Beyond the Outer Gates Lies...Seeing Things Eye to Eye?
As soon as the buzzer rang, I opened the front door and gestured for her to come in. Then I hurried back inside before she could catch me.
"Isn't it a little late to be playing hard to get, Harry-chan?" Serafall called out as she closed the door behind her. Then she saw Sona sitting on the couch I just happened to be standing behind. In this situation, I was not above using the younger girl as a shield.
"Harry-chan," the Leviathan sounded disappointed, "You said you needed to talk to me in private. Why is So-tan here?"
"I'm here to protect him from you, Onee-san," Sona told her.
"And who will protect you from me?" Serafall's lips curled up Dangerously.
"That would be me," I told her with much more confidence than I felt.
"Oh, the two of you double teaming me…"
"Serafall," I gave her a slightly disappointed look.
"Fine," she pouted. For a centuries old, Devil demigoddess, she had one hell of a pout.
Lash fired off a rimshot inside my head.
"What's up?" she recovered quickly, and grinned gently at us.
"So, uh, about Saturday," I started, "First of all, I want to thank you again. If you hadn't dropped that logic bomb on me, I might have done something I would have really regretted."
"You think that would have been regrettable? I think it would have been fun."
"Momentary fun, maybe," I shook my head, "But that would have destroyed any chance to build something real with any of you."
Serafall's eyes widened, just a little. And she blushed, just a little.
"So thank you," I said again. Then I took a deep breath and let it out harshly.
"You're welcome," she said seriously. Then grinned again and added, "What's the second thing?"
"The second thing is that I owe you an apology. I'm sorry Serafall. I put myself at risk without thinking about anyone else, and I forced all of you to put yourselves at risk to save me. Plus, you know, what happened at the end there."
"You don't need to apologize," she said, "at least not for that kiss. As for the rest, I get it. You're used to playing lone wolf and all that."
She stepped around the couch, and touched my hand. She put her other hand on Sona's shoulder.
"But you are not alone anymore, Harry-chan."
I looked away.
"I've been 'not alone' before," I said softly, 'It never seems to stick."
"Well, it only has to work out once," she leaned in closer, "And we are invested in sticking to you."
"Not sure if I should say thank you or run and hide in my pentagram," I said nervously.
"Dresden-kun," Sona inclined her head to give me a significant look.
"Right," I settled, "So, the third reason I wanted you to stop by, is this…"
I brought up my newly altered calculated spell again.
"That's Force… that's Magic Missile," she smirked at Sona. The younger King rolled her eyes, but could not suppress a small grin.
"New and somewhat improved," I told her, "This on takes more energy, produces fewer missiles. But they can also hit certain types of intangible objects. Including, at least if my experiments are correct, BB and its siblings."
"Harry-chan," Serafall jumped forward and hugged me, "That's awesome!"
"Like I said, haven't tested it against a real Beholder yet," I reminded her, "But both Lash and Sona seemed to think my tests were sound. So I wanted to make sure you knew the variation before you left for Egypt. Though I still plan to do some more fine tuning."
"So-tan can probably help you with that," Serafall nodded broadly.
"I intend to," Sona confirmed.
"You understand why he is teaching you this spell," Sona said softly after Dresden left to use the bathroom.
"In case the Beholders manage to kill him while we are gone," Serafall smiled sadly.
"I think he is also worried that your time in Egypt will place you perilously close to Greece," the younger Devil explained, "But yes, that is the main reason."
"You'll make sure that doesn't happen, right So-tan," the Leviathan said firmly.
"Of course."
Sona had stayed until almost midnight on Monday, and between the two of us, we managed to figure out a few improvements for the Magic Missile. I kept careful notes, and the next day they helped me to fully integrate the ability to touch ethereal things into my existing magic glove design. Unfortunately, it didn't help at all with my Fuego Inanis. I also texted Azazel like Sona suggested, and we made deal.
The doorbell rang, and I grabbed my gym bag full of combat tools, slung my staff case over my shoulder, and picked up the cheap, plastic, grocery bag with what Az had negotiated in trade for the Beholder ichor. I stepped out, and saw Sona and Rias talking softly.
"Good afternoon, ladies," I said as I reached the gate, "Thank you for escorting me."
"I almost believe you mean that, Dresden-kun," Rias teased me.
"I almost do," I told her, "As much as I don't like wasting your time on this, I realize it is better than having to listen to another of Sona's lectures."
"Your mood seems improved, even over yesterday," the slighter girl ignored my quip.
"Yeah, I'm fit for polite company again," I confirmed. Then I frowned, "You know, as much as I normally am."
"Soooo," I changed the subject, giving Rias a knowing glance. "How did your conversation with Ise go?"
Sona's eyes lit up and she turned her attention to her rival. For a good long while she did not answer. We continued to stare at her expectantly until we reached the school's outer gate.
"It went well," the red-head finally said, evasively, "I did as you suggested, and I was able to make him understand my feelings."
"Good for you. Both of you."
"What are two talking about?" Sona demanded.
"Dresden-kun gave me some relationship advice," Rias blushed.
"Really?" Sona raised an eyebrow.
"I know, I surprised myself," I said immodestly.
"If you need a shoulder to cry on, I will be available," Sona said in mock seriousness.
"Hey!" I protested.
"Hey what?" Azazel asked, and I realized we had reached his office.
"Nothing," we all said in unison. We had all had enough of the Fallen Angel interfering in our relationships. Sona closed the door behind us, and placed a simple privacy spell on it.
"Fine," the Grigori leader frowned. Then he looked at me curiously, "You were rather cryptic in your texts. Not explaining why you needed the Beholder blood, or why I would want these new gloves…"
I set the plastic bag on the table, and took out three vials and one pair of black leather gloves, size men's size large. Then I got confused looks from Rias and Azazel as I also took out five empty soda cans, and set them on their sides on his desk. Sona smiled.
"Try the gloves on," I suggested. As he did, I formed a different seal above each of the cans. With a little help from Lash. I let the spells go. Two of the cans appeared to remain solid, one looked like it was made of glass, and the last two looked like thin smoky outlines of themselves. Rias looked at my targets thoughtfully, and Az flexed his fingers to test the fit.
"Rias, can you set the cans up for me?" I asked.
"Unless I miss my guess, you just made them all insubstantial," the red-headed King responded.
"Just humor me?"
Her expression said she had thought of something. She stepped over and waved her hand through all five cans, demonstrating their intangibility.
"Fine," I pretended to complain, "Then can you do it Azazel?"
Both of their eyes locked on the gloves, and the Fallen's jaw dropped slightly. He did as I requested, almost drooling as the leather let him touch the enchanted cans.
"Thank you," I said, "Now, if you two will join Sona and me over here…"
Az charged across the small office, while Rias was more graceful.
"I'm pretty sure you both know this," I created a familiar circle, again with enough power to be visible but not enough to activate.
"Force Bolt," Rias said.
"Though you prefer to call it Magic Missile, right Dresden-kun?" Azazel added. Sona grinned.
"Actually, I've gone back to Force Bolt," I said, "Both because of Sona's insistence, but also because I gave that name to a different spell."
"This is Magic Missile," I explained, showing the variant I had come up with and Sona had helped me refine. It was definitely different enough to be considered a new mandala, just over thirty percent of the glyphs had been changed, and another ten percent or so had been moved. But there was still enough the same that knowing Force Bolt was a good starting point.
"So, does this…"
As Azazel started to ask the question, I manifested five fully charged circles, and fired them. Four arrows shot out of each, slightly faster than a normal Force Bolt. Each spell converged on a different can, and, like when I had shown Sona, sent the intangible aluminum flying as they punched holes in the metal.
"You made a spell that can hit intangible objects," he looked amazed.
"There are other spells that can do that," I said in slightly fake modesty, "Some of them are cheaper to cast than this one. Though none of them have ever worked on a Beholder. Except I can't be 100 percent sure this will either, until we test it."
"I have read Becoming the Ether, too," he countered, "And I have never heard of a spell that works against more than two of the seven types of intangibility at once. This one works on five…"
I dismissed the spells I was maintaining, and the cans became solid. I blasted two of them with another pair of Magic Missiles.
"And it works on tangible targets as well?" he crowed, "Is this what you worked into the gloves?"
"Rook gloves, revision three dot B," I nodded, "Those are not jailbroken, and I expect you to honor our contract. That said, when you get back, I will honor our deal for the intangibility books and teach you the spell I used on the gloves. But it requires the Beholder ichor, which is why I asked for the trade. I hope to make enough gloves for most of the members of the Occult Research Club and the Student Council."
"Take the blood, keep the other parts," he said, "But I will be keeping these gloves. And try to bring me back enough of BB's blood to replace it?"
"I'll see what I can do," I agreed, "And I know you need to get going soon, but I wanted to teach you Magic Missile before you leave. And you, too, Rias, if you have the time?"
"Of course," the bustier King agreed.
After I finished teaching them, Sona and I headed over to the Student Council room. Rias stayed behind, having a message for Sirzechs she wanted Azazel to deliver. As we walked, my nerves started setting in. I didn't expect it to go badly, but I still couldn't help it. Sona seemed to notice what I was feeling, and she gave me a comforting look and touched my arm gently.
When we arrived, Tsubasa was their waiting for us. She smiled at me, but then frowned in confusion when Sona stepped out from behind me.
"I thought you wanted to talk to me in private, Harry-kun," the Rook said. I thought she sounded disappointed, but it could have just been my nerves.
"I do," I agreed, "But Sona already knows what I am going to say, and I thought it would be a good idea to have a chaperone."
"You think I need someone to protect me?" the bluette asked Dangerously. Sona walked past us, and took her normal seat.
"I think I might need someone to protect me from you," I shot back, "In case you decided to get frisky without hearing me out. You wouldn't do that, would you?"
She blushed slightly and looked away.
"I wouldn't do that," she said unconvincingly. Then she looked at my chin and said, "I get it. That wasn't you on Saturday. That was the Winter Mantle."
"No, it wasn't just the Mantle," I told her, "I like you Tsubasa, and I am majorly attracted to you. If I didn't want to kiss you, Winter wouldn't have been able to push me into it."
She looked excited, and I held up my left hand. I had taken off my glove just before we arrived, and while it looked a lot better than when I arrived in Bizzaro World, it was still fairly disturbing. I knew it wouldn't scare her off, but it served to punctuate what I planned to tell her.
"That doesn't mean I'm ready for a relationship," I told her, "I am trying to be more honest with what I am feeling. But I'm still not sure I'm in a place where I won't totally mess this up. And I don't want that. If I'm going to do this, I want to do it right and give us the best possible chance. Though not as many as when we first met, I still have some old bags to unpack and put away."
I shrugged and smirked, and added sarcastically, "And I'm still not sure about dating multiple girls at once. Are you really willing to share me?"
"No," Tsubasa shook her head, "At first I was willing to share you with Sona-san. But not anymore."
I cocked my head in surprise at the response. And Sona's eyes widened.
"Now I want to share you," the Rook continued insistently, "Harry-kun, before you came here Sona-san was my King, I respected her and cared about her. But I would not have called her my friend. She never called me by my first name, and I almost exclusively called her Kaichou. We didn't socialize. None of us really did. Reya and Tomoe would hang out some times. Nothing like our movie marathons or your Codex Alera game. You are the one who changed that. We are friends now, we do hang out. And I love Sona-san, not just as my King, but as a person. Same for Reya-chan."
She paused for breath and smiled happily, "So I want to share you. Yes, I want some of your time for myself. And I want to do all those things you're so hesitant about, despite claiming you've done them before. But I also want you to make Sona happy in the same way. And Reya, too. Thought I'm still not so sure about the Leviathan."
Sona nodded in agreement, and I snorted in amusement.
"And more importantly," she glared in me in half-real anger, "I think I need Sona and Reya to commiserate with when you do something stupid. And so we can all yell at you together."
"Which brings us to the other reason I wanted to see you," I said softly, "I owe you an apology. I'm guessing you don't want me to apologize for the kiss, but if I'm wrong, I will be more than happy to say I'm sorry again."
Tsubasa shook her head with a satisfied grin. And Sona looked slightly annoyed.
"But I am still sorry for going out, because I didn't think about how that would make you feel, and you all had to come after me and endanger yourselves. And even if you didn't mind me kissing you, I am sorry that I made you think… well, you know, that I was ready or something."
"I might forgive you," she said with a crooked grin, "if you can beat me to the top of the climbing wall."
"Again?" I looked at her incredulously, "I smoked you the last two times."
"You do know I could fly or even jump to the top of the wall, right?"
"That's not only not the same thing as climbing," I countered, "That's cheating. It wouldn't count. There's no way you could beat me without your Rook powers."
"Well, we'll just have to try it again and see."
"If you are trying to angle another date," I said, "You'll have to get in line."
Her eyes flicked over to Sona, and I shrugged slightly.
"I can work with that," she grinned.
"Good."
"If you two are done, Dresden-kun's next visitor is here," Sona said suddenly.
"Yeah, we're okay," Tsubasa said. She hugged me lightly and said, "Thanks, Harry-kun."
"Fuku Kaichou is expecting you in the gymnasium, Yura-san," the Kaichou instructed. The taller girl nodded, and headed for the door. As she left, I saw that Sona had opted to save Reya for last. Saji was waiting out in the hall. I was surprised when a second later, Sona followed her Rook out.
"I will wait in the hall," she said, "I expect it will go better without my presence. However I will be right here, ready to intervene if things deteriorate."
"Thank you, Kaichou," Saji said nervously. He stepped into the room, and Sona sealed us in.
For almost a minute, we just stood there looking at each other. The Pawn looked like he wasn't sure if he wanted to attack me or run away. I just kept my stance relaxed and my face neutral. I wanted to give him the chance to make the first move. But it didn't look like he was going to do anything.
"Okay, you don't like me," I said, "I get it. The first time we met I did threaten to incinerate you. Though in my defense, I thought you Devils were soul-stealing engines of destruction. And you were about to punch me for mildly insulting Sona, which didn't do anything to refute my assumptions. Then the girl you like fell for me."
He just glared at me.
"And I don't particularly care for you either," I told him, "Probably not as much as you hate me. But in retrospect, you're lucky I didn't punch you for that misogynistic life goal of yours."
"I gave that up," he murmured.
"Good," I said sternly. Then I forced back my anger and tried to look contrite.
"Either way, I shouldn't have blasted you on Saturday. I was pretty deep in Winter, and it sounded like you were going to try to take Sona away from me…"
Saji grumbled something I couldn't hear.
"… so I had to put you in your place. That maybe be the explanation, but it is still no excuse. You didn't deserve it, and I shouldn't have done it."
I paused, and bowed deeply to him, "I am sorry. I apologize. I sincerely hope you weren't hurt. And that if we need to work together in the future, we can."
"No," he shook his head. I looked up so suddenly at his fast and firm denial that I almost 'Gazed him.
"I don't trust you Dresden," Saji continued, "and I don't accept your apology. You're dangerous, and I think you are going to hurt Kaichou someday. I can only hope whatever you do doesn't kill her. If my King orders me to work with you, I will. But don't expect me to turn my back on you."
I looked at him. He seemed pretty resolute. I considered Soulgazing him after all, but I thought that might make things worse. I considered making a snide comment about how hurting Sona might be unavoidable when she gave me her virginity, just to shine him on. But I could tell that thought came from a lingering bit of Winter, and that would definitely make thing worse. So instead I just nodded.
"I can see why you feel that way," I said softly, "All I can say is that I will never intentionally hurt Sona. Or Reya, Tsubasa, or Serafall, for that matter."
"Whatever," he rolled his eyes, "Are we done here?"
"Yeah," I said. He turned, and abruptly left.
"Genshirou-san," Sona's voice was a bit frosty, "You may rejoin the rest of the Student Council."
He blanched slightly, and vanished down the hall.
"Reya-san is not here yet," she said softly. And then she looked as close to my eyes as she dared, "I apologize Dresden-kun. You did not deserve that."
"I thought you weren't listening," I told her in mock suspicion.
"If I had not been listening, I could not have intervened if it had gotten any worse," she told me, "And I almost stepped in as it was."
"I've heard worse than that," I pretended not to care, "And you're wrong. Whether he's right or not, I did deserve it."
"Dresden," she said softly, looking a bit dismayed. I couldn't tell if she was worried for me or about me. Or both. But we didn't get to go any further into it.
"Kaichou? Harry-san?" Reya had stopped at the door, reading the tension in the room.
"Come in, Kusaka-san," Sona said. The library girl walked in cautiously. She didn't quite look at me, and each time she did, she blushed furiously.
"I'm not going to kiss you again, Reya. I promise."
She looked both relieved and disappointed.
"In fact the reason I wanted to see you today was to apologize for Saturday," I told her, "I shouldn't have kissed you like that, and not in front of everyone. And I'm sorry I went out without thinking about how it might make you worry, or put you in danger when you came to rescue me."
"So you did not want to kiss me?" she said, still apparently not sure if she thought that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"No," I had told the others the truth, so I didn't want to lie to Reya, "I have wanted to kiss you for a while. Partly because I'm still a teenage boy and you are a very attractive teenage girl. But mostly because I feel a genuine emotional connection to you. To all four of you…"
I suddenly realized something.
"I think that is part of why Winter was able to make me do that so easily," I admitted, "because I have been holding myself back. Once I tapped into Winter to survive, its aggression and lust broke the flood gates. But I still don't think I am ready to, umm… go steady. I am still coming to terms with some things I need to come to terms with. Because if we are going to try to be a couple…. or a quadruple or quintuple, I guess… I want to make sure we do it right and give it an honest chance."
"That sounds right to me," she smiled lightly, and looked at me finally. But she was still blushing.
"Can I ask," I queried, "are you okay with me dating all four of you? And maybe even ending up in relationship together?"
"I think I am," she said, "Before I fell for Harry, I was chasing after Kiba-kun alongside Fuku Kaichou. Back then, I had accepted that I would be lucky to get a piece of him, that Fuku Kaichou would be dominant in the relationship. But I don't feel that way now. I feel close to Harry on my own, like I have something to offer him that the others can't. At the same time, I feel closer with Tsubasa-san, Sona-san, and even the Leviathan, like they will support us and like I can support them as an equal.
Well, crap. They were all okay with it. And more and more, I couldn't properly deny that I was, too. It least I still had the Jedi Truths about my origins, and the specters of Susan and Murph, to artificially prop up the remnants of my old morality.
"I accept your apology, Harry," Reya said, "And don't feel bad about it. I'm not upset that you kissed me. And… and I think it was a pretty good kiss."
"I've definitely had worse," I was unable to stop myself from snarking.
"I take that to mean we are done here," Sona reminded us that she was there.
"Yeah, seems like it," I agreed.
"In that case, Kusaka-san, would you like to help me escort Dresden-kun?" the King asked, "I need to take him to Rias and Asia for his weekly treatment. Then we can help Fuku Kaichou finish her assessment of the sports teams."
"I would like that, Kaichou."
"Good," I said to Sona, "Because there is something I want to talk to you and Rias about."
"Alright ladies and gentlemen," I announced to my fellow students, gathered in the old schoolhouse's gymnasium, "This is your Magic Missile boot camp."
It was Wednesday, after my first day back to school. I had managed not to torment the Perverted Duo. And now I was going to teach my friends the new spell.
Sona and Rias were both present. Despite having already learned the spell, they had accompanied the other members of the respective groups. I guessed it was some combination of intending to help me (especially teacher-to-be Sona), getting more practice, and keeping an eye on things in general.
Rias had brought Akeno, Kiba, Rossweisse, Gasper, Irina, and unexpectedly Asia and Ravel. The former nun had told me in one of our previous scar removal sessions that she did not know Force Bolt. And based on both my attempt to teach her Vorpal, and some hints Rias had dropped, the healer had next to no talent for attack spells. She had learned Fae Glue just fine, but teaching her the cutting spell had been like pulling teeth. Dragon's teeth. Without a painkiller. Even though we were using the spell for construction, not combat. I had asked the two Kings to bring their Peers that knew Force Bolt. So she must have learned it at some point.
Oh well, if worse comes to worse, I'd just have to foist her off on Sona and Rias.
And while I wasn't surprised that Phenex knew the spell, I hadn't expected her to be in close enough contact with Gremory to have come to the emergency session. Unless, heaven forbid, she was moving into the Hyoudou house as part of her transfer to Kuoh.
For Sona's side, we had Tsubaki, Reya, Momo, Tsubasa, and Ruruko. Tsubasa was the other surprise. She hadn't been in my initial count; I wasn't aware she had known the spell. While I didn't think I knew her entire spell list, every spell I knew she knew was a very short range. Most were personal enhancement spells. I suppose she could have known it the whole time, and just never used it. It was a fairly basic spell in the Black Magic school.
"You all know that we have been having trouble with the Beholders," I explained to them, "Well, after my latest encounter with them on Saturday, I buckled down and experimented with intangibility spells and the Beholder drops we got the week before that. And I came up with a version of Force Bolt that I am officially calling Magic Missile. It can punch through multiple types of intangibility, and if I am right, it should work on the Beholders."
"All of you already know the original Force Bolt," I said, and Asia looked a little evasive, "We are going to teach you Magic Missile, so we can show Argus's abominations what happens when they come to our town and try to hunt us."
"Infriga," I said gently. The case of Coke I brought with cooled to drinking temperature in an instant. A couple of my classmates were looking a little tired, plus we were running out of targets. But after two hours of training and practice everyone had almost got it. Kiba had actually had the hardest time. And Reya struggled, too. I would have thought it odd, except the reason was obvious. Despite our talk the previous afternoon, or maybe because of it, she could not seem to look at me without blushing. After I had Sona take over, the Bishop had caught up fairly quickly.
"Okay, drink up," I called out, "Most of you could use a sugar and caffeine pick-me-up, and the cans I brought are looking less like Swiss cheese and more like spider webs."
"How much soda did drink, Dresden-kun?" Akeno asked, looking over remains of their magical exercise. Each of them had destroyed between six and ten of the empty sodas.
"Well, I did do a lot of research this weekend," I said, "And some of them are from our game nights. But I've been saving them up for a while; I thought I might need the aluminum for some of my experiments. I haven't used any of them yet, so I figured they would make good targets. And we can recycle them after."
I looked around, and most of the Devils had drained their cans.
"Alright, I think everyone has got it," I said, "So we'll do one last round. Each of you will get a different intangibility spell, but I'll cover it with an illusion, so you won't be able to tell. It will be your…"
I was cut off when Ise slammed open the doors from the outside. Xenovia and Koneko were with him. He was panting lightly, like he had just run here from his house.
"Bunchou… Kaichou… Dresden," he panted, "I… we… the news…"
"Take a breath, Ise," Kiba advised.
"Mother was watching the news," Xenovia said, less winded, "Since this morning, seven people have been found dead, their bodies crushed and their eyes missing. The mayor is advising people to stay inside. The police are calling it a serial killer, but…"
"BB," I snarled.
"I don't understand," Ruruko said, "I thought they were after Dresden-senpai and Vladi-kun."
"And any other Devils they can get their hands on," Kiba said darkly.
"Maybe Argus is desperate enough to go back to his old standards for eyes," I speculated angrily, "Or maybe they are just sending us a message. Either way, it looks like it's time for a live fire test."
"Hyoudou-kun," Sona addressed the Pawn, "May we use your home for a staging area?"
"Of course, Kaichou," he said quickly.
"Then I will instruct Meguri-chan and Genshirou-kun to meet us there," she said.
"I need to make a stop at home first," I told them.
"For your equipment?" Akeno prompted.
"That too," I told her with a dangerously mischievous grin.
"The Beholders are getting very aggressive," Sona started, "So far the police have discovered eleven murdered Humans, and we know of one Devil and one Stray Devil that were killed as well. We cannot have them acting as they will in our town. And thanks to Dresden-kun's research, we can go on the offensive without having to ambush them."
"Way to put the pressure on, Sona," I groused, "Just to remind everyone, and for those who weren't there, I guess… I believe Magic Missile will work, but it is untested. And on that note…"
I reached into the second bag, and started distributing gloves to the Rooks, the Knights, Tsubaki, Saji, Irina, and Ise. They accepted the magic items, though Saji did not put them on. I guess it was a good idea I had stayed home yesterday, because with the formula for the new gloves stabilized, I had been able to crank out the twelve additional pairs that evening. The eleventh pair being mine, and the twelfth a spare that should have fit most of the girls.
"Rook gloves, version three B," I told them, "Like Magic Missile, they can touch intangible things, and should let you hit BB and its siblings. For the weapon users, if you put your demonic power into the thumb and pinky fingers, that aura will extended to whatever you were holding."
"If Dresden's creations do not work, or only partially work," Sona instructed, "Report it immediately, and we will retreat and regroup. There should be three Beholders left, BB, Rini, and one final Mu. So we will split up into four teams. The first three teams will actively seek out the Beholders. The fourth team will remain here to provide back up, command and control, and medic support."
"The first hunter team will consist of myself, Yura-chan, Kusaka-chan, and Dresden-kun."
A number of them looked at me in surprise.
"Partly because I am the bait," I said, "but mostly because I have some other weapons in my non-calculated arsenal that should work on the Beholders. And if they don't work, seeing it firsthand might let me figure out why."
"The second team," Sona did not sound convinced by my speech, "will consist of Genshirou-kun, Hanakai-chan, Quarta-chan, and Fuku Kaichou. The third team will consist of Hyoudou-kun, Toujou-chan, Meguri-chan, and Himejima-san."
Rias took up the explanation, "The rest of us will remain here. Members of our Peerages can Communicate with their Kings, and Ruruko-chan can relay any messages from Sona to me. Kiba-kun and Irina-chan will be on standby to teleport out if any team is overwhelmed. The rest of us will guard Gasper-kun. If anyone is injured, teleport them back here immediately for Asia-chan to treat."
"Team one will be taking the northern section of the city," Sona instructed, "Team two will cover the southwestern section of the city. And team three will cover the southeast."
"Alright, everyone," I growled lightly, "Let's go pop us some beach balls."
