Hey everyone and welcome to this new chapter. This chapter will cover the entire fight between Shirou and the others two, it'll serve as a proof of power type of fight that is used to help you see what level of power the protagonist is currently at after becoming stronger.

There'll also be a lot of dialogue and interaction between some of the characters for the sake of plot and getting to know them better as people. Hope you all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody, Highschool DxD, Highschool DxD New, Highschool DxD Born, Highschool DxD EX, and Highschool DxD Hero are all owned by Funimation, Fushimi Shobo, TNK, Passione, and Ichiei Ishibumi. Please support the official release.

"Shirou" Regular speech.

"Shirou" Thoughts.

DRAGON SHOT Attack names.

(Shirou) Words said previously.

"SHIROU!" Shouting speech.

[Ddraig] Dragon talking.

True Darkness and Deeper Truths

—…

Deep within a forest in the Underworld outside the party hall building where the gathering of Young Noble Devils where a celebration was taking place, a battle was currently underway between members of the terrorist organization—The Khaos Brigade; Kuroka and Bikou against Shirou who was fighting them alone. The only ones there to witness this fight were Rias, Koneko, and Rias' cousin, Magdaran.

Though right now, it was less of a fight and more of a demonstration of power as Shirou had unleashed a pillar of darkness upon the two of them and now had them pinned to the ground, unable to break free.

"Grr…!" Bikou struggled to move.

"Ugh…!" Kuroka struggled to break free.

Shirou remained standing there with his arms stretched forward as he continued pouring the pressure on the two of them with his Darkness. It seemed as though Shirou had every intention of beating the two of them right here and now, simply by crushing them with the Power of Darkness.

But clearly, neither of them had any intention of letting that happen as they both glared up at him and stuck their fists into the ground.

BOOOOOM!

An explosion of dirt and soil burst out from the ground right beneath Bikou and Kuroka and spread out around them, forcing Shirou to jump back, and thus his Darkness dissolved. The other three had to shield themselves from a bit of debris but were more or less fine.

Once the dust cleared, Bikou and Kuroka were relieved, now back on their feet and lightly catching their breathe while they never stop glaring at Shirou.

"You're pretty resourceful aren't you?" Shirou commented, deducing how they escaped his Darkness. "You gathered Senjutsu Chakra and blasted it into the ground to create that explosion, by destroying the ground beneath my feet you forced me to stop my Darkness and thus freed yourselves."

"Haaa… What the Hell?" Kuroka cursed with a deep breath. "What was that insane power he was using?"

"He's changed, I don't know how but he's like a completely different person." Bikou noted while wiping some dirt off his cheek. "It's like he found a way to control that uncontrollable power he used on Vali."

"It's the Power of Darkness." Shirou announced to them with a look of Pride.

"What?" Kuroka wanted to hear more.

"You must have realized by now that I'm not the same man I was back then, the two souls that once resided in this body fused to create one and now I wield all powers and abilities of both, including the Boosted Gear and the Power of Darkness." Shirou explained as he let the Darkness outline his body. "I am Shirou Amakusa."

"Then… That must be why the spiritual follow around your soul is different from the last time I saw you?" Bikou realized.

Magdaran was the most surprised by this new information and in his disbelief, he turned to Rias. "Is… Is that true?"

Rias smiled, believing this was a good thing. "It is, he always finds a way to surprise everyone."

Kuroka stepped forward unhindered and powered up her Senjutsu as she prepared to attack.

"I don't care what kind of power you've gained, nothing is going to stop me!" Kuroka declared with a fire burning in her eyes. "I'm taking back Shirone no matter what!"

"While my motivation isn't the same, there's no way I'll back down without paying you back for making me taste the dirt like that." While Bikou didn't sound as passionate, it was clear from the way he flared his Touki that he planned on using his full strength as well. "I'll show you what I'm made of!"

"You want a show?" Shirou flared up his Darkness to match their fighting spirit. "I'll give you a show."

Rias, Koneko, and Magdaran already gained some distance by moving back and flying up to higher-ground, they knew they weren't strong enough to get involved in this fight and they didn't want Shirou to have to fight while being concerned that they might get caught up in it.

[Ahh!]

Kuroka and Bikou charged first and circled around Shirou before rushing in, attempting to attack him from both sides. Shirou gathered a ball of Demonic power in his hand and threw it to the ground just as they closed in to throw them off, he then spread his wings and flew into the sky above the trees.

They both followed after him a Kuroka used magic to fly herself and Bikou called out to the sky.

"Flying Nimbus!"

Upon his call, a small golden cloud appeared at his feet and Bikou hoped on to ride on it. With that, the cat and monkey followed Shirou into the sky and both surrounded Shirou again.

Kuroka gathered a ball of Kasha in each of her hands and Bikou used his skill in Senjutsu to gather Ki in his hands before also creating two bullets of Senjutsu. The two of them proceeded to through their respective attacks at Shirou in unison.

Shirou crossed his arms together in a defensive stance along with his wings and covered himself in his Darkness as though to protect himself.

BANG!

Both their attacks hit their target but from the looks of things, neither of them was able to penetrate his defense as Shirou came out of it unharmed. They weren't done as Bikou moved in to hit him with a Touki-covered punch to the face. Shirou didn't let him though as he caught Bikou's fist. Kuroka was next as she got behind him and tried to strike his back with a hand covered with Kasha.

Shirou took a page out of Kokabiel's book and countered her by unleashing his eight Devil wings and using them as though they were blades to slash at Kuroka. But Kuroka was a Devil whose abilities were at Ultimate-Class for a reason and she was able to evade them.

Shirou used this opening to get away from their encirclement and took a nose-dive back towards the ground. Kuroka and Bikou followed after him and as Shirou touched the ground they kicked at him upon his landing, but he was faster and dodged them as their kicks smaller into the dirt.

Shirou backstepped away until he was at a sizable distance and held his hands out to gather magic power. Sparks of electricity were bursting from his hands before he brought them together a discharged a large beam of Lightning magic at his two foes.

Bikou and Kuroka responded by standing shoulder to shoulder as they both gathered large amounts of both magic and Touki in their hands before Kuroka used her mastery of magic to combine their respective powers for an impromptu combined attack that also took the form of a beam. When it was ready to fire, they unleashed it on Shirou.

CLAAAAAAASSSSHHHH!

The two beams met in the middle and clashed in a violent beam struggle that shook the forest. The power being released from the collision two blasts were so strong that the trees closeted to them were knocked down as though they were hit by the winds of a mighty storm. All three of the combatants stood their ground as they struggled to overpower the opposing force.

Shirou's yellowish-white beam of Lightning struggled against Kuroka and Bikou's bluish-white beam of magic and spiritual energy. It was clear that those two had the advantage in numbers, power output, and the caliber in what fueled their attack. Before long, Shirou's beam was being pushed back. But Shirou decided to use this opportunity to try something as he gathered more Darkness around his arms.

DIES IRAE!

In a surprising twist, Shirou empowered his Lightning spell with the Power of Darkness to recreate the same Lightning attack Shirōu Amakusa Tokisada had once unleashed. Shirou's Lightning went from a bright yellow to a pitch-black that no light could escape from. The result was an increase in power so great that it pushed back Bikou and Kuroka's combined attack instantly and cut through it before consuming the two of them.

DOOOOOOONN!

[Auuuggh!] They both cried out as they were blown away by the blast of Black Lightning and downed farther into the forest.

Shirou stayed as the aggressor and rushed in as he leaped forward and closed in on Kuroka. Still on the ground with a few wounds on her body, she attempted a count by firing a ball of Kasha at him. Shirou didn't stop his advance as merely swatted away her attack before throwing a punch at her, Kuroka rolled to the side to avoid his hit before she jumped to her feet and moved back to retreat.

Kuroka jumped on top of a tree branch and started tree jumping to distance herself from Shirou, but Shirou wouldn't let her get away and followed after her. As they were both tree hopping, Bikou appeared behind Shirou and attempted to land a blow, but Shirou already saw him coming and hit him with an elbow to the stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs.

Shirou then zoned in his vision on Kuroka and held out his hand in her direction. Once again, he gathered Darkness in his hand and unleashed it. This time he let loose a burst of Darkness that formed to create a Darkness tendril that fired from his hand and went on a straight course for Kuroka at a speed faster than she could outrun.

"Aaaahhhhh!" Kuroka cried out as the dark tendril connected with his back. It felt like a strong solid impact that blew apart her defenses and knocked her out of the air, sending her crashing painfully into the ground.

The moment Shirou fired that Darkness at Kuroka was only a second after he struck Bikou and he kept his attention on the Monkey King as Shirou reached out while he was still reeling from the impact of that last blow and grabbed him by the leg. Shirou then shot downward toward the ground at a fast speed, once he was only inches away, before touching the ground, he swung his arm and slammed Bikou into the ground, back first.

"Kgh!" Bikou let out a gasp as he felt his whole body get rocked to its core after taking that impact.

Shirou wasn't finished with him as he touched the ground on his feet and lifted Bikou back up before putting his strength into his arm and swinging it as he throw Bikou away with all his might. Bikou was hurled deeper into the forest as his body was blown through three incoming trees—Knocking them down on the way before he landed on the ground near Kuroka.

Now Shirou covered both his arms in Darkness and brought them together before letting out a roar as took one step forward, leaned his body forward, and spread his arms out before he unleashed a large burst of Darkness in the form of a wave.

The crushing wave of Darkness tore through the ground as it violently closed in on its prey, while Kuroka and Bikou could only look up and watch in horror at the sight of the incoming Darkness. Once it closed in, they were both swallowed by Darkness and the wave compressed itself into a large orb surrounding them before it finally exploded upwards.

DOOOOOOOOOOOOONN!

The explosion resembled a large pillar of Darkness that shot up toward the sky and let out another shockwave that reverberated throughout the forest and violently devastated any greenery nearby. The aftershock didn't last too long and when it cleared, Bikou and Kuroka could be seen kneeling on the ground with injuries and wounds.

Bikou's armor had some dinks on some parts and both his shoulder pads were destroyed while Kuroka's kimono was ruffled and had dirt on a lot of parts around it while her entire right sleeve was torn off. While none of them seemed too serious nor were there that many, it was clear that they were fairing too well right now.

Shirou had a look of satisfaction as he watched the two of them pick themselves up from the ground as he moved in and lessened the distance between him and them. "Not bad, you withstood that better than I was expecting."

"Don't get cocky, do you honestly believe you could beat us that quickly?" Kuroka sneered at him.

"It all really depends, every hit from me is a final blow so I can never predict when I beat the other guy." Shirou bragged nonchalantly.

Bikou spat some blood before narrowing his eyes. "You must think you're such a bigshot, not using your Sacred Gear this whole time. Are you trying to say you don't need it anymore?"

"Didn't you hear what I already told you?" Shirou asked in a taunting manner. "This fight is a chance for me to figure out the ins and outs of my Darkness I never got to work on during my training—For instance, how much I can use it in a fight." He explained with a condescending smirk. "Naturally, if I'm going to test run my Darkness, it makes sense not to use anything else.

While they both felt surprised by the message behind his words, those watching were at a loss for words at knowing what they meant.

"I don't believe?" Magdaran said, unable to hide his disbelief. "Those two are Ultimate-Class level threats and yet, he's making sport of them?"

"I can hardly believe it myself…" Rias said somewhat amazed. "I had no idea that Shirou's increase could be this dramatic, it's incredible."

Before long, Bikou and Kuroka's surprise faded and it was at that point that Bikou and Kuroka's surprise shifted to something else, oddly enough, their reaction to his claim seemed to be light amusement.

"This has gotta be a joke or something, to think both Heavenly Dragons were this insane?" Bikou rubbed the back of his head and sighed.

"I finally get why Vali has such a rage-boner for this guy." Kuroka commented sarcastically as she rubbed off some of the dirt on her. "I mean, Vali's always been a beast so I never imagined there'd someone else who's just as much of one around here."

Typically whenever someone was confronted by Shirou's overwhelming power they would either feel their fighting spirit get crushed when faced with the vast difference in their abilities or become enraged at how much he was looking down on them and lose control of their anger as they attacked.

But these two were different since they were members of the Khaos Brigade they were associated by different beings from almost every Faction in the world and thus were associated with those who were outrageously strong on a regular basis. Not only did that include Vali—Someone who was arguably just as strong as Shirou, if not more so, but also the Infinite Dragon God Ophis, the Strongest in existence. So while Shirou's power was overwhelming and higher than their own, it wasn't enough to intimidate them.

"Still though, this is a problem. If we don't find a way around him, I won't be able to reach Shirone." Kuroka complained, mildly upset.

"Don't start panicking yet, those dark powers are a nuisance but it's not like it'll impossible to beat him like this." Bikou reasoned, taking out his special long staff and pointing it at Shirou. "After all, a recently acquired power is one that hasn't been fully mastered, he can't defeat us if we get serious."

"Is that so?" Now Shirou seemed amused by his proclamation. "Well then, maybe I'll get serious too?"

Shirou closed his eyes and let the Power of Darkness surrounding his body fade away until it was gone.

"Oh, you're not going to use your Darkness anymore?" Bikou asked with a questionable expression.

"All that just now was enough of a test run for my Darkness, I got what I wanted, that said—" Shirou summoned his Boosted Gear over his arm. "Not just my Darkness, all my powers and abilities increased after my training, and I wanted to find out just how much stronger I've become. Before I was fighting as Shirou Amakusa, now I'll be fighting you as the Red Dragon Emperor."

"Oh, then aren't you going to put on that armor you Dragon-users are all so proud of?" Kuroka questioned as though she was prepared for it.

Shirou grinned and shook his head. "Oh no, I have something else in mind, something special I've been saving for a fight like this."

Shirou then channeled the spiritual energy inside of him, the flow of Ki in his body and soul, and let it emanate throughout his body. Similar to when he used Touki but different in how he was not only using his own Ki but the around him, from nature and the atmosphere. As the energy flowed and the aura surrounded his body, Bikou, Kuroka, and Koneko became wide-eyed once they sensed the power coming from him.

"Senjutsu?!" Bikou uttered, not expecting this at all.

"The very same." Shirou confirmed as he proudly used the same power as them. "I had a feeling you'd like it."

"Shirou can use Senjutsu as well?" Rias voiced, just as surprised as the rest of them.

"…Sempai said that he was training to learn Senjutsu a while ago but…" Koneko remembered, not sure if she could believe it. "…I had no idea he could already use it."

"I get it now, this is the reason we weren't able to sense you when you were hiding before isn't it?" Bikou realized.

"That's right." Shirou confirmed his suspicion. "Senjutsu users can sense out the energy signatures of another person's Ki, but can also hide their own. Since I can use Senjutsu, I was the one guy you couldn't lock in on."

"Even so, don't go thinking you're hot shit just because you can use Senjutsu now." Kuroka warned him confidently. "You may know it, but all you have is the bare minimum, you can't compare to us who practically live and breathe nature energy."

"Maybe you're right, but that's where we differ, unlike me, Senjutsu is all you've got." Shirou proclaimed as he summoned Dyrnwyn and drew it from its sheath. "I, on the other hand, have so much more cooking."

Shirou then decided to light the blade of his weapon on fire and as Dyrnwyn burned, he got into a fighting stance.

Bikou got into a stance of his own, while not the same as Vali, he couldn't deny that he loved a good fight. The whole reason he joined Vali in the first place was that he didn't want to follow the peaceful and boring way of life of a Buddha-like all the previous generations of Sun Wukong. Fighting and being in situations like this always lit a fire in his belly.

Kuroka smirked slightly and narrowed her hazel eyes on the Silver-haired boy's position. The powerful aura of his Dragon power that his body was releasing and the aura from his Senjutsu made her feel a little hot. Kuroka subtlely licked her lips before taking a step forward.

Suddenly she launched forward towards Shirou. Shirou wasn't even fazed by her advance and when Kuroka got close enough, he thrusts the Sword at her. But the agile cat jumped over the blade.

She then demonstrated her aerodynamic skills by spinning her body in midair before she kicked him in the face. But it didn't reach as Shirou caught her sandalled foot with his free hand much to her surprise.

While she was much smaller, lighter, and possibly better at close combat, Kuroka's speed couldn't match that of Tannin's with whom Shirou had been fighting all month. Thus, his eyes quickly adjusted to her movements.

Shirou followed up by bringing in his Sword as he held Kuroka in place and prepared to slice her. But, in case he forgot he was fighting two enemies, Bikou reminded him by appearing at his flank and intercepting Dyrnwyn with his staff.

CLANG!

Their weapons were locked in a struggle as Bikou reached out to strike at the hand that was holding Kuroka, forcing Shirou to release her. Bikou then grabbed Kuroka by the waist and leaped back to regain their distance.

Shirou did to bring the fight to them and so, pushing off with his right foot, the Pawn rushed the enemy Youkai.

Bikou and Kuroka's eyes widened at how fast he was coming, and only had a moment to dodge as Bikou stepped back and Kuroka ducked. Going under a swing at her head. She then tried to swipe his legs out from under him, but Shirou sidestepped around her attempt, while his attention was on Kuroka, Bikou thrusts his long staff at Shirou's head, but he deflected it with his blade. Kuroka then turned upside down with spinning around, legs still stretched out to kick him, but Shirou used his knowledge of Aikido to catch her kick and flipped her in the air.

Despite his grappling technique, cats always land on their feet and Kuroka touched the ground seamlessly. When Kuroka jumped back her feet, she was crouching like a cat and launched at Shirou. Swing her hand at him to claw him. Shirou could tell that those claws were as sharp and as deadly as razor-sharp blades as chose to dodge them. She didn't stop there and started to swing a fury of slashing at him, making Shirou continuously step back as he evaded the attacks. Her speed and velocity were a sight to behold, despite his iron-tight defense, her scratches were getting closer and closer to reaching him as they went on, some of her claws gazed at him and cut off a few strands of his hair.

Once again, Bikou moved in when Shirou's attention was diverted and closed the distance by attacking him from the side with a midair spin kick. Shirou raised both his arms to block it. But Bikou's strength wasn't something to be underestimated and he broke through Shirou's guard before knocking him back into a tree.

With his back against a tree, Shirou shook off whatever daze he may have gotten from the impact and looked to see Kuroka charging at him with her claws ready for another attack. But he didn't see Bikou.

Suddenly, Shirou felt a strong grip capture both of his wrists and pull them back. He then realized that Bikou was holding his hands from behind the tree. The Monkey Youkai used his kick simply to knock him to this tree so that he could circle around it to capture Shirou's arms, thus holding him still and preventing him from defending himself.

Now wide open and ungraded, Kuroka rushed to jab him with her claws, intending to pierce through his stomach.

Just before she could though, Shirou jumped and flipped his body around so while his arms were still being held, his body was above where Kuroka aimed her claws and she ended up stabbing into the wood, missing Shirou's flesh.

[BOOST!]

Shirou used his Sacred Gear to double his strength and used the increased power to break free of Bikou's hold. Then in midair, he twisted his body around and kicked the tree itself, knocking it down, causing Kuroka and Bikou to move away before it fell on top of one of them.

They all landed on the ground, back in the positions they started in. With Kuroka and Bikou side by side, and Shirou being a short distance away from them.

"Heh, I really thought we had you that time." Bikou commented, not sounding bothered.

"I see you've every bit as slippery as I've heard." Kuroka noticed.

"True, as slippery as an eel." Bikou added jokingly.

"I'd prefer you call me slick." Shirou argued before relaxing his grip. "Besides, you're one to talk about being hard to catch. But then again, being agile is normal for a cat and monkey."

"You think so? Well, how about we make things even harder for you?" Bikou became more excited.

Kuroka decided to use Youjutsu this time and surrounded them with her aura before three clones of herself, all of which stood in front of her and looked ready to pounce, and unlike before, these weren't illusions, rather they were physical clones. Bikou followed suit and pulled out some hairs from his head before releasing them in the wind and blowing on them. Surprisingly, this caused them to light up before they changed, grew, and in seconds they morphed into clones of Bikou, three of them in total. Now Shirou's opponents had multiplied from two to eight.

"Cloning techniques?" Rias gasped in surprise.

"…It's a special ability that only those who can use Senjutsu and Youjutsu can master." Koneko explained worriedly.

"Surprised, since you're a noob, I doubt you can do this with your Senjutsu." Bikou bragged confidently.

Shirou didn't falter. "I'm not worried, being outnumbered has never slowed me down before."

"Then this'll be a first for you." Kuroka taunted as she and her clones held up their hands.

All of them gathered Senjutsu in their palms and fired a barrage of Senjutsu bullets at Shirou. Shirou raised his Sword and slashed at the incoming projectiles, using his blade to cut through and defend against them. But as fast as he was, not even he could stop so many bullets that came at such a high speed, and some of them got through his guard.

Shirou skidded back a few feet after getting hit by those Senjutsu bullets, just then his instincts warned him of danger and he raised his Sword.

"Power-Pole Extend!"

KATCHIN!

Just in time, Shirou's blade blocked the incoming strike of Bikou's long staff which extended from where he stood and aimed for Shirou's head. But that was just the beginning.

Shirou looked to see three other Bikou's appear before him. They surrounded him from all three sides and were already in the air—Leaping at him and prepared to strike.

Shirou batted away the staff to use his Sword to block a kick from one Bikou, and his free arm to block the other one. He then kicked out at the third one to intercept his punch with a kick.

Unfortunately, that still wasn't the end of it as now that he was stuck blocking the Bikou's, the Kuroka's joined the hunt as well. They all crouched and came in low as they rushed in to claw at him.

[Nya!] All the clones exclaimed.

Knowing he couldn't block all six of them, Shirou pushed away the Bikou's to break free of his current position and back-stepped to evade the Kuroka's. He continued backstepping to create some distance while they all gave chase.

But at Shirou was focusing on the attackers he could see in front of him he lost focus on what was behind him as Bikou appeared at his back and hit him from behind with his staff.

"Augh!"

Shirou grimaced from the blow. He tried to counter by attacking Bikou, but the time it took for him to turn around was all the monkey needed to escape. This gave his other opponent the chance she was looking for.

"Gugh!"

Fresh blood spilled from Shirou's back shoulder as this time, Kuroka appeared behind him and slashed her claws at him, opening a wound on him from his blind spot. She also used a hit-and-run tactic by moving back before he could counter.

And in case Shirou forget about the clones, they chose that moment to close in on him and all six of them attacked him at once. With no way out, Shirou found on the receiving end of a storm of attacks coming from every direction. The Bikou clones were punching at him while the Kuroka clones were clawing at him. It was the purest image of a man's fight or flight instincts as Shirou was using all his speed, the best of his reflexes, and most of his body's flexibility to dodge all twelve hands that were running down on him.

The genuine Kuroka and Bikou did more than just watch though as while Shirou was fighting back the clones, Bikou charged two basketball-sized Senjutsu orbs in his hands while Kuroka charged two large fireballs of Kasha in her hands. Together, they both hurled their attacks at Shirou.

Shirou could see the incoming attacks coming, but he knew he wasn't in a position to stop them. Then closed in right away.

BOOOOOM!

The result was a large explosion that devoured the spot where Shirou and the clones stood, seemingly taking out all of them in a violent explosion of Senjutsu.

"Shirou!" Rias cried out, fearful of what may have happened to her Pawn.

Bikou and Kuroka smirk victorious after executing their trap, believing they had succeeded in dealing a crushing blow on their enemy.

"Did that finish it?" Bikou wondered out loud.

Kuroka's eyes suddenly went wide when she sensed something above her head. "No."

And just as she said, their combined attacks did not finish Shirou as he now appeared, floating high in the night sky with his Devil wings out, above the trees and with the moon behind him. He looked to be uninjured.

"He escaped the explosion?" Madgaran realized only to become more astonishing. "But how could he have flown that high up so fast? I never even saw him."

The two enemy Youkai were wondering the exact same question as Shirou came back down and landed on the ground again. Now he gave them a smirk.

"That wasn't a bad trick, even I was worried for a minute there, luckily for me, you didn't think about attacking from the sky." Shirou noted, acting like it was no big deal.

"How did you manage that?" Kuroka narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't care how slick you are, you shouldn't have been able to pull that off."

"It wasn't hard, all I had to do was use a Boost to double my speed." Shirou answered while gesturing to his Boosted Gear. "It's amazing what you can do when you're twice as fast."

Bikou scratched his head in annoyance. "I swear, you really are as bad as Vali." He then grinned. "That said, we've only just begun."

Bikou plucked off more hairs from his head and once again, created clones from them. So did Kuroka as she flared her aura. After that explosion, the clones they made before were destroyed, so they decided to make new ones.

But not only were they replacing the lost clones, but they were also making more of an effort to corner Shirou. The number of clones they each made this time, was five.

Shirou narrowed his eyes when he saw his foes increase their numbers again. "Oh great, now it's twelve on one."

Bikou looked amused. "Do you think that's unfair? This is a fight, you can't complain when this is just how we do things, it's not our fault you didn't know we had this up our sleeve before you challenged us."

"Yeah, that is a fair point." Shirou agreed with little reserve before a smirk crept onto his face. "So, don't forget you said that."

As all ten clones moved in to charge at him, Shirou held out his left hand, and suddenly, a white light radiated around his palm. It glowed and became a bright flash of light that made the others stop to see what it was.

In his hand now was a Sword that was the purest shade of white any of them had ever seen. Even in the forest at night, the gleaming Sword shined light a star. But they didn't have to admire it or ask about it as Shirou rushed in with both Swords in hand.

Shirou closed in with lightning speed and attacked the clones. In the dark of the night, a white flash emanated from his left hand and a red streak emanated from his right. The beautiful, glittering white blade reduced the clones to nothing with a single blow.

Like Dyrnwyn in his right hand, Miike Tenta Mitsuyo—The new weapon in his left hand—Was quickly tearing through the enemy clones in front of him, every time Shirou moved his hand slightly, a flash of light instantaneously shot forth, proclaiming the end of another clone. It was amazing how much fiercer and more powerful Shirou seemed to be simply by using two Swords instead of one.

Kuroka and Bikou could only watch in shock and disbelief at Shirou run circles around their clones before cutting them down in the blink of an eye.

With that done, Shirou lowered his weapons to his sides and gave them a victorious smirk while they stared at him, completely blown away.

"Even if you can make more of you, those clones aren't as strong as you and terribly fragile." Shirou explained the weakness of their technique. "Once I figured that out, a well-aimed slash was all it took."

Kuroka kept her gaze on his new weapon. "What the Hell is that Sword?"

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Shirou brandished his Divine Sword, letting it shine. "It's something I acquired along with the Power of Darkness—Divine Sword: Miike Tenta Mitsuyo. My Strongest weapon."

Bikou clicked his tongue with frustration. "You just happened to have a God-Class weapon laying around? Of course, you did because why not?"

Shirou looked amused. "Do you think that's unfair? This is a fight, you can't complain when this is just how I do things, it's not my fault you didn't know I had this up my sleeve before you challenged me."

Shirou reiterated everything Bikou had said to him previously and Bikou knew it, thus his only response was to stare at him and say. "…You're an asshole."

"Maybe, but you have bigger problems." Shirou kept his gaze on them. "The fact that I brought out this Sword is my way of saying I'm ending this fight."

"Oh, are you getting carried away just because you took out our clones?" Bikou raised his staff, not intimidated.

Kuroka held up her claws. "This fight won't end just because of a Sword, all you did is turn one Sword into two."

"Oh, two Swords, is that what you think?" Shirou smirk dangerously before raising his Swords up. "Well, you might want to count again, I've got 100."

[BOOST!]

WHOOSH!

Before either of them could even react to his words, Shirou powered up once more and used his increased speed to close the distance between him and them as fast as teleporting as he unleashed his Swords upon them.

RAPID SLASH 100X

BOOOOOOOM!

With an explosion of speed and power, Shirou's arms blurred as he unleashed his fastest attack upon the duo of Youkai in front of him. Thanks to the increase in all of his abilities including his speed, he let loose a hundred consecutive slashes, fifth for each of them. They were sliced and diced all over before being blown away by a shockwave.

After being sliced up by Shirou's blades, Kuroka and Bikou were laid out on the ground on their backs as they felt the damage from so many cuts and bleeding wounds all over their body.

Bikou's armor was greatly damaged now and the armor covering his arms and stomach was destroyed, exposing his injured skin. Kuroka was reeling from the damage of that attack and there were cuts all over her kimono that showed off her fine slim legs and her chest area torn apart, revealing her large breasts. There were some places that had cuts on her, making Kuroka have to somewhat savage look at her.

Once again, Shirou lowered his weapons, and this time he sheathed them and gave them a look of certainty as he proclaimed. "I win."

With the battle now apparently over, the three who were watching slowly descended back onto the ground and kept their gaze on Shirou.

"Is it truly over this time?" Madgaran wondered, calm but unsure.

"It is." Rias smiled without a doubt. "He won just like he said he would."

Unlike the other two, Koneko's eyes were focused, not on Shirou but rather on her Sister—Kuroka, with an incredulous expression. "…Sempai… He really beat her."

But, despite the fight itself being settled for all intents and purposes, Kuroka wouldn't allow herself to give up and rolled her body onto her front before trying to force herself off the ground.

"Grr…" She struggled as she stared up at him. "…I'm not finished… I won't stop… Not until… I take back Shirone…"

Shirou could see it in her eyes, she wasn't motivated by hatred, anger, or madness. It was pure determination, there was a fire burning in her eyes that wouldn't allow her to surrender, to stop her you'd have to kill. That was how far she was willing to go to reclaim Koneko.

"This woman…" Shirou thought as he stared into her eyes, as though he had come to understand something.

Bikou was also conscious but didn't try to move yet. However, at that moment, he and Kuroka activated their Touki, this was done to use the properties of Touki that hastened the body's natural healing rate to lessen their injuries.

Shirou knew that they had no intention of just taking the loss and if he waited too long they'd plan on attacking again, thus he prepared for a final blow.

But before he could—

SLASH!

A tear appeared in the space before them. It was a literal three-dimensional tear that cut through the fabric of space and opened the hole in the atmosphere, the tear was a bright golden color, the same color as the Holy Light that shined around Holy Swords. It got everyone's attention and every Devil present felt a chill down their spines.

Appearing from out of the tear was—A man. A young man wearing a personal-looking business suit, he wore glasses and had a very dignified expression on his handsome face, like a Nobleman, he had light blonde hair that was straight and went down to his neck with a single braid tied around his right side on the front of his hair, he also had dark blue eyes. He held in his hand a Sword that was releasing a Holy aura and was likely what caused the tear in space.

The Sword had a grip long enough that appears as a two-handed Sword with a round pommel at the end, a huge cross-like shaped guard, and a long blade with a gold-colored edge. The aura coming from the Sword was colossal, it was greater than any Holy aura any of them had ever felt, Excalibur—No, even Durandal was nothing compared to this. No doubt, that Sword was death, it spelled death for even an Ultimate-Class Devil if they so much as get hit by the tip of that blade.

"That's far enough, Bikou, Kuroka. It'll be a problem for us if you died here."

The new arrival said those words, judging by the fact that he spoke to Bikou and Kuroka with familiarity, it was clear to everyone that he was also a member of the Khaos Brigade.

Bikou sat up and looked at him listlessly. "What a surprise, I didn't expect you of all people to show up."

"Because Kuroka was being slow, I came to see. And even Bikou is here. Geez, what are you two doing?" The man sighed as he fixed his glasses.

Shirou was never one to wait and immediately rushed in without a word as he unsheathed Mitsuyo.

CLASH!

Shirou used his speed to close the distance in a flash and appeared above his head before he brought down his Sword, but the unnamed Swordsman didn't even look at him as he raised his arm and blocked Shirou's blade with his own. This resulted in a clash between their weapon, but to Shirou's surprise, this man stopped his Sword and killed its momentum, he stopped Shirou's attack while looking as though he was hardly trying.

Shirou could get a good read on this man's ability from just that display—He was strong. Stronger than Kuroka or Bikou. More than that, his skill and mastery of the Sword would make him a much more difficult opponent to fight, and that's even without taking his unbelievable Sword into account.

Shirou jumped back and returned to the spot he was standing on before his attack a the bespectacled man lowered his Sword and smiled at him. "Well, that was a rather violent way of saying hello, Mr. Red Dragon Emperor."

"Think nothing of it, and the name's Shirou Amakusa." Shirou introduced himself, not letting himself be intimidated by this man's Holy Sword.

"I'll keep that in mind, I've had somewhat of a fascination with you ever since your bout with Vali." The young man said back, completely calm.

"I'd say you're the fascinating one here, it's impressive that you managed to hold off my Sword just now." Shirou pointed out.

"Heh, actually, it's the other way around you know?" Bikou informed him, now able to stand on his feet again. "What was amazing is that your Sword didn't get blown away by his, it's the number one Holy Sword in existence."

Shirou's eyes narrowed at that proclamation as the man in the suit spoke out. "He's right, I'm not one to brag, but when it comes to Holy weapons, my Sword is without equal." He held up his Sword. "The Holy King Sword Collbrande. Also known as Caliburn."

Now Shirou's eyes went wide with shock, amazement, and urgency all at once. He now understood why he felt such a threat coming from that Sword and the wielder himself.

"Caliburn…" Shirou repeated, never looking away. "The Sword in the stone from the Arthurian Legend."

"The one and only. And for the record…" The man was actually in possession of two Swords and pointed at a sheathed Sword on his back. "This is also a Sword of mine. It is the final Excalibur that was recently found, the Strongest of the seven Excaliburs—Excalibur Ruler."

"Excalibur too?" Rias gasped, not wanting to believe what she had just heard. "To think that there could someone who held both Holy Swords."

"Caliburn and Excalibur?" Shirou uttered the names of both weapons before he asked the only question that mattered to him right then. "Just who are you?"

"Right, I haven't introduced myself, where are my manners?" The man realized before lowering his Sword and respectfully bowing his head slightly. "You can think as someone similar to you, I am the descendant of Arthur Pendragon, the former King of Camelot—And my name is Arthur Pendragon."

A wave of surprise and realization swept through those who were unaware of this fact until now. It all became clear and yet it was a terrifying fact that they had just been informed of.

"King Arthur's direct descendant?" Madgaran breathed out, dumbfounded. "And he's also a member of the Vanishing Dragon's group?"

"Then he's a descendant of a Legendary figure like Shirou." Rias deduced with great dismay.

Whatever he was feeling right now, Shirou didn't show any change in emotion as he spoke calmly. "I get it now, that explains why you have those Swords."

"Indeed, like you, I am a Hero's descendant who took up the name of my ancestor along with his power. Excalibur, the Strongest Holy Sword. And Collbrande, the beyond Strongest Holy Sword, in the Legends, both Swords belonged to King Arthur, so naturally, they are in my hands."

This time, Kuroka got up after recovering enough and addressed him. "To be talking like that, you're pretty calm, aren't you?"

Arthur nodded at Kuroka's question. "Yes, the truth is that I also have a lot of interest in the comrades of these guys. Red Dragon Emperor, could you please give my greetings to the Holy Demonic Sword user and the Holy Sword Durandal user? I'd like to face them sometime as fellow swordsmen—You know?"

He had quite the audacious attitude while asking a request. Shirou didn't seem bothered by his desire but he could already tell that—At their current levels, neither Kiba nor Xenovia would be any match for this Swordsman.

"I don't mind letting them know, but I wouldn't get my hopes up to high if I was you." Shirou told him as though he was warning him. "In the case of mastering their Swords, those two are horribly underdeveloped."

"That's fine, I have another interest I can focus on in the meantime—After all, you're a Swordsman I've taken an interest in remember?" Arthur informed him as he fixed his glasses. "While you may be Vali's rival, I hope to face you and your Divine Sword in a duel someday."

"Why wait for someday?" Shirou's expression went back to being a confident one. "Since you're already here, let's go here and now." He challenged him.

Shirou was still surprised by Arthur's identity but he was never one to let himself dwell on things. When all was said and done, fighting was always something he couldn't steer away from.

Arthur only smiled and turned away. "As attractive as the suggestion sounds, I'm afraid I haven't the time. By arriving here in this manner I ended up teatime a whole in the barrier you all were fighting inside and now, it won't be long before the Devil higher-ups take notice of our presence." He explained as turned to his teammates. "Now then, let's retreat."

Bikou pursed his lips in annoyance. "Guess we've got no choice. Right, Kuroka?"

Kuroka looked as though she wanted to protest. Regardless of what Arthur said, she felt as though she still didn't want to leave without her Sister. As thus she stepped forward. "You both can go, I'm not leaving without my Shirone."

Bikou sighed as though he expected her to say that. "Great, she's being stubborn again."

"You realize we can't leave without you right?" Arthur reminded him.

"Then I'll make this quick!" Kuroka shouted.

Kuroka summoned a purple magic circle that was actually in the shape of a hexagon with circles on the corners. From those circles, she charged Senjutsu bullets that started moving around to form a ring.

Shirou could feel the power coming from here but didn't bat an eye and stayed composed. "Not bad. So you still had a trick up your sleeve?"

"I'll blow you to pieces if that's what it takes to take my Sister back!" Kuroka yelled at him.

She was desperate, it was already a clear fact that she wasn't strong enough to beat Shirou. But being strong or weak didn't matter to her, if there was something she could do that she hadn't tried yet she'd attempt it. She wouldn't allow herself to leave him unscathed. She fired the ring to Shirou.

But Shirou couldn't be stopped by a desperate attack and instead he charged in. He evaded the attack and let it explode violently behind him, this kicked up a cloud of dirt and dust that the others had to shield themselves from. At that moment, Shirou got behind her and grabbed her by the back of her kimono before dashing forth with her in tow as they vanished off deep into the woods.

By the time the aftershock of the explosion cleared, the two of them were gone. Of which, Arthur took notice of. "Wait… Where's Kuroka?"

Bikou looked around and also noticed her absence. "I don't know? She was right here a second ago."

Arthur sighed. "Haa… What a troublesome woman. Try sensing her aura."

"All right." Bikou did just that.

Meanwhile, Shirou landed in a remote area of the forest and set Kuroka in front of him. She stood up and gave him a menacing look.

"What's your deal?" She questioned him angrily. "You think you can intimidate me just by separating me from the others."

"Just be quiet for a second." Shirou said it, not like a request or a demand, but rather, an order.

Once again he covered his body with his Darkness. But this time he let it spread out beneath his legs and the Darkness spread over the ground as though the soil was being covered by an ever-growing black carpet. Shirou didn't stop and spread out his Darkness outwardly from his body, it went past Kuroka and expanded around both of them before forming a circular border around them. It kept going until, by the time he was done, Shirou and Kuroka found themselves inside of a widespread dome made entirely of Darkness. It was like being in a dark, empty void with nothing but the black abyss in every direction and the only things in existence were each other.

"Another ability I have with the Power of Darkness." Shirou voiced out loud after creating the dome. "Think of it as being behind an unbreakable wall, you can only get out if I let you."

While he was talking, Kuroka looked around, trying to comprehend what was happening before turning her eyes back onto him.

"Answer me!" She demanded. "What are you up to, why would you want to trap me in a thing like this, and why now?"

"I was waiting for the chance to get you alone, and this is so I can guarantee that we won't be disturbed." Shirou explained before telling her his motive. "Now then, tell me your side of the story."

.

.

.

All her thoughts and emotions came to an immediate halt after she heard something that made her question her own ears with how unbelievable and out of nowhere it was.

"…My what?"

"I heard the story, about how you went crazy and killed your master because of Senjutsu, and then you ran away." Shirou elaborated.

Kuroka looked at him suspiciously. "So what?"

"That's what I heard, but the thing is…" Shirou paused before being frank. "I just don't buy it."

"Hmm, why not?"

"Personally, I only somewhat believe it when I heard it when I first heard it, I'm not the kind of guy who just believes third-party information." Shirou confessed. "Now though, after meeting you, I'm pretty much sure that it's not true."

"And why not?" Kuroka seemed upset all of a sudden. "I don't exactly remember doing anything to make you think that."

"But that's just it, you didn't do anything." Shirou emphasized to make a point. "I have a friend who's also a Youkai that knows Senjutsu, he taught me how to use mine."

Kuroka reacted to that piece of information. "Was he also the one who trained Shirone?"

"Only recently. Anyways, when I asked him about what was on my mind, he told me something. He said: while practicing Senjutsu can potentially lead to madness, Youkai have a strong immunity to that effect, only in rare cases does it happen to them." Shirou quoted his words before staring at her. "And so I wondered, did she really go crazy or is that just something someone else came up with to because they wanted to hide the truth?"

"Just what are you trying to say?!" The more he went on, the more upset she sounded, it was like she was becoming defensive on the matter.

"I said I wanted to hear your side of the story, but I already have a theory on that at this point, that said, I wanted you to hear what I had in my mind." Shirou explained as he continued. "Your so-called insanity is too sane for me to believe, you have complete self-awareness and are fully in control of your actions, what part of you is supposed to be crazy?"

"How about the part where I not only killed my master but wiped out an entire pursuit team?" Kuroka reminded him. "What would you call someone who left behind a trail of bloody corpses anything if not crazy?"

"Yes you committed the crime, but the issue here is your motive, they said you were crazy before the murders." Shirou pointed out. "What really made me suspicious is your incredibly strong desire to take Koneko. If it's true you went mad with power and abandon her, why try so hard to get here back now?"

"Like I said, I just wanted another piece under my control." Kuroka reiterated her claim. "I left her before because a Youkai cannot help another Youkai."

Shirou frowned at her. "You showed me your cards, Kuroka. I just met you and even I can tell you're lying."

Kuroka's eyes widened—Taken aback by his proclamation as he went on.

"Even if there was some unspoken rule like that, you raised her and looked after her your whole lives before you master found the two of you, doesn't that count as helping?" Shirou pointed out an obvious fact. "If so, why did you only care about not being allowed to help her on that specific occasion?"

"…That's…" Kuroka averted her eyes, not wanting him to see the uncertainty in her gaze.

Not waiting for an answer, Shirou continued. "The way I see it, despite what everyone says, you still care about her a lot, that's the real reason you wanted her back. You just couldn't tell her that so you acted as a cruel enemy. Even when you poisoned her and Rias, you lied about it being life-threatening, and the whole fight, you never aimed a single attack at her."

"Okay, since you have everything figured out, answer this—Why would I do that?" Kuroka sounded as though she was close to snapping. "What reason would I have for putting on an act and lying about all that?!"

"Simple." Shirou was unfazed as he answered her question. "Why tell the truth when you know that no one will believe you?"

She stopped.

Play OST — Ace Of Diamond — Walking In The Rain

All of the noise halted and there wasn't a sound to be heard. In that jet black void where darkness covered every direction, the only source of noises came from their conversation, and now that came to a pause.

Kuroka didn't respond, she didn't have anything to say for herself and all she did was lower her head. He had seen through her. She didn't speak so Shirou went on.

"Like I said, I have my own theory on how it actually went down. I think the real reason you killed your master was that he was asking for it, he did something to make you want to kill him, not want to be actually willing to, even regardless of the consequences."

"Even despite what Rias Gremory probably told you?" Kuroka asked quietly.

"I doubt third-party information, especially coming from High-Class Devils in times like these because, even if they don't mean to be, their way of thinking is biased." Shirou pointed out, sure of that fact. "Instead of checking all the facts and acting as a neutral observer, they only look at things from a single perspective. Always thinking "Whatever happened, it's the servant's fault" every time right? So even if said master was a scumbag that deserved to be killed, just the fact that he was a Noble Devil would be enough for society to take his side."

Kuroka did not argue with him, instead, she asked a question. "You're strange. I heard the House of Gremory treat their servants with love and respect. Despite being treated so well ever since you became a Devil, you still doubt your master and society?"

"I'm not soft-hearted. The actions of a few don't excuse the whole race. I won't just forgive society based solely on the kindness of the Gremory family and look the other way on all of their wrongdoings."

Shirou voiced his true thoughts and opinions on the matter, he would not be swayed and change how he felt regardless of how much time had passed.

"I felt this way ever since I first met a Stray Devil. If you don't obey you die. That's the absolute law for anyone who isn't a Noble. Even if you're hurt, stripped of all your rights, opinions, and dignity, and treated as nothing but a slave, your only option is to accept all that or you'll die, and yet, somehow no one sees anything wrong with that."

He sounded disgusted as he said it, his previously composed demeanor was slipping which surprised Kuroka.

"And when you consider that, if there was a Devil who was strong enough that they didn't have to accept that, one who could kill said master and not get killed even if they became a Stray, why wouldn't they? The very fact that they became a Stray Devil must mean that staying with their master was worse than death, so if you take away the dying part, anybody would kill them."

His words made sense, they were precise and logical and yet emotional as well. While she could tell that he was talking about her, she could also feel that this was a subject that meant something to him, she honestly never met someone who seemed to give it this much thought.

"But, to the Nobility, the only fact that they care about is that a master was killed by his servant. So naturally, they'd do whatever they can to paint that servant into the image of a terrible villain who needed to be killed, and whatever reason he was killed for would be buried away if it made them lose face. That's why they spread the story that you were crazy, a crazy person wouldn't need a motive."

Shirou had complete certainty in his thoughts on the matter, he didn't think for a second that it was wrong. But he wasn't done yet.

"And more than that. I know that you didn't abandon her, or more like—You didn't leave her because you wanted to, and leaving her hurt you just as much as it did her. Even now, you love and cherish her the way you always did, that never changed."

Kuroka stayed quiet at first, she felt like a child who had been caught telling a lie and after being exposed so could only look away and keep her head down.

"Even if it's exactly how you think it is, why do you even care? I still hurt Shirone by leaving her just as Rias Gremory said." She reluctantly admitted. "I left a wound on her heart that will never heal, don't you hate me for that? Why did you care at all about me in the first place?"

She wanted to know the truth. Rather, she had to know, there was no reason he should think of her as anything but an enemy, so why did he seem so interested in speaking with her, she didn't get it.

"Because you're me."

Shirou's answer was unreserved and blunt like always, but as he went on, his words sparked a reaction.

"You're just like the old me and possibly who I would have become in a different future. The more I learned about you, the more I saw myself in you."

"And just how is that?"

It wasn't sarcasm in her tone, but the honest desire to know more.

"I also have a little Sister. Like you, there was a time where all we had was each other, because I was the older one, I devoted everything to watching over her and keeping her safe. Back then, I'd even get my hands dirty for her, but I'd still hide it from her because I believed there were some things she was better off not knowing."

Kuroka didn't say it but she felt a sense of understanding that resonated in her. She understood what he felt because it was the same for her.

"That's why I know the reason why you did what you did. Even if you could survive as a criminal on the run for the rest of your life, Koneko couldn't. Knowing that, you felt the only safe option left for her was to stay and be placed in the custody of another family, even if it would be hard at first, and even if she would grow to hate you, as long as she was safe and healthy, you could endure the hardship you faced afterward, that's how much you cared about her."

Kuroka's hands closed into fists, her emotions were bubbling up inside and she couldn't hold it in much longer. After being seen through completely, she could no longer hold onto her mask and the feelings she was trying to suppress leaked out.

"I don't want to endure it! She's my little Sister, the only family I have in this world. She's… Shirone is the world to me, I don't want to just leave her in someone else's hands anymore, I want her to be beside me again, to hold her close and feel her warmth. I want my Sister back!"

The facade had slipped off. All of her inner thoughts and desires were laid bare for him to see. Right now, all the walls and layers she made to hide her true nature had broken down and now—To him, she no longer looked like a mature, sensual woman or a powerful enemy, she just looked like a young girl who was sad and in pain.

"I know I left her before but that was only because I couldn't protect her if she went with me. But now our team has plenty of powerful individuals on our side, even Ophis, the most powerful being in existence. Now I can protect her from anything!"

Music Off

"Even if you can physically protect her, will that make her happy?"

Even though Kuroka shouted out her desires and untainted feelings, Shirou's words cut through her once again.

"To go with you—That means abandoning her current life. Physically, Koneko is ridiculously strong, but she's still a young First Year girl with a frail heart, a heart that's wounded. Even if you protect her from harm, forcibly taking her like this will only hurt her further, she'll never be happy, is that what you want?"

He didn't hold back and she couldn't refute his statement. Shirou wasn't done.

Play OST —Dungeon Ni Deal Wo Motomeru No Machigatteiru Darou Ka III — Beast Dream

"After the psychological damage she suffered, she slowly learned how to smile again only thanks to the life she lives now and with the people in it. No matter what excuse you make, tearing her away from her current life will just recreate that psychological damage on a greater scale. Is having her beside you worth it if it means hurting her all over again?"

Once again, Kuroka knew he was right, but she didn't want to accept it. She was torn, her rational side knew that from the beginning this was a bad idea, and yet, she couldn't change the fact that she was emotionally immature. Regardless of reason or logic, she just wanted to be with her Sister. Despite desperately trying to block out the details and just convince herself that things would work out, she was finding it harder and harder to keep believing that.

"Then… What am I supposed to do?" She forced out a whisper. "Am I supposed to just give up stay out of her life from now on? I can't accept that… So what should I do?"

It wasn't that she was asking him specifically, she was just so lost and confused on what can be done that she could only ask out loud. She just wanted to know, it didn't matter who told her, she just needed an answer.

"Became a part of her life."

Shirou answered her. His quick response made her eyes open up and she looked up at him. Shirou continued with his explanation.

"Her current life is where her happiness is, so became a part of it, instead of taking her away with you, you come to her."

"I'm a terrorist and an SS-Class criminal. How am I supposed to do that?!" She angrily retorted before looking down again. "The reason I'm doing this is that it's the only option I have, I don't have a place in the Underworld anymore."

"Then I'll make one for you."

"Huh?"

Kuroka looked at him again, only this time she appeared dumbfounded at his quick response and the way he said it. It was so natural, it's like he planned it from the beginning.

"It's true that in the current Underworld, there's no place for you, but it's possible to change that in the future. If became a powerful, influential Devil whose words can move society, I can make it so you'll no longer be wanted and pursued, and that'll make it possible to be with Koneko again."

"W-What are you saying?!" Kuroka looked at him like he was crazy. "As if any one person could do that! You'd need more authority than a Great King or a Devil King to do that!"

"Then I'll transcend the Great Kings and Devil Kings." Shirou proclaimed as though it was a simple matter. "After all, that was always my intention."

He was confident, to the point of being called arrogant, but he didn't bluff. Kuroka could see and feel, he wasn't just saying all this, he meant all of it.

"If my thoughts about you are true, then they're partially responsible for all this as well. It was an outcome created by the consequences of a society that they made and never even tried to correct, they just brushed it aside and forgot about it. In that case, I'll make it right. If it means fixing the mistakes of the past and preventing more from happening in the future, I'll take the Underworld into my own and hands."

"He's serious…!" Kuroka thought to herself. "He's not just boasting, he actually holds that goal with conviction and sincerity." Realizing all that shook her, it was overwhelming, she could almost feel the strength of his will overtaking her. "You really believe you can accomplish that?"

"I know that I can, better yet, I have to do it." He said with conviction. "If I don't, who will?"

He then lowered his voice and spoke in a softer manner.

"So until then. Leave Koneko to me, I'll watch over her." Shirou promised her. "When the day comes that the two of you can be together again, her frail heart will grow and heal enough where she'll be able to accept you. I'll keep her safe and ensure her happiness until that day."

"So, you want me to entrust my Sister to you?"

"I want you to entrust both of yourselves to me." Shirou declared resolutely. "Koneko and you, put your faith in me—In Shirou-Sama."

Kuroka was quiet, motionless as she processed and absorbed everything he said. But this time, she didn't feel lost or confused at all. Rather, there was a new calmness that washed over her heart, and her eyes that seemed clouded could now see clearly. She looked up at him and smiled. It wasn't the smile of a mischievous cat or of a seductive temptress, it was the soft smile of a woman.

Music Off

She spoke as she walked up to him. "I've never met someone like you. Not even Vali is as crazy as you are… But—"

She didn't finish her sentence and instead stopped as she was right in front of him. Kuroka then reached out and gently rested a hand on his cheek as she slowly leaned in closer.

To his mild surprise, Shirou found himself on the receiving end of a kiss as Kuroka planted her lips on top of his. He was surprised but he didn't stop her or make any attempt to pull back, he just accepted her touch.

Before long, she ended it and stepped back. Now they were in the same position as a moment ago with her being right in front of him. Kuroka slowly opened her mouth to speak.

"…I—"

SLASH!

Before another word could be said, a loud noise along with a new source of light appeared all of a sudden that grabbed both of their attention. They both turned their heads to the side to see—For a second time—A bright, golden-colored, three-dimensional tear that cut through the fabric of space and opened the hole in the atmosphere.

It looked like a Sword of Light had cut through the world made of darkness and created an opening. The large cut through the wall of the dark dome started to create cracks and the darkness started receding. They both looked to see the dark void surrounding was fading away to nothing and in a few seconds, they were back in the middle of the forest.

"Looks like we found you."

Shirou and Kuroka turned in the direction of that voice and saw Arthur standing there, still holding Caliburn. Bikou was standing beside him with a grin.

"Arthur, Bikou?" Kuroka muttered.

"Are you surprised that we found you?" Bikou asked Shirou with amusement.

Shirou shrugged. "Not exactly, I figured you would before long."

"Well, you certainly didn't make it easy for us. Because of that large amount of Darkness that you used to hide yourselves in, it was like you were in a different space. I couldn't sense your auras that way." Bikou complained.

"Even so, that much darkness covering a wide range was visible to the naked eye, it was just a matter of searching the woods until we found you." Arthur explained. "And even if you can block out intruders with your Darkness, my Holy King Sword can cut through space itself, so you couldn't stop me from breaking through."

"I noticed that myself, you don't have to explain it." Shirou nonchalantly responded.

With that, Kuroka leaped away from him and retook her place next to Arthur and Bikou as the man then cut the air with the sword called Collbrande and another spatial tear appeared and spread out, one that several people could pass through.

"You really made things harder you know?" Bikou commented, looking at Kuroka.

"Whatever, I never asked either of you to come along." Kuroka retorted while crossing her arms.

"Regardless, it's time for us to depart. Goodbye, Red Dragon Emperor."

The man left with just those words and stepped into the spatial tear as he vanished. Bikou gave him a wave before doing the same. Before she left as well, Kuroka turned around and gave him one last look. It was only a second, but when she stared into his eyes, he could tell she was trying to convey a message to him.

Shirou understood exactly what she wanted to say and watched her go as disappeared into the spatial tear.

"Don't ever forget the promise you made to me huh?" Shirou thought about what Kuroka told him through her stare. "Of course, I mean what I say."

"Shirou!"

Shirou turned around to see Rias, Koneko, and Madgaran making their way through the woods to reach him. It wasn't long before they stopped in front of him and Shirou just greeted them with a pleasant gaze.

"Thank goodness, you're alright." Rias said with relief as she clasped his shoulders.

"Sempai, are you okay?" Koneko asked, still a bit concerned.

"Don't worry about me, I haven't got a scratch." Shirou assured her.

"What happened with the Khaos Brigade?" Madgaran asked, noticing they were gone.

Shirou shrugged. "They ran off, the Holy King Sword made things complicated."

"I can imagine." Madgaran accepted that answer. "Still the fact remains that you drove them off singlehandedly. I must admit, I never could have guessed you were so powerful."

"We were just as surprised." Rias noted with a sense of satisfaction. "The fact that Shirou had become so strong is something that even I didn't predict, but I'm happy nonetheless."

"Anyways, we should probably head back, I'm guessing everyone's going nuts wondering where we are." Shirou suggested.

"That might be for the best, but with the commotion all this fighting caused, it's evident that many of the Devils at the party have already detected a problem and sent an investigation team to find out what's been going on." Madgaran informed them before smiling. "You all can head back, I'll report to the Higher-ups about everything that took place."

"We appreciate that." Rias told him with gratitude.

After that, the Gremory Devils headed back to the building while Madgaran went to speak with the Devils who had arrived after they detected trouble, and the Satan-sponsored party was hurriedly canceled because of the Khaos Brigade.

Later on, after everything was settled and the party was canceled, most of the important VIPs gathered together in a conference room within the Devil King's territory and were having a long discussion about the incident that had just taken place as well as what they planned to do about it.

"What a blunder."

That was the first that the Vice-Governor of the Fallen Angels—Shemhaza said in the conference room.

"That's an understatement." Azazel thought while he drank some tea.

On the day of the Satan-sponsored party, the Devils had received an attack from the Khaos Brigade. To put it accurately, it would be better to say that, "That was what the result became". That the SS-class exiled Devil "Kuroka" who is wanted throughout the Underworld would use a familiar to watch the party was outside of everyone's expectations.

After that, Rias Gremory's family and the Great King Bael's second heir Madgaran came into contact with her. And drove her away.

The situation was settled with minimum damage, but—The breach into the party hall was making the other powers question the wariness of the Devils.

Just as anyone could see, Shemhaza from the Fallen Angels' side and the Seraphs of the Angels' side were angry. Well, Azazel couldn't say anything about them either. He also would never say "I, the Governor, was engrossed in cutting loose at a casino at the time" either. Having the treaty violated right away was a grave matter. It was a serious problem.

Shemhaza reported more. "The opponents were members of the Khaos Brigade's independent special unit, the Vali Team, consisting of Sun Wukung Bikou, Nekoshou Kuroka, and also the user of the Holy King Sword Collbrande. That three people from a team of people endowed with tremendous power would come is… Also, the management ability of the Devils is—"

"Ah, when this guy starts scolding, it takes a long while." Azazel thought with a bored expression. "Now we're done for."

The incident had been taken under control. Rias and Koneko had been exposed to poison, but thankfully the detoxification had been completed right away and they only had a minor illness. Rather, since everyone was safe, it was a happy new bit of information that Shirou now commanded such a vast amount of power after his month of training and the addition of the Power of Darkness. Everyone here seemed to understand in their hearts.

The Devil King's younger Sister Rias was safe. The Red Dragon Emperor had taken another step forward. The party had been canceled, but when looking at the big picture, it had been a big gain for them.

Back at the Gremory family's residence, the female members of Rias' peerage, except for Koneko and Mika were sitting in and around a large bathtub in the open-air bath at the Gremory estate. Everyone was trying to relax after the party and in preparation for the upcoming match.

"Well, that's what I call a crazy day." Xenovia exclaimed with a smile, sitting on the edge of the tube. "To think that all that stuff was happening while we were just wandering around the party hall."

"I'm sorry we weren't there to help you." Asia said apologetically to Rias while standing in the tube.

"That must have been unbelievably awful." Akeno said to Rias as well, as the two of them sat next to each other on the edge. She looked down at the water with a sad look in her eyes. "It can't be easy for her to have to look at her Sister as an enemy."

"Whatever happens, she is a member of my esteemed household." Rias said with unwavering certainty. "No matter what she faces, I plan on doing everything to ensure her smile."

That made Akeno smile. "Alright! That's the positivity I like to here." She said cheerfully.

Rias then turned to Asia and Xenovia. "And there's no need to apologize either. I was the one who chose to follow her in secret. If I had been more rational, Koneko and I probably wouldn't have been exposed to so much danger."

Xenovia shook her head. "No, don't say that, you were the only one who even noticed something was wrong in the first place. We should have been more alert."

"But, in the end, Shirou-san noticed and left as well." Asia pointed out, hoping to lighten the mood. "So everything turned out okay."

Akeno smiled wider as she moved in and sat in the tube. "True, he saved the day like always."

"I wouldn't say that." Rias stared up at the sky as she thought back to the battle. "There's no doubt that he saved us, but it was completely different from usual."

"What do you mean?" Xenovia asked curiously.

"The strength he displayed was like nothing I had ever seen." Rias answered wistfully, still remembering it. "I never imagined he'd be so strong—I mean, he's always been strong, but now Shirou's strength is of a completely different presence than before."

"A different presence?" Asia repeated she was having trouble understanding.

"What I mean is, I've always seen first hand how reliable Shirou is in a fight, it felt like no matter the opponent, he find a way to win. But now, it's not a matter of winning or losing, while watching him, it almost felt like he was untouchable." Rias explained, not exaggerating. "In that moment, I couldn't picture anyone or anything stronger than him. He fought two Ultimate-Class enemies at once like they were nothing and it looked like he had strength to spare, I couldn't believe my eyes."

"I can imagine." Akeno retorted, sounding like she was trying to picture it herself. "Honestly, I wish I could have seen it myself if it's as amazing as you described."

"That would be the quickest way to understand. Still, it makes me think about the upcoming Game." Rias looked down at her reflection in the water. "I know that Sona is an expert in strategy and a great Tactician, but the way Shirou is now, I don't even know if there is a strategy capable of stopping anymore."

"If that's the case, we all better give it our all to make sure that he doesn't show us up." Xenovia declared with a spirited determination.

"True, we can't let him do all the work." Akeno agreed, somewhere playfully.

"I'll do my best to." Asia added with enthusiasm.

Rias smiled back at their renewed motivation and felt the same feeling inside of her. "Yes, let's all give it our best."

"By the way, where's Koneko?" Xenovia decided to ask what was on her mind.

"She said she wanted to be alone for a bit." Asia answered her.

Meanwhile, in a private indoor bathroom that also belonged to the Gremory family. Shirou was there alone while sitting in the middle of the bath and bathing in silence. While bathing, he still wore his swim trunks and all of his bandages, which were made waterproof by magic.

Though Shirou didn't really care much for baths, he decided to use this one to concentrate and also give himself and his body a chance to relax after the battle.

[Partner, are you certain that was a wise decision?]

"What decision do you mean, Ddraig?"

Shirou responded inwardly to the question asked by his Dragon partner dwelling within his Sacred Gear.

[There might have been circumstances in that situation, but the actions you took with that Nekomata were risky, some might even accuse you of treason or allying with a criminal should it ever become known.]

"I know that I might have taken a gamble back there. But I don't regret it. I said what needed to be said and did what needed to be done."

[I understand that you take these matters very seriously. However, I am surprised that you are willing to go so far for someone who isn't even your comrade or friend—More to the point, she is an ally of the Vanishing Dragon, your enemy.]

Shirou heard Ddraig's assessment and could understand his puzzlement, why care some much about someone like that. It would seem strange. Shirou cracked a small smile.

"Is it that confusing?"

[It is. Are you doing this merely because you feel a sense of affinity with her based on your relationships with your respective siblings as you said.]

"I'd be lying if I said that wasn't part of it, but there's more to it than that. Ddraig, didn't you feel anything whenever you saw a Stray Devil?"

[What do you mean?]

"I mean I did. I always wondered something—If I had been reincarnated by a Devil who wasn't Rias, what would have happened to me?"

As he asked that rhetorical question, Ddraig didn't speak, he didn't need to because he then understood where he was going with this. They both knew the answer.

Shirou is a man who absolutely refuses to hold over his fate or his life in someone else's hands, while he could manage Rias. If it had been one of the self-important, aristocratic Devils who reincarnated him and claimed to be the master of his soul, they would have naturally clashed as Shirou would never have accepted that—The final outcome would always be him rebelling and becoming a Stray Devil himself.

"Humans or other races get taken in for their talents just to be someone else's plaything, the Nobles get to treat their servants however they want and don't face any repercussions. I can't stand that, it's just not fair."

[Throughout time, fairness has hardly ever been taken into account when creating a society.]

"But that doesn't make it okay! I get that they were hurting for numbers after the war and the Evil Piece system saved their race, but that doesn't excuse going around, robbing others of their lives, and making them live out the rest of their existences as servants, that's needless cruelty."

This was clearly something that Shirou had given a lot of thought to and had thinking about for a long time. It was likely that meeting someone like Kuroka was the trigger that made him feel like he needed to talk about it.

"To me, Kuroka is a victim of a system that failed her, a consequence of society. And there's a pretty good chance that there are plenty more like her, not to mention there'll be more in the future if things stay the way they are now. Someone has to do something about that, and I can't just hand this responsibility over to someone else."

[You may have a valid point, but this world has been this way for generations, eons even, it's been integrated into their very way of life. And even if it's you, presumptuous to believe that one person alone can change that, no matter how powerful they may be.]

"If that's the case, I won't do it alone."

Shirou's answer was immediate, timed right after Ddraig spoke, as though he already expected that statement and prepared an answer in advance.

"If I can't do it alone then I won't. I'll find other like-minded people to work with me, I'll have them lend me their wisdom and strength. Naturally, I'll take the lead, but I'll make sure to surround myself with those who can do all the things I can't. Not just me, we'll all change the Underworld."

Ddraig paused momentarily when he heard all that, it was like he felt something about it that made him think for a bit before he voiced aloud.

[…Partner. You've changed.]

"Hmm? I have?"

[That's right. Before, I expected you to have said you would find a way to do it yourself or at least attempt to discover a way to. Claiming you would seek out the aid of others and request their assistance, that's unlike you.]

"Yeah, maybe the old me would have felt that way and never admitted to any shortcomings, but that kind of thinking isn't going to work anymore. I already learned that training to change the world with the ability of just a single person is just a failure waiting to happen. No man is an Island, I can't succeed if I try to do it alone."

Shirou thought back to the truths he became aware of after speaking with Shirōu Amakusa Tokisada and learning of his past. Shirou saw for himself how desiring change on a large scale but having everyone being solely dependent on a single individual was a mistake that led to ruin. That is why he plans on repeating that mistake, even if he previously felt he could do it alone, now Shirou believes success can only come from the collective efforts of many.

[And, is that the true reason you desire the Devil King's throne?]

Shirou sighed at the question and thought back to what he first said his reasons were during the Peace Summit.

"I wasn't lying back then, I honestly do want to become the Strongest Devil there is. But this is also something I wanted to accomplish from the beginning, and I believe the best way to accomplish it is to first become the highest-ranking power in the Underworld—Namely Lucifer. I just didn't feel like telling everyone back then because it wasn't the best time."

[And when do you plan on telling them?]

Shirou just grinned and closed his eyes. "When I feel like it."

Suddenly, the tapping sound of footsteps echoed through the bathroom and Shirou felt the presence of another person entered. But he remained relaxed as he could tell who it was without looking to see.

"Koneko." Shirou said aloud.

The sound of footsteps stopped as Koneko stood at the edge of the bathtub. She wore nothing and only had a small towel to cover her front.

"…You could tell it was me?" Koneko asked softly.

"I'm good at that sort of thing." Shirou replied, still not facing her. "What brings you here?"

"…I was going to take a bath like the others but… I felt like I wanted to talk to you… And I wanted it to be when you were alone." Koneko had a nervous pitch in her tone as she blushed a bit.

"Well, you definitely picked the right time and place for that." Shirou sarcastically commented, not bothered in the least. "Don't worry about it, hope in."

After being given the go-ahead, Koneko let go of her towel and let it fall to the floor, revealing her soft, unblemished, Naked body. With that, she stepped forward and gently entered the bath, sitting down and letting herself soak in the water.

Though they were both there, she stayed at the edge while Shirou was at the center so there was a small distance between them.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Shirou broke the ice.

"…You…" Koneko hesitated before saying it. "…You really learned how to use Senjutsu?"

"Yeah, it's still a work in progress but I figured out the basics just before I got back from the mountain." Shirou clarified.

"…I see…" Koneko looked down at the water. "…It didn't take you long to learn it."

"Are you upset?" Shirou noticed the sadness in her voice.

Koneko kept her head down. "…I don't know."

"Koneko, you came here because there was something you wanted to say, so don't worry, just say what's on your mind."

Koneko stayed quiet for a bit before exhaling a deep breath. "…I'm sorry."

"About what?" Shirou asked calmly.

Koneko felt both a sense of guilt and shame welling up in her chest. "…Before, when my Sister showed up, without even trying to fight her I initially decided to give up and go with her."

"Yeah, I know." Shirou wasn't upset about that. "But that wasn't something you should apologize for, given the situation—You and Rias couldn't have beaten them, and, in the end, you still decided to stand your ground when—"

"…That's not why I'm apologizing." Koneko corrected him, still upset. "…The truth is before when you helped me overcome my fear of Senjutsu…I thought I could stop worrying about it… But the reason I chose to give up was that when I saw Kuroka-Onee-sama again… I couldn't hide the fact that I was still afraid." She sounded ashamed of herself. "…I couldn't overcome my fears after all."

"So you're upset because you're still afraid of Senjutsu, deep down?" Shirou summarized.

"…I think what I was really afraid of was becoming like her." Koneko confessed. "…I'm afraid of becoming lost and consumed by Senjutsu like my Sister."

"Like her Sister…" Shirou thought inwardly after hearing that part, knowing what she didn't know.

Koneko continued. "…Even though I tried to get stronger for the Chief and the rest of the team when the time came, I was still weak and afraid, and couldn't do a thing." Her voice started to crack and tears leaked from her eyes. "…I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize when you did nothing wrong." Shirou informed her before going on to say. "If anything, I think you're expecting too much out of yourself."

Koneko was taken aback by his sudden statement and looked up at him.

"You're upset with yourself for still being afraid? What's weird about being afraid?" Shirou asked rhetorically. "You need to understand that you only came to terms with yourself and Senjutsu just a month ago. One month is nothing compared to all the years of your life where this fear built up and grew inside of you. Asking you to just overcome that kind of phobia that affected your entire life right away is beyond unfair, it happens."

"…B-But, I wasn't afraid until I saw my Sister again. Before then, I thought I already had a handle of my fear."

"That's because it wasn't just Senjutsu you were afraid of." Shirou deduced. "You were afraid of being like her—That means your Sister is a physical representation of your fears and seeing her reminded you of that. Being reminded of our fears can cause them to resurface."

"…Then what should I do? Will… Will just eternally be afraid of Kuroka-Onee-sama, no matter how much time passes or how hard I train?" She wondered slowly with depression.

"No, that's not it." Shirou immediately assured her. "It's just that dealing with what scares us is harder than most people think, it's not something you can just fix with physical training." He informed her. "It's not the body that needs to grow, but the heart."

"…The…Heart?" Koneko repeated as she looked at him, not knowing what he meant.

"The are other types of strength aside from fighting strength or new powers. When we're faced with hardships and difficulties in life, the heart weakens, but learning to overcome them is what helps the heart grow stronger." Shirou explained soulfully to her. "We all have problems that we don't know how to deal with at first but let ourselves grow naturally and learning how to face them is how we become stronger as people."

…Shirou-sempai, we're you ever afraid of something?" Koneko felt like she had to ask.

"Yeah, I used to a while back." Shirou admitted without any shame. "But I overcome it and became stronger, now I'm not afraid of anything."

"…Then, can I be like that?" Koneko asked, her expression changed but she kept staring at him.

"Who knows, I can't see the future so I wouldn't know. But I do know this, if there is a way to beat the fears you still have inside of you then you'll find it, and remember that you're not alone." Shirou reminded her with a smile. "Whatever ends up happening, you know that I'll always be there for you, just like I promised."

Shirou's words resonated inside of her, new emotions filled her chest to replace the old ones and more tears appeared in her eyes. Only this time, they weren't from sadness.

Shirou remained sitting there as the bathroom became silent again, Koneko didn't say a word and he stayed quiet as though he was waiting for her to say something. Instead, though, he suddenly found himself being held as a pair of small and soft arms wrapped around his back and he noticed Koneko as placed her head against his back.

"…Sempai." Koneko gently spoke. "…Thank you."

"Now what are you thanking me for?"

…For always being kind… Did you know? Most of the previous Red Dragon Emperors were people that drowned and lost their heads in their power… I think that they were swallowed by the enormous power they had…My Nee-sama is the same…Even if one has power…If they don't have kindness…They'll definitely go out of control… Shirou-sempai is a gentle Red Dragon Emperor…Even despite all of your great power… That's a wonderful thing… You're surely the first among the previous ones to be a gentle Red Dragon Emperor. That's why—"

Koneko smiled even though he wasn't looking at her. It was a dazzling smile.

"…Thank you and please, always be a gentle Welsh Dragon…"

In spite of her heartfelt words that followed her dazzling smile, Shirou slowly shook his head.

"I am not a gentle Dragon. Not at all."

His words were a stark contrast to her own and the look on his face was anything but dazzling as he spoke.

"You might think I'm gentle but that's only because you don't know what I've done and what I'm capable of. I've hurt so many people, done so many terrible deeds, too many to ever atone for. You couldn't begin to guess the amount of blood on my hands. Koneko… I am not gentle, I'm a monster."

Shirou said all that but he wasn't done as he turned his body and made Koneko release him so that he could turn around to face her.

"And yet…" Shirou now looked down at her so that their eyes could meet. "That's the reason why I'm here. Even if I'm a monster, as long as I can defeat my enemies but also hold onto what's valuable to me, then to me personally, that's much better than being a gentle Dragon. So Koneko, will keep on believing in me?" He spoke to her softly. "Believe in a monster—A cruel merciless Hero who says he'll always be with you?"

Koneko could feel it, the warmth in both his eyes as looked at her with caring and the way his words touched her heart. She moved in and held onto him again, wrapping her arms around his chest and wrapping her legs around his hips, clasping them behind him. Now she fully locked her body around him and buried her face into his chest as she muttered delicately.

"…Sempai… I love you…"

Shirou didn't try to move her and let himself be embraced as he merely replied. "Yeah, I know."

They stayed there together in silence—Not a sound to be heard as Koneko held onto him tightly as she felt the most at peace this way, like a cat resting in a sunbeam. Though not even a minute passed, it felt like they stayed in that position for a while.

Until a new sound entered the room—

"I had a feeling I'd find you here."

Shirou and Koneko looked up toward the edge of the bath to see the source of the voice they both knew. There was a person standing there staring right at them.

Shirou blinked. "Mika?"

Standing there was Shirou's one and only Sister, Mika. She stood there wearing nothing but a bath towel like Koneko was before, only Mika's one was tied tightly around her body, covering everything from her shoulders to her knees. Her arms were crossed as she frowned at them.

"…Why are you here?" Koneko asked her.

"Why you ask?" Mika rhetorically responded. "When the others told me you weren't in the bath with them, I knew there was a very good chance you were here." She pointed at them. "Just what are you doing with my Brother?"

"…I wanted to talk with Sempai…While he was alone." Koneko answered, acting like it wasn't an issue.

"And I get that, but there are plenty of times when you could be alone with him, so why choose the bath specifically?" Mika talked like she was accusing her.

Koneko narrowed her eyes and avoided eye contact. "…I… Didn't feel like waiting."

"Listen here you loli cat-furry, I was willing to forgive when it was sitting on his lap or sharing his bed, but this is where I draw the line!" Mika announced with her arms on her hips. "I'm the only one who gets to take a bath with Big Bro!" She declared.

"Hey, don't go saying things that'll mess up my reputation!" Shirou complained at her.

As if to stake her territory, Koneko just held onto him tightly and narrowed her eyes at Mika. "…I'm bathing with Sempai now."

A tick mark appeared on Mika's head showing she had become angry. "Oh, is that so?" She raised her hand up. "Well, let's fix that!"

Mika used her magic power to cast a spell on the bath. The bathwater started to tremor and gather around the center. Finally, a burst of water rose up and formed a sphere around Koneko, lifting up from the bath and in the air. Mika then swung her arm and the sphere moved with Koneko still inside. After moving away from the bath, it then broke apart and vanished into nothing, dropping Koneko on the tiled floor.

With that done, Mika run and jumped into the bath with a splash. Still keeping her towel on, she swam to the middle of the water and reached Shirou before wrapping her own arms around him.

"Mmm, so happy~" Mika cooed, acting as though she reclaimed her rightful place.

"I'm not." Shirou retorted with half-closed eyes.

Mika's happiness was short-lived though as Koneko hopped back into the bath and reached Mika right away before reaching below and grabbing her leg. She then pulled back and pulled her away as though she was as light as a doll. Returning the favor, Koneko flung her out of the bath and onto the tiled floor. Then proceeded to reclaim her spot with Shirou.

"Oh no you didn't!" Mika snapped at her, instantly pissed as she jumped back in and got in Mika's face. "If you think I'm letting you take my spot with Brokune, you're crazy!"

"…I was here first." Koneko stood her ground.

"First nothing, I've claimed my place with him long before he met anyone of you side-character!" Mika argued, also not backing down.

Koneko narrowed her eyes at her. "…It's bad manners to wear a towel in the bath."

"Unlike you all who don't care about letting it all hang out, I have standards." Mika proclaimed, sounding proud of herself. "The only one who gets to see my Naked body is my Brother!"

It was clear that the emotional atmosphere from before was gone without a trace and all that remained was their usual, almost comedic environment. But, maybe that was a good thing.

Normally, Shirou would have responded to Mika's outrageous statements, but right now he just watched the two of them go back and forth and while staring at his Sister, his mind wandered back to a previous conversation.

(I don't want to endure it! She's my little Sister, the only family I have in this world. She's… Shirone is the world to me, I don't want to just leave her in someone else's hands anymore, I want her to be beside me again, to hold her close and feel her warmth. I want my Sister back!)

As Shirou thought back on Kuroka's pain-filled words, he couldn't help but ponder them.

"Could I have done that?" Shirou thought to himself. "Would I have been willing to prioritize her safety over my happiness even if it meant leaving her? Especially if it meant we could never be a family again? Could I have made that choice?"

Despite all he said to her before, once he had time to stop and truly think about it, he could fully understand the depth of how difficult a decision Kuroka was forced to make and it made him wonder. Even if it was the best choice realistically, how many people out there were emotionally strong enough to make that kind of decision.

When he looked at Mika and considered how valuable and irreplaceable she was to him, and how there was once a time when the only thing he had in this world was her, he honestly wondered if he would have been willing to force himself to part with her, even if it was for her sake.

In the end, though, Shirou shook his head and decided to stop thinking about it. "Stop it. Don't go bringing yourself down over maybes or what-ifs. What matters is what I'll do now and what I can do afterward."

With that, Shirou stood up from the bath and walked to get up, while Mika and Koneko stopped and noticed him leaving.

"Where are you going?" Mika asked.

"I'm done." Shirou said as he stepped out of the bathtub. "I've been in there long enough."

"…I'll go too then." Koneko decided.

"You two stay." Shirou instructed them. "You both only just got in, keep bathing for a while."

"Aww, but the only reason I got in this stupid bath was to bath with you." Mika whined with disappointment.

"Just do it, and Koneko, make sure she doesn't leave until she's clean." Shirou pointed at her.

"…Mmm." Koneko merely nodded.

Shirou turned around to leave but before he did he stopped and looked back at the two of them and decided there was still something he wanted to say.

"Listen, Mika and you too Koneko." Shirou got their attention. "If in the future, I'm facing a problem or there's something eating at me, I swear I'll share with you guys, and I want you to do the same with me."

They both paused and looked at each other for a minute before back at him. Koneko blinked while Mika shook.

"What brought that up?" Mika asked, somewhat confused.

"Sometimes when you keep hiding things from someone, even if you don't mean to, you end up losing their trust." Shirou explained with a serious tone. "I want you both to trust me so don't want there to be secrets between us."

"You don't have to worry about that, there's nothing in the world that could ever make me stop trusting you." Mika assured him with a loving smile. "And if something ever did come up, telling you would be the first thing I'd do."

"…Me too." Koneko gave him the same smile. "…I'll always trust you… Sempai."

"I'm the same." Shirou smiled back at them before turning around again. "I just wanted to let you know."

After saying what he wanted to say, Shirou walked away and soon exited the bathing area as he entered the changing room and stood there silently. Once again he was alone and took a deep breath as he looked back on the events of today and thought.

"Kuroka, I won't forget the promise I made."

—…

Ō ō

And that's the chapter.

First of all, I wanted to get this out sooner but putting everything together like this was harder than I was expecting. I hope the fighting turned out well because I really wanted to demonstrate what Shirou is capable of now. He is a beast, and now he has the Power of Darkness at his full disposal.

I also added that long moment of dialogue between Shirou and Kuroka because that's what Shirou would do, when something doesn't seem right to him, it's natural that he'll try to get to the bottom of things.

And now he knows Kuroka—The real Kuroka. Plus, you now know the key reason Shirou wants to be the Devil King other than just wanting to know as the Strongest.

He wants to "tear down the system and rebuild from the ground up" basically. Like how Sona and Sairaorg saw problems and issues with the Underworld and made it their sworn goal to fix the change the Underworld for the better, Shirou wants to do the same, and that's something he's had on his mind for a while. It's just that not everyone is aware right now.

The next chapter will be the start of the Rating Game with the Sitri Peerage which I'm sure you'll all enjoy.

Anyways thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, if you liked the story leave a review, if you want more click the follow/favorite, and as always have an awesome day.