AN: I'd once again like to take the time to thank everyone who read my story so far, and say that I am very grateful to those who left a review. With that said here is chapter 6, sadly though I still claim no ownership over Black Clover or High School DxD.
Akeno couldn't help but to sigh softly as she looked at her best friend sadly. She was angry at herself and the rest of Rias's peerage, Rias had managed to make a deal that if they had been able to beat Riser's Peerage in a rating game she wouldn't have to marry him, but in the end they had failed and Rias was being forced to marry the arrogant devil. The purple haired girl, couldn't help but to blame herself, even though subconsciously she knew that she had given it her all, but that didn't change the fact that she felt she had failed her best friend.
"Akeno" Rias said softly causing Akeno to look at the red haired devil, locking eyes with her best friends reflection. The purple haired girl couldn't help to cringe slightly as she saw the fake smile on Rias's face. "It's okay, I knew that the rating game was a long shot." She stated causing Akeno to look away, before her head shot up when the door opened behind her, her pony tail flying over her shoulder as she saw SirZechs wife walk through the door.
"It's almost time Rias." She stated causing Akeno's to widen before her head shot back around to look at her friend, stunned when Rias walked past her without locking eyes with her. The red head was only a few feet away when the wind carried a soft whisper.
"I wish I had told him." Causing Akeno's eyes to widen as she turned to look at Rias, only to be greeted by the sight of a closed door. The purple haired girl sighed as she fell into a chair, her face falling into her hands as she cried softly. She felt so helpless right now, she knew that as a member of Rias's Peerage she couldn't do anything directly to help her directly, but as the purple haired girl sat there her mind was already coming up with a new plan to try and help her friend, but she'd need help from one person in particular. With her plan formed in her mind Akeno took off out of the room and towards the old summoning circle, a smile on her face, she knew that if anyone could save Rias it was Asta.
Finral sighed as he looked around the Hideout wondering where Yami and Asta had disappeared too. The brown haired male couldn't help but to smile softly as he remembered the star celebration, and the fact that for the first time the Black Bulls had taken second place. He didn't think that anything would be able to make his current smile shrink, but as the front door was thrown open, slamming against the wall, and the sight of the Asta's purple haired friend breathless form, her eyes darting left and right before landing on him, he knew that something was wrong, and his smile slowly fell to a frown.
Akeno froze as she looked around the large living area that she had just burst into, gasping for air as she tried to find her ash haired crush, she knew that she needed to find him, and when her eyes landed on Finral, she dashed forward her hands quickly clenching his shirt, as she looked into his eyes, panic shining clearly in hers.
"Where's Asta?" She asked quickly, the slight warble in her voice making it clear to Finral that something was very wrong, and though he wished that he could give her an answer the brown haired male couldn't help but to hang his head slightly as he spoke.
"I don't know, I've been waiting for him and Captain Yami to come back." He admitted softly, cringing as he saw the desperation in the girls eyes seem to grow as she turned and began to run out of the room. Only to freeze as his hand shot out to wrap around her elbow. "Wait whats going on?" He asked hating seeing any girl cry, but all the purple haired girl did was mumble and state that she needed to find Asta, Finral was just about to call for Vanessa when a strange old woman stepped into the doorway.
"Are you looking for that nice ash haired boy?" She asked softly, causing both Finral and Akeno to look directly at her, Akeno couldn't help but to nod desperately while looking at the old woman hopefully. Finral on the other hand couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow, he knew that he had seen the old lady before, in fact he was pretty sure that he had seen her at the celebration. But his attempts to figure out who she was faded to the back of his mind as the old woman spoke up, "I saw him and a few others being taken by a red haired woman, I think she was saying something about a hot springs."
Finral froze as he started trying to think about where the nearest hot springs was, only to frown as he realized that it was over a hundred miles away.
"Can't be, there isn't one for miles in any direction." He stated confidently causing Akeno's head to droop slightly, before the old woman chuckled.
"That's not entirely true young man, there's a strong magic area about twenty miles north from the capital, during the day its a mess of volcano's but at night it turns into the most amazing hot springs." the old lady stated calmly, causing Akeno's eyes to widen hope shining in them as her wings shot out of her back and she lifted into the air pausing for only a moment to grab Finral under the arms before she took off flying north, where the strange old lady had suggested that Asta might be.
Asta couldn't help but to sigh softly as he enjoyed the hot water surrounding his body, sure some of the others had suggested peeping on the women and some where still trying to, but he wouldn't try, because he had no real desire to, plus he was a little afraid of what Rias, Akeno, and Sister Lily might do to him if he were to try.
"Asta!" A voice shouted out causing everyone to start looking around, only to look skyward as the boys name was carried on the wind a second time, their eyes locking onto the purple haired girl carrying the brown haired male.
"Akeno?" Asta said confused as he watched his purple haired friend land not to far from him, letting Finral fall to the ground. The ash haired boy was quick to hop out of the springs to go and help his friend, uncaring of the fact that he was only wearing a towel at this point. Akeno couldn't help but to freeze for a moment as she took in Asta's towel Draped form before shaking her head and looking him in the eyes.
"Rias, she's in trouble Asta" Akeno stated quickly, causing the boys eyes to widen as he quickly grabbed his clothes and ran to the bushes to begin getting dressed. He didn't even need to look to the side to know that Yuno was also getting dressed.
"What happened to Rias, Akeno?" Yuno's monotone voice echoed from just to the left of Asta.
"Rias's father arranged for her to be married when we were children, but she doesn't love him, in fact she's been trying to figure out a way out of the marriage since we were children, but nothings worked, and now he's trying to force her to marry him." She explained quickly, unable to stop herself from smiling as she saw Asta and Yuno step out from behind the bushes, fully dressed, but her eyebrow rose as she saw another male step forward, red hair and fierce eyes with a devilish smile on his face.
"Sounds like your friend needs help my rival." He stated calmly as he looked at Asta, but Asta didn't respond he simply looked forward an angry glare on his face.
"Lets go Rias needs help." Asta stated calmly, the tremor in his voice revealing just how angry he really was, as he started to walk towards Akeno, Yuno and Leo falling into step behind him. "Finral please open a gate to the hideout." he asked forcefully, making it clear that even though he was asking it wasn't really a request, but even still Finral's eyes turned to look at his captain for permission, only opening the portal after Yami had nodded his head that it was okay.
Yami smiled softly as he watched the three march through the portal, he knew that as captain he should have either gone with them or stopped them so that they didn't get themselves killed, but he had seen the look on their faces, all three were furious to discover that someone was trying to force Rias into marriage, even the crimson lions boy who didn't know Rias wanted to help her, and who was he to try and stop them. Besides it would be a good chance for them to push past their limits.
The three boy's glared as they made it to the magic circle, fully prepared to fight to save the red haired girl. Asta couldn't help but to clench his teeth, he had never felt this angry before, how dare anyone try and force someone to marry them, and what made this worse was that it was Rias that was the one being forced, the ash haired boy was barely keeping his anger in check, unaware of the fact that his Grimoire was glowing an eerie red, even though it was closed and in its holster. It's glow increasing as the magic circle came to life, red bolts of magic sparking around them, before with a flash all four were gone, reappearing just outside a forest. Asta quickly took in his surroundings after all it was the first time that he had been to Rias and Akeno's home world. A part of him wanted to go and explore the area, try and find some of the sights that Rias had told him about but he knew that he didn't have the time to as he quickly followed after Akeno the girl sprinting across the grounds towards a massive manor.
Yuno couldn't help but to glare coolly as he saw a small group of guards start making their way towards them, he knew that a manor that large would have some type of security but he had hoped that they might be able to make it further in before they came upon said security. He knew that he couldn't let Asta be stopped here, he needed to get to Rias, so with a burst of his wind magic Yuno quickly took to the sky, shooting forth over a dozen of his powerful wind arrows.
"Asta go, I'll handle this." He stated confidently, smiling somewhat as he saw Asta nod before the three burst through the front door, leaving Yuno standing by himself, his golden dawn robe billowing in the wind that his magic created. "you should surrender." He stated calmly, watching as the group of guards stood tall before charging at him. He simply glared before letting loose with another spell.
Leo growled as he tossed another guard to the side they had dealt with a half dozen guards since they had split away from Yuno, but he knew that with each guard they dealt with they were one step closer to this Rias girl that his rival obviously cared so much about. Leo couldn't wait to meet the girl that had gotten Asta so riled up, he knew that she had to be something special, and as they rounded a corner he knew that they were close, not because he could see her, but because at the end of this hallway was a large set of double doors, with at least ten guards standing in front of it, 'no where near enough' he thought with a small smile as he and Asta charged forward, their bellows of challenge echoing off the walls.
Rias couldn't help but to raise your eyebrows in surprise as she heard what sounded like a set of angry screams coming from right outside the massive double doors leading into the ball room. Any confusion she had was erased as one of the massive doors was turned into splinters by two of the guards bodies flying through it before a pair of males came bursting through the newly created opening, followed shortly by Akeno. The red haired devils eyes widened as they landed on one of the two males, easily recognizing the distinctive hair color, causing her heart to skip a beat.
"Rias" His voice echoed out, causing her to smile as she looked at him, her blue green eyes locking with his emerald orbs, for a second before he turned back to knock another guard away. She couldn't help but to watch Asta as he fought, each guard that came against him was quickly dispatched, but her smile soon faded somewhat as she discovered that the guards had managed to surround Asta and the red haired boy that had come with him, both boys now standing back to back.
SirZechs couldn't help but to frown softly as he looked from his smiling little sister to the boy who she was staring at, he had spent the better part of this damned engagement ceremony, hating the fake smile that his baby sister had been putting on, and his anger at his father had been growing with each passing second. But when this boy had burst through the door he had watched his sisters face light up, and he had realized that this must be the boy that he had overheard his sister talking about so often. Asta was his name if he remembered correctly. And the boy was proving to be quiet powerful, but even still the guards were well trained and had managed to surround the two, 'what will you do now Asta, impress me' he thought, only for his eyes to widen as he watched two boys let loose powerful roars before shooting forward to take reengage the guards.
"Their fighting like a pair of cornered beasts" He whispered softly, watching as the two managed to drop two more guards before moving onto the next. He sighed as he stepped forward, he had let this go on for to long, "That's enough!" He bellowed causing everyone to freeze as they turned to look up to him, before Asta jumped skyward, the red haired man couldn't help but to cock an eyebrow as he watched the boy begin to descend towards them until he landed next to Rias.
"Are you okay?" He asked softly causing Rias to grin, before her grin turned to a frown as she looked at him.
"Asta what are you doing here?" She asked softly, happy to see him but knowing that this could get him in trouble.
"I'm here to save you" He stated confidently bring a grin to SirZechs face as he watched the boy turn to look at Riser. "Are you the guy trying to force Rias to marry him?" He asked forcefully, causing the red haired man to chuckle as he watched the arrogant blond chuckle.
"Riser is simply making good on an arrangement. Who are you to question Riser." He stated in his usual third person manner causing the ash haired boy to raise an eyebrow before turning to look at Rias for a moment.
"This is the guy right?" Asta asked softly, causing Rias to chuckle softly while she rolled her eyes before nodding. SirZechs sighed as he stepped forward wanting to find out just what the strange young man was planning.
"Why are you here boy?" He asked calmly causing Asta to turn and look at him, before he stepped forwards.
"I'm here to save Rias" He stated calmly, causing the current Lucifer to smile before he raised an eyebrow.
"And how do plan to do that child" He asked calmly, noting the determination in the boys eyes, curious just what the boy had planned.
Asta inhaled deeply as he locked eyes with the older male, remembering what Akeno had told him earlier, so with a small exhale he stated his intentions firmly.
"I challenge Riser Phenex to a duel" He stated firmly causing everyone to stare at him wide eyed, before a small smile made its face to SirZechs face, only to dip as a different voice made its presence known.
"Why would Riser fight a common child like you" The arrogant Phenex stated calmly, causing the boy to turn to look at him with a glare, only for said glare to devolve into a small arrogant smirk as the boy remembered what Yuno had suggested to him.
"What you afraid you can't beat me." He stated arrogantly causing everyone to gasp in slight shock before Riser opened his mouth to try and refute him. His words died on his lips though as the current Lucifer spoke up.
"I think its an excellent idea, after all Riser I was less then impressed with your performance in the rating game, and frankly what do you have to worry about, he's just a common child right." He stated calmly causing the other devil to glare as he realized that he had been forced into accepting the duel, so with an arrogant smirk he simply nodded.
"As you wish Lord Lucifer." He stated staring directly at Asta, planning all the ways he was going to torture this little bastard before he killed him.
Alright and that's it for chapter 6, longest chapter yet, and leading up to the big fight, I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter and please remember to leave a review.