Devil x Darklight

Life 12: The Camp Begins

"Sooo… mind telling me why only a few of us have these freaking packs on us?!"

I was currently trudging my way up a worn path bordered by scenic mountain views and sprawling green grasses. With one massive, heavy as hell pack on my back carrying who knows fucking what. Further ahead of me, Touka, Rias, Akeno, Asia, and Aoi were at where the end of it. Thing about Japan, we do in fact have several mountain ranges here. IN fact there's a lot of these places around where people just can't live due to the geography making it too hard to actually build anything there.

Y'know how tokusatsu shows, aside from using every goddamn landmark in Tokyo in every season, is always going off to some random quarry? Yeah, this is why. There's no people around for miles, so it makes it easy to film something were you have a ton of three story tall explosions going off on repeat during takes. Or in the case of us Devils, far enough away to train however we want to without drawing attention to us. Aka, we're free to go a bit buck wild and maybe blow up a mountain top or two.

Rias wound up showing up at my place this morning all of a sudden, telling me and Asia to get things ready so we could head out. We met up with Aoi and Touka, who thankfully were not attempting to kill one another, and Tsuno came along as well. Thankfully Tsuno was easier to convince than the sisters were, and even now the two were glaring each other down. And rather than conventional travel we got here via teleportation circle… because of course that's how we did it. At least the weather is nice enough to ignore the killer intent of the two magi.

"You're carrying one of the packs cause this was your idea." Touka said, and I sighed in return. "Call it recompense!"

"Buzz off!" I snapped. It wasn't just my bag I'd had thrown onto me. Nope, it was also Asia's stuff, Aoi's, Rias's, and hell even Akeno's. And then whatever godforsaken, heavy as hell shit Touka stuffed into the other bag lashed onto me for no damn reason other than making me the human-devil-pack-mule. Not that it's a problem for me to carry… just annoying as shit to try and keep balanced to the point it slowed me down a lot.

"On your right." Yuuto walked right past me as I lurched a bit again. His pack was also large but, unlike my unlucky ass, he didn't have four other people's things slapped onto it throwing off his balance! "Oh yeah, Buchou, I found some herbs along the way!"

"Move it." Though worse than that, of anything, Koneko came up to the side lobbing an even bigger pack than Yuuto or I combined… and as if to add insult to injury, Tsuno was snoozing on top of that bag. That's where he went? Sly little bastard…

But, I had my own things to focus on here. Bridging the power gap between myself and Riser in ten days is going to be impossible. I can use Boost to close it with time, but then there's stamina. I can't hold a full charge forever, and Riser basically has unlimited stamina due to his clan's powers. I need to focus on a way to develop something that can take him down quickly… I need to use powers that work against a Devil in every way. Powers I conveniently have access to. And of course I can refine the Boosted Gear more… there has to be some way to make this work.

The mansion our hiking eventually came to was… well scenic is definitely the best word for it. Classic rich person mountain getaway, complete with artificial, clear as hell pond and gazebo near it. No points for guessing the place belongs to the Gremory family. For being in such a remote spot, it's easy to guess it's typically hidden by magic. Iris does much the same for her mansion, keeping normal humans away by disguising it as some rundown mansion nobody would want to actually get close to if they have a lick of sense. The ones who do just get shooed away by her familiars, but that is neither here nor there."

"Alright now, before everyone goes off to throw stuff away, there's a thing I wanna get out of the way first and foremost." As Touka spoke, she took her glasses off and pocketed them in her shirt, and I immediately felt this sinking feeling in my chest. Those glasses coming off meant Touka didn't have plans to play around one bit.

"Wait, should we at least get changed first?" Rias asked, Touka chuckling as she released a drag from her cigarette, and the smoke from it looked oddly dense as she took it out from between her lips.

"Ah now, see missy, I'm here to train your butts into at least having a chance at winning this Rating Game. Rather than some loose plan I'm going to make personalized regimes for all of you to undergo to maximize your current abilities with the time we've got. To do that, I need to get an accurate read on your current abilities. Which is why I brought these babies along with me." Touka snapped her fingers as I was setting bags down, and the moment she did, the biggest bag of the lot I'd been carrying started to rumble. And when it burst open, at least a dozen shapes suddenly shot from it and lined up behind Touka, each and every one of them an identical, humanoid automaton. "Say hello to some of my many dolls. I'll have you bunch fight them for an hour. Don't worry, these babies are sturdy, they won't break no matter what you throw at them, so go buck wild."

"Wait, is this really a good idea?" Rias asked, and then she looked over at me, Aoi, and Tsuno, the three of us already raring to go. "Why are you three so prepared for this kind of thing?!"

"I am her sister. I know how she acts well enough." Aoi said, slamming one fist into her other palm, blue sparks shooting from her knuckles. "I've been wanting to hit some of those things again for a while."

"I'm just here cause Soren said we'd be fighting hot chicks. I also like excuses to smash things that won't break easy!" Tsuno's axe revved up in time with his psychotic grin, and I just rolled an arm as I picked my sword out of the ground.

"You get used to it after a while of knowing her." I said, craning my neck, Touka chuckling as she started drawing smoke through the air, each line starting to form runes.

"At least those three get the gist. Oh… I'm also going to enchant them to actually be a challenge." Touka swiped her hand through the smokey runes, the automatons proceeding to glow as their gears began whirring. "Have fun!"

"Ara ara, to think Soren-kun would know just who to pick." Akeno had lightning at her hands as she chuckled, and Rias gave a groan as she put a hand to her head, to which I just mugged at the red head in return.

"Whatever. If it's effective, then I suppose it doesn't matter. Ready up everyone!" Rias's words got the rest of her peerage to ready up to.

Yeah this hour is gonna suck.


"Haa… haa… fucking called it."

An hour had passed, and Touka's automatons finally backed off from all of us. In the immediate, Yuuto and Koneko took a knee, while Asia downright flopped onto her back. Akeno and Rias were breathing heavier but didn't seem as much worse for wear. But in comparison to it, me, Aoi, and Tsuno were only slightly winded since Touka thought it'd be great to keep making the automatons stronger every ten goddamn minutes. The ground around us was equal parts torn up and scored from various missed attacks and blasts of power. And most of us had also spent a deal of time keeping Asia out of direct harm since she doesn't have much in the way of combat abilities after all.

"Well, that provided plenty." Touka waved her hand and spun a crystal ball she'd been holding the entire time, and all of us looked towards her as she stopped it and looked into it, her glasses being placed back on as she did so. "Hmm… alright then, let me say how I'll do this. First, I'm going to rate all of you on overall power, and then on actual usefulness. Yes those two are different categories."

"Well then… what's the case?" Rias asked, wiping her chin off from where she'd taken a bit of a scrape.

"In terms of power, the ranking goes as such. In first place, Soren. Tied for second is Gremory, Himejima, and my sister. In third is the Oni and the kitten. In fourth is the knight, barely underneath the other two though. And in last place, Argento, though her being the healer, that much is expected."

"Ara ara, so Soren-kun is the strongest of the lot is he? What a surprise." Akeno mused, and Rias actually seemed a little displeased about that knowledge. I for one, was glad I could mug at her for some reason again.

"He is the Red Dragon Emperor, no surprise the bro's ahead of us." Tsuno said, turning a finger in his ear.

"Now as for usefulness, pay attention here." Touka snapped her fingers to get the mood back where she wanted it. "As I said, your power does not equate to your actual usefulness in a fight like this one. Where this some straight forward battle with no actual rules my arrangements would no doubt mean jack shit. But this is a Rating Game, you gotta actually think." Touka had her eyes on Rias in particular as she said that. "So going down from most useful to least useful: Soren, Himejima, Aoi, Argento, Doji, Kiba, Koneko, and Gremory."

"HUH?! Why am I at the bottom of the list?!" Rias, now looking outright offended, questioned the order, Touka pulling her glasses down as she looked at the girl. "I can at least hold my own in a fight, you just saw that!"

"Like I said princess, power and usefulness don't go hand in hand. I've meant plenty of idiots who had power but were completely useless in my time, and trust me, I've been around for a long time." Touka's words were firm but striking, Rias stepping back a bit. "If you want my reasoning, then it's this. Soren, Himejima, and Aoi are at the top because in terms of utility in a fight, they're top marks. Each of them know their powers well enough to not let their weaknesses make them lag behind, and not to mention our Red Dragon over there has more tricks up his sleeve than he lets on. The next three are actually tied as well. They just need more refinement to the abilities they do have, and some uses of more than they show." And again a particular look was given, but this time at Koneko, who looked to the side. "I placed Argento behind the front runners because her Twilight Healing is your most valuable assist tool. She needs to learn to be more than a heal bot, but for now her use is upper tier since even as she is now she can heal you up from almost anything. As for you Gremory, you being at the bottom is for one simple reason: You're the King, but you in no way act like someone in that role should. The King can have as much power as they want, but in a Rating Game they are fundamentally the most useless member of the team because you are the lynchpin. You go down, that's it. Game over, no matter how many enemies you've beaten."

"I at least know that much." Rias muttered.

"Alright then, what was your plan huh? Do you at least have an idea of how you want to attempt to defeat Phenex?" Touka coolly asked, Rias folding her arms.

"Of course I do! We take down as many of his pieces as we can, and once there's an opening, I face him down myself!"

WHAM!

No sooner than she finished the sentence did Rias get slammed in the face by a thick book that came flying out of nowhere, Rias flying back a bit and hitting the ground, Touka recalling the book, and her automatons jumped at the more aggro peerage members when they got ready for a fight.

"Gremory I can tell you several ways in which that plan is completely and utterly idiotic." I chimed in, leaning on my sword as Rias sat up, holding her nose. "Even if we take down Phenex's pieces, fighting him is the biggest damn issue, no thanks to that goddamn hax power of his. Instant regen is bullshit."

"Not to mention Phenex Tears." Touka said, spinning her book in the air. "Even if you say, take out their big hitters, they can just come on back with those things."

"HAX! That sounds like those shouldn't be legal!" I shouted, Akeno helping Rias up, the automatons backing down.

"Well, they aren't. In official Rating Games. This one isn't." Akeno stated.

"Again, hax." I repeated. "Revives in an elimination game are bullshit!"

"Preach!" Tsuno shouted.

"Nobody's arguing that point." Yuuto added. "And the other problem is numbers. Even with the three of you helping us, it's basically two to one."

"I'm pretty sure I count for like five people." Tsuno said, and I whacked his hand down as he lifted it.

"Which is why along with training, I want all of you to go over everything you can. Personal abilities, tools you have access to, learn a thing or two about your opponents. Ten days will shape you up enough you can take on the enemy Peerage, but not enough to win. So, play dirty. If you can't beat a foe with raw power, then beat them by playing unfair and using other things against them." Touka clapped her hands with that, the automatons all shuffling to the side and collapsing down. "Alright, I'm gonna spend the rest of the day putting together those regimes. Feel free to do whatever the hell else you wanna do. If you wanna use the dolls as dummies, just tap one on the back, it'll stand up so you can wail on it."

"I think it'd be good if we rested for a bit after that." Rias murmured, rubbing her nose. "We can cover some things on our own after we wash up and change, sound like a plan? Akeno, could you drill Asia on some magic?"

"Of course, not an issue." Akeno replied.

"I feel like checking out the woods." Tsuno promptly turned off and sauntered in the other direction, quick vanishing into the treeline.

"I'll beat up one of these things." Aoi picked up one of the dolls and dragged it off.

"I'll go with her." I said, the others leaving. Once the Peerage had taken their things and gone inside, I reached into my bag and pulled out the ebony case. I definitely needed to practice with these guns… should definitely make actual holsters for 'em too. Opening the box and grabbing the two guns from it, I shoved them into the waist of my pants for now while I trialed off to find Aoi, who had already found a spot away from the front of the place to start wailing on the doll… and yelling obscenities the whole time.

"Fucking… cunt sniping… snide ass BITCH!" Amid what was close to coherent speech, Aoi slammed the doll with energy flowing across her leg, and right at me. Thankfully unlike Touka's books, this was easy to catch. "What the… Soren?!"

"Yo. And I don't think cursing at the thing is going to work at all." I said, plopping the doll down on the grass, the thing standing rigid within a moment.

"Tch, I know that. I just need to get it out. Dammit, you know I hate being around my sister." Aoi bit, folding her arms as she scowled.

"I know but I couldn't think of anybody else who could train these idiots I call friends enough to win. You heard what Gremory's idea was. We'd have never won if we stuck with that and just did basic training." I replied, Aoi sighing.

"That became readily clear. Now I don't actually feel bad about joining up, she clearly needs the numbers if all she can think of in a night is a plan like that. Still not happy my fucking sister is the one drilling us." Aoi punched the doll again, causing its head to snap back hard before cranking back into place. "So I heard what Tsuno said… but was that seriously all it took to convince him to help out here? I know you're like, the one person he listens to, but I also know the shota-oni doesn't do things he doesn't like to do."

"This was basically the phone conversation." I pulled out said item and opened it up to my recent messages, showing Aoi the screen. The conversation she was viewing simply went like this.

-Hey I got myself involved with a Rating Game, wanna lend a hand? We need numbers.

-I dunno dude. You know I'm not for helping out Devils that much.

-The enemy peerage is full of cute chicks.

-SIGN ME THE FUCK UP!

To help, the last message came not even a minute after the previous one.

"Yeah that sounds about right." Aoi murmured, then wheeling around and kicking the doll to the side. After rolling, the doll whirred and stood up, Aoi clicking her tongue. "Just not satisfying when the thing doesn't break."

"Heh, gotta at least hand it to Touka, her dolls are top notch." All that did was make Aoi scoff. I then hummed myself, flicking my hands back and drawing the guns out, quickly aiming them, holding them sideways with the barrels over and under, and fired just as quickly, intentionally keeping my power low. The shots that cracked out from the guns rushed out and slammed the doll, though they only scuffed the surface of it.

"So I can hold back how hard they hit. Good."

"Uhhh… when the hell did you get those?!" Aoi said, pointing at the weapons in my hands.

"Something I got from my parents." I replied, spinning one of the guns on a finger.

"Okayyy… why?!" Aoi said again, and I stopped spinning the gun, turning it and looking at the engraved words on the barrel.

"Well it has something to do with my family, that's for sure. The thing is, I think they also fire that same energy I can manipulate." I added, aiming again, this time not thinking about holding back or moving power out. Simply just firing the guns alone with nothing added to it, impulsively or willing. The shots then slammed the doll, and this time, it's body was actually dented in. "Hmm, considering the quality… that means these things on their own hit hard enough to do some legit hurting. Nice."

"That's kinda scary…" Aoi muttered. "Put power into it and see what happens."

"Just read my mind!" Aiming once more, this time I did focus on moving power out, my arms starting to glow dark blue as the guns lit up.

CRACK!

The air split as I fired, the guns kicking a bit. The shots rushed forward, and this time, punched clean through the dolls torso, causing it to collapse down to the ground in a heap.

"HOLY SHIT!" Both Aoi and I shouted at the same time, looking at each other with excited grins on. Aoi rushed over to the doll and moved it, chuckling as she ran a hand over the new massive hole.

"It actually broke the thing! And look at that, it burned the strike zone too! If it fires that darklight stuff, then even at a low output those things'll hit hard on Devils! You've got a new ace up the sleeve!" Aoi's delight was clearly because seeing one of her hated sister's dolls be wrecked was a sight to behold for her.

"Which is the plan here. Again, can't beat Riser on power alone… but I'm not quite a normal Devil." I remarked. "Plus, since my left hand is always open, I can use one of them with my Boosted Gear… huh… I wonder… if I could transfer boosted power from my Gear into this, how much harder would it hit?... maybe shouldn't think of that. For now." I pocketed the guns with that. Aiming them at a stationary target would be enough, but a moving target is something else entirely. Good thing we got those dummies now.

And in the next moment, my arm shot up and blocked an incoming foot. I glanced around with a smirk on as Aoi lowered her leg, the girl chuckling as she took her normal stance. There wasn't a need for words from that, my right hand swiping out as I produced my Gear, grasping the sword tight as it flashed into form, while also grabbing one of the guns with my gauntleted left hand. This was what I was used to, how it had been for years. There didn't need to be any words when Aoi and I decided to spar, only someone giving the first blow.


Lessons with the Peerage 1: Swordplay with Yuuto.

"Heh, for someone who uses one-handed moves… you're pretty strong!"

"One handed, two handed, there's plenty of ways to use a blade! All depends on… how you're trying to use it!"

The wooden swords me and Yuuto were sparring with made loud clacks each time they slammed together. The clear difference between my swordplay and Yuuto's was that while I was clearly more self-taught, replicating techniques I'd seen and re-applying them to my preferred one-handed use, Yuuto wielded his with far more proper form. In fact, for somebody who's preferred blade is of a European style, Yuuto's moves are clearly those from the various forms of kendoand other sword schools in Japan.

SLAM!

My sword came down from above, Yuuto adjusting his to block, the wood grating against each other as I pushed forward, though Yuuto's stance was firm and he didn't budge an inch.

"It's good you're making me play defensive, Soren-san. Even with my speed as a Knight I'm not sure I'd be able to avoid your attacks easily!" Yuuto said, earning a grin from me.

"High praise from a Knight! I'll take that!" With a yell, I pushed more, Yuuto choosing to slack his guard and pass by, though at the same moment he brought his sword down, mine lashed back and smacked him on the side, Yuuto stopping with a surprised look, and I glanced back at him with a smirk. "Point for me. Now we're 3-3."

"Nice move there." Yuuto said, stepping back and flipping the blade around. "I admit, I didn't think you'd let me pass so you could strike like that."

"Like Touka said, you wanna win in a fight, you play dirty. Irregular attacks are always a good way to throw people off, especially practiced ones." I said, Yuuto nodding.

"That is true. It's better to be far more cautious of the untrained initiate than the master after all." Sagely words from the guy who was only a year younger than me. "If we're lucky perhaps Riser's knights will be the honor bound types. Perhaps I'll take some notes from your trickier moves to give myself an edge."

"Always good to expand your repertoire. Now, round seven?"

"Let's go."


Lesson 2: Helping Akeno instruct Asia on proper magic control.

"Now, the first rule of magic is concentration. Devil magic is especially keen for this. You only need to focus and imagine what you want, and boom, it'll appear right there for you!"

I had also elected to help Akeno give Asia some pointers on magic. Aoi may be the better magician but she's more keen on beating up dolls with Koneko at the moment.

"Hmm… ah! I did it!" And with only a moment given to it, Asia had managed to produce a softball sized orb of green light between her hands. A simple lesson to give a newbie, but simple is always best at first. Ya' don't start off slinging fireballs from level one after all. Start off with the trusty ol' fire bolt and work your way up from there.

"Way to go! Look at you and your little light! Soren-kun, anything you want to add?" Akeno turned to me, and I gave a hum as I placed a hand to my chin, Asia glancing over to me as well.

"I don't think I can say more than that, but…" I held a hand out, first a ball of fire flickering into form, only for it to quickly shift into spikes of ice, the ice then quickly melting into a ball of water, which followed into a small ball of darkness before I clasped my hand shut and snuffed it out. "As you learn more about magic, I'd say the first thing to do is learn your affinities. For example, I personally have stronger affinities to fire and darkness than say, water and wind. It doesn't stop you from using those elements, but, you gotta learn the ones you'll be best at."

Not saying out loud I also have affinity to light, that's for another time.

"Exactly. Take my lightning for example. Out of all the other elements that's the one I have the best affinity towards. I'm also quite proficient with ice, though I don't prefer it much." Akeno added, licking her lips as she giggled. Didn't take much to know what she was thinking about with her lightning involved and all… I wonder just how far her S&M kink goes sometimes. "Do you want to give it a try Asia? See if you can draw out some elements?"

"Y-Yes! If possible… I just hope I don't accidentally overdo it." Asia murmured, earning a laugh from me.

"Can't be worse than the first time I tried a big fire spell. I nearly burnt down part of the woods in town… long story. I was hunting a Stray and, ahem, I happen to dislike insects." That managed to elicit a laugh from the two girls, which is fine… because like hell I'm telling them why I dislike insects. "Alright, how about ice first?"

You know though… I wonder what it is Aoi is getting up to anyway. With her and Touka being in the same place, well…


Elsewhere on the estate, Aoi was keeping up her own thing of beating the crud out of the automatons. It felt nice to hit the things. Made by the sister that for years she'd felt nothing but hostility for since they were young felt nice. It was a nuisance still knowing they were in the same town for the most part now.

"She just had to come back didn't she?!" A hard kick sent the automaton up, Aoi following it up with a punch that made it crash through a tree. With a wave of her hand, bolts of blue magic shot through the air and slammed into the others she was practicing with. She couldn't break them, but she could damage them, and knowing that it would mean Touka would be stuck doing repairs on the things for a while just gave Aoi a sense of petty satisfaction.

"It's so… stupid! So what if… grandpa passed it down to me huh?!" With a loud crash, Aoi's fist slammed into the next automaton that went for her. As she was ready to keep it up though, a resounding snap caused the things to shut down, Aoi clicking her tongue.

"Geez slow it down will you Aoi? We need these things for the entire week, don't bust them up too badly." And of course, she had her glasses on. Aoi hated that quirk the most. Touka always behaved differently depending on if she was wearing glasses or not. Glasses on: Casual and actually rather nice, if objective about things. Glasses off: Straight forward and cruel, lacking in any pity for anybody, while subjective and prone to her emotions. Aoi didn't know which side was the "real" Touka, and frankly she didn't care.

"This is just how I train." Aoi curtly bit, her arm pulsing with blue energy for a moment. "Unlike you I've only been training to be a magus for two years after all. Not like my own circuits are good enough for a bunch of advanced spells."

"Yes but they are top notch in their ability to rotate mana, their durability, quality of output, and efficiency, even if your number or quality aren't the best." Touka said, using one of her automatons as a chair. "Lemme say it between us in private now: I'm putting aside our mess cause it's for Soren. I owe his old man a favor and I plan to use this to wipe that one the next time I see the idiot. So for now, quit being pissed at me, alright?"

"Hah! Don't you have plans to finish up? Why not just go and do that?" Aoi said, her hands on her hips as she turned around. But she also felt another flare when she heard "for Soren"? "The hell right does she have to say she's doing anything for him? So what if he works at your little agency, I'm the one who's been with him since we were kids!"

"I finished those up hours ago. I'm more curious about you." Touka took a long drag, Aoi scoffing. "You seriously haven't even tried using the circuits grandfather gave you, have you? I can tell y'know. Magically enhanced martial arts and bolts are fine and all, but have you even made it activate?"

"Again, I've only been training for two years! I had this one dropped on me when I was fifteen. You're the one who'd been training your entire life to inherit this damn magic grandpa got ahold of. And you're the one who's hated me for it ever since!"

"Not entirely wrong. Just a lot more complicated than that." Touka took a long drag and released the smoke, her eyes narrowing a bit at Aoi as she lowered her glasses, causing her eyes to shift. "I would say the main problem is, even with only two years of training, frankly speaking your progress is startling. You already got a nickname from the Association for the skills you do have, and yet as the inheritor of a magic like the Blue you've done nothing to try and work with it. Excuse me for my pride as a magus, but it's rather offensive to see the person who I was passed up for at the last minute not even try to use that magic."

"Then why not teach me you bitch?!" Aoi threw out a bolt of magic as she yelled, and Touka deflected it to the side, and right into another automaton, with a simple move of her hand. "You get so pissed about not getting the circuits, but if you're problem is that I'm not using it, then why not teach me what you know huh?!"

"You willing to swallow your pride and work for me then?" Touka said, her glasses being pulled even lower. "We magicians and Devils aren't that different when it comes to pride. Our magic is a variant of their system after all. I suppose with family's as long as ours, so it makes sense some of it would bleed in. If you seriously put your pride aside, I'd probably consider it."

"Ngh… what the hell kind of offer is that huh?! Like hell!" Aoi snapped.

"Haha! I was yanking your chain." Touka pushed her glasses back up, Aoi stamping a foot. "A magus who puts aside their pride is no magus at all. Don't ever put your pride aside… honestly speaking I can't actually teach you a damn thing about Blue. The old bastard only taught me things to prepare me to get it, and well, two years ago obviously enough that changed."

"What the hell then?!" Aoi snapped.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm still pissed off. That was a serious blow to my pride, and that ain't an easy thing to get over. But I also just enjoy screwing with you." Touka added, standing up, Aoi's glare only more intense. "I mean after all, I'm also a rather shit person who uses goddamn self-hypnosis to actually be affable with people. So regarding that…"

Aoi felt a sudden surge in the air, lifting her arm and blocking a bolt of red energy that went right at her, Touka taking off her glasses as she smirked.

"Despite what I said, I'm still itching to beat some sense into you, little sis." Touka's tone had dropped to a colder one, her voice like ice as she spoke, and Aoi gave a wry smirk of her own.

"Ahh… there's the bitch older sister I know. I was wondering where you went!" Aoi cracked her knuckles, and the two sisters showed respective auras of blue and red around their bodies. "Been ages since we got to go at each other."

"Hah! Please, last time we fought was barely six months ago. If that's a long time for you, then your long lifespan is going to suck."

"Keep talking sis! I'll punch that smirk off soon enough!"

"Try me brat!"

The two sisters were glaring each other down but still smirking at the same time, and with only a few moments later, the air suddenly split as joint blasts of red and blue shot up through the trees.


"Haah… dammit… didn't expect you'd be able to kick through my runes. Guess training with Soren did you some favors."

"Hah… suck it! You're not so hot in a straight fight."

"Piss off! You're just the worst kind of person for someone like me to fight."

"Same to you! Fuck off with all those damn familiars!"

The two sisters were now both on their backs on the ground, having spent the past few hours wearing themselves out completely with their fight across the forest. Now they'd just given up on the stalemate and fallen to the ground.

"Sheesh. You're a simpleton, but you're a dangerous simpleton. You're a magician's worst enemy." Touka said, sitting up and placing her glasses back on her face, causing her visage to relax.

"That sounds more like an insult than a complement. I got good grades dammit." Aoi snapped, Touka scoffing.

"It's a bit of both I suppose. Though now I think I understand a bit better why you were chosen to inherit Blue. Still don't like it, but I get it a bit." Touka stood up and stretched her arms, taking out a cigarette and lighting it. "So, how long you planning to sit on your ass when it comes to Soren eh?"

"I have no idea what you mean about that." Aoi bit, standing up and dusting herself off, eliciting a sardonic laugh from her sister.

"Hah! I'm not an idiot you know? And that boy isn't either, but you definitely do not make things obvious. You throw enough mixed signals his way I'm sure he's got no idea how you actually feel about him." Touka's tone was teasing, Aoi glaring at her again, but with a blush to her face that wasn't just because of the adrenaline rush from before. "Kinda like Kuonji too. Again, kid isn't an idiot, but mixed signals don't help a person. Though Kuonji just straight up doesn't express a thing unless it involves Familiars."

"Your point?" Aoi grumbled.

"Look at the situation for a moment will ya?" Touka called up another automaton for her to sit on, pausing as she took a drag. "This Peerage you're helpin' out is ninety percent female, and aside from the kitten all the girls here look at him that way. The nun is so painfully obvious I'm sure he knows well enough, while Gremory and Himejima definitely seem at least somewhat interested in him. Can't blame them. He's an ass but he's nice where it counts, plus I doubt it hurts he's easy on the eyes."

"God it's creepy when you say that. You're ten years older then all of us here." Aoi muttered, Touka laughing. It was more obvious that Aoi's unamused reaction with the comment was more her dislike for Touka herself than actually caring about the age difference.

"Being honest is a policy of mine. Keeps clients coming when they know they ain't getting scammed." Touka took another drag and let it out, Aoi waving a hand to move the smoke aside. "Besides that kind of stuff doesn't interest me anyway. Romance is just a bother and too much trouble. I'm moreso just saying. You've got competition all around you. Though he is a Devil, not to mention one with a Dragon Gear. Of course he'd be attracting women easily… maybe some guys if he's not looking."

"Ech, don't even imply that." Aoi stuck her tongue out, Touka snickering again. "I mean, nothing wrong with that but… no, not jumping down that rabbit hole. Just don't imply it with him dammit!"

"Hahaha! Always fun to see people trip over themselves." Touka laughed, folding her arms, Aoi growling again. "Soooo?"

"Peh… look, I'm not stupid alright? I won't say something like "I want him for myself" or some other crap. He's a Devil, like hell I'd ever be able to keep him for myself easily. I mean… maybe it'd be possible. But I'm also damn sure he and that other girl he dated last year are only broken up on paper." Aoi grumbled, tapping a foot as she folded her arms too. "So lemme guess, the question is going to be "So why are you holding back?" Am I right?" she got a nod. "I just… ugh why am I even telling you?!"

"I mean hey you don't have to. Not my case to deal with, I was just curious." Touka said, putting her arms up. "If you decide to do something then that's entirely on you. All I can say is if you wanna make a move then don't beat around the bush. Pointless to do that honestly. You're not a typical magus unlike me, you're at least normal to some degree."

"That's totally reassuring." Aoi muttered, Touka just giving a wave and walking off. "But don't beat around the bush huh? Hmm… tch. I'll watch for a couple days."


"Alright, foods up."

With a simple move, I snapped my fingers and a slew of plates and food on trays popped into form onto the large table of the dining room. To my personal satisfaction, oohs and awes ensued. I will admit to being quite proud of my cooking ability. I'm no five-star chef but I started from a young age so I consider myself fairly decent at the fine art of cuisine. That and it's hella convenient when you can just use magic to save loads of time prepping ingredients and other time based things.

Everybody had decided to gather ingredients, and me being a bit stingy when it comes to anyone but me cooking at times, basically kicked everyone out of the kitchen while I got to work, though I couldn't stop Akeno from helping despite that. Rias caught a boar of all things, thank Satan it wasn't burned to a crips, and turns out those herbs Yuuto found made for some good spices.

"I didn't know you were such a good cook, Soren-kun." Akeno said, and I just hummed as I leaned back in my chair.

"I picked it up when I was young. Figured it was worth learning. That, and Aoi and Iris can't cook to save their lives, so somebody had to do it." I noted, Aoi glaring at me and jabbing her fork towards me.

"Hey I cook just fine thank you! I mean sure it's not the best, but what I cook is edible!" Aoi said, earning a snide scoff from me.

"Edible. And only edible. When all you can say about what you cook is that it's edible, it's bad."

"Nghnghngh… screw you!" Even with the snap, the way Aoi was staring at me felt… oddly intense for some reason. Like she was contemplating something as she angrily chewed away. "Geez…"

"Where's Touka-san at?" Asia asked, and I gave a hum as I leaned on a hand.

"No clue. Knowing her, she probably went back into town to get something." I replied. It sounds about right. I also wasn't so stupid that I didn't know that Touka and Aoi got into a fight earlier, it was kind of hard to miss with all the flashing lights and all.

"Doesn't matter anyway." Aoi muttered. "I'm just gonna say it now though, whatever she's got planned for all of us, don't expect any of it to be remotely easy. My sister doesn't know the meaning of the word gentle."

Nobody said a word. Considering how the first hour after we got here went, I think by now everyone else had a solid idea of the exact kind of person Touka was, and what the odds of us going through hell during these next nine days is a high one.

"Well hey we've got nine days following this. Sure not a ton of time, but it's time to figure something out. Besides, I said we're gonna win, so we're gonna win, somehow." I remarked, "Even if the odds are in no way in our favor."

"That is the issue." Rias admitted. "Akeno, Yuuto, and Koneko have plenty of experience despite having never fought in a Rating Game. Asia, you're still very new to all of this. And I know the three of you need no advice at all. But… a strategy will be hard to form."

"Considering the idea you did have, no shit." Aoi sniped, Rias wincing a bit.

"Well… we'll figure something out." Rias cleared her throat, a pleasant smile coming back on. "So, how about after the meal we all take a bath? We have a nice open air bath on the property that'll be sure to help ease some of the fatigue from today."

"Hot springs huh? I'm game." I replied, clamping a hand over Tsuno's mouth as he get that particular look on his face. I also elected to ignore the playful smirk on Rias's face now.

"Say, Soren, would you like to join us in the bath?" Rias said, Asia's face going red, and Aoi nearly choked on what she had in her mouth.

"Nope."

"Eh… you're just impossible to tease aren't you?"

"Yeup."


"Tsuno, the hell are you doing?"

"Hmmmmmmm! There has to be a way!"

Not that long after dinner now, on one side of the fancy open bath, Yuuto and I were bearing witness to Tsuno trying his damndest to glare through the stone wall separating the two sides. I personally was just trying to sink low and relax. I like hot springs and would much rather have it be a bit quiet then deal with my pervert best friend trying to bore holes into a wall.

"Are you trying to become a clairvoyant or something?" Yuuto asked, and I brought a hand to my face with a sigh. "Hm?"

"You just pressed the button."

"Nggh… listen up pretty-boy of the blonde variety, there is a tradition to this kind of bathing that's gone on for ages!" Tsuno declared, my head coming to rest on the lip of the bath as I groaned. "Were this a traditional Japanese open air bath, this dividing wall would be wooden! You'd be able to hear the playful words of the girls on the other side as they playfully tease one another and prod each other for female secrets! And with proper luck, you may be blessed by the heavens to find a hole to let you see all! But this damn stone is keeping me from such grand tradition! Curse Europeans and their insistence on using stone where it's not needed!"

"Is he always like this?" Yuuto said, and I nodded slowly.

"All day every day when fighting isn't involved." I muttered. At the same time, I picked up a nearby bar of soap and threw it right at Tsuno… and rather than pegging him clean in the face, it got stuck on one of his horns. "… not what I was aiming to do but, well… about as funny."

"Well I'm more impressed than anything. Nice shot." Tsuno murmured, then humming as he plucked the soap bar off and looked up the wall. "Maybe I can dig my fingers in so I can climb up."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Doji-san." Yuuto remarked.

"HAH! No such thing as a bad idea until it actually goes wrong!"

"Heh… as usual." I murmured, then, a thought passed…

-Hey Ddraig, you up to hear something out?

"Is a bath really the best place to call me out for something kid?" Keeping it in my head, the dragon did respond to me. I didn't shift much from how I was relaxing, wasn't going to let on something was going on in my head right now.

-Doesn't matter. Look, I need something that can help me beat Riser. Fancy guns and shadow and light magic is good and all, but I need more… I need more from you specifically.

"Well I know where this is going. It has been two years… about damn time you brought it up."

-Nice to know we're on the same page. So I'll keep it short: I want you to help me unlock Balance Breaker.

"Again, about damn time. You're strong enough I'm honestly surprised you haven't edged into it yet. Alright then, partner. Hope you're ready though, my lessons are gonna be as harsh as that magician's will be."

-Good… I don't want anything less if it means I get stronger.

The Balance Breaker, the form a Sacred Gear takes after it's reached maturity and the owner's will has achieved a peak. A form that can, as the name implies, break the balance of the natural order itself. With a power like that, even if I can't bridge a power gap for good, I can smash through that wall. I want to win, I want to fix this injured pride… and I want to help my friends. Let's see if emotions like that are enough to draw out more of my dragon's power.