Chapter 8 - Staff vs Sword

( Fly to High - Younha )

"So you won't be able to come to the meadow for ten days?" the warrior monk asked Mori.

The sun had risen not too long ago, and the instructor-student duo sat on the soft grass within their secret training area with Mori explaining the situation to Gunseng.

"That's right," Mori nodded, "To go and train with Rias Gremory and her group in the mountains,"

"But according to what you told me, you're not even participating in the Rating Game since you're not a member of her peerage, much less a devil," Gunseng rubbed his chin with a finger, "So why are you still going?"

"To train, and to help them get stronger. If they lose the match then I'll possibly never see them again," Mori answered, his face falling as the thought of separating permanently from his friends crossed his mind. A second later he brightened up and excitedly looked at his instructor, "Hey~, we can still train together while I'm there, can't you just move this clearing with chi magic or something?"

"Short answer, sure. Long answer, I'll have to write a letter of arrival to the local gods or spirits there, informing them of my incoming presence. Once they certify my entry, I'll then have to go and scout the area for good access sites, and then ask them if that space is available. If they say yes, then I'll have to come back and return this current site to the local spirits here and hand over the renting payment before starting the actual relocation itself. That process could take up to several days considering the size of this place. If I do successfully move, then I'll have to put up the barriers again and-,"

"Ok, ok, ok," Mori rapidly tapped his arms together in an 'X' shape, "I get it, I get it, I get it,"

"The most I can do now is to see you off," said the warrior monk.

"That'd be nice," Mori grinned.

The duo stood up from their seated positions and patted off the bits of grass sticking on their pants. They then silently walked over to the corridor of willow trees on the edge of the circular training meadow. As the two looked down the natural alleyway, Mori had a sudden, subtle spike of hesitation, which Gunseng quickly noticed and slapped Mori's back.

"You can survive without me for ten days," he cheerfully told him, "It's just one day ten times, which is only two hundred and forty hours, equalling to a single minute fourteen thousand and four hundred times,"

"Wait what?"

"Now off you go," With a push, Mori was sent into the corridor of trees, and thick, large roots sprouted from the ground, barricading the training meadow behind him. There were several things on his mind at that point.

"Have fun~," his instructor's voice echoed from behind.

"He's strangely happy about this," Mori said to himself.

The boy didn't take more than five steps when the entrance to the meadow reopened and Gunseng paced out.

"I almost forgot," he said as he approached Mori, from inside his robe he pulled out a small, worn-looking book. The cover was cloth-like and dark-blue, while the pages were yellow signifying its old age.

"Here," Gunseng handed the book over to Mori who accepted it and peered down at it in curiosity.

"What is it?"

"It's a book,"

"Yes, I can see tha-,"

"That contains several chapters on staff techniques Book one in an entire series, dating back several centuries from the Shaolin Temple," Gunseng explained.

A high-pitched muffle squeal started to emit from Mori as his eyes sparkled and he wanted to immediately open the book to begin reading. It was then, the monk stopped him with a hand.

"But do not open it until you're sure you've mastered the basics, otherwise the full potential of all the abilities contained here will be halved or more," Gunseng warned with a serious expression, "It could even recoil on the body causing great harm to you both internally and externally,"

"Then why'd you give me this now?" Mori questioned. The monk instructor opened his mouth but then the boy stopped him by raising his hand, "Wait, I know. It's to 'test my patience' and 'train my mind' or something right?"

"Close enough," the monk nodded while smiling and folding his arms.

"Then," Mori looked down at his reflection in a small puddle nearby, "How do I know if I've mastered the basics?"

The monk didn't answer him, instead, he was already back in the meadow with the gates nearly closed. Without looking back, he answered, "You'll know,"

"In real life, TV, and manga, why do they always answer like that?" Mori deadpanned and murmured to himself before turning to exit the long, winding, path of trees.

Mori locked the door to his apartment and slid the key into his pocket. On his back was his signature giant green rucksack, finally having a use again after sitting in the corner of his bedroom for the past month. It was nice and round, packed with things that the boy needed for ten days; clothes, snacks, and an entire list of things Rias told him to get when she visited him early in the morning. These consisted of pots, pans, utensils, a stool, a whole mop, a vacuum cleaner, and many other things that Mori had no idea how to link to training. Mori put on his hood before quickly stepping down the seven flights of stairs.

The Club was to meet at the Academy Gates before heading out to the mountains, and so the blue-haired boy walked along his usual path to the town's signature school. The busy morning roads and streets were filled with cars and civilians alike. It felt a bit weird when he walked past other Kuoh Academy students dressed in full uniform, it was only a Tuesday, and Rias had somehow gotten the faculty to approve of the club's ten-day break.

With his hands tightly gripped onto the straps of his rucksack, Mori and a large crowd of citizens crossed a rather wide road when the pedestrian lights turned green. As he reached the middle he felt his rucksack coming into contact with someone.

"Sorry," he exclaimed. The boy would've turned around and given a proper apology if he could but he was swept to the other side of the road by the wave of people, most of them office-workers.

Reaching the safety of the sidewalk, the figure he bumped into turned around. Attracting the gazes of most people around him due to his tall figure, scarlet hair, aqua eyes, and pale skin. Sirzechs, who was wearing an expensive suit, looked back at the crowd on the opposite side as Mori's bobbing green bag disappeared behind a building.

He had felt a weird, unexplainable, aura when he accidentally ran into the azure-haired boy. Sirzechs knew of Dan Mori, Rias had mentioned him a couple of times during the calls he made to her once or twice a week. As expected of the doting older brother. One of the things that his little sister had told him about the boy was that despite having the ability to slaughter over two-hundred stray exorcists without breaking a sweat, he had no noticeable aura. However, the crimson-haired leader knew that there was some kind of unknown energy coming from Mori as it had caused a weird subtle shiver to run down his spine. Sirzechs deduced that there was the possibility that Mori did indeed have an aura, it was just hidden and compressed far too well for regular beings to sense it. Even being classed as a Super-Devil, the Crimson Maou had barely noticed.

As he stared in the direction where the boy disappeared, the words of the crustacean monster replayed in his head.

["They are both closer and further than you think, one of them resides in the same area...as your kin,"]

["They will not remain gone forever...when they come back...the world will rumble like never before,"]

["...The Nine...Will Rise...Again..."]

Followed by the tale that his best friend, rival, and fellow Maou, Ajuka Beelzebub told him.

["The Nine...if they ever existed...are...or were, a group of nine of the Strongest Demon Kings who gathered together to go to war against the Heavens. The Gods of nearly every Pantheon had to create a temporary alliance to defend themselves against The Kings and The War lasted over a century with all sides taking casualties. But as the battles waged on and the sudden betrayal of one of the Kings, over half of the Nine decided that the war was ultimately going to be their loss and retreated, mysteriously vanishing and never seen again. The remaining two Kings kept up the war for another year before it finally ended with one getting sealed away and the other faking their death to disappear like the rest….But of course, this is just a myth nearly forgotten within the past millennium, a tale to tell the children. There's no solid evidence of their existence so you have nothing to worry about, that crab was probably senile or drunk, maybe both,"]

"I still feel a bit uneasy," Sirzechs thought as he turned and walked down the path. Coming to Kuoh to uncover the identity of the mysterious member of The Nine who apparently resided here wasn't his main objective. Nor was it to visit Rias. Instead, there was another task he had to do in this town, and so, the Crimson Maou went on his way.

On the other side of Kuoh, Mori met up with the Occult Research Club outside the gates. The boy also saw that he wasn't the only one carrying a large rucksack. Issei, Kiba, and Koneko all had one strapped to their backs with Issei's already full while the other two's bags still looked rather deflated, perhaps they would be picking somethings up along the way. With all of them standing in a circle like that, the group was getting questionable looks from their fellow students who trotted through the school gates, some looked jealous while others' eyes sparkled at the sight of half of Kuoh Academy's celebrities gathered in one spot.

"Now that we're all here, let's go," Rias declared.

"Yes, Buchou," was the unanimous reply.

"Wait we're walking?" Issei asked warily, however in the back of his mind, he knew the answer already.

"Of course," Rias responded with her usual smile, "This is the pre-training warmup,"

"But that mountain range is over twenty kilometers away from the edge of town," Issei's face paled as he heard his blue-haired friend say this.

"I know," the club president simply replied.

"Buchou," The luggage on Issei's back suddenly felt heavier, "You're a monster,"

"Devil, actually," The heiress smirked, turning around she waved her hand, "Come on, let's not waste any more time,"

Issei sighed as the rest of the club started to follow Rias, Asia looked back at the Pawn worriedly but the brown-haired teenager flashed her a reassuring smile. Mori playfully slapped the back of his friend's rucksack which nearly caused him to fall forward.

"Haha~ Look at you. Now you know what it's like to be me," Mori quipped with a bright grin.

"At least you got paid for it," Issei groaned.

"Cheer up Issei, don't you wanna beat up Mr. Fried Chicken or something?"

"YES! Yes, I do!" A sudden wave of resolve surged through the Pawn. He straightened his back and marched ahead of Mori.

The azure-haired boy chuckled and shook his head before trailing behind them.

While walking towards the outskirts of town, Mori looked at each member of the club, and as he was at the back, it wasn't noticeable to the members but the boy had slightly narrowed his eyes. Then they widened again, his jaw dropped, he couldn't believe that he had only just noticed this now and it left him bewildered.

'A-Are they...all...wearing casual clothes?'

Hours later, around midday, they finally reached their destination, in front of the group was a large mansion made from birchwood. The new club members' eyes sparkled in awe at the sight of the large building.

"It's so pretty~," Asia gushed.

"We're...actually...staying…here?" Issei said while panting for air. He had struggled to climb the mountain as he now had additional luggage strapped on his back. Upon seeing the mansion, his energy had refilled somewhat, at least enough to get inside the building before flopping onto the floor to immediately fall asleep.

"It smells nice," was Mori's complement. Although his rucksack hadn't changed in size, the boy was dragging along a large boar by the hind leg. The animal charged at the group a couple of miles back, Mori wanted to chase it away by kicking it in the head but he had put a bit too much power behind his foot and ended up crushing the boar's cranium. An unfortunate accident...but at least it got them dinner for the night.

"Well, let's all go inside and unpack," said Rias as the group walked towards the tall double-doors and opened them. The group poured inside, Kiba and Koneko untied the multiple rucksacks on their back and swiftly moved them inside, taking two bags with them each time. Mori's boar's size caused it to get stuck in the doorway for a couple of minutes, Akeno had suggested to just leave it outside for now and to come back for it when they start preparing for dinner but the boy didn't want to leave it outside just in case some scavengers get to it. In the end, there was now a large boar carcass sitting in the middle of the lounge room.

The interior was just as Mori expected, there was only one word he could use to describe it, and that word was-

'Expensive...Everything here looks so expensive' he thought as he looked around, then a thought crossed his mind, 'Oh no! What if I break something? I'll have to pay for it if it happens and everything here could potentially be in the millions. Was dragging the boar inside a good idea? Is it too dirty? Did I accidentally crack the doorframe? How much is that?'

"Everyone let's go and get changed," Rias's voice cut Mori's thoughts.

The peerage nodded. As the girls moved to the second floor where their rooms were located, the boys stayed on the first as that was where their designated quarters were. However, there was a slight problem, the first floor only had two bedrooms meaning that two of them had to sleep in the same bed together. Naturally, they decided the result through several rounds of rock, paper, scissors, and Mori won which meant that he got to decide who goes into which room. Honestly, he didn't really care and was going to give Yuuto and Issei the rooms respectively while he slept on the floor somewhere. The floor was comfortable once one had gotten used to it, and also Mori thought that he'd probably never have the chance to sleep on such expensive floors ever again so he had to take this chance.

But at the last second, he changed his mind as the "Inner-Monkey" persona started to seep out. This was due to seeing Issei's nervous sweating, and desperate face, constantly mouthing to him saying to not pair him up with the Knight. And so Mori couldn't resist, the boy laughed to himself as he placed his bag down in the middle of the room which was his and his alone for the remaining nine days and a half.

"HHAAAAGH!" Issei roared, charging at Kiba with a raised wooden sword.

The Knight easily and lightly parried the attack, sending the Pawn stumbling back a few feet.

"Don't just focus on me Issei, widen your vision so you can pay attention to both the opponent and the surroundings," the blonde instructed him.

Issei grit his teeth and charged again, "Thanks for the tip but, we're not done yet,"

On the side, Mori and the rest of the Club watched as Issei failed to land his attacks each time. The group all wore the Kuoh Gym Uniform, except for Rias who had her own maroon tracksuit and pants.

The blue-haired boy was sitting down plucking out strands of grass as a bored expression overtook his face. It was fun watching Issei getting demolished sixty different ways for the first ten minutes, then when a pattern had started to form the boy's interest began to flutter. He had tried sneaking away for a bit to train by himself, but it seemed that Rias had eyes all around her head that day and prevented him from leaving as she wanted to show him the abilities of each member of the team. So far he had only seen Yuuto in action and worked out that the Knight piece granted a boost in speed and mobility, both of which weren't needed at all during the sparring session in front of him.

An audible cry rang out as Issei fell face-first into the grass, skidding across the ground for a second before going limp. He released a muffled shout of annoyance and a sigh as he started to slowly pick himself up. Asia immediately ran over to him and checked for injuries

Rias pressed a button on her stopwatch, "And that's half an hour,"

"Ara ara, it looks like you'll have to train harder Issei, you never hit Kiba once during that thirty minutes," Akeno commented with her usual smile on her face, beside her, Koneko nodded in agreement.

"I-I'll work harder from now on," said the Pawn as he staggered over to the group with Asia helping to stabilize him.

"You're motivated to get stronger so that's a good start," said Rias, then she turned to her Knight, "Yuuto, do you think you can go another round?"

"Of course," he nodded, "I didn't expend any energy just now," Sitting on the ground nearby, Issei let out a frustrated groan which caused the blonde to look at him and chuckle sheepishly, "No offense Issei,"

"...None taken,"

Rias nodded and looked down at the azure-haired boy sitting next to her, "Well Mori, you're up,"

…

"Mori?"

...

"Mo-,"

"Huh? Wha-? I zoned out for a sec," he shook his head as he left the realm of daydreams.

"Your turn to spar against Yuuto," Rias giggled and told him, "Even if you're not participating in the Rating Game itself, I want to see what kinds of abilities you have,"

"Oh okay," Mori simply replied, he rolled back onto his shoulders and kicked up onto his feet.

"Wow~...show-off," Issei mumbled with jealousy. He had seen that simple move numerous times in old Kung-Fu movies, but even with his new devil body he still couldn't do it with the two-hand boost. While his blue-haired friend just did it so smoothly without using any hands to help push off the ground.

"You'll get it one day Issei," Mori reassured him, flashing him a grin and thumbs-up as he walked over to the spot where the previous sparring session was held.

Kiba twirled his wooden sword as he watched Mori approach him, "You ready Mori?"

"You're using that?" the boy asked, pointing down at the wooden weapon in the Knight's hand.

Yuuto nodded, "Mhm, we're just training after all, so there's no need to use the real thing right now,"

"Right then," Mori rubbed his chin as he thought for a second, a lightbulb pinged above his head and he dashed back towards the mansion, "Wait a couple of minutes for me!"

"Where's he going?" Issei asked.

"To get his staff I think," Akeno answered.

Thanks to their enhanced devil hearing, the group had confused expressions on their faces as they heard a series of clanging and thuds coming from the interior of the building.

"...What's Mori-senpai doing?" Koneko asked in her usual monotone voice but with a raised eyebrow.

"Honestly, it could be anything," Rias sighed as she put her hands on her hips.

"If he pulls out a hindleg from the boar as a weapon to train with Kiba, I'm not gonna be surprised," Issei admitted, and the group unanimously nodded in agreement.

A few seconds later, Mori came rushing back out with something in his hands. The peerage sighed in relief when they saw it wasn't something too out of the ordinary.

"Is that a broom?" Asia asked softly.

"Yup," Mori happily replied," It's basically like a training stick, you just gotta take this part off,"

Anchoring a foot on the head of the broom, he pulled out the wooden portion of the broom with an audible *POP* and kicked the brushing part to the side. Then he spun it around his body and nodded, heading back to the position opposite to his swordsman friend.

"Alright, I'm ready," said the azure-haired boy as he got into the basic staff combat stance. A low stance, standing side-on with the knees bent and with both hands holding the middle portion of the staff. The weapon itself was pointed diagonally towards the sky.

"Right," Yuuto nodded, sliding into his style's basic stance. Feet slightly wider than shoulder-width, body slightly lowered and facing the opponent, with both hands on the handle of the wooden sword.

Rias pressed the button of her stopwatch, "Begin,"

Mori shot forward first, taking one hand off the weapon and sliding the other to the staff's bottom tip. He spun his body and the staff whipped around to follow. Mori slammed the staff downward into the ground where Kiba once stood, as the Knight had kicked back off the ground to avoid the attack.

When the azure-haired boy heard the staff's audible smack against the grassy field, he let go allowing the weapon to ricochet off the ground and into the air from the force of the impact. Mori jumped, grabbing it in midair, and sharply twisting his body around, bringing the staff along with him. Using the momentum of the spin and the power from his core, Mori would've slammed the staff against the side of Kiba's head if it weren't for the Knight's last-second block with the wooden sword. By sticking the sword against his body, he was able to use his shoulder and upper trapezius as an anchorage, to absorb the power of the hit.

Mori wasn't done, while still in the air he twirled the staff around to his left and brought it above and behind his body. Once he winded up, Mori brought the staff down in a swift, downward slash. Kiba countered this by spinning the handle to change his grip to hold the sword ice-pick style. As the staff came down, the swordsman moved his weapon above his head, and once again took the force of the hit, this time by sticking his forearm against the wooden blade.

Both attacks had caused small shockwaves to pulsate from the clashing of weapons. Kicking up a gust of wind and sending multiple rows of grass to fully bend backward. The spectating group's hair was also fluttering from the generated wind.

"W-Woah," Issei muttered and gulped.

Back with the two fighters, they were currently in a struggle for control as Mori had now landed back on the ground. With the staff vertical and the sword horizontal, they pressed together creating a cross. Mori had his hands in a wider grip, one tightly holding onto the bottom end, while the other was a palm that was located slightly above the intersected area, pushing down against the sword. Yuuto now had both hands holding onto the sword as he pushed up, they were clenched tightly around the grip and just below the point.

"Heh," Yuuto smirked, "You're faster than I expected,"

Mori's lips curved up, but his eyes still stayed focused, "Thanks, you're reaction time is faster than I thought,"

"Guess I'll have to take this more seriously,"

"Please do,"

The Knight suddenly relaxed the muscles in his arm and stepped to the side, surprising Mori as he stumbled forward from Yuuto's abrupt release. The blonde pivoted his foot and spun around to elbow Mori directly in the cheek.

Followed by a downward slash which Mori parried just in time. The boy shifted his grip and applied pressure to manipulate the staff so it could loop around Kiba's elbow, effectively locking his sword-arm in place. Seeing, this Yuuto reacted by flicking his wrist and letting go of his weapon for it to transfer to his empty hand. The Knight immediately stabbed at Mori's torso, the boy quickly shifted his grip once again and began to spin his staff to deflect the barrage of stabs coming from his opponent.

Mori could only twirl the staff around in the shape of an 'infinite' symbol, parrying the sword as he was being forced into a defensive state due to Yuuto's nonstop strikes. The Knight's aggressive onslaught had been able to push Mori back several meters without giving him a chance to initiate a counterattack.

Seeing as there was no other option, the boy kicked back to gain some distance. As he expected Kiba rushed after him, catching up to him in a second. Mori dropped to the ground and kicked his legs out to sweep the swordsman's legs, when Kiba hopped over Mori's legs, the boy used the momentum from the initial sweep and with a sharp twist of his waist, brought the staff around, using the wooden weapon to do a follow-up sweep. This time it made contact with the bottom of Yuuto's shin and the blonde fell forward onto the ground. The swordsman wasn't expecting that one.

Instead of going in for a knock-out attack, Mori flipped up and sprang back to gain more distance. Kiba recovered from the surprise attack quickly, he rolled forward and stood up, grabbing his wooden sword at the same time. When he turned around he saw that Mori was several paces away, standing in his combat stance ready for another round.

Kiba chuckled and outstretched his empty hand with his palm facing the ground. Mori raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly, the ground burst open and a second wooden sword shot out and up into his hand. The Knight twirled both weapons around a couple of times before readying himself to charge.

In an instant, the two engaged back into combat. With Yuuto releasing a flurry of slices and stabs, and Mori parrying each blow with precision. The sound of wood clashing against wood at speeds faster than machine-gun fire filled the area around them.

Yuuto jumped back to wind up an attack, then shot forward to deliver an outward, double horizontal slash. With his flexibility, Mori bent back a full ninety degrees to dodge. As he came back up he stabbed his staff into the ground and used it as anchorage to jump up and perform a staff-assisted, double side-kick. His feet made contact with the dual wooden swords, as the Knight had blocked his attack just in time, but the strength behind the kick sent him skidding across the ground for a few seconds. At the same time, Mori swung around his anchored weapon and slid briefly back onto the ground. When he landed, he pulled the staff out of the earth and twirled it around his neck once before gripping it in his hand again.

As he watched the slightly smirking swordsman ready himself for what felt to be the final charge, Mori breathed in deeply and thought.

'Right, time to try… That'

Mori twirled his weapon around his body as he shifted his stance to a little over shoulder-width apart with his knees slightly bent and faced his opponent side-on. He also adjusted the positioning of his hands on the staff so it would point diagonally down with the tip half an inch away from the ground.

Yuuto started to dash forward in a zig-zag, going so fast that Issei, Asia, and Koneko couldn't see him move. Even Akeno and Rias had a hard time tracking his speed. Mori remained in the same position, as still as stone.

The Knight reappeared in front and above Mori, bringing both swords down like an incredibly fast guillotine.

However, this was the moment he was waiting for.

[ Shaolin Staff: The 3rd Chamber - The Current of Spring ]

Mori flicked his long weapon up, hitting Yuuto directly in the wrist and pushing his arm into the other so it would crossover, effectively negating his attack. The swordsman's eyes widened as he knew now that there was no way he could defend himself from whatever Mori was going to do next.

Changing his grip and hand position again, the azure-haired boy drew a circle with the tip of the staff so it was now around and above his opponent's wrists, then he smacked down onto them.

As Yuuto landed back on the ground heavily, Mori's counter had caused him to release the two wooden swords, but he wasn't given a chance to breathe either because his opponent hadn't finished yet.

The Knight felt the staff stabbing into his right shoulder, then the left, then his lower abdominals, then his left knee, and then his ribs. Using one hand to control the direction and the other to power the attacks, Mori unleashed a rain of jabs with his staff into Yuuto's torso. All the while moving forward and pushing the blonde knight back. He bought the staff back one last time and shot it forward to strike the middle of Yuuto's sternum.

The impact sent him flying back, colliding against and bouncing off the ground, rolling for a short while before coming to a stop. Mori stepped back to stand in a neutral position with the staff being held beside him.

Rias took a minute to recover from her surprised state and pressed the button on her stopwatch, "7 minutes and 50 seconds,"

Over on the ground, Yuuto started to cough as he struggled to push his body off the ground.

"Asia go help him," Rias ordered.

"Yes Buchou," the petite blonde immediately ran over to the Knight's side and began the healing process.

Issei looked at his staff-wielding friend, then gazed back down at his hand where the Boosted Gear would appear when summoned. 'Mori took Kiba down in seven minutes, and both of them were fighting seriously. I was taken down by Kiba in thirty minutes who barely even tried. I knew Mori was much stronger than human pro-fighter, but this is another level… If only he were allowed to be in the Rating Game, we'd win for sure…' The Pawn's brown eyes glanced up at his blue-haired friend who was now checking up on the fallen knight, crouching on one knee by his side as Asia's hands glowed green.

'I'm the weakest here aren't I? Can I catch up in time? ...To save Buchou?' Issei thought.

Soon Yuuto was able to heave himself back onto two feet along with Mori giving him a hand.

"What was that last attack?" the Knight asked with an impressed smile as the duo and Asia made their way back to the group.

"Y'know just...something I learned," Mori answered sheepishly.

In truth, the technique he used at the end was from the book Gunseng had given him. While still in his room, his curiosity had gotten the better of him and he only read a couple of pages while waiting for the others to change into their training outfits. The warrior monk did warn him about the consequences of using the techniques without the proper prerequisites, but Mori thought that just trying out one of the thirty-six techniques wouldn't hurt, and it was one on the simpler end too. He had never seen it in action before so to him, it seemed to work surprisingly well and it felt like the movements were correct. Perhaps he'd have to ask the warrior monk to check for mistakes in the near future.

For the rest of the day, Mori's schedule differed from the rest. Koneko and the now recovered Yuuto sparred with Rias observing them. Asia and Issei moved back into the mansion to work on their magic skills with Akeno as their instructor. As for Mori, he was sent to find food at Rias's request. She told him that due to the Gremory Family claiming the area as part of their territory, the mountain had an abundance of herbs, fruits, vegetables, and edible animals that were moved here due to the Devils. With a list in hand and the signature green rucksack on his back, Mori trekked through the forest searching for the things written on it.

The boy felt a wave of familiarity surge through him as he was scouring for vegetarian food. It felt like he had done this before, a really long time ago.

Eventually, night fell over their side of the globe. At the mansion, the group had finished dinner and headed to the baths, like usual, Issei did his best to peep while the others simply ignored him. Mori wasn't with them as he was still in the dining room eating the mountain of potatoes.

But back in Kuoh, Sirzechs wandered through the quiet streets and soon found himself standing in front of a four-story apartment. Beside him, a drunk couple with their hands draped around each other's shoulders walked through the front automated door.

"This must be the place," the crimson-haired devil murmured, as he slipped into the building.

Upon entering, the Maou headed straight for the emergency exit and walked up. Although faint, he could sense a magical barrier cloaked around one of the apartments on the fourth floor. When he opened the door and stepped out, his suspicions were correct as the energy being emitted from the barrier only became stronger. He made his way to a dark wooden door at the end of the corridor and stood in front of it, studying the barrier formed around the apartment.

"It's not bad, but it's not super secure either, guess he put it up out of habit, or just in case. It doesn't look like he was expecting too much supernatural presence here. Or at least ones that would interfere in his personal life," Sirzechs thought, "I can't sense anyone inside though, does the barrier prevent life signatures from leaking out...or is he not home?"

"Can I help you?" asked a voice from beside him.

"Hm?" Sirzechs turned his head to face the source of the voice.

A handsome young man with spiky platinum blonde hair, wearing a barista's outfit stood there holding a bag of groceries. In his other hand was a small key.

Sirzechs stared at him and then scanned his eyes up and down the younger man's body. His lips curved up into a smile.

"You've grown a lot since-,"

"We'll talk inside," the young man interrupted the Maou's sentence as he walked forward and unlocked his apartment.

"Remember to take off your shoes," he said as they entered the apartment.

"Of course," Sirzechs chuckled, doing exactly that. The door closed automatically behind him.

"You don't mind if I put away my groceries first do you?" the younger male asked as he placed the plastic bag on his countertop.

"No no, take your time,"

The young man nodded and opened his fridge to start the sorting process. In the meantime, Sirzechs took a look around the interior, the lights weren't turned on but it was fine since he had devil night vision. It was simple and cozy, most likely because the apartment wasn't big enough for decorating in the first place.

"Do you want something to drink?" the younger male asked.

"Anything would be fine," Sirzechs answered, and a can of soda instantly flew over the countertop, the devil caught it in one hand easily. The sound of the fridge door closing echoed through the apartment.

The young man, with a canned soda in hand, walked around the countertop and leaned against a cheap-looking recliner in the tiny living room. The Crimson Maou didn't move away from his spot. The two men opened the beverage and took a couple of drinks.

Silence and the fizzling pops of the soda filled the area for a while before Sirzechs decided to break the ice.

"You know, you're a hard individual to track down...Reiz,"

Reiz's gaze focused on the wooden floor beneath him as he silently sipped his soda.

"Never would I have thought that you decided to take refuge in Kuoh Town, out of all places," Sirzechs continued to speak, "I initially thought you still lived in Daegu, Korea, but my Rook's familiar witnessed you here several days ago,"

"I'm honestly amazed you were able to fly under the radar for twelve years, especially considering your heritage,"

Reiz snorted silently into the aluminum lid of the can as Sirzechs talked.

"A Youkai-Devil Hybrid, and a natural one at that, a very rare sight," the Maou took a sip of soda before continuing, "If I remember correctly, you're the son of an unknown Eagle Youkai and Roze Phenex, the younger sister to the current Lord of the Phenex Household,"

"I don't affiliate with the Underworld anymore," Reiz spoke up, piercing the Super-Devil's teal eyes with his golden orbs, "And if I remember correctly, that wasn't by choice either. But I accepted the outcome either way,"

"Of course, I do apologize for the Phenex House's impulsive actions, and-," Sirzechs bowed his head, but Reiz stopped him by holding up a palm.

"Enough Sirzechs, I don't care about what they're up to these days. Like I said before, I no longer affiliate with them anymore, I want nothing to do with the Phenex Family and they want nothing to do with me, all ties have been cut. It may have not been mutual back then but it sure as hell is now," Reiz glared at the Devil Leader, "Just tell me why you're here so I can get back to my normal life. I know it's not to apologize otherwise you would've done that twelve years ago,"

The Crimson Maou straightened back up, the blonde male calling him by his first name did throw him off a bit, as he wasn't use to people of a lower status than him calling him by his first name, aside from close friends and family. Nevertheless, he shook that feeling off and matched the younger male's stare, "I have a proposition for you, Reiz,"

"I'm not interested, now if you'll-" Reiz headed over to the door so he could open it for the leader.

"It's about your mother," Sirzechs called out...and Reiz came to an abrupt stop, his feet rooted on the spot.

He whipped around and hissed, "Speak,"

"I have the authority to get her out of her current arranged marriage with the Belial Household. If you work with me just this once," Sirzechs slowly stepped towards the platinum-blonde male, "I swear on my position as the Maou Lucifer, that I will release her from those chains and the two of you can live in peace in the human world, free from all infernal affairs,"

"What's in it for you?" Reiz asked.

"There's an unofficial Rating Game that'll happen in nine days from now, between my little sister Rias and your cousin Riser. If she loses, she marries him right away. If he loses, the marriage arrangement is off," Sirzechs began to explain, "Although she's training her and her peerage diligently for the battle, her experience is nowhere near enough to defeat Riser,"

Reiz eyed the crimson leader cautiously, "You want me to kill my cousin, Riser to set your sister free?"

"What? No, no, no," Sirzechs waved his hands out in front of him before continuing, "On the day of her wedding, I want to put on a show, help me make it entertaining and if it goes to plan, I'll free your mother,"

"You want to make your sister's wedding entertaining? That's all?" Reiz wanted clarification.

"Yes, that's all," Sirzechs confirmed and nodded. Of course, if that day is going to go according to the plan he and Grayfia wrote up, then both Rias and Reiz's mother could be set free. But if only the wielder of the Boosted Gear showed up and a certain blue-haired individual didn't. Then the plan would shatter and would need to be repaired with careful improvisation.

"Give me a day, I'll think about it, whether to trust you or not," said Reiz.

"Very well," from the inside chest pocket of his suit, Sirzechs pulled out a folded piece of parchment, "You know how this thing works. When you've decided, come tell me. Have a goodnight,"

Reiz didn't say a word and stuffed the teleportation parchment into his pocket.

As Sirzechs opened the door, he turned his head back at the young man and playfully smirked, "You can deactivate the illusion now Reiz, I know we're nowhere near Kuoh Town,"

Slowly, the apartment that sheltered and surrounded them started to shimmer, ripple, and fall apart like large pieces of shattered glass that quickly turned into colored dust, disappearing into the wind.

"What gave it away?" Reiz asked, now with both hands in his pockets.

"The door," Sirzechs answered, "The barrier it had. It was suspiciously basic for someone of your talent. The energy emitted from it also felt like it was acting too much like a beacon. As if it was trying to lure me here…You knew I arrived in Kuoh from the first second didn't you?"

"Kinda hard not to notice when a Maou appears in your territory," Reiz replied.

Currently, Sirzechs had all his wings out and Reiz simply floated in the air, the two males were now hovering high above a vast plane of wilderness, the lights of Kuoh and other nearby cities sparkled in the distance.

"Well then, I don't have anything else left to say, and I assume that you don't either, so I'll be taking my leave now," said Sirzechs, a magic circle appeared beneath his feet and a red light engulfed his body, "I'll see you the day after tomorrow then,"

With that, the Maou returned to the Underworld.

The blonde stared at the Devil Leader's last position as a breeze blew by and ruffled his platinum hair. The older devil's words repeated in his head.

["If you work with me just this once, I will release her from those chains and the two of you can live in peace in the human world, free from all infernal affairs."]

"...Mother… Just...great," Reiz growled, clenching his fists tight to the point...sparks of electricity started to flicker around his knuckles, "… Damn it,"

That night a brewing storm covered the skies of Kuoh.

( WIN - CIX )

Chapter 8 - Finish

So training has started. Mori fought Yuuto. The Nine are indeed the Nine Demon Kings. Sirzechs met with Reiz (Phenex), that guy's backstory will most likely be revealed by the end of the arc. So far we only know that he's a natural Youkai-Devil hybrid, and he's really good with illusion magic...and he's acquainted with Mori.

Mori revealed the style of staff combat he's been training in during the match with Yuuto. The Shaolin Staff. That being said, yes, Gunseng is (was) a Shaolin Monk, and his name literally translates to [Staff Monk], which means that the name he's using is just a title and he is a staff specialist. Why the Shaolin style? Personally, I think it fits. The Shaolin Monks are famous throughout history for their efficiency in staff combat so if anyone had to train Mori to get better at it, I thought a Monk would be the best option. (What about DXD's Wukong you ask?... We're not meeting him just yet so no). Also, it reflects the Monkey-Monk, Student-Teacher relations of the original Journey to the West so…yeah.

(Regarding the trouble in viewing the poll, I don't know what platform you guys and girls view this on. But Chrome and Explorer usually work pretty well. The app doesn't work I believe.)

Anyways, Review Segment

Dxhologram: He exists in this...all four of them exist. One of them has even already made an appearance. Whether that's just me being witty talking about Mori, or it's something else entirely is something for you to think about. XD

Luke: 1 - Probably? 2 - Probably, I don't know yet?

Jonrocksthestar - Eventually these questions will be answered through the narrative.

Kensei-1085 - Does this chapter count as an interaction?

gildas13579 - Friends...well I haven't thought that far yet.

Depending on when you're reading this:

This is the last update of this story in 2020. Hope you enjoyed it. I'll be seeing you all next year in 2021, sometime in January. Where there'll most likely be a short time-skip from the end of this chapter. With that said, Everybody have a safe Christmas and New Year.

Merry Christmas!

Happy New Year!

Once again, Thank You! All my readers! For your support and taking the time to check out this story!

Up until now, this has been FireMonkeyDragon presenting you with

The Great Sage Equal to Heaven!