High School DxD - Re:Incarnation of Malevolence

by LoneTaker

In one corner of the infinitely-vast universe, there lies an unfinished story of a first-year high school student burdened with the powers of the seven of the most evil creatures of yore. Now it is rewritten anew, as the shadows of both past and future begin waiting in this thorny road of self-actualization. (adopted from dvdryms' original story canceled in 24th of January, 2024)

22. Ride 21: Re:Compose

Ride 21: Re:Compose

---

"I-I-INTRUDER-!"

*SLASH*

Another one falls dead with a single stroke within the hallowed halls of the Temple of Saint Sava blaring with whining echoes of the siren.

"SISTER SUPERIOR, WHAT'S GOING ON?!" one Exorcist with a Mini-Uzi cried out as he ran down the halls crawling with his fellow Exorcists.

"WE HAVE AN INTRUDER IN OUR MIDST!" another barked out as she racked her LS 12 PAS's pump. "TO ARMS, EVERYONE!"

The stationed Exorcists then enter the hallway beyond the doors, spotting a large, hooded man, lifting up another hapless Exorcist by his head with only a single hand, his surroundings littered with variously-brutalized corpses and broken weapons scattered in his wake.

"P-Please...!" the victim begged as his legs flailed while both of his temples were being crushed by the man's thumb and index fingers. "I DON'T WANT TO DIE-!"

*SPLURCH*

The man of God falls limp as his head was crushed like a grape in the intruder's iron grip, much to the witnesses' collective horror and disgust.

"Oh my God..." a fresh-faced Exorcist gulped in horror as his AK-74M trembled in his grip.

"Steady...!" a nun with a pair of CZ99 pistols (chambered in .40 S&W) remarked as she and the other Exorcists braced themselves for the upcoming confrontation.

"KILL HIM!" the older Exorcist barked out his order as he then unloaded his M83 revolver (chambered in a .357 Magnum w/6' reinforced barrel) with the rest of his fellow priests and nuns in arms before drawing his schiavonesca sword imbued with holy energy and charging in. "NOW DIE-!"

"Move."

*SLASH*

With a single stroke of his blade fast as a flash of light, the intruder walks past the now-beheaded corpses as he then hurries towards one of the doors in the halls.

"Very enthusiastic," he deadpanned as he sheathed his sword before stowing it away out of sight while walking down the hallway. "Not bright, but enthusiastic."

With the opposition out of the way, the intruder begins surveying his surroundings, as if he's searching for something hidden.

Upon turning the corner leading towards the main chapel, he then stops his stride.

"... It's the one that you least suspect."

White-knuckling his free hand, he then smashes his fist into the floor behind him, the broken tiles then exposing a hidden door locked with a magical formula.

"Amateurs." The man then digs his fingers into the magic circle itself before twisting and wrestling with the formation like a doorknob, breaking the lock with brute force until the glyph was shattered.

Throwing the doors open, the intruder then walks into the secret basement, leading into the labyrinthian system of tunnels and hallways that would drive any lesser man mad for how convoluted the layout is.

"Playing games? How droll."

He then proceeds to punch through every wall that got in the way, not in a straight line, but towards the direction where his objective was.

"Public facades, magically-hidden basements, dummy hallways, false holy energy markers..." the man sighed in disappointment as he walked through the maze, the area's disorientation spells doing nil to this intruder. "... They've gotten complacent for these past centuries."

Spotting the real door out of the fakes, the intruder then kicks the reinforced barriers down, to which he was met with a barrage of sniper and machine gun fire, grenade shots, and holy energy barrages as soon as he entered.

"MAINTAIN FIRE!" one of the men barked over the gunfire as the intruder was forced to take cover behind the entrance. "DO NOT LET THIS FIEND PASS!"

The hooded man sighs in disgust as he shakes his head. "... Guess I found my 'secret spot'," he deadpanned to himself. "Not really keeping it a secret if over a dozen armed guards are stationed in this very area..."

Noticing a small gap in the barrage blocking the door, the intruder then glances at the enemy's formation to get a better read on what he was facing next.

Twenty-five Exorcists and twelve Templars, making it a total of thirty-seven, he thought before ducking his head away from the resuming barrage and beginning his analysis. Former are armed with M93 Black Arrow anti-materiel rifles, NSV heavy machine guns, and AGS-17 Plamya grenade launchers. Probably domestically-procured to ease logistics. Their roles are purely fire support for the other group of combatants present.

Drawing his blade, he then uses the blade's reflection to get another read on said "other group."

Typical Templars, dressed in their ostentatious-looking ceremonial armor engraved with numerous protection spells, the intruder internally scoffed as he sheathed his sword. ... Nothing out of the ordinary. Typical standard-issue holy energy lances and tower shields. Their presence all but confirms that what I seek lies beyond them.

He then reassesses them from "non-threats" to "annoyances" as he checks his phone's clock, currently reading "9:54 PM."

"... Better make it quick."

The intruder then rushes into the room in a phantom-like blur.

"This is as far as you go, vagrant!" the lead Templar barked out as they shifted into a phalanx formation before the door standing behind them while being flanked by the Exorcists manning their stationary weapons. "ERADICATE HIM!"

Both the Templars and the Exorcists directed all of their ire-fueled firepower towards the intruder's advance, both guns and holy energy shots flaring to life, bringing memories of a modern battlefield to this secluded antechamber underground.

The man easily dodged all of the sniper, machine gun, grenade, and holy energy fire like a ghost, zipping from place to place as the defenders couldn't get a clear reading on his movements.

"HE'S TOO FAST-!" One Exorcist with the sniper rifle was stabbed through the neck before being kicked down to the floor below his nest.

"DO NOT FALTER!" another barked out as he then moved his machine gun towards where the intruder had landed, only for him to miss his barrage entirely and hit nothing but masonry. "DAMN IT ALL-!"

The gunner was beheaded along with the rest of his nest crew by the intruder's blade. "... Children, all of you."

One panicking Exorcist then aims his grenade launcher at the emptied machine gun nest before firing a barrage of explosive at him, but the hooded man easily dodges the desperate barrage before catching one bomb out of the air before chucking it back at the shooter, taking out another nest in a messy, fiery explosion.

"HOW IS HE DODGING OUR SHOTS?!" one nun with the anti-material rifle cried out before being cut down mid-reload.

One of the Templars then notices that the chandeliers above are swaying more than usual.

"HE'S USING THE CHANDELIERS AS FOOTHOLDS!" she pointed out as she directed her lance towards above. "SHOOT HIM DOWN!"

Grumbling upon being spotted, the intruder then conjures a bubble of dark energy around himself to block the oncoming holy energy shots from the heavy-armored platoon below and the other stationed Exorcists redirecting their firing line.

"Just a few more..." For this man, dealing with highly-trained Church soldiers was akin to a chore; doable but tedious.

Getting tired by the lack of progress, upon reaching the last machine gun nest, he then commandeers their NSV after butchering the crew operating it and then ripping it from its tripod.

"I'll be borrowing this." Running his own dark-colored energy through the weapon, the bullets fired from this machine gun were no longer that of holy energy, eating up the last snipers and one grenade launcher operator in quick order before emptying the rest of the rounds into the bolts holding up the chandeliers.

The armored men and women of God spot the fixture coming loose before it falls right on top of them. "SHIELDS UP!"

The Templars in the rear all then raised their shields while erecting a wide magical barrier over their heads, protecting them from the falling hanging lights as it shattered, cascading their armor with shards of glass and loose candles alike.

"DIG IN YOUR HEELS, MY FELLOW BROTHERS AND SISTERS!" the Templar ordered as they maintained fire on the intruder, who was now forced to run across walls to evade their fire. "HE RUNS SCARCE OF HIS OWN SANCTUARY! DO NOT LET THIS FIEND ELUDE US ANY FURTHER!"

"No."

Reappearing on the last chandelier hanging from the ceiling, he then begins swinging back and forth from the fixture like a pendulum.

"This is as far as you all go."

He then pulls out a grenade that he nicked from a grenade launcher before throwing it behind himself and then flicking a bullet he stole from a sniper rifle towards it.

*KABOOM!*

The triggered explosion then rips the chandelier off from its bolts as the intruder then kicks the hanging light towards the Templars as hard as he could, the sheer force of the projectile causing the guarding armored defenders to be pushed back and squished themselves between their own and the door behind them.

Realizing that they were trapped like rats, the Templars then activated all of their defensive magic on their armor to brace for the upcoming attack as the intruder drew his sword upon his descent.

What happened next in the underground chambers was beyond all imagination.

"Impossible...!" one of the armored Church defenders gasped as he and the others recognized that blade. "That's-!"

*SLASH!*

All twelve Templars and the door they were guarding with their very lives were all cloven through with a single stroke of his blade.

"Not important," the intruder scoffed as he quickly sheaths his blade back into its scabbard. "Speaking of things more important..."

He then walks out of the antechamber through the other door before finding himself standing before a dark and inconspicuous-looking hallway that looks as if it stretches for miles straight.

"... Fool me once, shame you." The man then puts on his thermal goggles to discern that the whole hallway was interwoven with a myriad lines of motion detectors connected to several booby traps like Mission: Impossible. "Fool me twice, shame on me."

He then runs through the trip lights with a phantom-like grace, narrowly dodging the motion detectors as he edged closer towards his objective.

As he got closer, however, the infrared lights began moving on their own like spotlights, further impeding his progress.

"This is getting irksome..." Abandoning all pretense of doing this gracefully, the man then ditches his goggles before making a break for it, triggering every possible deathtrap in his wake.

He outran even more machine gun fire. He evades the spikes of pure holy energy shooting out from the gaps of the floor tiles, walls, and ceilings. And he even eludes the clouds of nerve gas slowly filling up the hallway.

As he continues to run, he then spots the door ahead, only for it be revealed that it was a door locked with a combination lock via keypad.

"To Hell with it." The intruder then draws his sword once more. "Slaughter them all, [Ascalon]!"

*SLASH!*

He then comes into the vault room after slashing the door and the walls next to it across its twain, breaking through the gap as he arrives at his desired location.

"... Finally."

Standing before him was a marble pedestal draped with a velvet-red cloth cradling a kris or flamberge-like longsword with a diamond-shaped hole punched in near the spiked crossguard.

"How nostalgic..." he sighed with seething resentment in his breath. "How long has it been, my befouled legacy-?"

"CEASE."

A commanding voice echoed in the dim chamber as light began flooding into the dark from above. From the light, a celestial-looking magic circle was formed, beckoning forth three heavily-armored Angels wielding halberds and tower shields, each of them sporting two pairs of white-feathered wings, denoting them as part of the Second Order. All of them were flanking a sagely, elderly-looking Angel dressed in a white judge's robes sitting on a white-colored mobile throne with a slowly-spinning wheel-like halo rimmed with unblinking and unflinching eyes behind his three pairs of white-feathered wings, denoting him as part of the First Order.

"A Throne flanked by Powers..." the intruder deadpanned. "... A bit too late for pomp and circumstance, don't you think?"

"Sinner," the sagely Throne spoke with a booming echo. "To what ill agenda do you have with our Lord's [Excalibur Rapidly]?"

The intruder then brandishes his own blade towards Heaven's own. "Why don't you make me answer?"

The sagely-facade then betrays to one filled with pure divine ire.

"THEN THOU ART DECLARED GUILTY!"

With the Throne's proclamation, the Powers all rush towards the intruder with their polearms as their superior begins their prayer acting as an invocation for a divine miracle.

"FACE YOUR PUNISHMENT, SINNER!" One of the Powers then swung down his polearm towards the intruder, only for him to parry the attack before jabbing his own blade into his throat, drawing blood as the inflicted wound spread with a smokey-colored cracks that caused him to gargle and writhe in agony before disappearing into a cloud of dust.

The other two Powers tried to avenge their comrade by unleashing heavy smashes with their holy energy-imbued swings, but ultimately missed their attacks before being quickly dispatched as easily as the first.

"Sin begets more sin, as the guilty shuns thine eyes away from the Lord's grace!" the Throne recited his invocation as a large reservoir of holy energy gathered into his very being. "Oh Great and Powerful Almighty residing in Thine Heaven, deliver Thine judgment upon this wayward soul!"

The intruder simply rolled his eyes underneath his hood while holding onto it. "... Judgment?" he scoffed. "... Never took Heaven to be Comedy Central."

The Throne finishes his invocation as he then conjures a giant gavel of light above the man's head.

"CLEANSE THINE SINS WITH THE LORD'S LIGHT!" he bellowed out as the holy light engulfed the whole vault.

The man feels naught but even a slight tinge of fear at this awesome display of power as he casually sheathed his sword back into his scabbard.

"... I've seen enough of this 'light of the Lord' to go blind, sycophant."

With a single flick and stroke, the radiant gavel was split in twain before a massive vertical gash was deeply gouged out from the Throne's chest, sending both him and the throne he sat upon crashing into the floor, landing right before the intruder's feet.

He tried to heal his wounds, but the infection was already spreading like fungi, compromising his connection with the Deus Trinity as the hooded man approached the fallen Thrones.

"That... sword-" The dying Throne then coughed out a massive splash of blood, his voice no longer as powerful as it was while he was fully alive. "... The Holy Sword... [Ascalon]?!"

"Indeed," he curtly answered as he walked towards the pedestal before taking [Excalibur Rapidly] from it. "... You never bothered looking for it after the Lindwyrm was slain, did you?"

The dying Throne's mustered words were like trying to vomit out chestnuts in full burrs, each breath becoming more laborious than the last as his life ebbed and flowed on the edge of oblivion. "... But with... such... malevolence... how?!"

The intruder smirks underneath the shade of his hood. "... If you're assuming that [Ascalon] went the way Lancelot du Lac's [Arondight] did, you're half-right," he vaguely confirmed. "Rather then simply embracing the demonic, I simply overwhelmed the Holy Sword with my own malevolence and turned it into something else entirely."

Fear.

That human-like sensation gripped the dying Throne's heart as he laid bleeding before the man who raised the corrupted [Ascalon] over his head before him.

"... Who are you?"

The hooded man glared as he flipped [Ascalon] around to have it point downward.

"A nobody seeking vengeance."

*SCHUCK*

The Throne screams in agony as the rest of his body is reduced to dust by the not-Holy Sword's influx of malefic energy.

As soon as the terrible deed was done, he then sheathes [Ascalon] back into his scabbard before pulling out his phone while holding [Excalibur Rapidly] in his other hand.

"It's me," he said into the phone's microphone. "The job's done. Everyone's been 'served' and I have 'takeout'."

"Good work, Agent VP," a filtered voice replied from the speaker. "You know the designated drop-off point that our client had arranged, correct?"

"The bus stop leading out of Belgrade," he answered back as he walked out of the raided Church as a van labeled "City Pest Control" parked right where he walked past to collect his shinai bag. "... What is the likelihood that the Church will send their most devoted sycophants to recover the stolen Holy Swords?"

"Not our job to wipe our clients' asses, so don't get your britches in a bunch," the caller deadpanned from the other side. "... Look, I'm basically cooking 'dinner' right now, so let my 'sous chefs' deal with the scraps left you behind, alright?"

"Confirmed," Agent VP replied as he looked back at the "Pest Control" entering the church with their "pesticides" (read: acid to melt the organic bodies left behind). "... Mr. Phecda, what are my next orders?"

"Eh, I got a plane ticket to Hawaii just for you," Phecda replied. "You've been working nonstop lately, so take five before you get new 'customers'. Our new hires from Japan can still be broken into their new jobs."

"Understood." As soon as he hangs up, he then leaves behind the shinai bag with [Excalibur Rapidly] on the bus stop leading out of Belgrade.

After a couple minutes of waiting, a bus then rolls up to the stop, opening its doors as a few people no less than four or five then make their exits.

One of them sporting a medical eyepatch over her left eye then takes the shinai bag left behind by the bench before disappearing into the night streets as the bus drives away with the Agent in tow.

She then pulls out her phone before making a call to someone.

"I got 'takeout'."

---

20th of May, 2019 AD

---

"Now let's see... where's my name at?"

Standing in a crowd of other Second Year-students, Takeshi gleaned over the scoreboard pertaining to last week's midterms. After searching for a good minute, he finds his name placed at 1st Place of his year.

"Alright, maintained the lead," he remarked as he pumped his fist, with the other students wondering how the "Boogeyman of Kuoh" could be a serial top-scorer.

Dispelling the whispers of slander, Takeshi then makes his way towards the scoreboard showing the overall rankings of Kuoh Academy's High School wing.

"Excuse me, comin' through!" Takeshi cried out as he jostled his way towards the crowd of other students, steadily making his way to the front until coming face-to-face with the posted scoreboard.

He then squints his eyes towards the very top of the scoring hierarchy, finding his name at the very top-left corner of the board...

"... Goddammit."

Right below Sona's.

Again.

Enjoy your silver medal, whelp, Nidhogg snickered. I'm sure you're well used to the taste of coming short to that Sitri-stelpa.

THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! Grendel raged at his host's behalf. WHETHER IN WAR OR WISDOM, SETTLING FOR ANYTHING BUT THE VERY PINNACLE IS A SIGN OF WEAKNESS, BRAT! TRY HARDER!

Takeshi sighs in exhaustion before shaking his head in consternation. "... Forget it, I'm too tired for this shit."

His mind then wondered as he continued staring at the board.

"... Now I wonder how the others did-"

"Ryuugamine?"

Takeshi then turns around to find Eiji standing behind him.

"... Oh, hey!" Takeshi replied before remembering his promise just about a month prior (the Rating Game training camp sort of messed up his sense of time, easily the world's worst case of jet lag). "... You wanna talk now, Matsuda?"

He nods.

"I'll buy us some drinks," Takeshi remarked as he followed Eiji elsewhere. "What do you want?"

"Whatever you choose."

After Takeshi stops by a vending machine and buys two bottles of cold matcha tea, he then settles down next to Eiji near the school's basketball court.

"Here." Takeshi then offers a bottle to Eiji. "... Thanks for reaching out to me."

The boy with the shaven head takes the bottle before twisting the cap open.

Takeshi then lets out a sigh. "... So, how was Midterms?"

"Thought you'd already know," Eiji deadpanned before taking his drink.

"Oh, come on, do you really take me for being that nosy?" Takeshi rebuked. "... There's a difference between being nosy and what we're doing now."

Eiji grumbles before sitting in silence for a few moments.

"... Why are you going this far for me?" he asked as he looked down towards his feet. "I mean, don't you have your new friends with Gremory-senpai's social circle?"

Takeshi sighs again, seeing that there's a massive chip on Eiji's shoulder in that regard. "... I ain't gonna abandon you guys just because of that, you know," he reassured. "You, Hyoudou, Motohama... I have to be honest, you guys are incorrigible sometimes, but that doesn't mean I wish the worst for you guys."

"Really," Eiji deadpanned. "... Then why are you showing off your love life to us normies?"

Takeshi facepalms upon remembering that Eiji, in the dynamics of the Pervert Trio, was the most observant and discerning of the group. So of course he'd be the one to notice that Takeshi had lost his virginity with Rias and Koneko the moment the three walked into school, the latter hitching piggyback on him for all to see.

"... To be fair, it wasn't intentional," Takeshi defended. "... It still doesn't change the fact that I seriously want to help you with your problems."

"Then how do I get a girlfriend?" he asked with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

Takeshi, rather than dodge Eiji's nonsensical question, decides to work with what he was offered.

"Let's start from there," he began. "... Can you tell me about your life before I met you guys? I want to know how it all came to this."

Eiji scoffs before taking a swig. "... And why?"

"I can't help you if you won't allow me to, Matsuda," Takeshi firmly answered. "... Please. You can be honest with me. I won't judge, because we're way past the point of pointing fingers at one's imperfections."

Eiji relents before telling his life story, realizing that Takeshi, for as much of a jerk he could've been, this time, he could tell that the so-called "delinquent" was being truthful.

"Alright, the truth."

Eiji sighs before divulging his life before Kuoh Academy.

"I was just your average kid raised in Kuoh Town since birth," he explained. "Around the First Year of Junior High, I joined the school's Track & Field Team, and I freaking excelled."

"Whoa, really?" Takeshi replied. "... Never took you for an ex-jock."

Eiji chuckles. "Everything was going great. I even got recommended for the upcoming inter-regional meet as my school's representative," he recalled. "... Around Second Year, I met Hyoudou and Motohama. We just sat near each other during homeroom, but I kinda just talked to them once in a while."

Takeshi nods as he sees the formation of the Pervert Trio in the near future. "Go on..."

Before divulging any further, Eiji sighs before resuming his life story. "... And during my Second Year, our Team got a new manager after our first had to move," he recalled. "... Her name was Hase-senpai."

Then the cogs inside Takeshi's head begin to turn as he immediately makes the connection. "... She was your first crush, huh?"

Eiji nods in confirmation. "... She was a bit shy, little bookish, and yeah, kinda hot," he gulped, his emotions being a confusing mix of youthful libido and nostalgic sorrow. "... I... I tried asking her out on a date, but I... froze up real bad. Couldn't get the words out of my mouth before we had to leave school on that day."

Takeshi grimaces at Eiji's pain. "... My God."

Eiji bitterly chuckles. "... I didn't have the guts to ask her out then, so I confided in Hyoudou and Motohama for advice," he shared. "After all, if they could talk about naked girls out in the open, then they knew what they were doing, right?"

"And they agreed, in hopes that they also get laid like you would have should you succeed," Takeshi grumbled at this leap in logic.

"So, I began watching AVs and playing eroges so that I would have the guts to confess to Hase-senpai without making an ass of myself," Eiji confessed. "I even learned how to procure foreign porno videos so that Hyoudou and Motohama would keep helping me by providing me with several dating eroge. By the time I mustered up the confession to ask her out... she already transferred schools."

"... Oof." Takeshi couldn't help feeling sorry for Eiji's messy first attempt at romance.

"And so, I quit the Track & Field Team after coming in third in my final meeting," he stated. "Then I heard that Kuoh Academy was becoming co-ed, so I followed Hyoudou and Motohama, so that I can learn to... well, move on from her. Studied my butt off, and well, the rest is history."

After Eiji had finished sharing his life story, both he and Takeshi sat next to each other in silence, bottles in hand as the two digested what had transpired.

So this strákur debased himself all because of some stelpa? Nidhogg deadpanned. ... There's a special corner in Helheim for feckless fávitar like him. Even the most tweaked-out Berserkers died less-stupid deaths than whatever this social suicide he'd inflicted upon himself.

... I don't get it, Grendel remarked. ... He gave up his opportunity for fame and glory... for women? That's stupid, even for me!

Takeshi lets out a loud and deep sigh. As much as he hated to admit it, the Evil Dragons had a decent point at Eiji's own social suicide (self-inflicted, no less).

"... Go ahead," Eiji bitterly remarked. "... Laugh."

Even so, Takeshi doesn't have it in him to kick a fellow man while he's down, especially if he doesn't deserve this kind of disproportionate severity.

"No," Takeshi rebuked.

Eiji's eyes widened as he saw Takeshi stand up from his seat.

"... Look, after listening to the root of your problems, I can say with absolute confidence that I cannot help you with your problems," Takeshi bluntly stated.

"So what was the point of doing this, then?!" Eiji then bursts from his seat. "I poured out my guts for you, man! And this is the 'help' I get?!"

Takeshi shakes his head. "... Look, Matsuda," he remarked with a solemn tone. "... I think you just needed someone to talk to. As for how I can help you, all I can say is that I'm sorry that you couldn't salvage yourself out of this dumpster fire of your life since Junior High. That said, we are not in a dick-measuring competition for who had it worse, because I had to learn the hard way that there are way too many people who are like that."

He then walks away a few paces before leaning his back against the court wall.

"... And it's because of that, I won't judge you for how you live your life, both before and from now on," Takeshi added. "So I leave you with a single question: do you want things to end like this?"

Eiji blinks. "... Huh?"

Takeshi sighs before chugging the last of his drink before throwing the bottle into the recycling bin nearby. "... Do you want your life to end with a bungled confession with Hase-senpai and spend the rest of your life emulating what you could've had, or are you going to break this cycle of insanity and try something else for a change?" he asked. "Matsuda Eiji, I will ask you once more, for clarity's sake: do you want to end things this way? With Hyoudou alone in his greatest time of need and Motohama outing himself as the worst kind of asshole in public? Or are you going to be a true friend and take the first step that they desperately need?"

Eiji grits his teeth. "... Why aren't you the one doing it, then?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO'S WORTH A DAMN TO THEM, EIJI!" Takeshi exploded, accidently unleashing his pulse of his "predisposition" from himself, causing the people nearby to vacate the area immediately. "... I tried talking to Issei. He's not listening to me anymore. I tried to reach out to Naoto, but he's the same, if not worse! You're the only one who's left that they're willing to listen to, Eiji. I know it's not much, but... you guys saved me just by acknowledging my existence in the first place."

Eiji's eyes widened upon Takeshi confessing that. "... Really?"

"Look man, I know firsthand that living life alone is the worst," Takeshi confessed. "... But I learned something even worse: and that's watching bonds fray and tear itself apart. If you guys are truly friends... then show me that your kindness back at First Year wasn't for naught!"

Eiji was taken aback to the point where he sat back down onto the bench in complete disbelief. "... You're joking, right?"

Takeshi shakes his head. "... My grandmother once said this," he shared. "When you've done something right, people won't be sure that you've done anything at all."

Looking back, Eiji, back at his time with the rest of the Pervert Trio, realized that his action of approaching Takeshi during his First Year as an overachiever, he sort of knew that it was a facade, and that his approach was something he'd done at a spur of a moment.

"... That one small moment where I first met you guys meant a lot," Takeshi confessed. "It's because of you guys that I gave a damn about forming connections with other people after years of being spurned by others and/or being targeted by violent gangs. So, if it means anything, prove me and everyone else wrong that you're just perverts who could only live off of porn."

"Senpai!" Further ahead, Takeshi and Eiji spot Koneko running towards them. "... Oh, it's one of senpai's friends."

"It's okay, he and I were having a heart-to-heart." Takeshi then offers his arm to his first girlfriend, to which the latter hugs before walking away. "... Matsuda, no matter what, you're my friend. I wish nothing but the best for your life, because that's what decent people do."

Eiji was left speechless as Takeshi walked away with Koneko.

Normally, he would rage with envy that Takeshi had bagged Kuoh's "mascot" as his lover.

But upon realizing that such display would be immature, he simply walks away quietly, now contemplating his own life after listening to Takeshi reveal to him that he's the only one who can not only bring the Pervert Trio back together, but also evolve their current selves into something better.

"... Maybe I can give Track & Field another try," he thought out loud. "... Hope Hyoudou can answer my texts this time around."

Elsewhere, Koneko and Takeshi were walking arm-to-arm, much to the envy and resentment of the rest of the student body present.

"So, what were you talking to him about, senpai?" Koneko asked.

Takeshi sighs. "Be honest," he replied, "but what are your impressions with Eiji?"

"A pervert?" she deadpanned.

"I mean besides that," Takeshi rebuked.

"A pervert," she deadpanned again. "... Some people are flat as pizza, you know."

Takeshi sighs, realizing how bad the Pervert Trio's reputations are in the general school public. "... Am I the only one who gives a damn about them beyond their hobbies?"

Koneko shrugs. "... You can be too kind sometimes, senpai," she remarked as she and Takeshi entered ORC vicinity. "... People would never suspect that you're the Fiftieth Evil Dragon User for how you can reach out to other people that are rejected by others."

"What can I say?" Takeshi smirked as he and Koneko entered their club building. "I reject no one. So in return, I ask that they take nothing from me."

"Hunter x Hunter?" Koneko pointed out.

"I can see a little bit of myself now in the Phantom Troupe," Takeshi replied. "... Except Hisoka."

Koneko chuckles before hitching a piggyback ride onto Takeshi's back. "Well, as long as you don't lose your heart, I won't complain!"

The pair then enter ORC's office.

"Sorry for the wait!" Takeshi apologized as he sat down on the sofa, with Koneko sitting on his lap and directly across from Pandora. "... Got held up with personal business."

Rias rolled her eyes. "As long as you didn't get caught, then Sona can't give me shit..."

That remark caused Pandora to flinch a little.

"Is something the matter, Pandora-chan?" Akeno asked.

"N-Nothing, really," she replied, the Knight doing her best to hide her confusingly-agonizing anguish coming from her chest.

"In any event, I suppose we can call the club meeting into session?" Yuuto suggested.

"Indeed!" Rias then makes her way towards her desk. "First of all, congratulations for making it through Midterms, because Satans forbid that our emergency study sessions would've been for naught..."

"Don't remind me..." Koneko groaned as she laid her head onto Takeshi's lap like a pillow for comfort. "... Senpai, pet me."

"There, there..." Takeshi then stroked his hand across his first girlfriend's cat ears and snow-white hair, causing her to purr with elation.

"Moving on," Rias remarked, also feeling a little disoriented from the ordeal herself. "As for today's agenda, it's just our regular commissions on our request board. Nothing too dire."

"Good," Takeshi nodded. "... After the Rating Game nonsense, we deserve a breather."

"Indeed!" Akeno agreed. "And it's almost summer break, and you know what that means!"

Takeshi gulps loudly as Koneko shifts the side of her head on the former's lap. "... Senpai, your 'Evil Dragon' is poking my ear."

Pandora was biting the corner of her lip as Takeshi flailed in panic.

"Is something the matter, Pandora?" Rias asks her Knight. "You're looking a little tense."

"I'm fine! Really!" Pandora nervously chuckles before easing her nerves. "... I'm not used to seeing them... so close."

"Believe it or not, they were this close before you joined," Yuuto pointed out, causing Pandora's heart to jump slightly upon hearing this. "... In fact, out of all the members of ORC, Takeshi's the only one that she's been this intimate with."

"Indeed." Rias then hid the fact that Koneko has also gotten touchy-feely with her during her threesome with Takeshi and Koneko. "... So with that said, shall we begin taking our commissions?"

"Yes, of course!" Pandora then gets up from her sofa before walking towards Akeno. "... Miss Himejima, may I come with you? I still don't have a smartphone of my own."

"Of course." The Queen then leads the Knight outside as the latter shadows the former once again.

"Time to get to work." Koneko then springs up before stretching her back and arms. "Be back in a few, senpai!"

"Good luck." Takeshi then gives the Nekomata a small peck to her forehead, causing her to spring in her step as she teleports to her next job.

"Wait for me!" Yuuto then follows shortly after right before Pandora and Akeno teleport to their job.

After the office room was cleared out, Takeshi then let out a sigh, causing Rias to take notice.

"So," the King remarked, "About that outburst just an hour ago..."

"You want to know more?" Takeshi replied. "Well, it went something like this..."

After sharing his story with the President, Takeshi then takes his commissions before turning in for the day.

"... Whelp, I don't recommend going to sleep tonight," Nidhogg warned as his host finished brushing his teeth.

"Yamata no Orochi?" Takeshi replied.

"Either you're fearless or you're a fool," Grendel added. "... Not that I'm complaining."

"I'll have to face the Deadly Sin of Lust sooner of later..." he grumbled as he helped Pandora to his bed. "... And of course he'd wake up after I lost my virginity."

Takeshi then crawls under his cot next to his own bed after turning off the lights.

"Goodnight, Takeshi," Pandora said.

"Goodnight." And with that Takeshi then closes his eyes as his body settles in for rest.

He will soon regret that decision.

---

Inside Takeshi's Mind...

---

"Alright, what kind of Hell are we looking up at...?"

Every time another Evil Dragon wakes up within [Cataclysm Zone], Takeshi's mind would be spirited away into a world reflecting on the new inmate's twisted and malefic worldview.

... It was no different this time around.

His feet feel the ground, being nothing but gravel that one would find by a river's shores.

He looks around his surroundings, all directions being obscured by a thick and opaque mist colored a bright fuchsia that rolled like dancing specters.

His ears perked up, picking up low rumbling sounds of thunder that had yet come down as lightning.

He tried not to smell the air, faintly picking up a stench that was a fusion of sweet fruits and rancid decay of garbage, causing him to gag.

"... Oh great," he grumbled to himself. "First impressions and they don't even have the decency to roll out the red carpet..."

With bated breath, he advances, the soles of his naked feet piercing the skin with each step he took.

As he continued moving forward, the fog parted, slowly revealing silhouettes of withered trees, defiled gravestones, and shallows that dipped into this barren earth.

"Can barely see shit..." Takeshi remarked as he kept moving, his ears now picking up other sounds beyond the rumbling thunder above.

Not letting his guard down for a second, Takeshi then approaches the source of this new sound, taking tender and steady steps to ensure that he isn't left vulnerable after a pratfall.

The closer he got, the more silhouettes of the withered trees and defaced gravestones appeared beyond the rolling fog, the former looking more akin to hands reaching out towards Takeshi, while the latter's pieces were shown to reveal parts of the deceased's names, almost as if this place was where the dead buried here are forsaken by all.

Even so, his instincts propelled him forward. Onwards through this hellscape so that he would find some closure before succumbing to this place's ambient madness that drove all five of his senses crazy just by lingering here.

It was as if this place was hostile to all forms of life that it entered. Typical of Evil Dragons, really.

*trickle*

Something else could be heard. It was coming from up ahead.

"... Getting close to the heart of this place," Takeshi remarked to himself as he advanced forward.

Slowly making his way through the dizzying fog and piercing gravel, Takeshi then approaches the sounds of running water before arriving at an outcropping overlooking a massive and wide river that parted into eight, smaller rivers further ahead.

It was a natural marvel, but it wasn't meant to be.

The waters were murky and polluted, almost as if it were a swamp. With that image burned into his mind, Takeshi now came to a conclusion of what this place is.

A paradise abandoned by the gods themselves. Now ruled by its new despotic king, leaving all of its natural beauty to rot where they stood.

"Why can't I have nice things..." Takeshi winced before he could faintly spot eight pairs of eyes glowing beneath the cesspool. "... Crap."

Slowly rising from the muck emerged a titanic silhouette, about two-hundred meters tall in height and its body branched into eight separate heads, each looking disturbingly phallic in appearance, with their tips dripping with an unknown substance that was so caustic that it caused the fetid waters that it emerged from to hiss and boil.

*CRASH!*

Thunder descends to lightning, its heavenly flash barely discerning the ruler of this domain.

"... Couldn't keep waiting, huh?" the Evil Dragon snickered with all of its heads in unison, giving their speech a disorienting echo that further ate away at Takeshi's mind. "... The anticipation... was eating you up, huh-?!"

---

21st of May, 2019 AD

---

YOU CAN COUNT THE MEDALS: ONE, TWO AND THREE!

LIFE GOES ON! ANYTHING GOES! COMING UP OOO!

This time, Pandora wakes up screaming, falling off of Takeshi's bed and landing on top of him.

"PANDORA-CHAN!" Bursting into the room was none other than Shiori, Rias, and Koneko. "I HEARD SCREAMING! WHAT HAPPENED-?!"

All three of them froze upon seeing that Pandora had woken up after falling off her bed and landing Takeshi, who had woken up shortly after his roommate had dove headfirst into his balls, causing him to pass out from the pain in the process.

"Ugh..." the Knight grumbled as she rubbed her head, completely oblivious to what had transpired. "... Can someone turn off that infernal din?!"

Koneko then takes her boyfriend's phone before turning off the alarm.

"... Did I fall off the bed?" Pandora asked as she slowly got up. "... Come to think of it, Takeshi did mention that the bed is deceptively easy to fall off from... and yet I feel fine."

Rias looked awkwardly to the side and away from her Pawn lying unconscious on the futon. "... I'm just glad you're not hurt, Pandora."

"... I'll help you change, Pandora-chan," Shiori remarked. "... Can one of you girls go grab a bag of frozen peas in the meantime?"

"I got it." Koneko then rushes downstairs and towards the freezer.

Both Rias and Koneko nod and silently agree to not bring this up with Takeshi and Pandora for the rest of the day.

---

After School...

---

"Alright, another day of school is over, which means that ORC's meeting is now in session!"

The Peerage members quietly applaud.

"So, what's on today's agenda?" asked Takeshi, completely oblivious to why his crotch felt numb throughout the whole day. "More commissions?"

"Nope, we're doing a little something special today," Rias replied before announcing today's activity. "Today, we're heading to the Familiar Forest, Abaddon!"

"It's been a good while since we went there," Yuuto pointed out. "Me and Koneko visited that place a few years ago... but we couldn't get our familiars due to being Low-Class Devils at the time."

"Speaking of..." Akeno then turns towards Rias. "President?"

"Oh right, the good news!" The President then takes out a sealed envelope before ripping it open. "Our victory in the Rating Game against House Phenex has been judged as legitimate, and all of you guys earned a full-rank promotion!"

"So we're all recognized as Middle-Class Devils?" Pandora asked.

"And all the privileges that come with it!" Rias confirmed as she handed out the certificates to her subordinates. "Sadly for me, I'm not recognized as Ultimate-Class like my dearest brother yet, but if it were that easy, then it wouldn't mean much!"

Takeshi then ruminates before looking towards Akeno. "... Come to think of it, senpai's now a High-Class Devil now, right?"

"Yes," she answered. "But I requested that they put my Evil Pieces on hold, given that I have no reason to form my own Peerage as of now, nor I have anyone in mind that I actually can recruit."

Takeshi then turns towards Rias with that statement in mind. "... Come to think of it, President, but how hard is it for new Peerages to maintain themselves?"

"There's a reason why Strays continue to exist, Takeshi," she answered. "The percentage of a freshly-established Peerage lasting their first three months is about 13%. Most Devils that get promoted to High-Class often remain with their current Peerage."

"Not everyone's ready for the brave new world," Koneko agreed.

"Still, it's a praiseworthy achievement!" Takeshi beamed. "Now the Underworld is going to have to take us more seriously!"

"Be careful what you wish for, whelp," Nidhogg warned with a hint of sadism in his words.

"I'm fine with it either way!" cackled Grendel. "Bring on the combatants!"

Rias grumbles before raising her hand, signaling everyone to calm down. "... With that said and done, shall we move out?" she requested. "I did text the Game Warden that we'd arrive at 3:00 PM and I'd rather not keep him waiting."

"Right!" Takeshi then springs up from his seat. "Let's make our debut as Middle-Class Devils properly!"

"BANZAI!" All members of ORC then walk into the magic circle before teleporting elsewhere.

---

At the Familiar Forest, Abaddon...

---

The Peerage arrives in the middle of densely-packed forest with the Underworld's discolored sun barely breaching through the thick canopy hanging over their heads.

"And here we are!" Rias remarked as the newer members of ORC looked around their new surroundings. "Welcome to the Familiar Forest, Abaddon!"

Takeshi then looks down at his waist to see that [Cataclysm Zone] still manifested in the material plane. "... Yep, this place is packed to the brim with ambient magic."

"It's almost intoxicating...!" Pandora gasped as she could feel her connection with the spirits surrounding her becoming more intimate with each passing second. "... I feel like my nerves are becoming one with the forest itself! I feel like I can tear this whole place apart at a whim!"

"... Please don't," begged Koneko. "The Game Warden here can get really scary if we damage the ecosystem here."

"Speaking of whom..." Takeshi then looks around for that person. "... Just where is our host? Surely, we should've run into them by now-"

"Gotta catch 'em all!"

Everyone were startled by this sudden shout as a figure then jumped down from the treetops, revealing himself as a thin and lanky-looking middle-aged man with a low ponytail wearing a white tank-top, black cargo shorts with a green hoodie sweater tied around his waist, a blue snapback baseball cap worn backwards with a tuft of reddish-brown hair sticking out of the hat's opening, and a yellow backpack stuffed with a lot of things that Takeshi himself assumed would be needed for trekking a forest like Abaddon.

Flashing a bright and toothy smile, the man then makes his introductions. "My name is Zatouji from Madara Town! Current Game Warden of Abaddon and aspiring Familiar Master! Now, who's wants to be the very best like no one ever was?!"

Takeshi and Pandora blinked stupidly at this Game Warden's eccentricities.

"... What the Helvíti am I witnessing?" Nidhogg deadpanned.

"Like your enthusiasm, but you're sorely lacking in muscle mass," Grendel deadpanned.

"Ha, I'll take that as a compliment coming from Evil Dragons of all creatures!" Zatouji replied with spunk. "So, Gremory-sama, I heard that your young'uns and new blood got promoted to Middle-Class! Which means only one thing...!"

Rias giggles at his energy. "Yes, we are," she answered. "Lead the way, Zatouji-san."

And so, the energetic Game Warden leads the Peerage through the dense forest in a line, breaking through foliage and brush as they venture deeper in.

"So, President," Takeshi remarked. "... Got a few questions."

"Ask away," Rias replied.

Takeshi then walks around the bush full of black berries that didn't look safe for human consumption. "So, what is Abaddon, exactly?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Rias replied. "Abaddon is a forested region within Hell's Seventh Circle, where various creatures of demonic origin reside and live. It was originally discovered by the original Lord Beelzebub to use as his breeding grounds to produce deadly insects of his own making, allowing him to develop his own trait, [Lord of the Flies], from his experience of interacting with the varied wildlife native to this area."

"Nowadays, this beautiful place is where supernatural creatures are gathered from all corners of the world so that they may grow and prosper without human interference, and Abaddon is unique in that it is environmentally diverse enough to house every possible supernatural species without compromise!" Zatouji added as he continued leading ORC. "Initially, this place was used by the Underworld's Nobility as their own reserved hunting grounds, but ever since Lord Sirzechs Lucifer took power, there's been a push to turn this place into a wilderness reservoir to preserve endangered supernatural species from all over the world! So far, it has seen numerous endangered species like Unicorns and Wyverns bounce back from the brink ever since they came here, and we even have future plans to release them back into the mortal plane once they hit their stable quota!"

"Tch, if they were any strong, then they wouldn't be endangered in the first place!" Grendel grumbled. "Compassion and mercy are for the weak!"

"Now, now, don't give them too much credit," Nidhogg deadpanned. "They're all just dumb animals who don't know any better."

Takeshi provides no commentary on the Evil Dragon's remarks. "... Moving on from that," he sighed as he ducked under a snag of vines hanging over their heads, now entering the tropical sector of Abaddon. "... Why is it that only Middle-Class Devils can have the right to acquire a familiar?"

Akeno winces. "... Two reasons, in particular," she pointed out. "One is that Low-Class Devils can't properly tame magical creatures without the risk of getting horrifically injured, at best."

"Sounds a 'them'-problem then ours," Grendel pointed out.

"You mean 'their' problem," Nidhogg corrected.

Yuuto nervously chuckles. "... Still though, the restrictions aren't exactly altruistic," he pointed out. "... The other reason is basic class prejudice."

"Let me guess, fears of Low-Class Strays amassing an army of familiars to wreck some shit?" Takeshi hypothesized.

"It came close to happening a few times in my life," Zatouji pointed out. "... Hell, I was consulted in one of the cases, where they were tracing down a freaking familiar trafficking ring. Illegally bred, poorly-raised in cages, and selling their meat and pelts if they're not sold off... the thought alone makes my blood boil!"

"Agreed," Koneko replied with a heavy hiss in her voice. "... No one deserves to be in a cage."

Takeshi then takes Koneko closer to him for comfort, the latter calming down in his presence.

"And... correct me if I'm wrong, but that Cluster you guys dealt with a few months ago had a Dark Elf woman in its ranks, right?" Zatouji asked.

"Yeah," Takeshi confirmed. "... Nidhogg turned her into a pincushion mid-air."

Zatouji then let out a quiet sigh as he closed his eyes. "... Believe it or not, that bitch was part of that same trafficking ring," he revealed. "She was a remorseless poacher who'd kill a rare magical creature for a quick payday, even if it meant that creature was the very last of its kind! So, on the behalf of all the animals and beasts that she'd hurt and killed... Thank you for bringing her to justice."

"Tch, think nothing of it," the Evil Dragon of Envy scoffed with dismissal. "Anyone who dies by my hand deserves to die, innocent or guilty."

"And ruined..." Takeshi grumbled. "... But still, I'm glad I provided you with some solace, Zatouji-san. Indirect as it was."

The group walk across the jungle in silence as Akeno then casts a lightning-based spell to ward off any mosquitos buzzing around ala a bug zapper.

"So, one last question," Takeshi said. "... How did you get into this job in the first place?"

"Hmm, well, I guess I got started around when Japan's bubble economy burst," the Game Warden recalled. "I got laid off from several companies, my marriage with my wife, Kaira, went south before she took the kids with her a year after, and I was basically left jobless and only kept the lights on in my one-room apartment due to me taking a loan from the local yakuza. Then Heisei Year 8 came rolling around..."

From his backpack, Zatouji then pulls out the original Gameboy with Pokémon Red Version inserted into its cartridge port.

"I managed to win a lottery ticket and had enough left over after paying my month's rent, so I treated myself!" the Game Warden revealed before putting the handheld away. "... I never looked back. I devoted my life to Pokémon. I caught all 151 of 'em before the first episode of the anime debuted. And that was when I decided what I wanted to do with the rest of my life! So I sold off my belongings, packed my bags, and began my journey around the world to see all of its animals!"

So that's why he's dressed like discount Satoshi, Takeshi thought. ... Or Satoshi if he actually aged past 10 years old.

"I braved the Amazon Rainforest! I cut my teeth on the Appalachian Trail! I climbed the Matterhorn!" he recalled with great joy. "My life now had meaning! It wasn't meant for the corporate or societal grind! I wanted to see the world and all of its natural beauty! And if I was going to die alone anyway, then I might as well die after checking off everything on my bucket list! And I held onto that belief as my sole rock in my life, even when I got lost in the Gobi Desert, out of water and energy to keep moving! Then, a miracle came!"

From beneath his backpack, Zatouji then unfurls his black, chiropteran wings, denoting him as a Devil.

"Lord Asmodeus saved my life when a Mongolian Death Worm almost ate me whole for a snack!" he revealed. "I begged him to take me, proclaiming my desire to see all of the world, no matter what it took! So he offered me a deal: I join his Peerage as a Pawn, and in exchange, I offer my loyalty to him for as long as I live! So I cut my teeth as a Reincarnated Devil, mastered the way of handling my King's familiars, and during my fifteenth year, I got promoted to Middle-Class, and the rest, as they say, is history!"

"Whoa...!" Takeshi chuckled. "... At first, I couldn't take you seriously because of your whole 'Pokémon-knockoff-look,' but upon getting to know you..."

Pandora nods. "... You're very of inspiring for someone so unremarkable."

Zatouji laughs heartily. "Coming from both the Fiftieth Evil Dragon User and ex-Calamity Witch, I'll take that as very high praises!" he remarked before turning his head back to the main path. "And here we are!"

Upon exiting the jungle, the Game Warden then leads them into a modestly-sized base camp posted near a lake. Nearby, there was a safari van parked next to one of the tents, and other sole occupants who were present before their arrival.

One of them was a redheaded girl with a small ponytail tied to the side of her head, wearing a blue and white-colored competition swimsuit underneath her azure cropped sports jacket, moving up her tinted swimming goggles up to her brow before drying her hair out with a towel. The other was a conservatively-dressed Shugendō monk with a takuhatsugasa hat shrouding his head, meditating while sitting on a rock, holding a shakujō staff in one hand while holding a ring of prayer beads in a prayer in another, quietly reciting a mantra in complete focus.

Zatouji then lets out a shrill whistle, catching the other two's attention and signaling their arrival.

"Alright, you guys! I brought our guests!" the Game Warden said with vigor. "Go ahead and introduce yourselves!"

"My name is Kawakami Koizumi!" the redheaded girl introduced herself. "I'm a freelance magician and aspiring marine biologist from Ōita, Kyushu! It's a pleasure to work with you all, Gremory-san and company!"

"I'm Shu," the monk bowed. "... I am a monk initiate hailing from Akita, Tōhoku. I am temporarily stationed here on my behalf of Lady Kiyohime as part of my training."

The monk then turns towards Takeshi before bowing once again.

"Lady Kiyohime and her entourage send their regards, Ryuugamine-san."

"Oh, thank you," Takeshi replied before bowing back. "I hope that your training pays off!"

Shu nods silently before Zatouji takes center stage. "These two are my temp workers here!" he explained. "Together, we'll guide you all through Abaddon and ensure that your familiar-bonding experiences go smoothly as possible!"

Everyone then gathers inside the base camp's tent, with Zatouji pulling out a massive tome titled "Magical Creatures Bestiary - 2018 Edition" before setting the doorstopper down onto the folding table.

"When it comes to seeking what kind of familiars that are the best for any of you, just leave it to us!" the Game Warden reassured.

"Whether they run, swim, or fly, there lies a familiar just for you!" Koizumi added.

"Every creature has their own strengths and weaknesses, so choose wisely," Shu advised as Zatouji then opens the tome to its page of contents.

All members of ORC glean over the contents at the same time.

"So, President," Pandora said. "Have you already decided?"

Rias nods. "Ever since all our familiars died at the hands of that Dark Elf mercenary a few months back, I've been borrowing Sona's golems during my rounds at Kuoh Town," she pointed out. "In any event, Zatouji-san, may I request an unspecified number of elementals?"

"What kind?" the Game Warden replied.

"All four types," the President answered. "Salamanders for home defense, Gnomes for general security, Sylphs for aerial patrol, and Undines for covert patrol."

"Why elementals, specifically?" Takeshi asked.

"They're low-maintenance and are surprisingly hardy despite their size," Koizumi explained. "They're a safe and popular choice for any aspiring Familiar Master!"

"I'll note that in our map and itinerary," Shu acknowledged as he pulled out a map and notepad before marking them with a sharpie.

"I think I'll settle for regular familiars like crows and mice," Akeno requested. "I'm not exactly in need of any extravagant familiars for personal use, but the least I can do is add more eyes for our territory."

"Same. Give me bats, the insect-eating ones," Koneko added. "... Any bigger, and I might end up eating it as my dinner."

"Nothing wrong playing it safe!" Zatouji remarked as the monk initiate marked the map and notepad while the rest of the Peerage passed the tome around amongst each other.

"Kind of shame that we won't be able to see any extravagant creatures today," Koizumi sulked. "... Then again, it beats having to deal with complaints after a bunch of hotshot Noble Devils get horrifically injured from attempting to tame a creature beyond their weight class."

Koneko shrugs as then passed the tome to Yuuto, who then gleaned over its pages before then passing it onto Pandora, the latter taking a considerably longer time picking out her choice of familiar.

"... No need to rush it," Shu advised. "... If you see one that you like, we'll make sure you have an attempt to catch it yourself."

"Y-Yes, of course, Mr. Shu," Pandora replied as the tome was handed to Takeshi.

"Ah, so now it's our resident Evil Dragon User's turn to pick!" Zatouji chuckled in anticipation. "So, which one do you like? Something with a bit of muscle? Something that can traverse like the speed of sound? Something who can take a beating and then some? Or something with whose venom can fell any opposition that you desire?"

"Something a tad concerning got mixed up in what you said, Zatouji-san..." Takeshi nervously chuckled before coming across a certain page. "What's this? This looks pretty strong."

"Oh-ho ho ho! My good man, you love to aim high, don't you?" the Game Warden remarked. "That is none other than the 'Genesis Progenitor Dragon' Tiamat, one of the Five Great Dragon Kings hailing from Mesopotamia!"

"I KNOW THAT BITCH!" Grendel spoke out loud from Takeshi's Sacred Gear. "SHE AND I FOUGHT FOR DAYS ON END! ONE OF THE BETTER FIGHTS THAT I HAD IN MY LIFETIME!"

"And the one you lost horribly."

An authoritative voice was heard coming from the lake, causing the others to come out and see that the waters were rising to reveal a massive, serpentine-looking Dragon whose scales were that of gleaming azure-silver as if it were the sea itself, her clawed limbs climbing her slender, yet robust form onto dry land, her piercing cerulean eyes staring at Takeshi with such intensity that he could feel his soul wither in her majestic presence.

Literally everyone present were too stunned for words as Evil Dragon User fell to his knees at this awesome majesty of this majestic creature.

"At ease, children," Tiamat reassured as she looked towards Takeshi directly. "My quarrel is with that delinquent inside that Sacred Gear of yours."

"AND NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON!" Grendel snarled out as the green gem around the belt's buckle glimmered with his voice. "... So, if knew that I was here this whole time, why bother taking this long showing yourself, you fucking cunt?"

"You are barely worth my time, you damn punk," Tiamat deadpanned. "... Would you like me to shove you back inside my womb and have my children feast upon you while they gestate?"

"BRING IT, BITCH!" the Evil Dragon of Wrath roared back. "I'LL MAKE YOU SHIT OUT STILLBORNS-!"

"FOR THE RECORD, HE DOES NOT SPEAK FOR ME!" Takeshi pointed out pre-emptively as he saw the escalation of this situation heading for the worse. "... So, what is a Dragon King doing here of all places?"

The Dragon King sighs before explaining, realizing that the current Evil Dragon User hasn't lost his mind (yet) to speak with reason.

"Abaddon is a home where various monsters come to prosper, child," Tiamat explained. "As a mother of countless monsters like myself, I brought it upon myself to appoint myself as the guardian of this place."

The Dragon King then brought her eyes closer towards Takeshi, further unnerving the latter.

"... I've been keeping a close eye on you, child," Tiamat revealed. "Ever since that publicized Rating Game of yours."

"Then you know that I've gotten stronger," Grendel boasted. "I'm itching for a demonstration, so how about it? Ready to show them all how Dragons really fight?!"

"WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE!" Takeshi panicked. "ARE YOU SERIOUSLY PICKING A FIGHT WITH A DRAGON KING OF ALL PEOPLE-?!"

"I accept."

Takeshi blinks. "... Eh?"

Tiamat chuckles lightly at the boy's panic, his ability to remain sane despite the presence of two Evil Dragons being a hook of interest for her. "It is only fair, after all," she remarked. "The policies that any creature within Abaddon are fair game when it comes to being familiars. And I am no exception to that rule."

Grendel chuckles in anticipation. "So when I beat your ass, you'll be forced to acknowledge me as your superior?!" the Evil Dragon pointed out. "... Such is the law of the jungle!"

"LAW OF THE JUNGLE, MY ASS!" Takeshi panicked. "SHE'S FINAL BOSS-MATERIAL! I DIDN'T GRIND ENOUGH FOR THIS SHIT!"

The Dragon King notes the boy's concern. "The child speaks with reason, and yet..."

The Dragon King's form then shines brightly before shrinking as everyone else covers their eyes with their arms and hands.

"... Perhaps it is due to my nature as a Dragon," she answered, "but I honestly cannot help myself but to humor your inane request, Grendel."

Takeshi then removes his blinders to find himself kneeling before a tall, statuesque woman with straight, aqua-blue hair whose length went past her feet, practically dragging the whole length behind herself, and yet, it retained its smooth and silky appearance as if her hair was literally a cascading waterfall. Her body was dressed in a teal and azure-colored robes akin to a fancy tunic or a Greek chiton, showing off her legs, bare thighs, and feet, exuding a cold confidence that was radiating with pure power. And below her blue tourmaline-like eyes were small scales the size of freckles that dotted her silky, lightly-tanned cheeks.

All in all, she looked like an otherworldly beautiful woman, as if she weren't a Dragon in the first place, but rather a physical goddess who merely chose a Dragon as her current incarnation.

"Come." Tiamat, in her human form, shifts her body into a basic fighting stance. "Show me your potential, child."

Takeshi then looks down towards [Cataclysm Zone]'s green gem. "... You really have no concept of 'fear,' do you?"

"Fear is merely an excuse for the weak to do nothing!" Grendel pointed out. "When a Dragon challenges you, show them the proper respect they deserve!"

Takeshi then lets out a deep sigh as everyone in their fear-induced stupor witness the Evil Dragon User will himself back up to his feet.

"Senpai...?" Koneko's voice tremored. "... No, no! YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS-!"

"STAND BACK, EVERYONE! I'M GONNA DO SOMETHING STUPID!" Takeshi then roars out loud as he could to push aside his fear. "DAI DAI HENSHIN!"

"[Atrocity Rise]!" announced [Cataclysm Zone]. "[Crime Force Awakening]!"

Erupting into flames, Takeshi's whole body was encased in his second Balance Breaker form, [Savage Predator Incarnation].

"GET BACK!" Rias warned as she got the rest of ORC and the Game Warden (and temp workers) to clear out as her Pawn was forced to do something stupid.

"I'M NOT TAKING ANY CHANCES AGAINST YOU, TIAMAT-SAMA!" Takeshi declared. "GRENDEL! WE'RE GOING ALL OUT FROM THE START!"

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT, YOU DAMN BRAT!" the Evil Dragon of Wrath cackled rapturously. "NO MERCY!"

Tiamat smiles as Takeshi smashes both sides of his belt buckle.

"[Charge]!" announced the Sacred Gear. "[Atrocity Overflow]!"

The vents around Takeshi's Balance Breaker all erupt their massive gouts of flame that slowly manifest Grendel into the real world.

"Let's show her, brat...!" the fiery avatar declared. "... OUR COMBINED POWER!"

"IT'S DO OR DIE!" Takeshi then smashes both sides of his Sacred Gear once more, causing the jets to spew even harder as both the Evil Dragon User and manifestation charged towards the Dragon King with everything they have.

"Is he actually going to do it?!" Koizumi remarked while in panic.

"Pray for him," Shu replied as everyone else watched the Evil Dragon User deliver his finisher towards the Dragon King.

"[Violent Dual Remix]!" Takeshi and Grendel both perform a coordinated rocket-powered Double Rider Punch towards Tiamat.

*BOOM!*

Everyone cries out in panic as the sheer impact of the blow triggers an eruption that uplifts the lake behind where Tiamat stood, kicking up a sizable tidal wave that scatters into a brief drizzle.

The precipitation causes the dust eruption to clear out, revealing that Tiamat caught both fists with her hands, and leaving nary so much as a scratch on her.

"WHAT?!"

"Promising," Tiamat remarked as she tightened her grip around their fists, preventing them from escaping. "Still green, though."

Then the Dragon King begins ragdolling the two of them, thrashing their bodies against the ground as if she were stretching a dough into ramen noodles.

The disparity of power between a Dragon King and the Evil Dragon User was so disproportionate that Tiamat had to actively hold back most of her power just to not kill Takeshi, but exert just enough to satisfy Grendel's masochistic bloodlust.

"Now, I will show you my strength."

She then tosses both of them into the air, with Grendel's fiery avatar colliding against his host and petering out upon contact. After Takeshi was left all by himself, she then jumps up towards the Evil Dragon User, grabs his arms and legs as she rests his spine onto her shoulders, locking him into a reverse Fireman's Carry right before plummeting. As they fall back to the earth, Tiamat then crisscrosses the seized limbs across her own chest, adding further tension onto Takeshi's spine right before landing, snapping it in two, and paralyzing Takeshi from the hips down.

This finishing and debilitating impact forces him out of his transformation entirely, leaving him fainted, whited out, and unable to battle.

"TAKESHI!" Everyone from ORC then ran towards the Evil Dragon User.

"Stand back," Tiamat ordered as she picked the boy up in her arms. "I shall heal him."

Wasting no time, the Dragon King then gives Takeshi a deep kiss before vomiting something into his mouth and throat, much to the shock of the female members of ORC.

"Wha-Wha-What-WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Pandora screeched in panic as everyone could see Takeshi's jugular becoming more lumpy before his broken back and other bones literally cracked back into place all on their own, the crunching and snapping sounds reverberating through his muscles as if his own skeleton underneath had come to life, separate from its own body's owner.

Once the horrific undulations are finished, Tiamat then tosses Takeshi back to ORC, the latter now completely delirious and drooling while fish-eyed.

"My bodily fluids double as panacea," the Dragon King revealed as she wiped her mouth. "As the 'Dragon King of Strength,' everything that I naturally generate are powerful essences that are full of life."

"I can attest..." gagged Nidhogg as his host came to. "So full of life... How revolting..."

"My mouth tastes like it chugged gallons of seawater..." Takeshi then wakes up before kneeling down and vomiting out disturbing volumes of the Dragon King's leftover saliva, the substance revealed to have a viscosity of that of gelatin.

Pandora proceeds to vomit at the disgusting sight, while everyone else felt a bit chunky before averting thine eyes.

After a few minutes of collecting themselves, Tiamat returns to her Dragon form and back into the lake as everyone else calms down at her awesome presence.

"I can still taste my own breakfast..." Pandora groaned as Akeno patted her back gently.

"Are you satisfied, Grendel?" the Dragon King asked.

The Evil Dragon of Wrath dryly chuckles with slight satisfaction. "... I lost again," he commented. "... But the excitement I felt, even if it was only for a second, was palpable! To think I still have yet to fully comprehend on becoming stronger...! Now that gets my heart racing!"

Tiamat nods with slight approval. "... You've grown, Grendel," she complimented. "But are you or the child satisfied the way you are now?"

Takeshi shakes his head. "I'm only at Phase Two, Tiamat-sama," he revealed. "... I'm not exactly a battle maniac like Grendel... but I'm not the kind of person who leaves things partially-finished."

"What the brat says," agreed the Evil Dragon of Wrath. "... I'll become even stronger! Stronger than you! That is my reason as the Evil Dragon of Wrath! So that no foe will ever stand before me twice!"

Tiamat chuckles, realizing that the current Evil Dragon User's influence has inspired a new path for the Evil Dragons to take.

Compared to the previous forty-nine Users, Ryuugamine Takeshi showed promise. Rather than degrade over time, the boy seemed to become stronger with each trial overcome.

As for the Evil Dragons, it's clear that they've become stronger because of the boy's influence, with him treating them not as monsters to be reviled and feared, but as parts of his own life that he's slowly learning to accept.

"... I look forward to your progress, child," the Dragon King declared. "Remember, the whole side of our world now has its eyes on you, so do not let your guard down. Understood?"

Takeshi nods as Tiamat then descends back into the pond's depths.

"... Sorry about the hold-up, everyone," Takeshi apologized. "Shall we?"

Everyone then gets on board the safari van with Koizumi behind the wheel.

"Alright everyone!" Zatouji said as he sat next to the magician behind the wheel. "Get ready to see Abaddon in full until we catch 'em all!"

Takeshi groans as he fidgets in his seat crammed between Yuuto and Koneko all the way at the back.

"... Senpai, are you okay?" Koneko asked.

"Aside from my life flashing before my eyes when I got my ass beaten by a Dragon King...? I'm peachy," Takeshi dryly replied. " Although, come to think of it, ever since this morning, I couldn't help but get this creeping feeling off my back somehow..."

"Really?" Yuuto remarked. "It's just bothering you now?"

Koneko steadily looked away from Takeshi as she swore an oath to secrecy.

"... Takeshi, I have a question," Pandora said. "... You said that every time you wake up by falling from your bed, that it usually pertains to an ill omen, correct?"

"Uhh... yeah, I think I sort of remember saying that," Takeshi confirmed. "Why?"

"What happens when someone else other than you falls off your bed, per se?" asked Pandora. "... Does that mean something bad is going to happen to me?"

"No, I don't think so," Takeshi rebuffed. "... Come to think of it, is your head hurt or something?"

"No," Pandora replied. "... The other girls at ORC told me that I landed on your pillow when I fell, so I wasn't hurt much."

"Oh good, crisis averted," Takeshi sighs in relief. "... Though that doesn't explain why I feel so numb today-"

"Ahem!" Rias cleared her throat as loud as she could. "... Anyway, Takeshi, have you decided on what kind of familiar you would like?"

Takeshi then ruminates as both Koneko and Rias sigh in relief, much to everyone else's confusion.

"Ara." Akeno then smirked as she could pick up bits and pieces of what was happening. "... Did something happen between the President and Koneko-chan while they were at Takeshi's house?"

The whole atmosphere got a little awkward as the safari van drove out of the jungle and into the open savanna, where herds of Monoceros (not Unicorns, the former are more akin to rhinos) could be seen grazing in the fields.

... You're not gonna tell those strumpets what actually happened? Grendel commented.

Oh Grendel, sometimes you just need to learn how to enjoy watching them squirm, Nidhogg snickered as he literally feeds off the van's awkwardness.

Snapping his fingers, Takeshi then finishes thinking. "Alright! I know just what I want!" he declared. "And that's-!"

*CRASH!*

The whole van gets rammed from the side and upturned, causing the whole thing to tip over onto its back and leave its passengers upside-down.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Pandora screeched.

"SHIT! MONOCEROS!" Koizumi answered as another crunching sound was heard coming from the side of the upturned van. "EVERYONE! OUT!"

The magician then turns off the engines before taking off her seatbelt as everyone else follows suit.

"Oh man, this was not part of the plan!" Zatouji remarked. "Monoceros are usually docile, but when they get going, oh man, we're in trouble!"

As soon as everyone got out of the rolled over vehicle, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by the herd of magical rhinos.

"... Zatouji-san, permission to defend ourselves?" Rias asked as she tapped into her [Power of Destruction].

"Something's wrong with them," Shu pointed out.

"In what regard?" Yuuto asked.

"Normally, if Monoceros are upset, it's usually because they're afraid of something!" Koizumi explained. "But this...?!"

It was strange that the rhinos were going into a blind stampede. Rather, they were surrounded, as if they were hunting.

"... Monoceros aren't predators," Zatouji pointed out. "So who's commanding them-?!"

Then, a bassy roar akin to a lion's was heard from afar.

"... Why does that sound so familiar?" Koneko pointed out.

Coming in flying from the skies was a Chimera with parts of a lion, falcon, dolphin, bull, and chameleon.

"President?" Akeno asked. "... Isn't that-?!"

"NITO-CHAN!" Takeshi then immediately recognizes that Chimera, like a child seeing a puppy that he wanted very badly.

The Chimera in turn, does not reciprocate, looking more existentially terrified of the Evil Dragon User.

"Come here!" Pspspspspsps!" he called out towards the creature. "I promise, I won't hurt you-!"

The Chimera roars, signaling the Monoceros to charge at them all at once.

"OH CRUD!" Zatouji panicked.

"BRACE YOURSELVES-!"

Suddenly, Takeshi then grabs two Monoceros by their nose horns before swinging them around as bludgeons, knocking the rest of the beguiled herd away before throwing the two towards the flying Chimera, to which the latter narrowly dodges out of the way, with the thrown rhinos landing on their backs on their way down.

A few moments of silence rolled across the savanna as both the Chimera and Takeshi stared each other down, the latter's eyes glimmering like stars.

After a few seconds of eye contact, the Chimera flies away as if its life depended on it.

"DON'T RUN AWAY FROM MY LOVE, NITO-CHAN! I'LL MAKE MINE SOON ENOUGH!" Takeshi then sprints towards where the Chimera was flying towards. "DAI DAI HENSHIN!"

"[Malice Rise]!" Then [Cataclysm Zone] then manifests [Dead Shore Advent] around its wearer's body as he runs. "[Abyss Rage Awakening]!"

"[Promotion: Knight]!" Then the four ashen Dragon's wings enlarged before taking flight in pursuit of the traumatized Chimera, leaving everyone else behind in utter bafflement.

"... What's going on?" Pandora asked. "And why is Takeshi acting half his age all of the sudden?"

Rias groans as to how the exact same Chimera from the Stray Devil Viser from a month prior had ended up in Abaddon of all places.

"... I have such a headache."

---

On Pursuit...

---

"HERE, KITTY, KITTY, KITTY!" Takeshi squealed like an overexcited child as he pursued the fleeing Chimera into the wetlands. "DON'T RUN AWAY FROM MY LOVE!"

The fleeing Chimera lets out another panicked roar, signaling the local Kelpies and Karkinos to emerge from the murky waters below and attack the Evil Dragon User.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Takeshi then scatters Nidhogg's ashes from the double Dragon wings, the particles solidifying into various instruments of murder before ripping apart all of the creatures running after him. "YOU RESISTING MAKES ME WANT YOU EVEN MORE!"

Just as the Chimera could escape, Takeshi then picks up speed in his flight path before tackle-hugging the fleeing monster to the ground, the latter flailing desperately in his embrace.

"I'm gonna love you, feed you, pet you, and call you Nito!" Takeshi then begins rubbing himself all over the beast's varied hide as it squirmed.

The Evil Dragons, meanwhile, as the sole witnesses to this bizarre spectacle, can only feel nothing but confusion, as they were able to detect fear similar to that of their human (and supernatural) victims coming from the beast.

... Somehow, this animal gained partial human sentience because of the whelp's infernal hawking, Nidhogg deadpanned. ... Congratulations are in order, whelp. You've given me a reason to be scared of you in the future.

I don't see what's wrong with the brat's singing, Grendel commented. He sings perfectly fine to me.

Of course you would think that... The Evil Dragon of Envy then lets out a deep sigh as Takeshi continues cuddling the frightened beast with his body.

"Please become my familiar!" Takeshi begged before realizing the following. "... Come to think of it, how do I do such a thing-?"

*WHAP!*

In that momentary distraction, the beast escapes by swiping his claw across Takeshi's face, sending him flying into a tree trunk as it makes its escape.

"Ow... a little love tap, huh?" Takeshi giggled. "Doesn't matter! YOU'LL BE MINE SOON ENOUGH-!"

The Chimera however, stops retreating. It stood its ground before Takeshi.

"... Tired of running, huh?" the Evil Dragon User remarked. "... Alright then. Let's settle this once and for all-!"

Then from around him, several serpentine heads emerge from the muck. Surrounding him were the six heads of the Hydra, their bronze scales glimmering with the muck that they were coated in.

"... Strange," Nidhogg commented as he felt that the Chimera's fear had now turned into sadism. "... It appears that the beast has lured us into a trap."

The Hydra's heads then let out a shrilling shriek as they lunged towards Takeshi.

"OH FUCK ME!" Takeshi cursed as he swung his [Mayhem Striker] to parry the emerging beast's snapping maws, now revealing itself as a quadruped creature with the torso of a Western Dragon with a forked, serpentine tail. "YOU'RE NOT ON MY ITINERARY, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! GET OUT OF MY WAY-!"

Just then, all of the Hydra's heads then vomit out a stream of caustic bile at the Evil Dragon User, forcing the latter to dodge by taking flight...

*HISS*

... At the cost of the Chimera that had summoned the multi-headed creature to be melted into bloody goo right after Takeshi had evaded this tidal wave of gastric acid.

"NOOO!" Takeshi wailed in despair. "NITO-CHAN!"

"That's what gets to you?" deadpanned Nidhogg as he was forced to witness this absurd comedy routine.

The Evil Dragon User's despair then turns into rage as he then actively engages the Hydra with the intent to kill him.

"YOU'RE GONNA FUCKING PAY FOR THAT BLASPAMY!" the Evil Dragon User roared out as he swung his [Mayhem Striker] wildly, gouging out cuts of the beast's scaled hide and meat with each successive contact, all the while, planting more of Nidhogg's ashes into its body to further damage it from the inside out.

The Hydra keeps coming back from the brink, its wounds healing all on their own faster than Takeshi could make more of them as the monster continues its rampage.

"It'll be a shame if our story ended here at the hands of mere beasts, whelp," Nidhogg remarked as his host fought for his life. "... You have my blessing to use [Helfrost]."

"HOW MANY YEARS HAVE I GOT LEFT?!" Takeshi asked as the Evil Dragon checked his vitals.

"... You're back to 100,000," Nidhogg confirmed while his host continued fighting the monster. "... Tiamat's essence being 'full of life' wasn't an exaggeration."

"WORKS FOR ME!" Takeshi then bats back the other two heads before slamming both sides of his [Cataclysm Zone].

"[Charge]!" the Sacred Gear announced. "[Malice Overflow]!"

He then plants [Mayhem Striker] before his feet, summoning Nidhogg to reality in his ashen avatar form as the Hydra's heads recover from their initial stunning. As all six heads lunged towards Takeshi, Nidhogg swipes them aside to let his host jump up to the air with the Evil Dragon following close behind.

"[Abyss Blast Fever]!" The Evil Dragon User then lets out a furious roar as his diving kick was propelled by Nidhogg's [Helfrost] breath.

As the Hydra's heads lunged towards Takeshi, the former froze solid as Takeshi closed in onto the monster's body.

"SEIYAAA!"

*SHATTER!*

The immortal Hydra breaks into chunks of frozen meat and bone as Takeshi lands his Rider Kick through the creature.

"95,000 years left, whelp," Nidhogg stated. "Good work."

Takeshi then lets out a deep sigh as he looks back at the melted Chimera laid before the shattered Hydra. "... You have been avenged, Nito-chan-"

*SPLASH!*

Then several more heads of Hydra emerged from the wetland's bog.

"Come to think of it, I remember Hydras regularly living in swamps," Grendel commented.

"... Oh fuck me sideways."

The air filled up with their shrieks as Takeshi was now forced to fight for his life at the most inopportune time.

---

Meanwhile...

---

"And there we go...!"

Rias then applies her House's Heraldry onto a Salamander's forehead, the blazing lizard now under her command as it then joins with its fellow elementals that ORC had gathered.

"And that makes one-hundred!" the President remarked as she then dismissed her new familiars into her magical storage. "Thanks to Pandora's Charm, corralling these creatures has been a cakewalk."

Akeno nodded in agreement as she finished applying her contracts with her new crow familiars before they disappeared. "You have a real knack for this, Pandora-chan!"

"I agree," Shu confirmed as Koneko cradled her new bat familiars hanging on her arms. "Your Spirit Charming can transition well into Familiar Mastery."

"Oh, no no no, I'm not exactly planning to have a whole zoo's worth of creatures at my beck and call," Pandora insisted. "... That and, I'm still trying to learn how to tame my out of control Charm so that it doesn't get in the way of my regular life."

"Speaking of," Yuuto remarked. "How far has your training progressed?"

"Better than I thought, but I still have ways to go," the other Knight explained. "Shadowing Miss Himejima during her commissions helped me a lot at getting a better hold on my powers."

"Well, guess we can cross you three ladies off the list of priorities!" Zatouji said before turning towards Koizumi. "Kawakami-san! How's the van?!"

"Just a second!" Together with her Suiko and Nurikabe familiars, the magician then pushed the van back upright. "There we go! Now I just need to get it back up and running! Shu-san, can you set up a few wards around here? I prefer if I can work in peace."

"Understood." The monk initiate then casts out a few ofuda tags around the area, manifesting a protective boundary around them as Koizumi goes to the trunk to retrieve the repair tools. "This area shall be our temporary checkpoint. Refer to this area should you get lost."

"Will do!" Zatouji replied as he pivoted his heel towards another area beyond the savanna. "Let's go, everyone! We still have yet to catch 'em all!"

Following the Game Warden further into the savanna, the ORC members begin searching for whatever creature that catches their eye.

"So, Mr. Zatouji," Pandora said.

"Yes?" the Game Warden replied.

"In this habitat in particular, what kind of creatures tend to live here?" the Knight asked.

"Usually the ones that tend to run around a lot," Zatouji answered. "If I had to bring up a mortal plane comparison, I'd say it's akin to the African savanna or the American Great Plains."

"Understood," Rias replied as she then summoned her Sylphs as Akeno beckoned her crows. "Alright everyone, let's break 'em in!"

"Kind of a shame that bats are only good for night patrols..." Koneko pouted as the newly-acquired familiars took flight, granting the group eyes in the sky in their trek.

"... Hey, if you all don't mind me asking, but what's Ryuugamine-san's history with that Chimera?" asked the Game Warden. "I mean, I've been workin' with these critters for over a good decade now, but never have I seen a single creature... behave that way."

"Aren't Chimeras like the bestial versions of the hypothetical homunculi?" Pandora pointed out.

"True, but animals, no matter if they're born naturally or artificially, still subscribe to that baseline called 'instinct'!" Zatouji replied. "Hell, I've helped a few Devils like yourselves get Chimeras as familiars, so I know 'em like the back of my hand!"

Everyone sans Pandora grimace just thinking about why that Chimera was so hellbent on both getting its revenge and fleeing from Takeshi in particular.

"... President?" Akeno said out loud as Rias let out a sigh.

"Fuck it. Might as well rip off that band-aid..."

And then Rias shared the whole story of how Takeshi's borderline-eldritch singing had traumatized the Chimera (and its late master/creator) on top of making the whole ballroom of rotting corpses explode like balloons full of blood, painting the whole area red.

"... My Satan," Zatouji flatly remarked. "... That bad?"

"To be fair, he was using magic that one time, but I wouldn't put it past him that his default singing had 'evolved' to that point of lethality," Akeno pointed out. "It's almost like he's an Evil Dragon himself, and we're all just in vehement denial."

"That kind of Evil Dragon would literally end the world in the most stupidest way possible," Koneko deadpanned. "... Even Sirens would quail before senpai's chthonic pipes."

"Are you sure that he needs a familiar?" Zatouji asked, now starting to doubt his need for an additional creature by his side.

"I'm only being fair, Zatouji-san," Rias protested. "I give everyone a fair shake before making my judgment."

"Speaking of..." The Game Warden then turns his head back towards Yuuto, who was both glancing at the pages of the bestiary while keeping a lookout with his (borrowed) binoculars. "... Oi, Kiba-san! You find anything that you like?!"

The Knight shakes his head. "... Perhaps I should get a cockatoo or something."

"Eh, I've had weirder," Zatouji shrugged before they continued walking through the savanna.

Upon reaching the jungle area, Zatouji then turns around before doubling back from where they came from.

"Alright, if anyone's got anything in mind, say it now!" the Game Warden announced. "Otherwise, we're going back-!"

Pandora then turns her head towards the jungle.

"Pandora-chan?" Akeno said. "... Is something the matter-?"

"Shh!" the Knight shushed as she then cupped her ears. "... Does anyone but me hear... meowing?"

The Game Warden then gulps before quietly signaling everyone to follow Pandora into the tropical foliage, with her sense of hearing being able to pick up on a sound so faint that even regular Devils couldn't hear it.

"... It sounds hurt," Pandora whispered.

Soon, the group then happens upon a small clearing near a tiny puddle. Curled up next to it was a small creature resembling a common kitten with black fur and silver highlights akin to leopard spots, but what really made it stand out were its six legs and three tails, denoting it as a creature belonging to the realm of the supernatural.

"... Sweet Satan, you've hit the jackpot!" Zatouji remarked as he peered through the thicket. "That right there's a Cath Palug!"

"The very same species whose one of its members was infamous for nearly bringing King Arthur to his knees...!" Yuuto added. "... But what's it doing there all by itself?"

Pandora gasps as she spotted two of the hind legs on its left side looking slightly disjointed, the creature maneuvering it gingerly as if it were made of glass.

"Its legs are injured," the Knight pointed out. "... I can't leave it alone like this!"

"Careful," warned Zatouji. "Even an infant Cath Palug are born with great powers. They can use ambient demonic energy to really mess up someone's day like any seasoned Devil with its bad attitude, and their eyes can put you into a deep trance!"

"Just holler if things go south," Akeno reassured as Pandora takes the warning to heart before taking off her shades while approaching the injured kitten.

The infant beast hisses as its body begins radiating with demonic energy in an attempt of displaying its threat towards Pandora, but the latter responds to its hostility with her Charm spurred by her genuine desire to help.

"Don't worry," she reassured as her eyes glowed with a soft light. "... I'm not going to hurt you."

The young Cath Palug calmed down, but eyes were still wary, unblinking as they were kept fixed onto the girl.

Upon getting close enough to kneel down towards the kitten, Pandora then intensifies her Charm to soothe it of its pain, calming it down long enough for her to apply basic healing magic to mend its fractured bones and torn muscles, and then links her own demonic energy to the Cath Palug to not only revitalize it, but also to establish a bridging point between her and the young beast.

"... You were alone," she remarked. "Just like me, weren't you?"

The kitten mews in response.

Pandora smiles, feeling blessed for the first time that her ancestry can be used to do genuine good.

"Would you like to come with me?" she asked.

The kitten meows in confirmation, now linking its own demonic energy with hers, the bridge between two lifeforms not established mutually.

"Then I shall form a pact!" Pandora declared as a magic circle shone beneath the two of them. "In the name of Pandora Othrys, I order thee! Thou art shall become my familiar and respond to my contract!"

The magic circle then closes in on the young Cath Palug, now fully pacified before climbing onto the Knight's shoulder like a common kitten.

"... Othrys-san, you're a natural, you know that?" Zatouji remarked. "Perhaps I should submit a few requests for you as an internship opportunity! Who knows? Maybe you can use my requests as a way to train your Charm!"

Pandora smiles as the Cath Palug rubs it's cheek against hers. "... I'll think about it."

"Look at you, managing to tame an extremely-rare creature all by yourself! I'm so proud of you, Pandora-chan!" Akeno praised the Knight before looking at the kitten that the latter had practically adopted. "... So, you got a name for it?"

Pandora nods. "... 'Gin'," she revealed. "For its silver spots."

The newly-christened Gin then lets out a meow of affirmation.

"Alright, that's another one down!" Zatouji then checks another one off the list before turning towards Yuuto. "... Kiba-san, are you still deciding?"

Yuuto shook his head. "... I think I can go without one for now," he answered. "Sorry for wasting your time, Zatouji-san."

"No need to worry!" the Game Warden reassured. "I'm just glad that you all came all the way out here in the first place!"

The group then unfurls their wings before flying back to the location of their van.

"I have to ask, but why are we now just flying?" asked Pandora as Gin kept a tight perch on her shoulder. "Couldn't we have done this while we were searching?"

"Yes, but our wings are noisy." Rias then flapped her wings, causing Gin to react. "Beasts tend to have more sensitive hearing than even us Devils."

"And if you wanna catch a critter, you gotta think like one!" Zatouji added. "... That, and flying in a thick forest is both difficult and just as dangerous. I got jumped on a couple times before I said 'screw it, I'm buying a Toyota'!"

Yuuto chuckles. "... I agree with the sentiment," he remarked. "... Modern day conveniences go really well with supernatural problems."

The group of Devils then descend back onto land where Shu and Koizumi were waiting.

"Van's fixed up!" the magician confirmed.

"Wards have done their job," Shu added. "Now all we have to do is wait for the Evil Dragon User-"

*BOOM*

Everyone then pivots their heads towards the rising plume of smoke coming from where Takeshi had last flown off towards.

"Takeshi?"

Everyone else nods.

"START THE FREAKING ENGINE AND STEP ON IT!"

---

Exiting the Wetlands Area...

---

"BAD HYDRAS! BAD SIX-HEADED SERPENTS!"

Pursuing Takeshi were a whole stampede of the multi-headed serpents as their feet stamped through the boggy earth and splintered through the mangroves like matchsticks.

The two parties continued exchanging ashen blades and venom blasts respectively, further tearing up the local biome as the rest of the hapless creatures caught in the middle of this chaos were either forced to flee, or got murdered in the crossfire.

Either way, even if Takeshi wanted to take one of them as his personal familiar, having a whole murderous horde of them nipping at his heels didn't provide the Evil Dragon User with the most optimal of circumstances.

"Whelp, you know that [Helfrost] is an option, right?" Nidhogg pointed out. "My ice negates their regenerative properties."

"I CAN'T TRUST THEM TO SIT STILL LONG ENOUGH FOR ME TO GET A CLEAR SHOT ON ALL OF THEM!" Takeshi replied as he dodged another tangle of snapping maws like if he was in the Hercules movie. "ONE I CAN HANDLE! BUT A WHOLE MESS OF THEM ALL AT ONCE?!"

The Hydras then all let out another tidal wave of gastric acid from their mouths, forcing Takeshi to take higher ground lest he get melted.

"And getting too close will result in a feeding frenzy!" he added before unleashing a storm of ashen shurikens towards the Hydras, nicking and cutting them in various places as they charged. "I CAN'T THINK OF A SOLID PLAN TO DEAL WITH THESE PERSISTENT BASTARDS!"

Then he heard the sounds of an engine rumbling.

"TAKESHI!" Speeding towards them was the safari van, with Rias climbing atop of the roof as she unleashes her [Avatar of Destruction: Hakaizer] from behind.

"PRESIDENT-!"

"WHELP! BEHIND YOU-!"

*THWACK!*

The Evil Dragon User was struck from behind with a deadly whiplash from a Hydra's headbutt, sending him crashing through numerous trees and muck before landing headfirst into a large boulder, the resulting impact concussing him and knocking him out of [Dead Shore Advent], stripping him down back to his base armor form.

Thankfully, this attack had allowed the Pawn to get out of the way just in time as the Gremory King then unleashes a massive red ray of [Power of Destruction] from her skeleton's mouth like a wave-motion cannon, allowing her fired beam to bore through the whole stampede of Hydra and the environment they were standing behind.

"... Gremory-sama, that was pretty ballsy of you," Koizumi sighed out as she stopped the van before the devastation, allowing everyone to get out.

"Forget about that for a moment," Shu remarked as he exited the van with Zatouji. "... What in Buddha's name happened here?!"

"Is something the matter?" asked Pandora as she held Gin around her arms and bosom before witnessing the amount of devastation left behind by the stampede. "... My gods."

"Normally, Hydras are solitary hunters," the Game Warden explained as he inspected the various pieces left behind by those slain creatures. "There's never been a recording that they form a damn stampede-!"

Then a shrill roar was heard coming from the horizon.

"... The Hell is that sound?" Pandora asked.

Shu grits his teeth. "... Not good," the monk initiate answered. "... We've awakened the wetland's apex predator!"

*FWOOSH*

*THUD!*

Landing before them was was a quadrupedal wyrm the size of a small jet whose body was covered in jet-black scales gleaming like obsidian, whose pair of sail-like wings then flourished out, scattering droplets of acid that forced ORC and company to retreat, and from its crocodilian maw dripped with even more acid as its jade-green eyes with slit pupils surveyed its surroundings, searching for something.

"A DRAGON?!" Akeno panicked. "HERE OF ALL PLACES?!"

"It's no ordinary Dragon, Himejima-san!" Koizumi warned. "That thing's a Black Dragon of Colchis!"

Yuuto's eyes widened. "The very same one that had guarded the [Golden Fleece]?!"

"A young descendent, but no less dangerous!" Zatouji warned. "... It's not directing its ire at us right now! Run while we still have the time-!"

But just as they could do anything, the Black Dragon locked its eyes towards Takeshi, who was slumped against a large boulder.

"Oh no!" Pandora gasped. "TAKESHI-!"

Upon spotting him, the Black Dragon then lunges its whole body toward the Evil Dragon User, breaking through the mangrove trees in deadly pursuit.

"Stop that thing-!" Rias suddenly then falls onto her knee in exhaustion, forcing Yuuto to help her up. "... Dammit, why did I set my previous attack to maximum output?"

Koneko then tries to run towards Takeshi on her own as the Black Dragon closes in on him. "SENPAI-!"

But just as the Black Dragon could enact its retribution upon the Evil Dragon User by crushing him flat...

"[Connection Complete]."

Everyone sees that the Black Dragon's reprisal was stopped dead-cold mid-swipe.

"... I heard something," Akeno pointed out. "... It came from the belt."

Rias' eyes widened upon hearing that remark. "... Everyone, get ready to run."

Struggling, the Black Dragon tried to push down, but couldn't move a single inch as the gem on [Cataclysm Zone]'s very center turned navy-blue.

Lifting itself up, Takeshi's unconscious body then holds onto the Black Dragon's claw with one hand as its other pressed a certain button on the belt.

"[Transfer]!" announced [Cataclysm Zone]. "[Kokatsu Denryū]!"

Manifesting in its free hand, an urumi-like whip with magenta-colored blades with pointed tips appears before it then swiftly lashes all eight of its wavy blades at the Black Dragon, sending it recoiling back as its limbs, chest, and face were covered with caustic cuts that hissed and boiled against the reincarnated creature's flesh and scales.

Then the Evil Dragon User then lets out a low chuckle.

"I heard a chuckle," Koneko gulped as her face paled. "... It's not senpai's voice!"

"EVERYONE! INTO THE VAN!" Zatouji ordered as Koizumi started the engine.

Then an uproarious and explosive laughter echoed throughout the devastated wetlands of Abaddon as ORC and company got into the van and drove away as far as they could.

"The great me...!" a conniving voice spoke from Takeshi's lips before it struck a dramatic pose, "... HATH NOW COME!"

Now Playing: "Spinnin' Around" by Takahashi Hagino (from Kamen Rider Ryuki)

The reawakened third Evil Dragon and Black Dragon now stare each other down with hostility, the latter hissing with pure hatred burning in its eyes while the latter nonchalantly cracks its neck from side to side.

"Oh, so you're my bottom bitch for today!" the Evil Dragon snickered as the eyes underneath the grill turned yellow. "Think you can rise to the occasion?! I'll leave you limp and gasping for air!"

The Black Dragon then blasts a heavy gout of acid from its mouth, to which the Evil Dragon dodges while swinging their whip around their area. The stream continues as the Black Dragon shifts his trajectory of its blast, to which the Evil Dragon dodges easily.

"Come on, you know that it's rude to start with a facial!" cackled the Evil Dragon. "Let me show you how it's really done!"

The Evil Dragon then swings its [Kokatsu Denryū] towards the reincarnated Hydra, lashing its edges around its scales and leaving behind numerous gashes that each hissed like acid.

The Black Dragon of Colchis shrieks in rage before ramming its whole body through the mangroves in an attempt to destroy the Evil Dragon.

"Comin' in this early?" the Evil Dragon taunted. "How sloppy."

As the fight raged on in the heart of the wetlands, driving away from the carnage with Koizumi behind the wheel, the sounds of fighting drew ever closer and louder.

"CAN THIS THING GO ANY FASTER?!" Pandora panicked, causing Gin to mewl from being squeezed.

"I'M GOING 145 KM/HR!" she answered as she drove like a crazy person. "IT AIN'T GOING ANY FASTER UNLESS IF ANY OF YOU WANNA RISK GETTING AN ACID BATH-!"

As the magician continued driving, an uprooted mangrove tree flew over their vehicle and landed right before their path.

She then hits the brakes before torquing the steering wheel towards the side in an attempt to stop the van, only for the vehicle to end up colliding against the crashed tree and sending the whole thing careening into the air, causing the vehicle to roll until it landed onto its roof again.

"... I hate this trip," Pandora groaned as she could feel her blood rush to her head before gently dropping Gin onto the ceiling.

"I concur..." groaned Yuuto. "Is everyone alright-?!"

*thud*

Everyone jolts in their upside-down seats as something lands on the van's exposed undercarriage.

"SENPAI?!" Koneko cried out as she struggled in her seatbelt.

"So sorry, girlie!" an obnoxious voice spoke in the Pawn's place. "This event is adults-only!"

Flying from above came the Black Dragon, still invigorated by its sense to take revenge at the Evil Dragon for some indiscernible reason before it then lets out another Blast of acid.

The Evil Dragon then dodges by latching its blade whip around the Black Dragon's neck before pulling themselves up towards it, causing the deluge of acid to wash over the van.

"Don't worry! The acid's gastric!" Shu confirmed that the van itself was fine even after it was doused in acid. "It can't digest anything non-organic! Only adult members of its species can do that!"

"AND THAT'S WHY I BOUGHT TOYOTA!" Zatouji boasted.

"GOOD TO KNOW!" Pandora replied, with Gin panicking with their new owner as the Evil Dragon rode on the Black Dragon as it got its urumi around its head and neck BDSM-style, blinding it until the creature was sent crashing back onto the wetlands before Yamata no Orochi was flung off after the struggle, sliding its heels back to where the van was stationed at.

"Oh?! So you think you're so big and virile, don't cha?!" the Evil Dragon declared. "You may have got the weight and girth behind your thrusts, but I got the technique and experience to keep up with you striplings and then some! Just ask your mommy and daddy who I did a while back!"

The upturned passengers witness Takeshi's body continuing to run towards the Black Dragon with its urumi in hand as the latter charged against the former into a violent clash.

"They call me by many names, all of them uttered with fear and reverence!" the Evil Dragon declared as it swung its blade whip against the Black Dragon's claw swipes and tackles, the former taking advantage of its smaller size to evade the latter's attacks, becoming more clumsy and sloppy after every lash received from the urumi. "The 'Venom Blood Dragon', the 'Ethereal-Devouring Mad Dragon', the 'Great Demon King of Yōkai', the 'Eighty Calamities God', the 'Bloodbath Lamentation of the Three Realms', and the 'Rising Dragon of the Moonless Sky'!"

With each lash and swing struck against the Black Dragon, the wavy blades of the urumi glowed brighter and more malevolent, heating up the air as the Evil Dragon then lets out another sadistic laugh as the Black Dragon is burdened with even more pain with each successive hit.

"I...! AM...! THE GREAT...! YAMATA NO OROCHI!" The Evil Dragon raised its [Kokatsu Denryū] towards the sky as it jumped into the air. "QUAKE AND TREMBLE IN FEAR AS I WILL BEAT OFF YOUR WEAK AND FRAIL FRAME INTO SUBMISSION!"

The Black Dragon of Colchis then blasts another massive gout of acid from its mouth, to which the now-revealed Yamata no Orochi swung its urumi like a propeller to dispel the caustic stream before lashing the creature once more with its rain of wavy edges.

"... Okay, everyone," Rias remarked. "Nobody gets out of the car unless you want to get melted into sludge."

Everyone nods as they were forced to watch the fight between Evil Dragon and Black Dragon while upside-down.

"Aw, what's the matter? Can't get it up?!" Yamata no Orochi then continues whipping the Black Dragon of Colchis into submission as each of its lashes leaves behind a hissing gash that dug deeper on its own with each cut left behind. "WELL TOO BAD! I'M STILL STANDING ERECT! KA~KA KA KA KA!"

"Oh my Satan..." Akeno dragged her palm down her face in annoyance. "... Everything it says is a blatant sexual harassment."

"Such is the Deadly Sin of Lust..." Koneko deadpanned.

For every attempt that the young Black Dragon of Colchis tries to recover, the Evil Dragon of Lust gave no quarter as they mercilessly beat the vengeful creature down with its rain of blows, each strike leaving behind a deep and fatal gash that was hissing like steam.

Eventually, the Black Dragon was too exhausted and injured to move, much to Yamata no Orochi's disappointment.

"Oh come on! Don't tell me that you've already gone limp!" scoffed the Evil Dragon of Lust. "Guess your stamina wasn't up to snuff resisting my onslaught of scourges! Then again..."

The scars around the Black Dragon began glowing blood-red.

"Is that...?!" Koneko's eyes widened in alarm.

"... My charms are more than enough to always bring anyone to their knees... right before they DIE!"

*KABOOM!*

The gashes erupt into numerous miniature geysers of pure kegare, blasting the creature inside out as its internal body quickly rotted from the chthonian substance of Yomi.

"... Okay, so that thing can use kegare as their base element," Yuuto pointed out as he could remember what that thing could do, even for Devils like him. "Wonderful."

Gin hisses in hostility as Pandora grabs the kitten before hugging it to soothe its temper. "... Stay close."

However, despite being rotten and frail as twigs, the Black Dragon of Colchis dragged itself back up to its feet with pure hatred burning in its eyes as it kept staring at Yamata no Orochi.

"Well, you got brass balls for still coming at me in your sorry state, snookum," scoffed the Evil Dragon of Lust. "... But in the end, what really decides who comes out on top is not how big or strong you are..."

In a last desperate attempt, the Black Dragon then lunges towards the Evil Dragon with its dripping maw open...

"... But it's all about how well you use it."

With a single swing of its multi-pronged whip, Yamata no Orochi shreds the creature into mincemeat, not even giving it a chance to fight back.

After finishing off the Black Dragon, the Evil Dragon then flips the van back upright, allowing everyone to return their blood back to their proper orientations.

"Hiya, tootz!" the Evil Dragon smarmily greeted the passengers inside. "Lookin' a little flushed in there! Need a little breather?"

ORC and company opt not to say thing lest they give this Evil Dragon any more ammunition.

"... Huh, tough crowd," Yamata no Orochi remarked. "Then again, I'm an Evil Dragon. So good on ya for being smart cookies."

"Release Takeshi, now!" Rias ordered.

"You forgot to say 'please'," the Evil Dragon chuckled. "... Why don't you come out here and say that to my face, ya slags?"

Reluctantly, everyone comes out of the van. Once all of the passengers were out in the open, Yamata no Orochi then begins inspecting every last one of them from head to toe, seemingly undressing them with their navy-blue eyes beneath the grill-visor.

"Not a bad lineup you gathered here," Yamata no Orochi commented. "I ain't complaining about the majority-female ratio you got here... Alright! I'm in a good mood, so I'll do my bro a solid and not lay a finger on your pretty little heads!"

Everyone kept their guards up at this Evil Dragon of Lust, who compared to Nidhogg and Grendel, was more active in its way of dominating the conversation with its forked tongue and smarmy wit.

"... You're all no fun, you know that?!"

The yellow eyes and navy-blue gem revert back to their black coloration, releasing Takeshi from the Evil Dragon's control. "GAH! ARGH! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"What have you done?!" Zatouji remarked as he ran past the Evil Dragon User before looking out at the ruined wetlands. "... The ecosystem... the creatures living here...! YOU'VE DISRUPTED THE FRAGILE BALANCE!"

"I DON'T KNOW! I THOUGHT I WAS IN THE CLEAR AFTER NITO-CHAN GOT REDUCED TO KETCHUP BEFORE MY EYES!" Takeshi protested. "ALTHOUGH WHY DID THE HYDRAS COME AFTER ME IN THE FIRST PLACE?! I THOUGHT IT COULD ONLY CONTROL THE ONE!"

"Yeah... about that."

Everyone looks down at [Cataclysm Zone]'s central gem, now turned navy-blue, indicating Yamata no Orochi was behind the voice.

"... I may or may not have broken into the Greek Pantheon's Supermax, Tartarus, and I basically fucked every living being in there all at once, and accidently killed 80% of both its inmates and wardens," the Evil Dragon of Lust explained. "Typhon and Echidna were one of my more memorable trysts I've had before my capture, but after the news that I fucked and murdered them got out, now literally every one of their children and their descendants want my head. So I gave 'em all head before ripping 'em off, both of em. Each. Kinda like a minute ago."

A wave of disgust washes over everyone's brains upon hearing that graphic imagery.

"... How?!" asked Akeno, as much as she would like to admit that this was becoming a bit too much for the likes of her.

"I have sixteen dicks and eight pussies, all of them functional." Everyone screams and wails in abject horror at the revelation of the Evil Dragon's gender and biology. "I have sired so many offspring, both via proxy and myself, that I can give Tiamat a run for her money! And speaking of, when referring to me, please use 'they/them' pronouns, for I am legally identified as a hermaphrodite."

"Please shut your mouth..." Takeshi groaned. "... All eight of them."

All Yamata no Orochi does is cackle at their disgust.

"I'm Yamata no Orochi, baybee!" they boasted. "AND I DO WHATEVER THE FUCK I WANT, MOTHERFUCKERS!"

The gem returns to being black as Takeshi undoes his transformation, now confronting a very cross-looking Game Warden right before him.

"... So can we let bygones be bygones?"

---

Back at ORC...

---

"And Takeshi gets banned from entering Abaddon ever again..." Rias groans as she sees Takeshi's face stamped with a big, fat red "X" by Koizumi. "... At least we didn't leave empty-handed?"

"Low blow, President," Akeno chastised as she sat across where Takeshi was laying, crying his eyes out into Koneko's lap.

"WHY DO THE ANIMALS HATE ME?!" he bawled.

"There, there." she patted his head in consolation. "... It's the Evil Dragon's that are at fault, not you."

"For the record, I do not apologize for what I've done," Yamata no Orochi boasted. "... Such is the law of the jungle! The weak limp-dicks shrivel up before my towering might! Ka~ka ka ka ka!"

Pandora could feel her brain shrinking every time that degenerate Evil Dragon opened their mouths. "... Mr. Kiba, can you take me home?"

"I'll call his parents ahead of time..." Yuuto then pulls out his phone.

The Gremory Peerage's debut has ended with them restocking on several scouting familiars, acquiring an extremely-rare Cath Palug, and all it cost were several species from the Greek Pantheon now relisted into the "Endangered Species"-label, and about 69% of the wetlands biome has now been taped off as "biohazard," with cleanup efforts led by Tiamat being organized as they speak.

What little goodwill that Ryuugamine Takeshi had mustered was now called into question after Yamata no Orochi's awakening.

---

25th of May, 2019 AD

---

"Koneko, you may be my adorable servant, but there are times where I will not compromise," Rias remarked as she grabbed Takeshi's left arm. "This is one of them."

"Well so am I," Koneko replied as she pulled Takeshi by his right arm. "... Just because you're my King doesn't mean I'm backing down."

"Girls, girls... please stop..." Takeshi winced as he could feel his shoulders on the verge of popping off of his joints while his parents and Pandora watched (the former not knowing the latter) this awkward sight right before they left for school. "... It's way too early in the morning for this."

I sure as Hell ain't complaining! the recently-awakened Evil Dragon of Lust remarked with a giggle. You got two arms! Use 'em!

"... I ain't complaining that my kid's got game," Hiroto commented as he sipped his cup of coffee.

"He made his bed, so he might as well lie on it..." groaned Shiori before the matriarch turned towards Pandora. "... So, it's almost 8. Gonna put your foot down?"

Pandora sighs. "... I'm invoking my right as a handicapped individual."

"Attagirl." Shiori then slaps her back before Pandora gets up from her seat before tapping her walking stick on the ground.

"... Since we're all here, why can't we just walk to school altogether?" she suggested. "It sure as Hell beats tarrying about here."

Koneko and Rias looked towards Pandora.

"Isn't that going to be a pain for you, though?" Rias pointed out. "I mean the whole school seeing Takeshi surrounded by us in the open will surely elicit sparks of jealousy."

Please, I need it, Nidhogg begged. Anything to take the edge off of the damn pervert's nonsensical barbs.

"A little too late for that anyway..." sighed Takeshi. "My reputation with the student body was already in the shitter, so what's one more scandal?"

Attaboy! That's the right mindset! Yamata no Orochi applauded. Fuck the haters! And then fuck 'em real good!

... I don't get it, Grendel flatly remarked.

I really wish I had your brain right now... Takeshi internally sobbed before peeking his hand out towards Pandora. "... Alright, let's go, everyone. We're gonna be late."

Pandora nods before taking his hand, now all three girls latching onto him like remoras on a shark.

"We'll be back!" Takeshi remarked as he and the three girls walked out the door.

"Have a safe trip!" the two parents replied as they saw their son off.

Once the two were alone in the house, both Hiroto and Shiori each let out a deep sigh.

"Isn't our kid growing up way too fast?" the mother commented.

"I'm actually looking into buying a bigger house in case they want to move in with us," the father remarked. "... I even asked the higher-ups for a raise, and they accepted."

"Hoo rah." Shiori then fist-bumps Hiroto.

---

On the Way to Kuoh Academy...

---

Takeshi let out a sigh as his arms were finally free from the clutches of Rias and Koneko. As much as he loved the two of them, he admits that they can get a little clingy sometimes.

... Not that he was one to talk, given how he lost his first time in a three-way, but still. At least one of his hands was holding Pandora's.

"... You're looking a little more dour than usual, senpai," Koneko commented.

"Yep," he nodded. "... Just thinking that I may or may not have only talked a good game before I realized that I have way too much on my plate right now."

"What did you do before you joined us?" Rias asked.

"Studying, video games, renting DVDs, running away from punks who want to hospitalize me..." Takeshi listed off the things he did during Junior High, with that last statement causing the girls to wince. "... Now that I have a life, I am beset with more things to do with it. Honestly, I'm a bit overwhelmed."

Everyone nods in agreement as they resume walking to school.

"... Takeshi," Pandora spoke out. "... I heard that you were once agonizing over being unable to join any school clubs."

"Yeah," he replied with a nod. "... Even my old Chess Club gave me the boot."

"But aren't you in a club already?" the (not) blind girl pointed out. "I mean, ORC stands for 'Occult Research Club,' no?"

"Technically, we're off the records," Rias pointed out. "... Admittedly, I was just starting my Peerage with only Akeno and Yuuto, but we couldn't bring Koneko on board on time before they tore up my application. I can easily pull some strings since Lord Father technically owns the school, but we got found out by the board investigators and we had to bring our organization underground."

"... Can't we just make ORC itself official?" Pandora suggested. "... I mean, I sort of recall the rules that a club needs at least five members to be officially recognized, and I think acquiring a club advisor would be a cinch given your clout at the school."

"... Huh," Koneko remarked. "... Can't say that I've ever thought of that."

"She actually brings up a good point," Takeshi added before turning his head towards Pandora. "You've answered one of my ongoing woes! Thanks, Pandora!"

The Knight blushes before looking away in embarrassment. "It's nothing, really...!" she mumbled. "... I was just... pointing out the obvious."

Aww, how adorbs, Yamata no Orochi cooed. ... I wanna eat her up.

Don't you fucking dare lay a single finger on her, you piece of shit! Takeshi warned.

Huh, you already called dibs? the Evil Dragon of Lust taunted. ... Could've fooled me, given how distant you've been towards her.

She's been hurt by way too many people, and I'm not gonna add myself to her list of problems, the Evil Dragon User defended. ... I'm not going to hurt her after she just got out of her personal Hell. I refuse to betray her trust that she gave me with her life.

Oh please, since when was love ever painless? scoffed the Evil Dragon. The difference between heartbreaks and devirginizing is how much blood is involved. Otherwise, they're practically the same, both in introduction, and possible outcomes.

... Speaking from personal experience? Takeshi deadpanned.

I sometimes regrow my hymen on purpose because pain makes the pleasure following after extra-delectable, they recalled. Now whether they're a good fuck or not... eh, milage may vary.

Alright, I'm tuning you out.

Don't be a stranger, bro.

Takeshi lets out a loud sigh after having to converse with the Evil Dragon of Lust.

"... Evil Dragon troubles?" Koneko asked.

Takeshi nods. "... Careful," he warned. "They're like the Pervert Trio, but a billion times worse and actually evil."

"Noted," the (secret) Nekomata confirmed. "... So President, think of giving Pandora's idea a shot?"

Rias thinks on it for a few seconds as they enter the school gates.

"... Sure!" she answered. "Let's give it a shot!"

Everyone then proceeds to take what one of the "Queens of Kuoh" had said out loud in the absolute worst direction possible.

"WHY IS RYUUGAMINE GETTING ALL THE CHICKS?!" one boy exclaimed.

"NOOO! GREMORY-SENPAI AND TOUJOU-CHAN ARE TAINTED BY THE BOOGEYMAN!" a group of underclass girls screamed in despair.

"It's a lie...! We all must be dreaming!" another desperate boy cried out in denial.

"Is he seriously going for Othrys-chan too?!" one of the girls from Ryuugamine's class pointed out. "He has no standards for going after a blind girl, does he?!"

"Burn the heretic...!" a group of boys chanted as they all formed an improv-coven. "Burn that chud to cinders...!"

Meanwhile, the Evil Dragons not named Yamata no Orochi feasted on the generated negativity.

... You know, I'm not against the whelp forming his own harem if it means we get to eat well like this, Nidhogg commented.

I'm eating just fine without 'em, Grendel remarked.

And so, ORC began making plans to officiate their status as an extracurricular club after school...

---

After School...

---

"No."

They were shot down immediately by Kirigakure Tatsuya.

"WHY?!" everyone exclaimed in shock.

Kiri-sensei lets out a brisk sigh before explaining himself as he leaned back on his office chair.

"Look, just the mere fact that you guys have been operating without permission for over a year is enough to rake your asses over with hot coal," the teacher explained as bluntly as possible.

"But club registrations don't end until the end of this month!" Takeshi pointed out.

"True, and I would let it slide..." Kiri-sensei then pulls out a slip of paper from his bookbag. "... If it weren't this little caveat."

Rias then snatches the paper with the words "Demolition Notice" printed in bold letters right above the picture of the ORC's place of operation under it.

"You guys have been siphoning water and electricity without school approval," Kiri-sensei pointed out. "... Oh yeah, and Gremory-san? I talked to your father, and he agrees."

Rias' eyes widened like pie plates. Desperate, she then reaches towards Pandora's shades to activate her Charm to gain some leverage...

"What?!"

... Only to find that she was frozen stiff mid-motion. Everyone else tried to react, but they were also stuck in place like marionettes on display as Kiri-sensei snatched the paper back from Rias' hand.

What's going on here?! Takeshi thought as he couldn't even move his neck down.

Whelp, his left index finger, Nidhogg warned as Takeshi then saw something gleam on his homeroom teacher's left digit.

He spotted a silver ring with an intricately and ornately-carved skull as its head. From the skull's mouth spilled a small ichor of black mist that seeped into the shadows.

"You're from 'our side' of the world?!" Takeshi spoke out, causing everyone to react motionlessly.

Kiri-sensei scoffs as he then crosses his arms over his chest, showing his skull ring to everyone.

"Kinda rich coming from someone who joined a few months prior," he replied. "... Then again, I'm no different. Also, I erected a soundproof and presence-erasing screen throughout the whole faculty office, so feel free to yell as loud as you want. "

"How?!" Rias asked. "If I knew that there'd be a supernatural presence, I would've known!"

"Tch tch tch," Kiri-sensei clicked his tongue as he waggled his finger. "... Think back. How do you think I became your Pawn's homeroom teacher in the first place?"

It took only a few moments of realization to conclude that Kirigakure Tatsuya was a well-connected man despite his slovenly appearance.

"... Re:Live," Takeshi answered. "You work for them, don't you?"

Tatsuya snaps his finger in confirmation. "Full marks," he approved. "Yep, I've been planted here to keep an eye on you specifically, Ryuugamine."

"For what?!" Yuuto asked. "The Evil Dragons?!"

The teacher nods. "Face it, even though they put a lot of faith in you, a lot of people don't," he answered. "I'm simply here to monitor your progress on your 'normal' life, per se. After all, the effects of seven of history's most dangerous Evil Dragons tend to bleed over into their host's mannerisms. So far, you're doing miles better than your predecessors ever since you went full-Devil."

"So when did you get into contact with Re:Live?" asked Pandora.

Tatsuya grumbles before answering. "... You know Hakai Academy, my previous workplace before they gave me the boot?"

Takeshi and everyone else from ORC (sans Pandora) let out a dry gasp. "... You mean-?!"

"I saw everything," Kiri-sensei answered, causing everyone else's stomachs to drop like stones, realizing that they missed one person who saw everything on that fateful night. "Re:Live filled me in on everything that night and we've been keeping close contact ever since. You know how it feels to see once-close friends forget about their close one just with a snap of a finger the day after? Funny that you guys think that you can play Men in Black without consequences?"

He then pulls out his phone to reveal Takeshi's fight against Hisaya, much to Koneko's shock.

"By the way, someone leaked this, and it wasn't my boss," Kiri-sensei confirmed. "Hell, when my boss found out, they were panicking, realizing that whoever hacked Toujou-san's phone was onto them before scrubbing about 99.9% of the leaked footage from the internet with their other agents. And as soon as my application was accepted into Kuoh Academy, that was when I was given this."

The teacher then brandishes his skull-ring banded around his left index finger, its gaping mouth still spilling its ichor of black mist.

"[Horror Eater], my implanted Sacred Gear that my boss gave to me for self-defense," he revealed. "You're already familiar with what it does, so I won't elaborate."

"So what's with the demolition order if you're keeping an eye on us?!" Akeno asked. "We've done nothing wrong, so what did we do to cross the line?!"

Kiri-sensei then hands the slip of paper to Rias before partially releasing her. "Decipher it."

She then uses her demonic energy to shift the letters of the printed paper as the ink then morphs into a magic circle.

The glyph then projects a hologram of none other than Re:Live themselves.

"Greetings, ORC," the prerecorded message said. "If you're watching this, then that means that Yamata no Orochi has reawakened."

"How do they know?!" Takeshi asked out loud.

"This calls for another trial, one that will determine if you're truly up to the task," the projection continued. "I have planted bombs inside your headquarters under the pretense of 'demolition.' If you wish to keep your place, then here's the objective that you all must fulfill."

"Since when did they-!" Rias then stops herself before realizing the "how". "... The reconstruction during Golden Week!"

"Miss Chiha had her familiars sneak in bombs while we were gone?!" Pandora pointed out.

"Recruit an additional member for your Peerage," the message ordered. "As you are now, you are not enough to face the true face of evil that has yet to show itself. Form a legion to shore up your defenses, for they will show you no corner."

The message then disappears before the paper returns to its prior form.

"... By the way, the bombs are connected to me via a dead man's switch," Kiri-sensei informed. "So, if any of you so much as touch me or the bombs the wrong way... well, I hope you can work your commissions out of a crater."

Everyone had now come to the same conclusion: ORC itself was now at stake for Re:Live's next trial.

"So with that said, here's the deal," Kiri-sensei revealed as he adjusted his opaque-lensed glasses. "I will be ORC's 'provisional advisor' in order to keep a close eye on you all to make sure that you're not slacking. But, whatever misadventures you idiots end up in for whatever inane reason, count me out, because I'm busy grading your papers, and I rather keep the madness of this side of the world from interfering with my life. And speaking of, keep up the good work, Ryuugamine."

Takeshi grumbles.

"... Now, here are the conditions. Re:Live's words, not mine," the teacher continued. "Should you succeed in fulfilling the objective, the bombs will be deactivated and you'll be able to continue operations unimpeded. Fail, and well... I'll still recognize you, but you'll have to move to another base of operations, specifically, somewhere in the school building, as per regulations."

Koneko sighs briskly before speaking. "... Why does it feel like you have it out for senpai specifically?"

"Only because the punks I was in charge of prior died and I need something to take my resentment out on." With that said, Kiri-sensei then releases ORC from [Horror Eater]'s effects. "... You have three weeks."

The doors of the faculty office shut before their faces right at the moment the meeting had concluded.

"... I just wanted ORC to be official... but instead, I got us into this mess," Pandora winced in consternation. "... Everyone, I'm so sorry-"

Takeshi rubs her head in reassurance. "Not the first time that our balls were caught in a vice, Pandora," he confirmed. "Don't worry, we'll get through this."

"We have... until the 15th of June," Rias sighed as she checked their given deadline. "... Alright, everyone! Before we work our butts off in the following three weeks, I propose the following before we all work like slaves!"

"Which is?" Akeno asked.

Rias beamed as she then DMs everyone with ORC with the address to Akihabara.

"Everyone meet up at Takeshi's house by 10:30 AM tomorrow!" the President ordered. "We're gonna play, eat, and shop until we all drop!"

---

26th of May, 2019 AD

---

*DING-DONG*

"Coming!" Takeshi then opens his door to find all of ORC waiting for him outside, each of them dressed casually save for Yuuto, who looked as if he came back from a run. "... Guys, it's 8:00 AM. My parents are still home."

"Sorry, couldn't wait." Koneko then comes in first.

"I honestly didn't expect that the others would have the same idea..." Rias sighed as she saw Pandora sitting on the couch before the TV.

"I brought breakfast!" Akeno then walks in with a bag of McDonalds takeout. "Sorry if I couldn't cook breakfast myself. Couldn't sleep with how excited I am for our outing today."

"I just followed everyone from my morning jog, so can I use your showers, Ryuugamine?" Yuuto requested. "... Oh, and good morning to you too, Pandora."

"Morning to you too, everyone," the other Knight replied as all of ORC settled in.

"I'll go change first," Takeshi sighed as he followed Yuuto upstairs. "Mom! Dad! My friends are here with breakfast!"

The whole house then goes into a buzz with activity as everyone shares their breakfast.

"You are a fucking godsend, Himejima-san," Shiori remarked as she bit into her sausage egg muffin.

"Why, anything for my future mother and father-in-law!" Akeno replied.

"Heh, not even being subtle, aren't you?" Hiroto chuckled.

"We all know what we want, and we are not ashamed to admit it," Rias confirmed.

Pandora then looks down at her cup of coffee, her own forlorn expression of slight melancholy reflected back at her. ... Just what is it that I want now?

"... You okay?" Koneko asked as she ate her chicken nugget.

"... Nothing, really," she reflexively answered, much to the tiny part of her beating herself up for dodging the question.

After everyone finishes their breakfast, both of Takeshi's parents then make their leave before 8:30 AM, with Shiori and the girls helping Pandora dress in her casual ensemble, consisting of a purple wool sweater, a long, dark-brown panel skirt that reached all the way down to her upper ankles, and a thick black scarf-shawl that overall made her look sophisticated and bookish at the same time.

"Alright, me and the missus will be back by dinner," Hiroto remarked as he adjusted his tie for a Sunday conference at his work. "You and Pandora-chan stay close to each other and your friends, you hear?"

"I've been to Akihabara once, and trust me, it gets packed on Sundays," Shiori added as she and her husband walked out of the door. "Y'all have fun and be safe today, alright?"

"Be back soon!" All of ORC then see Takeshi's parents off as Star Twinkle Pretty Cure's Episode 17, "Enemy? Friend? The Thing Blue Cat is Looking For" starts playing on the TV.

"Oh, so you watch shows like this too?" asked Yuuto he and the rest of ORC mobbed around the couch as the TV screen started with the main characters locating the Virgo Star Color Pen.

"Don't at me," Takeshi grumbled as the whole episode quickly turns into a heist episode of breaking into a manor after negotiations go sour. "Been watching since I was a kid. I got hooked."

Koneko then plops herself onto Takeshi's lap as the manor's home defense system (being a giant-ass eye laser) starts shooting at the Cures and Blue Cat as the heist begins. "... I'm the only cat that you're allowed to stare at, 'kay?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry about that." Takeshi then strokes Koneko's chin, causing her to purr like a car engine.

Pandora looks troubled as she summons Gin to comfort her.

"By the way," Akeno said as the Cures ran into the manor's elite bodyguards, the Dragon Corps, "is Gin a girl or a boy?"

"No testicles, so definitely a girl," Pandora revealed as the now-revealed Gin meowed in confirmation.

Koneko and Gin stare each other down, the former resisting her hypotonic gaze with her own Senjutsu.

"... I'm the alpha cat."

Gin mewls in disappointment at the fact that she was now stuck on the bottom of this totem pole.

Meanwhile, the Evil Dragons were watching the Cures run away from the Dragon Corps via their host's eyes.

How disrespectful, scoffed Nidhogg. Some heroines they are.

Yeah! Dragons exist to be fought! Grendel added. Screw the pretense of innocence! Fight them, you lily-livered cowards!

Eh, four out of ten for those uggos, snickered Yamata no Orochi. The girls, however... oh they better run if they know what's good for 'em!

Takeshi immediately catches on to their implication, but he says nothing lest he give the Evil Dragon of Lust more ammo.

The episode then reaches it climax with the Cures and Blue Cat reaching the main vault, with the latter helping herself with the content as the former retrieve their weekly McGuffin, but are interrupted by the manor's current master, Doramusu, who then sics a giant-ass robot Dragon at them., to which is then interrupted by Kappard and several of the Nottorei footmen swarming the manor's interior at the most inopportune time.

"... You know, for a kid's show, the villains don't fuck around," Rias commented.

"Apparently, Nidhogg likes 'em because of that," Takeshi commented as Kappard proceeds to take Doramusu hostage and drain his brain for a power boost. "... Take that as you will."

However, the Cures manage to seize the day by using Kappard's own surge of power against him, to not only strip him of his manpower (of which was his initial advantage), but to also free the young master of the manor along with his siphoned gray matter, forcing the general without an army or resources to retreat.

"... Huh, can't say that I hated it," Pandora remarked as Gin let out a small meow in her arms. "A little basic and formulaic, but engaging enough for all ages."

"Yeah, did you know that Pretty Cure started out as two girls punching bad guys in the face?" Takeshi pointed out, causing everyone else's eyes to widen as Doramusu offers the Cures to join them as his bodyguards, much to their collective (sans Hikaru's) disgust. "... Yeah, rather than blasting bad guys with the power of friendship like Sailor Moon, the very first Pretty Cure punched bad guys in the face with the power of friendship."

I can get behind the whole "punching"-part, Grendel approved. Bring that back, I'd say!

Of course you would... Nidhogg rolled his eyes. ... I praise your consistency, though. Unlike a certain someone.

Oh! You wound me! Yamata no Orochi gasped in faux-pain. Wasn't the great Yamata no Orochi crying tears of blood not enough for you fine gentlemen?!

No one comments for how utterly fake Yamata no Orochi's "pain" was.

... Wow, tough crowd.

Takeshi, Nidhogg, and Grendel all share a groan as Kamen Rider Zi-O's Episode 37, "2006: Next Level Kabuto" starts airing with Black Woz catching everyone/the audience up to speed (as best as his character could in this convoluted time-travel bullshit continuity).

"... You know, it feels like a good while since I got to just turn my brain off for a second and just watch Tokusatsu," Takeshi commented as a meteorite crashed during a Time Jacker's prowl for a new sucker to turn into their Another Rider. "... I mean, wow. Just... just thinking about all that happened before, during, and after Golden Week could be a whole story in itself."

"Such is the life of political marriages and rubbing elbows with nobility..." Rias agreed as the scene then cuts to the main characters see the news of various insect-like aliens attacking while on air. "... Free time like this is a rarity."

"Mm hm." Koneko nodded as the chaos is then further exuberated by the Hell Brothers joining in and stirring up even more shit while the main characters are separated to deal with the alien invasion, the species then revealed to be "Worms". "... Wouldn't it be funny if all of the sudden, we get dragged into another mess today?"

"Miss Toujou!" Pandora hissed along with Gin. "... You know about tempting the Fates!"

"Counterpoint." The Nekomata then points her fingers towards Takeshi. "... We're gonna get screwed over either way. Might as well enjoy the chaos, I'd say."

Pandora grumbles upon being unable to make a good counterargument as the fight is turned around by Sougo using his [Zi-O II] form to predict where one of the Hell Brothers are going to come from next, taking two glancing blows before nailing PunchHopper in the third via a lucky strike, forcing them to retreat.

"... Aside from our, shall we say, 'unique' circumstances," Yuuto said as the main characters rendezvous with ZECT, returning from Kamen Rider Kabuto as their tribute-cameo, "should we be knowing the full story of this series to get this episode?"

"Oh, Hell no!" Takeshi laughed out loud at the notion of him having to recap the entirety of Zi-O up to this episode without giving one of ORC an aneurysm. "... Just turn your brain off and enjoy the show."

"I concur," Rias consents. "... I tried once, and I gave up after three episodes because my work piled up to unmanageable heights."

Then the episode reveals that one of the Hell Brothers, KickHopper, is actually a Worm mimicking the dead original Rider, to which the Time Jacker then uses the alien entity as his host and turn him into the twisted reflection of his original's killer, Another Kabuto, to which the still-alive PunchHopper goes along with.

"Using the image of a lost loved one to fuel another one's revenge... how cruel," Akeno commented.

"One thing consistent in this mess of a show is that the Time Jackers are not any better than the Demon King that they're trying to overthrow," Takeshi commented.

There's a special place in Helheim just for people like them, Nidhogg informed as the episode's endgame plan is revealed.

All that power, and they choose to let it sit and make the others do their fighting for them?! Grendel growled. Disgusting!

Eh, no objections to their methods, Yamata no Orochi remarked. Better to delegate than to get your own claws dirty non-sexually.

Takeshi grumbles as the episode ends with the heroes' plans succeeding... only for the destroyed meteor supposedly-carrying the Worms revealed to be empty, and that a bigger, even more densely-packed asteroid was coming towards their way.

"... I really hope that we don't deal with crap falling from space in our lifetime," Koneko groaned.

"I think that goes for everyone remotely sane," Takeshi pointed out as Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger's Episode 11, "The Quiz King of Flames" starts airing.

"Hey, it's the show that I bought that sword for you," Yuuto pointed out as the episode begins with establishing both sides planning to go to war over the ownership for a particularly-powerful Kishiryu, DimeVolcano. "... Speaking of, how is it?"

"Keeping it in the box," Takeshi replied. "... I'm afraid I might break it if I started playing with it, and the Evil Dragons won't let me learn half of the basic magic out of pure spite."

Damn straight, Nidhogg confirmed. Either you fight with the powers that we give you, or not at all.

Who needs magic when you can punch your foes into a bloody paste?! Grendel added.

I know a few death curses and heretical magic if you're interested... Yamata no Orochi offered. For a price, that is...

Not interested, Takeshi declined as DimeVolcano's reputation is likened to that of the mythological Sphinx, only a thousand times more destructive due to it being a mobile volcano. ... Only because instant-death spells work only 10% of the time and are very luck-oriented.

The offer stands, bro! the Evil Dragon of Lust replied. ... I know you want 'em.

Takeshi grumbles as both the Ryusoulgers and the Druidon Tribe are searching for DimeVolcano's resting place, unintentionally getting a random blind boy involved during their survey.

"... Hey Pandora," Koneko said as the blind boy was questioned by the main characters at the hospital he was staying at. "I'm just curious, but how did it feel when you were actually blind?"

Everyone turns towards the Nekomata for that insensitive comment, to which the latter shrank in shame.

"... My bad," she immediately apologizes. "... Kinda came up while watching that."

"Yes, because clearly, vividly recounting what happened after Grendel turned my face into a casserole is something that I like to do at the drop of a hat," Pandora barbed as Wiserue sics a Shen Minosaur at Towa and Bamba.

Takeshi then steers the conversation elsewhere from getting even more awkward. "Say, but what is the likelihood that we'll be able to recruit another member into our Peerage within the three weeks we're given?"

"Given the track record with you and Pandora?" Rias pointed out "... More likely than you think, less than you'd expect."

Everyone groans as the episode then introduces the Ryusoulger's new power-up gained from DimeVolcano, the [MeraMeraSoul], an armor that enhances its wearer with additional protection and imbue fire into their attacks, easily making short work of the hardy Shen Minosaur.

"... We really don't have much to talk about besides our work, don't we?" Takeshi pointed out.

"All the more reason to have fun today!" Rias replied as the episode ends with the boy's eyes being able to see again, and able to see DimeVolcano for real. "Alright, we may be 30 minutes early, but that's just more time to have fun!"

Takeshi then turns the TV off before following ORC outside with Pandora (wearing her shades and taking her cane with her) in tow.

"Next stop, Akihabara!" Rias declared.

"BANZAI!" Everyone then makes their way out of the house's front gates and teleports towards the train station.

---

At Akihabara, Tokyo...

---

"And here we are!" Rias exclaimed as she stretched her arms open to the bustling streets. "Welcome to Akihabara! Japan's capital of pop culture!"

"Argh... there are way too many people..." Pandora shuddered as she hid behind Takeshi. "... Come to think of it, why did we take the train when we could easily teleport?"

"Too many people around. Remember Kiri-sensei?" Koneko pointed towards the sheer number of pedestrians flooding the streets on the weekend, with several of them swarming like bugs towards various game centers, pop-up stores selling media-specific merchandise, electronic specialty repair shops and services, and cafes staffed by cosplaying maids of various fashions. "That and the whole point of this outing is to do nothing work-related. So just enjoy the scenic route, okay?"

Pandora grumbles with a small nod as Takeshi brings her closer into himself for safeguarding. "... Don't let go of my hand, alright?"

The ex-"Calamity Witch" nods.

"Alright, so where should we go first?" Rias asked her Peerage.

Koneko then points her finger towards Taito Station. "That," she declared. "Let's go there first."

All of ORC then make a beeline towards the red tower packed to the brim with eager gamers and as equal quantity of machines for the former to play with.

"Holy crap, this place is packed...!" Takeshi winced.

"Stay together, everyone!" Rias ordered as her Peerage then formed a daisy chain through the tight spaces. "Until we reach the elevator!"

Soon enough, the group reaches their location and looks at the floor layout.

"There," Koneko said as she pointed to the 5th floor. "I wanna go up there."

As soon as the elevator opens, ORC pack themselves inside before reaching the fifth floor, where various arcade games of every genre possible are available.

"I'm already suffering from decision paralysis just by standing here..." Takeshi nervously chuckled. "... So, where should we start?"

Koneko then takes the lead by walking towards an arcade cabinet titled "Tekken 7: Fated Retribution."

"I still need to get even with you after our BlazBlue match," she declared. "Face me, senpai. I'm not going down this time."

"Ara, this ought to be interesting," Akeno commented.

"I wanna try out Taiko no Tatsujin," Rias suggested. "Everyone meet up back up near the elevator when you're all done, alright?"

"Yes President," Yuuto nodded as he eyed the Jubeat cabinet. "... May I?"

"I ain't your parent!" Rias then headed towards the taiko drums.

"I'll stick close to you, Takeshi..." Pandora shuddered. "... The amount of people and sounds here is dizzying..."

I'll say! Yamata no Orochi remarked with glee. I enjoy this sensation grinding against my brain...

Takeshi rolled his eyes as he and Koneko selected their characters.

"So, how long do you want to go for?" Takeshi asked.

"Best out of five characters," Koneko replied as she chose Anna Williams, the vengeful femme fatale.

Takeshi smirks as he chooses Armor King II, the ironclad heel. "... Don't hold it against me."

And the two characters fought, with Akeno and Pandora as their witnesses.

"Ara, Koneko's character looks rather ravishing..." Akeno commented before Anna proceeded to perform a brutal kick to the groin. "... And quite brutal too! I love it!"

"Takeshi's pretty blatant when it comes to his disposition..." Pandora remarked as Armor King II delivered brutal haymakers followed up by a Frankensteiner, showing off the character's merciless savagery akin to Grendel's. "... A certain Evil Dragon must love seeing that guy fight."

Inside Takeshi's mind, the Evil Dragons were seeing the virtual fight take place.

Nothing special, Nidhogg commented with a scoff. Although I have to admit, it's interesting to determine their characteristics depending on what characters they each chose...

That beast-headed cosplayer doesn't look too bad! Grendel cheered as he saw his host's character belch a cloud of poison mist into Anna's face before laying the beatdown on her. Guess Pro-Wrestling is a pretty fun way to bring on the pain!

Nevermind that, just look at the leg...! chuckled Yamata no Orochi as they specifically eyed Anna in particular. ... I'd love her to step on me on any day of the week!

The fight ends with Anna throwing several knives at Armor King II before nailing him with a bazooka, ending the fight in an explosive fashion.

"... Eat it, senpai," Koneko smugly remarked.

Takeshi chuckles. "We're only getting started!"

Takeshi then chooses Hwoarang, the Taekwondo delinquent as Koneko picks Lili, the white heiress, ending with Takeshi winning by having Hwoarang put Lili through the wringer with his moves following up on each other seamlessly between mix-ups and rushdowns, laying on enough pressure to prevent her counters from actually paying off in the long run.

"... Unfair," pouted Koneko as she then picks Marduk, the monster of Val Tudo.

"Hey, like I said..." Takeshi then picks Master Raven, the ninja sergeant. "... Don't hold it against me."

Takeshi secures another win due to him knowing how to apply Master Raven's versatile escape tools and techniques to run circles around Marduk's lumbering yet powerful movement, the former not even letting the latter so much as get close long enough to pull off a complete combo string without suffering a crippling punisher.

Now that's more like it, Nidhogg complimented. Don't give them a chance to fight back. Take every opportunity to stymie their efforts and win without exerting yourself.

Tch! A coward's way of fighting! Grendel scoffed. At least the brat's last showing showed some damn integrity!

And ruin that perfect, chocolatey skin of hers? Yamata no Orochi remarked. ... Man, the times I went on a rampage in Nubia for their women. And men. And children. And their elderly.

Takeshi accidently chooses Gigas, the malformed humanoid weapon, while internally cringing at the Evil Dragon of Lust's utter lack of standards right at the same time when Koneko chooses Lei Wulong, the super beat cop.

"Aw crud," he grimaces.

"Is he bad or something?" asked Pandora.

"We'll have to wait and see," Akeno replied as round 4 began.

Despite Takeshi's best efforts to make Gigas' savagery work, he was no Armor King II. No grapples, no counters, nothing but mindless flailing that had the longest reach in the entire roster with a respectable damage output. It paled against Lei's sheer versatility of his Five-Form Animal Kung Fu and Chinese Drunken Boxing, which easily parried and countered Gigas' impulsive moves that focused solely on power.

"Don't hold it against me, senpai!" Koneko taunted.

"Oh it's on!" Takeshi replied with fervor as they began choosing their final characters.

Koneko immediately chooses Mishima Kazuya, the tyrannical hero of the current millennium.

Takeshi however, takes his time on choosing his next character.

What's taking him so long? Yamata no Orochi scoffed. Just pick a character with a pair of tits and a fat ass!

The whelp's weighing his options, Nidhogg pointed out as the timer ticked down. He's learning from his previous mistakes to guide him on what fighter to choose.

Whatever the case, that character better be strong! Grendel growled as Takeshi finally moved his cursor.

Takeshi, after making his judgement, then chooses Leroy Smith, the Wing Chun master of Bronx.

WHAT?! all three Evil Dragons exclaimed as their host chose an old man against a man brimming with a demonic aura.

The final fight begins with Koneko taking the first move.

Takeshi smirks. "... Predictable."

Leroy counters Kazuya's attempt at first blood with a counter followed up by a string of light blows that temporarily stun-locks Koneko's character.

"OH COME ON!" Koneko then tries to move in for a reprisal, but Takeshi slips Leroy through with a parry before delivering another counter followed up by his character siccing his pet pit bull to trip Kazuya over.

Just before he could get up, Leroy busts out his cane and smacks Kazuya with it, preventing Koneko's character from recovering properly as he was launched off the ground, allowing Leroy to proceed to juggle him for a few moments.

"Takeshi's moving like a master...!" Pandora commented as Koneko's attempts at retaking the lead grew ever more desperate.

Akeno then notices that a crowd was gathering around the two cabinets, spectating the intense fight between the two Devils (in disguise). "... Ara," she remarked. "The two of them are pulling in quite the crowd, aren't they?"

Koneko's desperation reaching its peak, her character's inputs become more sharper and precise, finally exploiting the gap between the parries by using Kazuya's Rage Art to even the odds before closing in.

Even though both characters' health bars were reaching critical, neither side budged an inch as they each entered a state of complete focus.

"It's all coming down to the wire...!" Koneko briskly hissed a sigh as she tries to go for the right opening, focusing on Takeshi's feints and learning from her previous mistakes of being overzealous.

Waiting out the clock was no longer an option, given that it would end the match in a draw.

Takeshi then makes the first move, to which Koneko reacts accordingly.

"You fell for it."

Only for her to be taken out with a Power Crush, Leroy's elbow burrowing into Kazuya's chest during the latter's combo.

"Aced it," Takeshi boasted as he won the best out of five matches.

Koneko pouts in her seat. "... How are you still better than me?"

"Hey, you're not so bad yourself!" he complimented. "In fact, you almost got me on the ropes in a few matches!"

"Ha ha," Koneko dryly laughed. "... Until next time, I suppose."

Takeshi nods as he looks towards Akeno and Pandora. "... So," he remarked, "gonna play anything here before we go?"

"No, no, I think if I did, my brain is going to explode," Pandora excuses herself. "... Again."

"I would be wasting money and I'm just here with you guys," Akeno chuckled before looking around. "That said, the President is enjoying herself thoroughly."

Around Rias, a whole crowd of people had gathered around her playing "Xepher" by Tatsh, in the hardest difficulty, without so much as losing a single beat.

"Holy crap," Takeshi remarked in awe as the rest of ORC watched in awe. "... That's literally the hardest track to play in that game."

"So, she's basically flexing." Everyone nodded at Koneko's observation. "... Good to know."

Rias then walks away from the machine after achieving the highest score on that track in particular, beads of sweat flickering from her flawless form like dewdrops. "Hey everyone! Are you all having fun?"

"... I'm a little overwhelmed," Pandora confessed. "... Even if I wanted to, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

"Sorry if this place isn't up to your wheelhouse, Pandora," Koneko apologized. "... But I kinda wanted a rematch with senpai ever since he joined."

"No, no, it's okay," Pandora sighed before Yuuto joined everyone else near the elevator. "... It beats staying at Takeshi's home all day all by my lonesome."

"Hey," Takeshi greeted Yuuto. "How was the Rubik's cube?"

The Knight chuckles with embarrassment. "... Terribly, admittedly."

Rias then checks the phone, reading 12:00 PM. "Alright! We can tackle one more place before we head for lunch," she informed. "Any suggestions to kill some time beforehand?"

Takeshi grumbles before looking at Rias. "... You pick this time, President," he suggested. "I want to pick a place for lunch, anyway."

"Alright then! I know just a place!"

ORC then leaves Taito Station and makes a quick beeline towards Animate Akihabara, the twin buildings adjacent to each other forming a dual-shopping complex.

"I need to pick up a couple volumes," Rias informed. "Take a look around! Buy anything that interests you!"

They then enter the anime merchandise specialty store, its aisles of shelves full of manga, artbooks, trinkets, and assorted goods that any diehard would kill for.

"Alright, everyone be sure to meet up by the register once you're done!" Rias ordered. "Have fun!"

Takeshi and Pandora follow Rias, both of them curious as to what would compel the President to go to Japan's weeb central.

"I'll take this, and this, and that, and one of that too..."

"Uh..." Takeshi droned as he saw Rias pile up volumes of Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Chainsaw Man, Black Butler, The Promised Neverland, and Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, catching the others shoppers' and staff's attention.

"How are you going to carry all of that outside?" Pandora asked as soon as Rias finished picking out her final volume.

"I have a method to my madness," she reassured as she then carried them all in a huge pile around her arms, her boobs acting as a brace to prevent the pile from toppling. "... You should've seen me buy all of the copies of Vagabond when I earned my first paycheck."

"Yikes." Takeshi then picks out one of the volumes of Iruma-kun before quickly leafing through it. "... Huh. He still hasn't revealed to the others that he's a human?"

"Oh, you're also a fan?" Rias remarked, causing Pandora to get confused on what they were talking about.

"I kinda stopped following it after the Battler Party Arc," he revealed, confusing Pandora even more. "... Kinda hard when I was busy studying for Kuoh Academy's entrance exam and all that."

"Ah, my bad," Rias apologized. "... Is something the matter, Pandora?"

The shaded girls stemmers before letting out a sigh. "... Sorry, it's just that crowds don't agree with me."

"You're doing a good job as of now." Takeshi then pulled her in closer towards himself. "... You're doing great, really."

She grumbles before catching something from the corner of her eye. "... What's that?"

The three then walk up to a shelf with a large, hard-cover book titled "Dark Souls III: Design Works."

"... Come to think of it, during our first commission together, you did mention something about... 'Dark Souls-looking mofo,' correct?" Pandora pointed out.

Takeshi nods as he remembers Horii Yamato dressed in full plate armor.

"... You wanna buy it?" Takeshi asked.

"Yeah... I kinda want to," Pandora answered before her eyes moved towards the price tag, which nearly gave her a heart attack. "... Way too many zeroes for my liking."

"Yeah, it's pretty dense," Takeshi pointed out. "Hell, this book is even more expensive than the game itself."

"You don't have to buy it, Pandora," Rias reassured. "But, my advice when it comes to money in general, spend it now or that thing's gonna be snatched up by someone else. Why else would I buy all 37 volumes of Vagabond at once during my first visit here?"

Yep. Preach it, sister. Yamata no Orochi nodded in approval. Strike first, strike fast, and strike it hard!

Pandora immediately buys the artbook upon realizing that their free time is going to be scarce. "... Maybe I should buy some art tools too," she muttered to herself. "... At least that way, I'll have new material to work with when my bogus blind status is to be lifted... provided my Charm could be in control by then."

"Attagirl." Both Takeshi and Rias nodded in approval.

As they watched others shop, with Akeno picking up a few light novels, Koneko picking out several Gunpla kits, and Yuuto helping Koneko carry her loadout, Takeshi then looked towards Rias before asking the following.

"... You a manga fan?" he asked.

"I got hooked ever since I arrived here during the late Showa Era," she explained. "Devilman was my first dive into the artform, and ever since then, I got hooked."

"Mm hm." Takeshi nodded before looking back at Rias' bounty of manga before noticing a pattern. "... Aren't all of these manga about Devils and Demons?"

"You can say that I like seeing how they perceive the supernatural through the lenses of the mundane," she replied. "Iruma-kun is pretty much a spoof of my home realm, Demon Slayer is just indulgent fun, Chainsaw Man is... just weird, but in a good and surprisingly heart wrenching way, Black Butler is just fanservice for us with estrogen, but otherwise, it's nothing too special, The Promised Neverland is starting to get a bit stale, but I'm just sticking to it just because I came too far to stop, and the Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle is just a riot."

Takeshi chuckles as he walks back towards the manga section of the store before coming back disappointed. "... You know, it's kind of a shame that aside from licensed stuff, there's not much original manga or anime about Tokusatsu out and about."

"You can get Pandora to draw some for you if you want," Rias suggested.

"I know, but I'm also aware that Pandora has her own life to live," Takeshi rebuked. "... Don't wanna get in her way with my own selfishness."

Oh come on, you're pussyfooting at this golden opportunity?! the Evil Dragon of Lust groaned. Live a little, bro! Especially at the expense of others! Don't look that gift horse in the mouth!

When. She's. Ready, Takeshi firmly replies internally as Pandora comes back to him and Rias. "... By the way, if my mom and dad catch you with those, how are we supposed to cover it up?"

"I'll just simply tell them that they're for me after my eyes 'finish healing'," she plainly answered as she purchased her goods with Rias' phone (the latter has her bank account).

And soon enough, everyone returns with their own stuff to buy, save for Takeshi and Yuuto.

"You didn't buy anything, senpai?" Koneko asked as she carried her bag containing her 1/100 Scale Master Grade S Gundam/Ex-S Gundam along with 1/144 Scale High Grade Zaku II (Origins Ver.), one default-military green, the other being Char Aznable's custom.

"Nope, sorry," Takeshi apologized. "Don't have much room back home, anyway."

"Oh right, that Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann figure that our President gave you during your 17th birthday...!" Akeno chuckled as her bag was full of light novels ranging from several volumes of Konosuba and I Want to Eat Your Pancreas.

"Hilarious," Rias deadpanned before she checked her phone, now reading 1:00 PM. "Alright, who's starving?"

Everyone raises their hand before Rias turns towards Takeshi, who then immediately pulls out his phone to search for his desired location.

"Leave it to me!" he reassured. "I know just a place!"

After a couple of minutes walking through several streets and twisting alleyways, ORC then happened upon a Tokusatsu-themed cosplay cafe with the sign reading "The Hero's Nest" printed on it.

Takeshi was starry-eyed whereas everyone else adopted various looks of awkward confusion.

"... Senpai do what senpai enjoys, I guess," Koneko deadpanned.

"Well, hopefully, the food is good enough to stick around at," Akeno commented.

"At least the number of people in there is... tolerable." Pandora then let out a deep sigh.

"I suppose we can treat this as a quiet reprieve from the chaotic energy of Akihabara," Yuuto commented before turning back towards Rias. "President?"

"Alright, let's go!"

With Takeshi in the lead, everyone enters the modest, but bombastically-themed cosplay cafe.

"Welcome back, Rangers!" the speaker spoke as the group entered. "Good work fighting today's monsters and keeping the city in peace!"

Everyone knew that this was merely theater, but the fact that everyone in ORC are at least knee-deep in the business of fighting deadly monsters and supernatural rogues more than anyone else needed to, simply hearing words of gratitude felt... good, in that their efforts weren't thankless, to say the least.

"... Okay, I'm starting to get the appeal of this place," Rias confirmed as everyone entered the main eatery, consisting of a layout that looked like a superhero's secret base with a very American 50s diner decor with some sci-fi flourishes.

The bar counter were staffed by girls who were dressed as mission control with colored uniforms similar to Dekaranger or Go-Busters, the waiters were dressed in colored jackets with various avian creatures acting as their underlying motif, and waiting for them at the front register was an older woman dressed like a professor, her ears sporting silver, wing-like decorations around the lobes.

"You must be exhausted from all the fighting today!" the professor-like staff with the name "Professor Swan" addressed ORC. "Please, have a seat anywhere that's open!"

The gathered Peerage then take a seat around the large corner table to accommodate all of them at once.

"Welcome back!" A waitress dressed like mission control then brought their menus. "Can I get you all started with anything?"

Everyone orders glasses of water and asks a few minutes to get their orders ready.

"Alright, just be sure to holler when you need anything!" The waitress then walks away.

"Don't worry about what you're going to eat, guys," Takeshi reassured as he opened his menu. "I'll pay for everything. It's the least I can do for you all for humoring my indulgences."

"Oh, thank you very much!" Rias chuckled as she looked over the menu, seeing that the food items were clearly labeled and pictured, ensuring transparency for the customer beyond vaguely-worded menu item names. "Oh my."

"These things look like something that a kid would enjoy," Koneko commented as she looked at the food, which while they looked appetizing, were arranged in a way that looks like superhero paraphernalia.

"How are mere pictures even louder than actual people?" asked Yuuto.

"You'd be surprised," deadpanned Pandora as she realized that none of these menu items would accommodate her tiny stomach capacity. "... I'm just going to have something relatively light."

"Ufufufu..." Akeno chuckled with whimsy. "Now I know what I should make my next bento box for Takeshi-chan should we go out together look like..."

Soon enough, everyone finishes ordering and calls for the waiter.

"One Energy Cell Soda Float," Pandora requested. "Melon-flavored. No pop-rocks in my ice cream, please."

"Two Gigaslash Omurice," Rias ordered for herself and Yuuto. "Make one of them the 'Final Boss'."

"One Battlefield Curry Rice," Akeno requested. "... My 'monster' of choice? Can you make it a 'Battle Royale'?"

"One Deployment Hangar Lunch Set," Koneko added. "Make it 'Mystic'."

"One Megazord Steak Burger Combo," Takeshi added. "And I want it in its 'Final Configuration'."

"Alright! Is that all?" the waitress asks before confirming ORC's order. "Please be patient! You all deserve a rest after a long day!"

After the waitress walks away, the Peerage are left to themselves while they wait for their orders.

"Already feeling at home?" Rias asked Takeshi.

"I heard of this place ever since it opened around 2010," he explained while having a content smile on his face. "My family kinda lived far away from Tokyo, so we never got to visit here. So in a way, I can scratch visiting this place off my proverbial bucket list."

Akeno softly smiles before leaning her head towards Takeshi. "... I think this is how you are genuinely happy," she pointed out. "Your smile is so free..."

Takeshi nervously chuckles before checking in with the others around the table. "... Well, we're not working, so might as well take this moment to stretch our legs and relax!"

Everyone let out a sigh of content of being able to just breathe for a second.

"... Wow," Takeshi remarked. "... We really have nothing else to talk about besides work, don't we?"

Everyone nods, forcing Takeshi to scrape the bottom of the barrel to keep the conversation moving.

"... So, I've been meaning to ask you all this, but when are all of your birthdays?" he asked. "I mean, you guys helped me celebrate mine, so I kinda wanna return the favor someday."

"April 9th," Rias answered. "... And before you ask, don't worry about being over a month late. Work is a bitch and time is a meaningless construct."

"May 30th," Yuuto revealed. "... Pity we can't celebrate it because our own base of operations is at stake."

"July 21st," Akeno answered. "... I'm thinking of having a beachside party. Everyone else thinks of that as well?"

"That'd be nice..." Takeshi nervously chuckled, refusing to admit that he never went to the beach at all throughout his life (and the memories of his uncle's dead body being found washed up also brings back bad memories that he'd rather not relive).

"... 'Officially' October 13th," Pandora remarked with finger-quotes. "The only good thing about my time in captivity is that sometimes, the Acolytes of Artemis sneak a Mont Blanc into my cell in that month."

"November 23rd," Koneko answered flatly. "... That was literally the same day when my older sister left me to die."

Takeshi winces at everyone's mostly-negative experiences with their birthdays. "... Seriously, does anyone on our side of the world that we know celebrate birthdays like normal people?!"

Rias dryly chuckles at her Pawn's naive assumption. "Remember, it's merely a birthday, not a break!"

Then their food arrives, now featuring three very colorful cosplayers consisting of a red-clad man with white scarf, a blue-clad girl with a tough, tomboyish bent, and a yellow-clad girl who was the textbook definition of Japan's "kawaii" culture.

"THE WINGS OF FIERY BRAVERY!" the lead red cosplayer declared bombastically. "AKABA!"

"The wings of icy resolve..." the left blue cosplayer declared coolly. "... Aoba!"

"The wings of shocking energy!" the right yellow cosplayer declared energetically. "Kiba!"

"We are...!" The three cosplayers then posed dramatically. "Tenko Sentai! Tsubaranger!"

Then the food is actually served, with the soda float resembling an energy cell, omurice resembling monsters, with the "Final Boss" being more decorated, loaded, and resembling a meaner, badder-looking monster that resembled a king, the curry rice looking akin to a flooded cityscape, with the ingredients acting as the toppled skyscrapers and monsters occupying it, the lunch set looking akin to an ancient cave with a Dragon-shaped tonkatsu, a Minotaur-bowl containing a small salad, a Mermaid-shaped Neapolitan pasta, a Thunderbird-arranged pineapple slices, and a Pixie-shaped straw going through a pink lemonade drink, and the steak burger coming disassembled.

"QUICK! WE NEED THE MEGAZORD!"

The cosplayers then assemble the burger right before Takeshi's eyes like if they were assembling a giant robot.

"MEGAZORD COMPLETE!" The three cosplayers announced as one of the waitresses snapped a complementary picture, with Takeshi posing alongside them without missing a beat.

Once that display pageantry has finished, the red cosplayer then takes out a cutting knife shaped like a super robot's sword before raising it into the air.

"HISSATSU!" the cosplayer boldly declared. "GIGASLASH!"

The knife then cuts through the "monster" that was the egg omelet, "defeating" the monster and opening it up to envelop the fried rice.

Another complementary picture was taken, with Rias and Yuuto looking a bit awkward in their takes.

"... I'm keeping them," Takeshi snickered.

And so, the Peerage eat their meals after a good time of waiting and discussing their crappy birthdays.

"Food's great," Koneko remarked as she ate her deep-fried pork chop. "... A little loud, but I don't hate it."

"It's not so much as the food that I was aiming for, but the fun," Takeshi beamed as he bit into his towering burger.

"Well, I'm glad we came all the way out here!" Rias remarked as she ate her omurice. "... A bit out-of-the-way, but still! Good on you!"

"Takeshi-chan can be quite adorable when he wants to be, ufufufu..." Akeno commented before accidently spilling a part of the curry soup onto her bosom. "Ara. Can someone get that for me?"

"Something tells me that you've done that on purpose..." Pandora then sips her melon soda float, the ice cream more than enough to make her feel bloated.

"Guess it shows that even though the world changes, some things still remain the same..." Yuuto sighed reminiscently. "... I pray that our near-future won't be as harrowing."

Once everyone finishes their meal and Takeshi pays for everything (and keeps all of the pictures to himself), the staff then sees them out as their theme demands.

"Whenever you're feeling tired, feel free to come again!"

Takeshi then stretches his back as ORC ruminate on where to go next.

"Alright, anyone have any suggestions?" Rias asks her Peerage as she checks her phone, now reading "2:13 PM."

"I got nothing," Yuuto remarked.

"I'm fine with whatever..." Pandora then lets out a yawn. "... Akihabara is way too high-energy for my liking."

Akeno then lets out a soft chuckle. "... I have someplace in mind, President," the Queen suggested. "Shall we?"

All of ORC then follows Akeno towards their next destination, leading to a tall building with "ACOS" plastered on top of it.

"Who wants to play dress-up?" Akeno suggested.

"... I think I'll wait outside-!"

Pandora sneaks away too late as the Queen then drags her inside by her arm before everyone else follows her inside.

"Wait for me!" Yuuto then enters last as they all reach the fifth floor.

Upon entering, Takeshi's initial assumption of there being perverted patrons inside was quickly dispelled by the professional-looking layout and staff policing the aisles.

"... I keep forgetting that we're not in Kuoh Town," Takeshi commented. "... And the fact that professional cosplayers exist."

"Our perceptions on perverts are warped beyond repair..." Koneko sighed as Akeno wandered around the aisles and picked out the costumes. "... Funny if we made a bet on our fighting game romp, and you forced me to wear some perverted crap."

"Who do you take me for? Akeno?" Takeshi gasped.

"Ara, do you really think of me like that?" the Queen replied with puppy-dog eyes. "... Oh you break my own heart."

Pandora grumbles as she secures her shades from slipping so that she doesn't release a wave of estrogen with her Charm. "... Can we hurry up?" she begged. "Even if Takeshi's the only one keeping the more questionable patrons at bay... I cannot deal with their stares crawling at my back."

Rias sighs before pushing her Peerage towards the changing rooms. "Alright everyone, don't take too long lest the others get any funny ideas."

As both Takeshi and Yuuto waited for the girls to change, the two boys then made small talk.

"... Come to think of it, why aren't we using perception-blocking spells?" asked Takeshi.

Yuuto then points towards the security cameras. "... Not worth the trouble," he answered. "In fact, it's the same reason why vagrants from our side prefer to operate outside of civilization rather than within... unless they're in a desperate situation."

"Fate/Zero rules, got it!" Takeshi confirmed right before the curtains opened.

"Sorry for the wait, boys!" Rias announced. "Feast your eyes on this!"

Standing before Takeshi and Yuuto were Rias, Akeno, Koneko, and Pandora, all four girls wearing various assortment of sexually-appealing outfits that would make any lesser male go wild.

Rias herself was dressed like a nurse, her tight dress being a pinkish shade of white that accentuated her bust and hips, stroking her whole body against a comically-large syringe prop roughly the size of a normal person, and the length of her skirt being short enough that one wrong move will be more than enough to reveal her panties to the rest of the world.

Akeno was wearing a jade-green qipao that showed off her bare and silky legs, the dress itself being decorated with a golden Eastern Dragon iconography on its length printed amidst a background of peony-like patterns on its stitching, and to top it all off, her hair was adjusted and dressed to be more compact and held together with an ivory and golden hairpin, finishing it off with a long black scarf worn around her shoulders like a sash before flicking open her peacock feather fan open, covering her lips very seductively.

Koneko was less subtle, opting for a black and red dominatrix dress that showed off her legs, hips, bust, and back, her face covered with a red butterfly mask, her legs covered in thigh-high leather boots with high heels, and held in her opera gloved hands were a riding crop, tapping in her other open hand, almost preparing to "punish" someone very lovingly.

Pandora herself was more conservatively-dressed, clad in a dull-blue colored nun's cloth while carrying a large prop cross behind her back and wielding a prop MP5 in her hand.

"Time for your check-up!" Rias teasingly remarked. "Please assume the position."

"Ufufufu... Are you perhaps the one for me?" Akeno declared with an air of mystery.

"Ara, ara... I guess someone's been a naughty boy..." Koneko smirked as she played with her crop.

"... This is so embarrassing," Pandora winced in embarrassment.

Takeshi groans. "... Pandora, you know that you could've said 'no,' right?"

"I-I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!" the Knight cried out, too overwhelmed by embarrassment.

"Excuse me," one of the staff members called out to them. "Insides voices within the shared public space, please."

Feeling apologetic, Akeno then takes Pandora back to the dressing room before returning her back to her default outfit.

"Forgive me, Pandora-chan," the Queen apologized. "I think I went a little too far."

Pandora grumbles as she hides behind Takeshi before the latter sighs. "Welp, I guess with one of the girls embarrassing themselves, I think it's high time for us to skedaddle."

The Knight then looks a bit repentant. "... I'm sorry for ruining your fun," she said. "... I don't think Akihabara is my kind of place. Too many people."

"Don't worry about it," Rias reassured as she checked her phone, reading "3:00 PM". "... I think we can kill about an hour or so before we catch a train back to Kuoh."

"Pop-up stores?" Koneko suggested. "And maybe a few crane games in the meantime as well."

And so, ORC then dallied about the streets of Akihabara like normal teenagers.

"Hey Yuuto!" Takeshi asked after he and Pandora came out of a video game store. "... Do you want anything before we go?"

"Oh no, I'm perfectly fine, really," he reassured.

"You sure?" Takeshi asked again. "I mean, you didn't even spend a single yen on anything."

The Knight then walks over to a gachapon machine before inserting 500 yen into it and popping out a capsule toy of that of a chibi wolf.

"There," Yuuto confidently declared. "500 yen well-spent."

"Touché."

With the clock ticking closer to 4:00 PM, all of ORC then make their way back to the train station.

... This place was too lively for my liking, Nidhogg commented. Too loud, too bright, and the food was bland despite its loud appearance.

I thought I was going to hate a place where it does nothing but cater to weaklings, but I have to admit, these "video games" are quite fun to watch and emulate, Grendel remarked. ... Can't wait to pull off some move belonging to that "Armor King II" guy in real fights!

8 out of 10! Would love to come again! Yamata no Orochi declared. ... Inside, of course.

The other two Evil Dragons groan in annoyance.

---

On the Train Back Home...

---

The train ride back home rocks on the rails as the members of ORC slumped against their seats and each other in exhaustion.

Pandora was sitting between Akeno and Takeshi, Koneko was sleeping between Takeshi and Rias, and Yuuto himself was sitting next to Rias in vigilance.

"... All things considered, today was a good day," Pandora remarked.

Koneko snores and sniffles while sawing logs on Takeshi's lap,

"Ufufufu, Koneko-chan is adorable when she's acting like a cat," Akeno commented.

She's in the perfect range for a blowjob, bro! Yamata no Orochi pointed out. There's no one around but your fuck-buddies! Go for it!

How about "no"? Takeshi deadpanned. ... Do you know how hard it is to put pants back on in a moving vehicle?

Rias then lets out a yawn before peeking inside of her magic circle where she kept everyone's stuff they bought at Akihabara. Normally, she'd start a conversation to pass the time, but after having fun in a loud and buzzing cityscape for a whole day, she instead opts to enjoy the quiet while watching the sun set into the horizon.

"... By the way," Takeshi remarked. "... How do you think Riser and his harem are faring?"

Rias then raises an eyebrow. "... Really?" she deadpanned. "Since when were you friends with my ex-fiancé?"

Before Takeshi could answer, a burly man with wavy, shoulder-length blond hair with dark aviator shades over his chiseled face sporting an "X"-shaped scar on the bridge of his nose and brows wearing a gray-white polo shirt and black suit pants walked towards the seat across from where ORC was situated at, checking his silver wristwatch while his brown leather loafers clacked against the steel floor.

Great, and there goes the whole "no one but us"-clause that you pointed out, Takeshi deadpanned internally.

Whelp, heads up, Nidhogg warned. It's faint, but I'm detecting a strong presence nearby.

Before he knew it, the man in question then stares directly at him. "You there, boy."

Takeshi then looked back at the man. "... Yes?"

The man then checks his watch before asking again. "... Are you perhaps Takeshi Ryuugamine?"

Then all of his danger senses flared to life right as both him and the man lunged at each other with their fist swung towards each other.

"WHAM!*

"TAKESHI?!" Rias cried out as she saw her Pawn being sent flying through the door leading into another car as the other man slid back on his heels, unfurling three pairs of black-feathered wings from his back, outing himself as a Fallen Angel.

"Blast," he cursed as the man took off his shades. "Guess I'll have to do this the hard way."

Rias then confronts the Fallen Angel as the cart behind them now came flooding in with Stray Exorcists armed with Mini-Uzis.

The commotion then alerts everyone from their slumber as they all go into their battle positions.

"HOW DID THEY GET THE DROP ON US?!" Pandora cried out as she threw her shades away to activate her Charm to deter the Stray Exorcists from fighting long enough for Akeno to fry them with her lightning magic.

"It's like Saitama all over again...!" Koneko growled as she then lunged towards the Fallen Angel in her Nekomata form, but the latter dodged with grace before forcing the former to retreat from gunfire.

"You are way too relaxed for Devils, you know that?" the Fallen Angel taunted as Rias and Yuuto charged at him, with the Fallen Angel easily dodging both assaults. "Sloppy, sloppy, very sloppy! I was expecting a better fight from the infamous 'Delinquent of House Gremory'!"

"Who are you?!" Rias asked as she partially manifested her [Power of Destruction] to not destroy the ride that they were one.

"Oh, who am I, you ask?!" Then in a flash, the Fallen Angel switches polo shirt and dress pants-ensemble into a turquoise and gold matador's suit with a tricorn hat and a red cravat tied around his neck. "Listen and be amazed, foul Devils of the Underworld!"

With a snap of his finger, the Fallen Angel then brandishes a saber and a fluttering cape made of his own holy energy before taking a stance as if he's ready to bullfight.

"The name is Gadreel," he declared with pomp in his voice. "Remember it well, for I shall carve it into your corpses-!"

"[Atrocity Rise]!"

*CLANG!*

Suddenly, a fiery fist blitzes towards Gadreel's saber, sending him sliding back towards the entrance of the rear car before stopping.

"Yeah, yeah, another bad guy that we have to merk," Takeshi deadpanned as he banged [Berserk Devastators] together. "So shut the fuck up and put 'em up! I need some stress relief!"

As the fight got underway with the entrance of the Evil Dragon User, at the other cart, the remaining Stray Exorcists looked back at a man completely cloaked and hidden, flanked between a woman dressed in clothes that didn't give away her identity, with hat, mask, and shades covering her face, and another woman wearing a Japanese fox mask underneath her black hood.

"Take the VIP elsewhere, MIA," the masked woman ordered as she reached for something within her shroud. "Everyone else, escort the two out of here. I'll deal with our superior's sudden 'inspiration'."

Through the fighting, Takeshi and Yuuto kept the Fallen Angel in a lock while creating openings for both Koneko and Pandora to exploit as Rias and Akeno provided covering fire.

"Damn it!" cursed Pandora as she used Akeno' elemental spells as a jumping off-point for her Spirit Charming arts. "We can't fight in this cramped space without risking destroying it!"

"Leave the heavy-lifting to us!" Yuuto cried out as his [Holy Eaters] clashed against the Fallen Angel's saber. "Everyone, just focus on trying to end this fight as quickly as possible-!"

Then, his gut started to stir, distracting him momentarily and exploited by the Fallen Angel to deliver a killing strike.

"YUUTO!" Takeshi then intercepts the slash before countering it with another punch.

"Getting cold feet, already?" taunted Gadreel. "Such a shame. I was planning to make your death as beautiful as possible-!"

As the Fallen Angel stood still long enough to posture, the Knight's eyes faintly spotted the cloaked man's face hidden under the hood faintly from a distance.

"... No."

His eyes widened and bulged like pus, the sounds around him going silent as his gut instincts were now screaming at him to move towards that man in particular.

"[Full Release: Holy Eater]!"

Without a word, Yuuto then speeds towards Gadreel after immobilizing him in a cage of holy energy-siphoning blades before throwing a fistful of eye with his [Dust Devil], blinding him long enough for Yuuto to enter the next cart over.

"CONFOUNDED FOOL-!"

"DISTRACTION ATTACK!" Takeshi then dropkicks Gadreel in the face as Koneko then speeds around the window side with her [Kasha] as roller blades before delivering her own dropkick to the side of the Fallen Angel's head.

Enraged, the Fallen Angel then swings out an arc of light that forces back the Devils with Takeshi activating [Promotion: Rook] to tank the blow seamlessly.

"You're facing us now," Rias declared as small bits of [Power of Destruction] orbited around. "We'll make you regret attacking us on our day off!"

As the car where ORC was at was buzzing with sounds of fighting, Yuuto kept running from car to car as he tried to use his Knight's speed to catch up.

"COME ON!" one of the Stray Exorcists remarked as he opened the door leading to the end of the train, the window of the unused control console being shattered wide open. "WE'LL HAVE TO JUMP!"

"W-WAIT-!" As he futilely reached out towards the door to the end of the train...

"I think not."

*CLANG!*

The masked woman then intercepts Yuuto right before blocking the door leading into the end of the train, letting the man escorted by the Stray Exorcists get away and separating him from the rest of his Peerage as she then pointed her sheathed jian blade at the Knight.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" he roared out as he then brandished his dual [Flame Delete] blades.

"Make me."

The other side of the train then rings with sounds of clashing metal and screams of rage filling the air.

At the other end, Takeshi and Koneko manage to push the Fallen Angel back into another car, but even as they were able to get a few lucky and glancing hits in, none of their attacks were landing consistently.

"AHAHAHA! Bewitched, are you?!" Gadreel boasted as Takeshi tried to attack the Fallen Angel, only for the latter to dodge his attacks before delivering a swift reprisal. "To fight me without weapons is a fool's errand!"

Koneko then rips off one of the handlebars from above before using it as her staff weapon, thrusting and poking the Fallen Angel with it until the latter easily misdirects her into having one of its triangular handles catch onto something else, leaving the Nekomata open for a counterattack.

"MISS TOUJOU!" Pandora then cuts her finger with her teeth to sling a fireball from her hands as Akeno supplements it with her magic, turning it into a lightning-fast fire arrow that parried the Fallen Angel's saber slash away from the Rook, allowing Rias to then shoot a barrage of [Power of Destruction] into a swarm of shurikens.

Gadreel then uses his mantle of light to parry the projectiles before blocking the Evil Dragon User's fist with the edge of his blade.

"Hmm, it appears that I cannot cut you," the Fallen Angel commented. "Can't say that I don't enjoy the challenge, though."

"Trust me, I'm no bargain-bin goon that you can cut down, you ripoff-Matador," Takeshi snarled. "Oh, and to respond to your earlier statement...!"

As Gadreel then pulls back his saber to then deliver a reprisal after wrapping Takeshi's head with his mantle of light, Takeshi instead uses the pull motion against him and rides his whole body towards the Fallen Angel, bringing himself too close for a counterattack as the Evil Dragon User performs a Bajiquan shoulder smash that sends him through another train car door.

"MY WHOLE BODY IS A DEADLY WEAPON!" Takeshi then bangs his metallic and scaled fists together.

Gadreel spits out a wad of blood to the side as he gets back up. "... How barbaric," he scoffed. "Only beasts fight with their hands and feet! My [Arms Ovation] will not be bested by such primitive methods!"

Ditching his saber and mantle, the Fallen Angel then manifests a combat knife and a revolver pistol made of his own holy energy.

"I care not how blood is spilled, only that it is!" Grendel snarled out from his host's belt. "Come! Best me if you can!"

As the rest of ORC faced the Fallen Angel, Yuuto himself was facing the masked woman with the sheathed jian.

"DAMMIT!" Yuuto then swung down his [Frost Bite] towards the masked woman, only for her to shatter the blade with her sheathed blade.

"What's wrong?" she taunted. "Was that strength you showed during the Rating Game a mere fluke?"

Yuuto then summons [Blast Ogre] and [Cyclone Call], using the latter as a speed boost to supplement the former's force of impact.

She easily dodges the attack before tripping him over on one foot before smacking him in the back of her head with her scabbard, the strike drawing and pooling blood onto the blunt edge.

"... Why won't you... fight me... with your sword...?!" Yuuto heaved out as his head felt light and dizzy.

The masked woman huffs as she rests her sheathed sword against her shoulder.

"... Because you are not worthy."

His rage hitting its peak, Yuuto then summons two [Gravity Nail] swords between the woman to trap her right as he then manifests several [Starlight Flash] rapier blades to finisher her off in one go.

"Predictable." She then easily rips off one of the chain-bound swords from the ground before throwing it towards Yuuto, the pull of the blade causing him to be dragged along and streaked across the car's floor.

Yuuto tries to get up, but by the time he could free himself from his own sword, the masked woman was already on top of him with her sheathed jian raised over her head.

She then proceeds to beat the Knight's head in with the blunt scabbard, splattering blood all over the car's windows with each blow that ticked down like a pendulum, beating the young Devil down as if she were disciplining a rowdy dog with a roll of newspaper.

By the time that the beatings had stopped, Yuuto was barely conscious, his vision marred with his own blood and cerebral fluids, only faintly seeing the masked woman come back with a sharpened pole that she ripped off from the train car's ceiling.

"This is for wasting my time." And just as she could stake the sharpened pole into the Knight...

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

*SHATTER!*

Now Playing: "Kakusei" by Ricky (from Kamen Rider Blade)

From the breached window came in three figures cloaked in white, all three of them wielding swords of various makes.

The first lashed out her segmented whip sword, to which she parries the lash with her pole and staking it onto the train floor.

The second then swings down a massive two-handed claymore with an axe for a crossguard towards the masked woman, to which the latter evades by simply pushing the blade's flat away from her, altering its trajectory before then delivering a swift palm strike to their chest, the technique itself reminiscent to contemporary fa jin.

And the third then thrusts his one-handed longsword towards the masked woman, to which the latter catches the blade between her two fingers...

*crack*

But a part of her mask cracks from the sheer vacuum of the thrust's force.

Seeing an opening, the first cloaked figure with the whip sword transforms her blade into that of a scythe, but the masked woman, even while holding a blade with only two fingers, parries the heavy swing by delivering an axe kick to its flat, grounding the weapon before striking the user with her sheath with a stinging smack, forcing her to drop her weapon just at the same time the third person frees his blade from the masked woman's grip.

After that exchange, the three white-cloaked sword wielders stare down at the masked woman.

"... So, two [Excalibur] fragments and a Holy Sword," she observed. "To think the Church has already caught onto us..."

"If you know any better, then surrender," the man with the Holy Sword ordered. "Unfavorable as it is, I hope to avoid needless bloodshed."

*BANG*

Coming into the last car by breaking through its doors was none other than Gadreel, whose matador's suit was now sooty and a tad burnt all over.

"... I may or may not have overextended," the Fallen Angel confessed before looking down, spotting the badly-beaten Yuuto. "... Oh my-"

"HEY, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Takeshi's voice roared from the other car where Gadreel had been thrown from, signaling his arrival with sounds akin to hammer unto anvil. "WHEN I GET MY HANDS ONTO YOUR ASS, NOT EVEN GOD WILL BE ABLE TO PUT YOU BACK TOGETHER AGAIN!"

The cloaked figure with the scythe-now-katana shuddered upon hearing that death threat. "... Whoever they are, I don't wanna be on that guy's bad side."

"May as well make it quick," the cloaked person brandishing the claymore said, her voice denoting her as a young woman. "They're going to die either way."

"No, we're just about done here."

Just as the rest of ORC makes it to the last car, the masked woman then pulls something within her cloak, releasing a large bundle of flashbangs from beneath her cloak.

"... W-wait-!"

*CLANG!*

The sensory abuse of all 50 stun grenades going off at the same time blinded everyone present, save for the masked woman, who has glare protection and earplugs underneath her mask.

"Remember my name, dogs of destiny," the masked woman declared as she then pulled out an ofuda tag from her cloak. "... Remember the name, Yozakura."

She then throws the tag onto the floor.

"GET BACK HERE-!"

"[Genjutsu: Art of Incorporeal Body]."

Takeshi's fiery fist phases through the two bodies as the latter pair disappears from the train entirely, leaving Yuuto behind, laid on the floor and breathing heavily.

"YUUTO-!"

Takeshi was then stopped by the cloaked woman brandishing a comically-large claymore pointed at his face.

"State your intentions, Evil Dragon User," she ordered. "Or else I'll resort to force."

"Oi! I have a name, you know!"

He then undoes his transformation before the three white cloaked sword wielders.

"It's Ryuugamine Takeshi!" he revealed. "Remember it-!"

"Takeshi?" the cloaked man said with a hint of surprise. "... Is that really you?!"

The man then takes off his hood, revealing a boyishly-handsome young man with short blond hair and shining blue irises, causing Takeshi's eyes to widen in shock.

"... No freaking way," Takeshi gasped while the rest of ORC tended to Yuuto's head wounds while both sides were occupied. "... How long has it been?"

The blond young man chuckles before sighing. "... Six years," he revealed. "... Six long years since I left Japan."

"Do you know him, perhaps?" the young woman with a katana remarked revealing herself to be a redheaded girl with long pigtails and her violet eyes.

"It changes nothing." The last young woman then opens her hood to reveal a stoic-looking girl with short cerulean blue hair with a single streak of green running across her right fringe and brown eyes. "You're a heretical existence that must be purged-"

Pandora then steps up towards Takeshi's defense. "Over my dead body, you bitch."

"You mess with senpai, you mess with all of us," Koneko warned as she went into her Nekomata form.

But just as the situation can turn for the worse...

"Now approaching Kuoh Station," the speaker announced, taking the air out of the tension between the two parties. "All passengers, please secure your belongings before exiting."

Takeshi sighs before turning back to Rias. "... President?"

"Might as well talk it out right now over some tea," she sighed.

"Kiba-kun is alright for now," Akeno confirmed. "He needs bed rest. And probably some painkillers."

As the two parties left the train, the Evil Dragon of Wrath could sense that the young Knight was still partially conscious, muttering incoherent words of rage that were too faint to make out properly, but their intent was clear as day for him, even while he was trapped behind [Cataclysm Zone]'s cells.

How strange... he thought. ... It's almost like... he's calling out for me. Just like that brat...

Grendel smirks at this development, realizing that today wasn't a wasted day after all.

---

To Be Continued...

---

And that's the reboot's "Chapter 21" and oh my god, I didn't mean to make it this long.

It felt like cramming four different chapters into a single chapter, and honestly, at that point, I was just flexing. That and to make up for my new upload schedule (this fic will no longer be uploading every week like previously), I'll leave my readers with something to chew on while I work on all three of my active fics.

That said though, I doubt the next chapter would be as loaded, but I may or may not be tempting fate with that one.

Now onto the chapter itself: THERE'S A LOT.

First, the Church gets robbed by some secret agent-bullshit, and yes, Phecda is the guy back at Wuhan from the previous chapter's epilogue. Be afraid, for their influence is everywhere.

Second, Takeshi's attempt to salvage the Pervert Trio's fracturing relationship:

The reason for him helping them of all people is pretty simple: they actually gave a damn about him during First Year and saw him for what he really is (helping that they're naturally immune to Evil Dragons' malevolence for some confounded reason), and it's because of that small act of kindness that he wants to sort of "pay back," per se, but also he wants to help them become better people.

And I sort of took elements from the canon DxD and incorporated it into Matsuda Eiji's backstory: an ex-jock who couldn't have the guts to confess to his senpai before she had to skip town, and is now beating himself up for it, with him abandoning a promising career in athletics for the "next best thing" (i.e., porno).

Overall, the Pervert Trio is a deconstruction of the "Saru/Monkey"-character archetype present in the Harem-genre used in various anime, manga, and light novels. You know characters like Hideyoshi Sarutobi from My Bride is a Mermaid! and Kengo Usui from Maken-ki!, those perverted horndogs that act as one-off gags that the female characters beat up once a episode?

Yeah, tear away the humorous facade, and all that's left is a character who has no idea what they're going to do in the future, so they indulge in their own perversions without regard to consequences. Basically no different from the cause and effect of hedonism, and Takeshi is trying to pull them out of that cesspool so that they can actually be functioning people.

All that's left is Issei and Naoto, and this will be this arc's "B-Plot." Wish me luck.

Third, the trip to the Familiar Forest, Abaddon.

Look, if Zatouji is basically a walking Pokémon reference, then I might as well add versions of Misty/Kasumi and Brock/Takeshi to his Ash/Satoshi.

Koizumi, the Misty-expy, has her name spelled as "小泉," meaning "small spring of water," alluding to her career and inspiration. Whereas Shu, the Brock-expy, is named after Takeshi Shudo, the one who wrote the Pokémon light novels, and spelled as "守," meaning "guard, protect, defend, obey," alluding to his duties as a monk initiate and part-time Game Warden.

As for Zatouji, I gave him a backstory and affiliation. His life truly began with Pokémon, and was ready to die for it. It's because of this dedication that he joined the current Lord Asmodeus' Peerage as a Pawn, and became Abaddon's Game Warden.

Oh, and the call-back to Arc 1. Anyone get that? I just did it as an easter egg and to show that Astrid, the mute Dark Elf mercenary, wasn't just a two-bit cannon fodder.

And Tiamat humbling Grendel with Pro Wrestling. I just did it because I remembered Rekka's boss fight from Hi-Fi RUSH and to show that Grendel has a viable weakness: he can't do shit if he's paralyzed. Granted, only a specific kind of paralysis (the backbreaking ones), but still, it still shows that he can be stopped.

Also, here's my headcanon voice for her:

- Tiamat: Kimiko Saito (JPN), Elizabeth Maxwell (ENG)

As for the rest of the trip... Takeshi's basically banned for life after unleashing Yamata no Orochi from his Sacred Gear from his prior overzealousness of going after the Chimera he ran into from about +10 chapters prior. Needless to say, it wasn't meant to be, given that the Chimera wants him dead while Takeshi wants him as his pet.

And for my rule of Dragons in this DxD fic, I'm putting them under DnD terminologies. Here is how I identify them:

Tiamat: Silver Dragon

Nidhogg: White Dragon (black discoloration due to him refusing to bathe off the filth he sleeps and swims in)

Grendel: Red Dragon (green discoloration due his scales producing spontaneous bursts of flames that blued it over time/he has the Dragon's equivalent of skin cancer)

Yamata no Orochi: Black Dragon (albeit an eight-headed mutant variant)

Speaking of Yamata no Orochi... yeah, a complete and total degenerate.

Does not abide by the mere concept of "standards," will fuck anything with a hole and a pulse, and literally everyone is in danger the moment they (remember, hermaphrodite) enter the stage.

As for their Sacred Gear, I renamed it to [Kokatsu Denryū], which literally means [Blight Current] in Japanese, because it sounds cooler and you don't see me translate [Kogarasumaru] into "little crow circle." As for its form, I based it off an Indian urumi whip-sword, which can also be multi-pronged just like the Sacred Gear. It also symbolizes how the Evil Dragon of Lust is dangerous to literally everyone, given that urumi IRL are really hard to use and really easy to mess (and you, the amateur wielder) up big time if one's not careful.

And as for its titles... Well, that's what the Reference Section is for, but more will be explained in future arcs. Until then, enjoy their double entendres. I wrote in a few ones that aren't based on SMT's Mara myself.

As for the arc's "A-Plot"... yeah, Kiri-sensei knew what ORC was up to since Arc 1, and is now revealed to be under Re:Live's protection as their agent and is holding ORC's building hostage, and will only relinquish control should they be able to recruit one more Peerage member within three weeks.

Can't rebuild a building from a gaping crater, can they?

And as for how Kiri-sensei didn't get caught... Astrid was already killing ORC's familiars before she even showed up, so he slipped through the blind spots and got involved.

Everyone's balls are now in a vice, since even during their one, rare, day off, they get ambushed by a Fallen Angel and Stray Exorcists, although it's implied that the former was an impulsive idiot who blew their cover, so really, ORC is just being shit on today.

As for Gadreel, I based his outfit on Shin Megami Tensei's Matador, given that the mythological Gadreel was the Fallen Angel that thought humanity how to use weapons, so a "combat aesthetician"-trope fit him like a glove, with [Arms Ovation] being basically Kite's [Crazy Slots] from Hunter x Hunter, but more usable in more situations in that they give the Fallen Angel actually useful weapons.

Overall, yeah. This chapter is a flex. One that I had fun with, but still.

Tune in next time, where ORC and the three strangers now find themselves in each other's shit, all the while, with the deadline hanging over the former's head, while Grendel is starting to take interest in Yuuto's blossoming rage...

---

Toku References:

- Agent VP quotes General Xaviax from Kamen Rider Dragon Knight after dealing with the group of Exorcists.

- Takeshi quotes Tendo Souji from Kamen Rider Kabuto before referencing "Godfellas" from Futurama when consoling Eiji.

- Rias quotes Rita Repulsa's catchphrase from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers upon realizing that the same Chimera from Stray Devil Viser had come back to enact its (one-sided) revenge against Takeshi.

- Yamata no Orochi's public debut line is a reference to Momotaros from Kamen Rider Den-O ("Ore, sanjou!"/"I, have arrived!").

- A couple of Yamata no Orochi alludes to some Japanese-adjacent/themed Super Sentai Big Bads, such ones from Kakuranger ("Yōkai no Daimaō"/"Great Demon King of Yōkai"), Shinkenger ("Sanzu no Chimatsuri Dōkoku"/"Bloodbath Lamentation of the Three Realms"), and Ninninger ("Mugetsu no Shōryū"/"Rising Dragon of the Moonless Sky").

- Kiri-sensei's Sacred Gear, [Horror Eater], is based off Zaruba from the GARO franchise, and named after the Horrors that the main characters fight.

- At Takeshi's pick for lunch, a Super Sentai-themed cosplay cafe, the manager, "Professor Swan," is named after Dekaranger's Swan Shiratori/DekaSwan and Akibaranger's Professor Hiroyo (they even share the same voice actress in Japanese), while the three servers, "Akaba", "Aoba", and "Kiba," are all named after the Hokuto Crow Trio from Kamen Rider Build while being based on the main trio of Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger. And yes, the "Hero's Nest" is based off the Secret Base Cafe from Akibaranger.

---

OC Fancast:

- Exorcists: Ayumu Murase, Kenta Kamakari, Kazuya Ichijō (male), Misato Fukuen, and Rei Igarashi (female, JPN), Nicolas Roye, Aleks Le, Keith Silverstein (male), Risa Mei, and Amber Lee Connors (female, ENG)

- Agent VP: Yūji Kishi (JPN), SungWon Cho (ENG)

- Phecda: Shin-ichiro Miki (JPN), Edward Bosco (ENG)

- Kawakami Koizumi: Mayumi Iizuka (JPN), Michele Knotz (ENG - originally planned to be Rachel Lillis before her untimely death on 10th of August, 2024. May she rest in peace)

- Shu: Yuji Ueda (JPN), Eric Stuart (ENG)

- Yamata no Orochi: Ryō Horikawa (JPN), Michael Kovach (ENG)

- "Professor Swan": Maaya Uchida (JPN), Corey Pettit (ENG)

- "Akaba": Hiroshi Tsuchida (JPN), Johnny Yong Bosh (ENG)

- "Aoba": Mika Kikuchi (JPN), Lindsay Seidel (ENG)

- "Kiba": Arisa Komiya (JPN), Macy Anne Johnson (ENG)

- Gadreel: Takuma Terashima (JPN), Matt Shipman (ENG)

- Yozakura: Yū Sasahara (JPN) Shara Kirby (ENG - originally Kimberly Anne Campbell up to 4th of March, 2025, but after thinking it over and redoing my research on their portfolios, I elected to change it)