—Dialogue—

-Scene Break-

MAGIC / ZECTERS

-Start-

The sky was cloudy, the clouds gathering more and more, ready to descend upon the ground in a heavy rain, as if the world itself was crying.

Destruction was what could be seen at the site, it seemed to be what was left of scattered buildings, with a large building in ruins now.

On the ground, green flames were scattered everywhere, there were humanoid figures completely green, their forms were insect-like, easily surpassing two meters, but details couldn't be seen. The strangest thing about it was that they were disintegrating until nothing was left. In addition to that, human bodies were also visible scattered throughout the area.

Amidst this chaos, a young woman with red hair was seen, all battered as she limped through the destruction. Tears painted her face with sadness and despair, as she wore torn clothes, a pink skirt, and a white shirt with a black vest. The rest of the details were torn or covered in mud, making it impossible to be seen. She continued walking step after step, slowly walking through the destruction, until she crossed a destroyed wall and saw something that made the sadness on her face grow even more.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," muttered the young woman, her voice having an extremely cold, tired, and weak tone. She was looking at what seemed to be broken remnants of a purple sword, a white gun-like weapon, a yellow piercing fist, and two blue swords.

The young woman looked at the thrown and destroyed objects on the ground while a few small raindrops fell around her, before she started walking again, and then continued:

"It wasn't supposed to be like this."

Her voice was followed by the sound of water slowly falling onto the ground, before a heavy rain began.

She continued her path, the blood from her wounds slowly being washed away by the water descending from the clouds. Soon, the young woman paused, gazing at a scene right in front of her. Even through the rain, it was possible to see tears falling from her eyes.

There on the ground lay the first one, a blond young man holding a sword, his body had a hole in his chest from which blood was flowing.

The second one was a shorter young woman with white hair, with two cat ears and a tail, one of her arms had been torn off.

The third one was a girl with long black hair, her neck was twisted backwards and her purple eyes were open, staring directly at the redhead.

Then there was a short young person who looked a lot like a girl, lying nearby with their eyes open and arms torn off.

The next one was an older girl with silver hair wearing armor, she had multiple holes all over her body from which blood was gushing out.

The last one, on the other hand, was a teenage boy with light brown hair and a red armored hand with a large green gem in the center. This arm was piercing through his own chest and was no longer attached to his body. All of these individuals on the ground were obviously lifeless, and the young redhead knew it.

She fell to her knees in front of the body of the brown-haired teenager, reached her hand towards their face, and caressed it with tenderness and affection. Though swallowed by the feelings of sadness and loss, it was visible even in the rain that tears were falling one by one from her face.

The wind passed by her as she continued to cry until the sound of metal clashing caught her attention. Looking from a distance, she could see two figures facing each other, one of them seemed to be wearing armor that covered his entire body, red with two large blue visors, while his challenger was larger in size, his features, although humanoid, definitely not human, given his more insect-like body. The darkness of the night mixed with the rain prevented the redhead from perceiving more details about their appearances, but it seemed enough for her to know who they were.

As she focused her almost lifeless and emotionless eyes on the red knight, the young girl cried heavily with her sorrow and could only say one thing:

"It wasn't supposed to be like this... Kabuto."

Her voice came out weak as her tears mixed with rain and blood, and at the same moment, the two beings ran towards each other, releasing their war cries.

And then, everything turned white…

-After-

Long before the incident...

The clouds moved with the force of the wind, a clear and sunny day was visible in the city, and in front of a large plot of land, many people could be seen.

Kuoh Academy is a place that was originally an all-girls school, but is currently accepting everyone. In front of its gates, where many young people could be seen entering the school for another day of class, a giant group of students gathered, although it was still noticeable that the majority of this crowd was female.

Amongst all this large group of people in motion, two individuals stood still in front of the grand academy, two young men who were standing next to each other as they seemed to be conversing.

"This is incredible!"

The first young man muttered, surprised and excited by the appearance of the school where he would be studying. He was a young Japanese man with black hair and bright blue eyes, wearing the male uniform of Kuoh Academy and appeared to be around seventeen years old.

The young man beside him was quite calm and responded, "It's just another school like any other, nothing special..."

He was slightly taller than the first, with messy black hair and black eyes as well. Like his friend, he was wearing the male uniform of Kuoh Academy.

The first young man seemed a bit offended by the comment and decided to retort, "Tendou, can't you speak normally for a second!"

He seemed like he was about to say something more, but stopped when he noticed a colder look on his friend's face.

"Why out of all places..."

He murmured softly, but still audibly to his friend beside him.

"Tendou..."

Now it was the young man next to the first, whose name was revealed as Tendou, who murmured softly. His voice and expression showed concern. Seeing this, Tendou let out a slight sigh, showing irritation.

"Let's go, Kagami, or we'll be here all day."

Tendou said, not giving his friend a chance to respond. However, the young man with blue eyes still spoke up:

"Tendou, are you like this because they are in this city?"

Kagami emphasized the "they" in his sentence, which slightly changed Tendou's expression, making him appear more irritated for a moment before releasing his friend and speaking:

"Shut up, we'll be late for the first day."

Kagami sighed thoughtfully for a moment, his friend seemed somewhat melancholic just being in that place. Then he heard a sigh of admiration and turned his head to see several girls blushing and looking in Tendou's direction. He could hear what they were saying:

"Who is he?"

One girl said, genuinely confused, but her voice was overshadowed by the others:

"He's so handsome, I wonder if he has a girlfriend?"

Another girl asked amidst the crowd of girls. A third chimed in similarly:

"I hope I can get to know him later!"

Kagami made a slightly irritated face, although he didn't seem surprised but with a hint of envy in his voice he said:

"This is a classic Tendou move, we've barely arrived and you're already attracting all the attention!"

Tendou seemed to ignore the girls, but he laughed at Kagami before muttering without looking at his friend:

"I can't help being popular!"

The young man, almost uninterested in the girls, only made them talk even more about him.

"Yeah, sure."

Kagami replied, a little annoyed with his friend, still with a hint of envy in his voice.

Walking a little further, the two soon entered the main building of the academy, taking a corridor towards a staircase, but...

"Watch out!!!"

Upon hearing a shout, Kagami and Tendou quickly looked back and came face to face with a young man their age running towards them, followed by a group of angry girls dressed in kendo uniforms. The young man had very light brown hair and was wearing an open jacket of the uniform, unlike Tendou and Kagami who had the standard uniform.

As he approached the newcomers, the young man with brown hair could only see the world turning upside down before realizing that he had been thrown over Tendou's shoulder, and he had to admit, that probably hurt.

Getting up slowly, the brown-haired young man looked irritated and confused at Tendou and shouted:

"Hey, what's your problem?!"

The young man only stopped when he noticed Tendou's irritated look, who retorted:

"You have no right to complain, judging by the situation you're obviously some kind of pervert who needs to be punished!"

Seeing the situation in front of him, Kagami could only sigh a little tiredly.

The young man, still lying on the ground, was about to say something before realizing he was surrounded. The girls who had been chasing him were now forming a circle around him, which terrified him. However, he soon realized that none of them cared about him at all; they were all blushing and thanking Tendou for knocking him down.

"Why do I feel so irritated by this situation?" the young man muttered to himself. He could be grateful for not getting beaten up by the girls at that moment, but being completely forgotten so easily by a random "handsome guy" irritated him greatly.

"I understand... Tendou gives off that impression," Kagami suddenly spoke up, causing the young man to stop in surprise. He looked to the side and saw Kagami squatting down, continuing, "By the way, shouldn't you take this opportunity to escape now?"

Kagami's words made the young man's eyes widen. He quickly smiled at Kagami, relieved to find someone friendly.

"Thank you!" he said before crawling between the girls' legs and then running away. Once they noticed, all the girls said goodbye to Tendou before chasing after the young man again. Kagami got up and walked over to Tendou before saying, "What a mess!"

He then noticed that his friend was looking at him strangely and asked, "What's wrong?"

Kagami was confused, and his friend turned before replying, "You shouldn't be helping perverts like him. That guy deserved a heavy punishment."

The young man said calmly, causing Kagami to chuckle lightly.

"He seemed like a good person," Kagami said with a calm smile. Tendou looked at him for a moment before smiling as well and turning away. Tendou started walking, with Kagami following him.

"Idiot, don't blame me if your reputation gets destroyed for helping perverts escape!"

The two then laughed together as they continued on their way, unaware that they were being watched by two other people from the top of the staircase on the second floor.

There were two young women there, one with a well-structured body and ample breasts, fair skin, light green eyes, and beautiful crimson hair flowing down her back. The second young woman had a less well-endowed body, short black hair, and reddish-purple eyes.

Both women were very beautiful and wore the female version of the Kuoh Academy uniform. The redhead looked at Kagami and Tendou before turning to the brunette at her side and asking calmly, "Sona, those two were more transfer students. I don't remember seeing either of them before."

The redhead asked calmly before looking back at the two friends who were moving away. The brunette beside the redhead smiled and replied, "You didn't know, Rias, with this, we have completed five transfers in a tiny amount of time."

This information surprised the redhead. Looking at Sona, Rias seemed doubtful, saying, "It was already five?"

The redhead seemed confused and surprised by the information before continuing, "I thought it was only three."

Sona stopped and put her hand on her chin as she spoke calmly to her friend, "There were four students, but we can count five if we also consider the girl who transferred two months ago."

Rias nodded and then laughed lightly.

"Ah, you're talking about that little monster, Renge Takatori. I wanted to make her one of my servants, but I haven't had a chance to meet her yet!"

The young woman muttered to herself, causing Sona to smile as well and ask, "But you seem interested in those two boys. Do you think they have a Sacred Gear?"

The brunette asked, to which the redhead shook her head denying. Letting out a calm sigh, she decided to speak, "I doubt it. I can't sense any magic coming from them, but still, looking at those two is strange!"

Rias said, looking at the two boys once again, who were already out of sight. Sona found the last part Rias said confusing.

"Strange?"

The young woman asked confused. This expression, especially in that tone, was not something Rias would use for just anyone.

The redhead paused for a moment as she focused on Tendou, but decided to ignore it:

"Forget it, it doesn't matter now. I'm going to the classroom before I'm late. And you?"

The redhead asked, and Sona looked at her before calmly responding, "I'm going to the council room first, but I don't intend to be late."

The brunette then looked at the two boys one last time before redirecting her attention to her friend.

"Well, see you later," Rias said before walking ahead. Sona looked at the redhead for a moment, confused, before turning and looking at the two young men once more, wondering what was happening.

-After-

A few minutes later, Tendou and Kagami were waiting outside their classroom while their teacher allowed them to enter:

"So, class, we have two new students here today. You may enter!"

Upon hearing the call, Kagami, who was nervous, entered, followed by Tendou. As soon as they entered, the classroom fell into complete silence, which made Kagami even more nervous, almost to the point of not hearing his teacher:

"You may introduce yourselves!"

The teacher said, to which Kagami sighed to gather courage and bowed politely. Though nervous, the young man still remained polite:

"I'm Arata Kagami, please take care of me!"

His introduction caused a bit of movement among the students, but nothing too exaggerated. Soon, some basic questions followed, like what do you like, your favorite food, your favorite movie, but the teacher made the students be quiet.

Kagami smiled at the result. He was just a normal young man, and he liked that. Not showing off too much would give him a bit of peace and a more normal life than he wanted.

It was a good moment until he looked to the side and struggled not to slap himself.

"I am the one who will walk the path of Heaven, the man who will rule everything!"

There was his friend introducing himself with a proud smile on his face and his hand pointing upwards.

"I'm Souji Tendou!"

The young man finished his introduction, leaving the classroom momentarily silent. Then, all the girls screamed at the same time and started asking Tendou various questions. Kagami looked on in shock, wondering how his friend managed to do that. At the same time, he felt the threatening glances from the male students and thanked that he wasn't Tendou, as they were directed at him. Eventually, the commotion caused by the girls was stopped by the teacher, who then told the two of them to go to their seats.

Tendou sat near the front and close to a window, while Kagami sat behind Issei, the perverted young man from earlier. Kagami learned Issei's name thanks to the girls who were previously behind him. He really seemed to be one of the most perverted in the whole academy.

Issei turned to Kagami and smiled:

"Hey, thanks for earlier. I'm Issei Hyoudou!"

He then extended his hand, which Kagami took and smiled back. Afterwards, Issei pointed to the chair next to him and said:

"And this is Asia Argento, she's a bit shy!"

The brown-haired teenager said. When Kagami looked in the direction he pointed, he saw a girl slightly shorter than him and Issei, with blond hair and green eyes. He wondered why he hadn't noticed her before. Perhaps her presence was weak due to her shy personality, just like Issei had mentioned.

The blonde girl seemed to struggle to speak:

"H...how are you…"

Kagami simply smiled at the two. Meanwhile, Tendou was sitting quietly by the window, before discreetly glancing at a boy at the back of the classroom. His features couldn't be seen because he wore a blue beret on his head and his notebook was raised, covering his face. However, the young man seemed to recognize Tendou's gaze because he returned it the same way. The two soon started to ignore each other and pay attention to the class.

The rest of the class went on normally until the afternoon and the lessons ended. Kagami bid farewell to Issei and Asia, whom he had already befriended, and went to find Tendou to go home. Seemingly, their two new friends needed to go to their club to finish some activities.

"So, you're not coming?"

Kagami asked, confused. Tendou was looking at the sunset, and the response came shortly after:

"I need to take care of something in town, I won't be gone for long!"

The young man said with a smile. Kagami seemed to finally understand something.

"Don't tell me you're... you don't need any help?"

Kagami asked, confused but more serious. Tendou chuckled with amusement.

"Don't confuse me with you. I'm just going to say hi to our new neighbors, that's all!"

He said before walking away. Kagami made a face, slightly annoyed by the comment. Then, Tendou stopped and said:

"Oh, one more thing. Don't touch the pots. The kitchen is my divine space, and I won't allow you to do anything there. When I come back, I'll cook something!"

With that, the young man walked away. Kagami looked at the sun already setting and the night sky appearing.

-After-

Later, in an area near an old warehouse, a red magic circle appeared and glowed before revealing a group of people. There were Rias, Issei, and Asia, as well as three other new young individuals—a short girl with yellow eyes and white hair, a blond young man holding a sword, and finally a girl with a voluptuous figure, long black hair, and purple eyes.

Rias took a step forward and spoke, "Asia-chan, since today is your first mission, stay close to me!"

The blonde girl nodded nervously, and then Rias looked at the rest of the young individuals.

"There have been reports of a monster sighting around this warehouse. We have reason to believe that it may be a Stray Devil or some kind of mischievous Yokai. Whatever it is, it's acting within my territory and we must eliminate it."

Rias said before receiving a nod. The group then entered the warehouse, calmly looking around. Suddenly, several creatures resembling humanoid insects or green roaches emerged from the shadows. They were much larger than an average adult man, had large claws and a horn on their heads.

"Is this a trap?" Issei asked, confused as they realized they were surrounded. He then examined the creatures more closely and asked aloud, "What the hell are these things?"

Rias was the one to speak next, "It doesn't matter at the moment. Koneko, Kiba!"

The young boy and the girl with white hair moved to fight the monsters. It was a very one-sided battle, with the blonde easily cutting down the creatures with his speed, while the girl with white hair showed incredible strength by effortlessly knocking them down with punches. In just a few moments, the two of them alone eliminated all eight monsters that had appeared. Issei smiled and said, "That was easy."

Yuuto Kiba, the blond boy, nodded in agreement. The girl with white hair, Koneko, approached and replied, "They were weak," her voice almost emotionless and calm. While Rias looked at the bodies, which started to burn in green flames and evaporated into the air, she analyzed what these creatures could be.

"It doesn't matter much. Let's leave, we're done here," Rias stopped speaking when they all heard clapping and laughter. Looking to the right, the entire group saw a new creature—a type of insectoid monster like the others, but this one was much more humanoid. It was yellow with black spots and resembled a wasp.

"Another one? When did it get there?" Rias said in surprise. None of them in the group were able to perceive the creature's approach. It simply didn't make sense.

Without wasting time, Yuuto summoned his sword again and appeared behind the creature at high speed, ready to strike. However, to his surprise, the monster disappeared in an instant. He was caught off guard when the monster reappeared behind him and attacked.

It was at that moment that the girl with purple eyes smiled before covering herself in electric energy and shooting towards the creature. As she was about to hit it, the monster disappeared once again, causing the lightning to hit Koneko instead, throwing her into a wall and leaving her severely injured. Her smile disappeared instantly.

"Koneko-chan!" the brunette cried out in surprise and concern before a yellow blur passed by her, throwing her into the air. Before she could protect herself, the same blur repeated the act three times, causing the brunette to fall to the ground unconscious. The blur then stopped, revealing itself as the same creature from before.

BOOST!

Angry, Issei charged at the creature while a robotic voice suddenly spoke the word "Boost" from his arm, but strangely, it sounded like it came from his arm.

"You piece of…" the young man shouted, holding his arm and revealing a red armor glowing brightly.

EXPLOSION!

The robotic voice came from the glove on his arm, which glowed once again for a moment as he punched the creature's face with all his strength. However, to his surprise, the monster didn't move and retaliated by punching Issei with equal force, sending him flying and accidentally hitting Asia, causing both young individuals to fall unconscious.

Surprised and angry, Rias stared at the creature and asked, "Who are you?" Red and black energy sparks surrounded her, but before she could attack, she found herself being thrown around by the creature's attacks.

It was fast... too fast... there was no way to react to its attacks, no way to predict its movements, no chance of victory. The light itself seemed insignificant compared to this creature—it was simply too fast...

Nevertheless, Rias, who was now on the ground, slowly stood up. She wouldn't give up like this. Her servants needed her now.

Standing up again, Rias saw the creature watching her before laughing. Once again, the young girl channeled her power through her body and saw the creature prepare itself. If she was going to fall, she would do so fighting.

It was at that moment that out of nowhere a red blur came crashing into the creature with full force, throwing it backwards and surprising Rias. The yellow creature soon stood up and also became a blur as the two confronted each other, destroying everything around them. The redhead could only watch in astonishment as the two blurs of speed collided throughout the warehouse, until the yellow blur was forcefully thrown back and fell to the ground.

CLOCK OVER

A robotic voice came from the blur that finally stopped, revealing itself to be a man wearing silver-armored boots and a black robe underneath a red armor. But the most striking feature was his helmet, which was red with two light blue visors and a large beetle horn on its forehead.

The man pressed some buttons on his belt as he turned to Rias and pressed a button on his belt.

1...

He began walking slowly towards the redhead, who could only remain speechless and pressed another button.

2…

He then stopped a few meters away from her and calmly looked at her without saying a word. The redhead herself remained in a similar state, with the only difference being the seriousness and coldness of the knight compared to the young girl's surprise and confusion.

3…

Pressing the last button, the knight seemed to ignore the creature, which finally stood up and looked at him before showing anger. The knight simply pressed another button before pulling a lever on his belt.

"Rider Kick..."

The young knight murmured with a low and cold voice that easily echoed in the young redhead's mind.

RIDER KICK!

The robotic voice spoke again as small rays emanated from the knight's helmet horn, traversing his entire body and focusing on his leg. At that moment, the creature stood up angrily and ran towards the knight from behind, and as soon as it was close to attacking, the knight spun around and delivered a powerful kick to the creature before returning to his position and looking at Rias again.

At the same time, the creature that was hit simply exploded in flames, showing its end.

The red knight stood there, staring at the redhead who did the same. It was as if two old acquaintances were face to face.

The explosion seemed to surprise Rias, who finally managed to say something:

"Ka... Kabuto…"

Rias said in surprise and disbelief in her voice. The name seemed to catch the knight's attention, as even though he was wearing a helmet, it was clear that he was surprised to hear that name.

Rias herself was not much different, looking at the knight in front of her simply brought back memories of her childhood, specifically a seven-year-old Rias sitting on the ground near a tree while the same knight kneeled down with a hand reached out to the little girl.

"Grem... damn it..."

Kabuto almost said something but gave up at the beginning of the sentence. Rias herself seemed confused as she looked at the young knight in front of her.

The doors to an uncertain future seemed to open in that moment.