Edited by: Marethyu, Priapus, Bluwuh

"Are you still working on that?" my mother asks as she walks into the garage. "I thought you were finished with it already."

"I'm just checking if anything needs upgrading," I answer tonelessly, examining my armor closely.

Especially seeing that I have all the time in the fucking world now that those dipshits decided to blueball me like that. Fucking assholes. It has been a few days since then, but I'm still furious. Why the hell didn't they do anything?

Were they intimidated by how many powerful people were present? That's the only explanation I could think of. Besides the leaders, others like Majima, Saejima, and more high-tiers from the other factions were patrolling the area. It was hard to attack from any angle.

"You just made the suit."

"The me of today is better than the me of the past," I argue. "Now stop bothering me."

"Alright, alright. Sheesh, what got you so pissy lately?"

Ugh, it's so depressing. I feel like all the work I've done in that timeframe was wasted. It's not, obviously. I'll still use everything I made, like the armor, but it feels pointless since I was preparing specifically for the invasion.

Yeah, yeah, I know I'm just bitching, but I have every right to bitch about that, damn it.

Though, I've learned to sorta accept it and be slightly less mad. After all, I've eavesdropped on everything in that treaty and gotten a lot of information. Specifically, how crippled the three factions sounded when talking about Yahweh's death.

They sounded deliciously desperate to keep that a secret, which I understand entirely after hearing their reasoning. Being ganged up on by literally every other faction sounds bad. Devils are strong, but are they strong enough to beat down all other mythological factions? I don't think so.

Obviously, I'm not supposed to know about this. Sirzechs might've seen me 'watching them' but he couldn't have known that the chip I planted was there. So I'll pretend I don't know anything, but this gives me an excellent idea. This 'terrorist' I've made up needs a goal, after all, and equipped with the knowledge of something that Akane shouldn't know…

They'll have a hard time making a connection. Hitting places randomly without rhyme or reason might make it easier for them to figure out who's behind these future attacks. It's challenging to avoid making a pattern, so with the easier option in front of me, why wouldn't I make some convoluted, bullshit reason for why my 'evil' persona is doing the things she's doing?

But that's not enough. I still need to find a way to instantly cross large distances without alerting anyone. And a place where I can quickly improve and upgrade my tech safely. I can't afford the Yakuza figuring out my cloaking tech and whatever else I want to make. Ever. That would immediately destroy everything I've been building here.

The armor is fine because I haven't gone overboard with it. If I were to make new armor without these restraints, I would've made something twice or thrice as powerful. This means that my priority is to create a secret base.

This, of course, will force me to start looking for my own resources and building my own energy reactors, but that's fine. I'll take this long-term solution over a short-term one where I'm restricted by what the Yakuza can make.

The biggest challenge here is making a secret base without the Tojo Clan knowing. Where would I put this base of mine? Should I make it in Japan? Should it even be in Asia, or would somewhere in Europe be better? It needs a lot of planning, but for now, I know how I'll make it.

You can never go wrong with an underground base. Easy place to gather resources and materials from and, if deep enough, hard to reach. Plus, assuming it's ever compromised, I can always blow it the fuck up and trap people in it.

"Anyway, I came here because one of your friends is at the door," Mizuki says. "She's saying she has good news."

I pause. Huh. I guess I was too focused on my crafts to notice anyone approaching the house.

"Who is it?"

"The Gremory."

A constant pain in the ass. For fuck's sake, what does she want now?

"Right…" I sigh, putting my tools down. "I'll go see why she's here."

I walk past my mother, heading straight to the front door and opening it to see Rias, who has a big grin on her face. A part of me just wants to kick her out, but that's just my depressed self not wanting to deal with anyone's antics right now. She's probably here for a good reason.

Maybe. She would've texted me if it wasn't, right?

Still don't appreciate her randomly barging in like that. I only want to continue building cool robots.

"What?"

Rias' stupid smile falters.

"Why do you sound so mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you." I frown.

"Well, it does feel that way."

"I'm not—" I stop myself from arguing. "Just say what you wanna say and piss off."

For a few seconds, Rias seems unsure of what to say, looking around before saying something that almost has me smack her across the face.

"That time of the month?"

"Are you perhaps suicidal by any chance?"

"I-I'm just saying I don't know why you're so pissed." She asks, backing off. "...Did I do something to upset you?"

"No, no. Just…" I sigh. I'm not her biggest fan, but she doesn't deserve this. "I'm sorry. It's been a hard few days, and I'm struggling to find an outlet. You're fine. I'm just being a bitch."

"Oh, well, I won't pretend I understand what human women go through every month." She shrugs, making me pause. "But we're friends, so it's okay."

"What?" I blink. "What's that about 'human women'?"

"Anyway, I come bearing great news!" Rias says, completely ignoring my question. "Remember the rating game tournament?"

I don't like being ignored like that, but if it would get her to piss off faster, then so be it.

"Yes?"

"I talked with my brother about it recently and just got word from him confirming that you can join!" The redhead reveals enthusiastically.

Almost all of my annoyance disappears as my frown turns upside down.

"Actually?!" I respond, genuinely pleased. "Great going, Rias!"

"Hehe, told you to leave it to me." She puffs her chest proudly. "I barely even tried."

Holy shit, I thought it was going to be a lot harder than fucking Rias asking for it. Peace treaty going through or not, I expected at least some resistance or something. Was it seriously that easy? All she had to do was ask?

God, just how much influence does she actually have over Sirzechs? Or if that's even the case in the first place. Maybe the treaty really was the deciding factor here, and not Rias asking her precious Onii-chan.

Even if that would've been pretty funny.

And here I thought I would be miserable for the rest of the weak. This really is some fantastic news. At first, I thought she came here to say something silly, like how a new volume of a manga I was reading dropped. She'd do that type of dumb shit.

"Wait, hold on, when's the tournament again?"

"Tomorrow." She answers, clasping her hands together. "So, you're joining my team, right? Forget about Sona. You and I together will destroy the competition."

"Tomorrow?!" I disregard her offer. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

"Huh?" She blinks. "Well, I just got the word myself. Is it that important?"

"We barely have time to make any meaningful strategies." I sigh, not particularly angry. I'm too excited about this to be mad at her right now. "I thought you were worried about losing the first round?"

"I did make a strategy without you in mind," Rias admitted. "But I don't think we need one with you on the team."

As smug as that makes me, that sounds like a terrible idea. But since it props me up, I won't make fun of her for it.

"You have that much faith in me?" I ask, definitely not fishing for compliments.

"You kidding?" Rias looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "You're scary strong. Especially with that Touki thing of yours. And with that mecha armor? Yup. We have it in the bag. You probably could win the entire thing on your own."

I wanted praise, and I got my metaphorical dick sucked instead. She's literally that easy. Any more, and I might think she's in love with me.

…Let's be honest; she probably is. Who isn't?

"By the way, can I please try it out?" Rias holds my hand into hers. "Pretty please? I've always wanted to wear an Iron Man suit. I'll do anything you want for a whole month."

"I'll think about it," I say, making her squeal in excitement. "So what about Sona? Does she know?"

"Yup." She nods, letting go of me. "She's waiting for us at the usual cafe."

"Right. You go on ahead, then." I tell her. "I'll grab Ichi and meet you there."

"Aye, aye!" Rias says, as cheerful as ever. "See you soon~"

With that, she walks away, prompting me to close the door—finally, actual great news. Now, I don't feel so miserable anymore. I might've missed out on a massive feast, but this will definitely make up for it since I already have a quest with incredible rewards for it.

And it's not me coping this time because I can do a lot more than win the tournament. It'll be tricky to pull off now that I only have one day to prepare, but it's not impossible. Just copy-paste what I did for that hidden piece I planted in the treaty room.

As I turn around, I see my mother looking at me with concern.

"You're not gonna join that tournament, are you?"

Seeing her that way makes my heart twist uncomfortably, but I remain firm in my decision. Besides flexing how powerful I really am, there are way too many benefits and rewards I can get. Plus, it's an opportunity to get that sweet portal power.

How am I going to do that? Well, currently, I can't. It's really dangerous to try to pull something like that off since that portal chick isn't exactly weak by any means, and trying to trap her would be damn near impossible, but I'll figure it out. I have all the tech I need to set everything up.

Some anti-magic tech from the yakuza would be pretty helpful.

"Sorry," I say. "I really wanna see what it's like. I can't miss it."

"I… No, it's your choice. I can't stop you." She doesn't argue, surprising me a little before adding, "But I'm coming too."

"To the underworld?" I blink. "Are you sure? You know you don't have to."

"No. I'm going anyway. I wanna be there with you." She sighs. "...I can't just ignore this forever, Akane. I know I have to make peace with it."

"Kaa-san—"

"Every time I see you interacting with them–" She points at the front door, referring to Rias. "I feel… I don't know. I don't dislike them as much. I know deep down that Rias and Sona aren't to blame for what happened."

"..."

"And if I can't eliminate this hatred for the devils, I can at least try, maybe just enough to accept your friends," Mizuki adds before smiling. "Plus, watching you beat up a few snot-nosed devil brats sounds really fun."

I guess being racist is a part of who she is.

"You should've started with that," I say in amusement.

"Well, it's true." My mother shrugs. "I wanna see how strong the cutest girl in the world has become."

"Yeah, yeah." I roll my eyes, walking up the stairs. "I'm gonna go change."

"Have fun~" My mother says. "And come back early, alright?"

This tournament is going to be so exciting~

"So how does it work exactly?" Ichi asks, making himself comfortable next to me. "Because you're saying we're not taking the pieces themselves."

"Yes, you'd be filling their spots instead." Sona nods. "I've never seen it myself since it's rather infrequent, but there will be someone quantifying your power on a scale from one to seventy-five relative to the King's personal strength."

"One to seventy-five?" I raise a brow. "Huh. Kind of an awkward scale."

"It's calculated with how each piece is worth," Rias adds. "A pawn is worth one point. Rooks, Knights, and Bishops are worth two points each, and a Queen is worth five points. A mutated piece, however, would be triple the original value."

So three, six, and fifteen, respectively. So, the scale works on the assumption that someone might have an entire mutated set. Is that even possible? According to the girls here, mutated pieces are extremely rare, even if regular pieces can theoretically evolve into one.

And the funny thing here is that Rias used her mutated bishop on that twink.

What a waste.

"But like I said, it's all relative." The Sitri devil says. "For example, let's say that Ichiban is worth thirty points for me. He could be less than thirty points for someone much stronger than me or more for someone weaker."

"That makes sense," Ichi says. "It's surprisingly simple."

"Because you can understand it?" I tease.

"Yup." He admits.

"Dork." I snort, glancing back at the devils. "Though, one thing comes to mind. The way you said it implies that I can fill in for multiple different pieces. Would that be allowed?"

"That's the best part~" Rias grins. "Since you're not actually joining the peerage, you're not limited by the system itself. Because remember, it's not that we're not allowed to use different pieces to recruit someone; it's that we can't."

"Rating Game rules have decided against banning this method from tournaments and matches for two reasons." Sona puts two fingers up. "One, it barely happens in the first place, and two, they think it'd be more exciting if they opened up more opportunities for other races to play without compromising their allegiances. After all, the festival itself is open for everyone, not just devils."

It's certainly a way to make more allies. I respect it. Without that, I'd still be stewing in my misery back home. It's good to know that they're making things easier for everyone, though. I can't believe I'm even thinking this, but I hope I'm not too strong to join.

I should be able to join. Rias and Sona aren't exactly weak. If they both rushed me and I'm not allowed to use Touki—which is a temporary amp—I'd probably lose. Being twice as strong as either of them shouldn't make me too powerful to enter the tournament.

Plus, Rias still has fourteen points left. She has a free bishop, knight, and rook. Plus, she didn't use any of her pawns. Sona has fewer points at eleven, but that should also be enough since she's slightly more powerful than Rias.

Although, I don't think it's to a threshold where it makes a difference point-wise.

All things considered, unless the system or my link to Excelsis is counted, I'm safe. Ichi, though? I don't know. Granted, he's nowhere near as strong as I am in his base state, but I'm certain that the Boosted Gear itself would be counted.

"These evil pieces…" Lucifer mutters to himself. "They're magnificent. To be able to create a device that can turn any race into a type of artificial devil is nothing short of genius. Even I wasn't able to do such a thing."

The difference here is that he made devils—incredibly powerful ones at that. I honestly don't think those two can be compared. Not to say that the evil pieces are a bad product or anything, but I'm surprised he's impressed with them this much.

"Ajuka Astaroth, taking the mantle of Beelzebub…" The Devil God chuckles. "I'm sure even the Lord of the Flies would be honored to have someone like that use his name."

"So then all we have to do now is to consider who teams up with whom," I say, ignoring him completely. "Which should be obvious."

"Oh?" Sona leans forward. "What do you have in mind?"

"Since you two are basically very close in power, overall, Rias would have more points," I explain. "Therefore, she'd have the person who is worth more."

"You?" Ichi guesses.

"You, dumbass."

"Huh?" He blinks. "Wait, what? How?"

"You're worth more by the sheer virtue of having a Longinus." I clarify. "True, it's technically a temporary boost, but Ddraig is a part of you. He's counted in the calculation."

"That is true," Sona confirms. "Sacred Gears are measured towards a user's overall power. Admittedly, there's a chance that you might be too powerful to join either peerage."

"Seriously?" Ichiban looks dejected. "Come on, how's that fair?"

"It doesn't help that you're as strong as a high-class in your current state," I add. "Maybe not with the magic to back it up, though."

"But you can punch as hard as one." The redhead hums. "And with your Balance Breaker, most of the competition would be a cakewalk. I don't think even Sai would be any trouble."

"You know, the praise is nice and all, but being told I might not get to enter the tournament makes me want to cry." He sighs, looking at Rias and clasping his hands together beggingly. "You can probably pull a few strings, right? Please, I really, really wanna join."

"I mean, I'll try, but it's not clear-cut. Fourteen points is a lot, you know?" She says. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"And that leaves me with you," Sona glances at me, looking pleased. "Mhm. That'll do wonderfully. Our magic elements have greater synergy than Rias' destruction anyway."

"I have the Red Dragon Emperor on my side. You won't see me complaining." Rias scoffs, smirking at Ichiban. "We're definitely gonna win this tournament, aren't we, Kasuga?"

"Hell yeah!" He agrees enthusiastically. "No Ice Queen's gonna stand in our way."

"Unless that Ice Queen has a mechanical armor that will strangle you with your own dumbass cape." I challenge. "The tournament is ours. You might as well give up now."

"Oh, you're so on." Ichiban, being Ichiban, looks more excited than intimidated.

"It feels like you're disregarding the whole competition…" Sona mutters in exasperation. "There will be a lot of tough opponents, you know?"

Honestly, if Sairaorg really is the most powerful guy we have to worry about, then this tournament seems like it's going to be an easy win for either Rias or Sona. Not that I'm complaining, of course not. The easier it is, the better, after all. It's practically a free power-up for me.

And even though Sona tries to look cautious, I can tell that she's nearly as confident as Rias, which is good. Going into this tournament with a defeatist mindset is a sure way to lose in the first round. Honestly, I'd rather go in overconfident than terrified.

"How many teams this year, by the way?" Rias asked. "I haven't checked."

"Sixteen."

"You seen the brackets yet?"

"No. Tomorrow is the grand reveal." The Sitri answers.

"Oh, right, when are they going to 'quantify' us?" I question. "Shouldn't they do it before tomorrow?"

"Adding new peerage members to the documents, temporary or otherwise, is easy, so no, not necessarily." Sona shakes her head. "But it's better to wake up early in the morning to evaluate everything quickly. Try to be up at seven. Tournament officially starts at 12 PM."

Sounds good to me. I can spend the rest of today tinkering and making a few devices that would help me while I'm there. I'm sure we're going to encounter Sairaorg and his portal chick at some point, even if not on the battlefield.

Plus, scouting a few other powers I might decide to steal at some point. After all, I will one day come to a point where I'll be so utterly unstoppable that I won't have to worry about anyone seeing me going on devouring sprees.

"I have finally found you, Ichiban Kasuga,"

The somewhat familiar voice stops all of us as we all turn around to see that Vali is back again, eyes focused on my servant/friend. I can sense Ichiban and the devils in front of us tense at his presence, but no move was made.

"You again, huh…" Ichi mutters.

"I've given you enough time to prepare." He said. "There's nothing preventing you now, is there?"

"And you are?" Sona asks.

"None of your concern, Sitri."

"What's your problem?" Rias frowns, standing up from her seat. "You come here and rudely interrupt our conversation, and you won't even introduce yourself? Don't you think that's pretty rude?"

"Back off, woman. I'm not here for you." He scoffs, pointing at Ichiban. "I'm here to challenge him."

"Rias, it's fine," Ichiban says, gently pulling her arm away before looking at me. "So…?"

"You better kick his ass," I answer. "Make it extra one-sided, and I'll give you something nice."

"Aye, aye."

"What?" He narrows his eyes at me. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're about to get bullied so hard there won't be a White Dragon Emperor after you," I add with a smirk.

"What did you say?" He narrows his eyes at me.

"I said your precious Albion is gonna kill himself out of shame."

In an attempt to intimidate me, Vali releases some of his magic, which causes some of the hidden yakuza to tense as well, but they do nothing. This, of course, is nothing to me, so I release my own magic, which instantly eclipses his like it's a speck of dust in the face of a great mountain.

I make it just weak enough not to alert the civilians around us, only freezing the edges of our table and floor under it. Still, it's more than sufficient to make Vali flinch and take a step back, his saving grace being none other than Ichi, who wants to spare him any further embarrassment. How nice.

"Meet me west of here," Ichi says. "There's a big empty battleground next to a rundown-looking building. We'll fight there."

"...Right." He answers, his gaze still fixed on me as my smirk doesn't twitch. "You better not be late."

Eventually, Vali walks away and out of the cafe, leaving us four alone. Pussy…

"Was that really necessary?" Sona asks, looking at me in disapproval.

"Nope. Not at all." I say. "But it was pretty funny, wasn't it?"

Sona, with a deadpan expression, taps the table with the now rock-hard cup of coffee, making me realize what I did.

"Ah…" I clear my throat and look away, admittedly a little embarrassed. "Sorry…"

And here I thought I got good at controlling this mana presence thing.

– Ichiban –

Admittedly, Ichi might've forgotten all about the duel he was supposed to be having with this guy since, after the treaty, most of his time was spent either training, hanging out with what seemed to him like a depressed Akane for a time, or playing video games in his apartment when he had nothing else to do.

They were already done with their midterm exams, so these past few days in school had been relatively quiet. A bit monotonous as well, admittedly. To a point where the treaty felt like it hadn't happened at all.

But, of course, things had changed. For example, the devils weren't monitored nearly as much as before. He used to hear Rias sometimes complaining about it, but now, they seemed far more flexible than usual, running around town more frequently.

Sona looked a lot less stressed as well, smiling more often. It seemed this treaty was on her mind this entire time she was in Kuoh, and now that it had gone through, a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Honestly, Ichiban was happy for them all. They could breathe and act more their age now that there were fewer responsibilities to worry about.

Ichiban stretched his legs as he locked eyes with his opponent, who stood in front of him at a distance with his hands in his pockets. He supposed that he had forgotten that Vali was going to come back because this had never really been on his mind to begin with.

But oh well. It's not like he wasn't looking forward to a duel. The idea of being in an eternal fight with the wielders of Divine Dividing was still utterly stupid to him, but getting to at least test his strength against said rival? He was going to make the most of it.

Though admittedly, Ichiban was kind of pissed at him for disrespecting his friends right in front of him like that. He wasn't about to lose this, and from how super casual Akane sounded, he shouldn't lose unless he was playing around too much.

He glanced at her sitting on the stoop of the factory building turned training facility, with Rias and Sona beside her.

"You better not lose, Ichi," Akane said, not worried at all. "You got us as cheerleaders and everything, so don't you dare embarrass us."

"Cheerleaders?" Sona looked at her strangely. "Seriously?"

"Don't we have a cheerleading club at school?" Rias said. "Hmm, maybe we should've borrowed a few uniforms."

We have a what? He paused. How have I never heard of it?

Suddenly, Ichiban was handicapped by a severely distracting image of these three supermodels in cheerleading outfits. Akane was doing it on purpose— he knew she was. She brought it up knowing this was going to be Rias' response.

At this point, he didn't know which side she was on.

Ichiban shook his head and got into a fighting stance as Vali stood there, not moving.

"They seem assured of your victory. I certainly hope such confidence is not misplaced." He said."Unleash your Boosted Gear already. You don't stand a chance against me as you are now."

"Oh yeah?" Ichi narrowed his eyes. "Care to test that theory?"

Vali shrugged, and in the next second, he was in front of Ichiban, throwing a punch at his face. Ichi, who was used to even greater speed, blocked the attack with his forearm, causing a tingling sensation in it. There was considerable strength behind it, for sure.

"Oh?" Vali looked pleasantly surprised. "Interesting—"

Ichiban didn't let him even start a monologue as he threw his own jab, which the Lucifer descendant avoided by tilting his head and then leaping back.

"Very interesting." He added. "It seems that you're far stronger than you look, even though your magic feels… inadequate."

"I'm not relying on magic," Ichiban responded with a smirk. "I'm not even good at it in the first place. Terrible at math, you see."

"A fatal mistake," Vali commented, raising a hand and releasing a few demonic blasts his way.

Ichiban barely evaded the first one by side-stepping, then rushed towards his opponent, knowing he was at a severe disadvantage with so much space between them. He weaved and dodged the deadly projectiles, grabbing a pebble on the ground before flicking it at Vali.

Such a thing wouldn't hurt someone at his opponent's level, but it worked well enough as a distraction that it gave Ichi a small window to strike, and strike he did, landing a clean hit on Vali's face, who, while slightly damaged, only scoffed in response and deflected Ichiban's left hook, responding with a gut punch that left him reeling.

But Ichiban had had far worse than that and didn't let it stop his momentum as he countered with a surprising headbutt, staggering Vali and leaving him wide open. Ichiban used this opportunity to wail on him, hitting the devil boy with several heavy body shots, uppercuts, and kicks. Every strike was accompanied by a strong force that pushed the stones and sticks on the ground flying.

That was until Ichi suddenly felt half of his strength disappearing once blue energy wings sprung out of Vali's back. In an instant, Ichiban was on the back foot, getting blasted away by demonic power, sending him flying and tumbling over the ground until he hit a tree.

However, even with the pain from that attack, Ichi grinned.

"What was it that you said?" Ichiban stood up. "That I don't stand a chance against you in this state? Look who used his Sacred Gear first."

Well done, partner. Ddraig praised. Keep it up, but do not get cocky.

Surprisingly, Vali wasn't one bit perturbed or annoyed. In fact, he looked even more excited.

"To tell you the truth, Kasuga… When I first met you, I thought you were weak. Seeing you being ordered around by that girl made me sick." He said, cracking his knuckles. "It pleases me to know that my rival isn't some idiot who has been wasting his gift."

"I don't know what you're implying here, but that 'girl' can probably beat your ass harder than I already have." He responded, rolling his neck. "I wouldn't underestimate her if I were you."

"Certainly not. I've learned my lesson after today." He said. "Now then, enough holding back."

He says that… Ichiban releases his Sacred Gear, and a gauntlet forms around his right arm, returning his power to its original level. But he's not using his Balance Breaker yet.

"Are you seriously gonna drag this out, Ichi?" Akane shouted at him. "Go cape mode and knock him out already. Everyone knows you're winning anyway."

"Cape mode?" Vali parroted, glancing at her and ignoring the other comment. "What does she mean?"

"It's a surprise," Ichiban said coyly.

"Hmph." He scoffed. "No matter. I'll force it out of you regardless."

Vali, now at an advantage, dashed faster than before, but surprisingly, not faster than what Ichiban could react to. However, he was struck in the jaw as Vali tricked him with a quick feint. The attack launched him into the sky and above the cloud, which reminded Ichi that he couldn't fly without his Balance Breaker.

He was still able to defend himself, blocking a downward kick that sent him back down to the ground. The force of the impact created a small crater underneath him, and as Vali cast several blasts in his direction, Ichi knew he had to move.

He flipped and ran into the forest. He didn't have the luxury of flight in his current state like nearly every single person he ever encountered in his life, but it shouldn't be too bad to handle. As long as he brought Vali down, he should have the advantage.

He's more skilled than me in hand-to-hand. He probably trained way longer. Ichi analyzed, evading a blast. But he's nowhere near as experienced. Not in the street-fighting sense, at least. Fighting dirty is my best option.

Plus, the fact that he had to touch Ichiban to divide his powers worked in his favor. Ichi could boost a few times, gather enough strength, then jump him. That way, he'd have the advantage in no time.

A blast managed to hit him in the back, causing him to flinch and grunt in pain. That actually hurt quite a bit, but not as much as he expected.

But still… Ichi used his low magic to his advantage, making it hard for Vali to sense him. How come we're still on equal footing? Should I be weaker after he stole my energy?

Not quite. Ddraig supplied. When you boost, the Sacred Gear doesn't account for the fact that you're weakened, so it increases your strength relative to your initial power level.

Ah. That makes sense. He thought. Otherwise, Red Dragon Emperors would always be disadvantaged while fighting their rivals.

Precisely.

"Stop hiding, Kasuga!" Vali called out, continuing to release more and more demonic blasts. "Come out and face me!"

"Boost!"

"There!" Ichiban grinned, cutting down the tree behind him.

Copying a move he had once seen in his favorite anime ever, he picked up the tree, threw it at Vali, and quickly got on top of it before it got too far, riding the projectile he created. Obviously, he could've just jumped at Vali, but he'd always wanted to do that.

Plus, this bold maneuver ended up distracting the Lucifer descendant as he avoided the log, causing him to lower his guard just long enough for Ichiban to kick him down to the ground. Vali grunted and tried to restore his balance mid-fall, but the wannabe yakuza accounted for it and body-slammed the devil boy, forcing them back to the earth.

Ichiban continued wailing at him, stomping his opponent's wings and continuously bashing his face in. Vali desperately tried to defend himself, grabbing one of Ichi's fists as his blue wings glowed brightly.

"Divide!"

Once again, half of his energy vanished in an instant, used to power up the devil boy under him, who propelled himself with the force of his magic to spear Ichiban and drag him across the ground, landing devastating punches to his face,

"Boost!"

Ichi used his increased strength and skill in grappling to turn the tides, flipping the devil over and holding him in a chokehold while returning the favor by striking him in the face just as hard. Vali kept struggling until it was his Gear's turn to steal Ichiban's power. As expected, this continued until Ichiban's Boosted Gear shouted its signature 'Boost!'.

"Divide!"

"Boost!"

"Divide!"

"Boost!"

"Divide!"

Over and over until the pair grew tired. Vali acted first and used a considerable amount of his energy to launch Ichiban off him with a mighty sphere of demonic power, which the Red Dragon Emperor struggled to deflect.

Ichiban wasn't the best at sensing, but he knew that if this exploded here and now, it would wipe half of the forest off and possibly kill him. So, with gritted teeth, he did everything he could to redirect the blast upwards, causing it to fly above the clouds.

For a moment, the skies darkened to a dark red color as the large explosion split the clouds apart. The wannabe yakuza fell to his knees, panting from exhaustion, then stared at the equally tired Vali, who chuckled once their eyes met.

"Hehe… You're not bad at all, Kasuga." He said. "But I think it's about time we stopped playing around."

"What, I thought you weren't holding back anymore?" Ichi got on his feet. "Load of bullshit that was."

"I didn't expect I'd be pushed that far, I'll admit," Vali responded. "But you're right. I shouldn't have lied to you. What warrior would I be if I disrespected my rival?"

As he said that, his wings began to glow brighter and brighter.

"No more lies." He added. "This is everything I have."

And with that, a silver aura surrounded the devil boy, creating a pressure so powerful even the ground beneath started shattering. As the bright light vanished, Vali was there in a white suit of armor. At that moment, Ichiban felt his own power waning.

"Come at me with everything you've got, Kasuga!" Vali challenged. "Don't you dare hold back!"

He's strong. He thought. …But I've faced worse.

He's nothing to you. Ddraig said viciously. Crush him.

"You asked for it," Ichiban responded.

Where the earth under the Lucifer descendant cracked and broke, the immensely powerful subspecies of the wannabe yakuza's Balance Breaker created a massive crater. Where the White Dragon Emperor was surrounded by a strong aura, the Red Dragon Emperor was engulfed by a pillar of red draconic energy that pierced the clouds.

Where Vali was adorned with glimmering white armor, Ichiban only had a simple red cape.

"W-what… what is this?" Vali gasped in amazement.

Deciding that actions spoke louder than words, Ichiban charged faster than Vali could react to, gut-checking him so hard he was sent through a mountain. He didn't even let the devil boy process what had happened before appearing in front of him and kicking him in the face, grabbing his leg before he flew off and threw him back down.

But Ichiban landed before Vali reached the ground, kicking him back to where the fight had started. He toyed with his opponent, moving and striking faster than he could reasonably react to. From gut punches to kicks to jabs— it was a never-ending onslaught that Vali simply had no answer to.

To make matters worse for him, Ichiban was constantly growing with every passing second.

That was until, somehow, miraculously, Vali managed to catch a fist. For a moment, Ichiban felt his powers draining rapidly… until his Boosted Gear shouted something he was sure Vali had never heard of.

"Endure!"

"W-what the hell?!" He sounded shocked. "What is—"

"Endure!"

"I-it can't be…" Vali was in disbelief. "How?"

The draining effect of Divine Dividing seemed to be getting significantly weaker every time it shouted that word. Which greatly amused the gecko in Ichiban's head if his boisterous laugh was any indication.

"Well, I guess the fight's over," Ichiban said.

"No…" Vali refused. "I will never give up!"

"Too bad."

With one last punch to the face, his opponent was quickly put to sleep. He fell limply on the ground as his armor faded into tiny particles that vanished into the aether. Ichiban took a few steps back and fell to his knees with a winded sigh, his cape disappearing.

His Balance Breaker was busted, but it was challenging to maintain.

Fantastic work, partner! Ddraig roared excitedly. I haven't seen one of Albion's idiots lose this badly in centuries!

Aren't you going to yell at me to kill him? Ichiban asked.

Bah, killing him is pointless. The dragon snorted. Your girlfriend was right. You should keep humiliating him until Albion ends his own life out of shame.

I can't tell if this is worse or not. He groaned. And she's not my girlfriend.

You wish she was.

I do not.

"Woooh, Ichi. Good job." Akane suddenly said, approaching him with the devil girls in tow. "I knew you had it in you."

"You don't sound very excited." He pointed out.

"Yeah, cuz I knew you'd win, dumbass." She rolled her eyes, offering him a hand with a smirk. "I knew you were stronger ever since he showed up the first time."

"Heh, well, thanks for the vote of confidence." He took her hand as she helped him up. "Though, what do we do with him now?"

"Hmm, well, first…"

Akane pulled out her phone and took a few pictures of and even selfies with Vali's defeated form. All three looked at this scene in varying degrees of shock. Ichiban had expected this, admittedly. She'd looked like she hated his ass ever since he'd shown up the second time for some reason.

They'd barely even interacted.

"I'm gonna show him these pictures whenever he tries to pick a fight with you again." She says with a giggle.

"Evil…" Rias says, taking a step back.

"That's unnecessarily petty and mean." Sona agreed. "Please do not do that."

"He's going to show up again. I know he will." She claimed. "So either he pisses off and stops bothering us, or I share this everywhere."

"Seriously?"

"Yup." She nodded, putting her phone back in her pocket. "Anyway, let's just leave. The Tojo clan will take care of it."

"Is it really okay?" Ichiban asked.

"He asked for a duel and got his ass handed to him." She shrugged. "He's not our responsibility."

"Well, technically…" Sona shifted awkwardly. "...That is true…"

"You're seriously evil," Rias added.

"Also, don't think I forgot about your reward." Akane gave him a smug smirk and a wink.

"Yeah, yeah."

Knowing her, it was probably a Steam gift card at best. At worst? Gifting him an eroge, which he promptly declined. He would not stain his main account library with fucking porn.

Sometimes, being her friend felt more tiring than using cape mode.

– Akane –

Today was a good day.

Not only has my depression period ended, but I just saw that dumbass pretty boy get manhandled. And I finished the creation of my newest product…

I press send on my phone and then look at the tiny spiders, barely visible at all, all staring at me, awaiting my commands. It is a simple upgrade from the piece I used to eavesdrop on the treaty. They're not just chips that can listen in on anything, but they can also record and send out special signals showing their locations. Connected to my phone via Nemesis, who was the one that did most of the work, admittedly.

I'm going to spread these out everywhere in the underworld and have them stick to any person of interest because I'm pretty sure that now that the treaty has gone through, devils will be a lot more common on Earth. All of these adorable little spiders are controlled by Nemesis simultaneously.

The moment one of those persons of interest is in a perfect position… Ms. Terrorist will strike them when they least expect it.

Of course, it'll be tough. I still need to be able to teleport to enact my plans perfectly. But this is merely a setup. The execution will take some time until I create the perfect plan to get rid of that blond chick and take her power for myself.

So I'll use this tournament to study everything about her. Her mannerisms, strengths, weaknesses, relationships— everything. My cute spy spiders are going to make this incredibly easy.

I lean back on my chair and stretch my arms. Ah, it feels good when everything is proceeding smoothly.

"So, what did you think?" I mutter quietly.

"Ah, about Vali?" Lucifer says, turning his head away from the window to look at me. "Hmm… He's not as powerful as I expected a descendent of mine to be."

"What, disappointed?"

"Not particularly." He denies. "Although, I do find it strange how he never bothered using his heritage."

I pause at that. Right, pillar devil.

"What's that?"

"Demonic Light." He answers. "The perfect balance of holy and unholy magic."

"That sounds powerful."

"It is. If you're proficient." He nods. "It's capable of tearing through the resistances of holy and unholy entities. It's not quite as special as portal creation or time manipulation, but it certainly helped me in the great war."

"Huh. But Ichiban is neither holy nor unholy." I say. "So why bother?"

"It is more powerful than regular demonic blasts and doesn't cost as much." He clarifies. "Perhaps he isn't able to manipulate it? He is half-human, after all. Ah, who cares? I certainly do not."

"You don't?" I snort. "That's pretty sad."

"He simply does not interest me." Lucifer smiles. "Not as much as you do."

"Sorry, you're too dead for me."

He chuckles at that.

"Well, I should probably go to sleep now." I get up from my chair and fall onto my bed. "I have a long day ahead of me."

"Of course." Lucifer nods. "Sweet dreams."

This tournament can't come too soon.

– Bonus Scene – Ichiban –

Lying on his bed sideways, he continued his eighth playthrough of Dragon Quest XI on his old PS4, enjoying it just as much as the first time he played it. There were many incredible games out there, from Bloodborne, which was Akane's favorite, to GTA, to most Nintendo titles…

But nothing could come close to Dragon Quest. The game that had captured his heart and made him love video games in the first place. Seriously, this game wasn't just his favorite, but it had saved his life.

Ichiban had almost ended his friendship with Akane when she called it boring. How fucking could she?

He could understand calling him a DQ nerd— for he was proud to be one. So much that he had every single DQ title on his shelves. Yes, even the ones from the eighties. Yeah, retro games had cost a fortune, and Ichiban wasn't exactly a collector, but this was the exception.

Honestly, that girl had no shame. She didn't even give him a good reason. She said, 'It's a turn-based game, so it's terrible by default', even though she loves Pokémon and plays bore fests like Stellaris.

"No consistency…" He muttered quietly.

He paused as his phone beside him vibrated. Coincidentally, a message from Akane. He paused the game and checked it out, eyes going wide and jaw nearly dropping to the floor.

It was a captioned picture of her, no clothes, in front of a large mirror, using only one finger to cover her privates, and a clear blush on her face, barely concealed by her phone.

"H-holy…"

He had seen her in a bikini before, and other outfits that showed skin, but this… this was different. It made him realize just how unbelievably supernatural her body was, from flawless pale skin, supple and thick thighs, extremely soft and big breasts…

He could almost see everything. That incredibly frustrating and annoying finger of hers was just enough to cover the private bits, even as he zoomed in. Honestly, Ichiban almost couldn't believe what he was seeing as he read the caption.

Akane: Don't show this to anyone, or you lose your manhood~

The threat was par for the course, but this… he didn't know what to think.

But as his heart kept pounding in his chest once he pressed 'save', he only knew that this was the most incredible fucking reward he could've ever asked for.

Not your girlfriend, eh? He heard Ddraig snort.

Shut up. She's not.

But he really wished she was.

If you're interested in the picture Akane sent him, join the discord. I posted it there.

the link is in my profile.

Also, pa tre on. stay five chapters ahead of the plebs.