but since it was a dense forest, he couldn't run as fast as he wanted. With his small and childish steps, there was no way he could outrun a monster. Then, when he was about to be eaten by the monster and given up hope, his whole life flashed before his eyes. Suddenly, he thought of that time he played the 'monster hunting' game with his friends.
'...I don't want to die...I want powers that can beat those monsters,' he thought and just like that, a miracle occurred.
He felt a pulse deep inside his heart. And with a bright light, an object shimmered in white light. A spear with a holy aura around it. The monster staggered as his body was disintegrated by the light of the spear. The boy grabbed the spear, and as if he had known how to use it his entire life, he attacked the monster.
...A few minutes later, the boy was covered in blood and stood expressionless where the monster used to be. And about an hour later, the village's search party found the boy in the forest. Everyone, including the boy's parents, was shocked at the sight of the boy covered in blood.
After that, his life continued normal...except for one thing. He could now summon that holy spear from his body at will. He didn't understand what had happened to his body. It was so unbelievable that he didn't tell his parents or friends.
But when he stared at that spear, his mind became calm. For an exquisite spear to appear before his eyes, the eyes of a boy living a normal life in a remote village. At that moment, he had something to 'show off' to others. Half a year later, the boy met another monster.
"Oh ho~ looks like that spear has gone to some troublesome kid."
It was a monster resembling an old monkey. That monster called himself 'Sun Wukong'. The monkey monster spoke while patting the boy's head.
"Hey kiddo, that spear will make your life here—in this small and remote village very difficult. But don't let that spear control your life, alright? You're you, and not the spear. You need to make that spear part of you."
After that, the monkey monster said something like 'right, what should I report back to the heavens?' and smiled bitterly before disappearing. But just before he departed, he left the young boy with parting words.
"I don't know if you know this, kiddo, but the blood of the hero of this country, [Cao Cao], runs through you. Well, so far, it's just running through your body, that's all. To be able to awaken that power and use it is a whole different story, and that's up to you."
...Cao Cao. It was a name without any resemblance to his own, a complete stranger's name. But the word 'Hero' stayed strongly with him. After gaining that spear, the boy experienced countless mysterious encounters. And after a while, not only monsters, but even humans approached him.
One day coming home after a day's work on the farm, the boy saw a bunch of men in suits at his house. His parents smiled when they saw the boy.
"This is very exciting news!"
"Yes, great news indeed!"
Since his parents hugged him tightly while saying that, the boy was surely confused. Even during that, his parents continued.
"You've been accepted to a school in the city!"
"This is amazing! You can eat lots of tasty food there!"
The boy's head was filled with questions, but...a man in a suit smiled at him and said, "You've been chosen, and we've come to tell your parents the news."
And then, they explained what was going on. However, as they used all sorts of difficult words which the boy couldn't understand, he couldn't follow what was going on.
However, he knew one thing for sure. His gaze was locked on his father's hands. His father was holding a thick wad of cash. Even this small child could understand what was going on.
He had just been sold.
That night, the boy, only with a small amount of food in his pocket, ran away from his home. He thought that by leaving the house for a few days, he could return to his normal life after that.
But his delusions were shattered when a visitor from a world outside his own came to him. Adults wielding weapons targeted the boy, and just like that, an unequal and struggling life had started.
Waving his holy spear around, the boy ran away from these adults. Even after being caught by his pursuers, he escaped with his life thanks to his spear. Even after being cornered by wild animals in the middle of the forest, he escaped with his life thanks to his spear.
Even after being confronted by human traffickers in one village, he escaped without dying thanks to his spear. Having experienced many events that could change his whole life around in a row, the boy saw the wide world for himself.
Shiny buildings with towers as tall as mountains, roads that could host countless people once the festival started. Even in that huge town, his pursuers targeted him and his spear.
'Give up your spear now! That is an object that the likes of you should never handle!'
The day-to-day life of risking his life continued. And there were even people who tried to recruit him using sweet and tempting words. However, after being sold by his parents and chased by many people, the boy became a person who couldn't trust anything but his spear.
And just like that, a few years after leaving his home village the boy left China for another country. While meeting and observing people and cultures he had never seen before, he began to believe in something.
'...I've got this spear in my possession. With this, I will be able to travel anywhere and will be able to beat anyone.'
While he was on the run, he awakened his talent and learned the abilities of his spear. And after denouncing his own name, he began to use the name of the hero that the monkey demon used...Cao Cao.
Also, he had learned that his spear was one of the Sacred Gears, and of those, one of the special Longinus, and the strongest of all...one of the Holy Relics.
The boy now named Cao Cao then roamed around the Earth, and after becoming an adult, he visited the village he grew up in once again. While traveling around the world, he learned that his village was a very small part of the world. And most of all, he learned the terrifying power of this object called 'money'.
Cao Cao had reached an understanding that with a huge sum of money, even basic farmer parents in remote villages were willing to give their son away. It wasn't like he wanted to fault his parents at this stage, nor intended to stay in that village any longer.
But he wanted to see his parents' faces at least once. But the house he once lived in had become deserted. His parents no longer lived there.
When he asked around the village, they told him the story of what had happened. After their son ran away, it was said that his parents were visited by an agent of a certain faction. His parents decided to give information about their son away.
Information about a person who wielded the world's strongest Longinus was precious. Information that could be used to lead that user to their side was too great of a temptation.
On top of that, his parents had earned great money selling information about him, and as a result, they had learned the joys of spending. For people who had lived all their lives poor, it was a turning point.
Of course, people who had never known the joy of spending would also not know how to spend sensibly...and not long after having lost their sight to money, they had accumulated a huge amount of debt. Day after day, they were chased by debt collectors. The path that they had chosen was...a thorny one.
The villager, who told Cao Cao the story, pointed to the empty house and said, "...They hung themselves there."
...That was the final answer those two gave him.
'...I wonder if I wasn't born with this spear, would our lives be peaceful?' he thought. But he quickly shook his head. '...Me or my parents, we are all weak humans.'
With or without the spear, it didn't change the fact that they were weak. Even with the blood of a hero and possessing the spear, he wouldn't be able to change the outcome back then.
If he had fought there instead of running away, his parents might not have met their demise. If he had talked to them instead of running away, all of them might have survived.
It could have happened, it could have, it could have... All the possibilities went through his head, but...it was all pointless, and all he could see was the reality where he was standing in front of his old, empty and abandoned house.
After sitting there for about an hour, Cao Cao left the village. Swearing that he would never return.
'In this world, there is only I. All I have is this spear. If that's the case...all I can do is to go as far as I can with this spear.'
That was what Cao Cao used as his fuel...his reason for living. After that, he had met people whose lives had been ruined because of Sacred Gears just like himself. And in the process of meeting them, he learned about the supernatural beings such as God and such. Devils, Satans, Dragons, Dragon Kings, Dragon Gods. They all possessed power that transcended human power, and they were hiding at the edge of their world. Naturally, Cao Cao began to think of something.
'...Gods and Buddhas...will my spear ever reach them?'
Gaining his first ever objective...his purpose in his life, in the blink of a second, many Sacred Gear users gathered around him. With the Sacred Gears that had ruined their lives, they found new meanings to their lives...and thus began the daily life of endless fighting.
Cao Cao's group fought ability users, Devils and Dragons, and they showed off their power. And in the middle of that, they met a certain man.
Jin Skyward. The human who boasted about bringing peace and unity to the supernatural world, and also claimed to be this generation's Red Dragon Emperor. To him and his comrades, he was a fool.
Peace? Such a thing was impossible in their world, and any fool who chased after it would end up dead quickly...yet, he defied all logic.
Incident after incident—that fool—that man caused miracle after miracle, and the ones who initially made fun of his dream—the peace that he pursued...their mouths started shutting up as it slowly became a reality. To them, to the ones who have been in the supernatural for a long time, it defied common logic.
Over time his achievements grew, as did his influence and allies. And in the end, Cao Cao, his faction and the organization they were in had to act. They had to stop this abnormal existence from becoming more powerful—more influential.
For someone like Cao Cao, who had never cowered in front of any God or Demon, the beings that made him truly feel awe and made him shudder was him...one of the Heavenly Dragons. However, amidst all of it, he also came across another—Vali Lucifer. This one showed off even greater talent than himself.
While the now called 'Middleman' created miracles far greater than his own spear. Then one day...because of Jin Skyward's group, he lost his life, he lost his spear, and he lost his reason to go on. He lost everything.
But another miracle was created by that man.
'—Repent, a hundred times over.'
Those words—that man had brought him back to life, to the shock of Cao Cao. After that day...he worked harder than ever before. He didn't know if it was out of spite, or to prove that he could climb newer heights for himself or for the man who brought him back.
But as he kept repeating his trials, his hatred for the man disappeared, and a strange mix of gratitude and confusion clouded his heart. But he didn't know how he would react once he saw that man again. However, it eventually came when his trials were done—he appeared in front of that man again.
To his utter shock, he was gifted another spear, a new weapon—he felt strange, but he also felt like that weapon that was gifted to him...it belonged to him even more than the holy spear he previously wielded.
"[Arredoval], that's the name of that spear. Take care of it—it's also known as the [Spear of the Universe]...how you evolve it—what powers it will have, they will be dependent on you and you alone. Show me what kind of resolve you have, Cao Cao."
Again, such strange words were said to him by that man, but...he accepted it, and he left to gather up his team again. This time, he had an ambitious goal, to surpass his previous self and grow to new heights.
As he did, he was told that he would be sent to a different universe and he and his team's sole purpose was to kill the 'evil' within it. He found it ironic since that was what he did before being resurrected—the heroes were now traveling to a different universe to slay the bad guys—the evil.
But before he departed, Cao Cao visited a certain old man in a certain country and the conversation they had would change his life. Those words that Vasco Strada left him still rang in his ear to this day.
'...Go and love something, young man. Whether it be yourself, or even something intangible. Love, if you don't have the heart that loves something, then you won't be able to reach someone who has love. The object that you love will appear in front of you one day, and at that time...you will gain 'power' from within your body and soul.'
'First! You should keep on chasing the Dual Dragon Emperor. That man...he is at the mercy of love. He loves as many people around him as he can, whether it be his lovers, his friends, his comrades or the random people of the supernatural world or the human world. He will show them love.'
'Jin Skyward is a man that loves everything around him, and in turn, he is loved back by those around him. Compared to my old bones, you're still near his age are you not? Yet...his presence is tens of thousands of times brighter than yours.'
Cao Cao, as he looked up at the Underworld sky sighed. 'I prefer a blue sky though...' he thought while walking down the streets of Lilith. He then looked back down and straight in front of him, he clenched his fist tightly.
"Is the me of now a person who has 'love'?" he asked himself. His comrades, his group of friends and a certain woman of a different universe flashed in his mind. "...I'm not sure, but I hope I do..."
— ○ ● ○ —
In a residential area somewhere in Lilith, Cao Cao arrived at a certain corner of the town. At that specific part of town was a kindergarten for devil children. Cao Cao approached the building and showed his I.D to the guard who silently stared at him for a few seconds before nodding and leading him inside.
Inside the building and at the yard of the kindergarten near some flowerbeds was a huge and muscular man, it was Heracles, his current teammate. Heracles was currently a 'world-wide-worker' in his words.
He would tend to daycares and kindergartens across the supernatural at his own request. After he was settled in Grigori with his job there, he wanted to do this kind of work in different pantheons and factions to repent for his sins. While many devil parents there were reluctant, in the end they accepted the decision as it was backed by the Four Great Satans, several other leaders, especially Sirzechs Lucifer and the Middleman himself.
Currently, it was the end of the day, and so many children were now going home. They left the building while holding their parents' hands. As they left, they waved at Heracles who worked on the flowerbed.
"See you later, old man!"
"Bye, bye old man-chan!"
Heracles with a strained smile waved back at the children. "Be careful on the way home, and stop calling me an old man."
Cao Cao and Heracles' eyes then met, and the muscular man put his hand up. "Hey, you're earlier than I thought. So are we meeting at Grigori after this?"
The young leader nodded his head. "Yeah. I already sent the text to everyone, so they'll be making their way there. I'll wait until you're done," he said and moved to a nearby bench and sat on it. He summoned a book and read it. The words of his new boss rang in his head as he read the book.
'Cao Cao, you need a different hobby apart from just training and fighting. If you can't think of anything, then go read a book, and no, I don't mean books about fighting and techniques. I mean regular books that tell stories...here, take this.'
The book that he was given was called The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino. At the start, Cao Cao was confused, but he kept reading the book, and in the end, he ended up liking the story that was told, so he continued reading more books by the same author.
The Miracles of the Namiya General Store, The Camphor Keeper, Silent Parade: A Detective Galileo Novel, Kirin no Tsubasa and many others. However, Cao Cao began to read different genres and from other authors, including fiction and he started to like reading and turned it into his first ever hobby.
But then, after he came back to the Draconic Deus, he wanted to have another one—cooking. When he was in the Phantasma's universe, they ate things that Aaron had prepared in capsules, so they were allowed to eat delicious food every day. However, he wanted to be able to cook such meals by himself.
For himself, his teammates, the Resistance and...her. He had approached two people about this issue. Tobio Ikuse and Aaron Toole, and he was taught by both—each person had a different way of doing things, and in the end, he mixed both to make his own style.
While Cao Cao wasn't the most skilled cook yet, he was getting there as he received feedback from his teammates, and from Tobio and Aaron.
"I'm done, let's go—you're reading a new book, huh?" asked Heracles.
Cao Cao got up and put his book away. "Yeah, it's called I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki. Fusae was the one that recommended it. Anyway, let's go."
— ○ ● ○ —
In one of the free meeting rooms of Grigori gathered a certain team for the tournament. All of them were present as they sat around the table waiting for their leader to speak. Finally, Cao Cao stood up and addressed them all.
"Tomorrow, we will fight [Team Imperial Purpure] led by Sairaorg Bael. All of you are already aware of how powerful he is and how he fights. With that said, leave him to me, from my conversation with him today—that seems to be what he has in mind too," he told them.
"Then, will we fight our own match ups, or see who we come across?" asked Heracles.
"We don't know what kind of game we'll have, Heracles, so we can't really say how or who we will fight yet, but...it will depend on where we go to," replied Georg.
"I guess..." grumbled Heracles as he looked at the table in front of him.
"Well, it matters not, we will simply blow them away with our powers!" said a young-looking girl.
She was one of the new members of the team and as well as Cao Cao's group. Her name was Zhuge Liang. She is the descendant of the general Zhuge Liang from the Three Kingdoms era. Zhuge Liang had the appearance of a cute young girl (about the age of a middle school student), that wore a classical Chinese Taoist robe.
"Will my youkai be allowed to participate in this? I was limited to one or two depending on the game," asked another member of the team.
He was Momono Kibitsuhiko. He was the inheritor of the soul of Momotarou. Like the original he is accompanied by animal companions such as a Monkey Youkai, a Dog Youkai and a giant raven.
Momono Kibitsuhiko was a Japanese-looking man who wore a battle fur coat and a colorful pink headband. He also had black hair and strong-looking brown eyes.
He wields a sword in battle with his animal companions assisting him. Cao Cao found him as he journeyed across Japan, and accidentally came across him. The two of them fought and Cao Cao told him of his plans—both for the International Rating Game and fighting monsters from another world. That piqued Momono's interest and he joined his team.
"Well, if two or three of us go and face three of them, or even one—wouldn't that mean it would be easier for us?" asked another man.
This young man was called Marsilio and he is the descendent of Marsilio Ficino and was also part of the Hero faction. Marsilio had short spiked white hair, green eyes and wore a white suit that resembled a Japanese middle school uniform. He was also a wielder of a Sacred Gear called [Dreamlike Curse].
"I doubt they'd let us do that so easily, man," replied Perseus. Another member of the former Hero faction. He left due to differences of opinion between himself and Cao Cao, but was sought after by the man after the faction fell apart.
"Especially if it's Sairaorg-san, I mean he values his peerage just as much as Jin," added Jeanne.
"Jin, huh? When did you become buddy-buddy with our boss?" asked Marsilio while eyeing Jeanne suspiciously.
"Huh? I asked him if it was alright to call him that...and he said yes, so I'm calling him that," she replied while giving him a confused look. In response, Marsilio rolled his eyes.
"Regardless!" Cao Cao said with a raised voice. "We will continue with that plan with Georg when the time is right. Sairaorg's team has trained in the same place as us, but our other trump card is my spear and Leonardo. However, because it's the International Rating Game, several restrictions have been placed on his Sacred Gear."
Leonardo, their only [Pawn] sat there eating some ice cream and nodded. He played a large part in helping the Resistance with his Sacred Gears creation. Because he had read a lot of manga, light novels and watched anime, his creations became even more vivid and diverse.
"What does that mean?" Zhuge Liang asked.
Georg adjusted his glasses and explained, "Leonardo's Sacred Gear so far has been heavily restricted during the tournament. So far, we have played two games, and in those games too, he was limited. He's limited to creating three of his creations on the field, but the great thing about that is, he can make them as powerful as God-class beings...but nothing more."
"Furthermore, Leonardo can't use his Balance Breaker, whether that be the subspecies that Shalba forced upon him—the Bandersnatch or Jabberwocky or his other one," said Georg.
"Uhh then what about his X-side? It's two for one, right?" asked Heracles.
Georg frowned. "That's the thing, we don't know, because so far, we haven't used it, but...I will speak with Jin about it and he'll speak with the other officials regarding it. It can make Dragon God-class beings after all, so it might be heavily restricted or even outright banned."
Leonardo's X-side Balance Breaker was what helped Cao Cao's team in the Phantasma along with Cao Cao's [Arredoval], and the other unique X-side Balance Breakers that the rest of his team achieved.
"Then Georg, I'll leave that matter to you. Let's continue then—we'll plan for various scenarios of each Rating Game, so we won't be leaving for a while," said Cao Cao.
There were a few exhausted sighs, but Cao Cao opened a pill that had various foods that Aaron prepared and they became a bit more motivated.
"Georg-san, can I come with you when you go to Jin-san?" Leonardo asked. Georg glanced at him and nodded.
Over the short course of their time, when Aaron introduced Leonardo to the literary world and anime, it quickly caught his interest and he would frequently ask Aaron for more books and anime to watch—in a way, they had a sibling dynamic much like Vali and Aaron had. Everyone on their team knew this and for the first time since they met him, Leonardo started acting more his age thanks to that.
— ○ ● ○ —
The day of the battle between [Team Imperial Purpure] and [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor], various prominent people watched the match in the Agreas—the floating city in the Agares territory. This was the same stadium at which Rias and Sairaorg's peerages fought in the Youth Rating Game, as well as the one where Sairaorg and Aaron fought at.
Aaron, his group, The ORC both new and old, as well as the Student Council were in a VIP room in the stadium to watch the match unfold. With this place being a very popular place for Rating Games, the seats in the stadium were full and many more were watching outside as there were no more seats left.
Amidst all of this, one of the announcers, Naud Gamigin, the same announcer for the match between Aaron and Sairaorg was also commentating today.
[Now then everyone, the match that's been quite hyped up the last few days! The match between the elite group of young devils, the [Rookies Four], Player Sairaorg Bael!]
The crowd cheered wildly as Sairaorg and his team walked onto the stage on the western side.
[On the other side, is the former wielder of the strongest Longinus and holy spear and the new subordinate to the Middleman, Player Cao Cao!]
Another round of loud cheering was heard from the crowd, and it surprised Cao Cao since he expected to be hated coming into the match. The same could be said for his teammates.
[These two teams have created overwhelming hype over the past few days and now it's finally time for them to clash! I will now introduce the other commentators for this game!]
The cameras turned to focus on the person next to Naud. They saw a tanned person who looked quite slick—it was the God of Destruction, Shiva.
He waved to the surprised crowd and said, [Hello, everyone, how's it going? I'm one of the main organizers of the tournament, Shiva.]
With a tense look on his face, Naud continued. [S-since the God of Destruction himself is in attendance, even I'm quite tense! But also excited!]
Shiva laughed beside him and started smacking on the back. [Hahaha! Don't be, but keep up that excitement! If some bad guys decide to interrupt this game right now, I'll get rid of them easily, well, if they make it past Jin's defenses that is. So don't worry~!]
An awkward laugh erupted from Naud, who sat beside the God. [I-it's reassuring then!] he was clearly lost for words at the situation. He then coughed once before he resumed his commentary.
[Now, the game in which the VIPs from all over the factions are having all of their interest in will be starting shortly!]
The two teams were already glaring at each other on the field. Both sides were emitting such dangerous and unspeakable killing intent from their bodies.
[This game is currently going to be an [Audience Choice] format! Audiences both in the living room and currently in the arena, please choose from the many rules that you would like to watch!]
Prior to the match, they asked the audience, both in the arena and the ones that were watching at home, what rules these two teams would be playing by. This was a festive type of match which was being broadcasted to the public, so they raised the entertainment value by doing such a thing.
They normally used this system when two popular teams faced off, and even during normal Rating Games, it was quite a popular system among fans. It was understandable that if you were a fan of this game, then you would want to watch the two most famous teams fight in a match most fitting of their hype.
Everyone in the VIP booth that was with Aaron had voted for what they wanted to see. The players, the audience and their eyes all watched the giant monitor in anticipation.
[The rule with the most votes will be used! Now what rule will everyone here choose?]
The names of the rules were randomly flashing before everyone's eyes, and finally, one was chosen.
[The results are in!]
The rule that was chosen was...[Lightning Fast]! Seeing the result, Naud got excited while the audience cheered loudly.
[Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I can't believe it! I-it's been decided! The format that everyone has voted on is...[Lightning Fast]! A rule famous for its short blitz fights!]
Out of all the rules in the Rating game, this one had the smallest area, as well as the lowest time limit. That's why matches like these usually involve blitz-style fights.
"...It seems like everyone both in the stadium and at home wants to see both teams facing off immediately, especially the [Kings], I would assume," said Ravel Phenex.
"It's understandable," said Aaron and everyone looked at him. "The man known for not inheriting the [Power of Destruction] of the Bael clan, yet became the next head and one of the strongest devils of his generation..."
"And the man who was known as a terrorist and was part of the Khaos Order, who turned sides, but also lost the strongest spear he once wielded, many are curious as to what he'll use during the match," he explained.
"That's why [Lightning Fast] was chosen by everyone. It makes the match go faster as well as forcing the players on the team to fight to showcase their abilities," said Sona.
"Right, it makes things faster and more intense, not just for the audience, but also for the players on the field," replied Aaron.
[Sairaorg Bael, I have an offer for you,] Cao Cao said as the cameras all focused on him while he smiled confidently. [Whatever happens in this match, there are things you and I must do. I will strive for that and towards victory...]
The two [Kings] left their sides and walked towards each other, all the while Cao Cao kept talking.
[I will wait for you at the center of the field. You know what that means, right?] asked Cao Cao.
Both teams were surprised by his proclamation. Georg on his team began to whisper to them quite rapidly, while Sairaorg's [Queen] and one of the [Pawns] spoke to the rest of his team.
With a fearless smile on his face, Sairaorg said, [Are you perhaps suggesting a one-on-one duel between the [Kings]?]
Cao Cao also smiled. [That is what you want to happen, right? I'm including your Longinus in this too.]
Everyone in the room froze and the audience in the arena began to wildly cheer for Sairaorg to accept what Cao Cao had offered him.
[Such a provoking statement! Player Cao Cao has just offered a duel against Sairaorg-san! A fair and square fight between [Kings]!!] Naud screamed into the mic.
After sending his challenge, Cao Cao added, [You might be suspicious when it comes to my offer of a one-on-one battle because of my past after all. A villain who tried to destroy the supernatural world and incite chaos. I am untrustworthy to many, however...I will swear on a person that I am looking forward to an honest duel.]
Raising a brow, Sairaorg said, [Swear Upon? To whom? To Indra who you use to serve? The Holy Spear that you lost? Or to your ancestor from whom you claimed your blood and name from?]
Without a moment's hesitation, Cao Cao answered the question right away, the cameras focusing on his face the entire time.
[...I swear upon the name of Jin Skyward, the Middleman and the man who gave me this second chance,] he declared with a serious expression on his face.
A gasp was heard around the arena while the smile on Sairaorg's face only widened in response as well as a dense amount of touki covered his body due to Cao Cao's answer.
Everyone in the VIP room with Aaron turned to look at him. However, they only saw him staring at the monitor with the same seriousness as Cao Cao. His name as of this moment in time held weight, because of the various things he's done over the year, it wasn't something to be taken lightly.
But unknown to everyone except for four—no, five people there, they could see the excitement in his eyes as Cao Cao spoked those words.
[Can you believe me with that?] asked Cao Cao as he also covered his body with a powerful dense touki. Both their auras were now colliding within the arena, and they threatened to destroy it.
Sairaorg turned around and walked away while retracting his aura. [Yes. Since his name was uttered, there is no reason not to believe you. I will wait for you in the center of the field and defeat you!]
[He accepteeeeeeed!!! A fight between [Kings] will happen in the game fieeeeld!!] Naud shouted in excitement.
[Fufu, youth at its best, wouldn't you agree?] asked Shiva. [I look forward to this too.]
Genshirou Saji leaned forward in his seat, and with a serious expression on his face said, "Master Sairaorg won't trust Cao Cao at all yet, but Master Sairaorg is a person that Cao Cao wishes to defeat...but they would never do something so reckless, but if they uttered his name..."
Rias continued Saji's sentence. "For the two them who have been influenced a lot by Aaron, to say his name and pledge upon it, they can't afford to not accept it."
And thus began the match between [Team Imperial Purpure] and [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor].
— ○ ● ○ —
Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor:
King – Cao Cao
Queen – Georg
Bishop – Marisilo
Bishop – Zhuge Liang
Rook – Heracles
Rook – Momono Kibitsuhiko
Knight – Jeanne
Knight – Perseus
Pawn (8) – Leonardo
— ○ ● ○ —
Team Imperial Purpure:
King – Sairaorg Bael
Queen – Silveteela Stolas
Bishop – Coriana Andrealphus
Bishop – Misteeta Sabnock
Rook – Gandoma Balam
Rook – Ladora Buné
Knight – Liban Crocell
Knight – Beluga Furcas
Pawn (4) – Kuisha Abaddon
Pawn (4) – Regulus
— ○ ● ○ —
In the universe of the Phantasma, on the planet of the Resistance, a certain woman was diligently training. She was in the underground section as she launched various spells and attacks at a training dummy provided by Laeronia.
Isatha grunted as she fired another powerful blast of elemental attack at the dummy. There were also numerous others training down here as the life of the Resistance had improved significantly since Cao Cao, his team and Laeronia came. Their members were not malnourished anymore and they had energy to go out and do various missions.
The more fights they won, the more confident they became and they would venture out more on missions. There were no casualties even for the more difficult missions as they were protected by Aaron's [Dragon Tattoo] he provided them as well as Laeronia's own spells he bestowed upon them and the [Power Rangers] that would accompany them.
Of course, the Phumera and the others of the Phantasma were alerted by this new power they had and they started to actively seek their base, but they could never find it—which left her frustrated, so she concluded that it was the doing of the outer god, and she cursed him for his actions, but she couldn't do anything about it. Even her [Reality Manipulation] had no effect, much to her frustration.
"Isatha. I need to talk to you for a second," said a voice. When Isatha turned around she saw Laeronia by the stairway. Her curiosity led her to approach him. "It's about Cao Cao."
Her eyes lit up and Laeronia gestured for her to follow him, so they left the training area and climbed the stairs, they took a left and passed through the canteen which was filled with people having dinner. They arrived at a small room that had six other pathways.
"Are we...going to the dormitory?" she asked.
"Yeah. We're heading to your place; this is a private matter," replied Laeronia.
Isatha was surprised, but decided to take the lead and move ahead of Laeronia. She quickly arrived at her door and waited for him, and they entered together. Her room wasn't anything special, much like the rest of the Resistance.
They had the essentials for a 'bedroom', but the small things they had were things they found in the missions or things from their previous homes that they managed to bring with them. Isatha wasn't different, she had some items she brought from trips like a tire that belonged to a different universe that she stole from a member of the Phantasma to a small gift that Cao Cao gave her.
"Nice place," said Laeronia while looking around her room. "Anyway, this is concerning Cao Cao. If you're worried something bad happened to him...then it's not it, so relax."
Isatha's body loosened up upon hearing that from Laeronia. "So...what is it?"
Laeronia nodded and explained the Rating Game World Cup, along with what Rating Games are. Isatha listened intently and was both enthralled and frustrated by it. In the end she stared at Laeronia a bit annoyed.
"We are fighting for our lives here while they fight over there for fun?" she asked agitated.
Laeronia nodded his head. "While I can understand your frustrations, this is a way for the factions and pantheons of our world to unwind. They can find a bit of fun and sportsmanship in those Rating Games, as well as pull those who have power out of poverty since it rewards its players," he explained.
"My master will be the one providing the prize for it, and it's to grant any wish that the winner or winners want. Of course, there are limitations, but if you wish for food, money, or something like that, he can grant it," added Laeronia.
"...It's still frustrating to know about, but being able to earn a living through it...that doesn't sound bad. So I can assume that Cao Cao and his team are participating in this tournament?" she asked.
"Yes they are and their next match for the preliminary rounds is about to start," he said and clicked his fingers before a floating monitor appeared and showed a certain field. He then explained who his opponents were.
She frowned and was anxious for her friend as the person that Laeronia described was powerful—along with his team as they were apparently helped by his master and creator. Laeronia sat down on a chair while Isatha went to her bed and sat on it. Both eagerly waited and watched as the match was about to start.
'...Win, Cao Cao!' she prayed while intently watching the monitor.
— ○ ● ○ —
In Aaron's home—in a new and different dimension were most of the members of [Team Golden Rakshasa]. They were initially training, but when the match between the teams of Cao Cao and Sairaorg Bael was about to begin, they stopped to watch it.
The two who were most eager to watch this match were Bova Tannin and Ouryuu (Ryuuta) Nakiri. They lost quite badly in their previous match and it left them frustrated. However, they couldn't deny Atsutarou Himejima's power and mastery over both his Flame Manipulation and Artificial Sacred Gear.
Since that day, both of them have been hard at work. Driving to better themselves as individuals, as people, and as warriors. They didn't overwork themselves as they followed their [Kings] instructions and kept a healthy lifestyle and they quickly noticed a difference.
One other thing did change between the two. They had a slightly not-so-good relationship prior to this. They were working on ice with each other. One wrong move and they would have most likely blown up on each other. However, due to losing to Atsutarou Himejima, they set aside their differences and helped each other grow.
Aurelia knew this and let it happen. She wanted them to work it out themselves while also discreetly guiding them there, hence why she asked Ravel to position Nakiri and Bova near each other during the match.
If by a miracle they won their match-up? Great! If not, they could learn from it—those were Aurelia's reckless thoughts. She knew losing now, or more so death since she died to Lapis. It felt her frustrated and bitter, but she couldn't stay like that forever, so she also began to train from the basics.
Lianne and Scathach pointed this out to her and she just laughed at them like usual, but still continued with it. To Aurelia Le Guin now, she believes anyone can keep on improving, regardless of what your power or status is.
'If you think you've hit the pinnacle, then you're wrong! Die once and see, you idiot!' is what she shouted at a certain person during an interview after one of their games.
You could say, death humbled her slightly, although her haughty and intimidating nature still remained.
Apart from those three, there were two more that wanted to improve—Yoru and Haru. They lost against Ezeri, that much was obvious, but they also gained more insight into themselves. Edel, who was also part of the team and Akaza helped them with their training.
Edel with their magic and innate abilities and Akaza with their hand-to-hand combat. Although neither of them got to fight much in their past games, they were fine with it as they saw the budding members growing and getting stronger.
"What say you, former second ranked player?" Aurelia suddenly asked their newest member, Roygun Belphegor. She and her team also joined Aurelia's team, so the rest of her peerage—Akane, Granberia, Oleander and a few others were also in the dimension, participating in the training.
"It's...difficult to say. Both teams have been given the chance to enter such a place and get stronger. The only things left are their individual skill level and mastery of their abilities," replied Roygun.
"Sairaorg Bael is a power-type while Cao Cao is a technique type. Usually, it's the technique that prevails in these match-ups since the power-type relies too heavily on their strength, runs out of stamina or falls to the techniques of their opponent," she explained.
"Also, since it's the [Lightning Fast] game type, so tactics won't matter too much, the field is small and limited too—one or more groups will be forced to fight along with each other, meaning the stronger duo or trio will win their fights. By stronger I mean, the ones who can work together the most effectively since as I mentioned, power isn't everything."
Everyone there listened intently to the former second ranker of Rating Games.
Oleander fixed his glasses and added quietly, "...It also depends on the [Kings] since they have pledge to fight in the center of the field. Both peerages respect their [King] a lot, so they will not interfere nor will they help them in any way...if the either [King] is defeated, the match will end quite quickly."
"So...if one of them had an attack that could cover the entire field then...it could spell disaster for the other team," added Akane. "Although knowing their 'ranks' that Jin-san has, then that might not happen."
After Akane's comment, all of them quieted down as the game finally began.
— ○ ● ○ —
The beginning of the Rating Game between [Team Imperial Purpure] and [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor]. Both teams were transported to the game field and it was a replica of the Underworld. However, it was at a place that were in ruins and it also resembled a sandy desert.
The size was comparable to Kuoh Academy (high school division), and there were no buildings to hide behind, only small pillars, so everyone on the field would be forced to fight each other in close proximity, unless they had an ability or Sacred Gear that could be used to trick their opponent.
[The time limit of this [Lightning Fast] match is one hour! The victor is chosen when the team who topples the other team's [King] first, or the team who has managed to defeat the greater number of enemies in terms of piece value if both [Kings] remain undefeated by the end of the game!]
[With that said...let the match...begin!!!] Naud screamed and a buzzer rang out on the field.
Both [Kings] gave orders to their teammates and they all scattered. Meanwhile both [Kings] began walking towards the middle of the field while glaring at one another. Neither said a word to each other as they did this—in the distance, they heard explosions beginning to occur as the fights between their teammates started too.
— ○ ● ○ —
[A fight broke out between the two [Knights] on the field!]
"I'm the [Knight] of Sairaorg Bael, Beruka Furcas. Let us fight gallantly!" said the man riding on an Underworld horse. After announcing that, he charged towards his target!
"Yo! I'm Perseus, let's fight fairly then!" Perseus shouted and dodged the attack by Beruka by an inch. A piece of his clothing was ripped off and he whistled. "Phew~ you're quite fast, this'll be interesting!"
Beruka along with his horse and lance charged Perseus at a speed that most fans wouldn't be able to follow. However, the monitor that was changed by Aaron made it possible for them. Perseus barely managed to dodge it and both had the same thought after the event occurred.
'He's been trained 'there' and can keep up with me!'
With that both in their minds, Beruka and Perseus disappeared from their spots and with a sword in Perseus' hand, he clashed several times with Beruka. To his surprise, the horse was also able to block and dodge his attacks too.
"Is that horse also trained or something?!" Perseus asked.
"We are both of the same rank!" Beruka shouted back making Perseus laugh.
"Interesting! This makes it more fun then!" Perseus used a sword and shield combo to fight.
He also had his Sacred Gear to turn the tide in a battle. He charged back at Beruka and performed a few faints and thrust his sword towards the man on the horse. Beruka dodged the attack, but noticed a strange spike in energy and looked to his right—he saw a magic circle!
A large fireball flew at him, and Perseus used his shield to bash into his horse! Beruka lost his balance and was hit by the fireball, creating a massive explosion of flames.
Perseus jumped away and looked at his handy work while also waiting for the retirement announcement, but it never came, so he prepared himself again. Once the flames died down, he saw that Beruka had protected himself with a defensive barrier along with his horse.
"Are you okay, Altobrau?" he asked his friend and the horse nodded at him. He turned to face Perseus and smiled. "Not bad, former Hero faction member."
Perseus smiled and shrugged. "Hey, even though I joined the faction, it didn't mean I was part of it during their most active times. But I like that you can keep up with me, even some of those Phantasma bastards couldn't!"
Beruka got back on his horse and they smirked at each other—increasing their speed and power even more, they clashed with each other once again, each time they did the entire game field shook, although they weren't the only ones doing that.
— ○ ● ○ —
Gandoma Balam, [Rook] and Misteeta Sabnock, [Bishop] of Sairaorg were both facing the two new members of Cao Cao's team, the fellow [Rook], Momono Kibitsuhiko and fellow [Bishop] Zhuge Liang.
"Momono-san, let us combine our powers then," said Zhuge Liang.
"I'll be in your care again," replied Momono. He along with all three of his youkai were allowed to participate in this match, so his raven, dog and monkey youkai were fighting together in this match.
"Gandoma-san, I'll support you," said Misteeta.
"Right...let's go!" replied Gandoma as he charged towards Zhuge Liang and Momono. As he arrived near Momono, he fell into...a hole! Gandoma fell into it and landed at the bottom of the hole. "W-what the—?!"
Zhuge Liang has the Sacred Gear called [Strategy Trap]. It has the ability to create various traps such as small holes that can be utilized to transport people and items. This is similar to the Abaddon's [Hole] ability. It can also be used to create blocks that can be used as a means of attack.
Gandoma tried to jump out of the hole that was made by Zhang Liang's Sacred Gear. However, when he reached the top, a box appeared above his head and he crashed into it. To his surprise, he was forced back down and stared in shock.
"How is that box that strong...!?" he asked himself. "I need to use more power then...!" Gandoma with even more power jumped again and this time he destroyed the box and arrived back at the top, but as soon as he took a step towards Zhang Liang, Momono and Misteeta...he slipped on a banana peel and was blown away!
"What kind of joke is thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis?!" he shouted as he was blown away by the banana peel.
"Hehe, how does it feel to be outsmarted by petty tricks? That's my [Strategy Trap], although I can create more dangerous ones if I need to," said Zhuge Liang.
'She's more troublesome than the other one then, he only has those youkai and sword while her Sacred Gear is...I'll target her!' thought Misteeta.
Misteeta summoned his Sacred Gear [Trick Vanish] and aimed the purple staff at Zhang Liang and sealed her Sacred Gear. A mass of purple light appeared around Zhang Liang and moments later, various purple markings appeared all over her body which indicated the sealer of her Sacred Gear.
Misteeta had enormous stamina reserves, so sealing abilities with his Sacred Gear was something he could do quite casually now. Previously before he and the rest of his peerage trained in Aaron's dimension, he could only use it for short periods of time because of the stamina drain.
The Sacred Gear also took a toll on their body and mind, so he also trained in those—he meditated and exercise even more than he used too...while also being tortured by Scathach and Aurelia like the rest of his peerage.
"With that, you can't use your Sacred Gear!" he declared and put his hand forward and summoned magic circles that fired hundreds of elemental attacks at the duo in front of him!
"Oh? It seems I can't use it...nevertheless, I can still function with it," said Zhuge Liang. She then raised her left arm up and summoned a fan. Along with that fan came thousands of magic circles too.
The two's magic clashed and numerous explosions took place in the sky and area around them. Using this chance to his advantage, Momono charged Misteeta along with his three youkai! He swung down his sword, but a figure appeared in front of him and blocked it!
"Petty tricks won't keep me out of this fight," said Gandoma.
He had arrived back to assist his fellow team members! However, the raven youkai flapped its wings and sent power gusts of wind at Gandoma along with blades of wind. Gandoma covered his body with dense touki and blocked the attacks and prevented himself from being blown away.
As Gandoma was about to attack Momono, the monkey youkai appeared and threw some dirt at his eyes, but it was blocked by the touki and it also further annoyed Gandoma. But all of that was a distraction as the dog youkai slammed its head into Gandoma's stomach and blew him away and at Misteeta.
Both [Rook] and [Bishop] of [Team Imperial Purpure] didn't expect such a combination attack. However, they quickly recomposed themselves and stared back at Momono and Zhuge Liang.
"They were definitely trained, though I expected it because they were sent to the Phantasma's universe...shall we use my Balance Breaker?" Misteeta asked while staring at their opponents.
"...It's still early, let's wait a bit before using that. Sairaorg-sama said to use it as a trump card and last resort," replied Gandoma. He took a stance and added, "We'll rely on brute strength for now. Since you can keep that little one's powers sealed, we can deal with them easier."
"...Alright, let's do that then." Misteeta summoned hundreds of thousands of magic circles again and aimed them at Zhuge Liang and Momono. In turn, Zhuge Liang did the same thing and both [Bishops] prepared to bombard each other with magic attacks.
Gandoma charged back in and so did Momono. His fist and his sword clashed creating large sparks of electricity.
"We'll win this!" shouted Momono.
"Sairaorg-sama's dream is our dream; we can't afford to lose!" shouted Gandoma.
— ○ ● ○ —
"To think you'd fight us, well, it was expected in a way," said Georg as he pushed his glasses up.
He was with Leonardo, the lone [Pawn] on their team. In front of them stood the other [Pawn] of [Team Imperial Purpure], Kuisha Abaddon. Beside her was the [Queen] of Sairaorg's team, Silveteela Stolas.
"Well, [Queen] and [Pawn] versus [Queen] and [Pawn] makes sense, right? Although meeting both of you was just a coincidence," said Kuisha.
Kuisha decided to accompany Silveteela because she was her master's lover and [Queen]. She also got along well with Silveteela now that she had moved on from Sairaorg, and the two of them actively grew stronger together during the 100 years in Aaron's dimension.
Likewise, Silveteela trusted Kuisha just as much since she has been with Sairaorg the longest and is his [Queen] in his peerage. Kuisha also told Sairaorg and Silveteela about her feelings about Sairaorg after she entered a relationship with Aaron—she wanted to get it off her chest and be 100% honest with both of them.
At the time, it caused a small strain between the two women. It mostly came from Silveteela, but when they lived together for 100 years, she slowly accepted the facts and they became even stronger friends. Siraorg himself has said that he did not want a harem. However, the reason came from seeing Aaron being hounded by his lovers during their 100-year stay.
In Sairaorg's words: 'It's too much! I already have several roles for me in the future, but I also don't have power like him, so having one lover is enough!' And thus, Sairaorg only ever wants his childhood sweetheart, Silveteela Stolas.
"Shall we start then?" asked Georg as his body and Leonardo's body were covered in powerful auras.
"Let's go then, we'll show you how the women of the Bael team work!" shouted Kuisha.
"It won't just be a two on two, you know?" said Georg. Beside him, Leonardo's body glowed as he pointed both his hands toward the ground. Slowly a black humanoid creature emerged from the ground in front of him.
It slowly shaped itself to resemble a living armor, it was mostly jet-black armor with several tentacles coming out of its back.
"T-that's...!" Both women stood there in shock at the first monster that Leonardo created.
— ○ ● ○ —
In the VIP room where Aaron and his friends stayed—a certain young man stood up from his chair in utter shock.
"W-w-what the hell?! Isn't that my...Balance Breaker's armor?!" Genshirou Saji shouted. The rest of the room was also in shock—Aaron sat there with a smirk.
"Not yet," said Aaron. "Leonardo isn't done yet. He and Georg came to me yesterday, and asked what the limit and restrictions are for [Annihilation Maker] in the tournament."
"...And what are they?" asked Tsubaki.
"He can summon up to six Anti-Monsters using his regular abilities. If he uses his regular Balance Breaker, it's limited to three, but if he uses his X-side...he can only create one monster," he explained.
"Leonardo-kun has an X-side Balance Breaker...?" asked Sona.
Aaron nodded. "Everyone in Cao Cao's team has a new Balance Breaker for their Sacred Gears. They didn't just go to the Phantasma's universe for a vacation trip after all. Although Sairaorg's group also has their own tricks up their sleeves."
"Look! He's making more, aren't those—?!" shouted Kanami as she pointed at the monitor in front of them.
[Oh my goodness! Are those...?!] shouted Naud.
[Fuu...it seems that Leonardo boy just recreated the [Boosted Gear], [Divine Dividing], [Regulus Nemea], [Vritra Sacred Gears], Hirokazu Miller's X-side Balance Breaker, and [Canis Lykaon] armor as his Anti-Monsters? That's quite a power,] said Shiva calmly.
"Are you saying...that's just from his regular abilities...? What can his Crest-side Balance Breaker and X-side Balance Breakers do and create...?!" Rias asked Aaron in disbelief.
"...Dragon God-class to Universal-class Anti-Monsters en masse," he replied, silencing the room. "Of course, if he pushes himself then he can reach Multiversal, but Leonardo will most likely exhaust himself if he does that. He needs more training."
"Don't forget that they are [Anti-Monster], meaning they're going to have advantages against both—which is light and holy attributes, but...since Aaron removed those from you guys, I wonder how it will work?" said Velgrynd as she stared at the monitor.
"They don't have natural weaknesses anymore, but they still have other weaknesses, their own personal fears—the abilities of those monsters will most likely resemble that and attack those insecurities of the mind," replied Aaron.
In other words, more psychological warfare.
— ○ ● ○ —
Back on the field, Leonardo was surrounded by various armor types of six Sacred Gears, four from the original Longinus line-up, one from the [New Longinus] and the other were the Vritra line of Sacred Gears. Each of them also could mimic certain abilities from those Sacred Gears.
"This is just his regular ability, quite terrifying, right? No wonder it's considered to be one of the strongest Sacred Gears out of the original thirteen—one of the biggest bugs of the system..." said Georg while looking at Leonardo with unease.
'No wonder the higher-ups in the Khaos Order and leaders of the alliance wanted to control him and put restrictions on him—if he went berserk, who knows what would happen...at least when Shalba forced the Balance Breaker from a few months ago didn't do damage thanks to Jin and his comrades...' thought Georg.
Without saying another word, Leonardo pointed his right arm towards Kuisha and Silveteela and the six armor-type Anti-Monsters went at them at full speed. All six arrived around them in a flash and attacked them.
[Boost! Transfer!] the Anti-Monster [Boosted Gear] boosted itself once and transferred the power to the other five. The [Regulus Nemea] armor sent a punch towards the two women while the [Divine Dividing] Anti-Monster armor sent powerful energy blasts at them.
At the same time, the Anti-Monster Hiro (Hirokazu's X-side armor) fired powerful energy bullets at them while the [Malebolge Vritra] Saji's Anti-Monster armor sent out several tentacles that were a mix of [Absorption Line] and [Delete Field]—finally, the [Night Celestial Slash Dogs] summoned large distorted blades of darkness at the women.
Both of them created a defensive magic circle that defended against the shockwave punch the lion armor. Kuisha made [Holes] to redirect the attacks from the Anti-Monster Hiro armor bullets, as well as [Divine Dividing] armor aura bullets.
The [Hole] she made forced the attacks at different sections of the field, some of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] avoided the attack and the rest blocked them. Meanwhile, the two women fired blasts of demonic balls at the other attacks send to them.
However, the lines from [Malebolge Vritra] absorbed them, forcing them to dodge, but the distorted blades of darkness followed them as they jumped backwards, forcing them to fire more demonic bullets at them, finally destroying them.
But as they thought they were safe, the Anti-Monster [Boosted Gear] appeared behind Kuisha and threw a punch in front of her. She reacted in time and created a [Hole] that redirected his attack behind himself which forced the Anti-Monster to hit itself, sending itself away.
Kuisha summoned [Holes] around Leonardo's monsters and fired the aura bullets and demonic attacks by Hirokazu's armor and [Divine Dividing] at them. But just like the regular armor, the Anti-Monster Divine Dividing armor stepped in front of the rest, and used its [Reflect] to redirect the attacks away.
"This...will be a tough battle. I heard from Aaron about these [Anti-Monsters]. They work on our weaknesses, but since he removed our weaknesses as devils, we shouldn't have any...theoretically," said Kuisha.
Silveteela looked at Kuisha and smiled. "Then...let's do that—perhaps my house's poison can affect those monsters? If not, then those two, who are still humans, may be affected instead."
'First is the set-up,' thought Silveteela. Both women nodded at each other before they summoned hundreds of thousands of magic circles and fired them at the two.
The armors, blocked and reflected many of them, but some got through. Georg stepped forward and aimed his right hand forward—from them a purple mist shot out and blocked out all of the attacks. At the same time, Georg also fired magic attacks back at the two and they all ranged from different types.
"Leonardo, save 'that' for when we're near the end of the game. Although Cao Cao wants to fight Sairaorg Bael on a one-on-one setting, if I sense we might lose...we'll wipe out the rest of the members of [Team Imperial Purpure], alright?" said Georg.
Leonardo glanced at Georg and nodded. His X-side Balance Breaker were their trump card, as well as combing it with Georg's own Balance Breaker. Two top-tier Longinus' [Annihilation Maker] and [Dimension Lost], in a small space like this, a combination of both Sacred Gears would be devastating.
"For now...let's go with 'that'. Since they lack their original weaknesses, attacking their minds and insecurities would be the next best solution. Use the [Canis Lykaon] and [Divine Dividing] plus [Malebolge Vritra] as a combo. Drain their power with [Divine Dividing] and [Malebolge Vritra], then use the darkness of [Canis Lykaon] to creep into their minds and hearts," ordered Georg.
"Roger that..." replied Leonardo. He then ordered his Anti-Monsters to do just that. First, he sent out the [Boosted Gear] and [Regulus Nemea] to attack the two ladies first.
The [Boosted Gear] Anti-Monster focused on Kuisha while the [Regulus Nemea] Anti-Monster focused on Silveteela. The [Divine Dividing] and [Malebolge Vritra] Anti-Monster hovered further away, waiting for their opportunity. The Hiro Anti-Monster provided both support as it sent out energy bullets at both ladies at set intervals.
Kuisha and Silveteela dodged the continuous attack from both monsters as they slowly and methodically enacted their own plan. Kuisha could control how large the [Holes] she could produce, and the poisons that Silveteela made could be manufactured and removed without the need for an antidote as she had full control of it. She made these poisons specifically for humans—it would kill them, but it would render them incapacitated for the rest of the match.
As this dance continued for the next few seconds, both duos found their openings and acted one it, but the faster pair were Georg and Leonardo. The [Divine Dividing] touched both women and then drained their powers using [Divide]. Next were the lines from [Malebolge Vritra] Anti-Monster that grabbed onto their ankles and began draining them of their power. It also restricted their movements. Finally, a large wave of darkness shrouded both of them.
Georg grabbed Leonardo and jumped away. As they did, a strange green and dark blue mist began covering the area that they were in.
"Poison. It must be from that devil—the Stolas clan. I heard they specialized in poisons after all," said Georg. "Monitor them and I'll send them to a different dimension with more of your monsters we prepared. That'll keep them busy."
[It seems the [Pawn] and [Queen] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] have won their match-up! They've trapped Player Kuisha and Silveteela in some sort of barrier of darkness!] shouted Naud.
[...That technique is something like the technique Dulio Gesualdo used against Hirokazu Miller during their match. If the same events repeat, then they'll give those two powerful power-ups, if not then they'll defeat them right there,] said Shiva.
[A technique that forces negative emotions into the ones consumed by it, Shiva-sama?]
[Yes. One must have a strong will to break out of it—although that's what I can gather from a quick glance. It's also stronger and more refined. I can assume that the young Leonardo had practiced with this more than Dulio Gesualdo. That combination between Cao Cao's team is quite unstoppable.]
— ○ ● ○ —
Jeanne [Knight], Heracles [Rook] and Marisilo [Bishop] fought against Coriana Andrealphus [Bishop], Ladora Buné [Rook], and Liban Crocell [Knight]—an intense three-way battle was underway between them.
Both [Knights] clashed with their swords in the distance as they used their speed and technique to win against each other. They noticed that their strength was nearly on par with each other, with Liban being slightly stronger.
Liban's eyes glowed as he used his Sacred Gear [Gravity Jail]. The gravity around Jeanne increased significantly which also slowed down her speed by a considerable margin. Taking advantage of this, Liban dashed back towards Jeanne as he sent a flurry of attacks towards her.
Jeanne barely blocked the attacks as she was pushed back. She didn't think the intensity of his Sacred Gear was this much, so she was pushed back considerably. Not liking her situation, she created two magic circles around Liban and launched fireballs towards him. Liban, not expecting this, backed away to avoid the attack.
Jeanne also jumped away and swung her holy sword downward creating a large mass of holy swords that quickly formed itself into a dragon. This was Jeanne's Balance Breaker for her [Blade Blacksmith], [Stake Victim Dragoon] however, she further improved it during her time training and in the Phantasma's universe.
Several more waves of holy blades left her sword and created two more dragons. Those dragons made of holy swords also screamed into the sky, creating another mass of holy energy above them which birthed large wyvern-like monsters made of holy swords.
"Goo!! My lovely creations!!" Jeanne screamed as Liban stared at the foes he had to fight.
"Dragons and wyverns made out of holy swords...how troublesome, but I'm glad I don't have that weakness anymore, otherwise I would quickly lose," he muttered to himself.
Liban expanded the range of his [Gravity Jail] and the movements of the wyverns and dragons were slowed down, but it also took a heavier toll of him and he grimaced as he felt the effects.
'I won't have much time with this so—'
"Need help?" a female's voice said. He turned to look to his side and found Coriana, a [Bishop] on his team.
"Wha—how are you here?" Liban asked, shocked at her sudden entrance. Coriana pointed in front of them and saw Marisilo beside Jeanne looking annoyed as parts of his clothes were torn.
"She beat you?" Jeanne asked looking skeptically at Marisilo who looked utterly pissed off.
He fixed his tie with a scowl and said, "No. I was simply gauging her abilities, and I took some damage because of it. I now know some of the things she's capable of and plan to fight back."
"He's just shy, let's wait for—"
"I win!" screamed Heracles as he crashed beside Marisilo. He had various bruises on his face, and the other person who arrived beside Liban was Ladora Buné.
Ladora Buné sighed at Heracles and shook his head. "We are going nowhere with this. A team battle should be the deciding factor," he said and looked at his teammates.
Liban agreed. "I will take the front, you two will take the skies," he ordered.
"Roger that~" replied Coriana as she looked at Ladora who got on all fours and transformed into his dragon form. Once he was done, he roared and Coriana jumped onto his back while firing demonic balls of energy at their enemies.
Jeanne's dragons rushed in front of the attacks and was hit by them, but they weren't destroyed and quickly regenerated. They then roared and began firing out holy swords en masse from their mouths at Coriana, Liban and Ladora.
Ladora responded by breathing out fire from his mouth and countering Jeanne's dragon's attack. Coriana assisted him but firing demonic fire, mixing it with Ladora's breath attack, further amplifying the attack and overpowering Jeanne's dragon.
Meanwhile, Liban fought all three of Jeanne, Heracles and Marsilio on the ground. He had his Balance Breaker activated which essentially gave him [Gravity Manipulation], which he calls [Satans Gravity].
Heracles after being pushed away by Liban charged back at him, but one glanced from the blonde-haired man changed his gravity, and Heracles' face planted to the ground, confusing the man.
Marsilio fired a few magic attacks at him, mainly fire and water magic, but Liban increased the gravity around the spells forcing them to not reach him and he also created his own and fired demonic aura bullets at the man forcing him to defend and be blown away.
"Tch!" Marisilo wasn't the type of man to lose—no, he hated losing. The fact that he was blown away by Coriana irritated him to no end and he had already been plotting to get back at her. The current Marisilo was a lot tamer than how he previously was.
Of course, it was due to a combination of factors, a combination of individuals. Aaron Toole and Gasper Vladi. Marisilo trained in Aaron's home in a different dimension. He also fought against countless other people, forcing him to adapt to each of their styles in order to better prepare for the Phantasma. He hated losing, so each time he lost, his frustrations only grew.
It finally hit a breaking point and he lashed out at two people he was fighting against. His team tried to stop him and calm him down, but he didn't and even threatened to kill them, to which Gasper stepped in as he had threatened to kill one of his lovers, Tomoe Meguri, Sona's [Knight].
The other was Aoife. Although the young woman didn't mind, and laughed it off, Aaron warned him not to say it again. Gasper was the one who became physical and beat him to near death, and Aaron only slowly healed him as a warning and punishment. After that day, he cooled down significantly, or at least tolerated a lot of things more.
"Dammit it all...!" he whisper-shouted to himself then summoned a magic circle in front of him which shot out...a small glowing pink wall.
Liban was confused and tried to cut it down. However, once it touched his sword, it transformed into a fluffy wool sword which confused him greatly. However, seconds later, all of them were consumed in a bright pink light.
— ○ ● ○ —
"...Huh? Where am I?" Liban asked himself. One minute, he was fighting the members of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor], the next he was...in a random street. Liban stood back up and looked around him, but a person on a bike suddenly passed him while shouting 'Sorry!'.
"...Illusion magic? We did have data concerning that, but...I didn't think it would affect me by this much. I have to break free..." he mumbled to himself.
All around him were Japanese-like houses that looked the same, there were street signs too that looked identical, even the road signs and the sky appeared authentic and real. Liban brought his sword back and swung it forward with everything he had. The town in front of him was completely obliterated.
"It's not strong enough to break this curse? How do I get out of here?" he asked.
[I configured it like this, Liban-san,] said a voice.
"...That voice is the [Bishop] of Cao Cao's team! What is this place?!" he shouted and looked around himself—the 'place' he was at began to repair itself and Liban frowned upon seeing it.
[This is my Sacred Gear, [Dreamlike Curse], and it's my Balance Breaker, [Paraselene Utopia]. As long as I control this space, you cannot get out unless special conditions are met...since all three of you are trapped, you must clear those conditions before being set free, fufu. If you don't, time will run out and my team will win. Good luck~]
"Wait!" Liban cried out, but the voice stopped responding to him. "sh*t! I heard from Aaron-san that he can also change the perception of time here, just like his own dimensions...I might be stuck here for hours at a time when only a few seconds or minutes passes outside..."
— ○ ● ○ —
Lardon Buné meditated in a field. It had been days since he had been here, but eventually he was approached by...someone from his clan—the House of Buné, one of the 72 Pillars of the Underworld.
His previously extinct clan had been in hiding! Much to his surprise, but his master, Sairaorg Bael encouraged him to interact with him because it seemed his clan that had been hiding now sought him out and wanted to reconnect with him—it seemed genuine so Lardon agreed.
Three months passed just like that. He was reintroduced to several devils that had also gone into hiding and he had built a great relationship with the clan. Recently, he had been asked to participate in a small tournament to determine the next head of the House of Buné that had been revitalized.
He accepted and joined the tournament. It was filled with the missing members of the clan and they had sparring matches against each other to determine who was the strongest, and in the end, Lardon won, was from that day onward he was appointed the next leader of the clan.
—Ladon Buné knew it was all an illusion, but...he decided to play along and enjoy his time here. He was meditating in this field to try to break out of the illusionary world. Lardon believed that to break out of this illusion was to have a strong will and not become attached to the world.
He enjoyed his time, but he never truly became attached, because not once had any of the illusions introduced themselves with their 'names'. They only ever referred to themselves as 'part of the house of Buné' or 'A clan member of Buné'.
"Lord Buné, why are you out here?" asked a member of the clan—it was a female.
Lardon opened his eyes and glanced at her before closing them again. "I am meditating to increased my demonic reserves," he replied. It was an obvious lie to the man, but to them—to the illusions, they believed every word of his.
"I see. I won't interrupt you then, but please come back soon. Everyone is waiting and we're going to have a feast," she replied and walked away.
'...If only it were like this...' he thought.
Because of Lardon's mixed heritage, he was shunned by other devils as well as being a descendant of an extinct household. He also had almost no control over his clan's powers, as well as having small reserves of demonic power. All this mixed together made him isolated in the Underworld...that was until he met his current master.
He explained his circ*mstances and was invited to his peerage—Sairaorg Bael accepted anyone who was willing to work hard and achieve their dream. To Lardon, he was the light and hope he had been looking for. Everyone else in peerage had similar circ*mstances which made them bond because of it, further strengthening their relationships.
To him, that was his home...and he needed to go back—as his fellow peerage members said: 'Sairaorg-sama's dream is our dream' and they wanted to fulfill it. He also had many friends and allies now thanks to Team [DxD] and Aaron.
As he sat there meditating, seconds later—a small crack appeared in the sky.
— ○ ● ○ —
"Fufu, how does that taste, Gasper~?" Coriana Andrealphus asked her boyfriend, Gasper Vladi.
"It tastes delicious, Coriana-san. You're quickly improving in your cooking!" he replied enthusiastically.
"Fufu, I've received plenty of help from Grayfia-sama, Raiko-sama and Aaron-sama," she said with a wink.
"...That's why it tastes the same! Great, I can't wait for you to master it. Asking Aaron-nii about cooking as well as Grayfia-sama and Raiko-san was a good choice," replied Gasper as he hugged her from behind making her blush.
"G-Gasper it's dangerous if you do that while I'm still cooking..." she chided him half-heartedly.
Gasper ignored her protests and began feeling her body from behind and eventually grabbed one of her breasts. Coriana had to muffle her moan and continued to cook.
"What the heck are both of you doing?" another voice asked. They turned to their right and saw Tomoe Meguri softly glaring at them.
"Tomoe...c-can you get Gasper off me? I'm trying to cook and this situation's a bit..." said Coriana while flustered.
"Gya-kun, come here, I'll spoil you while Coriana finishes our dinner. Jeez, how many times do we have to tell you not to do this?" asked Tomoe as she huffed.
"Hehe, sorry," replied Gasper. He let go of the woman and she heaved a sigh of relief.
The illusion Coriana Andrealphus was put into was just an ordinary life—a peaceful one where peace was finally achieved and she could live a normal life with her lover, Gasper Vladi. It was a simple illusion, and she knew it was one, but she wanted to indulge in it for a bit longer.
She knew that it was fake because of the things in the home and how those two acted. Gasper showed them affection, but he was not this overly affectionate. He cared about them, he would defend them and would get angry on their part, but this almost 'flirty' Gasper was not the one she was familiar with. That's how she knew it was fake, but she still liked it.
Coriana sighed as she continued to cook their dinner. 'Is this the life that awaits us when our peace is achieved?' she thought and glanced back at the two by the sofa in the kitchen-dining room combo.
'Just a little more,' she thought. 'Just a little more is fine, right?' To Coriana Andrealphus, staying in this peaceful illusion for a bit longer wouldn't be bad, but in her heart and mind she knew she had to leave soon.
To her right—a door had a crack on it already and she knew she just had to break free from there. However, for now, for just a bit longer, she'd like to stay here and enjoy her time with these illusions.
Eventually, she had finished making dinner for everyone. The other two helped set up the table and they began eating.
"The World Rating Game Tournament is happening again. Aaron-nii said that it would take place every five years, so teams and people that want to compete would have a chance of getting stronger and trying to compete again," said Gasper.
In this illusion both Coriana and Tomoe had been traded over to Gasper as his new pieces. Like in Aaron's team, these two fought for the place of [Queen] and in the end, Coriana won, and she was Gasper's new [Queen] while Tomoe was his lone [Knight] piece so far.
"Will you join the tournament, Gya-kun? Or will you be part of Rias-san's team again?" asked Tomoe.
Gasper looked at his food and sighed. "I'd like to play as my own team, but I haven't had much success in having people join it, so I might just join Rias-nee-chan's team this time again. How about you two?"
"If that's the case, then I'll just become a reserve member for [Team Sona Sitri] or [Team Rias Gremory]. If Sona-sama lets me or if Rias-san does," said Tomoe.
Coriana agreed with Tomoe. "I feel the same way. I will ask Rias-sama or Sairaorg-sama, and go from there. Since we're not participating as our own team this year, maybe in the next one? Fufu, why don't you increase your peerage, Gasper? Did you ask your best friend Valerie?"
Gasper smiled bitterly. "V-Valerie doesn't want to become a reincarnated devil. She enjoys her life right now—especially working for the United Vampire faction. She works under Kiss Shot-sama and Carmilla-sama," he explained.
The three of them continued chatting. The crack on the door slowly beginning to widen and Coriana was waiting for the inevitable to happen.
— ○ ● ○ —
In the outside world, Heracles, Jeanne and Marisilo stood watching Coriana, Liban and Lardon as they had frozen in place. A medium sized pink barrier with pink fog was around them and they were forced into an illusionary world, almost reminiscent to Aži Dahāka magic that was used on Vali Lucifer during their death match.
"So, now what? Do we just leave them here?" Heracles asked. Every time Marisilo used this ability, even in the Phantasma's universe, he would always ask the same thing. Marisilo put a hand on his forehead out of annoyance.
"Must you ask me the same question every single time I do this?" Marisilo asked and glared at the hulking giant.
"Yes," replied Heracles as he nodded sagely.
Marisilo felt an even bigger headache coming so he decided to ignore Heracles. Jeanne then pointed at the barrier.
"Hey, is that a crack around the [Bishop] and [Rook]?" she asked. Both Marsilio and Heracles looked at the two that Jeanne pointed at and saw that there were cracks around them, meanwhile Liban's had no change whatsoever.
"Hmm...it seems like those two are strong enough to break free of the illusion soon, but their [Knight] has no change at all. Until he does...none of them will leave that world. All of them need to break free at the same time. As long as there's one that can't—they'll remain trapped there until the game is over," explained Marsilio.
"Can't someone from the other team break it? Or beat you?" asked Jeanne.
"Those are possibilities too, but that's why we're moving as a three-man unit from now and until the game ends. If we can keep these three immobilized, then we can help defeat the others before we come back here and defeat them," he said.
Jeanne had a confused look on her face. "Why not defeat them now?"
A smirk emerged from Marsilio's lips. "These illusions will turn into nightmares given enough time. It will entice them with the sweetest of fake worlds, then turn them into hellish nightmares. If they stay in there long enough, it's possible to break them mentally, like what Georg and Leonardo are attempting with the [Queen] and [Pawn]."
"If we break even just one of them, it will cut down Sairaorg Bael's overall power. His brother's and fiancé's peerage members don't have the experience and power like the rest of us—if we can do that...we'll cripple his overall power for the rest of the tournament," he explained.
"Uwaaa...you really still have the mindset of a villain," said Jeanne.
Marsilio scoffed. "I am no villain; I am just using every advantage I have. As long as we win, it's all that matters. Jin can also just undo the damage done to them, so it doesn't matter."
"Villain..." Jeanne muttered again while backing away from him.
"Villain...!" repeated Heracles and backed away with Jeanne.
This annoyed Marsilio ever more as he shouted at them, "Quit playing around! I will watch over these two with Jeanne. Heracles go help someone else, and make sure to come back when I call you!"
"If I don't get eliminated before then!" Heracles said and ran away.
"Then don't get eliminated you fool!" roared Marsilio. He sighed and looked back at the three in front of them—to his surprise, a small crack had already appeared around Liban. 'Tch, so he's starting to break free too, huh? This won't last too long then...'
— ○ ● ○ —
"Silveteela? Hello?" Kuisha shouted out her [Queen]'s name, but got no response.
She was in an endless black space and she had been walking for a few minutes without a change in scenery. The last thing she remembered was getting ready for the Rating Game between [Team Imperial Purpure] and [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor]. After we left the bathroom, she was here.
"Where am I...? Was this the Khaos Orders doing? An attack then? So...Illusion magic? If so I'm stronger than them and can easily break free," she muttered to herself and tried to do so. She covered her body and mind with a dense and powerful demonic aura.
However, nothing happened which confused her. She tried a few more times with different techniques at dispelling illusion magic, but none of them worked. Frustrated, Kuisha kept walking forward for a few seconds before she began running.
She became worried as she thought the rest of her team was attacked too. She knew that everyone was strong, but she was on guard because she couldn't break out of whatever she was in. To her, even if it sounded arrogant, she was one of the strongest in the peerage, bar her [King], Sairaorg when using his Sacred Gear. If she couldn't break free, how would the rest fair?
As she continued to run, she eventually saw a figure in the distance and she prepared herself for a confrontation, but as she got closer to the figure—it felt familiar. So she lowered her guard a little and once she was inches away from it, she recognized it.
"Aaron?! Aaron! It's me, Kuisha!" she shouted and grabbed Aaron's shoulder. The man slowly turned and what she saw next horrified her. It was the disfigured face of her boyfriend and she took a step back.
"Kuisha? What's wrong? Don't you love me?" the figure asked.
"What the hell is this...?!" she shouted in anger before killing the figure away with a demonic blast of energy. As she continued to run around this pitch-black world, she continued to encounter disfigured versions of her allies and she was forced to kill them.
"This is messed up...if I come across the one responsible for this, I'll—"
"Kuisha!"
Hearing another familiar voice, she turned to it and found her [King] and previous love, Sairaorg Bael. However, this one wasn't disfigured like the rest. Relief washed over her body as she ran over to him.
"Sairaorg-sama!" she shouted and arrived in front of him. "What happened? The last thing I knew was that we were getting ready for our game."
Sairaorg nodded sagely and sighed. "I'm not entirely sure myself, but it seems we're in some kind of powerful illusion—perhaps someone from the Khaos Order?"
"If it is...then did a new threat appear? Someone that's the same power as Lapis?" she asked worriedly. "We should inform Aaron."
Sairaorg nodded and got closer to Kuisha. "But before that," he said and tilted her chin up to face him, "how about we have some fun?" he asked with a grin.
Kuisha froze for a few seconds before she pushed Sairaorg away. She was shocked and horrified. The 'Sairaorg' in front of her frowned—no, he was enraged by what she had done. He took a step forward and powerful darkness covered his body.
"...How dare you!" she shouted and fired a demonic ball at him. The fake Sairaorg didn't dodge and a large part of his stomach was torn away. "My Master and [King] wouldn't do such a thing! He's loyal to his fiancé!"
The darkness around the fake Sairaorg began to mold itself to become a replica of his [Regulus Rey Leather Rex] and dashed towards Kuisha. The fake co*cked his arm back and threw it towards Kuisha, who easily redirected his attack with her hands and kicked the fake in between his legs making him stumble back.
She followed it up by using demonic ice to freeze him in place and firing multiple demonic lightning bolts at him damaging him even more as well as stunning him in place—all the while the ice stayed while still freezing him in place.
The fake Sairaorg began to chant his own version of [Breakdown the Beast], but it was muffled and distorted. However, eventually even more darkness erupted from his body and he was in a different armor and he broke out of the ice.
"Will I get out of this illusion if I defeat you?" she asked, but received no response from the fake. It only continued attacking her and she avoided it all.
Kuisha sighed and dodged another attack before covering her body with demonic energy. She dodged yet another punch from the fake which created shockwaves behind her. She quickly twirled and did a downward motion with her right hand that was covered in even more powerful demonic energy—seconds later the arm of the fake was cut off and it groaned before backing away.
Kuisha smirked and scoffed at the fake. "My Master would have dodged that, or blocked it. A fake is a fake and can't replicate the power and experiences he's face." Her body began to glow even more and elemental snakes appeared all around her.
"Die, so I can leave this place," she said, and the elemental snakes rushed towards the fake before it could react and blew up. When the explosion disappeared, the only part of the fake that was present was its head.
The head smirked at her and said, "You cannot simply leave this place just because you defeated me. Part of your memories have been locked, but with my defeat you should have them back."
The head disappeared after conveying those words to her. Moments later memories flooded Kuisha's head and she sighed. "...This is the Anti-Monster [Night Celestial Slash Dogs] world? A world of infinite darkness...I need to find it and defeat it here, though we'll still need to defeat them in the outside too," she said before she dashed around the world.
Kuisha had no idea how powerful this version of the Balance Breaker armor was. She only heard rumors of Tobio Ikuse's battle prowess, and since he's taking time off from the front lines to take care of his recently born daughter, she and many others don't know how powerful he is. However, she saw Aaron use his own version of [Canis Lykaon] a few times, but never in battle, so she could only speculate to an extent.
After a few minutes of running around, Kuisha finally found the source of her entrapment. In the distance stood a figure of a humanoid beast with its eyes glowing red and staring at her.
"Finally found you...!" she shouted and flew towards it with her devil wings.
Thousands of large distorted blades of darkness were projected towards her as the humanoid beast stomped on the ground. Kuisha summoned two balls of demonic energy from both her hands and threw them at the blades which destroyed them and they headed towards the beast.
The humanoid beast summoned a scythe and swung it down at her attacks and cut them apart causing Kuisha to click her tongue.
'Blades that can cut anything including magic, concepts, time and space...but that was Tobio Ikuse-san. What about this thing? It's made from [Annihilation Maker] and by Leonardo. He and the rest of his team have already trained in Aaron's dimension...how much stronger or weaker is this? I'll just experiment...I'll use varying percentages of power...'
Kuisha proceeded to do that. Starting from her lowest percentage, she would attack the Anti-Monster with the same demonic ball over and over again while slowly increasing her power. All of them were easily cut apart, yet the Anti-Monster did not go forward and attack her. It simply waited for Kuisha to attack it.
However, this strange back and forth eventually ended when she increased it to a certain percentage and...instead of cutting it with its scythe, the humanoid monster jumped to its side to avoid it. Kuisha was using around 95% of her power at this point and the monster couldn't cut it anymore.
'So...those things are around 95% of its original's power then? I'll assume it's the same for the other five too...that's troubling, then what about his Balance Breaker...? I'd rather not think about that right now,' she thought and sped towards the Anti-Monster.
The humanoid monster put its right arm forward and large blades of darkness flew from behind its back and towards her. Kuisha summoned [Holes] and absorbed the attacks. She hurled some bolts of lightning at the humanoid monster and it jumped up to avoid the attack. However, Kuisha summoned her [Holes] around it and used its own attack against it.
With even more power and speed, the blades of darkness left the [Holes] and pierced the humanoid monster. But...it didn't defeat it right away, but it did cut off an arm from its body, and to her joy, it didn't regenerate. Perhaps it was due to the illusionary world, or something else, but she didn't care as she knew she'd get out of here when she defeated it.
Kuisha kept up her assault as she exchanged powerful attacks with the imitation of [Night Celestial Slash Dogs]. In a genuine fight with either wielder (Aaron and Tobio) she didn't know if she could win as both of them had mastery of the power. But as long as it was just an imitation, she was confident in winning against it.
The humanoid beast dashed towards her and swung its scythe at her. At the same time various blades appeared out of thin air and flew towards her—just like earlier, she absorbed the attacks with her [Hole] and dodged the scythe's attacks while also firing her own demonic attacks and elemental attacks at the creature.
She froze the humanoid creature with demonic ice, and launched a series of elemental attacks that were shaped like snakes like the attacks he used on the fake Sairaorg earlier. At the same time, she summoned her [Holes] again and sent the blades of darkness towards the imitation of [Night Celestial Slash Dogs].
All the attacks hit which created a powerful shockwave that also blew Kuisha away and shook the illusionary world. She floated there and waited for the dust to settle, and when it did, a small part of the humanoid beast's body remained, its head with only its left eye remained and its right leg.
She was about to continue attacking it when it looked up at her and began to slowly fade away. Kuisha also felt herself begin to leave the illusionary world. As she did, she prepared herself for anything.
"Please...please bring me back outside...!" she said and she passed out.
— ○ ● ○ —
When Kuisha 'woke up' she quickly looked around herself, but—
"Oh come on!" she bellowed. In front of her was an artificial world and there were thousands of black monsters in that had one eye on them. "I'm in [Dimension Lost] and have to fight [Annihilation Maker] Anti-Monsters?!"
Kuisha Abaddon's real body was transported to a small dimension created by [Dimension Lost] and was filled with creatures made from [Annihilation Maker]. She was furious and began to attack everything indiscriminately in sight. However, she quickly composed herself and she began looking around her surroundings.
"Where's Silveteela...?!"
The [Queen] of [Team Imperial Purpure] was nowhere to be found.
— ○ ● ○ —
"...Kuisha? Are you here...?" asked Silveteela Stolas.
She herself was in her own 'dimension' and nightmare. Instead, she walked around a replica of the Stolas territory but it was mostly nighttime/pitch-black. She had been walking around her home's gardens and outer walls but found no one.
Unlike Kuisha Abaddon, Silveteela Stolas' memories were temporarily sealed. She was aware that she was transported somewhere because of Leonardo's monsters' abilities. However, try as she might, she couldn't find a way out, so she simply took a stroll around the place.
That was until she felt a powerful tremor in her territory followed by a large pillar of darkness. Silveteela stared at it with unease, but began to walk towards it. However, to her surprise, someone grabbed her from behind, causing her to pull away and put some distance between them.
When she looked back at who had done that, she was surprised to see her butler to be there. She stared at him in confusion, as he looked like her butler, but something felt off—finally she understood why. Their eyes—they were hollow, no eyes were there, only darkness.
"My lady, why are you heading towards that light? It's dangerous. Lord and Lady Stolas would be worried if you went," said the butler.
Silveteela stared at the butler before she said, "...Because I have to—no, I need to! Please don't stop me, Araniel."
The butler Araniel had been with the Stolas family for two generations. He has watched this family from its highest to its lowest and was very loyal. Araniel was a low-class devil, shunned for his low demonic power, but the kind Stolas household took him in and he became a butler.
Over the years he worked hard and was promoted as the head butler of the house. Many other butlers and maids praise him for his work ethic, as well as teaching them numerous things. He has seen many leave the profession, and others stay—he was a kind and compassionate man, but...
Silveteela Stolas found none of that from the thing in front of her. To her, this fake was nothing short of grotesque. Araniel supported every whim she ever did, whether it was the morally right choice...was left up to the young lady, looking back in her life, she knew that he did it for her own good, so she could learn from it and grow as a person.
Because of that, she met Sairaorg and many other people, so she trusted Araniel with her life, as did many other generations of the Stolas household. But the thing in front of her was nothing like him.
"That's reckless, my lady. You should stay here and send other lowly servants to investigate it," he suggested which made Silveteela's blood boil.
"...Enough," she muttered and fired a demonic blast at him in a shape of a spear. Once it pierced the butler's head, the appearance of her butler, Araniel vanished and was replaced with just a black humanoid shape made of darkness. It screeched before dying and disappearing.
"Why would you do that?" asked another voice.
"That was cruel," added another. When Silveteela turned around she saw her mother and father there giving her looks of disgust and contempt.
"To kill our beloved family butler...the future of our household is in trouble, we must exile you!" her father shouted, and his body was covered in darkness.
"That is too soft, dear. We must get rid of her. If she is no longer part of this world, we won't need to worry about a rebellion from this failure," her mother added while also darkness covered her body.
"...That young child is really trying to bring out my anger..." she muttered before she blasted the imitations of her parents away. "I need too—"
As she was about to move away, a figure dashed towards her and punched the building in front of her, destroying it. With a grin on its face, the figure asked, "Teela, where are you going?"
The dark figure had morphed itself into the figure of Sairaorg Bael, her fiancé. Upon seeing that, Silveteela's face darkened as she glared daggers at the fake in front of her. The fake touched her chin and tilted her head up.
"I've been looking for you, my beloved. Why don't we go to my home and create memories alongside my [Queen] and [Bishop]?" the fake Sairaorg asked.
Silveteela touched the fake's cheek and smiled. Seconds later dark purple symbols and lines appeared all over his body causing the fake to stumble back and fall to his knees. He then started to retch out blood from his mouth and clutch his throat as he began to struggle to breathe.
[Sutanrete], the trait of the Stolas clan. They can create poisons and toxins that are fatal to all kinds of creatures. Devils, Fallen Angels and Angels aren't safe. However, Silveteela wasn't sure if it would be effective against Gods or Buddhas, nor against powerful dragons. Like the Dragon God of Infinity, Ophis.
To the thing in front of her—even if it was an imitation of her fiancé, it was nothing like him and she immediately took the chance of using it against him. She had no idea if it would work on a thing that was made by a Sacred Gear. However, her anger clouded her judgement on that, and luckily for her, it worked.
Seconds later, the poison spread all over his body, and all the dark purple symbols were everywhere. Then, the fake Sairaorg tried to screech but nothing came out and it died. She looked at where the thing was and spat on it.
"I'll need to spank that boy when I get my hands on him," she muttered and angrily walked towards the pillar while killing anything that tried to get in her way.
Nothing was safe, not her other noble devil friends, the pet she had, the other maids and butlers in her territory or even her peerage members. All of them were killed by Silveteela with no mercy. Whatever this Sacred Gear was trying to do to her, it only made her even more angry rather than break her down emotionally.
As she angrily stomped her way to the location of the pillar, she encountered more humanoid creatures made of darkness. The Sacred Gear had stopped trying to trick her by changing their appearances and was now sending the monsters towards her en masse. But like earlier, using her demonic powers and poison, she killed them all easily.
She suddenly stopped. Silveteela was close to the site of the pillar of darkness when she started spreading her poison in the air and ground. She wanted to make this quick, if it was a battle, and she would catch her opponent off guard when she confronts them. After a few seconds of making her poison airborne and had it gone into the ground and spread itself in a wide arc, she began walking forward again.
She quickly arrived at the location where an enormous crater was created. In the middle of it was a black humanoid figure made of darkness and it resembled the Balance Breaker of [Canis Lykaon], and another fake Sairaorg in his Balance Breaker armor.
"This thing is really testing my patience," she whispered to herself as she quickly fired a powerful ball of demonic energy at them using her full power.
When the dust settled, she saw that both were heavily injured and she smirked. The fake Sairaorg ran towards her and began throwing a flurry of punches at her. However, since Silveteela was Sairaorg's fiancé, she was also trained in hand-to-hand combat. She also had access to touki after being helped by him and several others.
So she dodged a right hook and quickly countered with her own punch that landed on the fake's face, throwing him backwards into the crater.
With an angry expression on her face, she screamed, "My real fiancé's punches are faster and stronger! A stupid fake like you can't live up to it!"
The fake charged back and threw another punch. Silveteela covered her own body with touki that glowed a dark blue and purple and she matched the fake's punch! A powerful shockwave rang throughout the area. The fake grinned, but it quickly faded when he saw his arm shatter—before he could react, she fired a point-blank blast at him, killing him.
The black humanoid beast stared at Silveteela, waiting for her next action, but it never came. The woman stood there waiting and staring at it, confusing it. However, just as it was about to move, it felt strange and began to panic. Dark purple symbols and lines began appearing all over its body to its surprise.
"I like being underestimated. Because of my usually haughty nature as well as my frail-looking physique, most would assume I'm a high-class devil in name only. I'm glad it's not like that anymore," she said to the imitation of [Night Celestial Slash Dogs].
Before she started training seriously, Silveteela only had above average demonic power and reserves. However, after she saw the young Sairaorg desperately training to become stronger, she also began training herself to become someone who could beat him. However, that hasn't happened yet at all.
She only became even stronger after she was invited by Sairaorg to go to Aaron's dimension and train for 100 years. Once that was done, she, like everyone else became insanely strong, to the point that she felt strange being around her noble devil friends as they felt so...tiny and weak. But she didn't let the new power get to her head. Maybe her past self, but the current Silveteela wasn't like that.
It was a mix of befriending various other people of all social statuses while in Aaron's dimension, as well as being beaten down by Aurelia, Scathach, Lianne and various others that she was humbled further.
She watched the beast in front of her crumble away from her poison. The beast only looked at her and closed its eyes before disappearing. Once the beast was defeated, she looked around herself as the replica of her home also began to disappear.
"Let's go meet everyone again," she said to herself.
— ○ ● ○ —
As soon as she woke up, she heard explosions and very angry yelling from a familiar voice. Silveteela Stolas stood up quickly and flew over to the screaming woman.
"Kuisha!"
The woman in question turned to the voice and flew to her and hugged her. "Teela! I thought you weren't going to come out of that place! I'm glad you did because..." Kuisha began grating her teeth in frustration, "that little brat is going to get a spanking from me, and I'm going to beat up that four-eyed freak!"
"Ara? I guess we're in the same opinion, Kuisha. I'd like to spank that little boy~ fufufu~"
"Fufufufu~"
Both women were insanely angry, and planned on torturing Georg and also spanking Leonardo once they got out of their current predicament.
— ○ ● ○ —
In the outside both Georg and Leonardo felt shivers run throughout their bodies. They glanced at each other as they had the same look—fear, but not the regular one—it was more specific to...women.
"W-we'll be fine, right?" Leonardo asked as he looked back at the mini dimension. They had put both [Queen] and [Pawn] of [Team Imperial Purpure].
Georg scoffed and fixed his glasses, although he couldn't forget the sudden chill he just felt. "Attacking a team outside of the tournament is grounds for being terminated, if they did so, we can just report them," he explained. 'Yes...we don't need to worry about such things...'
— ○ ● ○ —
As Sairaorg and Cao Cao were about to face off against each other, a hulking man ran towards them, interrupting their confrontation.
[Oh! The [Rook] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] Player Heracles has come running towards both [Kings]!] shouted Naud.
[Kuku, I wonder how both will react?] asked Shiva.
"Waaaaaaaaaaait! I'm fighting him first!!" Heracles shouted as he arrived in front of Cao Cao.
"...What are you doing?" Cao Cao asked, flabbergasted by his appearance.
"Jeanne and Marsilio said I should go and help someone, so I came here! They said they'd be fine!" explained Heracles. "Sairaorg Bael! I challenge you to a one-on-one fight before you face my [King]!"
[Oooooooooooooh! Player Heracles just challenged Sairaorg Bael-san! What will he say?!]
Sairaorg stared at Heracles as the man crossed his arms in front of him waiting for an answer. Cao Cao sensing that Sairaorg may accept backed away and gave them space. Once he was a distance away, he silently watched on as the two large men stared at each other.
"May I ask why?" Sairaorg inquired.
"Because we're in a Rating Game! I also want to test myself," Heracles explained while slowly releasing more of his power.
"I would normally decline, but since, as you say, we're in a Rating Game, I cannot really decline," replied Sairaorg. He himself covered his body with touki and prepared to face Heracles.
A sudden powerful shockwave exploded in the area where Sairaorg and Heracles clashed. They had disappeared in a split second and their fists collided against each other. Sairaorg was surprised that the man in front of him could match his physical strength.
[They're both evenly matched!!]
Sairaorg grinned as they both disappeared again and at every point their fists collided the game's field would be blown away, sand would fly everywhere as well as the pillars that were near them would crumble at the vibrations their fists made. However, none of them directly made contact with any other part of their bodies as they would easily and quickly avoid such an attack.
Heracles sent a barrage of normal powered punches at Sairaorg, to which the latter dodged skillfully while bobbing and weaving. Once the attacks finished, Sairaorg himself closed the distance and sent an uppercut towards Heracles, to which he blocked with his left hand—but to his surprise Sairaorg's other fist was about to right his face when he stopped it too.
But Sairaorg grinned and what Heracles had tried to block was just an afterimage and he was hit on the face by Sairaorg's real fist! Heracles staggered backward but wasn't blown away again much to Sairaorg's surprise.
"Not bad!" shouted Heracles as he charged back at Sairaorg who also did the same thing. Again, the two large men began fist fighting in place. Each time their fists collided the ground beneath them began to crumble away.
After a few clashes, Sairaorg stopped and jumped away. The other [Pawn] of [Team Imperial Purpure], Regulus joined him.
"It seems like I can't defeat you without using my Sacred Gear. Very well, Heracles, former member of the Hero faction and current [Rook] of Cao Cao's team. I will use it!" declared Sairaorg.
"This is what I've been waiting for!!" bellowed Heracles. "Balance Break!!"
Heracles' body exploded in a large orange glow. Heracles wore some kind of helmet that resembled the tip of a missile, on his shoulders were also spikes that also looked like the heads of a missile, they also appeared on his elbows, wrists, knuckles, and knees.
"This is my Abyss-side Balance Breaker! [Ignition Cosmic Detonation]! I developed this while I was away at 'that' place," he said and changed into a stance.
Sairaorg nodded before he shouted, "Regulus!"
"Yes!" replied the Sacred Gear. He vanished and turned into a golden light that hit Sairaorg.
"My lion! King of Nemea! You, who has been called King of Lions! Answer my howl and turn into my armor!" shouted Sairaorg.
The entire field around him shook violently as his form was swathed in a bright golden light.
"[Balance Break!]" both Sairaorg and Regulus shouted. Once the light show was finished, Sairaorg was clad in golden armor with a lion's head in the middle of his chest.
"Let's go, Heracles. Can you keep up with me?" asked Sairaorg.
Heracles did not answer as they disappeared again. Except this time, the entire field trembled violently with each strike that collided.
[Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhh?! T-the whole game field is shaking every time their fist are colliding!] shouted Naud.
[If this field was made by anyone other than Jin, it would have already collapsed. I can tell that each one of those strikes could split this planet in half,] said Shiva.
[S-surely you jest, S-Shiva-sama...] said Naud in disbelief.
[I am not. That's how powerful those strikes are. I also believe that they're still holding back because of their teammates around them, if would be unfortunate if they accidentally knocked them out by themselves.]
Naud couldn't find the words to say as he simply went back to watching the match presented to him.
In the seats of the stadium, various children along with their parents stood up and began shouting.
[You can do it, old maaaaaaaaaaaaan!!]
[Beat Lion-san!! Old maaaaaaaaaan!!]
[Do your best, Heracles-san!]
It took Heracles a while, but after he started his job, not many parents trusted him, but because of his simple and straightforward personality he won them over. Many of the kids in those daycares began praising him and also talking about him a lot, which made the parents of those places reconsider their opinion of him.
The staff also had good things to say about him, and eventually parents began to speak to him over time and they understood that he was truly trying to repent for his past actions by helping children and families all around the supernatural world—to the less fortunate, Heracles donated his money to them, or bought them everyday luxuries.
Back on the field, both men avoided fatal punches by dodging them quickly. If any of them were hit by their punches right now, it would cause severe injury that would leave them stunned—then only needing a single punch to end it.
"It feels good having people support you and cheer you on," said Heracles as he avoided another punch.
"...Of course, that's what I and Aaron work towards! Letting everyone have an equal opportunity to achieve their dreams regardless of their background. To have a world where everyone can smile, a peace that's never been achieved!" replied Sairaorg.
"Heh...even in the Phantasma I saw a lot of suffering, so I want to do the same over there too!" shouted Heracles.
Both their fists collided again. This time however, a powerful explosion left his fists and blew Sairaorg back. The Lion King was surprised, but quickly dashed back to Heracles as she threw a powerful punch at him. Heracles reacted late and was hit by the shockwave sent to him.
He noticed that some of the armor he was wearing began to crack. 'Does that mean I still need more training?! sh*t, I can't lose here!' he thought and charged back at Sairaorg.
Even after facing many powerful enemies in the Phantasma's universe, Heracles was still being beaten by the young man in front of him—Sairaorg Bael. He couldn't believe it. As he charged back, he screamed and their fists collided again. However, to his surprise, his armor around his hands were the one to crack and then shatter.
"Seriously—?!" he shouted before being blown away. Heracles temporarily passed out as he landed on the ground and a memory from the Phantasma played in his head.
— ○ ● ○ —
"Heracles, thank you for bringing that toy for my son. He's really happy," said a member of the Resistance.
Heracles had been sitting on a rock after he had eaten dinner. It was currently nighttime in the world as this man approached him.
"Oh? I'm glad then, I just found it during my team's mission, and I thought I might as well bring back some toys for the kids here," he explained and patted his belly.
"...All the children here are happy; we haven't seen them smile like that in a long time. So thank you again, from all the parents here," said the man as he bowed.
"I'm not used to things like that, but I do have a job with taking care of children at a daycare in my universe so I have some experience. I'll try to find other things that the kids may like during our missions, so leave it to me!"
Again, the man bowed. "Thank you...I'll get going then, otherwise my wife will scold me..."
"Right! Take care and good night!" Heracles waved at the man as he left. After the man left, one of the leaders walked up to him—it was Savina.
"For as long as I can remember the only facial expressions I saw on the children here were of fear and sadness. As adults, we should protect the young from things like that, but because of our world, they are forced to see inhumane things from an early age. Most of them can't even act like children of their age..."
Savina who had been staring at Heracles turned to look at their base. "But since you and your team have come here things have improved significantly. First it was from Sekudia and the food that the outer gods provided, then the things you and your team did. We are forever grateful."
Heracles was simple minded, almost dumb even, but he understood that much. When he compared himself from before he was defeated, he was arrogant, overconfident, brutal, stubborn and pugnacious. But now he had changed. Although he could still be a bit stubborn, and still wanted to become strong, he had more reasons for it.
One of them was for the children that he took care of. There were a few occasions when rowdy parents from marriages that ended in divorce tried to take children to certain daycares by force and he had to step up and stop them.
The cries and praises he received after such actions made him...feel good. Having people rely on him made him feel a sense of accomplishment, and it couldn't compare to the previous one he felt. After that, Heracles wanted to improve himself.
He stood up and declared, "Don't worry, Savina, my team and I, as well as Jin, our boss will definitely clobber Phumera, the Eradicators and anyone else that gets in the way of his peace. He hates seeing people suffer after all, and we'll be there all the way too! So before we go back, we'll do as much as we can."
Savina stared at the boisterous and bulky man in front of her before laughing. "Yes...I do hope the outer gods comes here to help us soon. The things that have been said about him makes me want to meet him sooner."
— ○ ● ○ —
[Stand up, old maaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!]
[Heracles, don't give up! Staaaand!]
[Wiiiiiiiin old maaaaaaaaaan!]
"Ugh...I told you guys not to call me an old man..." grumbled Heracles as he stood back up. He grinned at Sairaorg who stood in front of him. "I'm not done yet, oh great lion king-sama." He then pulled out a card from his pocket.
"These kids...gave me these. They're from the playing card game [Oppai Dragon], and this one in particular...is very rare...to me, they're like good luck charms and they boost me in strength," he muttered tiredly and then put it back in his pocket.
As if acting like a true item to boost power, Heracles power increased even more as the game field trembled. "Those brats gave me those cards...and now since they're watching me, I feel even stronger!"
Those cards were normal player cards that the children gave him. They held no real power, but to him, to Heracles they gave him the strength to stand back up in front of a person who had more power than him. It made him pull up more power and energy from deep within him.
Sairaorg stared at him and said, "So those cards give you strength? Quite impressive."
"Also...it pisses me off that these people are accusing you of being a fake! If only they knew how much you trained to attain that power...!" Heracles said angrily. "If only they were hit by those fists of yours! There's no way like a muscle brain like you could ever think of using an item like that to give yourself a power up!!"
Heracles disappeared, reaching a speed that Sairaorg hadn't expected from the man. Heracles slammed his fist into Sairaorg's stomach and knocked him away, but that's all it did. He didn't stop there as his right fist glowed and he sent another punch Sairaorg's way.
To his surprise Sairaorg dodged his attack by mere inches. The Lion King smiled, as he punched Heracles with everything he had—said punch made Heracles puke out blood.
"Thank you, Heracles, the man who inherited the spirit of the Hero Heracles. I look forward to fighting against and with you in the future," muttered Sairaorg as Heracles disappeared and slammed into the game fields barrier.
After he fell down, Heracles began to fade away. "Dammit...I lost again...I need to get stronger...and...I don't deserve such praise..."
[1 [Rook] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] retire!!!!]
The first retirement of the match had happened, under both [Kings] eye. Cao Cao walked back to where Sairaorg stood with his Balance Breaker. He then summoned his new spear [Arredoval]. He spun it around his arms and body before pointing it at Sairaorg while changing into a stance.
"Shall we begin then, Great Lion King, Sairaorg Bael?" asked Cao Cao.
"May the best man win, wielder of the [Spear of the Universe]," replied Sairaorg as his touki increased, and both men charged at each other.
— ○ ● ○ —
Sairaorg's fist and the tip of Cao Cao's spear collided and a powerful shockwave reverberated through the entire game field, and the rest of the players on each team were struck and all of them were slammed against the game field's barrier.
Normally, after each punch that Sairaorg threw, he could choose to create a powerful shockwave or not. During his fight with Heracles he used it sparingly to not accidentally hit his teammates, but since he was facing his fellow [King], he could not afford not to.
However, because of Cao Cao's new spear and improved skills, he nullified or redirected each shockwave to a different part of the game field. This means, if Sairaorg kept using his shockwaves, Cao Cao would just redirect it towards his teammates.
Sairaorg frowned upon seeing this and stopped using his shockwaves. He continued his assault with consecutive normal punches to which Cao Cao dodged gracefully while also countering with his spear. This forced Sairaorg to block them with his other hand. But the muscular man noticed that his armor was being chipped away when he blocked the attacks causing him concern.
'Aaron called this spear the [Spear of the Universe], but he didn't elaborate on what he meant by that? Did he mean it had the power of an entire universe? If so, which one? Our one?' thought Sairaorg while dodging Cao Cao's strikes.
Cao Cao sent a flurry of jabs with his spear at Sairaorg who also dodged them with no effort. However, to his surprise, one of the strikes at the end hit him, blowing him backwards. After he steadied himself, he looked at the spot that was hit—his shoulder. There was no blood, but it had turned red quickly and that part of his armor slowly regenerated instead of it being instantaneous.
Cao Cao slammed his foot into the ground and Sairaorg jumped away from the spot he was at, and numerous spears had appeared at where he once stood. They also gave a threatening aura which made his body shiver.
'The abilities of [Canis Lykaon]? Can that spear recreate that?' he thought and landed on the ground again, but he quickly jumped away again as more spears appeared from the ground. When he looked back up Cao Cao was missing, and he sensed him behind him, so he threw a bunch behind him and to his surprise the young man vaulted over it's arm.
"As expected, your fighting sense is quite reliable," said Cao Cao.
He then swung his spear down at Sairaorg who increased his touki to act like a barrier while also using his other free hand to block it. But Sairaorg was still slammed into the ground by its force, however, he didn't get time to rest as Cao Cao immediately followed up by slamming his foot into him, but missing by mere inches as the Lion King pushed himself out of the way.
Sairaorg jumped back towards Cao Cao and continued his assault, and Cao Cao himself blocked and deflected the attacks with his spear. To everyone but themselves, they seemed to be evenly matched. However, the man with the spear was slowly destroying Sairaorg's armor while also severely limiting the regeneration rate of said armor.
[What an incredible fight! It seems that both [Kings] are eventually matched!] shouted Naud.
[...No, even if it's not that obvious, Cao Cao has the slightest advantage right now. Every counter he does, he's slowly destroying Sairaorg Bael's armor. Unless the future heir of the Bael clan does something to change the tides, he'll lose,] explained Shiva.
[A-as expected from the God of Destruction, I didn't even notice that! ...Yes, looking closer, parts of Player Sairaorg-san's armor is indeed damaged and have several cracks around them!]
[Haha, it takes a trained eye to see such details in an intense bout. No need to praise me like that,] replied Shiva. [Also, it seems like they're about to get a bit more serious.]
[Eh?]
"Are we done testing each other?" Cao Cao asked as he placed his spear on his shoulder.
Sairaorg didn't respond as he disappeared, leaving a medium-sized crater where he once stood. Cao Cao grinned and preemptively thrust the spear behind him causing Sairaorg to dodge it, leaving his body awkwardly hanging in the air.
"Training is one thing, Sairaorg Bael, but being subjected to months upon months of constant fighting in another universe along with fighting things that are on par or stronger than you can give you sense beyond your current self. I certainly achieved it, and so did my team to a certain degree," said Cao Cao as he appeared above Sairaorg and sent a kick to his head.
Sairaorg managed to turn around in time and throw a punch at the young man's foot. This caused another powerful shockwave to blow across the entire field, disrupting several more fights around them.
"But, I'm not trying to say training is useless, it's quite the opposite in fact," said another voice, surprising Sairaorg. He glanced to his side and saw another Cao Cao who covered his fist with touki and punched him in the face.
Sairaorg was blown away and slammed against the barrier on the game field. He quickly stood up and stared at the two Cao Cao's in confusion.
"Clones? Avatars? It's not illusions since I was hit..." he mumbled while squinting his eyes at both.
Both Cao Cao's smiled at Sairaorg, but the one of the left merged with the other and they became one. "It's my spear's abilities. It has a lot, which is convenient. Did you know? Jin told me that the abilities this spear gains is entirely dependent on me? How I decided to evolve it was entirely on me...so I experimented over 'there' and I received a lot."
[Oh my goodness! That spear is as powerful as the [True Longinus] he previously wielded! I wonder what other abilities it has! First those spears on the ground, then avatars or clones!]
"But have you mastered all those abilities you acquired? Having many techniques isn't impressive if you don't master them," said Sairaorg as he appeared in front of Cao Cao and again threw a punch at him.
Cao Cao smiled and ducked, avoiding the punch. However, to his surprise, Sairaorg had used his leg to kick him which was unlike what he had previously known. So he quickly blocked it with his spear, but was still blown away by the man.
He quickly recovered mid-air but noticed that Sairaorg had appeared above him and sent a powerful shockwave punch towards him. Cao Cao spun his spear in front of him in turn stopping the shockwave. The man above him flew down towards him and punched him again, but he blocked it with his spear. Cao Cao redirected the other shockwave produced to their right, towards a group of four who were fighting.
— ○ ● ○ —
"Move!" Momono screamed and grabbed Zhuge Liang and jumped away. Both Misteeta and Gandoma also jumped away from their spot as a powerful shockwave tore through the area, completely obliterating the area.
"Couldn't Leader-sama warn us before hand? Jeez, what in the world is this?" asked Momono as he landed on the ground.
"As expected of Sairaorg-sama, the shockwave of his punches are still monstrous," said Gandoma while looking at the devastation.
"Focus back, we've been at a stand-still since a few minutes ago," said Misteeta.
"Right..."
"Fufu, how long until that ability of yours run out, boy~?" asked Zhuge Liang.
'...So she was waiting for my stamina to run out, huh?' Misteeta thought while squinting his eyes at Zhuge Liang. "Change of plans, let's be aggressive and knock them out."
Misteeta enhanced their strength and speed using enhancement magic. "Take the man with the youkais out first then we'll defeat the little girl. I can counter the little girl's magic but his youkais are quite annoying."
"Roger that!" shouted Gandoma as he charged back at Momono who had prepared himself.
— ○ ● ○ —
"To think you would use your legs to attack now, did you not rely on just your fists anymore?" asked Cao Cao as he stood away from Sairaorg.
"I did not only train my fists while in 'that' dimension. I also trained my whole body while learning some martial arts...karate and taekwondo. Jin was the one who showed me these after all," explained Sairaorg.
"Hoho? Now this will certainly become more interesting. Show me then!" shouted Cao Cao.
Sairaorg changed into a different stance. He brought his right arm back and gathered his touki around his fist. He also brought his left arm up in front of him and clenched it. Cao Cao stood still, ready to take on the attack.
The Lion King disappeared and appeared in front of Cao Cao who began to move his spear in a way to block the incoming attack. Sairaorg threw his right arm forward and slammed it against Cao Cao's spear.
The entire area became silent, and it seemed nothing had changed. To Cao Cao, it seemed like he successfully blocked the attack. However, moments later, he felt a fist land in the middle of his stomach and he was launched away and was slammed against the game field's barrier.
Sairaorg let out a hot breath through his mouth and muttered, "1st Stage: Fist of the Black Turtle."
[He landed a perfect hiiiiiiit!! Player Sairaorg-san has finally landed a direct hit on Player Cao Cao!!] screamed Naud.
[Haha, I've seen that before. Jin used it in his fight with Indra, and I believe the Jade Emperor of the Chinese Pantheon uses a similar move too. Interesting, so the Great King without [Destruction] has learned martial arts along with his already brutish physique?] said Shiva.
Cao Cao stood up and grinned. He had learned how to use touki during his time in Aaron's dimension, so he used that in the last second to defend himself and weaken the power of Sairaorg's punch, but it still did significant damage to him.
He coughed up blood and wiped some from his mouth. He pointed his spear at his chest and the excruciating pain that he felt began to fade away. Sairaorg looked at him in interest as he saw the indentation of his fist on Cao Cao's chest disappear.
"You can heal yourself?" asked Sairaorg.
"It only has a limited amount of uses, but yes, it's essentially [Twilight Healing]'s ability," replied Cao Cao.
Sairaorg stared at the man for a few seconds and thought about the spear in front of him. Aaron called it the [Spear of the Universe], but Sairaorg always wondered...which universe? The one they lived in? The Evie Etoulde's? The Phantasma's? Another completely different one? But when he saw the different abilities of Cao Cao's [Arredoval], he came to one conclusion.
"That spear's abilities...they're all come from our universe, don't they? You said that Jin said it depends on you on how what kind of abilities that spear receives. Since it's also called the [Spear of the Universe], I will assume that it means our universe—DxD. So..."
Cao Cao grinned at Sairaorg who had racked his brain to come to this conclusion since he had found out the name of that spear. The Spear of the Universe (DxD).
"...The Avatar's of [Excalibur], The spears that resembled the distorted blades of [Canis Lykaon], the redirection of attacks, almost like [Divine Dividing]'s [Reflect], and now the healing powers of [Twilight Healing]..."
As Sairaorg listed all the abilities of Cao Cao's new spear, everyone slowly came to the same realization—the spear that Cao Cao held right now was—
"Heh," chuckled Cao Cao. "You're 90% correct Sairaorg Bael. It can replicate the abilities of every Sacred Gear that exists, but you haven't figured out the rest...it also has the potential to replicate the powers of other beings, not just Sacred Gear. I do not have the full mastery of this spear yet, but..."
A small ball appeared at the tip of the spear. That ball resembled—
"The [Power of Detection] of the Bael clan...I see, so it can even copy such things? What a terrifying spear," said Sairaorg.
[Arredoval], the [Spear of the Universe]—the [Spear of the Draconic Deus (DxD)]. That was the spear that Aaron gave Cao Cao.
Cao Cao smiled. "I also have access to the [True Longinus]'s previous Balance Breaker that I created. You could say, I currently wield all of the Sacred Gears in the world with this spear!" declared Cao Cao.
[W-w-w-w-w-whaaaaaaaaaaat?! What kind of spear is that?! It's a cheat! It's too powerful!] shouted Naud.
Even the crowd in the stadium began to talk to themselves. The topic of his spear was a hot discussion now. This includes the ones watching through their TVs. Such a thing being declared on TV for everyone to hear...Cao Cao already planned on it, and silently declared to everyone to try and steal it from him, even if it was impossible.
"Unfortunately, I do not have access to [Truth Idea], but I'm fine with that. With this spear I can protect them and repent for my actions," he said and then changed into a stance while pointing the spear at Sairaorg. "Come, heir of the Bael house of devils, did you build up enough stamina with that [Breakdown the Beast] of yours?"
An even larger grin spread across Sairaorg Bael's face as he punched both his fists together. "Interesting! Allow me to face your full might then! I will use mine too!"
— ○ ● ○ —
Both [Knights] of both teams panted as they had been fighting to an almost stalemate now. Perseus and Beluga stared at one another. Beluga was still on his horse, Altobrau, but it was also obvious that the horse itself was also becoming exhausted.
"Stay with me until the end, my friend," said Beluga. In response to his masters' words, Altobrau neighed loudly and the two charged towards Perseus.
Perseus grinned and shook his head. "Hey, I wanna look cool too you know?"
As Beluga charged towards Perseus, he spread his arms out with both his spears on them. Copies of Beluga started appearing all around him. The man had just used replication magic. These replicas of Beluga and Altobrau also had physical forms and could attack Perseus.
"Seriously? Alright, let's not delay it any longer! Come out!" Perseus shouted. Perseus then tossed aside his shield and a powerful aura formed around his now empty left hand. It slowly took the shape of a head, a woman's head with snakes for its hair.
"[Aegis Mineralization], this is my Sacred Gear!" he shouted again. The eyes on its face opened and shot a beam of light towards Beruka who barely managed to dodge it, but one of his replicas was hit and turned into stone.
'I have to avoid those things,' thought Beluga as he continued to avoid the beams being shot by Perseus' shield.
— ○ ● ○ —
"...Isn't that Medusa? Or at least what humans depict her as?" asked Valerie. Everyone turned to the real Medusa who also came with them to watch the match.
"...Seeing that makes me very uncomfortable. While I can turn most things into stone with my eyes, seeing me look so...grotesque is just, odd. I also don't shoot beams when using that ability," said the woman. "I also have purple hair. Why is it green?"
"Maybe a stylistic choice by the God of the Bible? He may have just based it on your abilities and went with that design choice. Perhaps he saw you that way?" theorized Tsubaki.
Inaie said with a snicker, "Maybe he just thought of making you ugly?"
Medusa turned her attention to her and appeared beside her before pinching her ear and pulling it.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! I'm sorry!" screamed Inaie. Medusa through her mask glared at Inaie and the younger woman whimpered before running to Aaron and sulking.
"...You technically brought this upon yourself," he said and Inaie looked at him in shock.
"Inaie is shocked! Isn't my husband supposed to defend me?!" she asked in slight annoyance.
"...We're not even dating though?" he asked back confused.
"Everyone...is against me!" Inaie said again and pretended to faint. She was caught by Róisín Toole and was embraced.
"Hehe, Inaie, I'll be your ally~ I'll convince my son to date you too~" said Róisín lovingly.
"M-mother-in-law!" Inaie cried and hugged her back.
'What in God's name are those two doing...?' Aaron thought and watched the strange gag the two performed.
— ○ ● ○ —
As Beluga arrived in front of Perseus, he thrust his spear towards the man and Perseus used his sword to counter it. Perseus grinned and fired a point-blank beam at Beluga. However, the horse Altobrau threw his master off from his back. Altobrau himself turned into stone, causing the other replicas to disappear around them.
"Altobrau!" Beluga screamed as he watched his friend become stone. "Dammit!" he shouted and ran towards Perseus with both lances by his side.
"You're a lot slower without your horse, huh? But still fast enough by other people's standards!" said Perseus as he deflected the attacks that were thrown at him from Beluga.
"He's not just a horse, he's a friend of mine that has stayed with me through many trials!" shouted Beluga.
Beluga used his replication magic again and created replicas of himself and they all charged towards Perseus. The man stayed calm and analyzed all the replicas and found the real Beluga. Perseus used enhancement magic on himself and dashed towards Beluga who was surprised that he was found out, but he ordered his replicas to attack Perseus at the same time.
Again, Perseus covered his body in touki, further increasing his fighting power. He dodged, deflected and slashed at the replicas of Beluga while also using his [Aegis Mineralization] to petrify other replicas. At the same time, he also defended himself against the attacks of the original Beluga.
Beluga enhanced himself too with the same magic and began to furiously slash and thrust towards Perseus using his lances. Beluga cared a lot about his one and only horse, Altobrau. Because of his mistreatment at the hands of low and high-class devils since he was born, he didn't have a friend. Yet, he found one in his horse, Altobrau.
The pale horse that Beluga rode was known to be extremely difficult to tame. However, when he was young, he managed to tame him and the two have been inseparable since. When he was made fun of and bullied, he had Altobrau to go to, and then when he was accepted by Sairaorg Bael, Altobrau came with him. To Beluga, Altobrau was more than just a horse, he was his one and true family. That was until he became part of Sairaorg's peerage and that expanded even more once he became part of Team [DxD].
Perseus whistled. "Getting stronger because I turned your horse into stone? You're an interesting one," he said and kept defending at the attacks Beluga threw at him.
Beluga's attack speed kept on increasing, much to the surprise of Perseus, and he started to receive some slashes that tore his clothing. He grinned at the thought of facing a man who kept on getting faster and stronger the longer he attacked. However, he also saw that Beluga's stamina was nowhere near reaching its limit.
'Crap, I need to end this otherwise this guy will just start attacking me at the speed of damn light,' he thought and jumped upwards but was followed by Beluga. While aiming his lance at Perseus he shot a bullet demonic energy at him.
Perseus deflected it using his sword, but Beluga appeared in front of him and thrust his lance at him. Perseus blocked it with his shield, and at the same time, the beam fired from Medusa's eyes. Petrifying the lance that he held, as well as his arm.
Beluga kicked Perseus in the stomach and the young man crashed into the ground. The [Knight] of Sairaorg backed away as he looked at his arm. However, Perseus didn't stop there as he dashed back at Beluga who thrust his other lance towards him. Perseus dodged it by ducking and petrifying it again with his shield.
Beluga lost the use of his arms which were essential to a swordsman. He bit his lip and charged at Perseus not wanting to give up here. Perseus also charged at the man.
"I admire your tenacity, [Knight] of Sairaorg Bael. Let's fight again!" shouted Perseus as he increased his speed and appeared behind Beluga. Countless slashes appeared on Beluga's chest before he was covered in the retirement light.
[1 [Knight] of [Team Imperial Purpure] retire!!]
Perseus slicked his hair back and sighed in relief. "That's one win for our team. Let's go help the rest of 'em." Perseus, the one who carries the spirit of the Hero of Greece Perseus had won his battle.
— ○ ● ○ —
"Yo! Need help?" Perseus asked as he arrived by Jeanne and Marsilio.
"We do..." replied Marsilio. The pink barrier that covered Ladora Buné, Coriana Andrealphus, and Liban Crocell shattered as they escaped their illusionary worlds.
"Thanks for the splendid dream, Marsilio-san," said Ladora.
"Yeah, I enjoyed mine," added Coriana. "But let's finish our battle."
"...I was forced to face my past. For that, I thank you, but I also hated that experience!" shouted Liban. He immediately activated his Balance Breaker again, [Satans Gravity], forcing Jeanne, Marsilio and Perseus' gravity to increase, slowing their movements.
Ladora transformed into his dragon form and began attacking all three of them. The holy sword dragons that Jeanne had summoned earlier as well as wyverns began attack Ladora too. They all swarmed him and began to overwhelm him. Marsilio attacked Coriana who countered with her own attacks.
Jeanne and Perseus dashed towards Liban who further increased their gravities slowing them down even further. Perseus used his Sacred Gear and fired beams at Liban who countered with his own demonic attacks, but they were petrified mid-air.
"He needs his eyes open to use that Sacred Gear. Let's go with that combo we used on that big guy in the Phantasma!" shouted Perseus.
Jeanne nodded and she kept running towards Liban while Perseus stopped and created a magic circle in front of him. Jeanne swung her holy sword horizontally which created countless holy swords on the ground that targeted Liban.
Liban aimed his sword at the attack Jeanne sent and fired a blast of compressed gravity which destroyed the holy swords that were heading towards him. It also hit Jeanne who was blasted backwards, but stopped herself by slamming her sword into the ground slowing her momentum.
She continued her pursuit as Liban began firing a mix of demonic energy balls and compressed gravity at her. Jeanne focused touki into her blade and increased the density of the holy attribute in her sword and swung her weapon at the attacks aimed at her. To Liban's surprise, she sliced through his attacks.
'Is that even possible?! To be able to cut 'gravity' in half like that...! No, it should be. Aaron-san even allows his allies to create miracles—doesn't that mean the same thing to me?!' thought Liban.
Liban stopped and the gravity around him began to pull Jeanne towards him and everything around him, including the sand and destroyed pillars in the field.
"W-what the heck is this?!" Jeanne shouted as she dug her legs into the ground along with her sword to stop herself from being sucked into Liban's gravitational pull.
However, before either could react, Perseus flew in front of Jeanne and towards Liban. He had his shield in front of him and was already firing several beams from Medusa's head! As Liban began to attempt that Jeanne had done—slice the attack in two, Perseus grinned as he summoned a ball of light from his magic circle.
It quickly darted in front of Liban and increased in luminosity instantly, blinding him.
"Argh?!" Liban shouted in pain as he closed his eyes and covered his eyes from the light. Jeanne and Perseus took this chance to attack.
First, Perseus petrified Liban to the spot, and then both [Knights] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] dashed towards him and sliced him apart. Seconds later, Liban was covered in the light of retirement.
[1 [Knight] of [Team Imperial Purpure] retire!!]
[Great teamwork from both [Knights] of Player Cao Cao's team, they were able to overwhelm Player Liban even though it looked like he had the advantage between them,] said Naud.
[Yes. It also seemed that Liban Crocell had a revelation just then. If they didn't defeat him at that moment, he would have turned the tables around and defeated them instead. Their teamwork is top-notch,] praised Shiva.
"Do you hear that? We got praised by—gyaa!" Perseus jumped away and so did Jeanne as a powerful ball of demonic energy nearly hit them.
Marsilio and Coriana's attacks were evenly matched as they kept exploding once colliding or deflecting from one another and destroying the area around them. In the distance, Ladora was also starting to break free from Jeanne's creations' attacks as she saw that two of her [Stake Victim Dragons] had already been defeated, while only one of her wyverns was left.
"I'll go fight Ladora-san. Go help Marsilio," said Jeanne as she dashed away. Perseus also jumped towards Coriana while firing blasts of petrifying beams at her.
"...This isn't looking favorable for us," muttered Coriana as she prepared herself to face both [Bishop] and [Knight].
— ○ ● ○ —
"Hmm!" Gandoma pushed back Momono with his superior strength. Earlier, he and Misteeta had taken out both the dog youkai and monkey youkai of Momono leaving him with only the raven youkai, greatly reducing his fighting power.
Momono had learned how to use touki, his youkai also learned how to use it, but before they could utilize it, they were defeated by the [Rook] and [Bishop] pair. Zhuge Liang was also preoccupied by Misteeta as she relentlessly bombarded her with demonic attacks and didn't let her catch a single break.
'Momono-san, can you do the merge ability with your youkai?' asked Zhuge Liang telepathically.
'Eh? Yes, I can, but it would be more effective if I had all three of them,' replied Momono.
'Even still, please use it, and we'll aim to defeat the devil who uses brute strength first!' ordered Zhuge Liang. Momono nodded and jumped up and away from Gandoma. He ordered his raven youkai to join him and they quickly merged through a special technique.
Jet-black raven wings sprouted from Momono's back and he aimed his arm towards Gandoma and fired several blades of wind. Gandoma using his brute force and touki destroyed the attacks with a single punch and jumped towards Momono who quickly avoided the man.
Gandoma landed on the ground and aimed his closed right hand at Momono confusing him. He pulled one of his fingers back with his thumb and then released it. A small concentrated shockwave almost invisible to the eye hit Momono in the chest. Gandoma repeated this as Momono dodged it in the air, but he was then struck by an ice spell, freezing his wings.
'They led me here?! Shi—' Gandoma appeared above Momono with both his arms raised and his hands together before he slammed them down on his head. Momono crashed violently into the ground, knocking the wind out of him.
Gandoma landed on the ground and as he was about to pick up Momono, he was hit by a barrage of magic attacks. However, he shrugged them off. Zhuge Liang, the one who attacked him just now was also busy avoiding the constant bombardment from Misteeta.
'Not good...! My Sacred Gear is still sealed, and I was not one for prolonged combat since I mostly defended the Resistance base with my traps and went on black-ops missions...' Zhuge Liang frowned at her predicament.
Gandoma slammed Momono into the ground and he faded away with the retirement light.
[1 [Rook] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] retire!]
"Now only one is left, let's end this Gandoma," said Misteeta. He then pointed his staff at Zhuge Liang and the gravity around her increased.
"Gravity magic? How did you...?!" asked Zhuge Liang. She could still move, but her speed had slowed significantly.
"It's not as strong as Liban-sans, but for this match-up, it will do just fine. Aaron-san was the one who gave me the ability since he knew I had some interest in Liban-san's gravity-based Sacred Gear," explained Misteeta.
Zhuge Liang sighed. She knew she couldn't win. However, she thought if she could at least injure one or both of them before she was retired from the game, it would be beneficial for her team. She shakily and defiantly stood up to the men in front of her.
She always felt inferior because of her small body. Before being trained in Aaron's dimension she relied on her strategies and her Sacred Gear. The power of her magic wasn't that potent so she only used it as a last resort or if she needed to incorporate it into her plans.
However, after she trained with her new group, she got stronger both physically and through her magic. She also used that time to read up on strategies from various other people around the world. As the descendant of the general Zhuge Liang from the Three Kingdoms it was her duty to uphold that title and name.
Raising her hand, millions of magic circles appeared all around Zhuge Liang. Her tiny body was also shrouded in pink touki. "This is my last stand, come at me!" she shouted and fired her attacks at them.
Misteeta matched the number of attacks as they exploded above them. Since she had no access to her Sacred Gear, Zhuge Liang would rely on her martial arts and the hand-to-hand combat she had learned. Arriving in front of Gandoma she sent an upwards palm strike to his chin. The man expected no power from it, but was surprised when he felt enormous strength from such a tiny body. Gandoma was sent upward and was hit by several magic attacks that were still ongoing.
"Gandoma-san!" Misteeta screamed as he watched his fellow team member be obliterated by the amount of attacks. However, he didn't have time to focus on him as Zhuge Liang arrived in front of him wielding a spear made of light.
"Tch...!" Misteeta fired a point-blank demonic ball of energy, but Zhuge Liang avoided it and appeared behind him. He turned around and fired more attacks at her using demonic circles, but using her agility and tiny body, Zhuge Liang dodged them all again.
'She's nimble! Even though she said that she didn't excel at physical combat...! Or did she lie about it?!' Misteeta kept on firing his attacks at him until Gandoma fell back to the ground. He was injured but was still fine to continue.
'I let my guard down just because of her physique,' thought Gandoma as he charged at Zhuge Liang and began throwing powerful punches at her. However, she avoided them with her superior speed.
Misteeta becoming annoyed, increased the gravity around her body again, slowing her speed considerably, and forcing her to deflect and parry Gandoma's attacks instead. She also kept up her magic circles and cancelled Misteeta's magic and demonic attacks.
[Incredible! Such a small girl can keep up with two combatants at once!]
[She's using her body frame and technique, even though she's being slowed down considerably by the gravity magic, she's doing quite well for herself. I do wonder how this would be if she had access to her Sacred Gear,] said Shiva.
'I'd win, obviously!' thought Zhuge Liang.
[Misteeta-kun, go ahead with that plan! But avoid using it on Cao Cao since Sairaorg-sama wishes to fight him!] shouted Silveteela through their transceiver.
[Roger,] replied Misteeta. He aimed his staff at the sky and a large ring of purple flames surrounded him and quickly expanded; it began to cover the entire game field.
"Balance Break!" he shouted. Purple stars formed all around the ring, and they instantly flew towards the Players of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] and attached themselves to them except Cao Cao.
"What did you do?!" Zhuge Liang asked as she dodged Gandoma's attacks.
"I used my Balance Breaker. However, it isn't anything special. It simply seals the abilities I wish from anyone within that purple circle, since it covers the entire field, all your allies Sacred Gear or other abilities have been sealed.
"[Dimension Lost], [Blade Blacksmith], [Annihilation Maker], [Dreamlike Curse], and [Aegis Mineralization] have all been sealed,] said Misteeta with a smile and some blood coming out of his eyes. "I still need practice with it though, but I can still help fight you with Gandoma!"
'This...is really bad...!' Zhuge Liang frowned as she became worried about her teammates.
— ○ ● ○ —
"W-what the heck is this?! I can't use my Sacred Gear!" shouted Perseus.
"I have also lost the use of mine..." mumbled Marsilio.
A smile appeared on Coriana's face. "Ara? It seems Misteeta used his Balance Breaker. I guess our counter attack starts now~" she said and appeared in front of the two men.
With her left hand, she summoned demonic ice and with her right hand, she summoned lightning. She slammed both attacks directly into both their chests blowing them away as a result. Both men were injured by the attacks as they reacted slowly. Perseus' body had some ice still on it while Marsilio's body felt numb. Both men stood back up and stared at Coriana.
"Did she hold back earlier?" asked Perseus as he wiped the blood from his mouth.
"It doesn't matter. You have hand-to-hand and magic, and I still have my magic, we can still defeat her...as for Jeanne, let's hope her sword skills are enough to defeat the dragon man," said Marsilio.
"Well...like any woman who's interested in Aaron-san, let's just use that to fuel the fire in her when the time is right," chuckled Perseus.
"...And they say I'm the villain," replied Marsilio.
Perseus planned on messing with Jeanne's feelings, angering her and hopefully—to him, it would result in some strange power-up that would help defeat Ladora Buné in his dragon form. Jeanne had a sword given to her before she went to the Phantasma. However, she mostly relied on her holy swords that were created by her Sacred Gear and only used the other sword in do-or-die situations.
This was one of them.
— ○ ● ○ —
Jeanne dodged Ladora's massive body while jumping around the location they were at. Each time the massive dragon tried to hit her, he would throw sand everywhere briefly obscuring Jeanne's vision. He would use this to attack her using his fire breaths. But Jeanne relied on her instincts and touki to dodge them, putting both of them at a standstill.
Jeanne summoned the sword that Aaron gifted her. The [Cathfrois]. This sword was modeled after the one that Joan of Arc used during her lifetime. It looked like a regular sword made from the medieval times, but had five crosses etched into it. It also had a blue gem in the middle of its handle and had a golden sharp tip.
Like other holy swords, [Cathfrois] exuded holy energy and could also utilize light powers as well as flames that can purifying anything.
"Look after me today, my adorable baby-chan," muttered Jeanne. She dashed towards Ladora and appeared above him. Using her momentum, she charged towards Ladora and swung her sword downwards.
Ladora tried to defend himself and covered his body with a powerful coating of demonic energy and touki, but his large dragon arm was cut off! Ladora let out a pained cry as blood spurted out of his arm. He bit his tongue and began breathing fire towards Jeanne who deflected it using her sword. Jeanne was the one this time to point her sword at Ladora and fire a large and powerful stream of ashen colored flames.
Ladora also fired his flames at Jeanne's attack while also trying to stop the bleeding from his arm. The two attacks collided creating a pillar of red and ashen colored flames that could be seen all over the game field.
However, as the pillar of flames erupted, Jeanne jumped through it and with a single motion with her sword, tore through the rest of Ladora, forcing him to retire. As he faded away, Ladora had a look of regret on his face—he wanted to do more for his team, but this was his limit for now.
[1 [Rook] of [Team Imperial Purpure] retire!]
[1 [Bishop] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] retire!]
Jeanne looked over at where Perseus and Marsilio were and saw that Marsilio was forced out of the game after being defeated only leaving a tired and injured Perseus to face Coriana who only had light scratches around her body. She quickly ran over to help him and the two [Knights] of Cao Cao's team faced her.
"There are seven of us left while your team has six. I wonder who'll win this game," said Coriana as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. "You don't have access to your Sacred Gears any more after all."
"We'll just beat the one using this Sacred Gear and restore it!" shouted Perseus. "With that said, go and help Zhu—"
[1 Bishop] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] retire!]
[1 [Rook] of [Team Imperial Purpure] retire!]
Before Perseus could finish his sentence two more retirements occurred. Both Zhuge Liang and Gandoma were knocked out of the game.
"That small strategist really took down an opponent with her before retiring! Haha...that's quite something!" said Perseus.
Misteeta, the other [Bishop] of Sairaorg's team teleported beside Coriana as now both [Knights] of Cao Cao's team faced off against both [Bishops] of Sairaorg's team.
"[Bishops] or [Knights], who'll win?" asked Perseus as he forced the remaining power and energy out of his already tired body. "I'm raring to go!"
"That little girl was quite an opponent till the end. She managed to repel me enough for her to take down Gandoma-san even with the difference in their size and physique," said Misteeta. "But we'll win! Coriana-san I'll support you."
"Roger that!" shouted Coriana as her body was covered in darkness.
"Wha—w-what is that?!" shouted Jeanne. She fired a light beam at Coriana but to her surprise, the darkness wasn't repelled but it deflected her light attack instead. As she transformed, a certain memory played in Coriana's mind.
— ○ ● ○ —
During the 100 years in Aaron's [Pocket Dimension] Gasper and Coriana approached Aaron about a combination technique between Gasper and herself. Gasper had done the same thing with Rias and it was successful, so they wanted to do something like it but also different.
"A combination technique, huh? Well...if you plan on using during a Rating Game and neither of you are in the same team, it would be a problem. Let's also go without a chant since that takes time..." said Aaron as he started thinking of something for them.
"Right, it took us a while to go into that form without the need for a chant. Although Rias-nee-chan did want to chant since it sounded cool to her," said Gasper as he blushed and scratched his cheek.
"Make sure you don't call her that before the day of our graduation Gya-suke, otherwise it'll ruin the surprise," said Aaron.
"Ah, right, my bad." Gasper looked at Coriana who was also in deep thought.
"How about you keep it simple then?" suggested Aaron. "If Rias' combination form is a full body one, why not keep the one between you two partial, but also defends Coriana's entire body—almost like an invisible armor of darkness. Of course, retaining the abilities of Balor, and also amplifying her own power along with it."
Aaron pointed to his own necklace. "Instead of a third eye on her forehead, how about a necklace or something to stop time? Or on the back of her hands? These are just random suggestions though, so in the end it's up to you two. I'll help with the rest when you decide on the final design."
"That's fine, Aaron-sama, but what about the issue of being near one another?" asked Coriana.
"You know spirit pacts, right? Use Natsume and Sylph as an example, they've explained to me that it doesn't matter if the two are separated, be it different realms, dimensions or countries, as long as their bond is strong, Natsume has access to Sylph's wind manipulation. I also changed that for them, so they can still use it even across universes."
"Are you saying you'll make it like that for us? A pact or something?" asked Gasper.
Aaron nodded his head. "Right." He pointed at Gasper and then Coriana. "The details are up to you two, but as long as that bond and love between you two is strong, and as long as the pact is never severed, you can use it anywhere."
— ○ ● ○ —
Coriana's arms were covered in darkness, as were her legs, back and parts of her face. It resembled a mask. A necklace made of darkness formed around her neck, as well as glowing red eyes appeared on the backs of her hands. On the necklace created out of darkness a small gem-like eye appeared that started looking around itself. On her back emerged two jet-black wings of darkness as she floated in the air. The mask made of darkness that covered her eyes also glowed, and a cold chill ran through both [Knights] bodies.
[Player Coriana has just transformed!! What is that new form?!]
[I sense some of Balor's power from it, perhaps a new power from Gasper Vladi? Although I'm perplexed about how she acquired it,] said Shiva.
"<<I like it,>>" said Coriana in a distorted voice. "<<Are you two ready~?>>"
"I was born ready!" shouted Perseus as he coughed up blood. "...Kind of!" As he was about to jump towards Coriana, he was suddenly flung to the ceiling of the game field and slammed back down at an incredible speed, one that Jeanne couldn't fully follow with her eyes.
[1 [Knight] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] retire!]
In the blink of an eye, Perseus was eliminated from the game. Coriana floated behind Jeanne and smiled at her.
"<<Shall we continue this, Jeanne-san?">> asked Coriana.
"...Interesting, I'll take you on!" shouted Jeanne in response.
Misteeta down below watched the fight rage on, unable to help his fellow [Bishop]. He decided to stand there until things looked rocky for Coriana and would help her then, but until then, he'd keep himself alive to keep his Balance Breaker's ability activated. But since quite some time had already passed since he activated it, he started to sweat as the effects started to take a toll on him.
His team needed to win soon, otherwise...
— ○ ● ○ —
"I didn't get to trigger her, dammit!" Perseus shouted as he shot out of his bed. "How's she going to win now?!"
"Calm down you fool, just be quiet and watch the rest of the match," replied Marsilio. Both of them were in their team's infirmary room as they watched the game continue.
The clock was slowly ticking down.
— ○ ● ○ —
Jeanne instantly appeared in front of Coriana, but as she swung her sword sideways the woman in front of her disappeared. Jeanne tried to turn around but her body refused. Above her was Coriana. When Jeanne moved her head towards her, she saw that the necklace around her neck was glowing and staring directly at her.
"<<I have more ways than one to freeze someone's time, Jeanne-san,>>" said Coriana.
She then summoned balls of demonic energy around her hands which were stronger because Balor was amplifying her powers even further. Coriana threw them towards Jeanne who focused her energy into [Cathfrois] as well as mixing light, holy, and fire into it. She jumped toward the attacks and sliced through them before containing onwards to Coriana.
"<<That should be expected for a sword made by Jin-san,>>" said Coriana. She then summoned a blade made of darkness and demonic flames before clashing with Jeanne.
— ○ ● ○ —
"This...has become a bit difficult, but not unwinnable. Unfortunately for you, Leonardo's Anti-Monsters will stay even after being sealed. Courtesy of Jin-sans upgrades," said Georg as he dodged several more attacks from angry women.
"Subjecting us to that wasn't even funny!" shouted Kuisha as she threw back the magic attacks Georg had aimed at her using her [Hole] ability. Georg fixed his glasses and created anti-magic circles, nullifying and destroying the magic attacks that were redirected back at him.
"I acknowledge that we are comrades while in Team [DxD] and while fighting our opponents, but since this is a tournament, we must fight each other using the best of our abilities—using such tactics isn't banned nor disallowed," replied Georg.
Being more annoyed, Kuisha charged at him and began throwing punches at him while Georg swiftly avoided all her attacks. Everyone in [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] were taught close quarters combat prior to going to the Phantasma's universe. Aaron wanted them to be ready for all types of situations.
In a way, Aaron turned them all into 'all-rounders'. Although their mastery, skill level and power in each category varied, they moved as a team. This was so they could still back each other up and cover for their weaknesses in those areas.
"Screw your logic!" screamed Kuisha.
She was still quite angry with the illusion that Georg and Leonardo had subjected her and Silveteela to. But she couldn't get too far as the Anti-Monster [Boosted Gear], [Regulus Nemea], and Hirokazu's armors appeared beside Georg. The other three were helping Leonardo fight Silveteela.
"Dammit!" shouted Kuisha as she fired multiple demonic elemental attacks at Georg. However, the Anti-Monster armors stopped them much to her frustration. 'Sairaorg-sama, please defeat their [King] soon!'
— ○ ● ○ —
"Will you not use your previous Sacred Gear's Balance Breaker?" asked Sairaorg.
"No. I will defeat you without the need of it, because I plan on mastering several other abilities this spear has during our fight," replied Cao Cao.
Sairaorg didn't see it as an insult—he assumed that his previous Balance Breaker had other issues he needed to correct before being able to use it properly, hence why he only saw Cao Cao use very simple abilities of various other Sacred Gear.
"Very well, if that is your decision," said Sairaorg as he closed his eyes. "Regulus! Release!" he shouted.
"Understood, sir!" replied the young boy.
With that shout, a golden and purple aura seeped out of Sairaorg's body, then both of them began to chant.
"This body, this soul, even if it falls into an endless ravine!"
[My Lord and I, we will exhaust this body and this soul to rise up the endless royal road!]
His armor began to change. The purple aura began to seep into his golden armor.
"Raze, triumph, play, and shine!"
[This is the body of a Demonic Beast!]
"Lodged on top of my fist, is the glorious imperial authority!"
The area around them was destroyed by all the aura and pressure they created, while the ground Sairaorg was standing on also turned into a crater. The earth shattered, the air vibrated and even space was distorted. The impact wave was so powerful that it shook the entire field.
[Dance!]
"Dance!"
"[Bloom]!!!"
"[Breakdown The Beast, Climb Over]!!"
A huge explosion of aura followed, then Sairaorg was covered in his purple and golden armor, surrounded by an overwhelming aura of touki. Every time Sairaorg took a step forward, the earth beneath him shattered and interference formed on the monitors.
"Here I come," he declared before disappearing from his spot without making any noise. Sairaorg appeared in front of Cao Cao as he sent an uppercut towards the man. In less than a second, Cao Cao avoided the attack with instincts alone as he pulled his body back.
The shockwave that was created by the attack tore through space and created a tear above them. It was quickly fixed by Aaron who was watching. Cao Cao understood that if a single hit landed on him, it would be over—or at least knock him out enough for Sairaorg to finish it seconds later.
Normally, using [Breakdown the Beast] would endanger his life, but thanks to Aaron changing it, it would only drain his stamina even more than in 'Canon'. To combat this, Sairaorg spent large chunks of time in his [Breakdown the Beast] form during the 100 years they spent in Aaron's dimension, in order to reduce the burden and master the form. Apart from that, he also trained to increase his stamina reserves so he could keep it up even more.
Sairaorg continued his assault with fast and precise punches and kicks, each one sending powerful shockwaves after it. Cao Cao on the other hand used a variation of [Reflect] from [Divine Dividing] to redirect the shockwaves that were sent at him after those powerful punches and kicks. The ones that he couldn't dodge, he redirected after using a [Boost] on himself to increase his own power and speed. This was so he could react on time.
Each one of Sairaorg's punches in this form was enough to destroy this galaxy multiple times over. However, he concentrated his punches and the shockwaves of his kicks to not affect anything else than what he was aiming at—that's how much control Sairaorg had, otherwise, the other players on the field would be affected by them.
However...
[Those powerful punches aren't landiiiiiiing!! Such explosive power! Every time Player Sairaorg attacks the entire field shakes. The stadium can even feel them too!]
[It doesn't matter if an attack or multiple attacks are a sure-fire way to defeat someone. They need to land on that target if they want to win that battle or fight, otherwise it's just useless power,] said Shiva.
Sairaorg began to mix his attacks with faints and afterimages, but the genius that is Cao Cao kept avoiding, deflecting and parrying his attacks! However, Cao Cao had to concentrate intensely otherwise if he let his guard down or let his concentration slip—it would mean the end for him. It didn't take a trained eye to see the nervous sweat on Cao Cao's face.
— ○ ● ○ —
"Woah! Seeing this in person is intense! Who's going to win?!" Aoife shouted excitedly. She had read about it, but seeing it in person for her was a different experience—the same with Róisín Toole, she was also at the edge of her seat.
"A single hit from Sairaorg-sama is a near instant victory for him. If his opponent was Aaron-sama, the fight would most likely turn into a fistfight match where they would readily accept a beating to their body. However, since his opponent is a human, even if his body was enchanted by Aaron-sama...it's still human, so he is forced to dodge them," explained Ravel.
"...Using our [Appraisal] ability from our ring, it's clear that both of them are [Universal] in rank. However, Sairaorg Bael is at EX whereas Cao Cao is at SSS. Since their rank won't increase further from that since it's their current potential, the deciding factor is—skill and technique," said Grayfia.
"Cao Cao boosted himself a few times since their fight started, so he's definitely in the EX-range, so he's fighting on par with Sairaorg in terms of raw power. But they're being mindful of their teammates and their own fights," added Aaron.
This was the talent of a natural born genius. As a person who once wielded the Holy Spear [True Longinus], facing various opponents over his years of being alive—Cao Cao accumulated a lot of experience, including his own monster-like senses. He could keep up with many powerful beings even before his resurrection.
Compared to Sairaorg who trained his body to the utmost limit, he had to accumulate those kinds of things too through hard work, he had no natural talent after all—but to others, unless they knew his history, they would only see it as Sairaorg having genius talent, or to the ignorant—using illegal means.
However, as Sairaorg kept up his assault...a change occurred during the fight.
— ○ ● ○ —
"...!"
Sairaorg saw it, the audience saw it, the commentators saw it—Cao Cao grinned! And at the same time, he started sending his own attacks towards Sairaorg who also deflected and parried them, but the man—the human was now starting to attack him back.
It only started out as a single jab or quick thrust between dodges. However, now he slowly increased his attacks and began to clash with Sairaorg's fists with his spear. Suddenly a booster-like propulsion and an even faster thrust from Cao Cao's spear connected with Sairaorg's shoulder, piercing it!
"Kuh!" groaned Sairaorg. His armor was destroyed and blood poured out of it. In the midst of their fight—
[2 [Bishops] of [Team Imperial Purpure] retire!]
[1 [Knight] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] retire!]
Misteeta Sabnock, Coriana Andrealphus and Jeanne all retired as they concluded their own match. Jeanne didn't see a way of winning her fight when Misteeta joined in, so she decided to take all three of them out in one final move. While the cameras were focused on the two [Kings], the large pillar of a flag and darkness shaped in a four-legged beast clashed against each other which created a powerful explosion.
This retired all three of them, Misteeta tried to get out of the explosion, but he was too physically and mentally exhausted because of his Sacred Gear's Balance Breaker. Moreover, if his regular ability drained his stamina considerably and affected his mental ability, it would only intensify it even further with his Balance Breaker.
Cao Cao was now who was actively attacking Sairaorg as the Lion King's speed decreased significantly, so he was forced into a defensive position. However, Cao Cao began to predict where Sairaorg would move to, and he would preemptively attack that spot, hitting Sairaorg again.
Sairaorg Bael's armor began to break down into pieces, exposing more and more of his body and flesh—he bled more. It seemed that Cao Cao was the one winning, but...
— ○ ● ○ —
As Genshirou Saji watched on at the monitor in front of him, his face twisted into anguish as he watched his mentor and master be beaten by the talented human. His body began to shake and he finally said, "...How is this even possible...?! All that effort, all that training...and he couldn't even land a hit? But now he's the one being hit...!"
"...Genshirou. Sairaorg wasn't the only one that was desperately training for this day. Even Cao Cao had to do the same training. He was tasked with traveling to a different universe after all," said Aaron.
As the fight progressed on, Sairaorg's punches and kicks became less sharp and precise, to the point where Cao Cao could dodge them easily now. Cao Cao also looked more healthier than Sairaorg as he had healed his previous injuries that he sustained.
"Power, defense, speed—Sairaorg is leagues above Cao Cao before the match, but as he used his spear more, he caught up to him. The only thing that Sairaorg stand above Cao Cao right now is—stamina, and also..." muttered Aaron as he stared at the screen.
Sairaorg ran, ran, and ran every day, slowly building up his stamina, even if he was berated in the Capital of Lilith—even at his own territory at times, he built up his strength and stamina with no complaints.
Even when he lost and fell many times, he got up and kept going.
He always had a positive outlook and mindset, he would always look forward to the next best thing—he looked forward desperately, waiting for the day he would win his next fight—his next match.
...So he could reach something—somewhere with those fists of his.
Genshirou Saji suddenly stood up, with his heart beating loudly and tears streaming down his face. He screamed, "Win...wiiiiin....! Masteeeeeeer!!! You have to wiiiiiiiiin!!!"
And then...another change occurred as if Sairaorg heard Saji's voice. His body glowed a dark purple and even more power erupted from him.
"Haha...so he's using it, huh? A slightly dumbed down—[Ultra Ego]," said Aaron while grinning.
— ○ ● ○ —
[What's this sudden surge in—] Before Naud could finish his commentary, Sairaorg's aura surged and the entire game field trembled fiercely.
Cao Cao himself was surprised by this and prepared himself, but Sairaorg disappeared and he felt a punch connect in the middle of his stomach. Pain surged through Cao Cao's body as he felt Sairaorg continue his assault. He felt his shoulder be crushed, his leg snap and other various body parts become beaten and bruised.
Sairaorg Bael's power exploded because of his [Ultra Ego], a power Aaron had given him during their 100 years. At first, he was against it, he didn't want handouts, but after Aaron explained the abilities' mechanics, he became interested.
To Sairaorg, he found it very complimentary to his fighting style. The more he got beaten up, the more power he would accumulate and in turn he could keep on fighting. But he also heard the drawbacks of such an ability and Sairaorg trained over the years to slowly master it, but 100 years is not enough time to master it—just like [Ultra Instinct].
Bits of Sairaorg's hair had turned a dark purple, as did his eyes. Sairaorg continued his assault on Cao Cao until he finished it with one final punch that slammed the spear-wielder against the barrier again!
[Dooooooooooooooooooooown!!! Player Cao Cao is down after the vicious assault by Player Sairaorg Bael!!!!] Naud screamed.
[Wooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!] the crowd screamed in unison. The stadium they were in became even more hyped about the scene that they had just seen.
Sairaorg stood in the distance panting heavily as he stared at the downed Cao Cao. Cao Cao himself also looked back at Sairaorg, his eyes heavy and his body threatened to completely pass out.
[Is this the end of Player Cao Cao?! Is this the end of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor]?!]
As Cao Cao's body trembled, countless memories played in his mind—they were of his time in the Phantasma.
— ○ ● ○ —
'This is Isatha. She's a bit aloof and cold to everyone, but she's also powerful and is a pro at her job, so try to get along,' said Savina.
'I'm Cao Cao, and this is my team. We were sent by the—'
'Just don't get in my way. We're here to do a job, and that's it. We don't need to become friends,' snapped Isatha.
It was their first meeting.
— ○ ● ○ —
Time passed and they started collaborating more and more with each other and completed various mission with each other—they slowly liberated the countless planets in the Phantasma, giving hope to various species and people there.
'You guys aren't half bad. Those Sacred Gear things are pretty powerful,' said Isatha.
'You too, woman,' replied Cao Cao.
— ○ ● ○ —
'Old man, play with us!' the children shouted as they bothered Heracles.
'Aaaagh! Why do they all call me an old man?! I'm only in my mid-thirties!' cried Heracles.
Savina and Isatha approached Cao Cao as he sat a distance away cleaning his new spear.
'I haven't seen these children smile in many months. To think the toys you brought back would have this kind of effect,' said Savina. 'You also made this grumpy girl more open. Care to share your secrets?'
Isatha's face turned red. 'I-I just needed to work through some things, and J-Jeanne was the one who helped me!'
'Fufu, she's blushing. So many new things from her, isn't it adorable?' asked Savina.
Cao Cao stopped cleaning his spear and looked at the two women. He then turned his attention to the children playing with Jeanne and Heracles. 'I was a villain in my world,' he abruptly told them, surprising them.
He then explained his previous philosophy, his goals, and who he was affiliated with. 'But then that man showed up, defied all logic and killed me. But...he also resurrected me, which confused me for quite some time. However, after some time reflecting, I started to question many things about myself—in the end, he gave me another chance.'
Cao Cao finished cleaning his spear and dismissed it while standing up. As he continued watching the children in front of him a strange feeling bubbled up inside of him.
'I have a 'heroes' blood in me, Cao Cao was his name, that is not my original name. However, I will use it with pride. But...coming to this universe and seeing everything being done to them—it made me think 'Is this what the future had in store if we succeeded?' Because all I can see is suffering.'
The young man squinted his eyes. 'I—we thought that it would bring its own peace, we thought people would revere us, but it looks like we were wrong. We saw it first-hand here, the suffering and the destruction, so...' the looked at both women, 'until Jin comes here, we'll do our best in liberating as many planets as we can, and we'll improve this planet as much as we can, you have my word.'
'Fufu, those are very big words Mr. Cao Cao. Can you live up to them?' asked Savina.
'I have this spear and my team—we can only try our best,' he told her.
'...Then you'll have our full support, let's do our best,' said Savina as she stretched out her hand. Cao Cao shook it and agreed.
— ○ ● ○ —
Quite a bit of time had passed since Cao Cao and his team had come to this universe. Cao Cao and Isatha sat together on top of large rocks at the Resistance's base. The night sky illuminated the planet's surface.
'I'd like to travel to your world. It sounds interesting. A vast blue sky—that's one thing I'd like to see,' said Isatha.
'It should be possible. Jin accepts most genuine requests,' replied Cao Cao. He then felt a tug on his sleeve and he looked at Isatha.
'...Can I tell you about my past? I told Jeanne about it since I opened up to her first but...'
'If you're fine with it.'
Isatha nodded and told Cao Cao about her past, why she had that kind of personality. She also told Cao Cao how she ended up part of the Resistance and her hopes for the future. The young man sat there silently listening to her story. Never in his life he thought he would have someone confide such a sensitive and personal secret to him.
After he heard such things, after he experienced many things in this universe, Cao Cao made a decision—the type of decision he would never have made before he was killed. It was one that was selfless.
— ○ ● ○ —
Cao Cao's body stopped trembling and became still. Seconds later, a powerful and large silver-yellow light emanated from his body as he stood back up.
[He's uuuuuuup! Player Cao Cao stood up!!]
'That spear's growth is dependent on you. How you choose to evolve it is dependent on your own will, desire, and feelings. How will you evolve this spear, Cao Cao?'
Aaron's words rang through his head as he stood there. He changed into a stance as he gritted his teeth and healed himself.
'I'm not just doing this for myself anymore...I'm not just doing it to get recognized, or just to get stronger...I'm doing it for all of them! For all the people that suffered in that universe! For her! I want to make their universe a better place to live in!' Cao Cao bellowed in his mind.
For the first time in his life, Cao Cao felt the burden of protecting someone. He wasn't trying to protect a singular person, nor just his team or faction. He made a promise to them—to her that he'd make their universe a better place. Right here, right now, Cao Cao was carrying the burden of an entirely different universe of people's dreams and hopes. If he loses here, he can't keep that promise to them.
Not a single word was said further, both [Kings] disappeared from their spot—their first clash created such a powerful shockwave that—
[1 [Pawn] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] retire!]
[1 [Queen] of [Team Imperial Purpure] retire!]
[Oh my goodness! Such a powerful clash retired two more players! Only the [Queen] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] and [Pawn] of [Team Imperial Purpure] and both [Kings] remain!]
Cao Cao and Sairaorg's fight continued, as both dodged, parried, deflected and countered each other's attack. All the while both men continued to sustain injuries as they fought! However, it wasn't clear who had the advantage.
Sairaorg's power continued to increase the more damage he took. However, Cao Cao simply healed any injuries he received, and at the same time, he would boost his strength using the [Boost] of the [Boosted Gear].
Cao Cao used [Gravity Jail] on Sairaorg—Liban Crocall's Sacred Gear. Sairaorg felt his gravity increase and his overall speed decrease. However, he didn't let that stop him as he continued his assault on Cao Cao. Sairaorg's punches and kicks just became even sharper and precise.
Sairaorg sent a punch towards his chest, but Cao Cao vaulted over him using his spear, he then did an axe kick down to Sairaorg who blocked it—the clash created another powerful shockwave that shook the entire field.
Sairaorg's eyes glowed and a flurry of near-invisible punches were sent to Cao Cao. The young man with the spear quickly summoned his spear to his hands and blocked and parried the attacks. Only a few punches hit him on the shoulder, thigh, and one grazed his cheek!
Cao Cao landed back on the ground and continued their dance, however, seconds later another solid hit rang through the field! The heir of the Bael clan continued his flurry of punches and kicks, and also mixed in faints and afterimages with them...and one of them went through! Or so he thought!
Cao Cao blocked the attack using his spear—!
[It was blocked!! That vicious assault!]
[...No, it went through,] said Shiva.
Sairaorg grinned as Cao Cao's eyes widened. The shockwave from his punch slammed into Cao Cao's stomach and blew him away again! The man with the spear crashed to the ground and rolled along for several meters before stopping.
[He's dooooooooooooooooooooown again!! Player Cao Cao is dooown!]
'f*ck, I can only use it two more times,' thought Cao Cao as he healed himself again while shakily standing up.
"It seems you're going to reach your limit soon," said Sairaorg.
"You too, Great Lion King-sama," replied Cao Cao. Both [Kings] were on their last breath as they shakily stood still. It was clear to them, and to the ones watching that their next clash would end the match.
"We're fighting for our dreams and wishes, heir of the Great King—but they're practically the same, but I can't fall here," said Cao Cao as he changed into another stance as his spear glowed. Then he glanced at the cameras, causing Sairaorg to be confused.
"Watch carefully, devils of all classes, and ancient devils alike. The one who's fighting equal with me who has a spear that can replicate various other abilities is being cornered right now. The being that you were scared of...is strength perfected from continuous training that you've been denying for the past thousands, and tens of thousands of years. Understand that there are limits that you cannot reach on just talent and genetics alone."
"Why did you make such a claim?" asked Sairaorg.
"I don't like being cornered. Whether it's by you, Aurelia or Jin himself. I know how hard you worked. I saw it, and Team [DxD] saw it. Hearing you being looked down upon annoys me to no end," explained Cao Cao.
[E-eh?! M-Magdaran-san?!] Naud suddenly shouted from his mic.
[May I?] asked a voice.
[Go ahead,] replied Shiva.
[The Heir of the Great King, Sairaorg is...fighting with his physical strength alone. That's because he has not inherited one of the most valuable powers of the Great King family, the [Power of Destruction]. Compared to the previous Great King, he will wield less political power.]
[Even incidents that happen within the land of the Bael clan, instead of sorting it out by formally sending out delegations, he goes to the incident himself. He really lacks common sense as a noble devil.]
Reacting to Magdaran's voice talking about his older brother, everyone in the arena lent him their ears as well as the ones watching from their homes.
[In addition to putting on a costume and selling our area's specialty, he does all sorts of things that nobles don't do. And for any requests from the citizens, even if they are the tantrums of a child, he will listen to them all and try his best to fulfil their wishes. He truly tries his best at everything.]
With a shaky voice—obvious that Magdaran had started to shed tears for his older brother, he continued.
[Even still, I will follow my big brother without doubting him...Sairaorg Bael is the true heir of the Great King, the true Great King Bael!!]
Once he finished, someone started to clap somewhere in the audience. That sound became louder and louder, and soon filled the entire arena. But the voices of criticism were also heard. However, there were also people who acknowledged Sairaorg. Both his allies and the enemy had acknowledged that Sairaorg was truly powerful. Just then, the commentator Shiva jeered.
[That was a cool speech. Yes, the king of the devils would have been obsessed with destruction or things like his bloodline. Well, I'm not one who can comment on the customs of devils, but I can easily define what a hero is.]
[They are the ones who are wanted by the people, and the ones whose name everyone wants and remembers. Sirzechs Lucifer and Diehauser Belial are the two that come to mind when I think of the devils. And the one that's most recent, the Middleman, Jin. Known for his and his teams' heroism across the supernatural world.]
[Not only that, but physical strength is also a genuine and proper form of destruction, especially those fists that are the result of countless hours of training. They aren't something that can be easily acquired. It's the word from me, the God of Destruction, so you can take my word for it. If someone doubts his power after seeing that, then it's simply out of jealousy.]
Some of the criticisms stopped, however, for the ones who truly hated the Great King, they continued. But they were overshadowed by the respect that Sairaorg Bael received from the others as the clapping did not cease.
Cao Cao and Sairaorg's battle continued. They disappeared and reappeared at different points on the field. However, the power they used started to decrease as both of them started to succumb to fatigue and exhaustion. Then—
[1 [Pawn] of [Team Imperial Purpure] retire!]
The retirement of Kuisha Abaddon was confirmed—in the distance, the [Queen] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor], Georg sat on the ground, missing an arm and blood pouring from all of his body as slowly bled on the ground. But he refused to retire. He used everything in his body to stay in the game—even using fire magic to close some wounds up.
His battle with the [Pawn] of Sairaorg's team was fierce. However, in the end, the [Anti-Monsters] of [Annihilation Maker] before they were dismissed with Leonardo's retirement helped him enough to weaken Kuisha to the point where he could fight her. The two were at a standstill, until Georg found an opening because Kuisha became distracted by the speech and the crowd cheering for her master.
It was only for a split second, but Georg took advantage of it and injured her enough to force her to retire. However, Georg also took a lot of damage from it.
As he lay on the ground, he muttered, "...Win already, Cao Cao...don't you...want to make that place better for them...?" he asked and closed his eyes.
As both [Kings] dodged, avoided, deflected and parried each other's attack, the time limit for the game was approaching. At most, they had a minute to defeat one another before the game would be over.
Both their bodies became even more sluggish as they mostly stood in one spot now. Sairaorg's [Ultra Ego] was beginning to wane as his hair began to flash back to its normal black, and Cao Cao's speed and precision of thrusts and jabs decreased in speed.
Sairaorg's punch connected with Cao Cao's face, while Cao Cao's spear pierced Sairaorg's side. Both of them coughed up blood as they continued to sluggishly fight each other. The time limit was approaching. There were only 20 seconds left on the clock.
"You're a strange man, and you've certainly changed since a year ago. I like it," said Sairaorg tiredly as he threw a straight at Cao Cao.
In response Cao Cao dodged it and slashed at Sairaorg, who in turned deflected the spear. "Likewise, Lion King, you're worthy of taking down! ...But—!"
Both grinned at one another. "The one that's winning is me!" they both declared.
Using the last embers of strength from both within them, they moved forward and were about to strike each other when a loud buzz rang throughout the game field!
[Time is up! The match is over! And the victory is...!]
Both Sairaorg and Cao Cao stopped their attacks mid-path as they stared up at the sky. The scoreboard showed their total points. The one with the highest points would win if neither [King] were eliminated.
[...[Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor]!!!, Cao Cao's team wins!!]
The crowd burst into cheers as they saw who one—the critics of the Great King smirked at Sairaorg who lost and mocked him. However, a few fans also began punching them because of it. They were quickly separated.
[Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] had 32 points while [Team Imperial Purpure] had 23 points. The difference was massive. The deciding factor was both their peerages battles—but...the retirement of Sairaorg's [Queen] decided it all, and Georg holding out from being retired and winning his fight against Kuisha.
Both men who had been shakily standing finally fell to the ground and sat there.
"So I've lost again," said Sairaorg as he looked up at the sky.
"...Well, if we continued with this fight, who knows what would have happened? Although it seems inappropriate to say such things right now," said Cao Cao.
"...The results are what matters in Rating Games. I am also satisfied with my fight with you, but there will be more, right?" asked Sairaorg as he held his fist up for a fist bump.
Cao Cao smirked and bumped his fist with Sairaorg. "I'll be waiting on the main stage with my team. You better get there, Sairaorg Bael."
"I concur, Cao Cao. You better make it yourself," replied Sairaorg.
As the two [Kings] sat there chatting, they were eventually transported back to the arena and they made their way back to their waiting rooms.
— ○ ● ○ —
"He won!!!!!!" screamed Isatha. She had just seen the conclusion of the game and Laeronia dismissed the magic circle.
"Indeed, his team won, although I would have liked to see what would have happened if the match continued. I believe Cao Cao would have won," said Laeronia.
"Yes, with his spear he can beat anyone!" said Isatha. She got up and added, "I'll go and do a mission. I'm feeling good right now!"
Laeronia chuckled as he followed Isatha out of her room. He summoned a magic circle and saw the audience's reaction and sighed. "I'll go and wipe out some more of their armies then..."
— ○ ● ○ —
Aaron Toole's Soliloquy
— ○ ● ○ —
Once the game ended, we left the VIP room. Everyone thought it was quite intense, but one person came out of it with mixed feelings—Genshirou Saji. He looks up to Sairaorg quite a bit and even calls him 'Master' from time to time. However, he seemed to come to his own conclusions after watching this game.
As we arrived at the lobby of the stadium, Aurelia with Roygun was there and they came over to us, but before we could speak to her, Genshirou stepped forward.
"Seeing that amazing fight, I want to face you like that, Aurelia-sensei. Please fight me on the field for our game," he declared.
There were some news reporters and journalists in the lobby waiting for the two teams that played for today, but after they heard Genshirou say that, they all rushed over to us and started asking questions and even taking pictures.
"A declaration of war from Sona Sitri's [Pawn], Genshirou Saji! How will you respond, Aurelia-sama?!" a reporter asked.
Aurelia smiled like usual and answered, "Hoho! Young student of mine, you wish to fight me one-on-one on the field? Very well, I accept! I want to see how far you've come after all."
"She accepted!" shouted various people. When I looked at Sona, she had her hand on her forehead and looked stressed.
I walked over to her and patted her shoulder. "What will you do? Let him, or deny him? If you do, you'll lose a powerful player during the game if he loses, but if he wins then it's an automatic win."
"Can I even refuse at this point? Everyone is expecting it now...haaa...I'll just create a plan and strategy without him and with him, depending on how it turns out, but it seems like we may lose this match," said Sona as she grabbed onto my arm for support.
"Haha, good luck then. I'll be cheering for both of you," I told her. She nodded her head once, but then she pointed in front of us.
"Jin Skyward-sama, are you in a relationship with Sona Sitri-sama too?! Will you be marrying her too like Rias-sama?!" a reporter asked while shoving a mic to my face.
"I will be—"
— ○ ● ○ —
A few hours had passed since the match and there were several news articles, as well as programs talking about the showdown between Genshirou and Aurelia in the upcoming Rating Game.
I also checked up on both teams to see their conditions, and apart from the bitterness of losing, [Team Imperial Purpure] were mostly fine, the same with [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor]. However, Kuisha did say she wanted to train more to get stronger since she was defeated by Georg. Silveteela also felt the same way since she wanted to do more, but was taken out too soon in her opinion.
As I walked towards my room, I heard the music of a piano being played and made my way to Shigune's room. When I peeked in, I saw that she indeed was playing the piano with Poh, Pooh and Pon resting at various places in her room.
As I quietly entered her room, I sat beside Pon who was on her bed and the little guy snuggled into my lap. Shigune had her eyes closed as she played and was too immersed to notice me. However, both Poh and Pooh also joined me. After a few minutes, her performance finally ended and I clapped my hands for her.
She turned around in surprise before blushing. "I didn't notice you were here, dear..." she mumbled and came over.
"Well, you were too immersed in your own performance, so I chose not to interrupt you. What was the piece?" I asked while moving Poh from my lap as Shigune sat between my legs and rested her body against mine. She then took Poh and put him on her lap and the small creature fell asleep.
"Swan Lake by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. You haven't heard of it?" she asked.
"I know some, but not many, so nope. By the way, [Team Slash Dogs] has a match at the same time as Sona and Aurelia's, right?" I asked.
She nodded and then looked up at me. "Mmm. We're up against, ironically enough, [Team Shinto]...so we'll be facing a God-class team."
"I'm surprised it wasn't broadcast and hyped up more. I mean, the fact that Genshirou did challenge Aurelia may have had a factor in it," I mumbled to myself. When I looked back at Shigune, she was blushing quite hard for some reason. "Shig—"
She suddenly kissed me, surprising me, but I kissed her back. Shigune aggressively grabbed my collar forcing me to kiss her harder. When I took a quick glance around us, Poh, Pooh and Pon were missing.
She finally released me from our kiss as she stared at me while blushing.
"What was that about? You're normally not this aggressive, Shigune," I told her.
"...I want a good luck charm," she told me as she began to rub her ass against my groin.
"...Shigune, can I request something?" I asked. She looked at me for a few seconds before agreeing.
— ○ ● ○ —
Lime Start
— ○ ● ○ —
With a completely red face, Shigune asked, "C-can you cum like this...?"
We moved locations and we've been in a 'jelly bath' for about thirty minutes. In a different section of the open bath was another room a more 'normal' room you could say, and Shigune and I were there.
I was lying down in the bath as she lay on top of me. My member was poking through between her thighs as she stared back at it. I've enjoyed the interesting texture that was a mix of Shigune's thighs and the jelly bath.
"Auuu...Kuroka-san and Akeno-san are corrupting your mind...you didn't have such strange fetishes like this before...a t-thigh job...?" she said in confusion.
"I've already gotten a few of these from the other girls, but never in here before," I told her. I also don't think my fetishes are that weird...they're still relatively vanilla, but I'll admit that Kuroka and Akeno were the ones that started it.
"...By the way, Shigune, your cl*t—" Shigune kissed me stopping me from continuing my sentence. I guess she was too embarrassed about that, huh? As we rubbed our bodies together, I felt her cl*tor*s swelled considerably.
"Mmph...mwah...nnhm...nngh...~"
We locked our lips together and continued to grind our hips together.
I broke away from our kiss as Shigune looked at me sadly. I grabbed a hold of her ass cheeks and squeezed them making her moan. "We're only grinding against each other, but it almost feels like we're having sex."
"...I-I would like my first time to be a bit more normal..." she mumbled cutely.
We kissed again and I began to thrust my member up and down between her thighs and legs. Shigune also reciprocated as she began to move her hips and thighs, which in turn made her moan more during our kiss. I also started to fondle her ass as we kissed and grinded, occasionally giving her a soft slap making her jolt.
"Mmm~ n-nyo...don't slap my butt..." she said while breaking away from our kiss again.
"...Shigune, can you squeeze your thighs a bit more?" I asked while pulling her closer to me.
She did as I requested and squeezed her thighs a bit more. I felt even more pressure around my member as her soft and slippery skin wrapped around me.
"Thank you," I told her and kissed her again while resuming my previous movements. Shigune matched my movements as soon as I started up again.
Moving my right hand away from her ass, I began to grope her right breast making Shigune moan again. Her moans made me pump my hips faster, and she in turn began to shake her hips more too.
"Tighter..." muttered Shigune. She looked at me with clouded eyes. "Hold me closer...dear...ah, aahh...haah...aahh...nnh~"
We had been at this for thirty minutes, but we had been going at it at a moderate pace. Most of it was Shigune getting used to our positions while also worry about me. However, the sudden intensity and her looking like that, strangely moved me over the edge.
"Shigune, I'm—" She cut me off and kissed me again.
'Cum...cum while we kiss, dear...!' she told me telepathically. Without another word, I increased my speed and kept thrusting between her thighs. "Mh, mh! Nh...mmwah...nnmh."
Shigune's sweet kisses coupled with the intense pleasure in my groin, swept away by the contrast between sensations, I'm quickly driven to my first climax.
As I released my cum, it splattered all over her thighs, legs, ass and back. But with the mixture of my cum, the jelly bath and her thighs, I kept on ejacul*ting while also still pumping my hips, wanting to experience this sensation even more.
"Ah, ah...nhuh...it's hot...haah...ah, aahh! ...It's on my back?" she asked while looking towards where we were 'connected'. "...You really felt good from that...? Auuu...I feel a bit like a pervert..."
"...Shigune."
"...Y-yes?"
"...I'm still horny. Can we keep going?" I asked. With a silent nod, she agreed even as her face turned redder.
We continued for another four rounds. I think I might get addicted to doing that with Shigune and her thighs, even if they weren't the thickest among the girls...
— ○ ● ○ —
Lime End
— ○ ● ○ —
Our little private time came to an end. Shigune and I left the bath together and we came across Natsume and Kanami. Shigune was quite obvious with what we did because as soon as they saw us, she hid behind me and placed her head against my back.
"Wow, I didn't think Shigune would have sex this early..." mumbled Kanami.
"...No, she doesn't have that 'aura' yet...she must have done something lewd though. You'll understand soon, Sis," said Natsume.
"You two are weirdly observant about these things," I replied as we arrived beside them.
"Fufu, since I've been with you for quite a long time, I'd say I know a lot of things about you now!" proclaimed Natsume as she flicked her ponytail.
"Like how you like sucking his dick?" asked Kanami. Natsume immediately tried to hit her and the two sisters fought as we made our way to my room.
"Don't mind them too much, let's go to Hawaii soon, Shigune."
She smiled, grabbed my hand and smiled. "Yes! I look forward to it!"
...Just another calm night at home. My phone suddenly vibrated as we entered my room. I checked it and saw a message from Azazel and Shiva in our 'Organizers Group Chat'.
|It's been decided! Jin! The venue and stadium for [Team Sona Sitri] vs [Team Golden Rakshasa] is in your new base in the Dimensional Gap! It's ready right?!| asked Azazel.
|If it's not we can relocate it, so no pressure!| said Shiva
[Antares.]
[Yes, Aaron-sama?]
[Is my home in the Dimensional Gap ready? The Rating Game between Sona and Aurelia is going to be held there. If it's not, we can relocate,] I told him.
[It's ready! Please come by before the start of the match!]
[I will. Thank you for your hard work. I'll meet you there soon.]
"Aaron? Is something wrong?" Natsume asked.
I nodded and grinned. "The match between Sona and Aurelia is going to be held at my base in the Dimensional Gap, so I'm heading there tomorrow to check it over before the match begins a few days later."
"Can we come?!" Kanami asked excitedly.
"I don't see why not? It's essentially our second home, whereas [Sanctuary] is our third. So I'll invite everyone who can come. Maybe we'll start with everyone in this home first," I told them.
I look forward to seeing my new home. I wonder how large that place is? I refused to look at it when looking into the future, if I could help it.
— ○ ● ○ —
