Serafall Leviathan set down the work paper that she had tortured herself with for the past few hours. There were no major fires that she was forced to put out, and the frantic negotiations that she indulged herself in on a not-infrequent-enough basis were missing, to be replaced by the monotony of ratifying agreements and indulging herself in minor amounts of politicking. While this step down in her workload would usually be welcomed, she now cursed the fact that it did nothing to take her mind off the fight that she had with Raise.

Serafall had not seen him for the entire week after he stormed out of the Revolution Jubilee and she was becoming slightly worried. Well not worried, she amended within her head. It was just that it was the first true fight that the pair of friends had ever had. Compounding her bout of nervousness was the fact that she remembered that Raise had also ended his friendship with Lilika for much the same reason and she hoped that history wasn't repeating itself.

She stood up determined to go to his garden and demand to speak to him, and then she sat back down again. She wasn't wrong she told herself and that stubborn conviction prevented her from giving anything more than a half-hearted apology. He was definitely sharp enough to pick up on that and her pride wouldn't allow her to accept all the blame when the current state of affairs was more of his fault than hers. Shit, she was at the assigning blame stage of her little pity party again.

Her thoughts were broken as her door rattled with the sound of frantic knocks and Serafall's eyes widened in surprise at the most unusual interruption to her work. There were few who would dare to interrupt her in her study. The list started and ended with her parents and unless they were trying to bash down the door to inform her that her time as an only child was over it was unlikely to be them.

Sighing she waved her hand activating a spell that caused the locks to spring open and the door to swing open. Stepping into the room was one of her personal guards, a young man with brown hair and yellow eyes with an appearance that was a cut above average as devils go in the looks department. His face was not familiar and Serafall realised with some embarrassment that he was probably the newest one, acquired after the Jubilee, who she hadn't introduced herself to yet.

"Lady Serafall," he panted. He was noticeably out of breath and it was quite clear that he had run the whole way from his post up here. The whole situation spoke of nothing good and Serafall found herself getting deadly serious as she focused all her attention on the guard. "We're under attack milady," he said stammering over his words.

"By who," she said narrowing her eyes, running through the short list of those that would dare attack her.

"One man," the man said and shocked as she was Serafall could still pick up the tone of utter shame in his voice. "He has red hair and walked with a limp."

"Really," Serafall said and some of the tension bled out of her shoulders as she thought of the one person she knew of that fit that definition. "Okay," she said standing up. "Let's go meet him." She walked towards the door and passed by the newest guardsman.

"Meet him, Lady Serafall?" the guard asked hesitantly as he matched her stride down the hallway.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure I know the person," Serafall started. "He's a… friend I suppose. We had a bit of a falling out, but not to the extent that he would assault my castle." She looked back towards the trailing young devil. "Did you do or say anything to set him off?"

"He told us we came to see you," the younger devil said sounding slightly guilty. "But he didn't have an appointment and he was trespassing. So the Captain wanted to take him into custody for the moment."

"Let me guess," Serafall said as the situation unfolded in her mind. "He absolutely refused, tensions arose and you eventually decided to restrain him anyway."

The rookie nodded looking as if the ground was about to swallow him up and Serafall sighed. "Well what you did wasn't really wrong," she offered, putting herself in the shoes of her guards. In fact their method was probably standard procedure when dealing with an unknown intruder. The only problem was that they used the procedure on the worst possible target. Serafall picked up speed and almost tore through the entrance, only the extremely well made quality of devil engineering prevented the handle from flying off the door.

The scene that greeted Serafall was both awe-inspiring in its execution and exasperating in its absolute unnecessariness. Her elite guard, a collection of devils hand-picked from the strongest among the pillar clans and trained even further to the extent that nearly half of their number could boast power on the level of, or even greater than an ultimate class devil, lay littered unconscious throughout the floor in various positions of defeat. Serafall watched in impressed exasperation as Raise flickered into existence with a burst of pure speed, appearing between a pair of sentries that were back to back, and lashed out with a pair of devastating punches which caused them to slump to the ground with a crunching noise.

It was all a lie of course. Her elite guard had been fighting an illusion this whole time. Like Sirzechs had said, it was possible to get a feel for where Raise was or was not and while her eyes and ears told her that her guards were slumped over from the crushing blows, her finely honed sense for magic told her that Raise was not there and the pair of guards had both fallen before she had even opened the door.

"Hello Serafall," the voice came from beside her and she turned to stare into the blue orbs of the youngest Gremory. His casualness in the situation caused her to huff in annoyance. He could at least try to look serious when he was assaulting her home.

"Did you really have to knock out all my people," she said. "And I can sense you're not here Raise. How can you talk to me?"

"Are you so sure Serafall?" Raise said and a slight smile danced on his lips. "For all you know I could have created an illusion to erase my magical presence."

"I wouldn't put it past you," Serafall said honestly. Raise's tended to keep a quiet lid on his own aptitude with illusions and was also inclined to play up the mystery aspect of what was real or a fantasy. As a result it was really quite hard for her to gauge his progress.

"But you are correct," he said. "That ability so far eludes me." His face flickered and for a moment his eyes were replaced by the blue spots on one of his butterflies as his head faded to reveal one of the insects hovering in the air, as if in defiance of gravity. Then the illusion resumed and Serafall put together the pieces. He was hearing through his familiar and speaking via an auditory illusion. Still it was unusual for Raise to keep his distance from her and her eyes swivelled to the boy who had accompanied her who was holding his weapon aloft and aimed at her friend with only a minimum of shaking.

"Put your weapon down," she said with a sideways glance to the only conscious member of her guard. "It won't help you."

Perhaps her words were a bit harsh but they did the job as the boy swallowed and reluctantly returned his sword to its sheath, although his hand never moved far away the weapon.

As soon as he did the image of Raise disintegrated into butterflies flying up into the air and reforming into the form of Raise lying on the grass, with his hands behind his head, staring up at the sky. Serafall focused her senses to try and discern his magical presence and found it after a moment she picked it up at the exact spot that he lay down. Watching as he lay there so relaxed, heedless of the grass stains he was likely getting on his old black suit she decided that it was probably a nice day to relax under the purple sky.

"So," she said as she lay down beside him, her one remaining bodyguard following her and never taking his eyes off of Raise. "Is there a reason you attacked my home?"

"I wanted to apologize," Raise said still staring at the purple sky. "It seems I was overhasty to declare that I had completely got rid of my anger. Whatever disagreements that we had that night, they were nowhere near enough to excuse my behaviour and abandon the party."

He paused in his words and a comfortable silence filled the space. Serafall smiled as she felt the distance between them close. Her friend had put aside his pride and sincerely apologized and Serafall had never held a grudge over that evening in the first place. There were no real problems beside a slight annoyance from devils propositioning her and a query from Sirzechs that got her an understanding nod.

"It's cool," she said. "Couldn't you have sent a card or something, rather than beating up my employees?"

"I planned to just drop in, much like you do," Raise said. "Unfortunately things didn't go quite as planned. Words were exchanged, they got a bit heated and," he waved his hand dismissively. "Well you see the result."

"I assume they're all going to be okay," Serafall said with a note of warning in her voice.

"A couple days of bed rest at the most," Raise said not reacting to the implied threat. "I used Senjutsu to disable them for the most part. Their life force is damaged and reduced but their physical body was not harmed."

"That's okay then," Serafall said relaxing ignoring the wide eyes of the last guardsman that he didn't even try to hide. "It will teach them a valuable lesson not to judge based on appearances. Is there a reason that you didn't just illusion your way past them?"

Raise's face turned thoughtful. "Initially I just wanted to be polite and announce myself," he said. "Then when my politeness failed and then when they tried to lock me up against my will I lost my temper."

Raise's words stopped and silence briefly resumed before Serafall decided to break it. "I'm sorry also. I shouldn't have pushed you. I get it, there are things that make you lose your cool. Despite your seeming maturity, you are still a devil and a young one at that.

Raise accepted this and the silence was shorter this time before he pulled out a basket covered by a sheet. "My fig tree gave a good harvest recently," he said. "I also recently managed to construct a small pond and got a pair of koi."

"That sounds nice," Serafall said visualising the new instalment to his garden. "You can also come visit me anytime, I'll instruct the guards to let you through," she gave a small smile as she saw the young man who hadn't taken his eyes off of Raise the entire time. It was very unlikely they would ever impede her friend again. While their job was to protect her it was largely ceremonial due to the fact that on her worst day, despite their strength she could beat them blindfolded and they therefore tended to default to their second job of keeping undesirables out. For a devil nothing was more undesirable than someone with no power and if there was one thing that came out of this it was the fact that all of her elite guard would no doubt respect his strength in future.

Serafall briefly wondered if she should instruct her guards not to mention anything about the youngest Gremory and then decided against it. Despite Raise's distaste for power she was firmly of the belief that he couldn't keep pretending to be weak for the remainder of his life. She briefly felt as if she was betraying him but quickly quashed that emotion. She was doing it for his own good, as a powerful devil he could do whatever he wants and even marry anybody he wants.

Serafall suddenly stood up with such speed that she startled the two conscious people around her. "Well it's time to begin packing away the bodies," she said. "Aren't you going to help Raise," she said. "After all you were the devil who knocked them unconscious."

"Are you really going to make the cripple do this work Serafall," Raise said with a smirk upon his face. He then snapped his fingers and his body dissolved into light only to reappear standing up a short distance away. "You'll have to show me where the dumping spot is Sera. Remember I've never actually been to your house."

"That's perfect," Serafall said. "I'll give you a tour." And with those last words the three of them started the chore of returning the bodies to their beds. And Serafall Sitri was happy.

xxx

"Hello Sera," the voice came from inside the room causing her to flinch in surprise from her paperwork.

"By His name Raise," she yelled out loud displaying more anger than she actually felt. "Do you not know how to knock?" The first few times after their reconciliation he had gone through all the standard procedures and the guards had let him through. However he had confided to her that the respect that they had shown him after he had wiped the floor with them made him feel deeply uncomfortable to the point that in all future visits started with a knock upon her study door. Apparently today he had decided to forgo the door.

"Sorry Sera," Raise said. "Been a bit of a rough day."

"Are you okay," Serafall said. To any other devil there would have been no difference between Raise's current appearance and his normal one but Serafall knew him better than that. Raise was a devil that took very particular care in his appearance. Not necessarily how attractive he looked but he took great pains to look the same every day. In fact the only time that she had ever seen him out of his old black suit was when she invited him to the revolution Jubilee and he wore a newer black suit.

Raise paused for a moment. "No," he said. "I think I might hate my parents."

Serafall whistled as she narrowed down the possible things that could be bothering him to one. The big one, the one that Raise had complained about on and off for the past few months.

"Have they decided on a party to the contract," Serafall asked with some curiosity and large amounts of concern for her friend. She would hate to see Raise trapped in a loveless marriage.

"Somebody from the Bael family," Raise said taking a seat on the couch in Serafall's office. She had it installed ever since Raise had come over to prevent him from just lying down on the carpet. "They were originally trying to arrange something with the Phenex family but there were no female devils that were in my age range and I think Zekram made an offer."

"And is she a looker," Serafall asked leaning forward with her hands beneath her chin, taking great interest in this conversation.

"Does it matter," Raise said lying back on the couch. "All devils look attractive, on the outside of course." He sighed wearily and turned to lie on his side facing Serafall. "I hated her personality," he admitted. "I was deliberately rude, doing everything short of wishing her an untimely demise and she just sucked it up. Apparently she believes I'm a wounded puppy lashing out at the world to hide my own pain. She also believes that she can 'fix' me by showing me love."

The tone of disgust that Raise spoke in was so harsh that Serafall let out chuckle. Raise gave her a dirty look and she did her best to stifle her chuckles causing him to stare at the ceiling again.

"I mean she even promised me that I could have a harem after marriage," he said, his words arctic in their intensity. "How badly do you have to miss the actual point to think that? I don't even want to have to deal with her and apparently giving me more women is supposed to be an incentive."

A frown crossed Serafall's face at the thought of Raise with a harem. He was right it didn't really suit him. He was much more suited to having one worthy girl.

"So what are you going to do?" she asked him leaning forward and pushing her paperwork to the side.

"Not get married that's for certain," Raise said with indignation. "Honestly I don't even know where this obsession with family lines and maintaining the family name comes from. Oh wait I do," he said. "It's humans, because my creatively sterile race can't get a damn idea without cribbing it from somebody else."

Serafall frowned with mild indignation but she ultimately forced it down, right now Raise was just lashing out and venting his feelings and she couldn't really begrudge him that.

"Honestly when you think," he raised his hands to the ceiling in exasperation. "Really and truly think about it, it's the least devil like thing in the whole world. I'm sure that Lucifer didn't give a shit about maintaining the family name when he rebelled against his Father."

"The devils nowadays are not anything like the originals," Serafall said neutrally, thinking about the days prior to the civil war, days filled with blood and pain and violence. "In many ways the current era was an improvement, but there were still lingering problems to anybody who took a closer look, such as the discrimination against the extra clans or the rising number of strays.

"Is that why you like dragons so much," Serafall asked standing up from her desk and stretching as she put aside her remaining work for a different day. "Because they get do whatever they want."

"Yes," Raise said standing up himself. "I mean look at Ddraig and Albion. Yes, they got sealed, but they managed to fight off the entire three factions. They didn't back down even as they fought Him," Raise said emphasising the capitals as he spoke about the devils many-times great-grandfather. "You would never see Tiamat or Tannin let themselves be ruled over or forced to conform to society and a person would have to be literally insane to try to force the Infinite Dragon God to do anything she didn't want to."

Raise spoke the truth. Before Ddraig and Albion were sealed they had rampaged around the world gaining the ire of many factions without any fear and while she had heard rumours that Tiamat may be involved with Azazel both her and Tannin were both easily able to live free with zero fear of danger. As for Ophis, well Serafall pitied that hypothetical madman.

"How is your Senjutsu coming along," she inquired as she opened the door with Raise following her.

"Pretty good," he replied. "I've found some very interesting things," he continued cagily. Their path took them up the stairways of her house towards the top. Guards saluted to the pair as they went past and after the third time that it happened Raise snapped his fingers and faded from sight, only Serafall's finely trained magical senses informing her of his current presence.

Leading him up to the roof she opened the door to the magnificent sight of a garden in full bloom. Thousands of beautiful flowers blossomed in hundreds of different colours and a miniature waterfall provided the audio backdrop to the scene. There was a row of benches that leaned against the rocky sides of this rooftop garden and multiple statues dotted the landscape. Raise stepped forward fading into visibility again and his eyes swept from side-to-side evaluating the spectacle before him.

"What do you think," Serafall said with only the faintest hint of nervousness. She decided to create a garden so that Raise could relax when he came over and was now eagerly waiting for his approval of the place.

"Why did you build this, Sera?" Raise asked her. He walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. "I didn't think you were the kind of person to enjoy this," he continued. "Is my garden not enough to fulfil your newly found landscaping fetish?"

"No," Serafall said snickering at the hypocrisy of him accusing her of having a landscaping fetish. "I built it just in case you wanted to relax while you were over here. I know how much you like gardens."

Raise looked her up and down and opened his mouth as if to say something before closing it again. "Excellent," he said after a short pause, his lips twitching upwards. "But you're going about it wrong. To understand the glory of a garden you have to create and maintain it yourself. Yes your garden is impressive, in size and splendour it far outstrips mine, but it lacks true character. Serafall Sitri, you have yet to learn the true worth of a garden."

"What the hell are you talking about Raise?" Serafall asked blinking at the uncharacteristic speech.

"Maybe I went a bit overboard," Raise admitted in his standard, more subdued manner. "I truly believe that everybody should have a garden," he said sincerely. "I use mine as a place in which I exhibit absolute control and peace of mind. A place where sight and sound bend to my will and whether something is real or not is at my discretion."

"Well I'm using mine as a place for us to sit and enjoy nature," Serafall said. "Come on Raise, not everything has to have a deep philosophical component to it. Sometimes things are exactly as they seem."

Raise opened his mouth to speak and then shut it before shaking his head and leaning back on his bench. "Sorry Sera," he said. "I tend to overthink things such as these. I honestly do like the garden."

"No, problem Raise," Serafall said sitting next to the younger devil. "I like those things about you."

The two sat in silence for a bit before Raise yawned and the illusion flickered. "My apologies," he said turning towards her. "I've been really tired recently. I'm working on something big."

"You've alluded to that before," Serafall said. "Mind showing me what I've found."

"Hmm," Raise said as he lay back down on the bench. "Tell you what. My birthday is coming up in two weeks' time. If you take me to the human world then I will show you the great insight that I've had into Senjutsu."

"But you specifically don't keep your bargains Raise," Serafall said remembering the prior wager they had with Senjutsu. "What insurance do I have that you would keep your promise?"

"Firstly taking me to the human world should be its own reward," Raise said holding up one finger. "Secondly it wasn't a promise or a deal. I'm simply stating that if you were to take me to the human world I would be grateful and happy enough that I would likely freely share my insight."

"Well I suppose if it's for your birthday," Serafall said with faux-reluctance. "Then I have no choice but to spoil you."

"Perfect," Raise said smiling even as he reclined on the bench, staring up at the purple sky.

xxx

"I know I left it open ended as to the exact location in which we should have our trip," the newly fifteen year old devil said. "I avoided mentioning a specific place in the hopes that you would surprise me," he continued as he glanced up at the blue sky before looking around at the many ruined buildings of which only a few had started being rebuilt or escaped unscathed. "But then you went to pick Japan, a country in the middle of a brutal civil war. Then you went a step further and informed me that we're going to Kyoto. Really Serafall, your choice of location for my birthday was a ruined city in the middle of a war-zone."

Serafall pouted at his words but could not dispute his logic, if Kyoto was all that they were going to see. Thankfully she knew a lot more than Raise about this area, which she had visited in many diplomatic ventures.

"I know you can see the illusion Raise," Serafall said gesturing to a space that would have appeared empty to almost anybody else on the planet. To Serafall it looked like a swirling shaded mist and Raise probably saw through it like clear water.

"Of course I can," Raise said gesturing towards the barrier. "But I thought we were going to visit the human world not meet up with a group of Youkai," he said staring at a specific point in the air and confirming Serafall's suspicions.

Suddenly the space directly in front of them shattered like a pane of glass and the sight of ruined Kyoto was replaced by the sight of an angry young foxgirl storming towards the pair. Her hair was blonde and had blue ribbons that divided it into two pig-tails giving her a youthful appearance. She wore an outfit that reminiscent of the miko of a few centuries ago and she was trailed by a man with crow head and wings.

"How can you see through my illusions," she screamed for some reason pointing at Serafall.

"Calm down young Misstress," the crow headed man said running in an attempt to prevent her from outright attacking Raise.

"Kyoto's skill in illusions must be poor indeed," Raise said flatly causing the fox-eared girls eyes to widen in rage before he continued. "If you cannot recognize that you are yelling at Serafall instead of me." A snap of his fingers and Raise appeared behind the group inspecting the remnants of the illusion. Serafall frowned as she realised that she had spent the last few seconds disguised as Raise and vowed to up her training to detect illusions. In front of her the jaw of the kitsune dropped in a rather comical manner and the Karasu-Tengu subtly laid a hand on his blade.

"Let's not go there," Serafall said stepping forward. The Karasu-Tengu glanced at her and did that strange double-take that people usually had when they realised that, 'yes, this is the Leviathan standing before me', and lowered his sword pretty fast.

Meanwhile the kitsune girl had gravitated towards Raise and was badgering him about his illusions. He gave short one word answers while examining the energy from the barrier but it didn't seem to discourage her.

"Lady Serafall we weren't expecting you until tomorrow," the crow-headed man said. "My humblest apologies, but we may not have space for you and your consort."

"Consort?" Serafall said and the wheels in her mind ground to a stop. Whipping her head in the direction of Raise she looked at him and then back to herself trying to figure what in all the hells made him think that they were together. Raise was so much younger than her, and he looked it. While she admitted that he had grown a few inches, especially after he had learnt Senjutsu, he still looked on the small side for a fifteen year-old. Then he saw the kitsune smiling as she finally manage to draw Raise into a discussion and the crow's intention became clear.

"He's not my consort," Serafall said, firmly friendzoning herself and forcing down ugly emotions inside of her. "He's a friend that I brought here for his birthday. I thought some exposure to other factions would do him good.

"I'm glad you did," he said. "Lady Sakutsuki is rarely this animated with anybody. Apparently your friend's illusions have captured her imagination."

"Yes," Serafall said agreeing with him. "The kitsune had grasped Raise's intention and the two were engaged in furious debate as they approached them.

"But how do you compensate for the effects of multiple perceptions on the underlying illusion," the kitsune girl Sakutsuki said.

"Either capitalise on the beings innate belief or start thinking three-dimensionally," Raise said giving a brusque answer that demanded unpacking. That unpacking would have to wait for later as he turned towards Serafall when they approached.

"So what did you want to show me," he asked cutting off the conversation to the disapproving pout of the fox-girl.

"I was just going to take you around the city of Kyoto and then maybe someplace to eat," Serafall said smiling. "But maybe this young lady wants to show you around. Maybe you can continue to talk about your magic while you do so."

"Yes, of course," the younger kitsune said composing herself and grabbing onto Raise's arm and Serafall watched the young kitsune drag her friend away for a few moments. "Shame on you toying with a lady's feelings," she addressed nobody in particular with a grin upon her face.

The image of the karasu-tengu next to her wavered and was replaced by the image of Raise who stood there with his hands in his pockets.

"You didn't sense me," he said analysing her. "You just know me well enough to know that there was no way of me allowing myself to be dragged off."

"I assume she's dragging the crow," Serafall said as she continued walking forward trailed by her friend.

"Indeed," Raise confirmed. "He's under the same illusion, just looking at it with a different perception," he said with a chuckle.

"Are you going to explain the joke?" Serafall asked as she walked into one of the pristine looking buildings, a contrast to the ruined state of Kyoto outside the illusion.

"It's not really funny," Raise admitted looking somewhat sheepish. The area they had walked into was a restaurant serving all manner of Japanese dishes. Varieties of youkai were in attendance and as soon as they entered eyes turned towards them, apparently sensing that the visitors were not like them. The curious glances didn't slow down Serafall, only causing her to lead Raise into a private booth. A moment later a nekomata waiter appeared and Serafall ordered with Raise following her lead. When they had finally been left alone Raise decided to speak again.

"The perception problem is the fact that it is incredibly hard for a person to create an illusion that caters to more than one person due to differences in viewpoint, senses or outlook. As such it is normally far harder for illusionists to create illusions that affect multiple people. It is commonly seen as a mark of passage to overcome this flaw."

"But you can do this," Serafall said stating the obvious. After all she had seen him do this many times before today.

Raise inclined his head slightly. "Since I was twelve," he said his voice barely more than a whisper.

"So it probably wouldn't have been an even trade of ideas," Serafall said understanding the situation better now.

Raise shrugged. "So what did you want to show me," he said. "We're in the heart of youkai territory. I assume we're going to do more than walk around."

"Very few devils would even get to walk around in the youkai capital," Serafall stated as she waited for the food to come. "We're not exactly the most well liked species among the various youkai clans."

Raise nodded, having very little desire or ability to argue that point and the nekomata waitress came back with their drinks and meal. They waited until she had retreated out of earshot for Serafall to resume the conversation.

"But yes," she continued. "There is something else that I want you to see. Do you remember the events of your last birthday?"

"The arena," Raise said immediately and Serafall could pick up the faintest glimmer of disgust cross his face before it disappeared utterly and his face took on his usual indifferently casual look.

"Don't worry Raise it isn't a contest of strength," she said assuaging his doubts. "Once a year in Kyoto from all around the world the most proficient illusionists from various factions display their ability in a contest of illusions to determine the best."

"I've heard of those. That actually sounds pretty interesting," Raise said taking a sip of his drink.

"Yup and that's why I entered you," Serafall said cheerfully.

Raise did very carefully not spit out his drink onto the face of his friend, no matter how much he was tempted.

"You entered me into a competition among the best in the world without telling me," Raise said his voice incredulous.

"Yup," Serafall said smiling at him. "It starts in three hours; you might want to use this time to think up a routine."

"Three hours," Raise said slightly stunned. "Serafall it takes a couple of hours to adapt a new illusion never mind create an entire illusionary routine. I don't know how you expect me to win the tournament on that short notice."

"Win it?" Serafall said her eyes widening. "Raise I don't expect you to win it. These are the finest in the world. Yes, you're amazing at illusions, but many of these contenders have decades if not centuries of practice on you. I entered you to get experience and have some fun, not to win it."

"True," Raise said slowly as if tasting the words and contemplating her point of view. "But my illusions are the one thing that I'm proud of. And if I have to weave a dream in front of an audience then it's going to be a damn good dream." He stood up and left the booth. "Come Sera, we have no time to waste."

Putting down entirely too much money for the simple meal, Serafall hurried after Raise and into the busiest three hours of her life.

xxx

Despite the difference in the performances the construction of the Kyoto central stadium was very similar to the arena. Both of them were circular in shape, with rows of layered seats and special boxes for VIP's at the top and just like the arena, Kyoto Central Stadium had an absolutely massive amount of attendees. Hundreds if not thousands of the youkai sat in their seats making up the majority, but that was far from all of them. A myriad of supernatural races made up the remainder. Serafall recognized the fallen angels and devils first, mainly due to her familiarity with them, but over the time that she had sat here she had seen more western monsters, angels, and even a couple of gods relaxing opposite her in the booths. It turns out the event was better well attended than even she thought.

A splattering of applause and Serafall watched as a glass of red wine in a goblet appeared in front of her. Idly she brought it to her lips and was surprised to taste something that might have been wine. Of course it was an illusion, and not one that she hadn't been able to see through but it was still impressive to see hundreds of illusory goblets emerge at a single vampire's insistence.

The goblet shimmered into non-existence and Serafall focused on the judges table, a brief spell enhancing her already supernatural vison to godly levels for the purpose of identifying the scores they gave. The scores among them were largely decent, amounting to a 6.8 average among the five of them, but the contestant, a vampire who sat at a banquet table, did not look happy as he retreated from the coliseum and into the contestant's area.

"There was no way for him to actually pull that off," the voice came from a butterfly that hovered next to Serafall. "Taste is one of the most subjective of the five senses and as a vampire his ability to empathise with the taste of others differs from the standard by several orders of magnitude. Despite the powers of his illusions they were ultimately sloppy and incompatible."

"That is a very good analysis," a third voice joined the fray and they both turned to see a new person appear from thin air. The third member in the viewing box was a nekomata. Unlike every other one of the cat people that Serafall had seen in her long existence, she showed physical signs of aging. Her hair was grey and there were a few wrinkles under her eyes and while they did little to detract from the beauty inherent to her race, they were very unusual considering the fact that most female supernatural creatures used magic to retain their youthful looks. Too complete the image of her, two grey tails languished from underneath a modest Shrine maiden's outfit.

"Losing your touch Raise," Serafall said, with some incredulity at the fact that the younger devil hadn't seen her before now. "How long has she been in the room?"

"She's still not in the room," the red-headed devil corrected her the image of his body appearing next to her. "Her existence here is an illusion. It is likely she is using a surveillance rune to perceive us and remotely set up a reference point for this illusion."

"Good eyes," the aged cat lady said. "By the way isn't it forbidden for contestants to watch the prior matches? Something about it giving them an unfair advantage?"

"You should know given the fact that you have high enough clearance to place surveillance here," Raise said not flinching at the question. "But to be frank I prioritise learning from other people's illusions over showing off my own."

"And what do you think of the show so far," the unnamed cat-woman said walking over to them and glancing down at the next contestant, an angel with eight wings.

"Polarising," Raise said. "None of them have been able to capture the whole audience." A bright light shone and the arena was filled with an image of thousands of angels surrounding the Almighty causing even Serafall to recoil slightly. "All of them bring their unique perspective; refusing to water down their illusions down to cater for the entire crowd."

"Don't you think it's admirable that they display their art without fear of criticism," the aged nekomata said but Raise wasn't listening as he was too focused on the ongoing illusion.

"Anyway I'm Taiyoki," she said smiling. "I believe you've met my granddaughter Sakutsuki already. You made quite an impression on her; the poor girl isn't used to being fooled twice by illusions."

"When you are utterly convinced that you know the truth of the world, only then you can be absolutely sure that you're living in an illusion," Raise said tearing his eyes away from the display in front of him. He opened his mouth to say more and then glanced at Taiyoki before turning away from them.

"So what you're saying is overconfidence is the real problem," Taiyoki said nodding her head.

"Something like that," Raise brushed her off. "When am I up Serafall?" he asked.

"After the next one," she said and Taiyoki suddenly seemed even more interested in the duo.

"So you're the Leviathan," she said and then turned her head towards the young Gremory. "I heard that the Leviathan used her influence to include a last minute competitor." At this Raise shot an irritated look towards Serafall and the current Leviathan scratched the back of her head looking embarrassed. "From what I've heard people have quite high hopes for you and from what I've seen they won't be disappointed."

"No they won't," Raise agreed with a smile on his face.

xxx

(Three hours earlier)

"So you've actually got a plan for this," Serafall asked as Raise virtually dragged her to a secluded spot.

"Not a routine," Raise said. "But a single spell that can do as well as a routine. What do you know of primordial illusions Serafall?"

"Nothing," Serafall replied taking note of the ominous sounding name. "What does it do?"

"Hmm, how to explain this," Raise said tapping his chin. "Most illusions stimulate the mind to provoke an emotional or rational response. Whether by sight or sound or hearing or taste or touch or intuition or magic sensing or…" he purposefully cut himself off. "Primordial illusions do the opposite by creating an illusionary sensation and then using the persons own mind to simulate the input. Do you understand?"

"It's fairly self-explanatory," Serafall said. "But it's also something I've never heard of before. Where did you find out about it?"

"Sirzhecs got me a book a few months ago and I worked it out from there. Took me a long time but I've pretty much got it down. Why?"

"It's just that I've never even heard of this ability before," joking she pointed at Raise. "All of a sudden you pull out a spell out of nowhere that works perfectly for the situation with no foreshadowing. That's a terrible storytelling technique."

"Foreshadowing is a technique that writers use to feel smug because they gave you minor clues and the readers were not in the exact mind-set to put them together," Raise said putting his fingers to his temples. "But sure, consider this ability appropriately foreshadowed for future reference."

He sat down at one of the many benches at the park and Serafall sat next to him. "There are only two problems that keep primordial illusions away from the majority of aspiring illusionists besides a general lack of talent. The first is that primordial illusions are internal and therefore require the ability to synchronise with an opponent's own energy. This can be easily overcome by the use of Senjutsu. The second is that primordial illusions, especially casting them over a number of people, require an obscene amount of power. I have an above average amount for my age due to non-stop casting of illusions, but I have nowhere near the amount needed."

"But you have a plan," Serafall said relaxing on the bench while digesting the information.

"I do," he said calmly as he stared at the blue sky. "There are no rules against transferring power before the contest. Considering the fact that the complexity, completeness and overall uniqueness of the illusion is judged rather than the power of the contestant it is in fact encouraged."

"So you want me to transfer my mana to you," Serafall quickly guessed. It was obvious, as one of the four Satans she had an incredible mana capacity. Raise would have to find a god if he wanted a better mana source. However there was a problem that she could see right off the bat. "Mana transfer rituals take hours when the conditions are already set up. I don't see how you can possibly perform this one in such a short time."

"Senjutsu," Raise said as if it explained everything. And in a manner of speaking it did. Very little was known of the art rendering it an impenetrable mystery to all devils.

"Is that what you promised to show me the last time we met?" Serafall asked.

"That, no," Raise said immediately. "This is something I learnt from Lilika before we left," he explained further. The silence stretched to almost awkward levels as the two sat there.

"Don't you think you should get on with it," Serafall said with only a hint of impatience.

"Okay," Raise said turning to face her and taking a deep breath. "Please don't read too deep into this," he then he kissed her.

xxx

Serafall forced down a faint blush as she recalled the events of a few hours ago. When Raise had kissed her she had immediately felt the drain on her mana and noticed the rise in his. In an impressively short time his magic had increased to a much higher level and while he had informed her that it was highly unsustainable and that his body wasn't physically well adapted to holding that amount of magic at any one time. Due to this reason his body was currently meditating in the competitor's waiting room trying to regain control over all the magic.

"You seem quiet Sera," the voice of Raise came from image next to her. "Is there something on your mind?"

"Nothing," Serafall said immediately, and then she changed her mind. "I was just thinking. When you took in my energy…" she paused.

"Yes," Raise said after a few seconds of silence.

"I was just thinking you didn't look very well," Serafall lied. "Will you be okay?"

"Senjutsu has quite powerful healing capabilities," Raise said, half avoiding the question. "I should be able to heal completely given enough time."

"That doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence Raise," Serafall said. "I'm really starting to regret entering you into this competition.

"Well it's too late now," Raise said cheerfully. "I'm about to enter the stage." Those words were accompanied by the illusion fading and the leftover butterfly landing on Serafall's shoulder. Looking down Serafall watched with rising trepidation as Raise walked onto the stage. He looked like hell and the constant illusion that hid his damaged wing and leg was down. Casting magic and boosting her eyesight allowed her to see the look of absolute tiredness on his face and she watched as small spasms ran through his body. The sight would have been enough to make anybody anxious about his condition but Serafall had barely any time to worry herself as the youngest Gremory lifted his hands and she felt a massive amount of magic sweep through the stadium.

She felt her whole world change as her body faded into light, one word whispering in her mind and drowning out her thoughts before she dissolved into radiance.

"Nirvana."

xxx

Serafall walked down a hallway with a red carpet beneath her heels. She wore a stunning white dress with a matching veil and clutched in her hands were a boquet of purple flowers of a kind that only grew in the Sitri portion of the underworld. The architecture that surrounded her was ostentatious and yet deeply familiar. A feeling of deep content welled up within her breast as she came to a grand door about a dozen feet in height. To one side her father stood wearing his a suit of unsurpassed finery, a look of happiness upon his face as he looked at her. He put his hand to the door and pushed it open revealing a crowd of devils that stood in groups looking in awe at her as the she entered the room. But none of them captured her attention in the slightest as her eyes were naturally drawn to a single devil. Smiling with elation she stepped forward…

xxx

Serafall came to her senses to the sound of an almighty commotion in the audience. A cavalcade of weeping, awestruck faces, hope ridden smiles, breathless joy rendered devils, angels, youkai and even the gods equals under the primordial emotion that coursed through the crowd.

However, Serafall wasn't focused on the crowd around her but on her friend in the arena. Raise lay face down and dead still. In an instant she was out of the booth and on the field cradling him. It was only when she felt the slight motion of his shaky breath that she relaxed infinitesimally but the sheer lack of power in his body indicated that he was in no way out of the woods yet.

"Hold on Raise," she said as she darted into the medical building. "Please hold on for me."

The hospital room was large and mostly empty despite the grand event being held. Beds lay in rows and a scarce few were occupied by various supernatural creatures with light injuries being addressed by uniformed miko or left alone in peace and quiet. That quietness was broken as a panicked Serafall.

She lay him down on the bed and a swarm of the miko approached the downed devil. Serafall stepped back and let them, cursing her lack of healing magic. The youkai that were in charge of healing cost various diagnostics that she had no way of understanding. Serafall felt her suspense rise as she was ignored by the various healers in lieu of them helping Raise.

"I'll take it from here," the voice came from behind her and Serafall was surprised to see the familiar grey haired nekomata walk into the room. She stepped up to Raise's bed shooing away the other nurses as she inspected the injured devil.

"Will he be okay?"Serafall said trying to ask Taiiyoki, only to be ignored.

"Don't worry," the voice of Sirzechs Lucifer announced his presence behind her and she felt a comforting hand upon her shoulder. "Old Taiyoki is pretty much the best at fixing these sorts of things."

"Sirzechs," Serafall remarked surprised at his sudden appearance. "What are you doing here?"

"As if I would miss my little brother's first competition," he said smiling with only a faint hint of worry in his eyes at the sight of Raise lying motionless. "He had informed his parents that he had plans to celebrate his birthday with a friend this year so I looked up your schedule and found out that you had spent some time in Kyoto. A few inquiries from Taiyoki and I found out about him being entered into the competition. And here we are."

Just then the aforementioned cat woman turned away from her patient and joined the two devils in their conversation.

"He will be fine," she said. "His life force was badly damaged, but it has already started healing by itself. In a couple of weeks he should be back to top shape. Although," she said tapping her lips with her finger. "There is a way of speeding up that process. I'm sure my granddaughter wouldn't mind trying the use of Bouchujutsu on the young man."

"No," Sirzechs said an instant after Serfall. "You've already said he'll get better over time. Maybe some bed rest will do him good."

Taiyoki pouted for a bit. "Stingy," she said and then broke out into a smile. "Did you see the look on the judge's face though? He's definitely going to be taking the fourth."

"Taking the fourth?" Serafall inquired.

"It means that he wouldn't qualify for a top spot due to some or other breach of the rules," Sirzechs surprisingly elaborated. "But that he was undoubtedly ahead of the other contestants regardless. In other words he automatically takes fourth place."

"Breach of the rules?" Serafall asked feeling a little out of place between two people who knew far more about this than her.

"They have to be conscious to receive their scores and there is a minimum duration," Taiyoki elaborated. "He came in under that duration so the judges could naturally not score him. Still he will be invited to all future contests of this nature and there are still prizes for taking the fourth."

"It still is a bit disappointing that he won't be able to enjoy the rest of the day," Taiyoki said stretching out her arms. "We usually have a few more events, which I'm sure he would have enjoyed."

"Nah, I'm sure he'll be happy once I've told him," Sirzechs said walking up to his downed brother. "Is he well enough to take home?" he asked.

"I would like to keep him under observation for a while," Taiyoki said. "But he should recover on his own without any intervention."

"That's all I needed to hear," Sirzech's said as he walked up to his brother, picking him up in a bridal carry as if he was weightless. "I'll take him home. You should enjoy yourself at the festival Serafall, but please come visit him sometime. He really enjoys them."

And with a last wave he summoned a magic circle beneath him and disappeared; leaving Serafall standing alone in Kyoto surrounded by youkai.

xxx

It took two weeks for Serafall to get the opportunity to visit Raise again. A minor feud between two pillar clans forced Serafall to work together with Sirzechs to try and reach an amicable solution. In the end she was forced to ask Severean for help intervening with one of the clans, an action that put her in a very bad mood for a while as his antics annoyed her immensely.

During that time she had inquired with the Lucifer as to his health and the red Satan had gladly told her that Raise was being taken care of by Grayfia. A shiver of pity for both of them ran through her at the thought. The pair was as likely to get along as an angel and devil.

So today was the day that she had finally managed to get a bit of time from her busy schedule to meet the recovering illusionist and she jumped on the opportunity to do so. She quickly strode through the gates of the Gremory manor, the guards having long stopped even bothering to go through the normal process of entry, and flew up to Raise's garden. Except the devil that now inhabited Raise's garden was incredibly different from the young Gremory.

"Oh, it's you," Serafall said upon seeing the sight of the infamous maid of the Gremory, the second strongest female in the underworld, Grayfia Lucifuge. "What are you doing in his garden," she said, barely supressing the accusation in her tone.

"I'm fulfilling my duty and taking care of his garden, while he is still recovering," Grayfia said revealing that the Raise was still not entirely well. Grayfia turned away from Serafall and resumed watering the plants and the Leviathan took this time to admire Raise's garden. True to his words the greatest difference between before and currently was the pond in the middle of the garden containing two brightly coloured carp that swam around following each other. The flowers had also increased in volume and colour and now littered the garden. The fig tree bloomed properly next to the pond above and a multitude of ripe looking fruits hung down with the occasional fig on the ground or water surrounding it. The updated haven looked beautiful, a testament to the maid's skills.

"He is inside his room," Grayfia said straightening up from where she had been bent over holding a watering pail. She looked at Serafall for a moment, coldness in her silver eyes before she sighed. "I am unsure whether I should be happy or sad about you making time to talk to the young master," she said in a rather uncharacteristic manner for the normally stoic maid. "On one hand he will surely be happy that you've made the time to see him," she started causing a bit of guilt to well up inside of her. "But on the other you reinforce the worst in him. Raise is a good devil, and in time he will be a great devil, but if he keeps on doing the things that he's been doing it will only lead him to an early grave. Do you know how many nights that I've stayed awake hoping that he would just learn to curb his recklessness and rebelliousness? Far too many, and then I'm informed a few weeks ago that he's decided not to celebrate his birthday with his family this year, and then I find out that the trip that he went on for his birthday put him into a coma."

Serafall remained quiet at the sight of the visibly agitated maid. Grayfia struggled to put her feelings into words. "Don't make things worse," the Strongest Queen said with her eyes narrowed and a visible threat in her tone as she turned away from the Strongest Female Devil.

There were not many things that she could say to that. At least not many that wouldn't make her look like an outright villain, so Serafall swallowed her words and for the first time that she remembered stepped out of the garden and into Raise's room.

The first thing that hit her as soon as she crossed the threshold was dragons. Pictures of them littered the room and models adorned the shelves. Some of them Serafall recognised as famous dragons, some of them she had even met. The others were unknown to her, depicting generic dragons or dragons that Raise had just dreamed up. In the corner of the room a comparatively large statue of a dragon was being carved out of wood, half-finished and crude the only things that could be made out about it were the western dragon wings that spread out in mid-flight.

"Serafall," the familiar voice said and she turned her head to see Raise upright in his four poster bed wearing red pyjamas. "You came to visit," he said sounding happy but tired. He shook his head and the vestiges of sleepiness faded from his expression. He turned to his bedside and from the drawer pulled out the pocket watch that Serafall had given him for his last birthday. "At quite an inconvenient time."

"Sorry," she said contritely. "Work's been really hectic lately, but I should have made the time to see you, especially considering this was all my fault in the first place."

Raise shook his head absolving her of responsibility without even saying a word. "Hey can you feed my caterpillars," he said pointing to a glass box in the corner of the room opposite the unfinished dragon statue. "I would do it myself but if I get up I'm afraid that Grayfia will lose her mind."

"Yup, lets prevent her hair from turning even more white," Serafall said with a smirk just in case the maid was listening in. She walked over to the glass box and saw several dozen caterpillars munching away at a handful of leaves. To the side was another box filled with leaves and Serafall quickly took a handful of the foliage and dropped it into the clear box where the infant butterflies slowly edged towards their feast.

"So why is it a bad time?" Serafall asked, curious as to what could possibly fill up his schedule. Raise opened his mouth to open and then he was interrupted by a series of three distinct knocks on his bedroom door.

Raise sighed as if all the air was leaking out of him and he gestured at the door, causing it to open and reveal the visitor. A pale girl with sandy blonde hair done in elaborate fashion entered the room. She was a bit below five feet and wore a dark scarlet dress and gave a slight curtsey when she entered the room before she set her amber eyes upon Raise.

"How has the day been treating you so far Raise," she said slowly and Serafall recognized the talent of a person who deliberately made their voice as pleasing to the ear as possible. "I hope you're feeling better now."

"I've been better for a long time," he said. "My condition would further improve if everybody didn't panic the moment I try to get a breath of fresh air."

"But you were so injured," the girl said. "My heart nearly stopped when I saw you lie so still. I honestly thought you were dead."

Raise kept silent at that and Serafall took that as the perfect time to remind the pair of her existence with a polite noise.

"Ah," Raise said turning towards the Satan. "Serafall, Delilah. Delilah, Serafall."

"It's a pleasure to meet one of the Satan's," the young devil said executing a perfect curtsey. "I've heard so much about you from Raise," she continued smiling, although Raise was shaking his head out of sight so she wasn't sure how true the statement was.

"It's good to see somebody is looking out for him," Serafall said making the connection that this girl was most likely Raise's fiancé and her full name was most likely Delilah Bael. She hadn't heard of her before, but it was hardly an unusual state of affairs. Despite the relative scarcity of the devil race, it was beyond her to know every single devil's name. The fact that she hadn't heard of her before actually indicated that she hadn't caused a problem for Serfall and ended up named in one of the piles in her office.

"Ahh," the woman said as she glanced towards the glass in the corner of the room. "I see your familiars have already been fed today."

"Yes I asked Serafall to feed them," Raise said and Serafall watched as her face fell slightly. Apparently she had stumbled into something troublesome between the pair. But her smile crawled back onto her face almost immediately. "Mou," she said with a fake pout. "You're so mean. I loved feeding the caterpillars. None of the butterflies will eat my food."

"My butterflies are perfectly capable of living on flowers," Raise said. "There is no need for you to feed them sugary things," he continued hypocritically.

"Ahh," the woman said and the room faded into silence. Raise had an expression of slight impatience upon his face. "I see," she continued with another smile that lit up her face beautifully. "You want to catch up with your friend and I'm standing in the way."

She turned towards Serafall. "It was a pleasure meeting you Lady Leviathan. If it's not too presumptuous may I say that any friend of Raise is a friend of mine?"

"No that's fine," Serafall said glancing between the pair. "It was lovely meeting you Delilah. Let's meet another time."

At those words she gave a grateful smile before curtseying to Serafall. A huge blush covered her face as she turned towards her fiancé. "I love you Raise," she said before darting out of the room.

"She's quite something," Serafall said to the younger Gremory.

"Yes," Raise said and his body broke into fragments of light. Serafall watched with a fond smile as Raise, properly dressed in a pitch black and yet old-fashioned suit materialised in front of her. "She is pretty unique for a devil. I don't think I've seen a single member of our species exhibit this much goodwill so far."

"She reminds me a bit of you," Serafall said truthfully. While the pair was miles away in terms of disposition and looks, they both broke the mould on typical devil behaviour.

"She got me a walking stick," Raise said. "Can you imagine me with a walking stick? All I would need was a top hat and I would look like a stage magician.

Serafall snickered at the thought of Raise pulling card tricks on stage and then sat down on the bed. "Aren't you afraid of Serafall finding you out of bed?"

In reply Raise pointed a single finger towards the ceiling and Serafall looked up to the sight of a mass of butterflies above her. "Grayfia left when Delilah arrived," he said. "Right now she's talking with Sirzhecs."

"Ahh, that's convenient," Serafall said. "Sorry again about not seeing you earlier."

"Its fine," Raise said smiling. "But you not seeing me meant that I wasn't able to show you the breakthrough I made with Senjutsu."

"I actually forgot about that," Serafall said after a moment of recollection. "You said it was more impressive than primordial illusions. Well then dazzle me."

"Sorry but I'm going to have to give you a bit of theory first," Raise said starting to pace slowly. "I'll make it brief. Basically all the species in the world have their own source of power that is inherent to the species. Devils have their own darkish magic. Angels have their light energy. Most youkai have chakra. Some species have ki. Sometimes it's called willpower or spirit."

"Which one is the strongest," Serafall said raising her hand.

"Goddamit Serafall," Raise replied and then clutched his head. "Which one do you believe is the strongest," Raise said smiling as if he just told a joke.

"I'm going to be biased and say devils," Serafall said after a moment of thought.

"It's not," Raise said firmly. "That aside Senjutsu is a more primordial, more equidistant version of all of these types of energy. That's why it is able to heal any species and cast illusions on any enemy. That's why those who master Senjustu can interface with others very life-force or their own."

Serfall listened in rapt attention as Raise prevented theories that were probably unheard of among devilkind. "Well it couldn't be helped," she thought. "Devils cannot naturally grasp Senjutsu, Raise being a rare exception."

"If that is where the reach of Senjutsu stopped then that would be nothing much," Raise said folding his arms. A snap of his fingers and a cube of ice appeared in front of Serafall causing the Satan to deftly catch it. As soon as her fingers touched the ice she became intimately aware that she had encountered it before. How could she not considering…

"This is my ice," Serafall said looking at amazement at the block of condensed liquid that bore her unique signature. "You can replicate my ice."

"I can do more than that," Raise said and with a wave of his hand a spear appeared hovering in mid-air. But this was not an ordinary spear despite being one that Serafall had literally seen thousands of times before. Lifting her hand up; she touched the item not even wincing as the light construct singed the tips of her fingers.

"How?" she said, trying to find the correct words. "How?" she repeated, failing to find the correct words.

"It's not easy," Raise said dismissing the two constructs causing them to fade. "It requires both Senjutsu and high leve illusions and so it would be virtually impossible for any other devil to learn."

"Yes, but still," Serafall said trying to get the words out after seeing the impossible in front of her.

"Yes, light is the ultimate killer of devils," Raise said his expression fading away into something sorrowful. "Even high class devils can be killed by a single light arrow. Even monstrously powerful devils like my brother and yourself would be wary of taking any light attacks."

"What's wrong Raise," Serfall said with concern thick in her voice. While the secret he revealed was amazing, and she would definitely be asking him more about it later, right now his mental state was more important.

"It's nothing Serafall," Raise said looking away but the Satan refused to take that as an answer. Leaping up from the bed she grasped his shoulders and looked into his eyes causing him to look away. "Just because you have a hold on me doesn't mean I'm going to answer.

"Raise please," Serafall said leaning towards him. "Please," she repeated. "I'm worried. Something is different and it's definitely bugging you. I'm your friend. I care about you. And if I have to I'll hide away my paperwork and sneak in every day until you tell me what's wrong."

Raise was silent for a very long moment. Then; "Can I sit down," he said. Moving towards the bed, he collapsed on the edge of the bed.

"My parents are really pushing through with this marriage," he said, the words flowing from his tongue as if he couldn't get them out fast enough. "Ever since my birthday they've pushed the date up further and further and at the last date they did something incredibly foolish. Serafall do you know that they use the arena to moderate disputes. Well they tried to do the same between me and her. If I lose then I have to marry her. It's absurd," Raise said his voice steadily rising. "Why is everybody in this damned world so obsessed with power? But that's not the worst part." Raise took a deep breath and his voice returned to normal although Serafall could see his body physically shake.

"I can win," he said. "I know I can. But if I do then I show that anybody can challenge me for marriage. And if I win I would be showing off my illusions or Senjutsu, which would only increase my marriage prospects." He looked towards Serafall with the desperate look of a man who can only see one way out and dreads taking it. "Am I wrong Sera?"

"No," she admitted plotting the situation in her head. His logic and observations on devilkind held up.

"No I'm not wrong," he said letting out a tragically hollow laugh. "I can beat her, but if I keep getting challenged I will lose eventually. The only way," he said pausing mid-sentence. "The only way to prevent that is if I make them too scared to try again."

"What are you thinking Raise?" Serafall asked.

"I will accept the challenge as I must," he said pitifully. "And I will kill Delilah Bael."

Author Note: This was originally meant to be a one-shot.

For the record this story takes place in the early sixteenth century. I've been trying to keep the time correct.

Back to White Ink for now so don't expect another chapter soon.

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