Chapter 10 - Battle of Kings Pt.1

( WARNING: This Chapter Exceeds 20,000 Words )

As the day of the upcoming battle neared, Mori had spent every moment awake training. Going through the basic staff forms over and over again, while also picking out and training in several skills that looked useful from the book gifted to him by his instructor. Training with the staff no longer activated the pain in his wrist allowing the boy to increase the intensity of his sessions. Thankfully, Sirzechs had provided him with an open area to train, it was on the roof of one of the two barracks attached to the main castle of the capital city. The barrack was about the size of a power plant and the roof had more than enough space for Mori to train. But honestly, the boy was perfectly content to stay in his temporary room and train there as it was five times the size of his apartment, plenty of space to work on his skills.

Today, he was invited to participate in the Underworld Military's morning training with a couple of the squadrons. Mori accepted the offer, curious as to how the devil army practiced combat in preparation for another possible war. When he entered through the front door of the barracks, a tall, bulky man with short, earth-colored hair and beard, wearing a full set of steel plate armor, approached him.

"Are you the one the Maou-sama informed us about, the one who will be fighting in the arena at Rias-sama's engagement party?" he asked with a gruff voice.

"Yeah, that's me," Mori responded with a short nod.

'There's going to be an arena? This might be bigger than I thought'

"Very well, follow me,"

The soldier led the blue-haired teen through a short hall towards a tall, iron double door. When the doors were pushed open revealing the training field located beside the barrack. It was a small (in devil standards) Greco-Roman style coliseum, complete with rows of spectator seats above the sandy arena. Steel training dummies were lined up against one side of the coliseum, opposite to it was a gym-obstacle course fusion, and in the center was an elevated, hexagonal, sandstone stage where sparring would take place. Devil soldiers dressed in exercise gear such as shorts and tank tops were spread across the coliseum vigorously training, the arena's sand was plagued by so much sweat that it looked as if a few more drops would turn the floor into mud. The roars of determination and groans of fatigue bounced off the arena walls like pinballs.

"Attention!" the soldier beside Mori yelled. Immediately the other soldiers stopped their training and swiftly lined up in six, neat rows in front of the Mori and the armored soldier.

"This is our guest Dan Mori," The soldier continued as he gestured to the teen beside him, "The Lucifer Maou-sama has chosen him to fight in an event at his younger sister's engagement party,"

When they heard this, whispers began floating around the rows of underworld soldiers.

"W-Woah, to be chosen personally by Sirzechs-sama to fight at such an event, what an honor,"

"I've never heard of a Dan Mori...Is he perhaps from the Human World, the Maou-sama has seemed interested in that place a lot lately?"

"He don' look like much, looks like he should be studyin' in a library somewhere,"

"He will be joining us for the sparring session today," The armored soldier announced then turned to look down at the boy and spoke in a quieter voice, "Have you warmed up your body?"

Mori nodded and replied honestly, "Yeah, I stretched when I was brushing my teeth,"

"Good enough," The armored soldier turned back to the others, clapped his hands twice, and yelled, "Positions! Prepare for combat trails!"

The sweat-drenched soldiers quickly separated and surrounded the sandstone stage in the middle of the arena, standing up straight with their hands behind their back.

"We'll get into sparring right away, are you okay with that?"

"Yeah that's fine, I prefer it this way too," Mori admitted with a small smile.

"Very well. After you, special guest Mori," The armored soldier said as he raised an arm to gesture towards the stage. The boy nodded and walked towards it. Upon reaching the sandstone platform he nonchalantly hopped up onto it and stepped into the center.

"We will begin with weaponless combat!" The leading soldier announced, "As our guest, you may choose how many people you want to fight. Two, Three, or Four, it's up to you,"

Mori looked around at the crowd of soldiers gathered neatly in rows around the stage. He hummed as he pondered and finally he had an answer. Turning back to the armored leader he pointed his fist towards him.

"Ten!" Mori grinned, "I want to fight ten!"

The soldiers at the bottom of the stage burst into a symphony of whispers and murmurs.

"Ten? Is this guy for real?"

"That's some confidence, who does he think he is?"

"Must be a fool then, we're members of the Maou Lucifer-sama's elite guard, there's a reason why our barracks are situated so close to the main castle itself,"

The leader smirked and chuckled, "Confident are you, I like it," he then pointed at certain members of the crowd, "...Squad 2! 3! And you two of Squad 6! Get up there and give us a good show!"

"Yes sir!" Ten soldiers immediately hopped onto the stage and subsequently surrounded Mori.

Mori shifted his feet to be shoulder-width apart, with his left foot in front of his right. His knees were slightly bent, then he raised his hands to be hanging around his chest area with his right hand guarding his chin and his left slightly forward but a bit lower. His dark eyes flicked around to look and measure the space between him and his opponents.

The ten elite guards slipped into their militaristic fighting stance. Both hands guarding the face and standing slightly side-on with their knees barely bent.

"Fighters Ready?" The armored leader raised his hand into the air, about to bring it down in a cutting motion to signal the start of combat, "Begi-,"

"General Vespertilio! General Verspertilio!" an exhausted voice cried out as its source pushed open the large, iron, double-doors. Instantly, all heads were turned towards the worn-out soldier who had burst into the training arena.

The General turned around with a stern expression and asked, "What is wrong soldier?"

"...West Training Arena...that Phenex...he's...wiping out all our men…we need...more people...over there..." the exhausted soldier panted as he slumped to the ground.

The General growled and rested his fingers on his hips, "Again? It hasn't even been twenty minutes since I sent the last batch over. The hell is wrong with that kid?"

On the stage, Mori cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow in confusion as he heard the conversation.

'Phenex? ...kid? Is Riser training or something in preparations for tomorrow? He sure doesn't look the type to do something like that'

"At this point, there'll be fewer healthy soldiers left to defend the Territories from a surprise attack," General Vesepertilio muttered, "I'll just have to go there myself and put an end to this,"

Turning around he waved his arm, "Men! Let us go and show that little firebird the true meanings of combat!"

"Yes sir!" the soldiers yelled, saluted, and started to jog in a parallel line formation to the training arena on the opposite side of the castle.

The General then gestured with his head to the azure-haired boy who was still on the sandstone stage, "You too Dan Mori, come with us. You'll catch a glimpse of how your opponent tomorrow fights,"

Mori nodded, "Okay," and jumped off the stage.

The boy had to admit, he was indeed curious. In the footage of the Rating Game the other day, it didn't look like Riser was going all out. Mori wanted to see what else he could do and if there are any special attacks he would have to watch out for.

After a quick journey through the halls of the giant castle, Mori and the General arrived at the second training arena and pushed open the doors, only to be met with a body flying straight over their heads.

The Western Training Arena was identical to the one on the Eastern side. The only noticeable difference was the unconscious or injured bodies of one hundred devil soldiers littered around the sandstone stage.

"Damn, he didn't restrain himself one bit," the General hissed.

On the stage only three soldiers remained, the first soldier charged, fists raised, at the Phenex. However, he was simply knocked aside by a backhand smack. The second launched at the Phenex with a flying kick, only to be swiftly greeted by the arena wall as he was brushed aside by a hook kick to his upper chest. When the third kicked off the ground, the Phenex stuck a hand out pointing at the soldier and the devil slowed his attack. It was as if he was in a daze, staring into the abyss and his pupils seemingly disappeared. His mouth parted as he slumped onto his knees, and dropped onto his side twitching on the ground with a slightly foaming mouth. The Phenex then lowered his arm.

As he turned around, Mori's eyes widened as his jaw dropped when he saw who it was.

"Hold on...Reiz!?" he exclaimed.

Upon hearing his name being called, the pale-haired devil hybrid slowly turned his head to the side and spotted Mori standing in front of the entrance, also taking notice of a fuming general standing beside him. Reiz glanced back at the small chaos that he had created, then smoothly stepped off of the stage and landed without a sound. The platinum-haired hybrid walked in the direction of the azure-haired boy.

"Hey! You fried bastard! What are you gonna do about all this!?" The General roared as he gestured violently around at the destroyed arena interior and his unconscious and injured soldiers.

Reiz didn't respond and with a stoic expression, he walked past Mori and the General, completely ignoring the outburst of the former.

"What?! Did he just-," The General snapped around and pointed a finger angrily at the Phenex, "Who the fuck do you think you are!? Show some respect! My rank is higher than yours! Hey! Stop right there! Hey! Don't ignore me, you bastard child! Hey!"

As he watched the large iron doors close, Mori decided at the last second to chase after his friend and barely slipped through a small closing gap. The uproar of the General behind him immediately ceased as he re-entered the castle. At the end of the hallway, he saw the tall silhouette of the hybrid.

Mori ran down the dimmed hallway, "Wait up! Reiz!"

The platinum-haired devil didn't slow down as Mori's cries seemed to enter one ear and exit through the other. The boy quickly caught up to him and circled around to cut him off from the front with his arms spread out to the side, stopping him from going around.

"Wha-?...How-?...Who-? What are you doing here?... Reiz?" Mori sputtered, even with the man standing in front of him, the teen still couldn't believe that his waiter friend, who he had always thought was a human, was in the Underworld, the Capital city, and the Maou Lucifer's castle no less.

Mori's gold pupils clashed with Reiz's brown as they stared at each other for what felt like an hour. When finally he spoke.

"So you're the one who I'll be up against," said Reiz. However, his voice no longer carried the friendly tone with a tinge of warmth from the past weeks. Instead, it was cold and distant, like a freezing wind blowing in from the arctic waters. The platinum-haired hybrid's gaze also seemed sharper than before resulting in an unwavering stone face.

"What?" Mori then suddenly remembered that Sirzechs never informed him of the mystery fighter's identity, and with Reiz's words, the boy quickly put two and two together, "...Wait so you're…?"

"The second representative of the Phenex Team," Reiz confirmed.

The Mori tried to reply, but nothing came out due to the shock. Seeing this the hybrid continued.

"Still, I'm a little surprised that you're the one who Sirzechs chose," said the platinum-haired young man, "I do see why. I've always known that you were different from everyone else since the first time we met,"

"Because of my peach addiction?" Mori asked, thinking back to the time on the bench, a day before the revelation of the supernatural world.

"No. That was just an observation that served as a perfect excuse to make the conversation seem normal. It was your power and energy that interested me,"

"My power and energy?" echoed Mori.

Reiz nodded slightly, "Your power. It was surprisingly large but somehow restricted. Like a titan-sized glacier with a small area of it melting off, but just enough for someone with skilled eyes to notice. And as for your energy, I was just glad to find someone with an aura that is similar to my own,"

"What do you mean similar to my own," Mori raised an eyebrow, "I'm not a devil like you, I'm human,"

'...I think' Mori added in his mind.

"You're not a human," Reiz informed sternly, "and I'm not a devil, not a full one anyway,"

"What are you talking about?" Mori asked as he glared at the platinum-haired hybrid.

"Tell me…," Reiz began, "Have you ever experienced random piercing headaches whenever you see something that looks strangely familiar? Do you ever get nostalgic or a feeling of deja vu when doing activities that would normally be natural? Do you sometimes see an eagle or some other animal around you that shouldn't be there and no one seems to notice? Have you ever had strange dreams or visions that felt more like lost memories from a different age?"

Mori's widened gaze traveled to the ground between the two. He couldn't believe it, the hybrid devil in front of him had listed off all the unexplained things that had been happening to him starting from the moment he woke up in the hospital. When he first saw the fountain in Kuoh's main park, he did indeed suddenly receive a splitting headache, and the same thing happened when he saw Riser's wings nearly two weeks ago. When taking strolls around nature he did indeed get washed over by both nostalgia and deja vu. Then there was the time on the island surrounded by the ocean and the islands in the sky, they truly did feel more like memories than dreams. Not to mention that both times included a small monkey companion who appeared in the real world for a day and nobody, not even the devils of Kuoh, saw the out-of-place primate wandering around town.

After a few seconds of silence, the hybrid continued, "As I said, we're not like the rest. I remember enough to have some clues on who I am. But, do you remember, who you are?"

"...I…," Mori tried to find the words but his mind was in scrambles.

"Well, I'm off, and you should get some rest too. Go sleep and have a nice long dream about getting Rias back from Riser, saving your friends from eternal servitude, and living a happy life in the Human World together. Because after tomorrow, that's all it will be. Nothing more than a dream...a wishful memory,"

With that, Reiz walked around and continued forward, disappearing in the shadows of the long, dark, hallway. Leaving Mori standing there with his back towards him, being attacked on all sides from all different kinds of emotions.

That night, on the rooftop of the Maou Lucifer's grand castle, Reiz perched on one of the many tall spires and was waiting for someone. He didn't have to wait much longer as a silver flash of light behind him signaled her arrival. Turning around, the young man faced Grayfia, who was hovering with her wings out.

"So do you have any news on my mother?" he asked hastily and Grayfia gave him a curt nod, "Please, tell me,"

"As you know, Lady Roze Phenex is currently residing in the Belial Household as a concubine of the Head of the House. However it looks like they didn't want their recently regained reputation tarnished so they have left her alone in the outskirts of their territory where she lives with her familiar in peace,"

Relief washed over Reiz as a smile appeared on his face for the first time in what seemed like decades. "That's good to hear, but how is she mentally and physically?"

"From what I saw, she's mostly fine," replied Grayfia, "But she does occasionally stare up at the sky for a few minutes,"

"...The sky…," Reiz murmured as he averted his gaze from the silver-haired maid to the nocturnal clouds.

…

…

…

"If that is all then I shall take my leave now," said Grayfia as her feet started to shimmer silver particles.

"One last thing," Reiz looked back at the devil maid, who dispersed the charging magic circle beneath her, and nodded to the young man.

"What is it?"

"Does...Does my mother know I'm here? In the Underworld?"

Grayfia thought for a moment before answering, "No, she doesn't. However, the news of the Rating Game between Rias-sama and Riser-sama, along with the coming Engagement Party and Wedding has spread wildfire across all devil territory. As it is an important occasion for the Devil Race, their Wedding will also be broadcasted live and so will the special events at the party. If your mother is still interested in noble affairs, she might see you fighting through a screen tomorrow,"

"I understand," replied Reiz quietly and sighed, "...Thank you...Grayfia,"

"I'm just following orders… That is what I would say if you were anyone but Roze Phenex's son. I don't like seeing her in her current state any more than you do. Good night and good luck Reiz," the silver-haired maid replied and disappeared in a circle the same color as her hair.

As she left, a soft breeze brushed against the devil-hybrid's skin as he turned around and gazed down at the illuminated, bustling capital city below. Then, the high-pitched, short, and sharp calls of a bird of prey reached his ears. Raising an arm in front of him, a myriad of different shades of brown flashed in front of his eyes and a Golden Eagle landed on his forearm.

"Thank you for keeping me company all these years when I was alone Feathers," Reiz smiled gently at the raptor as he stroked its neck with a finger, "I wish I could introduce you to my mother after my victory tomorrow. But unfortunately, I am the only one who can see you,"

The eagle released a series of soft clicks resonating from its throat.

"Yes, I know tomorrow's battle won't be easy, especially since I haven't observed Mori in combat before. I know nothing of his abilities and skills. I almost feel kind of bad, he's a good person, and has a respectable reason to fight tomorrow. But..."

The eagle bent its head down and started to preen its left wing.

"...Nevertheless, I will win,"

50 Years Ago

In the Underworld, several miles away from the outskirts of the general Devil Territory, laid acres of Evergreen Coniferous Forests, filled with all different varieties of vegetation such as cedar, pine, spruce, fir, and maple trees. The smallest of trees were the height of two-story buildings while the largest grew to towering heights where from a distance, the trees could mimic a city skyline. Not every tree sprouted green leaves, some had shades of purple while others were different shades of red, and rarely blue. The wood also ranged in colors, from white, brown, silver, and black. The forest floor was riddled with dead leaves, fallen branches, bark, stems, and occasionally, a small animal would scurry by, foraging for food, whether it is for the preparation of hibernation or not depended on the species. Ferns and bushes were also scattered around messily.

Although the environment looked peaceful, there were many different types of beasts roaming the lands. The scaley Basilisks and human-faced Manticores battled for control of territory and food. Ungulates such as Unicorns and Giant Boars the size of elephants grazed the forest floors. And the intense rivalry between the Griffons and Cocaktrice never seemed to end as the calls of the two species of half avian monsters could be heard occasionally from beyond the horizon and in the sky.

Within the dangerous forest, two young women looking to be in their early twenties were walking through the multicolored overgrowth.

The first was a fifty-year younger Grayfia who was on a day off from her job as the Gremory head maid. As opposed to the normal blue maid outfit, the silver-haired devil donned a black sleeveless shirt with caramel orange accents and two horizontal, parallel golden stripes running down near the middle. Her outfit also split apart slightly above her stomach and exposed her midriff. Long turquoise pants with white accents hugged her legs and equipped a pair of brown boots. Wrapped around her neck and left shoulder was a long cyan scarf that reached her hips. Grayfia's silver hair was tied up in a high ponytail and her red lipstick makeup was no longer present. Overall, the female devil looked more youthful than usual.

The second was a shorter and slightly slimmer girl whose bust size was nearly half the size of her companion's. Similar to the other members of her household she had pale skin, sapphire eyes, and blonde hair that was a lighter shade than the rest of her family, and long enough to reach just beneath her waist. It was also tied up in a ponytail style. She wore a white top that had a hole in the middle that exposed the top half of her cleavage and was held together by a brown leather corset with golden trims. The same material used for her corset was also used to create the leather bracers she wore. The young woman had chocolate-colored shorts that covered half her thighs and also equipped a pair of knee-high, white, and gold boots. Draped around her shoulders was a short, scarlet hooded cloak. Her name was Roze Phenex, the younger sister of the current Head of Household, Rhaegis Phenex.

"Remind me why we're out here Rozy?" Grayfia asked with a slightly annoyed expression as she had just avoided tripping over a tree root for the seventh time and running into a low-hanging branch for the tenth time. It had been roughly three hours since they entered the forest via flight.

"Because Fia," Roze chirped while brushing apart some tall ferns, "There's been a bounty on a devil-eating Chimera who is terrorizing the region, and I want us to hunt it down and bring it to justice!"

"Ugh, I can't believe I'm using this month's break to do this with you," Grayfia groaned.

"Love you too bestie~," Roze turned her head around and shot the silver-haired devil a wink along with a double finger heart.

Grayfia's lips twitched and the corners of her mouth trembled as she tried to hold in her laugh, but seconds later her mask broke and giggles came pouring out. Roze quickly joined in on the laughter and the two young female devils' voices echoed through a small portion of the forest.

"Ok...I will admit...it's nice to do these things once in a while," said Grayfia in between breaths as she wiped the tears hanging on her eyelids.

"Yeah, kinda reminds me of the things we used to do during the civil war days, not that those were good days but..." Roze agreed, "I can't stand being stuck inside the castle all day, it's so boooring,"

"You get bored at everything. If I recall correctly, you only joined the war because you wanted in on the action," the silver-haired maid narrowed her eyes judgingly at her friend.

"Hey! We Phenex are known for being nigh-indestructible and I didn't want our ability to go to waste and have our reputation be tarnished," retorted Roze with a huff.

Grayfia deadpanned, "Sometimes I wonder if you're adopted,"

"Fia~ that was mean," the blonde pouted at the silver-haired devil.

"Please don't make that face," Grayfia quickly raised her hands to block the sight of her friend's mouth, "Now you're reminding me too much of Serafall-sama,"

"Hmph," Roze playfully turned her head to the opposite side, her expression quickly relaxed and she explained to Grayfia, "Anyway, my point is, I just want some exciting to happen,"

"...Fair enough," Grayfia gave a small smile as she shrugged.

*CAW!*

The two devils turned their attention to the sky. Peeking through the canopy, they spotted what looked to be a crow diving bombing down into a section of the forest close to them. It wasn't an unusual sight, crows and ravens were one of the few rare creatures that exist naturally in both worlds.

But then...silence. Not even the rustling that would signal the bird piercing through the leafy rooftop. It was almost as if the crow was nothing more than an illusion.

…

…

…

"GET DOWN!"

Suddenly, faster than they could react, a silver blur burst out from the shadows of the forest, knocking Roze onto the ground with one arm and Grayfia behind the thick trunk of a nearby tree with the other.

A split second later, a fast beam of glowing, pale-yellow acid shot out from the undergrowth and continued over their heads, melting a small area of woodland behind them on impact.

"Wha-?" Roze spluttered at the abrupt appearance of the figure on top of her. Grayfia was also equally confused and was about to regain her senses when the mysterious humanoid being shouted out.

"REVAN NOW!" The mystery person jumped back onto his feet as another wave of plasma acid was fired from the undergrowth.

From the canopy, a new figure in black robes dropped down, and with a quick circular wave of his arms, a jade-colored barrier formed around them. Effectively deflecting the projectile back in the direction it came from.

"Damn it Aquilus, I thought you said there weren't any pedestrians in this forest," the newcomer named Revan growled as he dismissed the barrier.

"I thought your scouting skills were second to none," the man named Aquilus retorted, "How did you not notice them following us?"

"Oh! It's my fault now?" Revan spat back, "Who decided-,"

"HEY!" Roze who was back onto her feet, interjected with an angry finger pointed at the two strangers, "Who do you think you are calling us pedestrians!? This is our territory!"

"Roze calm down," Grayfia said as she put a hand on her friend's shoulder, then glared at the mystery newcomers, "But she's right, who are you and what just happened?"

"We don't need to tell you," Aquilus replied looking at the two young women from the corner of his eyes.

This Grayfia was slightly annoyed by this but kept a stone face, but as an incredibly annoyed female Phenex was about to yell back, the silver-haired devil answered.

"Well the way I see it, two strangers have arrived on Devil Territory in what to looked to be an ambush attack," Grayfia raised her arm towards the duo and a dark purple orb of magic flickered to life in her palm, "Naturally I will have to defend myself even if that means killing the two of you,"

Roze nodded and mimicked the gesture of her companion, but instead of an orb, her hand became cloaked in a veil of hellfire.

"That's right, and unless you tell us your reasoning for being here and apologize for knocking us over. We will turn you into nothing but ash to fertilize the ground," the blonde threatened.

Now that the two of them were standing still, the two female devils could have a good look at their appearance.

They both donned ancient eastern-styled clothing. The one named Revan wore a predominantly black robe with blue trims, while the one named Aquilus wore a silver robe with pale-yellow trims, coincidentally the same color as Roze's hair.

Revan's hair was long, dark, and silky, flowing down to the middle of his back. Aquilius had short earth-colored hair with a long antenna-like strand that framed the right side of his face. The former had pale irises with black pupils and the latter had golden eyes with the same-colored pupils as his companion Both were a head taller than Grayfia who was half a head taller than Roze.

The two female devils couldn't help but notice that they slightly resembled a crow and eagle respectively.

"We have no time for introductions, they're coming back," Aquilus hissed as he and his companion turned to look into the forest.

"Who?" Grayfia questioned without dropping her hand.

On cue, the group heard three sharp consecutive thuds above them. Looking up the two devils saw the source of the acid and what was chasing the two men.

It was unlike anything they've ever seen in their five hundred years of being alive.

A creature of large stature with broad shoulders and long bulky limbs was sticking onto a trunk high in the treetops. Rock-sized warts covered its back as mucus seeped through the skin of its chest and stomach region. A large flat head was attached to the body without a neck and pupil-less eyes sprouted on top of its head. Its hands and feet were webbed and clawed. The only bit of clothing on the creature was the pair of ripped trousers it had on. Gas leaked when it snorted through slit nostrils. As it smiled, it revealed a row of deadly sharp, yellow teeth. This first creature was murky green in color.

The other two were spread out but perched on branches around the group on the ground, trapping them in a rounded triangle, their appearance was nearly the same as the first except one was crimson while the other was a dirty yellow color. Instead of warts, the crimson creature had spikes protruding from its shoulders and back and the yellow creature had a reptilian sail running along its spine.

"Are those frogs? They look disgusting," Roze whispered to Grayfia who subtly shrugged.

"Toads," informed Revan who didn't take his eyes off the amphibian trio above them, "...Yokai...of the Amphus Kingdom,"

"Aren't Yokai supposed to be more human-like?" the silver-haired devil questioned.

"Only the royal or strongest ones," Revan replied, "Unless they were corrupted during their evolution process,"

"Corrupted?" Grayfia echoed. As the daughter of the Lucifuge House, she had studied a decent amount about the world around them during her earlier decades, which included the Yokai species. But it seemed like there were some holes that the author of those encyclopedia books left out. Whether they didn't know, or if it was on purpose or not is unknown.

"They're not the Yokai that are present in common knowledge, it's the closest example I could think of. They're…," Revan began, "...Similar beings,"

As Revan was talking, Roze's mind was still on something he said a few seconds earlier, 'What's the Amphus Kingdom? I haven't heard of it before', she thought.

"Where's the fourth one?" Aquilus said suddenly, the trio of creatures always in the peripheral vision of his golden eyes while he scanned the canopy.

Revan blinked at his friend before the realization hit him, and he began frantically looking around, "Shit you're right,"

A clawed hand suddenly erupted from the ground underneath the group, grabbing tightly onto Roze's ankle. The amphibians above took this as the signal to attack and all three simultaneously dived down. In midair, the Green Toad opened its mouth and sprayed gas onto its hands, cloaking them in a thick bubble of poison. The Crimson Toad curled into a ball, rapidly spinning and descending at a frightening pace. The Yellow Toad hit the ground first, landing on all fours. It opened its mouth and as the inside started to shine bright green as did its sail. The fourth toad underground kept a vice-like grip on the Phenex's foot.

Roze immediately tried to sear the hand latched onto her with her flames, but to no avail, the only thing burning was the patch of forest floor beneath her. Grayfia quickly redirected her hand and blasted the Crimson amphibian cannonball, sending it flying off in a different direction away from the group.

Revan stomped his foot on the ground and generated a wall of energy that deflected a beam of acid fire from the Yellow Toad. Electricity sparked around Aquilus's right foot, as he dropped down and performed a sweep. Slicing off the amphibious hand gripping onto the blonde devil. Blood spurted out of the wound and it started to steam while slipping back into the hole.

"Thanks," said Roze, but Aquilus ignored her and had already begun surveying the ground around them.

Just as he suspected, the soil nearby started to bubble and rise. The fourth toad was brown in color and bigger than its brethren, emerged from the ground, hissing at the one who cut off his hand. At the same time, the toad powered by poison gas dropped down behind Grayfia, it shot out to quick jabs that the silver-haired woman barely dodged. Roze instantly went to back up her friend and fired a javelin of fire into its back directly into one of its warts. It exploded on impact, knocking the amphibian forward and it would've crashed into Grayfia if she had not taken cover behind a tree.

A blade of lightning sparked to existence from the palms of Aquilus. He pointed it at the handless toad and their fight to the death began.

The two lunged at each other and Aquilus was the first to land the attack with a downward slash that split the toad's fist in half. The amphibian croak-roared and reared back from the sudden loss of its other hand. Using this as an advantage Aquilus dropped down and spun, cutting open the lower portion of its shins, forcing it onto its knees. He expertly flipped over his fallen opponent and after a couple of flashy twirls of his electric sword, he turned and forced the blade into the Brown Toad's nape that came out the other side through its mouth.

Blood came spraying out and at the same time, a surge of lightning ran through every cell of the amphibian. Its body began to charr and bloat until it looked like a burnt bubble before it exploded. Splattering the surrounding area and Aquilius's clothes with soot guts and evaporating blood.

"That's the easy one down," he murmured.

Looking around he spotted Roze and Grayfia having slight trouble with the Toad of Poison Gas but it looked like he didn't need to interfere there. Revan was summoning chi-energy walls to slowly enclose the Toad of Acid into a smaller confined space while deflecting beams of scalding substance to the side. The Toad of Burrowing was dead and the Toad of Spikes was most likely already making its way back to the battlefield after being blasted a fair bit away. Having made up his mind to be on the lookout for that particular amphibian, Aquilus leaped onto a high branch and perched there, searching for signs of its incoming presence.

Closeby, Grayfia and Roze continued to battle with the Gas Toad, for its anatomical build, it was fast, and the choking spores leaking from the warts on its back didn't help. It had an annoying ability to become a poisonous pinball bouncing from tree to tree at high speeds, making it difficult to hit with a blast. It didn't have a set attack pattern either, coming forward at random times to strike with its gas cloaked fists, sometimes it would attack three to four times in a row then go back to bouncing around and other times it would hang back to do nothing but observe them.

"This is getting really annoying," Roze growled. In an attempt to not lose sight of the creature, her sapphire eyes darted all over the place.

"I have an idea," Grayfia fired a homing orb of magic into the trees hoping that it would make contact with the toad.

The Gas Toad saw the blast coming and maneuvered itself onto the forest floor. However, it was not expecting the magic bullet to weave around the trees and connect directly to its back. The creature croaked out in surprise as the attack forced its body to be half-buried in the soil. The warts across its back exploded from the impact and released even more poison gas into the air. The toxic puss that squirted out of its injured skin was soon replaced by blood. Even with all the damage dealt, it still had the strength to slowly push itself off the ground.

"Roze now!" Grayfia shouted.

The Phenex girl nodded and her hands lit ablaze as she put them together. She leaped above the toad and fired her attack. Roze's flames came out like multiple thick strings stemming from her palms. A large web of fire covered the toad and each strand slowly sunk in unison into its skin. Its piercing scream echoed as the flames burnt deep into its exposed flesh.

The two female devils watched as the searing strings slowly melted through the Toad of Gas. Its nerves went into overdrive and flailed its limbs around as it was being roasted alive from the inside out. The cracking of bone and the popping of burnt flesh had also reached their ears. In the end, the Gas Toad exploded into a pile of charred guts, dust, and toxic gas.

"Serves him right," sneered Roze.

With Revan, he was still doing his best to cage the Acid Toad into a small confined space. The amphibian creature started to get desperate and rapidly fired bullets of acid in every direction, only for it to be a futile attempt as the liquid slid down the blue-energy walls. Soon it was compressed into a small barrier dome that barely gave it breathing room. Seeing this, Revan knew his setup was finished and with his left hand controlling the barrier, he flicked his right in the air. The long sleeves of his robe unveiled his hand. The skin from his elbow to his fingertips started to shed and revealed black scales underneath. Revan's fingers were slightly more elongated than before and each fingernail had transformed into five, pitch-black talons.

He reached around his back and by using his talons, he sliced off several strands of his long hair. Revan then threw them up into the air, and the strands of hair instantly transformed into one hundred black feathers. With a twirl of his finger, the feathers sharpened and grew in size to be the same length as his arm. A slight flick of his wrist and the feather blades started to point towards the trapped toad inside the barrier. Both the man and the creature knew what was about to happen.

Revan released the barrier around the Acid Toad and immediately stomped forward with a raised palm, sending the rain of sharpened feathers towards the amphibian. The toad saw this coming and jumped into the air, dodging ten of the feather blades. Unfortunately for him, the other ninety diverged up and impaled themselves into every inch of the Acid Toad's skin. The creature fell like a spiky sack of potatoes. But Revan wasn't done, he pointed two fingers at the fallen amphibian and flicked the fingers towards the sky. Each feather on the Acid Toad's carcass glowed a dark blue and exploded in a bright blue flash, leaving no remains of the creature behind.

"Phew," Revan breathed out in relief as his forearm regained its human form.

With the third toad dead, the four regrouped.

"Is that all of them?" Grayfia asked.

"No," Aquilus replied, "There's still the one you shot away earlier,"

"Then it's probably dead already," said Roze, "Unless she wills it, no one survives Fia's blasts,"

"I doubt it, the Spiked one has very durable armor and is invulnerable to nearly all attacks when it's rolling. But its soft underbelly is its greatest weakness," Revan explained, "Only when they fight as a group are they difficult to face, and seeing as you both now know that alone they are weaker. I hope you can help us defeat the last one,"

The Phenex princess opened her mouth to speak, "I-,"

*CRASH*

Then the topic of their discussion came barreling through the forest, cutting Roze off. Completely caught off guard from the ambush Roze stood still as she faced the spiked rolling toad, causing Aquilus to spring towards her and pull her out of the way. However, it seems like he had also reacted slowly. Holding her in his arms, Aquilus noticed that Roze's whole left arm had been torn straight off. The blonde also realized that there was no feeling on her left and she yelled out in pain. Blood gushed onto the ground for only a moment and before she started to regenerate.

As the Spike Toad charged towards the other two, Revan stopped it in its tracks and lifted the toad into the air with his magic. The black-haired man started to pry open the creature's limbs to reveal its weak point, the amphibian quickly realized what was happening and tightened its muscles in an attempt to resist. Revan was soon able to create a small opening for attack.

"Someone now!" he exclaimed.

Grayfia acted quickly and wasted no time in shooting a purple blast into the Crimson Toad's stomach. The hole in its abdomen started to widen and red liquid flowed out like a waterfall along with its organs. Bits of the white of its spine could be seen if one peered into the hole for more than ten seconds.

Revan released his spell and the body dropped onto the ground. Without another word, he stepped forward and incinerated the carcass using fire magic.

"Now, we're done," he told Grayfia who nodded.

"Are you okay? Have you finished regrowing your limb?" asked Aquilus, looking down at the Phenex girl who was still leaning against him with an arm wrapped around his waist.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Then you can let go now,"

"O-Oh, s-sorry," Roze speedily released her arm and stepped to her side. Her cheeks were dusted with pink. Thankfully for her, none of them seemed to notice.

The two men joined each other's side while the women did the same.

"As I said before, that group was a very difficult adversary for us when they fought together, but with you two being here and separating them, we had a chance to turn the tide against them.

You lent us your aid in a fight that wouldn't have benefited you, for that my friend and I are thankful of both of you," Revan and Aquilus bowed their heads towards Grayfia and Roze who both looked a little sheepish from the gratitude.

"I suppose we owe you introductions don't we," said Aquilus.

"You owe us more than that," whispered Roze, causing Grayfia to pinch her on the arm.

The two men straightened up and sharply put their feet together. In perfect sync, they both pushed a fist into an open palm and saluted the two devils.

"Aquilus, of the Demon Realm,"

"Revan, of the Demon Realm,"

"We are members of the Neo Avian Army, a reformed and more honorable version of the old, Army of the Roc Demon King," explained Aquilus.

"Those creatures we just fought are from the Amphus Kingdom, a backwater kingdom that is trying to take over our lands," Revan continued.

"Demon Realm?" Grayfia looked confused as did her friend Roze, "Isn't this realm the demon realm?"

"And who's the Roc Demon King and this army?" Roze questioned.

"...Um, well…," Aquilus and Revan began to also look equally confused, "Well for starters of course this isn't the Demon Realm,"

"And the Roc Demon King is a legendary figure of ours,"

"What do you mean this isn't the Demon Realm?/Who? I've never heard of him," Grayfia and Roze said simultaneously.

"Underworld and Demon Realm are two very distinctive locations/ Of course, you haven't," Revan and Aquilius replied simultaneously.

"How so?/Then why don't you tell me," the two female devils stepped towards the two bird demons.

"I think we've said too much," Revan whispered.

"Agreed," Aquilius nodded.

"Well, it's been a fun time but we really need to get going now," Raven said as he faked a yawn, "We're tired and we need to report what happened here, come on Aquilus,"

"Hold on," Grayfia summoned a purple orb and pointed it at the duo. She wanted answers, and so did her friend.

"Don't think you're getting away without properly explaining everything," Roze raised a fiery arm towards them.

The two males exchanged glances for a second. Then they both abruptly leaped into the canopy, using the branches to act as cover. They jumped out of the leafy treetops and with a swirl of blue light, Aquilus and Revan transformed into an eagle and crow respectively. Flying into the clouds and out of sight.

30 Years Later

Over the course of three decades, neither Grayfia nor Roze caught a glimpse of the shadow of the avian demons again. The two devils agreed that they would never mention what happened to anyone and the event that occurred in the forest that day had been branded in their minds forever. For Grayfia, it was in the top three list for the most memorable days off she's ever had. The fight with the Amphibian Creatures made her blood race, something that hadn't happened in nearly three centuries. Perhaps her Phenex friend was right, it was good physically and mentally to get out and fire a few blasts every now and then. For Roze, it was the face of the eagle demon. She didn't know why and no matter how many times she tried to convince herself otherwise, it was a face she wanted to see again.

Neither had forgotten the mentions of the 'Demon Realm' or the 'Roc Demon King'. For thirty years, both had tried to dig up information about the two subjects but strangely nothing came up. Even scouring nearly every section of the Grand Library in the Capital City they came up short. A place where for multiple millennia since the ruling of the original Lucifer, knowledge from all kinds of sources was stored.

The closest they had gotten to anything that seemed like an answer was an old tale about Nine Demon Kings waging war against the Heavens. But the problem was, it was a tale, a story, nothing but a legend to tell the children and was entertaining to listen to. And that was it. Perhaps it was created to serve as a morale booster in times of struggle, or propaganda during an ancient war, or just something someone with a big imagination threw together one day and it just got popular.

Scholars and Historians from all different races throughout the entire supernatural world had gathered through the centuries to debate about this and ultimately, everyone agreed that the Heavenly War between Gods and Demons never happened. There was just no evidence to prove that these events had ever occurred.

Until that day.

The two strangers from the so-called 'Demon Realm', mysteriously appearing in the Underworld, fighting creatures they had never seen before, from a place they had never heard of. Soldiers with abilities that weren't unfamiliar but had unusual auras. Divine yet demonic, animalistic yet human. They then mentioned a mysterious being called the Roc Demon King, someone that was a legend to them to the point where the brown-haired soldier named Aquilus even looked a little offended when the two female devils said that they had never heard of him before. And when the two devils decided to push for more answers, they vanished as swiftly as they came. Building the suspicion that there was a secret that they had nearly accidentally leaked out. An unknown world that flourished, hidden away from all the things that had been happening in the centuries before.

Driven by her curiosity for the unknown realm and the hidden desire to see the eagle demon again, Roze Phenex was searching for answers in the one location where all the other realms would regularly crossover, the Human World. The Phenex girl had asked Grayfia to join her, but despite desiring to join her friend in her journey, the silver-haired maid rejected the offer as she had responsibilities in the Underworld. Being the Head Maid of the Gremory Household and Queen of the Maou Lucifer gave her a full schedule.

The blonde devil was currently wandering through the wilderness of East Asia, and more specifically central China. According to some older variations of the 'Tale of the Nine Kings', the majority of the battles that were fought in the Human Realm occurred in and around the East Asian country, so Roze thought it was a good place to start.

It is said in the tale that the Avian Demon King and the Lizard Demon King teamed up to fight against Zeus, Poseidon, Thor, Freyr, Susanoo, Lei Gong, and the Four Dragon Kings, simultaneously in a great battle to determine who had the strongest command of the storms. In some versions, even Indra joined the fight. The tale even goes on to say that it was this clash between God-level powers that caused both the sinking of the mythical city of Atlantis and the great global flood present in multiple mythologies. And in each version of The Tale of the Nine, this very battle occurred over the East China Sea.

It was safe to say that Roze wasn't getting any luck in finding the truth. She had already spent three months roaming the country, looking for clues and hints, anything that could help her in her investigation.

The sky was setting and in the mountains, Roze walked through a maze of towering, stone, pillar-like formations that had dense foliage decorated on the summit and lined among the crevices. The Phenex princess decided that the top of the highest pillar would be a good place to rest for the night and she flew to the top using her fiery wings.

As she settled on the surprisingly soft summit grass, the blonde didn't notice that something was watching her from afar.

"Is that?... What is she doing here?" thought an eagle that perched atop another sandstone pillar close-by. When it saw that the blonde devil was about to start a fire, Aquilus launched himself off the tree branch he was on and sped towards Roze.

The Phenex only saw a flash of blue light in the corner of her eye before being tackled onto the floor by a sudden force. She looked up at her attacker and saw the lightning blade of Aquilus a hairs length away from her throat with the man himself pinning her onto the ground.

"What business do you have here Devil?"

"A-A-A-Aquilus?!" Roze sputtered and red-tinted her features when she saw his face. She wasn't expecting the Eagle Demon to appear so abruptly and this was not the way she had imagined meeting him again.

The eagle growled, "Speak,"

"I-I-I'm….searching for….searching for you!" the devil replied. She wasn't wrong, mostly.

Aquilus stared at the girl beneath him, her constant fidgeting and averted glances had told him plenty about what was going on here. Sighing through his nose, he got back onto his feet and shook his hand to deactivate the lightning blade. As he got up, Aquilus also managed to pull Roze onto her feet and the female devil started to dust off her pants.

As she did, the eagle told her, "You should go. The Demon Realm doesn't welcome outsiders. If it was anyone else patrolling, you would've been killed on sight,"

"Yeesh, you're kind are a happy bunch aren't they," Roze commented.

"Do not question our actions when you don't know our history, it is needed for the security of our borders," replied Aquilus.

"So," Roze's eyes lit up, "You're saying I've finally made it to the Demon Realm? I didn't expect this country to be it but-"

"Several pathways to it exist here," explained Aquilus, "I'm just guarding one of the openings for the week. I've said enough, now, please leave,"

"Why so eager to see me go? I want to see more," Roze pouted, "Besides you owe me, twice,"

"For what?"

"Well for starters, I let you out of Underworld alive and I did help you beat one of those Frog City lackeys or something. How's that fight going by the way?"

Aquilus folded his arms, "We would've left the Underworld alive even if you would've attacked us, your realm's border security really needs to be tightened by the way. And to answer your question we repelled the Amphus Kingdom that same year. So in the end it indeed looks like, I owe you,"

"Exactly,"

"But only one, not two,"

"Ah," Roze thought for a while, "...Fine,"

"But I will not take you to the Demon Realm," Aquilus told her with a stern expression, "If I bring a stranger in I'll be executed, and I will not risk my life for you,"

"Ok, ok, ok," Roze replied, annoyed that her chances to enter the hidden world she had researched about, had now fallen to negative numbers. Then a bright idea entered her mind.

"If I can't enter the Demon Realm, then you can answer some of my questions….truthfully," Roze exclaimed with a bright grin pointing at the Eagle Demon.

"...I can do that,"

Aquilus's answer sparked a cheer from Roze and under the light of the stars of a clear night sky, the two sat down on the grass atop the skyscraper-sized pillar-formation.

"First off," Roze began, "What is the Demon Realm?"

The Eagle Demon pondered for an answer, then he replied, "Home,"

…

…

…

"That's not enough information!" Roze cried in exasperation.

"Alright, alright, I get your point," Aquilus lightly chuckled, amused at her reaction but soon began to explain properly.

"The Demon Realm is a world even larger than this one and Underworld combined. Contrary to its name, it is a place of unmatched beauty. Multiple different biomes and landscapes are scattered through the lands. Seas deeper than the abyss but teeming with life. Forests with trees taller and as thick as mountains. Entire archipelagos of large islands in the sky. A glacial wonderland in the north, and an ocean of warm golden sand in the west. Go south and there are caves that contain glowing forests deep inside and to the east are volcanic lands stretching beyond the horizon. All different kinds of creatures live there, if we do not include us Demons. There are Dragons, Phoenixes, Tigers, Haetaes, Qilins, Ents, herds of a Hundred Thousand Flying Horses, and many more that it would take days to list them all. Great Cities full of culture, at minimum ten times the size of your capital in the Underworld, are spread throughout the regions,"

Roze could only stare, awestruck at Aquilus's description of his homeworld, "Dang it. Now I want to go there even more~,"

"But it was not always like this," the eagle continued, "The Demon Realm only started to know true peace only around 1000 years ago, after…..,"

"After…?" Roze leaned in closer, she had a hunch on what he was going to say next.

"The Heavenly War,"

"I KNEW IT!" The Phenex girl jumped to her feet in joy and squealed in excitement, "I knew it was real! Those people can say all they want but the legendary battle between the Demons and Gods really happened!"

"Ah, of course, our major historical event has been turned into some sort of fairytale outside our realm," Aquilus sweatdropped at the energetic girl's actions, "And from what I've seen and heard, the...international version of the tale is heavily romanticized and very inaccurate,"

"How so? How so?" Roze leaned in even closer to the point where her face was inches away from the eagle demon's. But she was eager to find out the truth.

"Well, for starters, their titles are completely wrong," Aquilus stated, "The Avian Demon is the legendary ruler of the kingdom I hail from, the Roc Demon King. The Lizard Demon is the Saurian Demon King. The Yak is really the Bull Demon King. King Nemea is really the Lion Demon King. And the Simian Triplets are actually three separate beings who are not blood-related at all. They are the Langur-Macaque Demon King, the Snub-Nosed Simian Demon King, and the Handsome Monkey Demon King. I also don't know why the Black Tiger Demon King and the Wooly Horn Demon King were turned into the Feral Cat Emperor and the Chief of Unicorns. Like I said before, the widely known version of the tale of the nine kings is full of inaccuracies,"

Throughout the rest of the night, Aquilus continued to tell Roze the true version of the Heavenly War. It felt as if time had quickened during their long conversation and light was starting to become visible on the horizon, signaling the dawn's quick approach.

"And now, we have no idea where they are and how many of them are still active," said the eagle demon, "We gave up the search for them centuries ago to focus on fully rebuilding the Demon Realm. And it looks like that it was the best decision our kind had made in a couple millennia,"

"...W-Wow…," Roze could only look at the grass in shock after hearing the truth. Her mission was technically now complete. Thirty long years and now she finally knew, she only wished Grayfia was with her to hear this because if she told her this in person, there was no chance the silver-haired queen would believe her.

"So...do...do their kingdoms still exist? The Kings'," Roze carefully asked.

Aquilus shook his head.

"In order to keep the peace and to prevent any potential corruption from their influence, all territories that belonged to the kings were marked as forbidden regions and powerful but invisible barriers were erected around them. The only life that exists within are the flora,"

"But didn't you say that the Roc Demon King used to rule your kingdom?" the Phenex asked in confusion.

"The Avians simply moved to another archipelago and have fought hard to restore our lost reputation and honor...the Sky Isles haven't been our home for a long time," Aquilus clarified and received an understanding nod from the blonde devil.

"Did the other races move too?"

"Yes, and while most of the old kingdoms were kept intact to remind us of our past, several were separated from our world and sent into the Rift,"

"Liiiike?"

"The Flaming Mountains of the West. The Glades of Legacy of the South. And...The Flower Fruit Mountain of the East,"

After Aquilus finished, the two remained silent for a couple of minutes before the eagle broke the ice.

"Well I've told you what you wanted to know," he said as he got onto his feet, "I hope I've satisfied your thirst for knowledge but it's now time for you to go home,"

Roze stared up into Aquilus's golden bird-like eyes for a moment and slowly picked herself off the grass.

She sighed in satisfaction, "You're right, it is time I head back,"

A flaming magic circle bearing the Phenex symbol appeared beneath her feet, as she was about to leave, she asked the eagle one last thing.

"Will I ever see you again?"

"If destiny wills it,"

"I see," the Phenex princess gently smiled at him, "Aquilus...Thank You,"

The Eagle returned the smile and folded his arms, "I owed you didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did,"

"...Well," As the orange and yellow light beneath the blonde devil shone brighter and brighter, the Phenex waved her goodbye at the avian demon, "See you again...if destiny wills it,"

"Roze!" Aquilus suddenly yelled as the devil began to teleport away, a hint of desperation, haste, and entreat present in his tone, "Promise me that you will never tell anyone about our world! You now know our history and why we want to be left alone! So please, let it remain hidden!"

The magic circle teleported her away before he could hear her answer. But he had a feeling that she agreed.

As time went on, Grayfia noticed that Roze was taking trips to the human world more frequently, and each trip would last for longer periods of time, from days to months. Whenever the silver-haired queen wanted to meet up with her friend, she would always be somewhere far away. The Phenex girl spent more time on Earth than the Underworld lately and it seemed that both Grayfia and the Phenex Household could see it. Whenever Roze would return, her face was always blissful but she would never tell anyone why.

Grayfia had wanted to find out the reasoning but her busy schedule prevented her from doing so. However, she trusted her friend of several centuries and decided to leave her to do her own things. The blonde devil will tell her when she's ready...she always does.

In the human world, Roze was secretly meeting up with Aquilus. Each time, she would go to the same pillar-formation where they had met again, and the Eagle Demon would wait there for her. In the beginning, Roze had wanted to hear more tales that came from the Demon Realm and the Avian happily complied.

Eventually, these frequent visits sparked something new and different between the two of them. Before they knew it, they were engaged in an intimate relationship forbidden on both sides. On Roze's side, there were the strict regulations and traditions that the proud Phenex House followed, things such as, all offspring must be devils of pure-blood and that the Patriarch must decide the spouses. For Aquilus, it was the risk of being executed by his Kingdom for having an outsider as a mate. But the eagle couldn't blame his kind for having these kinds of laws on loyalty, it was the fear of betrayal that drove them to create it. As it was the betrayal of their legendary leader that shattered their honor and reputation which they spent centuries upon centuries to regain, and even to this day, some residents of the Realm still don't trust the Avians.

Despite all this, the two didn't seem to care as they had taken many precautions to not let anyone know. Even going as far as planning to fake their deaths so they can elope to the human world and stay there for life.

Unfortunately for them, a year after being together, a surprise visitor bearing some grave news had arrived. Revan, Aquilus's good friend had abruptly burst through one of the pathways and interrupted one of their meetings.

Outraged at his sudden arrival and at the fear of being caught, Aquilus confronted his old friend but when he got closer he noticed a number of injuries on the crow demon including an arm, severed at the elbow, a large gash across his cheek and back, and multiple stab wounds that ripped through his thigh and pierced through his abdomen. The eagle's fury was immediately quenched and went to aid his friend with Roze following him.

"Revan, speak to me what happened?" Aquilus questioned as he gently set the black-haired crow's back to lean against a smooth boulder.

"...They came...so suddenly...we didn't have time...to prepare for a...defense much less...a counter...attack…," Revan coughed as he struggled to speak with the building blood in his throat, "We need you...on the frontlines...please...Aquilus...we need everyone...we can get…,"

Revan's grey eyes flicked over to look at Roze and then back to his oldest friend, "Heh...unlike the others...I approve of this...of you two…,"

"You knew?" Aquilus whispered.

"Course I did...but please...don't forget who you are...what you are...and why we trained all those years...we have to defend...what is left of our kind…,"

"I made an oath back then and you have my word now," Aquilus gripped the hand of Revan tightly, "Tell me who did this?"

Before he could answer, a series of violent coughs came out of the Crow Demon, and more than half of them had blood spilling out of his mouth. Revan's gaze started to become static, looking like he was staring off into space. His hyperventilating breath slowed but the crow tried his hardest but failed to keep his breaths steady. His remaining hand's grip around his friend loosened and Aquilus could feel the fainting heartbeat through the veins on his wrist.

"...The...Arthrovian Dominion...and...the…the...A...A...A...,"

"The what?" Aquilus asked with desperation, "Stay awake old friend. Tell me who else?! Who else did this!?"

But when no answer came from the Crow Demon, Aquilus and Roze both knew the reason why.

Revan was dead.

Aquilus inhaled deeply and with a slow shaky exhale, closed his friend's eyelids as his body began to disintegrate into blue, ash-like particles.

When his body had disappeared, Aquilus stood up and turned to face Roze with a determined but saddened expression on his face.

"I have to go,"

"I'll come with you," the Phenex stepped towards him and wrapped her hands around his waist.

Aquilus gently gripped her arms and pushed them down, releasing her grip around him, "No, this is something I must do alone,"

"I want to help, Revan said that you need everyone you can get," Roze retorted.

"This fight doesn't concern you, Roze," said Aquilus and he kissed the top of her forehead. Then he softly stroked his hand over the blonde devil's belly, "Besides, you have to stay here and protect our child don't you?"

He didn't wait for her to respond as he instantly leaped off the edge, transforming into his eagle form and a bright shimmer glazed over his body as he returned to the Demon Realm.

"...You'd better come back to me...to us," Roze murmured as she stood on the tall sandstone pillar, staring at the last seen location of her partner.

10 Months Later

"WE CANNOT KEEP THE BOY!"

Yelled a tall man wearing an expensive red suit with blue eyes and short golden hair with a matching mustache and goatee. He was Rhaegis Phenex, the current Lord of the Phenex House after the previous head retired right after the Civil War five hundred years ago.

"THE PHENEX ARE A LONG-STANDING PURE-BLOODED FAMILY, IT IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE MOST PROUD OF AND WE CANNOT LET THAT REPUTATION BE TARNISHED NOW! ESPECIALLY BY SOME BASTARD HALF-BREED THAT CAME FROM WHO KNOWS WHERE!"

Rhaegis along with his two oldest sons, Ruval and Rezon Phenex who were five-hundred and three-hundred respectively, stood around a long marble table in the middle of a meeting room in the giant castle that belonged to their Household. With them surrounding the table was the previous patriarch, he was an older man wearing a gray bathrobe, looking to be in his forties with short hair and a beard that reached his chest, and beside him was his consort, a woman with the appearance of a forty-year-old with a fancy-looking bob cut hairstyle wearing a matching bathrobe.

"Father, please, calm down and try to think rationally for a moment here," Rezon said as he stepped forward and placed his hands onto the warm table, "Yes, like you said the child is...illegitimate, but what would happen if the boy is another of those Super-Devils like Sirzechs Lucifer and Ajuka Beelzebub, surely that would be nothing but beneficial for the Phenex,"

"That's impossible Rezon," The former matriarch said while sipping a cup of tea from her seated position on the other end of the table, "Need I point out the obvious that both Sirzechs and Ajuka are pure-bloods, and as far as the research goes, only pure-bloods can obtain the genetics to reach that level of power,"

Rezon looked up at the senior woman and retorted in a calm tone, "Grandmother, that research can't be trusted completely if there are only two of them in existence. Reiz is but barely a month old, and we would have to wait a bit to see if truly does have some sort of power. You cannot throw away a fruit that is yet to ripen,"

This time the former patriarch spoke up, "The grandchild speaks the truth my dearest, even Phoenix hatchlings are naked and helpless for their first months, Little Reiz is still too young to activate his flames,"

"That is if he has any," Rhaegis snorted and folded his arms.

The patriarch ignored him and kept going, "Time will tell if he is truly gifted or a disaster for our family. Still, I am glad that I have another grandson regardless, pure-blooded or not, he is still a Post-War Generation Devil and should be treated the same as Little Riser. Every new life is precious to our race you know,"

"Father you can't be serious about keeping him," the older man simply hummed in response to his son's question, "Are you serious? What about all the lectures you gave me on pure-blood reputation and pride?"

"That was before we lost over half of our species Rhaegis, we must do what we can to preserve what we have left!" the former patriarch replied in a stern tone.

"I can't believe this...Mother, what do you think?"

"I don't like that Rozy went out and bred with a stranger, in fact, I hate it, she should've been married to the Belial House as we planned,"

"Exactly, Father can't you s-," Rhaegis was cut off once again.

"But, your father and second son are right, it is still too early to tell if the child is going to be a beneficial addition to the House, but as of now every new devil with the blood of the Pillars must be looked after and protected properly, half-breed or not,"

"This is madness, whatever happened to our pride as the House with the highest number of Pure-Blooded High Ranking Devils!?" the current patriarch exclaimed and slammed his hands down onto the table.

Then his eldest son, Ruval stepped forward.

"Father, like it or not, Aunt Roze is a Phenex Noble and the boy carries her blood. And also, need I remind you that one of your very own grandchildren, my daughter isn't a pure-blood either," the heir told him.

"What?" Rhaegis slowly looked back at him.

"Her mother used to be human, and whatever little traces of human genetics was inside her, was transmitted down to my daughter," Ruval explained, "In that sense, your granddaughter is not a pure-blood either but I don't and have never seen you complaining about her,"

"That's different," The Head of the House growled.

Ruval shook his head, "No father, you're just afraid that our family will change too much from what it once was, but the truth is that we must start accepting non-pures into our family for us to progress and keep our spot as one of the strongest Houses in the Underworld. "

Rezon nodded at his sibling's words, "Brother is correct, all the other clans are using the evil pieces to their advantage and rebuilding their Household thus recovering from their great loss several centuries ago. While not too important for us at the moment, it is still inevitable in the future. Father sooner or later, you will have to accept half-bloods,"

"How about this," The previous patriarch suddenly spoke up with an authoritative tone, "We can have a sort of trial period for Reiz,"

"Trial period?" Rhaegis raised an eyebrow.

"That's right," the older man nodded, "A set number of years to see if the boy develops into a devil that is worthy of the title of Phenex. If he succeeds, he stays,"

"...and if he fails?"

"...Whatever you like then. Exile him. Sell him. Kill him. The decision is yours for I am no longer the Head of the Phenex,"

"As barbaric as it is, this does seem to be the fairest solution right now, does it not?" Ruval looked at his father with narrowed eyes.

Rhaegis went quiet for a moment before he finally spoke, "Fine. Now leave me, all of you, I need to think,"

The two sons nodded and bowed their heads, "Very well, farewell for now father," they said simultaneously and headed out the room.

The two older devils soon followed suit leaving the current Head of the Phenex standing at the long marble table, contemplating on today's conversation.

The next morning, all the current Phenex Nobles gathered in the main hall made of polished marble and ruby with Rhaegis sitting on a small throne at the very end. His two oldest sons stood to his left while the previous leaders of the family stood on his right. Between himself and his parents was Lady Phenex, who had temporarily left Riser in the care of one of the many maids they had. Roze herself was standing several feet in front of the rest of her family.

"6 years," Rhaegis announced, "Do you understand, little sister. I am giving your child 6 years to prove that he is worthy of the title of Phenex. If he does not meet our expectations by that time, he will be banished to a place far away, without you looking after him,"

"WHAT?!" the pale-blonde girl yelled and was about to retort but her brother silenced her with a lift of his hand.

"I have not finished," the current head informed as he peered down at his sister, "I am not a barbarian and I will allow a silver lining in all of this. If the father of the child is found and brought here after the 6 years, then they can both safely leave the Underworld and you may leave with them,"

Beside him, Rhaegis's wife and parents raised an eyebrow at his words, they had not expected him to be thoughtful enough to even allow Roze to leave.

"...I-I can go with them? If the father returns?" Roze repeated, not quite believing her brother.

"Of course, I don't know what went through your brain at that time but it seems that you've decided to start your own family on your own accord," said Rhaegis, "Thus, I'm allowing you the chance to be with them,"

Taking it all in, Roze narrowed her eyes at her brother as she knew there was more to it than that, "What's the catch?"

"The catch is that this agreement will only be valid IF the father returns for you both, AND when you leave, all ties to the Phenex Household will be severed. From the day of your departure forward, you will be stripped of your title forever and be nothing more than a devil with the power of fire living in who knows where,"

"And if he doesn't come for us?"

"Then I will banish the child to the Human Realm, while you go back to your original arranged marriage with the Lord of the Belial House," Rhaegis informed, "Do we have an agreement, dear sister?"

The rest of the Phenex family remained still but looked back and forth from the siblings. The silent, tense atmosphere surrounding them felt like it was absorbing in all breathable air. A bead of stressed sweat rolled down Roze's temple as she thought over the proposition given to her.

"Fine," she simply answered through grit teeth. Without waiting for another response, she whipped around and marched out of the main hall.

The large crimson iron doors closed with a loud rumble.

"You're all dismissed," The Head of the House announced as he got up from the throne and with his wife in tow, left to check on Riser.

The previous leaders let out a sigh and left the main hall shortly after. Leaving the two older brothers standing by the empty royal chair.

"6 years is too short," said Rezon, breaking the silence.

Ruval nodded, "Agreed, historically, the average age for the first flames of a Phenex child is nine to ten,"

"It's clear that father doesn't want Reiz around. Does our reputation of being the biggest pure-blood house matter that much?" the younger sibling stated as the duo started to stroll towards the exit.

"It's because he sees him more as a threat than a benefit," said Ruval.

"A threat to who? We are all Phenex in the end,"

"To Riser," explained the elder sibling, "From the scans done on him after he was born, we know that Reiz is some sort of Yokai hybrid, and such a hybrid between a Phenex Devil and a Yokai holds the serious potential to become one of our race's strongest forces. And whether father likes to hear it or not, it is potential that Riser can only dream of achieving, even after a hundred years of training,"

"A being that can wield Senjutsu, Youjutsu, Touki, Devil Magic, Hellfire, and Immortality," Rezon pondered with a finger brushing his chin, "That does indeed sound like an invaluable asset if we are to go to war again with the other two factions,"

Ruval nodded, "Not to mention whatever other racial benefits he'll get from the Yokai side, depending on which species Aunt Roze bred with,"

"If only father wasn't so close-minded and had the same thoughts as the rest of us," sighed Rezon, "This one boy could bring our family to the very top and leave it there comfortably for thousands of years,"

"Then let us hope that he shows some abilities in the next couple of years," said Ruval as he pushed open the doors and the brothers walked out, "It'll be the only way for him to save himself,"

6 Years Later

A young Reiz knelt on a window sill high up in the Phenex Castle, his hands pressed against the warm glass as he peered down to the courtyard below with bright golden eyes. Below him in the garden of fiery roses was Rhaegis who strolled alongside his wife who held an infant Ravel Phenex in her arms, and a young Riser frolicking in front of them.

As he heard the door to his room click open, the half-breed child scurried towards the middle of the room where nearly a hundred thick tomes and grimoires were splayed out messily. Some were shut while others were flipped onto random pages. Reiz immediately sat down and picked up a random book, pretending to be busy as his mother walked through the door.

"Mother!" Reiz exclaimed as he stopped his pretend studying and stood, looking up at Roze.

"Reiz," smiled Roze as she pinched his cheeks, "Have you managed to find a type of magic that you can easily cast yet?"

"N-No, not yet," Reiz averted his eyes to the floor, "I've tried everything and nothing seems to work,"

Upon hearing this the blonde-devil bit her lip and sweat rolled down her nape. She and her son's time limit was getting closer by the second and there wasn't any news from her lover either. Every day for the past six years she would return to that same spot where she had last seen him, hoping that the Eagle Demon would show up one day, but he never did, not even a glimpse or a shimmer of a portal to the Demon Realm. Her mind told her that he was dead and had been for years, killed by the same creatures that murdered his Raven friend, beings from the Arthrovian Dominion. A mystery location she had heard from the deceased raven's last words. But her heart still held onto the hope that he would one day return and take them away from the Underworld, and to see his son for the first time.

"Mother? Are you okay?" Reiz's voice brought the Phenex female back to reality and she lightly patted his head.

"Everything's...fine," she said softly, "You'll see, your father will come to take us to a better place soon enough,"

Reiz cocked his head to the side, "Really? But I've been hearing you say that since I was three,"

"Th-,"

"Aunt Roze!," a sudden shout cut her off, the mother and son duo looked over to the door and saw Rezon Phenex standing there with a serious expression on his face.

"Rezon? What are you doing here?" she questioned.

The second-son pushed his glasses up and marched inside, "The two of you must leave, now! I overheard father talking this morning. By midnight he plans to lock you up then force teleport Reiz to another realm as his banishment,"

"What?! That snake!" Roze cried out in anger and shock, "He and I had a deal, it hasn't even been six years yet,"

"Unfortunately it has. You see from the day that the deal was struck, father started a countdown the moment he left the room," Rezon explained with haste, "I snuck into his quarters not even half an hour ago and discovered that the countdown ends in two hours,"

"Mother? What's going on?" Reiz asked while tugging at his mother's skirt, bewildered at what was happening.

Roze quickly turned around and knelt so she was eye-to-eye with her son, cupping his cheeks with both hands she told him in a soothing voice, "Reiz my child, I need you to go pack your bags, just like we've practiced in the past okay?"

"Why?"

"Because…," she was at a loss for words. Part of her wanted to tell him the truth but the other part wanted to keep it hidden for a little longer, to allow Reiz to keep his innocence for just a couple of more years at least.

"To find your father kid," Rezon noticed this and stepped forward, providing a convincing enough lie, "It's possible that he's already waiting for you somewhere else in a nice house with a tasty feast prepared. He's just playing a big game of hide-and-seek with you, he's hiding and you and your mother are seeking,"

"Ooh~ Okay I get it now," Reiz brightened up, "I'll be right back mother,"

As Reiz zoomed around his room picking up certain things and throwing them in a small yellow backpack. Roze shot her second nephew a grateful look and he returned it with a short nod. From his back pockets, Rezon pulled out two black slips of paper, each with a white Phenex symbol drawn on it, and handed it to his aunt.

"I've adjusted the coordinates of teleportation to the northern outskirts of Changsha City, China, from there my familiar will get you to the location you told me about," informed Rezon as Roze held onto both slips tightly in one hand, "You should get ready too Aunt Roze, in another forty-five minutes father will be back from his familial activities and it will be much more difficult to escape undetected,"

Roze nodded firmly, "Thank you for all you've done these years Rezon and send my thanks to Ruval too,"

"It's no problem," the second-son replied, "You and Reiz are family and it's only natural we look after each other, quickly now Aunt Roze, I'll keep the kid entertained while you pack,"

After thirty minutes, the trio was on the roof of the castle. To quench suspicion when they arrived, the mother-son duo wore outfits that made them look as if Roze was an office-worker who had just picked up her son from elementary school and both of them had a backpack strapped on. Rezon stood near them keeping watch on his father who was still in the fiery rose garden several stories below.

Then he turned around and nodded to the duo, "It's safe now, you two may leave without interruption,"

"Thank you again Rezon," said Roze as she gripped tightly onto her son's hand.

"Of course Aunt Roze," Rezon slightly dipped his head, "Stay safe the both of you, we'll meet again one day in the future,"

As the light from the teleportation pamphlet enveloped the duo, Reiz was cheerfully waving goodbye to his older cousin, completely unaware of the truth of their departure.

2 Years Later

The fiery skies of sunset washed over the land.

In the lush green mountains, among the bamboo forests, was a small cottage made from wood, mud, brick, and straw. A small fence made from sticks surrounded the residence and several goats and chickens roamed freely across the dirt of the front yard. A Tibetan Mastiff bounded around the door to the cottage, its tail wagging happily as it awaited its owner to exit. An eight-year-old Reiz opened the door and jumped out of the house.

"Mother! I'm going out for a bit! To check the snares!" he yelled back into the house.

"Okay!" Roze shouted back from further within, "Don't stay out for too long! And bring in some more firewood while you're at it!"

"Yes mother! Come on boy," Reiz then ran into the forest with the mastiff following him closely with its tongue hanging out.

It had been two whole years since their escape from the Underworld and the child never had the truth revealed to him within that time. He still believed that his father was on a long trip and would be coming back in due time. Nevertheless, he preferred this lifestyle, the air was fresh and so was the water, he could feel temperatures that weren't warm, hot, and burning, and eat food that was grown by him and his mother. The housing was humble but enough to keep the both of them happy, and the surrounding mountains gave him a sense of freedom he never had cooped up in a tower of the Phenex Castle. Even better, Roze had stopped his studies of things such as magic, history, and acting proper, allowing him to wander around the surrounding forest and play like a normal child his age.

The Phenex female herself had gained skills in farming, herding, sewing, and other ordinary things she never would've imagined herself doing a hundred years prior. After arriving in the human world, Roze decided to settle closeby to the tall pillar mountains where the gate to the Demon Realm apparently was...or once was, and constructed the small house that they currently lived in. Not without the assistance of her second nephew's familiar, which just so happened to be a bipedal hippo with wings. A Griffopotamus, the cousin of the more commonly known Hippogriff, they shared a common ancestor somewhere down their evolutionary line.

Through the window, she watched as Reiz and a stray dog they picked up last year went deeper through trees and bamboo. Little did the family know, someone...something, was watching them from the shadows.

Back with Reiz, he and his furry companion came across the first of several snares set a little distance away from the house.

"Yes! We're having rabbit for dinner!" Reiz cheered as he started to untie the rope around the creature's neck. The dog beside him barked as it happily waited for him to finish.

Once the boy was done and reset the trap with new fresh bait, he slipped the rabbit into a sack that was strapped to his back.

"Alright, next one,"

As they were about to head off to the next trap, the mastiff's ears suddenly perked up and its tail stiffened as it looked around warily, sniffing the air from all directions. Seconds later, it decided it was nothing and bounded after its master.

Two hours later, and the boy and his dog had gathered all the kills from the snares. Two hares, a pheasant, a pika, and there was also an eel that Reiz had fished out of the nearby river. As the sky turned dark, the sea of stars illuminated the way home.

Just as they saw the tip of the small house from behind the foliage, the mastiff crouched slightly and started to growl, baring its sharp teeth. Its tail went stiff and pointed to the ground as its ears flattened.

"What's wrong?" Reiz asked, slightly nervous at his friend's strange and abrupt behavior change.

Then, it started to bark like mad in every direction.

From above two men suddenly dropped down, one grabbed Reiz by the back of his collar and hoisted him up into the air, subsequently causing the boy to drop his bag of fresh game. The mastiff immediately went into attack mode to defend its owner. It pounced at the second man with an intent to rip him apart with bone-crushing jaws.

But in an instant, it instead found itself lying and twitching on the ground in its own pool of blood. A dark metal spear with a batwing design near the top and a crimson blade was piercing straight through the mastiff's flank and into the ground on the other side.

"NOOO!" Reiz cried in horror as he witnessed his companion writhing slowly until it died. His attention was once again quickly returned to the mysterious attackers. They wore black iron, medieval armor with dark-red accents, and on their backs were two leathery bat wings.

"T-T-That's d-devil soldier armor...w-w-why w-would t-they?" stammered Reiz, and his shock was skyrocketed further when he recognized the orange-yellow emblem engraved on the shoulder pads of the two devil soldiers.

"I-Is that...P-Phenex?" Reiz's golden eyes stretched wide in fear.

The second man pulled his spear out of the carcass of the dog and pressed two fingers to his ear, "Team 2 reporting in...Yeah, we caught the bastard...very well, we'll come and assist right away,"

"What's going on?" the man holding onto Reiz asked.

"The others are having trouble facing the ex-princess," the second told him, "Let's go help 'em,"

The first soldier nodded, "What about the kid?"

"I dunno knock 'im out and take 'im with us or somethin', Lord Phenex requested us not to kill him ourselves, said somethin' about wanting to do the honors 'imself,"

"Right then," the first soldier looked at Reiz who still hung from his grip, still trying desperately to get free, "Time to go to sleep boy,"

With a swift elbow strike to his head, the child was knocked unconscious and the soldier carried him across his shoulder as if he were a bag of rice.

At the cottage, an explosion went off as part of the small building was blown to bits. From the flames, Roze dove out with two soldiers pursuing her. She quickly spun around and fired two fireballs at her attackers but the soldier in front dispelled them with a swing of his spear. A third soldier appeared behind her and thrust his spear towards her, attempting to use the momentum of her fall against her. In that instant, Roze activated her wings and narrowly dodged the weapon, flipping over the man and landing on her feet behind him.

Her eyes narrowed as she scanned her current situation, three Phenex elite guards were slowly approaching her, two were circling her while one stood in front. She only hoped that Reiz managed to get away.

And her hopes were instantly crushed when two more men walked out of the forest with her son hanging limply from the taller one's shoulders.

"Surrender princess," one of the soldiers ordered, "Otherwise we'll kill your son,"

"You pieces of shit," she spat, "How brave, using my child to threaten me,"

"Lord Phenex only wants to see you returned to the Underworld," another guard said.

"Then what?! Kill us?!" Roze hissed.

"No, just the kid over there," a soldier sneered as he gestured to Reiz with his thumb.

"That fucking asshole," under her tongue, Roze cursed towards her brother. Only he would think of using her son to threaten her return, then kill the boy when he got his way. It was the same tactic he used to get answers from enemies during the two wars that he took part in.

"Tell ya what," the same soldier slowly approached the female devil with a carefree attitude and a maniacal smile, "Maybe if you do a little something for us, put on a little show, we'll just leave the both of you 'ere unharmed, and tell the old man that you sacrificed yourself for the kid and the kid died due to being stupid or somethin',"

"Are you fucking serious?" Roze growled with venom in her tone towards the guard.

"It's either that or we kill the boy now," the guard cruelly smirked.

Roze looked at her unconscious son for what seemed like hours before she reluctantly muttered one word.

"Fine,"

The soldier cackled with laughter then gestured at his friend who carried Reiz, "Come on, hold her down for me, you can have a turn right after,"

"With pleasure," the guard smirked as he dropped Reiz to the ground and marched towards the ex-Phenex princess.

Roze reluctantly remained still and glared at the both of them with raging eyes as he approached. Then suddenly the arm of another guard was raised between him and the blonde, stopping the maniacal soldier in his tracks.

"Halt," the third guard demanded, "We were ordered to take them back to the Underworld, with or without force. Not take advantage of their situation for our own benefits,"

"Oh for fucks sake," the arrogant soldier rolled his eyes, "The old man ain't here, we can do whatever we want now,"

"I could care less if you did this to our Fallen Angel enemies but this woman is a member of the House of which we serve," said the guard in an authoritative tone, "I will not let you perform such acts,"

"Tch"

"He is right, we should do what we originally set out to do," the guard behind Roze spoke up, "We were told to bring them both straight back to Lord Phenex, and he still has plans for her. If you defile her now, and they find out, we will ALL be killed or worse,"

"Defile? She already defiled herself fucking some random animal,"

As the Phenex soldiers were arguing amongst themselves. The young boy left on the side slowly opened his eyes. Laying on his back he stared at the night sky through half-open eyelids in confusion.

High above, an eagle slowly circled in his vision. It let out a screeching cry that no one else seemed to hear. After that cry, every other noise drowned out and only the flapping of the bird-of-prey could be heard. Then another bird's wings became audible. Then another. And another. And then another. Until the sound of thousands of birds flying was heard, and the symphony of a mega-flock of wings echoed through the forest. When Reiz looked around weakly to see if his mother was still there, she was gone, along with the soldiers and even the small house they had built. The only thing in his sight was thousands upon thousands of different types of birds perching on the branches of the tall trees around him, ranging in all colors and sizes. Even several bats were present, hanging upside down.

And thousands upon thousands of glowing, avian eyes stared down at him. Lighting up his sight as if they were the substitute for stars.

After a brief moment of silence, and under the gravity of the stares, Reiz finally spoke.

"...I'm...I'm sorry,"

He had no idea why he apologized. Now that he thought about it, he could no longer control his voice much less his body. He could only see and think but he had no control over anything else.

"...For betraying all of you...for letting you down...for letting you die… You all trusted me with your lives...I should've valued them more...instead of blindly following my path to greater power...I shouldn't have gone to the Gods...I just wanted our Kingdom to be stronger...so we wouldn't be bullied anymore… to not suffer any more devious raids from the other races… I should've fought till the end with my brothers...I'm...so sorry, everyone...your deaths ended in vain because of me,"

…

…

…

"...I won't...leave you...anymore. Please...let me have...one more chance,"

At that moment. All the avian creatures looked up towards the dark clouds and let out a thundering, simultaneous cry.

The sky rumbled violently as the clouds started to rearrange themselves until the dark-gray fluff covered the sky for miles. However, a single hole was left directly above the boy and the circling eagle.

Suddenly a giant bolt of lightning crashed down upon the carnivorous bird, cloaking it in a thick veil of electricity. The bird's size increased drastically until it looked large enough to be able to carry full-grown, bull elephants in a single talon. The now enormous electric eagle did a backflip in the air and with an ear-piercing screech, dive-bombed straight down towards Reiz. Like a meteor, it came down faster than a blink of an eye and crashed into his small body. Detonating an explosion of electricity that illuminated the entire Asian continent.

Back in the realm of reality, the devils were knocked back by a sudden shockwave caused by a lightning strike that came from seemingly nowhere. Roze's eyes grew wide with terror as she noticed where the lightning had struck.

"REIZ!" she shrieked.

On cue, the boy walked out of the shining, zappy, pillar that dispersed the moment he stepped out. But he was different from before.

His once platinum-blonde hair had turned blue and mostly spiked up. An orange streak of hair hung down to frame half of the right side of his face. Finally, his innocent golden eyes had turned into a deadly silver and his pupils became gold bird-like slits. His sharp gaze that fell upon the devils, sent shivers running down their spine.

"...R-Reiz? Honey? Are, are you okay?" Roze spoke softly as she slowly approached her son.

To her shock, the boy simply walked past her without even acknowledging her presence.

The tall soldier sneered as the boy approached him, "Heh, look at this pipsqueak, look at him staring up at me like that. What, you want to fight me? You don't stand a chance, I'll break your bones at my leisure while banging that princess over there,"

Reiz simply stared at him with an unreadable expression on his face. His glare caused the brute to start feeling nervous and uncomfortable. "T-The fuck do you want kid?" he sputtered.

"No," Reiz said in an icy voice, "What do you want?"

"H-Huh?"

"Picture it, your dreams, your deepest desire, your ultimate fetishes," the boy smirked as he looked into the soldier's eyes and saw the thoughts running through his mind, "Good, now embrace them, forever,"

Reiz then simply waved a hand in front of the brute's face. All of a sudden, the soldier started to psychotically giggle with glee and began to twitch violently at the same time. He fell to the ground writhing around like an electrified worm and foam started to leak from his mouth as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Soon other liquid started to leak from his other holes until he stained himself and the ground beneath him. Finally, like a blood fountain, the red liquid gushed out of his nose, ears, eyes, and through the teeth in his mouth. The brute soldier laid lifeless on the ground with a pool of blood around his head and a large toothy, bloody, grin was still present on his face.

"W-What'd you do you little shit?!" the arrogant devil soldier cried out as he slowly backed away.

"Hehehe, would you like to find out?" the boy threatened with a smirk as he pointed a hand at the soldier and started to walk towards him.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" The soldier launched a spear directly at Reiz. Only for him to disappear from his spot, "W-Where?"

"Hey,"

The arrogant soldier's heart started to pump at super speeds as he felt something clinging onto his back and a voice behind his head.

Without giving him another chance to speak, Reiz pushed the soldier's head slightly to the side and aggressively chomped into his neck. In a desperate, painful shriek the soldier fell to the ground with the boy still fastened to his neck, and with a sharp turn of his head, Reiz ripped out enough flesh that the bones were clearly visible. He wasn't done there, with his hands Reiz ripped off the armor and started to dig into the deceased devil soldier's back, pulling out the meat and devouring it hungrily.

"R-Reiz?" With her hands covering her mouth, Roze gasped in shock and horror at the sight. Part of her was glad that the two asshole guards were dead but the other part of her was scared that it was her own son that brutally murdered them.

"Lady Roze we must leave now," the guards who defended her stated.

"B-But Reiz, my son,"

"None of us know what happened to him but one thing is clear and that is it's no longer safe here," another said hastily, "Who knows if he'll still recognize you,"

"...I-I can't leave him, he's the only one I have left"

"You must, otherwise we'll all die here!"

The two guards around her pulled out teleportation pamphlets and grabbed onto her shoulders. Just as they were about to leave they noticed that there was one more member of their team who had strangely remained still throughout all of this.

"Tabis! We're leaving," one guard said but no answer from his companion.

"Come on we don't have time, the kid is gonna eat us all if we don't go now!" the other yelled.

Their remaining companion fell forward onto his face, revealing a gruesome sight. The armor on his back had been bitten through and a large, messy hole was in his back. Inside maggots the size of rats were eating his organs, cockroaches were crawling up his spine, and ants were swarming over every bit of flesh.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Without wasting any more time or words, the two remaining guards activated their teleportation papers and along with the petrified Roze, were sent back to the Underworld unharmed…physically anyway.

Around the same time, Reiz stood up from his kill and wiped his mouth.

"Weird meal to have after being dead for sixteen years but...it'll do,"

In the corner of his eye, he noticed the insect-filled carcass. He narrowed his eyes and from his hand a burst of electricity shot out, roasting the body and the bugs inside until it turned into dust.

"You can come out," he announced, "I know you're there,"

A series of clicks rang out as something crawled down from the canopy. It was a large humanoid roach with six compound eyes, six legs with a single large, slightly curved, sharp claw on each end, and fangs that dripped acidic saliva.

"Ssso-yyyou-ffound-mmme," it clicked as its head bent to the side a full one hundred and eighty degrees.

"I see the Roaches of Arthrovi haven't changed their killing tactics," said Reiz as he stared at the insect.

"Hhhow-dddo-yyyou-kkknow-aaabout-uuus?" its head bent to the other side a full one hundred and eight degrees.

"Everyone knows the backwater nation of Demon Realm," Reiz smirked as he and the insect started to circle each other.

The roach then opened its mouth to taste the air as its antennae flicked around, "Aaaah-III-sssee, yyyou-yyyour-ssscent-yyyou-aaare-bbbirdy,"

"And? Better to be predator than prey,"

"Hhhah-Hhhah-Hhhah,-wwwe-kkkilled-mmmany-bbbirdies-sssix-yyyears-aaago. -Ccconquered-aaall-ooof-yyyour-kkkind,"

"Did you now?" Reiz furrowed his brows, "Well for that, I must avenge my race don't I?"

Suddenly he vanished from sight and the roach reeled back in confusion. It felt a hand touch its back exoskeleton and in an instant, the boy released a huge surge of electricity through the bug's body, frying it from the inside out until the insect exploded in a wave of dark green muck.

As silence consumed the forest again, Reiz looked down at his left hand, "The world has changed since I died, strange I do not yet share the same memories as my current body, perhaps I should feed it some of mine bit by bit in the years to come, to see if I can fuse our memories together...this body is not yet combat-ready,"

He walked over to the ruined house and found a destroyed room that luckily happened to be intact enough to provide cover from the elements.

"This area looks safe, I will leave this body here,"

Just like that, Reiz's appearance returned to normal and he slumped onto the ground like a stringless puppet, alive, and healthy, but unconscious.

"Over here,"

"Check the house, remember to stay on your guard,"

"Sweep the perimeter, make sure there are no more demons around,"

The strange new voices reached the ears of the fallen boy and he groggily picked himself up off the ground. His head was throbbing and his legs wobbled as he tried to gain his balance. The sunrays seeped through the cracks of his destroyed home, memories of the night before started to slowly make their way back into his mind.

Reiz's eyes jolted wide and he dashed outside, "MOTHER!"

What greeted him was a clear view of the carnage that went down the night before. The three bodies lying on the ground, two of which were half-eaten, and one even had scavenging crows pecking at it. Blood stained the grass, dirt and splattered across the lower halves of several tree trunks. A pile of dark green mucus and bits of insect exoskeleton was in the center of it all.

The sources of the three unknown voices turned their heads towards the boy. All three were equipped in simple white monk-like robes with black cloth shoes. They all had shoulder-length, black hair tied up in a bun. Two of them carried straight swords, while one held a spear in his hands. The spear-wielder had a short goatee and mustache while the swordsmen were clean-shaven.

"A child?" the first swordsman gasped.

"Careful, he reeks of demon energy," the second swordsman warned as he and his companion readied their weapons.

Intimidated by the sudden aggression, Reiz took two steps back not knowing what else to do, as far as he knew it looked like they were going to kill him.

"Leave the boy be, demon or not he has done nothing wrong," the spear-wielder ordered as he lightly pushed the two swordsmen aside, and approached the scared and confused child with a warm smile on his face.

"Yes mentor," the two swordsmen dipped their heads as they sheathed their blades.

The mentor crouched down to be at the same level as Reiz, "Good morning,"

"G-G-G-Good morning," Reiz replied.

"What's your name?"

"Reiz, Reiz Ph-," at that moment, the platinum-haired child remembered the events of last night and the soldiers that attacked him had the Phenex emblem engraved in their armor. First, it was confusion that swirled in his mind, he didn't understand why his family would suddenly attack them. Then it was sadness, and finally rage. Anger directed towards the ones he once called family, the ones he had once trusted, and they had betrayed him. They had tried to kill him for no reason, and they took his mother away but left him to die in the wilderness.

"Reiz...just Reiz,"

This was the moment where Reiz renounced the Phenex name, it was clear to him, the Household didn't want him, and now that he thought about it, they probably never did but the sentiment was mutual now. He wanted nothing to do with the Phenex and the Devils of the Underworld.

"Well Reiz, do you know what happened here?" the mentor asked.

The boy nodded while staring at the ground between the two of them.

"Are you comfortable with sharing it with us?"

He looked up at the mentor's eyes and responded, "My mother and I were attacked by devils, I was knocked out and I don't remember anything after that, but I'm sure they kidnapped her,"

"I see," the spear-wielder hummed then stood up straight, "Do you have anywhere to go? Somewhere safe?"

Reiz shook his head as he slightly turned back towards his destroyed home, "...Not anymore,"

"Then do you want revenge?"

"H-Huh?"

"Do you want to get stronger and one day strike back at the ones who did this to you?"

…

The thought of destroying the Phenex momentarily crossed his mind.

…

"...yes…," he replied in a barely audible voice, then stared up into the mentor's eyes with a fierce but teary gaze, and confirmed in a clear tone, "Yes! I want to kill them all! And save my mother!"

The spear-wielder smiled, "Very well. Then why don't you come with us, we will train you for that day," he said as he extended his hand.

"Mentor what are you doing?" the first swordsman asked, astonished at his actions.

"Recruiting," he simply replied, "So, what do you say boy?"

Reiz clasped the older man's hand, "I want to know how to fight,"

"Splendid,"

After a brief introduction, the group began their trek to their destination, and as they left the forest, an eagle's cry could be heard. An eagle that only the boy could see and hear.

And so, the new recruit Reiz joined the trio on their path back to their cliffside monastery, where many other disciples welcomed him into their fold. His journey of martial arts had begun almost immediately the moment they arrived. For the next decade, Reiz was training the body for twelve hours a day and the mind for another four every day, taking breaks only for meals and sleep. During the ten years, he received weird memory-like dreams where a large golden eagle would accompany him each time. After two years of training, the eagle in his dreams had started to enter reality but strangely no one else could see it, when he asked his martial siblings, they all thought that he was crazy or just playing pretend like a normal child his age. But by the eighth year of training, he could no longer properly draw the line between dream and memory as the two had started to merge together. Most of it was of wars in an unknown but nostalgic land, first was a war against dragons, then a war against what looked to be the Gods, and finally a war against both humans and monsters, where he was killed by a being with flaming eyes and pupils that shone like the sun. It was a strange experience.

Through the decade of studying martial arts, the desire to eradicate the Phenex Household had simmered, he decided that they weren't worth his time anymore, and would much rather try to live a peaceful, normal life. Something he was sure his mother would've wanted. Although, if given the chance, he wasn't one to turn down an opportunity to rescue his mother and bring some pain to the ones who wronged him in the past.

When Reiz was eighteen he left the monastery as the Grand Mentor had "graduated" him and he was free to go off into the world, but will always be welcomed back at any time. This led to him attempting to apply for a university which eventually led him to the Korean City of Daegu and after a year and a half of studying there, he transferred to Kuoh University. Half a year later, as he was walking home from his part-time job, he saw a certain azure-haired boy, sitting on a bench.

Present

The night of the battle had finally arrived.

High-Class Devils wearing fancy colorful clothes started to pour into the luxurious and spacious room, around the size of a football field, where the engagement party was being held. Long tables full of food and a fountain of fine wine on each side, brilliant shining chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and a small orchestra in the corner provided ambient music in the hall. At the end of the hall was an elevated platform that required a set of stairs to reach it.

Among the crowd were the members of the Occult Research Club, all healed up from the Rating Game three days ago. Yuuto was wearing a navy suit with his hair slightly slicked to the side, Koneko wore a cute frilly pink dress, and Akeno donned a black and red kimono. Rias was nowhere to be seen, but her fiance Riser had been mingling with the Nobles for quite some time now, bragging about his victory. Both the Gremory and Phenex family were also socializing with fellow High-Class Devils and the sound of chatter along with the clinking of glasses bounced off every surface in the party hall.

Sirzechs stood atop the platform and was looking over the party when he pulled back his sleeve to check his watch. The crimson-haired Maou glanced over at Grayfia, who stood by his side and nodded. The silver maid understood the gesture and headed out of the hall, in order to teleport away without arousing suspicion.

Back in the Lucifer Castle in the Capital City, Mori was in his room, sitting on his bed with his feet over the edge. His wooden staff was resting on top of his thighs as one leg started to bounce, and the boy couldn't figure out whether it was due to nerves or impatience, perhaps both. Mori was informed by Sirzechs to stay in the room as there was a teleportation circle pre-casted there on the day of his arrival. That circle would activate tonight, sometime before the fight would begin, and that it would transport him to a waiting room in the arena

During this time of silence, the boy was reflecting on the training he had been doing the past few months. He hasn't been training with his instructor for a while now, but the boy had hope that it would be enough to score a victory tonight against Riser and Reiz. Speaking of Reiz, ever since their conversation the day before, Mori couldn't shake off a strange feeling of familiarity. For some odd reason, Mori felt like he had seen Reiz even before they had introduced themselves on the bench that day. This sensation had never occurred during the two to three times they met over the past three months. Perhaps Reiz was someone from his past, but then why wouldn't the platinum-blonde say anything?

A sudden shimmering sound broke Mori's thoughts. He looked over to the center of the room and saw a red magic circle spark and swirl to life.

"This is it," he whispered to himself and stepped into the circle.

A bright red light engulfed him and he found himself in an entirely new place. A small room made of obsidian with a low ceiling. There were four marble benches stacked into two rows, the four braziers of blue fire in each corner provided light, and stuck to the wall was an empty, blue holographic screen.

"So this must be the arena's waiting area," said Mori as he walked around the room.

"Psst,"

"Huh?" Mori's head whipped from left to right, "What was that?"

"Psst. It's me, I'm over here,"

"Who? Where?"

A little gnat clinging onto Mori's back speedily flew off a couple of feet away, and in a swirl of golden light, the tiny insect transformed into a familiar figure.

"Instructor Gunseng?" the azure-haired boy exclaimed, "Wait, you can shapeshift?"

"Yep, I've been able to for several centuries now. Advanced Buddhist Magic Lesson 36,"

"That's a thing?"

"World's a big place,"

"Oh...so what are you doing here?" Mori asked with a bright smile.

"What else? I've come to watch my best student battle it out in an Underworld arena," Gunseng informed heartily with his fists on his hips.

"So you knew about this?" Mori raised an eyebrow and slightly tilted his head to the side.

"Well yeah," admitted the monk, "I keep tabs on all the people I instruct, especially the better and or newer ones, so I know what to work on the next time we train,"

"And because the big boss gave me the assignment of watching over you for the time being," Gunseng added in his mind.

"That makes sense," Mori nodded, "How'd you even get here by the way?"

"Oh, that? Well, I snuck into the castle as a gnat and was going to speak to you inside your room, but then you headed towards the teleportation circle so I just stuck myself to the back of your shirt,"

"Wait, were you in the Underworld these past few days?! We could've trained together!" yelled a slightly exasperated Mori.

"No no no, I only arrived here just half-an-hour ago. Also, training by yourself is a sort of training in itself," said the warrior monk, "And they really need to improve their border security here, can't believe I got in undetected,"

As Mori was about to reply, the room was filled by a sudden beep which slightly startled the both of them, and they quickly turned towards where the noise came from. It was the screen and like a security camera, it was playing a live broadcast from the engagement party.

On the screen, Mori noticed the familiar, fish-shaped brown hair of Issei, who had burst through the doors, screaming, "BUCHOOOOOUUU!"

The noise had gathered the attention of all the devils in the room, and all of them turned to look at the source of the commotion. Riser pushed his way to the front of the crowd, and a furious scowl decorated his face as he recognized the voice. Behind him, a shocked and watery-eyed Rias appeared wearing a brilliant scarlet dress with her hair tied in a high ponytail.

"To all you High-Class Devils! And Buchou's brother, the Maou-sama! My name is Hyoudou Issei of Kuoh! I am here for Buchou! To take Rias Gremory back!" Issei yelled at the top of his lungs.

Immediately after hearing this, the large devil crowd burst into a chorus of whispers and murmurs. But the Pawn ignored all of them and marched over towards Rias and Riser. But before Issei was able to get close, every guard in the room at the time instantly charged forward and circled Issei with their spears pointed towards him.

"Issei-kun leave this to us!" Suddenly, Yuuto leaped into the circle with his sword drawn and clashed against two of the guards.

"...You're late," Koneko dived in to disarm another couple of guards.

"Ara ara, so you finally showed up," Akeno dropped down from above and shot lightning by their feet to send them back.

"Thank you, everyone," the brown-haired teen said quietly.

The trio's combined efforts created a pathway for Issei to continue forward, and soon he was face to face with the furious Riser.

"Buchou...no, Rias Gremory's virginity belongs to me!" Issei exclaimed confidently, pointing at his chest with his thumb.

This caused a huge, unsettled, and panicked uproar within the hall. The High-Class Devils exchanged glances with the ones next to them, and confused words flew out of their mouths.

"What is the meaning of this, Riser-sama?!"

"Rias-sama, explain yourself!"

Back in the waiting room, Gunseng was breaking down from laughter and was repeatedly pounding the walls.

"Yeeeaaah! You tell'em Issei!" Mori cheered happily, waving his fists in the air.

During the midst of the chaos, Sirzechs walked to the edge of the elevated platform and announced his presence to the nobles in the hall.

"This is the event I organized!" his voice carried across the hall and all the devils went silent, "As per our tradition, the family of the bride must organize an event of any kind and so that is what I did. I wanted to see the power of the Welsh Dragon up close, so I asked my Queen to bring him here!"

"B-But S-Sirzechs-sama, this is too irresponsible is it not?!" a devil the crowd yelled in a panicked voice.

"It's fine. The Rating Game three days ago was very entertaining no? But it was a bit disadvantageous for my little sister who had no experience, to face off against Riser who has multiple victories under his belt,"

"Sirzechs-sama," this time another high-class devil stepped out from the crowd, "Are you saying that that game wasn't fair?!"

The Crimson Maou smiled, "No, not at all. As the current Lucifer, saying such things would disrespect the elders. The connection between the High-Class is important after all,"

"Then Sirzechs, what are you going to do about it?" A tall man looking to be in his thirties, with long red hair and short beard, wearing a white suit approached the Maou's side.

"Father, I just want to make my cute little sister's engagement party a flashy one, one that will be remembered for centuries to come. Team Dragon versus Team Phoenix. To stir up the occasion with a battle between the two legendary creatures, it is sure to be the Ultimate Event," Sirzechs explained proudly.

The entire hall went silent after hearing this. The Head of Gremory smirked and waved his hand loosely, "Fine, sounds good,"

Sirzechs nodded then turned and gazed down towards Issei and Riser who were standing next to each other, "Hyoudou Issei. Riser Phenex. Can you show us your power in one more fight with the entire Underworld watching?"

Riser gave the Crimson-haired devil a fearless, but arrogant smirk, "Very well, there is no way I can decline if Sirzechs-sama asks me. I, Riser will show one last performance before getting married,"

Then Sirzechs looked at the brown-haired pawn, "Boosted Gear-kun, what prize do you desire if you win your match?"

For the third time that night, the hall erupted into an alarming state.

"Sirzechs-sama? What are you doing?!"

"He is nothing but a Low-Class Reincarnation!"

The Crimson Lucifer raised his hand and the commotion once again died down.

"He is a Devil, regardless of status. As he is about to provide us with the greatest entertainment of the decade, it is only fitting to reward him. Now Hyoudou Issei, I can give you anything, do you desire a peerage? An instant rise of rank? Or a harem of the most beautiful women?"

Even with all the tempting offers, Issei's determined face didn't falter.

"None of that sir, I just want Rias Gremory to come back,"

Sirzechs smiled happily at his response, "Very well. If you win, then you may take Rias back with you to the Human World,"

"Thank you very much!" Issei yelled with a bow.

Sirzechs raised both arms and two teleportation circles appeared on the ground in front of Issei and Riser, "Would you two please step into the circle to be transported to the arena, you'll have ten minutes to warm up,"

A second, and two flashes of light later, Riser and Issei were nowhere to be seen.

"Now, I will explain to all of you how tonight's match is going to go," Sirzechs announced. At the same time he made a small hand gesture to his wife, and Grayfia, along with a couple of maids and butlers stepped out from behind. Their palms glowed with magic and started to reconstruct the hall into several rows of bleachers that surrounded a large rectangular prism that served as multiple screens.

"Oh crap, he's coming," Gunseng started to look around for a hiding spot.

"Who Issei?" Mori cocked his head to the side as he watched his instructor bounce around the waiting room, "Why do you need to hide from Issei?"

"My existence must not be revealed to your friends yet," replied Gunseng, a lightbulb sparked above his head, "I got it!"

The warrior monk quickly transformed into a spider and latched onto the ceiling, just as Issei appeared in the waiting room.

"Mori!?" The Pawn was surprised to see his friend standing an arm's length away, "You're here too?"

"Yo," was the boy's response, "And yeah I've been chosen to fight too,"

"I thought it was just going to be me, hah! We'll definitely get Buchou back now, the two of us can crush that Yakitori together!" Issei excitedly exclaimed.

"I...don't think it's going to be that easy Issei," Mori admitted as he scratched his temple.

"What do you mean?"

"You know how we're a team of two?"

"Yeah and?...oh...Ohhh,"

"Yeeeaah," Mori looked back at the screen, where Sirzechs was currently giving a speech on the rules of their upcoming battle, "I saw the other guy yesterday, it's safe to say that he's stronger than Riser...by a lot,"

"You can beat him right?" Issei asked, now slightly worried as he knew how strong Mori was after his fight with Kiba, and if he was commenting on someone else's strength, then that person would definitely be very troublesome to put down.

"Sure," the blue-haired teen replied confidently, but his mind wasn't as sure, '...I hope'

"That's a relief then," Issei with relief.

At that moment the screen stopped playing the live broadcast from the hall and was replaced by a countdown timer that indicated they had five minutes left.

"Listen Issei," Mori turned to his friend with a serious expression on his face, "Are you aware of the structure of this fight?"

"No," the Pawn shook his head, "Do you?"

The azure-haired boy nodded, "I'll tell you now,"

The two sat down on a bench as Mori began to inform.

"The day you lost the Rating Game, I was able to talk to Sirzechs-sama. He told me of his plans to save Rias from Riser, which is what this fight we're about to be in is. If we score a victory Rias can come back with us, and if we lose, she stays and marries Riser. That much you know,"

Issei nodded.

"The fight is a Tag Match, but not in the way we know where two teams fight side-by-side. I did some last-minute research today and found out that in the Underworld, Tag Match is another term for Substitution Battle,"

"Substitution Battle?" echoed the Pawn.

"Yeah. A battle format where a team with a minimum of two and a maximum of sixteen fight each other one-by-one using the method known as Substitution. The teams select one person to enter the arena to fight against the opponent's choice. You can substitute out at any time but the catch is that once you've been subbed out, then that's it, you can't enter the arena anymore. On the surface, it's a very simple format but underneath it requires prediction to know your adversary well, the bravery to gamble risks that may have different outcomes, and both of these factors are driven by luck,"

"...So, can we win this?" Issei asked, who was now once again worried about their chances of victory.

Mori smiled, "I've thought up of something while waiting for you to arrive,"

"Really? That's great," Issei's face lit up with hope, "What is it?"

"Let me ask you, who is the most angered by your arrival?"

"That Yakitori,"

"Exactly. If I'm correct, due to his anger and arrogance, he will insist on going first and is probably already waiting in the arena right now," Mori explained, "And you want your revenge on him so naturally the Phoenix Team will expect you to go first too, so that's basically the first round already set up,"

"Then I'll continue to fight and weaken the second guy so you can breeze through him," Issei smirked as he punched his fist into his palm.

"No!" Mori suddenly yelled, startling his friend.

"W-Why not?"

"It's another rule of the Substitution format, only when a teammate is subbed out does it count as one round. This way a full match of sixteen people can range from one round to sixteen,"

"That's...crazy,"

"It's a way they test their power, if one can remain and gauntlet the other team's entire roster without losing, then their ranking in the format, will be boosted immensely due to winning in a single round,"

"So your plan is for me to beat Riser and then sub out for you to take on the second guy?" Issei asked as he started to catch up.

Mori nodded, "That's exactly it, if you win against Riser, but we both lose to Reiz then that will count as a two-round victory for them and Rias will be stuck as Riser's wife,"

"But if I win then sub out and you somehow lose..."

"A draw," confirmed Mori, "then the decisive battle will be arranged for another date giving us more time to think of ideas to rescue Rias and or train,"

…

…

…

"What if they send out Reiz first?" Issei asked.

"Then you weaken him enough for me to finish him off without wasting too much energy. I'm sure I can beat Riser fairly quickly. He has power, but not the skill,"

"Right," Issei nodded with a confident smile.

*DING*

They turned towards the screen and saw that the waiting period was over. On the screen, there was a line of words that spelled out.

[DRAGON TEAM, PLEASE SEND OUT YOUR FIRST COMBATANT]

"Looks like I'm up,"

"You can do this Issei," Mori smiled and with a confident gaze, placed a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder, "For Buchou,"

A shiver of surprise ran through Issei, as that was the first time he had heard Mori address Rias by that title. Then the Pawn's lips stretched up into a determined smirk and returned the gaze,

"For Buchou," he nodded.

The two friends quickly exchanged a high-five that transitioned into a fist bump and Issei walked out of the waiting room, down a long torchlit corridor, and into the arena. Where just as Mori predicted, an agitated Riser was waiting for him.

*BANG!*

Holding onto a silver cross doused in holy water with both items' potency increased through a boosted [Transfer], Issei's gauntleted fist crashed deeply into Riser Phenex's stomach.

"GAHAAA!" Riser took several shaking steps back as he violently coughed up blood.

"Damn it!" his body rocked as his hands were holding onto his injured abdomen, then he glared at Issei, "For me...to lose like this,"

With that, Riser fell face-first onto the ground and a bright blue light enveloped his body as he was teleported away from the arena.

[RISER PHENEX OF THE PHOENIX TEAM HAS BEEN ELIMINATED]

"...I...I did it," Issei panted tiredly and raised his Boosted Gear into the air, "I won...Buchou, Mori, everyone...I won!"

The momentum of the action caused him to stumble back and fall onto his backside, as he sat there tiredly, he heard the next announcement.

[HYOUDOU ISSEI OF THE DRAGON TEAM! WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONTINUE OR SWITCH OUT?]

"Switch out!" Remembering his blue-haired friend's plan, Issei, in his current injured state, yelled as loud as he could, "...Ow, it hurts to shout,"

[VERY WELL. BOTH DRAGON AND PHOENIX TEAM'S FIRST COMBATANT HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED! ROUND 2 WILL BEGIN SHORTLY!]

Issei was soon cloaked in the blue light of teleportation and was transported out of the small arena dimension.

[ATTENTION! AS WE FIX THE ARENA, THERE WILL BE A 5 MINUTE INTERMISSION UNTIL THE SECOND ROUND]

In the waiting room, Mori began to warm up, he hopped and bounced on each leg as he cracked his neck while twirling his wrists. Then he dropped down to stretch his legs which included holding the splits.

Five minutes felt more like five seconds and the wait time was over.

[DRAGON TEAM'S DAN MORI! PLEASE ENTER THE ARENA!]

Mori stood up and looked back at his instructor who was still in his spider transformation. Gunseng lifted his front thin, elongated arachnid leg and waved. Mori nodded and shot him a thumbs-up before leaving the room and down the dark corridor towards the light of the arena.

When he entered he was mesmerized by the size of the place. It was a completely different stadium than the one Issei and Riser fought in. Unlike the small colosseum-like setting of the previous fight, the arena now greatly resembled a giant hippodrome. The arena stretched to over one thousand feet in both length and width, with the flooring being nothing but sturdy, pale earth and sand. Glancing up, Mori saw that there were at least thirty small red orbs hovering in and above the arena. He deduced that these were the recording orbs that transmitted the live broadcast to the screens.

On the other side of the arena, Mori saw his opponent Reiz, who was wearing his usual waiter's outfit, making his way out of the entrance and into view. He couldn't really see it properly but he could feel it, the platinum-haired half-blood was staring at him, and Mori returned the gesture, glaring back with his dark eyes and golden pupils.

[10]

[9]

[8]

[7]

[6]

[5]

[4]

[3]

[2]

[1]

[BEGIN!]

Immediately, Mori drew a small wooden pen from his pocket, he shook it once and it transformed into a dark, waxed combat staff made of willow wood. He then slid into position with a low stance, his staff ready behind him, and his left hand out in front of his face acting as a guard.

On the other side, Reiz smacked his palms together and from his left hand, he started to pull out a rod of electricity. It crackled violently until it was completely removed from the center of his palm, revealing a spear that was taller than the half-devil. It was made from a jet-black metal, and the deadly, elongated, leaf-shaped blade was of a shining silver with a scarlet edge.

Within the waiting room, Gunseng had transformed back into his normal form and was sitting on a bench watching the screen, "So they're going for a weapon battle first, huh? The staff, 'The Original Weapon' up against the spear, 'The King of the Weapons', this is going to be fun,"

In the arena, the two stared each other down until they suddenly shot forward at blinding speeds, leaving a cloud of dust behind them.

The staff and spear clashed in the middle as a shockwave of sand and dust erupted all around. Using his bodyweight, Reiz leaned towards the staff and pushed it down with the heavy blade of the spear. Mori tried to regain his weapon's height but was parried away by the spear's point and Reiz jabbed forward which the boy dodged by twisting and bending back.

Mori then dropped onto his back but at the same time used the momentum of his fall to power the swing of his staff, towards his opponent's head. The tactic caught Reiz off guard but he was able to block it with a twirl of the spear. At this second Mori tightened his core and flipped onto his feet, just as the spear came speeding down into the ground where he just laid, piercing it as easily as a molten knife in butter.

Reiz grabbed on tightly to the handle and thanks to the anchorage, jumped and delivered a double flying sidekick that Mori deflected with his staff. The blue-haired teen swiftly spun his wooden weapon around his waist and brought it up above his head as he jumped. At the same time, Reiz allowed the deflected kick to speed up his recovery spin and he pulled his spear out of the ground just in time.

The staff swung down and clashed with the unbladed end of Reiz's spear. Using the weight of their bodies, the two fighters repeatedly attempted to take control of the situation as they tried to both disarm and hurt the other while they sprinted across the arena. Their fierce eyes locked onto each other the entire time.

Blocking!

Pushing!

Thrusting!

Hitting!

The warriors parried each other's attack at such high speeds that it sounded like it was raining metal balls on a field of steel.

They separated, then clashed. Again, and again, and again. Over and over until craters made from the shockwaves of their collisions appeared all over the arena, the walls, the ground, and even the empty bleachers had dents in them.

Mori and Reiz sprinted up their sides of the hippodrome, initiating the muscles in their legs, both performed a powerful and fast jump into the air. The two clashed once again in the sky. But this time, Mori thread his staff through the open arms of Reiz. The half-blood noticed what was going on instantly and he did the same as he poked his staff through Mori's guard, and under his armpit.

With the two of them locked tightly together, they both manipulated their bodyweight so they could control the other during the speedy descent. First, it was Mori who was able to get on top and pin Reiz to the bottom, then with a twist of his waist, the positions were flipped over. The loose ball of Mori, Reiz, and their weapons spun wildly while coming down like a meteor. None of them gave a single second of weakness as they kept attempting to make sure the other would crash first, taking the majority of the damage.

Finally, Reiz pressed his spear down onto Mori's throat, one knee was pressing him down, while his other leg was locked around Mori's thigh to stop him from kicking him off.

With only a second until they hit the ground, Mori grit his teeth, mustering up his strength he was able to push the spear off his neck by just a little and dealt a powerful headbutt to Reiz.

"Ack," the half-Phenex reeled back. Mori used this moment to spin and send a double kick into his abdomen.

Only millimeters off the ground, the kick sent the two flying to opposite ends. Mori flipped back and planted both feet, and one hand on the ground as anchorage as he slid across the arena floor. Only when he felt his back foot touch the walls did his scraping come to a stop. On the other end, Reiz twisted his body around and stabbed his spear into the ground, dragging it along most of the way and cutting a crevice through the arena's terrain until he halted.

Both fighters quickly recovered and got into their stances again. Glaring at each other, ready for another round.

Aside from the more powerful ones like Sirzechs and Grayfia, the devils in the hall couldn't even keep track of their movements, and they just watched with their eyes wide and mouths hanging open.

"...W-W-What is this?"

"They're...They're not even using magic,"

"...Who are they…?"

Sirzechs watched the battle with a proud smile on his face. A hand tapped his shoulder and he looked back to see that Ajuka had arrived.

"Sorry I'm late," the green-haired Maou greeted, "Looks like I missed somethings,"

"It's okay, this is all being recorded so you can enjoy the full thing at a later date,"

Sirzechs then flicked his eyes towards the Phenex Household sitting nearby. Seeing their astonished expressions, the Crimson Maou smirked slightly.

"You see Rhaegis, that is the boy that you abandoned and tried to kill all those years ago," Sirzechs thought as he turned his attention back to the screen.

Instead of charging at each other at full speed, this time, Mori and Reiz approached each other slowly. One step at a time.

Mori quickly closed the distance.

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

With one hand near the end of the staff that controlled the power, and the other slightly further up that controlled the direction. Mori launched a barrage of thrusts with his wax-wood weapon.

[ Wudang Spear: The Wave's Roar ]

Recognizing the technique as something similar to his own, Reiz countered with the aforementioned technique.

The sharp metal point and the blunt end of the two different armaments rained on each other to the point they were blurs to the eyes of most viewers. Only the sound of fluttering, and clinking from the collisions could be heard.

As the two persisted, scratches appeared on their faces and their clothes started to rip apart. With both of them mentally deciding that this had gone on for long enough they winded up for one more attack before separating to gain some distance.

Mori and Reiz thrust their weapons forward and they crashed together with perfect precision. The clash sent both staff and spear into the air. Reiz quickly snatched his equipment as it fell and flipped back to separate himself. Mori did the same but as he caught it, a short sharp burst of pain in his wrist caused him to shake it out.

'What the hell?! I thought that was healed already' Mori looked down at his wrist annoyed. This had also caused him to miss the several cracks running across the end of his staff, where the spear had collided with.

Only a couple of seconds later, the two fighters were upon each other once again.

[ Wudang Spear: Spearfishing ]

Reiz twirled the staff around his neck and seemingly tossed the sharp weapon at Mori, the boy leaned back to dodge, but at the last second Reiz grabbed onto the end of the spear and pulled it back.

[ Spearfishing x24 ]

Reiz repeatedly performed the feinting throw and stab, and Mori did indeed fall for it several times.

[ Shaolin Staff Basics No. 1: Windmill ]

With the power of his hips and core, Mori spun his staff downward from left to right with speed and expertise. Successfully deflecting many of the spear thrusts.

[ Shaolin Staff Basics No. 2: Upper Slash ]

Quickly changing the direction of the twirling to the opposite direction, Mori managed to parry the spear during mid-thrust and it slightly slipped out of Reiz's hands.

[ Shaolin Staff: The 2nd Chamber - The Storm of Summer ]

Swiftly, Mori hit the back of Reiz's left knee which caused him to stumble, then the boy used the other end of the staff to smash it against his opponent's face. Then, Mori jumped with his back bent with the staff winded up over his head and behind him. Using gravity, the boy dropped and brought the staffing whipping down onto Reiz.

However, like an enhanced acrobat, Reiz twisted his body as he sprung up backward, this movement had allowed him to dodge the incoming wooden staff while moving back at the same time. The platinum-haired teen picked up his dropped spear, seeing an opening, he wasted no time and moved in.

[ Wudang Spear: Torrential Breaker ]

Reiz sped forward but then suddenly stopped by stomping his foot on the ground. Concentrating all of his strength into his right arm, he swung his spear around in a violent circle, ducking under it as it came towards his head. Mori stepped back which was exactly what he wanted.

Using the pressured air gathered in the initial swing, Reiz jabbed his spear forward. Mori blocked with his staff vertically. But the powerful pulse of the air resulted in him flying back, and just like before, he failed to notice the cracks now running across the middle of his weapon.

Mori grit his teeth and immediately pounced back into the action.

[ Shaolin Staff: The 4th Chamber - The Hurricane of Autumn ]

The boy spun his staff faster than before, faster than he had ever done before. An aggressive fluttering sound filled the ears of the two fighters as he shot forward with a spinning wooden shield.

Until suddenly, Mori heard a clear, audible crack coming from his wrist, and at that moment, he could no longer feel his right hand.

'MY WRIST! Agh, whatever this was just a setup for the next seasonal attack'

Mori quickly landed on the ground and did a sharp turn, as he did he held onto the staff tightly and stabbed it forward towards Reiz's chest.

Using the power gathered from the hyper-speed staff twirls, which subsequently manipulated the air around them to gather at a single tip of the staff, Mori had expected this technique to at least land a solid hit on Reiz.

[ Shaolin Staff: The 1st Chamber - The Blizzard of Winter ]

'If this lands then I can use the 5th Chamber and end this fight!' Mori thought as time seemed to slow down around them.

[ Wudang Spear: Torrential Fissure ]

Mori's black eyes widened in shock. He watched as Reiz's counterattack, not only negating his technique but shattering his staff completely. The tip of the spear embedded itself into the end of Mori's staff, and by spinning the spear at high speeds while simultaneously pushing forward, Reiz had successfully drilled through Mori's wooden weapon.

As fragments of his broken weapon showered down around them, Reiz kept driving his spear forward and that led to Mori catching it with his hand that had a broken wrist. Unfortunately for the azure-haired boy, this proved to be a threatening mistake. The force from Reiz's attack shred through his arm and into his shoulder, both fighters could hear the crunching and cracking running up Mori's arm until finally a sickening pop, along with his arm flying limply in the air, signaled that the attack had achieved its desired effect.

"GAH!" Mori yelled as he flew back and hit the ground painfully. He kept rolling across the sturdy sand until he laid face down on the ground.

The teen used his unbroken hand to push his upper body slightly off the ground, and by using the rest of his strength, Mori finally stood up, albeit in a hunched posture. His left arm held onto his opposite shoulder and his knees were bent.

"...My arm," he muttered.

Looking up, Mori saw that Reiz had dispelled his spear, and the platinum-blonde half-devil was walking slowly towards the injured teen.

Soon the two were face to face.

"You fought well," Reiz commented.

"Thanks...you too," Mori replied while wincing from the pain.

"Even if you lose today, I'm sure your friends know that you tried your hardest,"

"Not hard enough it seems," the teen joked which caused his opponent's lips to slightly curve up, "...Before you eliminate me, can you at least tell me, what Sirzechs-sama promised you?"

Reiz nodded, "My mother has been unwillingly married off to another High-Class family, if I win, Sirzechs made me a deal to release her, and I can take her back to the Human World"

"Heh, so it's kinda like my reasoning...to fight here today,"

"Yeah," Reiz lifted his hand and pointed it at Mori, "You're a good person Mori, after all this mess, go and live a happy life,"

A purple, transparent ball of energy shot out and engulfed Mori as he collapsed. The ball quickly morphed into a glassy dome with multiple decahedron panels.

"Think about what you want most. I'll let you see an alternate future where you won, that is my gift to you for making this the best fight I've had in a while," Reiz told him.

The platinum-haired half-blood raised an arm above his head, and electricity crackled to life around his palm.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Lightning erupted in his hand, cloaking it in a brilliant purple-white light. Reiz then pointed his lightning-veiled hand at the dome which contained Mori.

Inside the dome, time felt as if it had slowed down by several folds.

"Think about what you want most, I'll let you see an alternate future,"

Were the last words Mori heard before he closed his eyes and he started to ponder while awaiting the final blow.

'...What I want...what do I want?... For Buchou to come back to us?... To rescue my friends from working under someone like RIser forever?... Maybe to find out who I really am...to get all my memories returned to me... That would be great...all three would be great… Dang, that Reiz, he's really strong, if I only had enough power, if only I was strong enough to beat him...then I could make everyone happy again...to see them all in the Clubroom like normal again… so we can hang out together again...like we always have...

…

...

…

I don't want to see an alternate future. I want it to be the real future… I want to hear Buchou be mad at me for being impulsive all the time… I want Akeno-senpai to help me with my assignments and exams… I want to keep playing chess with Yuuto, even if I lose most of the time… I want to challenge Koneko-chan to more snack eating contests, haha, that's right, I'm currently winning… I want Asia to keep being that innocent and always kind and cheerful little sister of our Club… I want to keep bickering and chilling with Issei…

...I...don't want this to end.

…

…

…

It's my fault… I wasn't strong enough...I'm sorry everyone...If I trained harder, this wouldn't have happened...I let you all down. All of you...I'm...so...sorry.

If only… I wasn't so impulsive

If only… I wasn't so overconfident

If only… I wasn't so weak

…

Ah, so that's what I want... To be stronger… Strong enough to protect the ones I care about… Strong enough to ensure that our future is a good one, a bright one… Strong enough to prevent our precious memories together from becoming nothing but fleeting dreams of the past.

…

Heh, y'know, I feel like I've been in this position before. More memories that I can't remember perhaps. Well...that's not what I want right now, is it? The memories that I have now, make up who I am.

My name is…

S-jU-D-iAn-wwWkU-MoN-Gri-

I am who I am.

I am what I am.

I will save my friends.

Until the day my memories return.

I am Dan Mori.

…

…

…

In the distance, a barefoot man with clearly defined muscles that were decorated with old battle scars, wearing an old, raggy, sweat-drenched gray gi, darker shaded pants, and a short black sash, was practicing the art of kicking in a small field surrounded by lush trees.

But his face was blurred and foggy.

"Gu Gah!"

A toddler in a diaper with spiky black hair crawled up beside the man.

He stood up slowly onto his short legs and wobbled a bit as he tried to find his balance.

"Guh!"

The toddler swung his leg up, imitating the man beside him.

Mid-kick, the gray gi-wearing martial artist looked down in both surprise and jolliness, the latter more evident than the former.

"Oh ho~? Look at this little kid! Sure, I'll teach you…"

RENEWAL TAEKWONDO

Reiz fired the beam of lightning towards the dome. His finishing blow, the attack that ensured his victory. That was what he expected.

The moment he shot off his attack, he had suddenly felt a gargantuan increase in power coming from within the glassy dome prism.

All of a sudden the glass dome shattered, it had burst open as something flew out at untrackable speeds and perfectly avoided his blast of lightning.

[ RE - BAEKDU ]

Not even a second later, Reiz felt the mysterious new power crash into the side of his face. The unpredicted attack had resulted in Reiz flying back a good distance, and only when he recovered from the initial shock, did he clearly see the one who struck him with a powerful knee strike.

It was Mori.

But not the one his...current self was familiar with.

His hair was a spikey, jet-black that stood straight.

His expression was sharper, and he glared at Reiz with an unreadable expression.

His eyes burned as if they were two orbs of raging infernos, his pupils had shaped into crosshairs and shone a brilliant gold like the sun.

"...You," Reiz growled. The eyes of the one that stood before him, were the exact same as the being who had killed him repeatedly in his memory-dreams.

Mori grabbed his broken shoulder, and with a short, powerful push, he reset his arm back into the shoulder socket. He rolled it back and forth several times before turning his attention back to his opponent.

[ RE - BO-BUP ]

In an instant Mori closed the gap, disappearing and reappearing behind Reiz. The platinum-haired half-devil didn't even get a chance to react as Mori initiated his next attack.

[ RE - DDANG-GEUTGI ]

While standing, Mori swiftly spun a full rotation while he kicked at Reiz's feet, effectively sweeping him off of his balance.

[ RE - BAEKNOK ]

Doing a perfect standing split, Mori's foot collided with the back of Reiz's head as he kicked him straight up into the sky.

Reiz hissed in pain and grit his teeth, when he landed he launched himself towards Mori.

[ RE - SILLA ]

A devastating downward kick into the side of his shins stopped all hopes of a counterattack. Reiz stumbled but Mori didn't let up.

[ RE - TAEBAEK ]

After lifting his knee into a chamber position, Mori released his leg and it shot out at immense speeds, crashing into the ribs of his opponent.

Reiz coughed up saliva but didn't allow himself to fall then and there, he was too close to victory to even think about stopping now. By utilizing the momentum gained from receiving the kick, Reiz followed through and snapped out a spinning hook kick towards Mori's head.

[ RE - HOMIGEOL-I ]

Like a hook, Mori lashed out his leg, catching onto Reiz's foot mid-kick, and brought it down.

[ RE - THREE STAGE HWECHOOK ]

In that instant, and in three colored afterimages, Mori executed three kicks to Reiz's head, the first two were aimed at the temple on both sides and the final one made contact with the back of his skull where it connected to the spine.

[ RE - RISING BACK KICK ]

Mori spun and dropped his body towards the ground as he brought one leg up to collide into Reiz's jaw, sending him flying into the air and back several paces. The Phenex half-blood hit the ground painfully, and a wave of dust and sand kicked up around him.

At the same time, Mori stumbled back slightly and gripped his forehead with one hand.

"Agh, it hurts. Will this happen every time I remember something?" he growled from the throbbing in his head, "Nevermind that, at least some of my memories returned. It's not much but it'll be enough for now,"

To his surprise, Reiz managed to push himself off the sandy floor and stand back up. But instead of scowling in frustration, he was grinning with excitement.

"You surprise me, Mori," he said, "I always knew you were different, ever since the moment we met,"

After straightening his back, Reiz placed a hand on the back of his neck and cracked it to the left then right.

"Now, since you're using that form against me. It's only fair… That I show you mine!" Reiz announced.

Suddenly, from his feet up, an aura of lightning cloaked Reiz's entire body. Mori quickly recognized the electrical body as the same one from in his dream the day Riser arrived in Kuoh.

"...That's!" Not taking any chances, Mori rushed forward, insistent on taking out the Phenex half-blood right then and there before he had a chance to transform.

[ RE - GORYEO ]

Mori performed two swift side-kicks towards the chest and head of his adversary. That was the plan if his first kick wasn't caught by the lightning-veiled form of Reiz. The electricity user then pulled Mori towards him. Taking a step forward, he delivered a devastating elbow strike into the bottom of the black-haired boy's ribs, sending him hurtling back to his original spot.

After flipping back onto his feet, Mori painfully clutched onto the area of impact and looked up.

Reiz had finished his transformation, the particles of lightning over his body started to harden and shatter off like floating shards of glass.

Now, he had sapphire-blue hair that predominantly spiked up, and an orange streak of hair hung down, framing the right side of his face. Reiz's eyes went from bright gold to a sharp silver, as his pupils became golden, avian slits.

Mori braced himself as he felt the power in his adversary rise immensely. Even if they were just temporary power-ups, he could tell that now both of them had become hundreds of times stronger than they were before.

Their released collective power shook the entire arena dimension and the arena itself started to rumble violently. And while their clashing auras couldn't be felt, back in the hall of the engagement party, every devil there, including Sirzechs and Ajuka, felt a freezing shiver run down their spine at the sight of the two of them.

Sirzechs didn't know why but, at the time, the words of the crustacean creature from half a month ago replayed in his mind.

"They are both closer and further than you think, one resides in the same place...as your kin,"

In the waiting room of the Dragon Team, Gunseng cheered aloud and sprang up at the sight of the intense fight that had just been playing on the screen.

"Hahahahahaa~! Finally, the warm-up round is over!" he laughed as he crossed his arms. "Now, the real entertainment begins! A battle between kings!"

"The Roc Demon King! Versus! The Handsome Monkey King!"

"The Great Sage of Heaven's Disarray! Versus! The Great Sage Equal to Heaven!"

Part 2 Will Come Out Soon