After finishing talks with President Mephisto, the Gremory peerage spent the next few days buried under a mountain of paperwork, and today's training session saw Yuuto overwhelming Xenovia by equipping the knights with demonic swords. He even nullified her Durandal's charged blast with Gram, leaving her slumped in defeat. She seemed deeply disheartened, saying, "Even my one strength—raw power—has been matched." She's now finally trying to master the various abilities of Excalibur, something she'd been hesitant to attempt until now.
As for Yuuto, it seems using demonic swords drains him heavily, so he's focusing on building his base strength. Apparently, the swords are cooperating with him, but in his current state, swinging Gram at full power just three times in real combat is enough to drain him completely.
I never thought Yuuto would be so well-matched with a demonic sword. Is this because he absorbed all those Holy Sword factors?
Meanwhile, Rossweisse-san was deep in magical discussion with Le Fay, and even Ravel had joined in, asking them questions. Rossweisse and Le Fay both had serious expressions—what's going on there?
Everyone was clearly focused on their own training.
As for me, I was sparring with Issei. Even though he's stronger and faster in his [True Queen] form, he's now syncing with Ddraig, making it harder for me to predict his aura movements. That's made our battles a lot tougher. It's not that I can't fight him without aura reading, but it does take more than three times as long to bring him down compared to before. I have to be much more cautious now.
"Damn! I feel like I'm this close to taking you down, but that last step is so far away," Issei complained.
"From my perspective, it's just that you're well-suited to fighting me, that's all."
"So what kind of opponent would you say is a bad match for you?"
Think that one through yourself, Issei. I'm not so nice as to just hand over my weaknesses.
After that, Asia got a dragon lecture from Ophis, and Rias was working on compressing her Destruction magic—developing a new technique so powerful it'd probably be banned in official Rating Games. With a few light status updates like that, training wrapped up for the day.
========
The next day, Issei and I found ourselves eating lunch on the school rooftop with Saji and Yuuto—same grade, all guys for once.
"So, nothing happened after you saw the kids on the bus?" I asked.
I'd only heard bits and pieces, but apparently there was an incident involving the Hero Faction attacking a bus full of children.
"Yeah, after we finished escorting them, we returned to Lilith and the monster was already gone, the sky was split red, and we got a call that the fight was already over. All that was left was cleanup."
"We got back late that night—actually, almost morning—and still had to take midterms right after. That was brutal. I mean, for us students and Azazel-sensei who's always slacking off, sure, but poor Rossweisse-sensei actually stayed at work the whole time."
"Yeah, Rossweisse-san just gulped down a nutrient drink and collapsed into bed when she finally got home."
Being that serious might actually be a problem…
"Speaking of which, Saji, has the Student Council—or rather, the Sitri peerage—gotten those magician documents from Mephisto-sama yet?"
"Huh? Oh, the paperwork? Yeah, we actually just got them last night. Two new members joined the Sitri peerage, so there was some adjustment. I haven't even looked at the files yet. Still, the president told me our pile's way smaller than what Gremory got. For once, I'm grateful no one knows who we are! But hey, don't tell the president I said that. If she finds out, she'll say, 'What kind of lazy attitude is that? Double your training regimen immediately!'"
"Haha, got it. Still, I'm curious about your new members."
"There'll be a formal introduction soon, so I'll keep quiet for now. But I'll say this—they're powerful. Our team's strength and stability shot up."
"Then all that's left is getting your Dragon King form under control. Then you'll be all set."
When I poked him with that jab, Saji slumped.
"Don't bring that up, Arima. I lost control during that game against Agares. I'm still not over it… Anyway, Hyoudou—how are things with Rias-senpai after that... incident?"
"What incident are we talking about here?"
"Don't play dumb. You confessed to her on live TV during the Rating Game finals against the Bael group! So? Spill it. I'm after the same boss as you, so I need to know—did she give you that whole, 'Let's start as friends and get to know each other first' thing because master-servant romance is premature?"
Issei responded with a smug grin like he was looking down from a mountaintop.
"Heh heh heh! Sorry, Saji-kun. Actually, Rias and I have been dating for a while now."
"Wha—!? For real!? Wait, did you just call her Rias with no honorific!? Damn it… I've barely even gone to the movies with her—and that was with the whole peerage!"
Saji's pitiful attempt to call that "progress" was almost heartbreaking.
"Damn… At this rate, it'll take me hundreds of years to reach my dream of 'accidentally getting married to the President.' Why's there such a huge gap between us? Is it the difference between Heavenly Dragons and Dragon Kings? No matter how much I try, she never even notices my efforts!"
Don't go blaming Vritra for your lack of charm—that's just sad.
"Didn't you ever get any attention from other girls, though?"
"Not even close. The other day, Nimura and Hanakai dragged me to a lingerie shop because they 'wanted a guy's opinion.' Clearly, they don't see me that way."
Yeah, no. This guy does not deserve pity. He's doing just fine.
"You went lingerie shopping with girls!?" Issei howled. "Not even I've crossed that sacred boundary with Rias or anyone else!"
"Haha, I've been invited to that kind of thing a few times, but it's too awkward. I always politely decline."
Yuuto, as always, in full suave mode.
"The fact that you got invited makes you my enemy!" Issei snapped. "Ikkki—you haven't experienced that too, right?"
He glared at me, full of jealous rage. I could've kept quiet, but hey, sometimes reality needs to hit you in the face.
"Sorry, Issei. I already completed both the swimsuit and lingerie section tours back in middle school."
Issei froze, then slowly crumbled like ancient stone.
Later that day in club, we got word: the vampires would be arriving tomorrow night.
========
Late that night, with the vampire meeting drawing near, the Occult Research Club room was packed. The Gremory peerage, Sona and Tsubaki from the Student Council, Azazel-sensei, myself, Ravel, Kuroka, and a woman none of us had met before—a sister. Though it turned out Issei and the church trio had already seen her on a recent visit.
She looked like a Northern European beauty in her mid-20s.
"Apologies for the late introduction. I'm Griselda Quarta, overseeing Heaven's operations in this region. I meant to greet you all much earlier, but circumstances didn't allow it. I look forward to working with you."
Griselda bowed politely.
Irina puffed out her chest proudly from behind her. "She's my boss!"
"I've heard the name. You were Gabriel's Queen, right? And if I remember, Sister Griselda was one of the top five female exorcists. People used to call you the Queen of Hearts."
She didn't seem the tyrannical Alice-in-Wonderland type, so I wonder who thought of that nickname.
"It's an honor to be acknowledged by the former Governor of the Fallen Angels. Now then—Xenovia."
From the moment Griselda entered, Xenovia had been visibly nervous. When her name was called, she flinched and started sweating.
Griselda approached and clamped Xenovia's face between her hands.
"My, my. Is it really so unpleasant to see me? I already lectured you for recklessly becoming a devil, remember? Are you hiding something else that might upset me?"
She leaned in so close that Xenovia couldn't lie her way out. She clearly knew better.
"I… I'm sorry for ignoring your calls," she muttered.
"Good girl. We're working in the same region now and even exchanged numbers—don't make me chase you. At the very least, we should be able to have a meal together, no?"
"But… you'd just scold me the whole time…"
"Obviously. You've always been a handful—especially outside of work. Maybe I should drop in for a surprise inspection of your room?"
"Sister Griselda and Xenovia grew up in the same orphanage. She's like a big sister to Xenovia—someone she can't talk back to." Irina explained.
And so, Griselda's scolding continued for a while longer.
=========
With time to spare before the vampires arrived, Issei was getting a crash course on pureblood vampires. Apparently, they can't cross running water, are weak to silver weapons, crosses, and holy water, and can't walk in sunlight. During the day, they must sleep in their coffins to regenerate. But at night, they can wield a wide array of powers, surpassing even devils, and are nearly immortal—though not quite on Phenex level.
They're also notoriously xenophobic—even more so than the old pureblood devils.
"Hmm. I thought the higher-up devils at that summer party were hard to talk to, but these guys might be worse," Issei said.
"Issei, don't ever say that in public. It'll blow up in your face."
"I know, I know. I won't."
"If you are going to say it, make sure you've already laid all the political groundwork to wipe them out!"
Start the war and win it in one blow, huh? Easier said than done.
"Like I said, I'm not going to say it! Are you warning me or egging me on!?"
"Vampires, huh… I've never liked them," Kuroka added.
"Come to think of it, our first mission together was vampire hunting," Irina said fondly.
"Oh yeah… Haha, I wonder what the old us would think if they saw us about to negotiate with vampires."
"They'd probably think we were luring them in to interrogate and torture them or planning an assassination."
Yikes. That's a full-on enemy mindset.
Griselda looked like she had a headache. Yeah… I guess even the Church can't condone premeditated murder during peace talks. Then again, those two were a bit intense back then.
"Well, I get that you're all on edge," Azazel cut in, "so I brought something to ease your minds. Using Grigori tech, I made a little secret weapon just in case anything goes wrong."
He summoned a hefty-looking briefcase from a magic circle, placed it on the table, and flipped it open for all to see.
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100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
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