Edited by: Priapus, Marethyu, Bluwuh, Immortal Spank

I don't know what it is they want from me right now, but I sure as fuck hope it's not about my 'behavior in regards to my commitment to school' or equally bothersome shit. It's really just a waste of time, and I'd just walk out the moment they started berating me over it.

Though, that sounds like a Sona thing only. I don't know why Rias would even care about me coming to school or not. I'd almost forgotten that Sona was that type of person– I would like her a lot more if she just dropped the pretentiousness.

I guess that's the only thing Rias beats her at? I still don't like the redhead very much—-she's tremendously less insufferable for sure compared to when we first met, but ehhhh, I don't think I can actually get along with her even if I tried; I just pretend. Which is working, and that's good. I don't want to start caring about more morons. Three is enough.

I doubt they're calling me for mundane stuff, though. They probably want to discuss something important with me or something, but as far as I know, there's not much to talk about. I think.

All I can remember right now is the peace conference and the invasion, but they shouldn't know about the latter, and I don't know how it'll help us if we discuss the former. Really, it's the leaders of our factions that should worry about it, not us.

Speaking of, I don't know when the conference will happen exactly, but it should be this month, meaning I have to prepare. Learn as much as I can from my mother, then get my cloaking tech ready so I can increase my powers through Devour. Unless the conference is this week specifically, I should have more than enough time to do both of those.

…You know, not having any future knowledge is surprisingly less stressful. That'll probably change very soon, the moment important people start looking for the person who took Excelsis. I'm still not handing it over though, even if they figure out that I found it. The angry metal stick belongs to me now.

As I approach the student council room, I pause and blink in confusion at the lack of a door. I take a small peek inside before entering, seeing it lying on the ground at the far end of the room. What the fuck happened to the door?

I enter the room without knocking, seeing that there isn't a door to knock on, and four pairs of eyes land on me. Sona and Rias, I recognize, obviously, but there are two people I've never seen before, and I immediately pick up on the fact that they're devils.

A girl with blue eyes and blond hair styled in a ponytail in an outfit that shows her cleavage as well as her belly. I can quickly tell that she's quite strong, even without bringing up her stats. She was even a tiny bit stronger than Sona.

The other person is a very large boy with a muscular build who seems to be around my age. Black hair and purple eyes—significantly less power than Sona and the blonde girl, but just under Rias. He not only looks similar to the redhead but even feels like her.

"Ah, Akane. There you are." Rias smiles. "Sorry for calling you out of the blue like this, but I wanted you to meet Sai. He's my cousin."

Ah, that explains it. Did Rias have a relative other than her parents, Sirzechs, and her nephew in the original story? I don't know. I can't remember.

The boy grins at me, standing up from his seat and then walking towards me, extending his arm for a handshake.

"I'm Sairaorg Bael. Rias' cousin." He introduces himself first, then nods toward the blonde, prompting her to bow politely. "And this is my Queen, Kuisha Abaddon."

Good god, this guy is tall as hell.

"Akane Amamiya." I take his hand and shake it, feeling his firm grip.

"I've heard a lot about you from them." He says, letting go of my hand. "Thank you so much for helping Rias with her Rating Game against Riser. Really, I appreciate you looking out for her."

"It's fine; don't mention it." I give the redhead a glance. "She looked too pitiful for me to not help."

"Oh, come on—really?!" Rias scowls and Sona giggles at her expense. "Can you not?!"

"Haha, I still thank you for lending her your support anyway." He laughs, thinking I was joking. "I hope she wasn't too much trouble."

"She was, but she pulled it off in the end." I shrug as Rias glares daggers at me. "That's what really matters."

"That's true," Sairaorg says with a slight chuckle before pausing a little. "No wonder you girls beat Kokabiel."

"Hm?" I blink.

Do people already know about that? Well damn, I guess my reputation precedes me. This is nice; being famous is fun. Though, aside from good rep gain, does it give me any possible political power I could use? Probably if I were independent, but I'm with the Tojo Clan, so…

Hmm, my father did have a subsidiary of the clan. I wonder where they are right now and if I'm technically their leader since he died. It's either me or my mother. Though, surprisingly, I really like leading my ragtag group of idiots, so who cares about them?

"You're strong." He states with an impressed tone, still staring at me. "Very strong. I never thought I'd see a human this young be so powerful without a Sacred Gear."

"Oh, uh, well, I do practice a lot," I respond, not expecting a random compliment. How did he know how strong I am, even though I'm hiding my power? Is he that good at sensing? "Talent can only get you so, far after all."

10 Reputation with Sairaorg Bael [35/100]

Huh.

"Well said!" He nods in approval before looking at his cousin. "I wish I could stay longer, but I must go and prepare for the Young Devil Gathering. It's been nice seeing you again, Rias. I better see you there."

Rias' smile falters, but she says nothing. Young Devil Gathering? It sounds a bit familiar, but I'm not sure what it means. What's that?

"And it's been my honor to make your acquaintance, Akane." He looks at me. "I hope we can meet again soon."

The blond next to him bows again respectfully before the two depart, leaving me alone with Rias and Sona in the student council room. For some reason, they don't teleport away immediately and walk through the hallway of the school, and I watch them until they're out of sight.

"You never told me you had a cousin." I glance at Rias. "You should've introduced me to him sooner. He's cute."

"You keep your hands off him." She glares at me. "My family members are off-limits, got it?"

"Oh, is that a challenge? Now I'm gonna take him specifically because you told me not to."

"Please don't. I'm sorry."

Quest added

[Bael-in-Law]

Objective: Seduce Sairaorg Bael

Reward: +25 CHA, [Lion Taming] Perk, [Devil Seducer] Perk, Rare Gacha Token

Game, I know he hits a lot of my boxes, but I'm messing with her. It's a joke. Plus, the rewards aren't worth the trouble at all. Is this your way of saying he's easy?

…

Quest failed.

So you can make funny jokes? Still not gonna help your case, buddy.

"Anyway, is this all you called me for?" I point at where Sairaorg walked off. "You wanted me to meet him?"

"Well, he wanted to meet you," Sona responds. "We spent a few hours catching up, and when you became the subject of the conversation, he asked if it was possible to meet you before he left."

"Touching," I say sarcastically. "I didn't know I had fans, though that should've been obvious. Have you met me? I should be worshiped."

"Yeah yeah…" Rias huffs.

"And what's up with blondie? She's pretty tough." I continue asking. What? I'm curious. "I was under the impression that Kings are always supposed to be the most powerful in the peerage."

"Not necessarily the case. Sai was born kind of weak for a Bael—not even inheriting the Power of Destruction." Sona explains. "He became this powerful through hard work alone."

"What was he born with, then?"

"Lion Taming."

I snort in amusement. Sounds so lame, but not as lame as Camel Taming.

"And his Queen?" I query. "What can the Abaddon clan do?"

"It's called 'Hole'. Very nifty power." Rias answers. "Basically boils down to portal creation."

Oh.

That sounds useful.

Very, very useful.

"That so…" I hum in interest, keeping it in mind. "Also, what was that about Young Devil Gathering?"

The two devils visibly deflate as I ask that. Rias groans, and her face falls flat on the table in front of her while Sona takes off her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose, looking equally distressed as the redhead.

Damn. That's a reaction, alright. They do not look forward to whatever that is at all.

"Is it something that bad?" I ask.

"Not… really." Sona sighs. "But we've completely forgotten about it. We should've been preparing for it months ago."

"So what is it then?"

"It's a festival that happens every decade, with all kinds of fun activities." Rias answers. "But the main draw of it is the Rating Game tournament."

"I see." I put a hand on my chin in thought. I still don't see what's bothering them. "So then, what's the issue here? You two are pretty powerful for devils your age, no? Should be a piece of cake."

"We might be, but we're severely lacking in our peerages." Sona shakes her head. "You need a full peerage at least to be able to actually compete."

"Is it some kind of rule?"

"Not really a rule, but it's practically required," The redhead adds. "Only the elite of the elite enter the tournament. It's not gonna be easy when we don't have full peerages."

"And while our earlier training helped, it's not nearly enough." Sona huffs. "We need to either complete our peerages or train what we have until they're powerful enough to face off against Ultimate-class threats individually."

Wow. So everyone in that tournament is stacked, unlike, say, Riser's glorified harem? That does sound really difficult. Very challenging if even their current teams aren't enough. But I'm still confused about one thing.

"Why care that much?" I ask. "You can just not enter the tournament. Enter the next decade or something."

"We can't. The age limit is from fifteen to twenty-five." Rias says. "And we're eighteen. This is our only chance."

Hmm, so they are older than me. I don't know why that's even remotely interesting, but it's certainly a fact.

"And what's so great about this tournament that it got you all like this?" I ask again, not very convinced.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to show the clan heads what you can do." The redhead answers me again. "And with the support of many, you gain a lot of political power."

Ah, I see. Makes sense.

"That's why you're all anxious about it too?" I glance at Sona. "I understand Rias since, y'know, she wants to be a champion, but you want to win as well?"

"Win? No. While I wouldn't mind winning, that's not my goal." Sona says. "I just want to avoid losing the first or second match. That is one of the worst and most humiliating things that could happen to a devil."

"And everyone there is going to be really tough," Rias complains. "I only have three members, excluding Gasper. I'm already at a massive disadvantage."

Right, the time-stopping bastard. The fucking dick would've made everything easier for me in Rias' Rating Game. Shitty discount Dio.

"You should drag that 'Gasper' boy out of his hole, then." I scold her harshly. "Selfish little shit didn't even bother helping you against Riser."

"I-I can't do that to him." She shuffles awkwardly. "He's already going through a lot–"

"And he's gonna go through more if you're so passive with him." I cut her off. "Enough is enough. Either do something about him or kick him out of your peerage."

"As much as I don't agree with Akane's harsh methods, she's right this time, Rias." Sona supports. "Gasper needs to stop hiding. You have to get him out of this depressed state of his."

"What about you, though?" I address the Sitri. "What are you gonna do about this?"

"Well…" She sighs deeply. "All I can do is train as much as I can, but I'm not sure if that's going to help very much. A month isn't a lot of time."

Right, I did notice that their growth started to slow down at the end of our training before the Rating Game against Riser. At that rate, they won't be able to make a lot of progress. It would help, of course, not denying that, but it won't be enough.

Assuming the other peerage is as strong as they're saying, of course. A tournament, though, huh? That sounds sort of fun. I wish humans had something like this. No, the Olympics and other sports don't count.

Quest added

[Non-Devil Champion] – Quest

Objective: Find a way to enter and win the tournament of the Young Devil Gathering

Rewards: 500 to all Stats, Tremendous EXP, 1 Epic Gacha Token, Massively increase affection for Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri, Massively increase reputation with devilkind, [Demon Champion] Title

If a quest for it exists, then somehow it must be possible. Five hundred to all stats-—or one thousand due to Rising Star—is an insane increase, and I want it. The 'Demon Champion' would look very pretty on my status page. I've already gotten sick of that stupid Undead Slayer title.

I gotta do this quest.

"Can I enter the tournament?" I ask, not expecting a positive answer. "Like, is there maybe a way I can temporarily join your peerage?"

Sona pauses for a moment, thinking about it a little. Wait, no way is it actually that easy, right?

"Well, it's not necessary to be part of a peerage to actually join a Rating Game. You just need to have a relative point value equivalent for the piece you're filling in for." She reveals, bringing my hopes up. "Which, honestly, is still difficult. You might be too powerful for any of my current pieces. Though the main problem is that you're a human who's technically part of an enemy faction, I doubt they'd allow you to enter."

Well, shit. Hopefully, the peace conference will happen before this tournament.

10 Affection with Sona Sitri [50/100]

"I do appreciate the thought, though." She smiles at me. "It means a lot to me."

I mean, I'm doing it for me, but sure.

"I can try convincing my brother?" Rias quips before grinning strangely. "But on the condition that you join me, not her."

"Appealing to nepotism like this is unbecoming of you." The Sitri frowns, readjusting her glasses. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Oh, come on, you have more members than me. Clearly, if Akane were to join, she should be with me." The redhead argues, her smirk not even faltering. "Or do you think she shouldn't join at all?"

"That's not what I said– i-it's simply against the law." She scoffs, a pinkish hue coloring her cheeks. "Besides, if it were to happen somehow, Akane would do better on my team. Our magic elements complement each other, and we've trained together longer."

I catch Rias' glance at me as she wiggles her eyebrows, making me put on a fake smirk. Ah, I see what she's doing. Clever—-I never thought she'd be as subtle about this sort of thing as she's being right now.

There are some affection points to be gained here, and as uncomfortable as this makes me, I'm going to have to do this. Fuck.

For fuck's sake, Rias. Stop trying to play matchmaker. You dumb, clever whore. I do these types of things on my own terms, and I don't need your help with it.

Damn it.

"So what you're saying is that you want Akane?" Rias says, intentionally phrasing her sentence that way as I approach Sona. "If there weren't any laws forbidding it."

Seemingly having just caught up on what Rias is trying to do, Sona's face burns bright red, but surprising us both, she doubles down on it, not noticing me standing behind her. Well, here goes…

"So what if I do?" She crosses her arms, trying but failing to look confident. "I would feel a lot better if I had someone as reliable as her on my side."

Sona freezes completely as she feels me wrapping my arms around her neck from behind her chair, leaning forward until my breasts are touching her neck. I can almost see steam coming out of her ears at this tiny act, which is a bit hilarious, admittedly. Still don't like doing it though.

"Aw, I didn't know you felt that way towards me, Senpai." I purr, hugging her tightly. "It makes me so happy to hear that, y'know?"

"W-what do you think you're doing?!" Sona exclaims but does nothing to push me off. "Y-you're too close…"

Damn, she's fallen for me that hard already? High charisma really is the way to go.

"What's a hug between friends, Sona?" Rias assists me, looking at us with a wide grin.

"Exactly. I just want to show some affection to my good friend~" I fake a giggle, carefully hiding my disgust as I lean closer to whisper in her ears. "Unless you were hoping for more than a hug?"

Sona visibly shudders, nearly flinching, when she slowly turns to look at me, only now realizing just how close our faces are. She's completely frozen, like a deer caught in headlights, but she doesn't attempt to push me off in any way.

She even closes her eyes as if she is preparing for a kiss. I can do it right now and probably gain a lot of affection points, possibly maxing it out, but even when I try to seal the deal, my hesitation is real and prevents me from kissing her.

I can't do this. I haven't prepared myself to do something like that; I can't force it even if I tried.

That was when the bell rang, making me back away immediately. Oh, thank god.

"Oops, I guess we're out of time for now," I say, keeping a confident and sultry facade. "Too bad~ Hopefully, next time, though, when there isn't any audience around."

25 Affection with Sona Sitri [75/100]

Annoying.

I give the blushing Rias a glance.

"A-ah, yeah, haha…" She blinks, muttering the next part to herself. "I, uh, didn't expect it to go this far…"

This is your fault, you stupid bitch.

"S-stop messing around and go to your class already!" Sona scowls, her face still red from embarrassment. "You and your stupid jokes."

"Gladly~" I wink at her before leaving the student council room.

Once I'm a reasonable distance away from them, I feel a horrible chill go down my spine. Fuck me, it's gonna suck whenever I try to commit to it. I really don't want to do it, but I fucked myself over by choosing this route with Sona.

I look at those aphrodisiac pills I have in my inventory, and my frown deepens. Whenever the time calls for it, I hope these things help because if I have to do it, I want to enjoy it at the very least.

Fuck.

– Ichiban –

"Where'd your good mood from earlier go?" He asked as they walked out of the school gate side by side. "You look like you're about to kill someone."

"Mhm…"

No quip or snarky response? Damn, what happened in the student council room? She'd been like this since coming back for whatever reason, and Ichi stayed the hell away from her until he felt like she was in a slightly better mood. She did look a bit uncomfortable on top of being annoyed.

He was extremely glad he didn't touch her food. He was tempted because she'd annoyed him, but Ichi knew now that he wouldn't have survived her wrath if he had done it. She would've probably rammed an icicle up his ass. Bullet dodged.

"Seriously, what's wrong?" He asked again, a little concerned. "What did they tell you? Is it something bad?"

"I just kinda remembered something that pissed me off. That's all." She said, obviously lying. "Honestly, I'd rather not talk about it."

"Alright." He nodded, getting the message. He pulled his vape out of his jacket pocket and offered it to her. "So we're going training, yeah?"

"I already told you yes." She huffed, snatching the vape. "And stop buying this stupid shit. Cigs aren't all that expensive."

"I can recharge this, and I'm not made of money like you." He countered, making her scoff. "Oookaaay, you're being a little bitchier than usual."

Must've been something serious. Maybe he should try to lessen the blow of whatever they told her, but he wasn't sure what to do about it. Ichi tried to come up with something that could brighten her mood since talking about it wasn't an option.

It was hard, of course, seeing that he didn't exactly know what got her so pissy, but wanting to be a good friend, he still tried to think of something. Very few things could get her smiling if inflicting pain or misfortune upon others wasn't an option. Damned sadist.

And it wasn't like they had a lot of time on their hands to go to the arcade or watch a movie at the theater, so there were barely any worthy options. Luckily, his eyes spotted a particular store Akane was a massive fan of. Perfect.

"Say, why not stop by for some dessert?" He pointed at the store. "We can have that chocolate cake you love so much."

Akane paused as a puff of smoke left her mouth. But before she could actually give him her response, he took her by the arm and led her to the store. Ichiban didn't want to give her an opportunity to possibly refuse and remain pissed the entire time.

Because a pissed Akane would very likely take out her frustrations on him while training. He was doing himself a favor by calming her down, because, Balance Breaker or not, she still fucking scared him.

"Hey– what the hell are you– Let go of me!" She scowled.

"Too bad; I already decided that I want it." He gave her a grin. "My treat."

Her angry look faltered as she had seemingly given up on resisting and followed him to the store. Good, she'd accepted her fate. She would have the damned cake, she would be happy about it, and his testicles would be safe from being frozen.

Genius plan.

"Welcome!" The lady behind the counter smiled at them politely. "What can I get for you today?"

"Premium chocolate cake please." He said, pointing at one in the display, not realizing that he was still holding Akane's hand. "This one."

"Ah, of course." The lady nodded. "That'll be 50,000 Yen."

Ichiban could've sworn he heard his wallet crying, and he almost cried himself. Why the fuck was a cake that expensive? Oh well, he couldn't be backing down now. Burning 50k was more than worth saving his hide.

To his surprise—and mild annoyance—Akane got in front of him and took out her wallet. However, Ichi acted quickly and moved her out of the way, immediately taking the money out of his pocket and giving it to the lady.

"What the–"

"Here!"

"Thank you for your patronage!" She said as she took his money.

"What the hell are you doing? I was willing to pay." Akane whispered to him with a frown.

"Nuh-uh. Not happening. I already said it was my treat." He responded.

"You're barely scraping by as it is."

"Don't care." He effortlessly deflected her argument. "A real man doesn't go back on his words."

"You're a fucking moron."

"I think we pretty much established that ages ago."

That somehow managed to shut her up and, to his relief, got her to crack a smile. That meant his plan was working very well; however, Ichiban forgot how beautiful this genuine smile of hers was because of how rare it was.

And it might've made him blush a little.

Thankfully, the clerk was here to save him, handing him a bag with the cake inside. Ichiban quickly took it and led Akane outside, waving at the lady.

"Here, now you can eat this when you're home." He said, giving Akane the bag. "Hopefully, it'll get you to stop being all mad about nothing."

"So that's what you've been doing?" Akane giggled, punching his arm playfully. "You sly dog. I knew you were trying to seduce me! Doing a really good job at it, too."

"Oh please, get over yourself." He rolled his eyes, still grinning. "I'm just smart enough to know that training with you when you're in a bad mood is a death sentence."

"Well, I definitely feel better, so mission accomplished." She shrugged, taking the bag and giving him back his vape. "Here, take your stupid vape back. You should feel happy that I use it—-lots of indirect kisses~"

"I don't believe in that stuff." He snorted. "It's pretty stupid, this 'indirect kiss' thing. You either kiss or you don't."

"So that's why you're fine with me using it." She hummed and squeezed his hand, reminding him that they were still hand holding. "How about we kiss for real, then? After what you just did, I feel like paying you back~"

Ichiban shivered because, unlike lots of other times, her tone when she said that sounded very sultry like she meant it. And the almost seductive stare she was giving him wasn't doing him any favors.

But he knew better. It was another ploy to mess with him—which, in hindsight, meant she really was in a better mood—and he wasn't about to fall for it again. Ichi'd had it happen to him so many times that he wouldn't let her have her way with him this time.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you do." He said, pulling his hand away from her. "But no thanks. I'm good on that."

"Really?" She blinked in genuine surprise, which surprised him. "That's... disappointing. Oh well, your loss."

…She wasn't being serious, was she? Because if he, an inexperienced virgin, really did miss the chance of kissing his supremely hot best friend, he would cry himself to sleep for the next ten weeks. No, he didn't miss it—-he straight up fucking dodged it.

No, don't fall for it. He shook those thoughts out of his head. That's what she wants you to think. For the sole purpose of tormenting you. The bitch.

You idiot.

Silence, Gecko.

Before they could get into an argument inside his head, two unexpected people approached them. Akane and Ichi both blinked as Xenovia and Irina stepped up to them, with the former leading the latter.

"Good evening." Xenovia started politely, looking at Akane. "I'd like to ask you for a favor."

"Bit abrupt, but sure." Akane nodded. Ichiban internally agreed. That was abrupt. "What is it?"

"Irina and I would like to stay here for at least one more month." She said bluntly, then, after a moment of hesitation, Xenovia bowed. "And we'd like to train with you."

"Huh?" His best friend frowned. "Why? Don't you have masters or teachers back in the church?"

"We do, but we feel like we'd be able to learn something different while here," Irina said. "You guys basically did all the work with Father David while we weren't able to do that much. We want to be as powerful as you."

"If we had been strong enough, perhaps Father David would still be alive." The blue-haired girl muttered, very clearly distraught at the loss of their leader. "I… don't want to let something like this happen again."

Akane didn't give them an answer, still in thought, as she weighed her options. Ichi personally didn't see why not—more training partners equaled more opportunity to grow, right? It wasn't like they were gonna lose anything by training with them.

"...Please," Xenovia begged, still bowing. "We've failed our mission—the Excalibur Pieces are nowhere to be seen, and we lost our leader… I can't return to the church empty-handed like this. I can't live with such shame. I know I haven't been the most respectful, but please find it within your heart to let us train with you. We'll do anything you want."

Akane's expression didn't change for a moment; she was still blankly staring at the two girls bowing to her. Ichiban didn't know what to do or say in this situation, but he trusted his best friend's judgment and remained quiet.

He'd prefer it if she let them stay here for a while, but he wouldn't argue with her decision. She had proven more than once that she knew what was best for them whenever it came to objectivity. If she refused, then so be it.

After a tense moment of pure silence, Akane gave her response.

"I better see you in the same place we had our duel." She said.

Xenovia looked up at her with a surprised and hopeful expression, as did Irina.

"D-does that mean you–"

"You have fifteen minutes." Akane cut her off as she walked past the two girls.

Ichiban smiled and caught up with her. He didn't comment on her decision, but internally, he was glad that she gave them a chance to improve alongside them. That was nice of her. Honestly, it made Ichi pretty excited—-they weren't particularly powerful, but they had sick swords.

And the more, the merrier. You couldn't have too many sparring partners, after all.

– Xenovia –

Treading through the bushes and trees surrounding the clearing, the two novice exorcists stopped at what they saw. It was Akane and the Red Dragon Emperor sparring, from the looks of it, with no weapons or magic in sight.

It was pure hand-to-hand, and to their surprise, the boy was on the back foot, having to block and evade her strikes even though he had his Sacred Gear activated if the red gauntlet was anything to go by. So not only was she good with blades and magic, but also fists as well?

They weren't the only people there, though; near them were three spectators. A woman with black hair that faded to white and black eyes that looked a bit like Akane's, a boy with brown hair and brown eyes, and a blond girl whom Xenovia recognized. It was that banished nun, the one that had Twilight Healing. Right, she saw her after the battle with Kokabiel. She'd healed their wounds and even prayed for David.

Why would the church exile a girl like her? She didn't know what she did, but Asia didn't strike her as a person who would do something so blasphemous that they'd banish her for it. How strange. She was glad that the girl was in good hands, though.

"Wow…" Irina breathed, watching the fight. "They're so fast."

It was true. Akane and her friend were so fast that the two exorcists could barely even keep up. Their strikes would cause powerful shockwaves that could be felt for miles. What truly impressed her, though, was the fact that the Tojo Heiress, a girl without a Sacred Gear, was matching the Red Dragon Emperor blow for blow.

In fact, she had the upper hand without using any of her absurdly powerful magic. How could someone so young be so powerful? What was her secret, and how could Xenovia be like that? It excited the swordswoman—this was a challenge she wanted to overcome.

"Hm?" The old woman with black hair glanced at the two. "Ah, you two. Akane told me about you. You're here to train as well, right?"

"Yes," Xenovia answered simply. "Who are you?"

"X-Xenovia…" Irina sighed in exasperation at her bluntness.

"Oh, right, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Mizuki." She said, pointing in Akane's general direction. "I'm Akane's mother. Nice to meet you!"

"You're Akane's mother?" Xenovia immediately bowed in respect, taking her hand to shake it. "It's my honor to meet you, madam."

"Er, yeah, sure." Madam Mizuki blinked. "Anyway, this is Asia Argento and the boy is Issei Hyoudou."

"Issei Hyoudou?" Irina parroted, looking at the boy. "You're Issei?!"

The boy, called Issei, flinched.

"Um, yes? You know me?"

"It really is you!" Irina ran up to him, taking both of his hands. "It's me, Irina! We've known each other since we were kids!"

"I'm… I'm not sure I–" Issei started, but then something clicked. "Wait, what?! That was you?!"

"Yes!" She beamed at him. "I'm so happy that you remembered!"

"But I thought you were a guy!"

"No way, that's silly!" Her partner giggled. "Wow, you've grown so much since the last time we saw each other."

"Um, yeah. I guess it's been years." Issei blushed. "Y-you've, um, grown a lot too…"

…Xenovia didn't know what she was witnessing, but she thought it was disgusting, and she hated it.

"So you know each other already?" Mizuki crossed her arms, looking at them with a smile. "That's cute. I guess you two will be paired together, then."

"Paired?" Xenovia glanced at the older woman.

"Correct. Irina here will be training with Issei." She pointed at Xenovia. "And you will be training with Akane."

The blue-haired girl perked up at that. That sounded very nice to her. But it left her with one more question.

"What about the Red Dragon Emperor?" She asked.

"Oh, Icchan? He's training with that big guy over there." She nodded at the very large man on the other side of the clearing. Since when was he there? "He's just warming up at the moment. They should be done right about now."

Just on cue, 'Icchan' managed to turn the tide and overwhelm Akane as his gauntlet shouted Boost for the second time since Xenovia and Irina had arrived. The black-haired girl was barely keeping up anymore, but she was doing very well, considering the massive difference in strength.

This fight probably wouldn't have been anywhere near as one-sided if she had used her magic, but Xenovia assumed that it was part of the rules or something along those lines. It was very obviously frustrating for Akane, though, if her scowl was anything to go by.

However, to everyone's surprise, she did manage to land a devastating blow on Icchan's face that was far more powerful than it had any right to be, sending him directly downward and force-feeding him dirt.

A strange white aura flickered around Akane before vanishing, leaving her panting in exhaustion. She wiped the sweat off her forehead before grinning victoriously as Icchan got up, nursing his nose in pain.

"Hoh, using Touki, eh?" Mizuki rubbed her chin. "It's technically not magic…"

Touki? Xenovia felt like she'd heard of it before but wasn't sure.

"What the fuck was that?" He complained, wincing slightly. "Holy shit, you hit hard. Ow…"

"Get fucked." She chuckled after taking a deep breath. "You and your shitty Boosted Gear."

"Alright, you two, that's enough for now," Mizuki called out to them as Asia approached the two. "You've both done really well, but Saejima is here now."

"Finally, whew." The Red Dragon Emperor fell back down. "Feels like we've been fighting for hours."

"You barely look tired." Akane scoffed playfully as the blonde sat next to her, healing her wounds. "Lots of stamina after all those days of training, huh, Ichiban?"

"Having something like this seriously helps." He waves his armored arm. "Guess I'm lucky to have been born with it."

As Asia finished healing the both of them, the two stood back up. Ichiban stayed where he was, but Akane walked toward them. She paused as she saw Xenovia and Irina, looking them up and down before speaking.

"So you did show up."

"I will not waste this opportunity," Xenovia said. "Thank you for giving me this chance."

"We'll see." She snorted. "You better be ready. We're gonna go after them, and I'm not gonna hold back on you like last time."

"I won't disappoint."

The large man named Saejima then approached the Red Dragon Emperor, who bowed deeply in respect.

"I'll be in your care, Saejima-san!" Ichiban said. "Please don't hold back for my sake."

Saejima nodded.

"Release your Balance Breaker." He ordered. "Attack me with everythin' you've got."

"Yes, sir!"

The younger boy took a deep breath, and his power suddenly exploded. A pillar of crimson energy enveloped him, and once it was dispersed, his gauntlet was nowhere to be seen, instead replaced with a flowing red cape.

This is the Boosted Gear's Balance Breaker? Xenovia thought in awe. Incredible. This power is insane.

"That's pretty powerful. Wow." Mizuki said, impressed. "I understand how you were able to beat Kokabiel with this. This power is no joke. As expected from Icchan!"

Akane said nothing, watching the two combatants intently.

"Here I come, Saejima-san!"

A small smile made its way onto Saejima's face, but that was about it. He showed no other reaction to the massive power in front of him.

"Bring it."

And in the next instant, Ichiban vanished, moving far faster than Xenovia could keep up with. One second, he was in a fighting stance; the other, he was right in front of Saejima with his fist extended.

What was more shocking was the fact that Saejima caught the punch.

"What?" Ichiban's eyes widened.

"Good shot." His opponent complimented him.

Ichiban hissed and backed away before trying again, disappearing and reappearing behind the larger man. Once again, Saejima evaded his blows by either moving out of the way or blocking his attack.

Both men had focused expressions, with the younger one staying on the offensive by throwing all manner of attacks. His power was continuously increasing as the fight went on, yet he was still unable to land a hit.

And so far, Saejima did not attack back. He'd catch a punch, block a kick, and avoid whatever was thrown at him, but he wasn't fighting back, as if he was gauging his foe's level of strength.

This was beyond impressive for Xenovia. She didn't know people like this existed outside the church. It was incredible—she didn't even know who this 'Saejima' was or where he came from, but he was certainly very powerful.

Amazing. She thought. Can I truly become this powerful as well?

She stole a glance at Akane, who still didn't show any outward reaction, focusing very hard on the fight.

Finally, after some time, Ichiban managed to land a hit, punching Saejima square in the face after throwing a feint. The large man took several steps back; his head held up before he lowered his gaze to the grinning boy.

"Gotcha," Ichiban said with a smirk.

The older man snorted in amusement.

"Yer not half bad, kid," Saejima responded. "But yer not there yet. Still green. There's a lot to be learned."

He rolled his neck and tweaked his stance.

"I'll fight ya for real now." He said. "Come at me!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

Ichiban charged forward once more–

Only to be met with a fist to the gut.

The Red Dragon Emperor coughed, his eyes nearly bulging out of his skull as he held his stomach in agony. He tried to breathe but couldn't, taking one, two, and then a third step forward before falling to the ground, his cape and power vanishing as he lost consciousness.

Everyone, even Akane, was in complete shock. One hit? That's all it took to knock out someone that powerful?

"H-holy shit…" Issei muttered, equally baffled as everyone else.

"Easy on the boy, Saejima!" Mizuki screamed at him. "What the fuck was that about?!"

This training…

It was going to be really difficult, wasn't it?

I just finished Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth not long ago, and, yup, another RGG Studios banger. Peak fiction

Don't forget to check the pat re on. You can read five chapters ahead of everyone else.