Shin sighed as he looked in the mirror. He fiddled with his tie, trying to get it to look right. If there was one thing his parents taught him that he never got was how to tie a tie. His dad made it look so easy.

"Remember Shin. Tying a simple Half Windsor is something even babies are capable of." The sound of his father's voice came into his head.

"Having trouble?"

He turned around to see Sophia leaning against the doorway. In Shin's opinion, Runeas's comment regarding her beauty wasn't unfounded. She wore a violet and black dress that reached down to her ankles. It was off the shoulder, leaving her neckline and shoulders exposed. She had a black choker around her neck with a butterfly embroidered in the center.

"Yeah, I just seem to get tying ties right," Shin said.

"Well, let me. I had to tie Rizevim's neck ties and ascots. The man is over 10,000 years old and he can't even tie a tie correctly," Sophia said, walking up to Shin and adjusting his tie.

"You look good by the way," Shin said absentmindedly.

Sophia's face was stained with a blush by his words. "T- Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself."

"I've never been to a gala or a black-tie event." Shin jokingly held his arm out to her. "Milady," he said, busting out his British accent.

Sophia let out a snicker at his action and wrapped her arm around his. "My, what a gentleman, escorting the Princess to the gala," Sophia replied, mimicking Shin's accent.

The gala was everything Shin had expected of a fancy event. There were devils from all families gathered to celebrate Rias's first victory. Low-Class Devils walked around with glasses of wine in their hands.

"Announcing her royal highness, the Princess of Hell, Sophia Lucifer, and her escort!" The devil announced.

The doors opened as Sophia and Shin entered the room. "Damn, what a reception," Shin said, letting out a whistle as the two walked through the crowd.

"SHIN! OVER HERE!"

The two turned to see Issei waving his arm. Even Issei was dressed for the event. He wore a black tux with a tie and a red carnation. There were a few bandages on his face but overall, there were no major wounds present on his body. Asia stood next to him, wearing a simple yellow dress. She had a marigold hairpin in her hair.

Next to them was Koneko, who was dressed in a simple pink dress.

"Ara, it looks like the whole gang's here."

The two turned to see Akeno and Kiba walking towards them with some food in their hands. Kiba, like Shin and Issei, wore a black tux. Unlike Issei's, Kiba had a blue tie on with a white carnation on it. Unlike Issei and Shin, Kiba's tie was tied in a Double Windsor.

How did he tie it so perfectly? Maybe Issei was right about him, Shin thought. He turned towards Akeno. She looked breathtaking in her kimono. She wore a simple black kimono with red embroidered around the neck and sleeves. There was a white obi around her waist. Her usual orange ribbon was now tied in a way that had her ponytail slightly off to the side.

"You look great, Akeno-senpai," Shin said.

Akeno smiled at his compliment. "Thanks, you too."

"You look good, Shin-san," Kiba said.

"You don't look too bad yourself, Kiba," Shin complimented.

"So, where's Rias?" Sophia asked.

The peerage looked at her with slight apprehension, wondering how they should answer her.

"Come on guys. It's still me. Even if I am Lucifer's daughter, I never really acted the type," Sophia said, crossing her arms.

"R- Right. It's just a bit shocking to stand before…" Kiba gestured to her.

"You just gestured to all of me," Sophia said. "Fine, Jailbait. Where's Rias?"

"She's with Grayfia-san. She said she'd be back," Issei said.

Sophia nodded before going over and wrapping her arm around Issei's shoulder.

"So, how does it feel to save your lady from her fiance? Think you'll get some tonight?" Sophia moved her eyebrows up and down.

"N- No! B-Buchou's not that type of girl to just… uhh." Issei's face turned beet red at her comments, causing her to erupt in laughter.

"It seems that you're all having fun." Rias walked over to the group with a smile on her face. She had a red mermaid dress that had a slight frill at the skirt. There was a black choker around her neck, similar to Sophia. Her long red hair was tied in a ponytail. Her dress was off the shoulder like Sophia's, exposing her biceps, collarbone, and a large portion of her breasts.

Rias's blue eyes drifted over to Sophia and she performed a curtsy. "Greetings, My Princess. It was an honor to have you spectate my first match."

"Come on, Rias. Just call me Sophia. We're friends," Sophia said, walking over and placing a hand on her shoulder.

Rias looked up and nodded. "Um… will I get charged with lese majeste? I did… think of threatening you a few times. And there was that time when we first met and…"

"Rias, calm down. You didn't know so it's fine," Sophia said, smiling.

"So, Issei, how's it feel? Your first Rating Game as a devil," Shin said, grabbing a glass of ale from one of the wait staff.

"Dude, during the game, when I used the Balance Breaker, time ran out. And then, Akeno-senpai shot lightning at Riser! But it was okay! Because that shield you gave me saved me… again! I even shield bashed some girl with drill hair!" Issei said.

"I saw. Sophia made me go to the Underworld with her to watch the game," Shin said.

"Wait… you saw all of it?" Issei asked.

"Yeah, though I was gonna ask Sophia if we could broadcast it to the bar, she needed someone to be there to help her face her mom and her sister," Shin said, taking a sip of the ale. "Though… there are some things I saw that were weird."

"Like what?" Issei asked.

Shin looked around and saw that everyone was preoccupied with their own conversation. He gestured for Issei to follow him over to one of the windows. The two leaned against the wall and Shin placed his hand in his pockets. "Riser and that girl. They know things that I didn't expect them to know."

"Like what?" Issei asked.

"Onmyoudou."

"Like that magic you taught Asia?" he asked.

"Yeah," Shin replied.

"I mean, one of his rooks looked like they were Japanese and they could have learned it from them. Besides, I think you're overthinking this," Issei said, patting his back. "This is a party, man. We gotta enjoy and not overanalyze the battle."

"Come on, Issei. There's lots of things you can learn from analyzing fights you've been in. Like how to utilize your Balance Breaker efficiently within the time limit," Shin said.

"Yeah but let's not do that now. Come on, everyone's waiting for us," Issei said, walking back to the group.

"Hmph. Alright," Shin said.

"Issei, there you are. Where were you two?" Rias said, turning to face the two.

"Buchou, Shin and I were just talking about something. Nothing too big," Issei said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, I think they're about to play a dance number. D-Do you want… to have this dance with me?" Rias asked.

"Rias-sama, it's custom for the man to ask the woman to dance," Akeno said, standing next to her.

"A-Akeno!" Rias said indignantly.

"Where's Sophia?" Shin asked.

"Lilith-sama came and retrieved her for something. Sophia told us not to wait up because they'll be gone for a while. So it's just us now," Akeno said.

"Ah…" Shin turned to see Issei just standing there, looking at Rias with a dumbfounded expression on his face. He elbowed him and leaned in to whisper something in his ear. "Dude, she's asking you to dance once a number comes on. Don't just stand there. Say something!" he hissed.

"R- Right! Of course, I'd love to dance with you, Buchou!" Issei stammered.

Shin pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Ara, would you look at that. A song just came on for you two," Akeno said, smiling behind her sleeve.

Shin gave Issei a light push towards Rias.

"U-Um, Buchou, can I have this dance?" Issei asked, holding his hand out.

Rias nodded and took his hand. The two made their way to the dance floor and began to dance to the tune.

"Wow, Issei is a better dancer than I took him for," Akeno said, taking a glass from one of the waiters.

"Yeah. Issei's a pretty good dancer actually. Back in middle school, he took some dance lessons but gave up after a few weeks. Though, don't tell Issei this but… I read his diary while I was at his house studying for Kuoh's entrance exam. The reason he took those lessons was so he could dance with Irina if she ever came back to visit us in Kuoh," Shin said.

"Irina? I've heard you mention that name a few times but you two never talk about her," Akeno said.

"Irina Shidou is our childhood friend. We all lived on the same street. Her dad is a Lutheran Exorcist. Because of her dad's work, the family moved to the UK. I managed to snag her contact information when we went on vacation to Scotland and that's how this whole joke started," Shin said, watching Issei as he and Rias danced.

"Joke?" she asked.

"That Issei and Irina are in a long-distance relationship. Sometimes… though, I wonder if those two have bricks for brains. Trust me, if you third-wheeled their Skype Calls, you'd ask them how long they've been dating," Shin said.

"It sounds like you three are pretty close," Akeno said.

"Close is putting it lightly. We practically shared a crib together," Shin said.

"Do you want to dance?" Shin asked, hearing the song that came on.

"Oh? Do you even know how to dance?" Akeno teased. She had a cheeky grin on her face.

"O-Of course I know how to dance! Just because I didn't take dance lessons in middle school with Issei doesn't mean I don't know how to," Shin stuttered. He had a blush on his face.

Akeno giggled and grabbed his hand, dragging him onto the dance floor. The song continued to play in the background. Akeno placed her arms around Shin's neck while Shin placed his hands around her waist. The two began to turn slowly and swayed back and forth.

"Wow, you really don't know how to dance," Akeno said with faux disappointment in her voice.

"I-It's not like you're a good dancer yourself," Shin retorted.

Akeno smiled slyly as she took the lead and upped the tempo of her movement.

"W-Woah," Shin said, trying to keep up with her steps. He thanked the Gods that he was trained in combat. Otherwise, he would have stepped on all of her toes with each step.

"Still think I can't dance?" Akeno asked.

"Okay, okay, I admit. You're a pretty good dancer." Shin chuckled.

The two slowed down and resumed their original dance of moving in a circle while swaying back and forth.

"I learned how to dance after I began living with Rias. I'm not too into dancing but I had to learn it because I was Rias's future Queen and her lady in waiting. It was part of aristocratic etiquette that Grayfia-san beat into me literally and figuratively. She was a really harsh teacher," Akeno said.

"Maybe I should learn how to dance too. I don't want to be the only one in my friend group that doesn't know the first thing about how to do a waltz," he replied.

Akeno smiled. She then leaned in and laid her head on his chest. Shin blushed when he felt her chest press up against his.

"W-What?" Shin looked down at her.

"Thanks," she said.

"Huh?"

"For talking with me back at the house. I feel like I can always cut a little loose whenever I'm around you," Akeno said.

"It's no problem really. We're friends right?" Shin said.

Friends… Akeno thought. For some reason, the word left a bitter taste in her mouth. She shook the feeling off and took her head off Shin's chest.

"Yeah," Akeno said with a smile.

The song came to an end and the two split apart. They smiled and walked back to the others.

"Woah, what happened there?" Issei asked, seeing Shin and Akeno coming back. The two were holding hands.

"What?" Shin asked.

"You two are holding hands." Rias pointed out.

"Huh? O-Oh! Sorry," Shin and Akeno both said at the same time, letting go of each other's hand.

Rias and Issei gave each other a sideways glance and smiled.

The party continued into the night. Devils came over to congratulate Rias for overcoming her engagement. Some used that opportunity to strike up a marriage deal with her now that she was single. However, one glare from her peerage members always caused them to back down. Issei was being ogled by other devil women in the ballroom due to the overwhelming strength he displayed during the game.

"You know Irina would be mad if she saw all these women throwing themselves at you," Shin said.

"Come on man. It's not like I'm groping them or anything. Besides, how would you react if all these women just came up to you?" Issei asked.

"Touche," Shin said.

"Yeah, I bet Akeno-senpai or Sophia would get really mad," Issei said, crossing his arms. His grin widened when he saw Shin spit out his drink.

"W- Where did that come from?" Shin said, wiping his mouth.

"Just saying, man."

"Saying what?"

"I'm just saying."

"Come on. Why'd you mention those two specifically?"

"You know why."

Shin groaned and began to walk towards the balcony.

"Come on, man! The sooner you realize it! The sooner you'll actually get laid!" Issei called out.

It's not like that. We're just friends, Shin thought, exiting the ballroom.

He hummed as a cool breeze hit him. Shin walked over to the railing and leaned against it, looking out over the bustling city of Hell's capital city. Issei's words kept replaying inside his head over and over. He shook his head and sighed. Issei didn't know what he was talking about. To Shin, Akeno and Sophia were just close friends. Nothing more. Nothing less.

"They're just friends," he muttered.

"So you're here too? I didn't think a human could get invited to one of these but then I saw that Angel so I thought you would be here too."

Shin looked up and turned around to see Riser walking out onto the balcony.

He wasn't wearing his usual outfit. Instead, Riser wore a white suit that resembled a military uniform. He wore a red tie around his neck and his suit had golden embellishments on it. On his left shoulder, Riser had a red shoulder cape that covered his biceps and half of his forearm. His hair was combed back, giving him a more noble appearance as opposed to his initial wild hairstyle. His blue eyes locked onto Shin's brown ones as the two acknowledged each other's presence.

"Mind if I stand here with you?" Riser asked.

"Sure," Shin said.

Riser walked over to the railing and leaned against it, standing next to Shin.

"How does it feel?" Shin asked.

"Huh?" Riser turned to face him.

"To lose against your fiance," he added.

"Oh that. I don't feel too bad. I just wish it didn't have to come to a Rating Game for us to separate," Riser said. "It would be better if we burned through those years and the Elders annulled it themselves. But then they began pushing for it and we no longer had an out. Not that Rias knew that. She was in school after all."

"You really don't feel bad about losing?" Shin asked. From what he saw in the hall, Rias was extremely sought after by most of the male populace in the Underworld. Riser giving her up was strange to him. Unless…

"No. If you asked me that question three years ago, I would've said yes. But now, not so much," Riser said.

"Why?" Shin asked.

"You're really prying into this. I have a girlfriend. She found out I was forced to marry someone else and got really upset with me," Riser said.

"As she should."

Riser flinched. "Right. But I promised her that I would break this engagement so we could be together without everyone hounding us."

"What's she like?" Shin asked.

"Pardon?"

"This girl. She's gotta be something if you were willing to break your engagement to Rias freaking Gremory," he asked.

"Hmmm." Riser placed a hand on his chin. "Well… she's hot as hell. I mean, literally and figuratively. Her chest might not be as big as Rias's but she's got that," Riser made gestures with his hands. "She's got that umph that Rias doesn't have. You know Rias doesn't really exercise all that much thanks to our natural physiology. But this girl. Her training made her body nice and lithe you know. She's got curves in all the right places and let me tell you man. She's tight as hell!"

Shin gave him a deadpan expression. "What's she like as a person?"

"As a person? That's hard to describe. But honestly, she's kind. She's determined. I think she's pretty witty. I can never pull one over her but she can always pull one over me. I like how smart she can be at times and other times, she can be so airheaded

"Sometimes, she can have the worst temper outbursts and acres of land gets reduced to ashes. She can be a slob too and has no respect for aristocracy. She also has this weird hatred for pizza and Italian food even though she loves the country. Sometimes when we fight, she can say the meanest things," Riser said. "But honestly, even with all her flaws, I love every part about her."

"Wow… she must be a really great person. It looks like she'd be happy that you threw the game for her," Shin said. Why does this person sound so familiar?

"Y-You… I didn't…" Riser stammered.

"Come on man. In the beginning, I was kind of skeptical but when Issei ran his hand through you and you suddenly stopped regenerating, that's when I called bullshit," Shin said.

"Fine, yeah, I threw the game." Riser sighed.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. I think it's cool that you lost a game for your lady. I hope that now, since you two don't have anything holding you back, you two can be together," Shin said, grinning.

"Thanks, man," Riser said. His phone buzzed in his pocket, causing his face to light up.

"Oh? Is that her?" Shin asked.

"Yeah. Let me see what she said," Riser said, pulling his phone out.

Shin's eyes drifted over to Riser's phone screen and his eyes bugged out. His jaw fell open. He had a look of shock and horror on his face. Riser's wallpaper was the worst thing Shin could've seen in his life. The image was forever etched into his brain and he could never forget it. It would forever be part of his worst nightmares.

It was a selfie of his older sister. She had a blushing, embarrassed look on her face. Her shirt was pulled up and being held by her mouth. Her black coat did little to hide her exposed chest, which was in full view for everyone who looked at the phone to ogle. She wasn't even wearing her shorts or skirt. She wore the raunchiest pair of panties he had ever seen. It was merely a black piece of cloth held by a piece of string. He wanted to throw up into the nearest trash can. The sight of it made him sick to his stomach and caused his blood to boil with a hysterical angle.

"Y- Y- You!" he stammered out.

"Huh? What is it?" Riser asked.

"WHY THE HELL IS A NAKED PICTURE OF ONEE YOUR LOCK SCREEN WALLPAPER!?"

Salt Lake City, Utah

She walked amongst the ruins of the destroyed church. Soon, humans would be here to investigate the cause and would chalk it up to a terrorist attack or a natural disaster. But the church was not the reason she was here. Her red and blue eyes scanned her surroundings and spotted the remnants of black feathers.

"Fallen," she said absentmindedly. She knelt down and picked up the feather. Her eyes narrowed when she sensed traces of sinister energy attached to the feather.

All of a sudden, she drew her blade, parrying the surprise attack of her assailant. Her assailant was sent sliding back but recovered quickly.

"God" said nothing and rushed to meet her attacker. Sparks flew across the ruins of the church as the two moved at speeds that would put even the fastest Knights to shame. The remnants of the belltower were sliced in half as the assailant tried to behead "God".

"God" landed on the ground and summoned several dozen weapons made of light. She fired them at her opponent.

Her assailant said nothing as she coated her hand in ki. "Ougi: Watanaga-" her attack was interrupted by an immense presence that enveloped the church. The light spears that threatened to turn her into swiss cheese were dispersed into a harmless shower of leaves.

"Now, now Akane. That's rude. You could've at least said hi," A voice said.

"God" sheathed her blade.

Akane landed on the ground gracefully and sighed in frustration.

"Lord Brahma. Why did you stop our fight?" she asked.

A man with greenish-gray hair stepped out of the shadows and smiled. He opened his eyes, revealing a pair of fuchsia-colored eyes. The eyes were brimming with an immense amount of divinity that surpassed even the God before her. He wore a dark grey polo with a white sash and black pants. His hair was long and tied in a ponytail.

"It's been a long time. I never thought you'd come down from Heaven to check on a church, Elohim," Brahma said.

"..." Elohim tilted her head in slight confusion. "It has… been a while? I must admit, I didn't expect to see you, one of the Seven Great Gods, here."

"Well, my schedule's pretty empty for the next couple of thousand years. It's been like that ever since the Purana was written."

"Stop humoring me. Why are you here, Lord Brahma?" she asked.

"Same as you. The Excalibur Fragment was stolen and I'm here to support this girl here in finding them," Brahma said.

That girl? Elohim turned to face Akane. The girl had a stoic look on her face. Her eyes narrowed as she deduced the real reason as to why Brahma was here. The miscoloration in one of Akane's eyes gave her all she needed to know. She turned back to Brahma. "She's not an exorcist. It would appear that the Church has employed a Contractor to hunt them down. Either that or you're here for something else."

"No, we're here because Michael asked us to help investigate the case of the missing Excalibur. I could've said no but I owed you a favor from a few centuries back."

"Favor?"

"You don't remember? The favor regarding you helping me and Sarasvati?" Brahma asked.

She said nothing.

"If that is all, then I shall take my leave first," Elohim said.

"You're not going to look any further?" Brahma asked.

"I wasn't here for the fragment," she replied. She drew her blade and created a portal.

"Then why?" Brahma asked.

Elohim froze before entering the portal. "It seems you've grown senile in your old age. You and the others. The Red King has awoken and he's appearing to make his presence known." With those words, she walked into the portal and closed it behind her.

"Red King? Lord Brahma, who is… Lord Brahma?" Akane had a worried look on her face.

Brahma was standing there, rooted to his spot with an unreadable expression on his face. It appeared as if he were in deep contemplation of something. After a few seconds, Brahma snapped out of his reverie and turned to Akane.

"I need you to go to the Hagia Sophia and check if the Excalibur Fragment there is still under their control," Brahma said.

"E-Eh? You think Kokabiel is attacking the Hagia Sophia next?" Akane asked.

"Call it a hunch but I need you to make sure it's still there," Brahma said. He began to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I need to tell the others. Nuwa and Ananke should still be awake so I think it's time we convened for the first time in 500 years," Brahma said.

[]

Brahma

One of the Seven Great Gods and a member of the Hindu Trimurti. He is the God of Creation from the Ancient Days of India.

Despite this, he has lost a vast amount of his influence in India, eclipsed by his brothers Shiva and Vishnu. Due to this, he has long since alienated himself from the Gods of Hinduism.

However, despite this, his power has not waned. For it was Creation that assisted in the defeat of Entropy in the ancient days.

Now Brahma roams the world, often partaking in different delicacies in different countries.

I would do a review thing but there aren't that many for me to respond to so we'll skip that! Woohoo! We're almost to 20k views and we just reached 15k views last night! Give yourselves a big round of applause and a pat on the back because, without all of you, this would've never happened. And thus, we come to the conclusion of the Phenex Arc... or more like a mini-arc. With this out of the way, we can move on to the rest of the story! Yeee! To recap this chapter, we had a ball. Shin and Akeno had a dance. Akane is showing off how badass she is. And we get introduced to two antagonists aside from... "God". Other than that, I apologize if this chapter seems shorter than usual. I just thought this would be a good way to end it. And with that, I have nothing left to say. Drop a review please! Follow if you enjoyed and want more and with that, I bid you all adieu.