"Did you think Asia coming across me was a coincidence? I do have a particular type, you know."

"You bastard! You purposely injured yourself so that if Asia was caught healing you, she would lose the protection of the church, didn't you!?"

"Wow. You are spot on! When I first laid eyes on her and heard of her great power, I knew she would be my most prized conquest.

I planned to make her mine at her lowest point, which I knew would be when Raynare stole her Sacred Gear. I made a deal with Lady Halja that once the fallen angel finished her business with her, I would resurrect her as the crown jewel of my collection of young women of the church that I corrupted."

What kind of sick hobby does this demon have? Riser Phenex's harem is one thing, but this guy gets off to corrupting innocent girls like Asia? If he wasn't holding her hostage, I would blast him to kingdom come right now!

"But Raynare had to be insubordinate, and Lady Halja was forced to intervene. But even then, you stopped her and, to add insult to injury, Asia was resurrected by you, a filthy mutt of an angel!"

Asia suddenly escaped Diodora's grip.

*SLAP!*

The imprint of Asia's hand on Diodora's face was clearly visible, especially as the rest of his face went pale in shock.

"I can't believe I was tricked by a fiend like you!" she said, returning to my side. "The only one who is filthy is you!"

His shock was quickly transitioning to rage.

Now that he no longer had Asia hostage, I could now fire off the sheer amount of energy welling up inside me ever since I saw this guy's stupid face.

However, after I fired the attack off, he put up a barrier that completely negated my Power of Retribution.

"That was an adorable attack, but I'm the direct descendant of Beelzebub! Even the power you got from Gabriel can't stop me!"

This is troubling. Maybe if I had four story arcs of powerups I would be able to curbstomp this piece of trash.

He started to fire shots of demonic energy at me that I narrowly avoided.

I then fired off another blast at him now that he's open. However he had fired a massive shot that cut right through and I took a massive direct hit that knocked me down hard.

Makoto was worrying me. He was taking on a powerful High-Ranking devil all by himself.

But I had to trust him to protect Asia from Diodora, just like he trusts me to finish this Rating Game.

I entered the Headmasters' Office, where Milcom was awaiting me, with Ravel sitting in a chair next to him.

"Ah. Rias Gremory. It's nice to see you."

I was preparing my Power of Destruction to take him out quickly. Since I didn't have Asia to heal any injuries, I couldn't afford to take any hits from him.

He stood up.

"Well, I guess it's Checkmate for me, then. You can go to Lady Rias now, Ravel."

"So, you're just going to resign?" I asked, my Destruction aura receding.

"Unlike you, I'm not the sort to fight alongside my servants. That's what I have them for. You defeated them, so, per my agreement, Ravel Phenex is yours."

"If you're so willing to uphold your part of the bargain," I commented. "Then why is Diodora Astaroth still trying to take Asia away?"

"Diodora?" he said. "What is he doing here!?"

"That's the question I was trying to ask."

"He was specifically told to stay out of this affair. I would appreciate it if you would lead me to him."

Asia rushed over to assist me, but Diodora grabbed ahold of her.

"There's nothing you can do now, my love. You will soon learn to respect me."

He then turned to me and said, "By the way, Asia is still a virgin, isn't sh-"

*PUNCH!*

"DIVIDE!"

I had immediately got up and clocked him in the face with my Dividing Gear.

"Oh, I'm sorry, what was that you said about Asia's virginity!?"

"How did you survive that attack!? That was a direct hit!"

Thank goodness I ended up not using that Phoenix Tear against Enrico. It just came in really handy while Diodora was distracted.

"If you think I'm gonna sit back and let you violate my precious servant, then you are gravely mistaken!"

My Retribution aura began flaring up to unparalleled levels.

He began to fire again at me, but the attacks merely fizzled out once they approached

"Why are my attacks not working!? It's that filthy dragon spirit, isn't it!?"

It was.

I fired off another attack, this time much fiercer than the previous one.

He tried putting up a barrier, but this time, it was not use. It ended up shattering on impact and leaving him on the ground.

He was surging with electricity-like shocks from the attack. If he didn't have that barrier, he would have been pulverized from the Holy Magic.

Speaking of which, I was about to do that exact thing as I stood right above him, with a look of dread on his face.

"What's the meaning of this, Diodora!?"

Milcom Amon, accompanied by Rias and Ravel entered the Lobby.

"Lord Milcom! You can't just give up like that! We're supposed to be taking out the House of Gremory, remember?"

"I've already established that they are too much for me to handle alone, as you seemed to have experienced firsthand. You also disobeyed strict orders not to meddle with Asia Argento. If you leave now, I'll refrain from reporting this infraction to Lady Halja."

He sighed. "Yes, sir… But mark my words, Fujiwara! I will have my revenge!"

"Yeah. Sure, you will…"

"I will take my leave now. Thank you for a most excellent game." Milcom said as he and Diodora teleported off. Diodora looked back at me and Asia and winced. I guess he's not as confident as he says about his "revenge."

Shortly afterwards, the Student Council president and her VP, Tsubaki Shinra, showed up.

"Would you care to explain the commotion that just occurred on campus after hours?" Sona asked.

"Well," Rias said, "We were suddenly challenged to a Rating Game by Milcom Amon."

"And by 'challenged to a Rating Game,' we were basically attacked with extra steps," I clarified.

"I see you, at least, managed to recover Lady Ravel," Sona commented.

"Oh. Aren't you Serafall's sister?" Ravel asked Sona

"Um… Yes…" Sona seemed a bit embarrassed at that fact.

Grayfia then teleported in. "Don't worry about the aftermath of Lord Milcom's Rating Game, Lady Sitri. Me and Sirzechs will see it taken care of."

"Thank you, Lady Grayfia."

"I want to congratulate you on your victory, you fought very well," Grayfia told Rias.

"If anyone is to be congratulated, it's Makoto," Rias replied. "He really carried us to victory."

"Ah, shucks, Rias."

To celebrate the rescue of his sister, Riser decided to throw a party at, you guessed it, my house the following weekend.

Ravel stayed with us through the week. I ran into her in the Living Room on the night of the party and I decided to check up on her.

"So, how was everything this week?"

"It was very good. Your mother has been a very gracious host."

"I'm sure she was." It's another girl my age. Of course, she would be hospitable.

"My, my. You seem to be getting along well with the new girl, aren't you?"

Akeno had infiltrated our conversation.

"I am. Thank you for asking."

"I wanted to say thank you for breaking the curse the other day"

"Technically, it was Aika who did broke the curse by defeating Enrico."

"But she wouldn't have been able to do it without your ingenuity," she said. "Here, this is for you."

She was about to peck me on the cheek before Ravel interrupted.

"By the way, my big brother told me about your rivalry with him."

"Did he now?" I responded. "I don't really know what he's getting at-"

"Excuse us for one second," Mom said as she suddenly handed me something and was practically dragging me towards one of the changing rooms.

"What do I need a tux for!?"

Rias was in there, in a very nice pink dress.

"So how did it fit?" Mom asked her.

"Uh… It fits great, Ms. Gabriel, but could you explain what's going on?" she said.

"I want you both to look good for when we announce the you two's engagement!"

Me and Rias looked at each other, dumbfounded.

She then nodded, and I followed suit in agreement.

"Yeah. About that," she responded. "I think it's best if the two of us wait a while before making that kind of decision…"

"Yeah," I commented. "We don't exactly have the need to rush that sort of thing anymore."

"Oh…" Mother commented. She looked almost as defeated as Diodora was earlier.

"Still. You should still look top form, Makoto! We can't let Riser be more fashionable than you if he has second thoughts about calling off the engagement!"

She then left the bathroom.

"Goodness. She can be so eager sometimes…" Rias said.

"Tell me about it," I replied. "Still, that dress she picked out looks amazing on you."

"Oh, thank you!" she blushed, "By the way, I noticed you managed to get a hang of your abilities."

"I found something besides rage to channel my abilities through. The desire to protect my friends instead of to decimate my enemies. I guess you could call it the Power of Friendship."

She chuckled and began leaving the room. "I'm gonna let you change."

I, reluctantly, began changing into the tux. If anything, I sure as hell wasn't gonna let Riser Phenex have the last word.

However, it was about when I was about to put the tie on when I felt a bizarre tremor.

It was like the room filled with a mysterious energy.

I went out to check on Rias and my mom.

They weren't outside the room. Neither was Ravel or Akeno.

I checked practically every room in the house, but I couldn't find anyone in the house.

"What the hell?"

I pulled out my cellphone to call my mom.

No response.

I called Rias – No response.

Akeno – No response.

Kiba – No response.

Aika – No response.

I went through my entire contact list, including Koneko, but I couldn't get a response out of anybody in the club.

Matsuda and Motohama wouldn't do any good solving this mystery.

That left one last person. Someone I forgot was still in my contacts.

"Dammit…"

I went outside as I finally managed to get someone to answer.

"Okay. I promise I'll do it if you help me out here. I don't really have any other choice."

"…"

"A signal? Oh, I think you'll know it when you hear it…"

"…"

"No! This doesn't change anything between us-"

It was then I felt a massive presence behind me! One that I swear I've encountered before.

"What's going on?" the girl on the other end asked.

*SHWING*

I have never experienced a combination of massive pain and sheer terror then I have in this exact moment!

My right arm has been cleaved right off!

It was then that the culprit materialized right in front of me.

Halja!

However, this time, the silhouette faded away to reveal her wicked face.

From what I could make out from so much pain I was brought to the ground, she had jet black hair, deep red eyes, and a dress that's pitch black.

"You may be asking," she said. "Why do I choose now to show myself?

Well. It would be pretty rude not to be able to look into the eyes of the one who ends your life."

I was too busy being in immense pain to give a shit.

"You've been causing quite a few problems for me and my men. I must say, I'm quite impressed. One Longinus user who managed slipped through the cracks."

"And I should take that as a compliment?" I jeered, spitting out blood.

"Perhaps. Or maybe it's one last glimmer of hope that I'm about snuff out for eternity. Any last words, Makoto Fujiwara?"

I chuckled. This is a perfect segue.

"Yeah… I think I got a few."

I positioned myself next to the phone I dropped when she lobbed my arm off.

"Would you die for me?"

She then then broke out into maniacal laughter.

"You want me to die!? Do you have any idea of the position you're in!? Oh. You're hilarious! Farewell, Makoto Fujiwara!"

She was then impaled through the torso by a spear of light.

"What the!?"

That person I called was Yuma Amano!

She landed right behind Halja and attacked her with another light spear.

But not before Halja pulled the spear out and used it to parry the other spear.

"It was foolish of you to show your face again!" Halja said. "I should have ended your life when I had the chance!"

"Funny," Raynare replied. "I was thinking the exact same thing!"

Halja then attacked her with a surge of dark magic.

This is bad. I'm in no condition to help her and she's completely outclassed.

Even if she is my evil ex-girlfriend, I still can't believe I sent her to her death.

However, as I was blacking out and accepting my fate, I saw a flash of light.