Chapter VI. Devilishly Pure

Back from previous events, other first-years found Iruma sitting down without motion. They have him surrounded, but had no idea what to expect. From the broadcasting venue, Shichiro suspected that it was a trap because he knew Iruma has experienced many things. That means he might have been one step ahead of them and lying in ambush to take out all of his pursers at once. Shichiro's hypothesis made Dali and Suzy riled up with anticipation. So, what exactly was Iruma's next move?

With a heavy breath in, Iruma was seated with a cauldron over a bonfire, eating?! Oh well, Shichiro's theory could have been way more exciting to see than this passive move, huh? But what plan was there in mind? To answer that question, let's go back in time a bit to the start of the Harvest Festival.

Flashback to the Beginning

Iruma and Lied entered Block 4, amazed with the jungle's labyrinth of trees. The blue-haired boy noticed a flower he has never seen before, thinking he'd love to show it to Sullivan, Opera, Isabelle, and Ryūko. Before even attempting to pick it up, Lied warned him that wandering around is too dangerous, considering how some botanical monstrosities or dangers come about in the venue.

'Jeez, Iruma's such a naïve, spoiled little rich boy.' Worried the gamer, 'I wonder how is Ryūko so different despite being under the same roof as him? Anyway, I'm sure he's never had to fight to survive before, so I clearly need to take the reins here.'

What he doesn't know is that Iruma actually could tell where he was just by looking up at the jungle's sky. From suspicious trees and thickets to beast trails, something seemed familiar to him.

Lied then wondered what should he and Iruma do first. He analyzed that not many ingredients are obtainable in the vicinity, meaning it's either investigate further or move to another location.

"Hey, guys. Why don't we take off and look somewhere else?" He asked. It was silent for a second, to his surprise. But what's there for him to say? We'll figure that out soon enough.

Meanwhile for commentary, Dali asked Shichiro if he has any advice for the students, considering he's one of Babyls's alumni-turned-professors and one of the previous winners of the Harvest Festival. He had a few things to share. One of them was not to hunt too much, meaning one needs to know how to use their time, despite the importance of gather as many points possible. Remember, the time limit of the Harvest Festival is 6,666 minutes (approximately 4 days). In order to survive, the most important this is to get to know your surroundings. This festival has a history of students using up too much strength for hunting and didn't survive to make it through the competition. Everyone has to be self-sufficient, so carefully deciding which ingredients to turn in for points and which ones to eat is most important. This makes panicking the last thing you need to do. Only problem is, this takes time to adjust to a completely different environment . Anyone who can adapt quickly definitely has an advantage.

Lied seemed confused with something Iruma said, that was to survive the wilderness means to trick themselves by believing they were born in this place. Roots can be used as pillows, vines as ropes (self-explanatory), rocks as seats, leaves as plates, and the list continues on.

For a review, Iruma had lived a very grueling and painful 14 years with his sister Ryūko. As their biological human parents were absolute idiots, they experienced all kinds of harsh situations and ended up surviving however they had to. But this all turned around after their souls were sold to a demon and they became Sullivan's grandchildren. Ever since then, they days have been filled with nothing but happiness, in ways to be shown and ways to keep secret. But now, Iruma's forgotten memories from his survival days have resurfaced.

While he's fired up, Lied was overwhelmed by Iruma's spirit set ablaze. The former couldn't do anything as the latter faced a survival high because he was dragged into it by Iruma's enthusiasm. In order for the two of them to become one with the forest, they frolicked around and spent their time without the slightest of fear.

Back to the Present

As Iruma was cooking up, Lied came back with some firewood collected and told him not to eat the whole cauldron when he tasted it. Just nearby, the potential opponents that came for Iruma's points were disappointed by the sight of him and Lied eating the ingredients. This turned out to be an effective passive strategy against everyone there. As all the points were being eaten, this surely was a never-before-seen tactic turning the tables of the Harvest Festival! Lied noticed how the students who were after them went away and knew it was a good idea to go along with what Iruma was getting high on.

'Nice. This is good. The desire and panic for more points...' He analyzed, 'The anxiety about the night that'll soon come and erase all our calmness. Exhaustion is survivor's biggest enemy. For the day 1, we need knowledge and stamina. We don't have any points, so no one comes after us! It's actually genius! I get you now, Iruma. You're a strategist! At first, I didn't know what is what, but who knows what kind of challenge we'll face next? We need to chill while we can. Although, I'm not too worried. We've got some ingredients hidden away just in case.'

He admitted that he and Iruma may be the only ones enjoying the Harvest Festival that much and felts as thought they need some girls to come by to make it more fun. Similar to that one devi-mixer/sabbath he hosted during the End-of-Terminus.

Just then, the two boys heard a rustling in the nearby bushes. Lied had a hunch it could be students from earlier attempting to steal their points or a magical beast. The shadow appeared to be reptilian, and revealed to be someone wearing a pink polka-dotted lizard suit. For some reason, that entity emitted a menacing aura. It was a choice within fight, defend, tame or play dead for the two. The blond gamer prepared for a fistfight, but Iruma stalled him upon noticing a name tag on the suit, which showed that the person in it was Clara. That realization was followed with a short giggle from Elizabetta, who came in as beautiful as ever.

"Hold on a minute, did you come to take our ingredients?" Asked Lied on high alert in the face of his sister figure.

Too bad Iruma was stuck in his own situation because Clara has him in her grasp and hurriedly skedaddled away.

Lied was about to make hassle in saving his partner-in-crime, but Elizabetta intervened by towering him with her presence. He was happy to see her, but unfortunately fell into the start of a trap. She crouched over and held his shoulders, making the gamer flinch.

"So... We couldn't collect that many ingredients, so could you maybe spare us a little something-something." Asked Elizabetta with her ever-sweet voice.

"I wish we could help, but we don't have anything on us." Denied Lied, trying to keep a composure despite already being seduced.

Elizabetta proceeded to poke his cheek, Lied flashed into red just by the scent of her natural succubus pheromones, thinking she was using her bloodline ability Full Love Gauge. The tall demoness continued to poke Lied as he kept denying because his hidden points are key to survival in this Harvest Festival. He mustn't simply give them away no matter how hard Elizabetta presses on.

Unfortunately, Elizabetta decided that politely asking for it wouldn't do. She decided to take matters into her own hands and unzip Lied orange jacket and search through any pocket she finds. Would it perhaps lie under his shirt as well? Who knows what in the world did she had to fight against for points? At least her prey is subdued to her mercy. In no time at all, she managed to find the pouch of ingredients Lied kept to himself for a while. He slammed his head unto to earth below him in defeat.

"I never stood a chance!" He cried, "I was too powerless to resist! Fine, you win! You can have it! Thank you very much! It's just not fair, Eliza. How can I hold off against the power of your Full Love Gauge?"

"What do you mean? I wasn't using it." Clarified Elizabetta.

For real? A succubus not using fullest power and not even trying to escalate the usage of their abilities?!

"So then you're just naturally this charming?" Asked a blushing Lied, "But why aren't you using it?"

"Oh, didn't I mention it earlier?" Asked Elizabetta, recalling a certain memory, "There are certain rules that come with it. For example, I won't use it on boys I truly like."

Well, she didn't exactly specify what type of liking she was referring to when it comes to men. It was inevitable that Lied would assume she likes him romantically. Even so, the demoness was surprised herself that she thought Lied would hold a mountain of ingredients and added that its searching difficulty in Block Four. Out of his masculine impulses, Lied shock his jacket to reveal another pouch of harvests that he had as backup insurance placed in a hidden pocket. Elizabetta praised him before he nervously invites her for some hotpot in wanting to know what she likes about him. She disclosed that she loves him very much, just like everyone else in the Misfit Class. Seriously though Lied, perhaps it would be best to ask what she meant for her likings of men.

He fell to the ground realizing she like him in the way he thought. Elizabetta Ix does not discriminate between men. Born with the power Full Love Gauge, she unintentionally or intentionally makes everyone fall in love with her. That's why she thought being able to love someone freely was beautiful. Passionate, tragic, stolen, the list goes on as she purely admired any kind of love. That was when she pondered, "Is that the gentleman I'm destined to be with? Even without my powers, can I have a fiery romance?"

At that moment, Lied was dying inside. But he was wrong this whole time! For Elizabetta, every man is a potential romantic interest! Every man is a prince in her eyes. On the first day of training, Raim asked Elizabetta of her ambition; that is to live happily ever after with a wonderful gentleman. In the spirit of that, the first training Raim conducted was to teach her every possible seduction technique. The hardest part of it is determining if one can love their potential significant other or not. Elizabetta sees every man as one, so mastering all the techniques will make her the purest, most devilishly charming woman.

She laid a soft kiss on Lied's odd horns, which in turn changed his expressions by a lot. She called him adorable before she took her leave with the stolen ingredients. Lied was left crying again as he told himself that he sought romantic interest in her.

Meanwhile, Clara sat Iruma down in a silent ambience.

'Clara's still not saying anything.' Thought Iruma getting worried, 'I haven't had time to play with her lately because of all the training. Maybe she's mad at me.'

He wanted to speak up, but Clara held him in before unzipping her front zipper and brining him into the lizard suit. Darkness clouded his view with the costume closed up. A hand touched his face and Clara showed herself to Iruma with a 'boo'.

At the same time, what neither Iruma nor Clara know is that there is another team keeping a close eye in the bushes nearby.

"Do you think that's them?" Asked the first observer.

"It's them, alright. But we have to stay hidden until it is ready for us to come out." Replied the second observer

Now with the archer in competitor lines, what will he do? Has Clara managed to bring her abilities to a greater potential to make Iruma fall head over heels for her? Who were those observers? And what were their motives? Find out next time!

~Interval~

During the End-of-Terminus, Haruno was at school when Lied invited her and friends to a devi-mixer/sabbath. She was certain four of them would attend it, but thought to adding another girl into the roster. Eiko just happened to be passing by, Haruno asked if she would like to go along to the hangout. The former refused as she claimed to not have interest in such things because she was too busy sorting through photos of Iruma she had at her place. The fan thought she'd get a chance to snap another picture of Iruma at any time, but she clearly missed out the biggest chance of her life.