Chapter 1

[Vallen Sabnok]

"You can't just say that there were fifteen ways I could have lost there and not explain!" Riser growled, keeping his voice down so nobody would hear. Vallen just shoved another of the fancy pastries he'd gotten from the party's service into his mouth as he rolled his eyes. As if the chicken didn't already know that getting something out of Xeres while he was playing was useless.

"Go away, man. I'm trying to get through this level," the lazy Allocer muttered, batting his hand as if to scare off a fly.

For his part, the chicken just seethed in place at the indifference he got. He knew he couldn't make a scene though, not in this party of all places. Or that was what Xeres said. Vallen didn't really get why, but then again, he didn't really care. He just hoped the Phenex gave him a reason to put him in his place again.

The last time had been fun.

As it was, Vallen was growing irritated by the second. The stuffy suit restricted his movements. Having to be careful of not breaking it was a total pain. At least the food was good enough for him to deal with the annoyance he had been feeling for the last two hours. But if the stupid blondie didn't stop whining in his ears in the next five seconds, Vallen would rip his throat off, party be damned.

"Are you actually having trouble with that?" the chicken asked, glaring at the side of Xeres' head as if trying to burn a hole in it without using his magic. "It's a stupid phone game."

"A stupid phone game with great art, I'll have you know," the Allocer argued, his voice flat. "And besides, I had to get into the thing's code to change the enemies, the layout and my own units so it'd be harder. I'm having fun here," he added then, his lips pulling up into his classic lazy smile.

"Bring me more food!" Vallen all but shouted at the closted servant. His hand hit against the table, which made a worrying cracking sound. People around him looked at him in disgust, but they were all too spineless to actually say what bothered them to his face.

Bunch of cowards. He wished at least one of them would try to start something. It would have been a proper party if that were the case. Or, at the very least, it would have made the whole stuffy event more bearable.

"R-Right away, Heir Sabnok," the woman responded with a short bow before speed-walking away from him. He would admit that the fact she maintained her elegant gait even when fleeing was a touch impressive.

"Sabnok, I am enjoying my party without any broken furniture, so if you could gather enough brain cells between your ears to not make a mess, I'd appreciate it," the chicken said from his side, his voice came through gritted teeth and his face seemed to be turning red with anger. Good. "Don't make a scene during my engagement party."

"Whatever you say, chicken," he shrugged. Vallen guessed that he was paying for the food, so he would play nice… this time… for the moment. "Speaking of engagement, where is that red bitch you are so obsessed with?"

Across the room, he spotted a small white-haired girl ball her fist in rage and direct a withering glare at him. He didn't know how she heard him though, but she was probably the Gremory's peerage member or something. Maybe she'd start a fight with him if he insulted the red one a little more?

"Careful. You might get scratched," Riser commented, having noticed too. "She's probably off, hiding and pretending that this isn't happening," Riser answered then, grinning widely.

"I don't know why you are so happy," Xeres commented, in a rare moment of not having his full focus taken by his games and engaging in conversation without having to be addressed first. "Sounds like it'd be a pain to deal with her hating your guts. I'd probably have called the whole thing off myself."

"You did do it," Vallen pointed out, enjoying the twitch of the Allocer's eye. "How did that work out for you?"

"Fair enough," he mumbled, leaning back on his chair and muttering something that sounded like "fucking Sitri" to Vallen's ears.

"Ah, yes, your engagement with that four-eyed ice queen. I am still surprised you of all people lost at a strategy game," the Phenex added curiously. The blondie already knew the story of how it went, but he was probably using the opportunity to stroke his fragile ego about how he won his engagement dispute while Xeres didn't.

"I thought it'd be less troublesome to do it that way," Xeres replied, not falling for the verbal bait. "She didn't want to marry me, I didn't want to marry her. So, it was simple, just lose the game and be done with it. I knew she was prideful, but I didn't think it'd be bad enough to get angry at me for doing what both of us wanted."

"Speak of the devil…" Vallen commented, looking to the side where the Sitri heiress came into the room. Xeres groaned then, dragging himself further down on his chair as if trying to hide behind the table.

Then the girl spotted them when giving a passing glance through the room. However, she just directed a glare in their direction before moving on to mingle with the white-haired girl. A blonde dude and another black-haired girl had joined the latter at some point too.

Now that he saw them all together, Vallen recalled that, yes, they were part of Gremory's peerage. He didn't know the names, but he sort of remembered their abilities during the Rating Game. It wasn't a terribly amazing match that they got to see at Xeres' place, but Vallen remembered them not being terrible. They'd certainly done better than Riser's peerage, even if that wasn't saying much.

Either way, neither of them was his goal for the night, no. The main goal and the only reason he forced himself to attend that farce of a party had still not shown himself. Vallen was getting kind of impatient, if he was honest, which might be why he was trying to reel up Riser so much.

The Red Dragon Emperor.

The user of the Sacred Gear that held the very soul of one of the strongest beings in existence. The Dragon of Domination, the Welsh Dragon, Y Ddraig Goch. Vallen had heard tales of his might from his parents, how he had murdered family members and swatted away their armies and legions as flies. Even when they weren't even the dragon's objective, with the thing content to battle against his white counterpart.

The idea of a being so strong, the idea of clashing blows with it, sent shivers down his spine. Vallen didn't think he would be a match now, of course, but one day… One day he just might get the chance to experience that and not die instantly.

Then again, the Sacred Gear user didn't equal the real thing. However, it was as close as he would get. All of the previous users became legends on their own. Heroes and monsters alike, if there is one thing that banded them all together, it was their power.

Vallen admired that power. He respected it. He wanted to defy it and surpass it. He wanted to stand over the defeated corpse of such might and to prove himself superior.

Alas, it wouldn't come to pass in a while, he guessed.

He had watched with rapt attention the appearance of the rumored – 'And now, confirmed,' he guessed – Boosted Gear user the red bitch seemingly snatched under everyone's noses. Sadly, the kid wasn't much to talk about. Barely powerful enough to be considered above average among the lower castes. But he would learn, he would grow. Just like all other carriers of the Red Dragon did.

Vallen barely could contain himself. Constantly reminding himself to keep himself in check and not break the spine of the kid as soon as he appeared. It wouldn't be worth it to just rip him apart. Not for a while, at least. Not until it actually meant something.

'Later,' he thought to himself. He would do it later, once the current Red Dragon Emperor had grown into a proper challenge. One of the best parts of the hunt was the waiting and anticipation after all.

"Can you stay still, man? The kid's not even here," Xeres asked him then, making him realize that he was shaking in his seat.

"What's gotten into him?" the Phoenex Heir asked, confused as he raised a single eyebrow in his direction. He tilted his head slightly upwards as if to show superiority even when he stood a full head above him. Little Peacock thought he was big shit for winning a Rating Game he didn't pay for.

"The Red Dragon Brat, that's what," Xeres answered, rolling his eyes. "Suddenly, Vallen's indifference towards women starts making a little more sense, I think."

"Ha! That retarded imbecile? You do know that I beat him right? He wasn't even a challenge for me." As usual, the chicken didn't waste a single second to brag about himself for anyone who cared to listen and even those who didn't. "Seriously, it was barely a fight," he continued directing his mocking tone towards the Gremory peerage groups who were all but frothing at their mouth.

"... Sometimes I wonder why we hang out with you," Xeres commented flatly.

"He makes a good punching bag," Vallen supplied. Riser stopped his tirade to direct a dangerous look his way. It was his turn to raise an eyebrow to him.

'Try me. C'mon, do it.'

As prideful as the chicken was, he knew not to get into battles he couldn't win. Besides he couldn't start a scene in front of two Satans that were all but looking for an excuse to call the whole thing off.

It was an open secret how deeply nepotism ran in Devil's society, after all. Not that he was complaining. If you got the power to get away with something, he didn't see anything wrong with abusing it. Really, Vallen kind of wanted to see the Satans let loose.

Alas, they needed to keep up appearances at least a little.

"Ah, right," Xeres replied with a nod. "And the fancy parties. They do have pretty good food, usually," he added, extending a hand and picking up a snack, as if to prove the point. It appeared that the servant girl had returned while he was lost daydreaming.

"Why do I put up with you two?" Riser asked, eye twitching as he glared at both of them.

"Because we are the only ones that put up with you," Xeres answered, as flatly as one would say that water was wet.

The Phenex shook his head in annoyance but didn't argue.

"Whatever, I am not dealing with either of you two's bullshit right now. This is my big day. I finally got to show that stuck up Rias who is on top. She made my life impossible for the last decade with her little tantrums," he said with a sigh before gripping his wine-filled goblet hard enough to dent it. A manic, sadistic smile grew on his face. "And I plan to make her pay for every minute. One. By. One."

"While I agree on putting someone weaker than you under your foot once you beat them. I don't need to be Xeres to know that it would be your funeral," Vallen commented dryly.

"Might make for a decent show though," the aforementioned Allocer pointed out, making him think about it. Lucifer going all out on Riser might be nice to see, indeed.

"Hmm then again, maybe Red is into that? I mean she spent most of her time whining and crying to her daddy, didn't she? If she truly wanted to break the engagement, she should just have trained a little," Vallen thought as he started to lose interest in the topic. The red one was a crybaby through and through, always complaining but not doing anything to change it.

Was it any wonder that he hated her guts? Drilling his ears on and on about her Peerage being her family and whatnot, but never doing a single thing to push them to their full potential. Hell, if she cared so much for those, she should have tried harder to keep them away from Riser.

It wouldn't even have been that hard.

"A little work and she'd have kicked Riser's ass with how close that was," Xeres commented idly, unknowingly confirming his thoughts. Or, at least, he guessed it was unknowingly. With Xeres, it was hard to tell sometimes. "Then again-"

"Fifteen ways, yes, I know," Riser interrupted through gritted teeth.

"I just came up with a sixteenth, actually," the Allocer corrected, his lip twitching into an amused smile before his expression went back to indifference. "Hey, Gremory," he said then, making Vallen and the chicken blink before they followed his gaze. Sure enough, there she was, the girl of the hour… as it were. "Having a good time?" Xeres asked.

The redhead's expression answered that more than any words could. It made Vallen wonder if there would be a fight after all. He could only hope.

"I'm not," the girl said, forcing the words out of her mouth as if talking to them were a particularly disgusting action. Somehow, Vallen got the impression that that was a bit of an understatement. Call it a hunch.

"The food's pretty good," Xeres commented, taking one of the snacks from the plate next to him. "Might help."

"No… Thank you," the girl muttered.

"More for me then," the Allocer said. Then his eyes darted to the side a little and he groaned. "Fuck me."

"Not if you were the last devil on the Underworld, Allocer," Sitri spat out, apparently having come to accompany her friend.

There was definitely going to be a fight today. Vallen was plenty happy with that. With a smile on his face, he stole back the tray with the food Xeres tried to expropriate from him.

"I don't know, Sitri. You know what I meant and still decided to go in that direction," Xeres pointed out, leaning back and somehow pulling off an even more bored expression than normal. It was kind of impressive by itself, Vallen thought.

"Hehe, feels like Sitri is just playing hard to get, doesn't it? No matter how much she glares at you, she keeps coming back."

"Seems that way, man," the Allocer agreed, rolling his eyes. "We both know I lost that game on purpose so we'd be free from each other, Sitri. Why won't you leave me alone like you clearly want?"

"I'm here to keep Rias company, if you must know. Like I'd leave her alone with the likes of… you," Sitri replied, giving the three of them the most disgusted of looks.

"Well, that's rude," Xeres replied, very clearly aware of the hypocrisy, but not caring at all.

"For one, I am glad you came to our little celebration, dear Sitri. I am sure my fiance is overjoyed to be surrounded by friends and family," the Phenex said with a mocking tone. Then he grabbed the Gremory's hand and planted a kiss at the back of it. After that, he started caressing it slowly with his thumb.

It looked fairly sweet and romantic. That is, if it didn't also look like Red was about to throw up in sheer disgust. Vallen supposed that if he didn't know how much they hated each other, that expression would give it away. The girl did nothing in response though, unwilling to make a scene after her defeat.

"Well, this just got awkward. I think we are third wheeling here, Vallen," Xeres commented, turning his attention back to his phone. If anything, it was a little surprising that he'd held a conversation for as long as he had, he supposed.

"Agreed. I might be worried they will start to undress right here. At the very least take it to the bedroom. Though, I guess, you are already planning for that tonight," Vallen mocked as he crossed his arms over his chest, trying to get a reaction out of Red. She only glared heatedly at him in response. Her face went slightly green at the idea. Other than that, however, she remained quiet.

She made him sick, honestly.

"But of course!" Riser agreed, beaming at him. "We'll enjoy ourselves, I can tell you that."

"You are disgusting, all of you," Sitri hissed.

"I didn't even do anything this time," Xeres pointed out without looking away from the screen of his device.

"You never leave that thing, do you?" the girl asked, frowning in disapproval at Xeres. Vallen was fairly sure that she was just looking for stuff to nag Xeres about… Like a wife, kinda, which was hilarious. Maybe if he pointed that out-

"I mean, it's more entertaining than talking with you, that's for sure," the Allocer pointed out. "We can talk about the seventeen ways your friend there could have beaten Riser though, if that pleases you more." Vallen was starting to wonder if he was just adding a number to his initial plan count every time he brought it up or if he was actually coming up with more as the time passed. Xeres definitely could do it though, if he bothered to try.

"Seventeen?" Sitri asked then, for once her expression turning to something less negative as she frowned in confusion. To Vallen, she looked like Xeres when he encountered a particularly difficult game level that he was pretty sure wasn't even supposed to be possible to beat.

"Is one of those stopping being a whiny child and actually training herself and her peerage for once?" Vallen asked not willing to let go at the opportunity to point that out. He was genuinely curious too. Thinking wasn't his forte exactly. Most of the time, he preferred to kick or punch his enemies head-on. However, he could understand that a good mind was also a form of strength.

Strategy, tactics, money, politics, even friendships. All of them could be considered a form of power in his eyes. At the end of the day, it didn't matter where your strength came from. Only that you were the one standing at the end.

"I mean, no. I liked the challenge of finding a way to beat Riser with her weak ass peerage, honestly," Xeres answered with a slight smile. "But yeah, if we add some training, it'd probably be easy mode."

"What side are you two on?" the chicken asked, glaring at them.

"Mine." "Mine."

Xeres and Vallen looked at each other and then smirked. He knew the guy was his best friend for a reason. Even with as lazy as the other devil was.

"Tch, whatever," was what the chicken said with a pout. That soon was replaced with a grin at the expression of the Gremory. She looked like a kicked puppy. Head and eyes downcast at the mention of her failure. Vallen imagined that Xeres dangling the idea of there being multiple ways for her to overcome the challenge hadn't helped.

Regardless. This was good. She would either take this as a learning experience and actually start getting stronger to surpass Riser and be free again. Or she would break and become a submissive partner for the chicken, in which case, she wouldn't be worth further consideration. That was a win of sorts too, he supposed, since then they wouldn't have to hear Riser whine about her anymore. They'd gotten enough of that through the years.

He hoped it was the former though. As much as he hated Red, she would be a fine challenge with that Power of Destruction of hers. And instead she was… this.

"Lovely as this is," Xeres started, picking up another snack, turning his head to look at one of the passing waitresses. "Are we going to be done with this anytime soon? I'd like to be able to focus."

"On games?" Sitri asked, eye twitching.

"Of course. I love telling you all how stupid you are as much as the next person, but I'd rather be at home. I have grinding to do and levels to get through," Xeres answered, making the clear distaste and anger on the Sitri's face somehow grow worse. She was starting to look a little red in the face.

Maybe she'd finally slap him?

Vallen could only hope.

Still, he sort of agreed. This whole party had been a complete waste of time so far. He had come here for two reasons, to see if a fight started, and to measure the Red Dragon Emperor potential.

So far, he had seen neither of those things, and as good as the food was, it would only entertain him for so long. The suit was itchy and restrictive too, which was only further reason to get away. And the nobles around only liked to talk about business and throw veiled insults at each other. It was honestly pathetic that a society of beings that could change landscapes with their own power had been reduced to…this.

Sometimes he wondered if the Old Satan faction didn't have the right idea…

"Gremory," Vallen suddenly directed his attention to the downcast girl that jumped slightly at suddenly being addressed. Sitri glared at him, but she seemed more interested in continuing her little love spat with Xeres. The chicken stopped rambling on whatever he was saying to look at him too. None of them had been paying attention to the Phenex anyway. When had he even started talking?

Regardless, Vallen assumed that it wasn't often he directly addressed people like that other than Xeres or the chicken. Usually he preferred to stay quiet and let his fists do the talking, but he was really getting tired of this farce. If he could, he wanted to be done with the whole thing as soon as possible.

"Where is the Red Dragon Emperor?" he finally asked the woman.

Somehow, that seemed to light a fire in the eyes of the defeated woman. Her hunched back straightened as she looked at him as if he should watch his next words carefully.

Good. There was some fight left in her after all. With some luck, she would be good for something more than being another useless noble lady.

"What about him, Sabnok?" she said defensively, the ice in her tone might as well have come from the Satan Leviathan herself. Vallen just grinned, pleased with the sight. "As far as I am aware, you two are not acquainted. So why should I tell you where Issei is?"

"I was told that your whole peerage was going to be here. I don't care about the rest of the dogs-" The white-haired one hissed at that, having gotten closer at some point, while Xeres let out a snort from beside him. "-you got under your banner, but the Boosted Gear user is different. He has the soul of Y Ddraig Goch in him. I want to fight him."

Perhaps it wasn't explanation enough for them, but he didn't really care. He wanted to gauge the Dragon Emperor's potential, and he could only do that with at least a short spar. He wouldn't kill him, that would be a total waste. But just hurting him a lot might push him forward. Besides, the chicken had a lot of his family's tears around. It wasn't like he would cause any lasting damage as long as he didn't use his family's Power.

'I just want to fight him a little bit,' Vallen swore in his mind trying to keep himself in check. His mind was already getting foggy with battle lust and it wouldn't do to lose control and actually kill such a big prey at the moment.

"You leave him alone, you brute!" was all the Gremory said, suddenly taking a defensive stance. It was almost as if she wanted to cover for someone that wasn't even there. "If you think I would let you harm my Issei-"

"But Riser was fine, huh?" Xeres asked then. "Already favoring the hubby, I see."

"Shut up, Allocer," the girl suddenly spat, before directing her attention back to Vallen. Power of Destruction cackling like crimson lightning over her hand as she clenched it into a fist. Her peerage getting behind her, they didn't take aggressive stances just yet, but he could feel their magic powers, brewing just under their skin. "If you think that I- We would let you touch a single hair of his, I will show you-"

"Will show me what?" he said with a grin that threatened to split his face. It was finally time for some real entertainment. He let his magic power out, enough to counter what Red- No, Rias was expelling. Her peerage responded aggressively. The chicken just looked at both sides of the conflict, seemingly indecisive about being angry at his broken wife regaining her spine, or gleeful about possibly seeing her get beaten up.

And Xeres just rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to his game.

That was for the best though. Vallen wanted the fight for himself.

Both sides approached slightly the magic power released starting to become suffocating for the low-class staff who started dropping to their knees sweating. Some of the pompous nobles gave them a wide berth. He could also see the Satans and other old devils watching from the sidelines with various expressions that ranged from disapproving frowns to amused smirks.

"President!" a voice shouted then from the door of the ballroom, making them all turn towards it.

"Huh, speak of the dragon, I guess…" Xeres mumbled. "Your lucky day, man."

"Don't I know it," Vallen replied, grinning widely. He wasn't even mad about the interruption of a possible fight. No, this was so much better.

The Red Dragon Emperor had arrived.

[} Chapter End {]

Adrian: Aren't Xeres and Vallen just rays of sunshine?

Arc: I personally really like how they just don't care in their own personal ways. They are really fun characters to write.

Adrian: And everyone loves them! Did you see how much the other characters love them? No?

Arc: All is love and friendship when it comes to them. Honest.

Adrian: Welp, I hope you guys liked the chapter and don't forget to like and subs- I mean, review. Yeah, that.

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ