"I'm home, dad, mom."

"Ooh, welcome back, Yuuto."

"Welcome back, Yuu-kun. Dinner will be ready soon."

"Thanks, I'll go put my stuff in my room and come down."

I had finished the first week of training today. No matter if it was a school day or not, I still trained all the same. I have to get stronger, even if just a day faster.

That's what I decided to do after I happened to hear the girls while I was showering. I know this was also hard on them because I needed them to teach me, but surprisingly none of them objected to my proposal.

So yeah, today I'd gone through my normal classes and after that studied some more with Reina. Thanks to those "private lessons" I feel like I've been able to keep up better with the rest of the class, though I still feel like I'm behind everyone else.

On that note, Nagasawa-sensei has also been helping me whenever I have doubts. Though sometimes she sighs and looks at me as if I'm asking something as simple as "is 1+1=2?". But I'll pretend I don't notice anything, it must be hard on her.

Anyway, I'll just finish putting my stuff away and then I'll go eat-

"… What?"

Something strange caught my attention. My window was black, like if someone dropped a paint bucket on it, but just the glass part.

At this time, I should be able to see the last bit of the sunset from here, but I can't see anything now.

I tried whipping whatever it was off, but it just wouldn't come off. Maybe it was from the outside, so I tried opening the window, but it felt like it was stuck.

"!"

There was a sudden bad feeling. Could this be an attack?

[Warning, threat level 3. Recommending caution and escaping from the barrier's effect area as soon as possible.]

I have no idea what a threat level 3 is, but I'm willing to bet it's bad. Actually, mom and dad are just downstairs, so any threat level is bad.

[The threat level is an estimation of the risk presented against you or a Card in your immediate vicinity. It ranges from 0 to 10, 0 being no risk and 10 being a completely impossible and unavoidable risk.]

Thanks for the sudden explanation, Arcana, but now's not the time for that.

I just have to get mom and dad and leave, right?

"Mom, dad! We have to leave!"

"You're noisy. Just shut up."

The reply came from a voice I've never heard before. Somehow, I could only get a bad feeling about this.

Once I headed down the stairs, I saw mom and dad collapsed on the floor. The person who had answered me was a guy wearing the uniform of Ginsei Academy.

He also wore a hood over his face, so I couldn't see it. All I could see was his smile, which was honestly creepy.

"You! What did you do? If you hurt my parents-"

"Oh, shut up. Just stay quiet and be a good bait. But I'm surprised you can still walk around, the barrier should have instantly knocked out any humans. Maybe your whore of a mom cucked your dad and you actually have some devil blood on you. That would explain a lot, wouldn't it, Lovers?"

"…"

"Kept your calm eh. Well, doesn't matter, I won't go down as easily as Geld and Kilga. They should be arriving soon. If you stay there quietly I'll let you watch."

Calm down Yuuto, he's just trying to provoke you. Whatever you do, you have to think through it.

Mom and dad are too close to him. Even if I attacked in a way that wouldn't get them caught up in it, it would be too easy for this guy, I'm guessing another one of World's Cards, to attack them.

The best course of action is probably to stay put for now. At least, until I can find a way to keep my parents out of danger.

He mentioned something about being a bait. I guess his real aim isn't me, but someone else. It's unlikely to be my parents, so the only other people it can be is-

"Thinking about my plan? I might as well tell you, as a parting gift. It's quite simple really, by trapping you here, I know your bitches will come to rescue you. But once they enter my barrier, I'll have already won. I'll give Lizel to Aspite-sama and keep the other two to myself. Heh, I can't wait. Let me tell you what I have in mind."

So his aim really is Lizel-senpai, Miyabi and Reina. I don't know what this barrier of his will do to them, but I can't just let it happen.

[Analysis of the barrier has been ongoing for a while. Escape should be possible in a few more minutes.]

That's great, Arcana. So I just have to buy some time for now.

"… And the bitches usually break by then, so I just throw away the corpses and move on to the next. Pretty interesting, right? Like I said, I'll let you watch if you just keep quiet, though I'll have to kill you after. But if you mention the name Haida Cluzaz, World's Ace, in the afterlife, you'll probably find a few comrades."

Good thing I wasn't listening, I'm pretty sure my rage would have gotten the better of me if I had. At least Haida made it easy for me to buy time for the Arcana, he really liked the sound of his own voice.

There was 1 or 2 more minutes of Haida monologue before a new sound was heard. It was the door opening.

No! Arcana, aren't you done yet?

[1 more minute needed.]

"Yuuto, are you alright?!"

"Yuuto!"

"Yuuto-san, please reply!"

I saw Haida show the widest grin. It made him look even creepier.

"Kahaha! And checkmate!"

Haida snapped his fingers. The next thing I heard was the sound of 3 people falling to the floor. Haida then brought them to the kitchen along with my parents.

Arcana, how much time?!

[30 seconds left.]

"Kehehe, it was hard tailoring this barrier for these 3's mana specifically, but it was well worth it. I feel this calls for a celebration, don't you think so, Lovers? But I don't really want to break in the Yuugaoze or Koiwai girls just yet, I can't touch Lizel, and the human bitch is unconscious. Hmm, decisions, decisions."

I looked towards Lizel-senpai and the others. They were trying to move, but it was like their bodies just had no strength on them. It was probably the barrier's effect.

Yet, they managed to gather enough strength to let out a single word each.

"Run…"

"Yuuto…"

"Please…"

There's no way I can just run and let Haida do whatever he pleases!

I activated Stride, Maximize and Armored. I still hadn't quite mastered this ability, but there was no better time to use it than now!

I dashed towards Haida. I was going to punch him straight in the face, but then my fist stopped in the air.

It was like I'd tried to punch a wall. I think my hand might have broken. What happened?!

"You were so quiet all this time, but now you try to play the hero? Not much of a voyeur?"

"Shut up! I won't let you harm anyone!"

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?"

Haida tried to punch me. For some reason, I felt the impact even though his fist never reached me. It was like… his fist was wrapped in some invisible barrier…

I couldn't stay on my feet, and Haida pummeled me to the ground even more by punching me repeatedly.

"Changed my mind, I'll kill you now. What a shame, I really wanted you to see me rape your women."

Haida started punching my face. My consciousness started wavering after just a few punches.

But then I heard a voice. The voice that announced my victory.

[Analysis finished. Escape using the teleportation magic Transite, then destroy part of the house with the explosion magic Detonate. The barrier is weaker from the outside, so that will destroy it completely. The required magics have been acquired.]

Alright, just have to create an opening now.

Haida kept punching me, but I activated Maximize and punched his face as well. That sent him tumbling back enough for me to get up.

I'd forgotten to activate Armored. If my hand wasn't broken before, it most definitely is now. But that's fine.

"It's your loss, Haida. Transite!"

My vision turned white for a second, but I was definitely outside the house now.

I almost couldn't stay up. This time, it was because of my mana being basically depleted. But I can't fall down just yet!

"Detonate!"

I could barely aim. I have no idea what part of the house I blew up, but I'll apologize to mom and dad later.

I couldn't stay up anymore, I fell almost face first at our entrance. But it should be fine with this.

A second later, the front entrance burst. I almost couldn't see him through the smoke, but Haida was coming right at me.

"You bastard!"

I had no doubt this attack of his would kill me if it landed, but I was saved by Miyabi.

She grabbed Haida by the leg and swung him. The ground was smashed, but it seemed like Haida had deployed a barrier.

"Yuuto's a bit tired at the moment. I'll pay you back in his place."

"Bitch, don't mess with me."

I know that if I stay here, I'll just be a burden to Miyabi. But I can't move.

Lizel-senpai then left the house and headed to where I was. She helped me get up and offered her shoulder for support.

"I'll take care of Yuuto. Miyabi, Reina, please send this rude guest out."

"My pleasure."

"Yes desu!"

"!"

Reina came out of nowhere. By the time I noticed, she'd unsheathed her sword and was dashing past Haida.

Even Haida seemed to not have noticed her. His barrier didn't make it and he was cut by Reina's sword. Though the cut was shallow.

"! You little- ooh, I'll remember this, you!"

"Excuse me."

Miyabi came up behind Haida and punched him straight on the nose. He was sent tumbling back while holding his nose.

"You don't seem like such a big deal without your tricks."

"S-should we give him an advantage desu?"

"Hell no! He picked this fight, so he should take it like a man."

"You two, don't forget he's the World's Ace. Don't play around too much."

Honestly, it didn't seem like Haida had much of a chance, but I had to agree with Lizel-senpai. It wouldn't be funny if he turned things around while they were messing with him.

Miyabi and Reina seemed to reach that same conclusion, so they prepared themselves to finish off Haida.

"Damn it! How could I lose to Lovers?! Fuck! I'll make you all regret this."

"You're not going anywhere."

"Stop right there desu."

But Haida showed he wasn't the Ace for nothing. He deflected the next series of attacks from Miyabi and Reina, and then finally used his barrier to push them away.

Haida then jumped to the roof of my house and then used magic to fly. Miyabi tried going after him, but she lost him soon enough.

"Sorry, Yuuto, senpai, he got away."

"It's fine. More importantly, let's take care of Yuuto and his family for now."

Lizel-senpai finally brought me back into the house. She laid me down on the sofa while she checked my parents' condition.

"Lizel-senpai, how are mom and dad?"

"They should wake up soon. Yuuto is the one that's hurt the most, but you'll also be fine soon. I'll have someone fix your home, but you and your family will probably have to stay the night at a hotel."

No, just having someone fix my house like that is already something I'm really thankful for.

Miyabi and Reina came back. It seems they'd gone to check on the surrounding areas just to make sure it was truly over.

They didn't find anything, so that was good. After that, they took their leave, leaving just Lizel-senpai along with my parents, who had just woken up, and me.

"Yuu-kun! What happened?"

"Who did this to you, Yuuto?!"

"T-that…"

My parents had told me to avoid anything dangerous. I'd been… bending the truth so far, but there was no way out of this one.

But Lizel-senpai started speaking before I had the chance to think of any excuses.

"I'm sorry, mother, father, I… failed to protect Yuuto. We couldn't prevent this attack on your house, but we'll fix it and it won't happen again."

"A-ah, it's fine, we're not blaming Lizel-chan. But… could this be related to the Devil King War?"

"I…"

"Yuuto, please be honest. We don't want you doing anything dangerous. If this is the kind of thing that happens in the Devil King War, maybe you should quit."

I understood where mom and dad were coming from. I didn't want to make them worry, and there was no way they wouldn't after what happened today.

I don't want to make them fear for my safety or their own. But…

"I can't… I won't quit the Devil King War."

"… Could you at least tell us why?"

I shook my head from one side to the other. "I'm sorry, even I don't really understand it, but I know I just can't back down."

Mom and dad looked at each other. Worry still clearly in their faces, but they also seemed to have reached some resolve.

"I'll support Yuu-kun, but I'll still worry!"

"Me too. So, Lizel-chan, please keep an eye out for Yuuto."

"Of course."

And so ended the matter of my parents learning about the Devil King War.

It wasn't long after that that Lizel-senpai's car came to pick us up and delivered us at a hotel. We would be spending the night there.

Lizel-senpai didn't go home. Rather, as I'm about to sleep, she's in bed here with me. And what's more, she's once again naked!

"Yuuto was really amazing today. Perfect score."

"But I still let Lizel-senpai and the others fall in the trap. It was almost really bad."

"That was our fault for not noticing it earlier. Yuuto waited when he had to, and acted when needed. Just that is already something a lot of people wouldn't be able to do."

As she said that, Lizel-senpai hugged me even tighter. Just that was already really bad for me, as I could feel not only Lizel-senpai's breasts, but her whole soft body, but I'd already long given up on escaping.

By the way, Lizel-senpai had said she'd go easy on Healing Lovers today because I was hurt. Considering she's insisting I hug her back and keep my hands so low I can almost touch her ass, I can only imagine what she would do if I wasn't hurt.

"Right, before I forget. I have to tell Yuuto about the Unveiling."

"Unveiling? What's that?"

"It's the event that marks the official start of the Devil King War. It'll be held next week and participation is mandatory for all Candidates. Candidates can bring up to 5 Cards along, so Miyabi, Reina and I will be going with Yuuto."

"I see. Then, I'll be counting on Lizel-senpai, as well as Miyabi and Reina on that day."

"Yes. But for now, just rest. You earned it."

Lizel-senpai gave me a kiss on the cheek as she wished me good night. We slept just like that, holding each other tightly.

Incidentally, I had a very lewd dream that night, but luckily there had been no accidents when I woke up. Though I had needed to go to the bathroom after that, just to be on the safe side.