Hime Takizawa was the Candidate for Empress Arcana in the current Devil King War. If one were to try and describe her in a single word, 'perfect' would be just about the only thing that fits.

Of course, part of it was because of her beauty. Her brilliant long red hair was so vibrant it was hard to not notice her, and it was long enough to just barely avoid touching the floor. Her eyes were a beautiful green and her figure was also impeccable. Not too fat nor too slim, her breasts and butt were neither too big nor too small.

And she was just as beautiful on the inside as on the outside. To her family, she was the perfect daughter. To her friends, she was the perfect companion. She was polite even to humans, a trait very rare in noble devils.

The only reasonable complaint one could make about her was that she was absolutely no good in a fight, but maybe that was just another quality of hers. While many devils were quick to throw punches and spells at each other, Hime always tried to find the most peaceful solution.

"This should be the place."

So where was this perfect girl at and what was she doing? That was a simple question.

She had received an invitation to visit her childhood friend, Noda Shiwa, the Candidate of Magician Arcana.

The invitation was clearly strange, telling Hime to go to Noda's current base and emphasizing that she should go alone. Again, Hime's sole defect was that she was a horrible fighter, so this clearly seemed like a trap.

Although Hime had no Cards of her own, there were no shortages of people offering to guard her, but she refused them all. At the end of the day, Noda was Hime's childhood friend. She chose to believe he wouldn't try to hurt her and had simply made a poor choice of words. She knew he sometimes had trouble expressing how he truly felt.

As she approached the gate to the mansion that was currently Noda's base, the gate opened by itself, and the path lit up, as if to show Hime where to go. Hime was startled for a second, but continued on her path. She had already come this far, so there was little point in stopping now.

She followed the path until almost reaching the mansion, at which point she finally saw another living being. This other person was none other than Noda himself.

Unlike Hime, there was really nothing special about Noda. His hair was a normal black color, not especially long nor short. He wasn't especially tall or short either, nor was he muscular or lanky. There was hardly anything noteworthy about his appearance or personality. He could easily disappear in a crowd.

But he was still Magician's Candidate. Even if there wasn't anything that immediately caught the eye about him, no devil would mistake him for just anyone. Or at least, they would attempt to.

"Come inside. Sorry for the sudden invitation."

"It's no problem, and thank you."

Even Noda's unreasonable sudden summon didn't seem to bother Hime much. Or maybe she was just educated enough to not let it show.

Noda guided Hime through his mansion, but Hime was noticing something strange. Other than her and Noda, there didn't seem to be anyone else there. Hime knew Noda had at least a few Cards, so they should be somewhere.

"Please wait here while I bring you a drink."

Noda opened the door to a room and told Hime to wait inside. She did as told and took a seat and simply waited.

It wasn't long before Noda came back with the drink he'd promised. He placed the drink in front of Hime and encouraged her to drink it.

Despite disliking fights, Hime wasn't naïve. She knew that the simple fact that they were competing Candidates was enough grounds for a fight, even though they're old friends.

So far, Hime hadn't really acted in the Devil King War, but that didn't mean she was doing nothing. She had looked up the previous Devil King Wars as much as she could, and tried to learn all she could about those who fought on them, not just the previous Empress, but all other Arcanas.

That's why she had an idea of what Noda's power as Magician might be. But if she was right, she both understood why she'd been called here and wondered why she was chosen.

"Noda, how long have we known each other for?"

"If you count the time our mothers were pregnant, then we've made it to 18 years already."

"That seems right. I've known Noda for a long while, and I know you're not the sharpest tool in the shed. Even so, did you really think I wouldn't notice if you tried to drug me?"

Hime then pushed the glass towards Noda. It was faint, but one could see some kind of powder at the border. Noda could have maybe pretended it was sugar or something, but he saw no need to do that.

She had no way of knowing it was just meant to knock her out for a while, and not actual poison, but it didn't matter. The mere fact that Noda had tried to drug her already showed his intentions.

"I was hoping you wouldn't realize it, but it doesn't matter. It's only meant to make you sleep, so as a friend I recommend you drink it. You're more naïve than people say, you already lost the moment you came here."

A number of people entered the room. Not counting Noda and Hime, there were 6 people in the room. All of the newcomers were young men.

Their eyes made it very clear what they wanted to do with Hime. She might be a Triumph Candidate, but she's no good in a fight, so she may as well just be a weak girl to them. And a very pretty one at that. No matter how much she screamed here, no one would help her.

But Hime didn't seem the least bit concerned. Rather, the current situation could even be considered to her advantage.

"*sigh* I'll give you a chance in the name of our friendship, Noda. Let's just pretend this didn't happen."

"What friendship? That's over anyway now that I-"

"Oh, but I'm willing to really pretend nothing happened. We'd be friends like we've always been. Actually, I'd even like to team up, since there's rumors of other Candidates teaming up."

Noda was suddenly stunned. Hime had always been his crush, but he always knew she was too much for him, so he never made any moves. That's one of the reasons why he was doing this. He wanted to make her his, even if by force. Once he put her under him, he'd confess his feelings and, if her brain still worked, she'd accept them as if it was the most romantic proposal.

But now Hime said she was willing to forgive this, and even wanted to work together. If he had this chance to get so close to her, then maybe he could win her heart normally. He knew it was nearly impossible, and normally Noda would have simply continued with his original plan, but it was as if something was telling him that was the right decision.

The only thing that was holding him back were his Cards. He had promised to let them have their way with Hime if she didn't respond to his feelings. Could he really just go back like this?

"I'm sure you all are also having second thoughts, right?"

Noda's Cards were showing varying reactions. Some seemed to agree with Hime just because, while others seemed to wonder to themselves.

Hime decided to make sure that there would be no problems.

"I understand. You're all young men and sometimes your sexual desires get the best of you. It's not much, but I hope these help."

Hime put her hands under her dress' skirt and then took off her panties. As if throwing meat to hungry wolves, she threw her underwear to the men. While they were distracted, and with her back turned to Noda, she also took off her bra and threw it to them.

With this, Hime had already conquered the hearts of Noda's Cards. If push came to shove, it was likely they'd obey her now. But only she knew that.

"So, Noda, can we put this behind us?"

Hime sat down again. She crossed her legs and puffed out her chest. Her nipples were faintly visible over her dress. The whole scene was very stimulating for Noda.

At that moment, Magician and his Cards had fallen victim to Empress' spell.

"You all! Change of plans. We're not doing that anymore. Now shoo."

Noda's Cards obeyed him and went off. They made sure to take Hime's underwear, not that she planned to retrieve it anyway.

With this taken care of, Hime figured she might as well make her trip worth something.

"I don't think you called me here just to have your way with me. If we're going to be partners, I hope Noda's willing to share his secrets with me."

"P-partners! I-I mean, yes. Let me show you."

Noda's face immediately got red when Hime said they'd be partners. Of course, knowing him as much as she did, she expected as much.

Noda got up and guided Hime to a bedroom. From the size, it was likely the mansion's master bedroom. But there was something strange about it. There was a huge magic circle painted all over.

Hime began to read the magic circle. She wasn't as much of a prodigy like Yuuto, who could use magic soon after reading the formula, but she could figure out what it was supposed to do.

"This… takes a person's characteristics and gives it to another?"

"Yes. My Characteristic Magic allows me to 'force' spells to work. That's how me and my Cards were able to make this original spell. Hime's so amazing, so I've always wanted to become like you. Once that was done, I was going to confess to Hime."

As Noda had said, his Characteristic Magic was called Spell Master. Normally, for new spells to be developed, there needs to be an extensive study on magical formulas before ever going into practice. It could literally take years, if not decades, for a simple spell to be made. But Spell Master forced the formula to work, even if it shouldn't, making so that Noda's imagination was the only thing limiting his abilities.

As for the spell he had developed, it did as Hime said. Noda was about as mediocre as they come, which is why he always has this thought "what if I could just take other people's characteristics for myself?" That's why the first spell he got to work on as Magician was this.

It's a spell that takes a person's abilities or characteristics and gives them to another. If Noda had followed through with his plan, he would have become 'Mr. Perfect' while Hime would be left with nothing. Their roles would have essentially reversed.

But Empress beat Magician, without having to ever have a bit of aggression towards him.

"I see. … Yes, we'll make a fine team, Noda. But you should work on this spell a bit more."

Hime was right. As it was, the spell needed this huge room basically filled with magic formulas to work. It was hardly practical.

Noda knew that, but he had only really planned to use this on Hime. Of course, that plan was nowhere to be found now, so, as far as he was concerned, there was no longer any use for this spell.

"B-but this was already so much work…"

However, Hime didn't share those thoughts.

"Don't say that. Do it for me, Noda. How about a reward? If you can make this to a level I deem acceptable, I'll let Noda choose a place for me to kiss."

"… Just a kiss?"

"Well, depending on where Noda tells me to kiss, I might want to do more."

Needless to say, for that kind of reward, Noda was willing to literally move mountains. Starting the next day, he and his Cards would do their very best to improve that spell, though they had no idea what Hime wanted to use it for.

This marked the start of Magician and Empress' alliance. Though it would still be a long while before anyone else was made aware of that.