AN: So, the new year's upon us. And I didn't go through with what I said last time. I apologize for that. Moving on...

Review responses!

Kreceir: Of course not. I'm not going to make him monologue about his powers because that would be stupid, as you said. And yeah, it'll be a surprise for sure.

Derek 23: Maybe not. I'm not so good in writing lemons, so that's probably out of the equation. I'm only putting this rating up for some scenes, so I may scale it down again soon.

TheLastNanaya: For some, I already have plans in mind.

Tohka123: Thanks!


Things were not looking good for Rias Gremory and her peerage. Or...what's left of it, at the very least. She was losing this Rating Game fast.

'Oh no. Ria-tan...she's losing.' The Lucifer thought in worry. He turned to his queen. "Let's review the Rating Game before this possible final fight, Grayfia-chan." Sirzechs said.

Grayfia nodded. "As you wish, Sirzechs-sama." She then announced on the intercom, "On Riser Phenex's side, only his Queen, Yubelluna, and his last pawn, Ravel Phenex, remain. On Rias Gremory's side, the Bishop, Asia Argento, the Knight, Raynare, and the Pawn, Kurin Salamencia, remain. The last ones retired were Rias' knight, Yumi Kiba and her queen, Akeno Himejima, and Riser's pawns and knight. However, the odds of victory still go to Riser Phenex."

Upon hearing that, the arrogant young man smirked at his opposing King. "Did you hear that, Rias? Despite you having the numerical advantage, I still have the advantage in sheer power. And once this is done, this marriage will be fulfilled."

"Asia, stay behind me!" Rias instructed. She felt Asia's fear. Whether the redhead wanted to admit it or not, she was afraid as well.

Kurin meanwhile was watching them at the rooftops. His heart was pounding.

"DAMN IT!" He slammed his fist to the ground. He had almost no energy left. He stood up, his breathing returning to normal. "Raynare, provide diversion to his queen. I'm gonna do something crazy." He instructed.

After a few seconds of silence, he heard from her, "Okay, Kurin. I hope you know what you're doing." He heard wings blazing from the other end.

'Sellorion...help me here. I'm getting desperate.' He said within himself.

[Are you sure? You've never tested this power yet. At least not against opposition like this.] The embodiment asked, concerned. He knew what he was asking him for.

'Did you not hear me the first time? I'm getting desperate! I can't let Rias lose!' He said to him.

Sellorion sighed. [Alright, kid. It's a risk, but since you really do want Rias to win...I hope things turn out well.]

Kurin's body glowed red on one side, and cyan on the other. Ravel noticed this.

"H-hey, what are you doing?! You're going to lose regardless!" She said.

He turned to the short blonde girl. "Something you've all never seen before." The glow became brighter. This did not go unnoticed by the two Kings on the roof, along with Asia.

"What is he doing?! Yubelluna, stop him!" Riser instructed to his queen. Before she could react, though, Raynare appeared, throwing a spear between the two.

"Sorry, Bomb Queen, but your focus is on me!" She said. "You're not gonna get to him unless you get past me!" Another spear was created, holding it firmly.

"Hmph, so be it." She said. The two flew off in the distance.

All the while, Rias was looking at the glowing human with worry. 'Kurin...you're really not giving up? Even when the odds look so bleak? Be careful...please.'

'Sellorion, how long can I hold this form?'

[Fifteen minutes.]

With a defiant smirk on his face, he stated to him, 'More than long enough for one last desperation move.'

The glow engulfed the entire field. Even those watching from the screens were shielding their eyes from the red/cyan light.


Twelve days ago...

"Rias-chan, come on. You've been stressed out a lot this past week. Can't you at least tell me a hint of what's wrong?" Kurin asked. It hasn't gone unnoticed for the human on Rias's issues. She seemed more tired, slower. She looked worried like something terrible was going to happen to her. Of course, he tried to ease that away, but all he got from her was, "If only you understood." which of course, infuriated him, frustrated that he couldn't help her.

"Kurin-kun, you've tried asking her that for three days now. She's not going to budge if you force her to." Akeno said, entering the main room of the clubhouse. "Water, for both of you."

"Thank you, Akeno." Rias said, taking the glass. Kurin shook his head at the glass.

"Trust me, Kurin-kun. Be patient. Rias will eventually tell you." The queen advised.

"And I'm guessing if I asked you, you're not gonna give me the answer, correct?"

"You're catching on quickly. As I said, just wait. She will tell you."

He sighed. "Alright. Even though I don't exactly like it, but I'm willing to wait since this is for Rias-chan."

Rias smiled. "Thank you for understanding, Kurin-kun."

He nodded in response. "Anyways, I'll be going. I have something to attend to."

"Stay safe, Kurin." The two girls said. He walked out of the room.

Akeno checked outside the door to see if Kurin was out of earshot. Once confirming that he was, she closed the door, turning back to her King. "Will you tell him tonight? The meet-up is tomorrow." She asked. "Even I have to admit that he's right. You're stalling yourself from accepting whatever help he's offering. You have to tell him tonight."

"I understand that, Akeno, but Kurin is still relatively new. There's no way he'll know what to do. And I'm unsure of how he'll react to my marriage contract with Riser." Rias calmly said.

"Forgive me for my language, but I call bullshit on that, Buchou. Let me explain: He's known us for months, probably longer all the way back since the first time he's met us! If he's already known us for a long time, then he's probably studied on our world too, and that probably includes marriage contracts. He's able to get along with everyone so well. I mean look, he's dating a Fallen for crying out loud, while being with us as his friends! And you've seen his dedication to saving Asia, and she's become a valuable friend and asset for us too. There's no way that you can't be able to refuse his help, and with what you're doing, it's not helping." Akeno vented, breathing slightly heavily after. Though she added, "I'm sorry, Buchou, but I think letting Kurin in on your marriage contract dilemma is going to be a win for us. We all know the inevitability of the end result tomorrow. Someone like him is vital. I don't think of him as someone we can use because I care for him too much to think of him as someone like that, but...it's not a bad thing to accept help from someone like him, human and all." She walked away from Rias and opened the door.

"Buchou, make your decision. And I hope it's the right one." With that, she exited from the room, leaving a president who was internally debating on what to do regarding her situation and the human she's grown so close to.


This had been Kurin's fourth time being with Orchintia since the whole Fallen debacle. He had been following with the young woman's given schedules in their contract.

"You seem troubled, Kurin." Orchintia said, handing him a glass of water.

He refused, sitting down on the couch. "In a way, I am."

She sat down next to him. "Well, I'm here to listen, so is it any trouble for you to tell me what's wrong? I've decided to close the shop for today earlier before you arrived. You're not gonna trouble me, Kurin."

He decided to lay on the couch with his head on her lap. "You ever sometimes feel that you're locked out of a loop?"

"Many times."

"I've been struggling with that for the past week. Rias-chan's obviously stressed, but she just refused to tell me anything about it. I asked the rest of her peerage about it, but they didn't know either, except for maybe their queen. It's just frustrated me a lot. I'm so worried for her, but I can't do anything about it unless she, or any of them, tells me what's wrong."

"I see."

"They've told me time and time again to be patient with it. And, well...I've only decided now to just be patient. They told me that she will tell me eventually, but when? It just...ugh."

She patted him on his head. "No need to get so worked up on it. I understand where you're coming from, but even if it did take that long, you have to be patient. Even through these. I've went through similar times like these, so I know how you feel."

"I got that from one of my friends too. She gave me advice almost word for word like yours." He sighed, pausing, then resuming afterwards. "I've cared for Rias a lot. And yet it shouldn't be this much. I'm dating someone else, damn it! And yet it just happens. But alright. You and the others are telling me to be patient? Then I'll do it. For Rias's sake."

He noticed that Orchintia was looking away from him, looking troubled herself. "Not you too. Will I have to wait two weeks before you tell me what your problem is?" He joked.

She shook her head, looking back down at him. "No...not that long. Hopefully. A lot has been going through my mind lately. And I couldn't help but be so angry about them."

"Angry? About what?"

Orchintia paused. She took breaths of air before speaking again. "I once left my home long ago. No, that would be too kind to say that. I was shunned away by many people. I was kicked out, with all my things. At least I still had some money with me. So I went city to city. Eventually I came across Kuoh, and I stayed here. However...I returned to my home one day. And it seemed as though I was never there to begin with. All of them, just never noticing me. I hated it. I was still furious about that to this day, even though I've tried to move on so many times." She let a tear escape. "But I couldn't. It has gotten to the point that I wanted to burn away everything there."

Kurin sat up and embraced her, which gave her surprise and pause. "It's hard to accept that. It took me a lot to move on from a personal tragedy I went through. But times have changed. We have to accept that maybe...the home you were in...just accepted your absence as well. I'm sure there were many who were hurt with what happened to you, but they couldn't just dwell on like that. You have to do the same. The home you once were in may not be the same, but the residents there have become better. You have to do the same. If you keep doing this...nothing will change. Are you really believing what you want to do to that home? Do you want it to be what you think is ideal for you? In the end, it isn't about you. It's about everyone. Don't do it. Give acceptance and move on, Orchintia."

She was in shock. She expected him to understand her. He did. She thought that he would go with whatever plan she had in mind. But he turned around the entirety of her grief and transformed it into something that she long wanted gone. She long refused to accept the past she had and move on. But the epiphany took its hold. Her arms weren't responding at first to the sudden embrace, but now they were wrapped around his back, and she was sobbing.

"I missed it. I missed it so much." She cried out.

"It was the same for me as I went through my lowest point. But they live through me now. It's time to bury the past that you despised, Orchintia-chan. It's not about how your past was. It's about how you continue in the present." He rested his head on her shoulder as he let her cry out her sorrow.

After the conversation, they decided to bake for themselves, with Kurin pulling out some new baking recipes he searched up just for the two of them. They had fun, of course. It was nearly nighttime when they were done. He bid her farewell, and she did the same. Somewhere in that heart of hers, she felt it beating. She had never felt more alive than today.

From that day forward, her feelings regarding the (thought-to-be) devil changed.


When the human arrived home, he was immediately jumped and brought down by his girlfriend to the floor, mounted by her.

"I haven't seen you in ages!" She said, kissing him.

"Last time we did was earlier this morning. Tell you what, how about we go on a date tomorrow?" He said once she pulled from him. She beamed in joy upon hearing it.

"Yes, please! It feels like some time since we last went on one."

He smiled warmly at her. "Anything for you, my light." This time he initiated the kiss and she moaned as he begged entrance to her mouth with his tongue. She gladly accepted as their kisses grew more passionate.

"Oh would you two just get a room and fuck already?" A voice droned out, and the two quickly pulled away and turned to see Kalawarner, who looked pretty annoyed.

"And how long were you watching us? Did we make you jealous? Or did we make you feel hot?" Raynare said, a smirk matching hers.

"You wish."

"Don't think I haven't been seeing you looking at my boyfriend with those eyes. Not like I mind sharing him."

"Do I have a say in this?" Kurin asked. He only got a finger covering his mouth as an answer. Internally, he sighed, also raising his arms out exasperatedly. Maybe he should just accept his girlfriend's teasing (not to mention the endless banter he got from his companion within him to just get a harem) and actually get a girl to share him.

'No. I'm not that kind of idiotic guy.' He thought, fighting with himself.

"Whatever, Raynare." The blue-haired Fallen said, leaving.

"It's only a matter of tiiiiiiiiiime~" Raynare cheerfully said. She looked back at her boyfriend with a grin, followed by a giggle. "I know it's sudden, but Kurin-kun...I really don't mind if you've fallen in love with other girls. You have my permission."

"But...why?" He asked once she put away her finger from his face. "I don't understand. How come it's so easy for you to accept that I may be in a relationship with other girls?"

"Because I know that you'll love all of them just as much as how much you love me. You're gonna give all of them equal and undivided attention and care and love. You'll support them just as they support you." She smiled brightly. "Kurin-kun...don't be afraid. I was scared when we got into this relationship the first day. But with our year-long friendship before then, I knew you were the one for me. You became my anchor. My link. And as it is to me for you, you are my light as well."

"Me killing you regretfully aside, you've been the best thing that's come to my life-"

"I heard that!" Kalawarner cut in.

"-and I love you so much." She leaned down and took him into her arms, hugging him as tight as she could. "I couldn't imagine what would happen if you died for real."

He was at a loss for words. He thought to himself, 'Did she really have that much faith in me?'

As if hearing his thoughts, she said, "Yes, I have that much faith in you. Any girl would be lucky to have you. I'm just the first. That...and with whatever happened to you in the past. But less of that and more of my willingness." She laughed at the end.

He sighed, though it was a happy one. "Thank you, I guess. I think I'm the lucky one to have you. Now, is it alright if you could get off me?" She did so. He stood up, finally, only for her to jump on his back. He just chuckled and walked the both of them to his room. She just collapsed onto their bed when he sat.

"Ahhhhh. So tired..." She almost immediately closed her eyes and slept. He draped a blanket over her body and kissed her forehead. He walked away from the bed and approached his self-called 'worktable' and proceeded to do his assignments that were given over the week.

About three hours passed, and it was very late at night. When he finished his work, he looked back at the bed only to see his girlfriend nowhere.

'Hmmm...must've went to get something downstairs...' He thought, walking back to the bed and sitting down.

"When is she ever going to tell me what's wrong?" He said to himself, his hands grasping his head, wondering.

The floor glows red, creating a familiar symbol. He looked down at it in surprise.

'This is the Gremory crest...who the hell is coming here at this hour?!'

Rias appeared, silent and stoic.

"What...what are you doing here?" He asked. She didn't respond. Instead she walked closer to him. Once close enough, she gripped his shoulders.

"Kurin...I've withheld this from you long enough. And I'm sorry for that. But please. I need you to do this one thing for me." She said.

For a moment he just stared at her in disbelief, but he soon nodded after. "Alright, Rias. This one time. What do you want me to do?"

Her lips were quivering. He realized that she was nervous. It quickly faded away, though, as she released her grip on him and took hold of his hands.

"I want you to take me. Take my virginity! Do it now!"

He looked at her, processing those words. He looked down, then back up at her, himself unsure of how to react. She began to undress.

"Am I not good enough for you?" She asked. That finally snapped him out of his spiel.

"No, it's not that. Rias...what's wrong? You've been troubled so much these past few days. And now this...this isn't like you." He said sorrowfully.

"Please, Kurin...just trust me on this one. You...you know how this works, right?"

"You can't seriously think I'm that stupid in this aspect."

That was when Raynare walked in, slamming open the door. Looking at the two, she put the pieces together, smirking right after.

"Ohhhhh, so I see what's going on now..." She said, approaching him and undressing herself as well.

"R-Raynare, i-it's not what it looks like!" Kurin stammered, blushing.

"No need to explain. I want this as much as you do."

Rias just shrugged and continued, straddling him once she was finished undressing. Meanwhile the Fallen Angel pressed herself on his back, feeling her breasts squish against it. Kurin needed to get out, and he wanted to escape now!

'Damn it, Sellorion, help me! For once just get me out of this situation you perverted being!' He pleaded. All he got was a loud laugh. He groaned.

"Rias..." He said. "You don't need to do this. There has to be some other way I can help you."

"Does...does that mean you'd go back on your word?" She asked.

He gasped. She had actually used that one weakness, his unwillingness to go off on his promises, to try to make him go along. "How dare you...no, I can't. But you have to explain to me...to the two of us, everything! I can't take advantage of something like this! It's not right!" He said.

"Even I have to agree with him. Buchou, just let us help you in another way." Raynare chimed in.

Maybe they were right. While the redhead had given this a lot of thinking, maybe she was wrong again in this decision. Maybe she should've just told them right from the beginning.

The thoughts were overwhelming her. But before any of the three could do something, a white glow was in their sights.

Kurin immediately realized the crest. 'This is...!'

"Sirzechs-sama would be disappointed in you, Rias. Being with this...individual, along with a Fallen Angel at that." A woman's voice rang out. The glow and the crest faded, and there appeared a woman wearing a blue-and-white dress.

"Sirzechs-sama? As in Sirzechs Lucifer?" Raynare asked as she quickly dressed herself back.

"That would be correct, young woman." She said.

"Sirzechs Lucifer, once known as Sirzechs Gremory, is the older brother of Rias, and is one of the current Four Great Maou. You're...Grayfia Lucifuge, his queen, correct?"

Grayfia was slightly surprised at the knowledge this boy held. Nonetheless she respected that and nodded. "You're right." However she then gave a questioning gaze at the boy and then turned to the Gremory heiress Have you all wondered who Orchintia is.

"Rias, who is this boy?" She asked.

"This is Kurin Salamencia, Grayfia-sama. He's the human who refused to be a devil. Nonetheless he's still one of my closest friends. He's also a part of my group, along with Raynare, his girlfriend."

As Grayfia listened, one thought came into mind: 'Salamencia? But I thought that clan was all but wiped out...this one survived. And...he's human?!' If she was shocked by the last part, she didn't show it.

"I see. Pardon for the intrusion." She said, bowing to Kurin as part of an apology.

"No worries."

Rias turned to the queen. "Grayfia-sama...it is my right to give what I want to whom I want. That includes my virtue."

Grayfia chuckled lightly. "Noted, Rias. Though you have to remember. You are the next head of your house in time. You will have to make decisions more clearly than this. Also, give yourself some respect more." She picked up her clothing and draped the coat over her body.

"If it's too much to ask, you two, but what is the situation going on with Rias-chan here?" Kurin asked.

The silverette and the redhead turned towards one another. "You didn't tell him?"

"I didn't want him to be involved." She explained.

'Not this again...'

"You're kidding me." Kurin said, causing Rias to sharply turn towards him. "I said to you sometime back, to not treat me as if I'm so fragile because I'm human. And yet here you are again. You're worried for me, I get that. But remember, I'm not easy to put down. I'm stronger than you think I am. You didn't want me to get involved, yet I already was the day you made me a part of your group. Rias...if you can't trust me that much, how will I know that I can trust you?" He stood up, walked past them, and looked out the window.

He sighed. "You two should go. I'm interested in your explanation tomorrow." He said, as if he knew what was about to happen tomorrow.

"Kurin..." She began, only to be cut off by him.

"Just go."

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner."

Grayfia simply stood by and watched. 'The owner of the Undying Remorse...a Sacred Gear long unknown and hidden...and it just so turned out to be the last Salamencia.'

The two devils disappeared.

[That was harsh.] Sellorion said.

'Sel, she has to realize that. I just wish that this night ends.'

Raynare walked up and hugged him.

He's only hoping that things will be clearer tomorrow.


AN: So, with that, we kick off the next arc in the story (and the new year). At first, I thought about making a pre-arc chapter before the chapter that starts the Phenex arc, but I eventually decided against it, as it was going nowhere for me. The arc itself is probably going to last three or four chapters, including this one.

Kurin...still isn't too happy at Rias for not trusting him enough. And again she was afraid that he may be harmed in something he shouldn't have to be involved in. This only made him less happy at her, and wonder if he was worth anything to her as a friend. However, he's still willing to hear her out. He knows that she has a reasonable explanation for her mess.

In the time from when I asked about it to now, I've decided that, maybe, Kurin will have his own peerage soon enough. I'm leaning more on the possibility of him having one. Still, I want to hear your opinions on whether you want him to have one or not.

Also, there's a chance that some of the individuals in the harem may be removed from it. Just to give a heads-up.

Please review your thoughts on the chapter. I appreciate all the effort you have in reading the story, and it'd help more if you give your thoughts about them. What's good about it, what's bad, what needs improvement, all of that. It'll help me a lot. I'll see you all next update.