Tales Of The Fearless Dragon 42

Hey everyone, and gets ready for this chapter. This will be a chapter that focuses mainly on dialogue and advancing the plot of this Arc, it won't be a long chapter, but I'm hoping to finish this Arc without taking too long, so I'm writing shorter chapters for quicker updates for this Arc specifically.

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. Highschool DxD, Highschool DxD New, Highschool DxD Born, Highschool DxD EX, and Highschool DxD Hero are all owned by Funimation, Fushimi Shobo, TNK, Passione, and Ichiei Ishibumi. Please support the official release.

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"Shirou" Regular speech.

"Shirou" Thoughts.

DRAGON SHOT Attack names.

(Shirou) Words said previously.

"SHIROU!" Shouting speech.

[Ddraig] Dragon talking.

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Harsh Truths And Hidden Lies

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—…

It was the middle of the afternoon during a weekend that Shirou was in the middle of training. Rather than gratuitous training for the sports festival, he was self-training with his darkness. Right now, he was standing in the middle of one of the training rooms in his newly renovated house and surrounding his body with the Power of Darkness in a controlled and compressed state.

It was a new habit of his to experiment with his darkness to see how much control he honestly had over it and just how much power he could wield with it, and most importantly, if he could improve the amount over both.

After a while, he inhaled before exhaling, and by his will, the darkness coating his body faded. Shirou relaxed his body before clenching his hand.

"I need more power."

After muttering those words to himself, he heard footsteps approach as Mika entered the room and walked up behind him.

"I figured I'd find you here."

"Then the only reason you'd have for finding me is to tell me you have some news."

Mika grinned. "I love how you know me so well. I do have something."

"Make me happy."

"I was looking into that matter you asked me about, and I found some very interesting information on Diodora."

"You made me happy."

"And that's what I live for." Mika commented jokingly. "Unrelated; I got a call from Rias saying we all had to meet at the clubroom." She informed him.

"Tell her I'm busy." Shirou dismissed that information.

"She said we're watching Sairaorg's first match in the tournament."

Shirou stopped after Mika added that last bit. While he was in favor of continuing his training, it was clear this news had his attention. "Fine, that's worth watching. And tell me what you found out on the way."

Shirou made his way to the door as Mika followed right beside him.

"Sure thing, it actually clears up a few things."

"How bad is it?" Shirou asked as they left the room.

"It's messed up, but we've seen a lot worse. On the other hand, it does prove one thing."

"What's that?"

"He's completely untrustworthy."

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"Looks like everyone has gathered."

Shirou and Mika arrived and saw that all the other members of the club, along with Azazel and Ren, were already present. After confirming that everyone was there, Rias took out something which looked like a video.

"It's a video recording that has the matches of the Young Devils. Our match against the Sitri group is also on it."

The recording of the battles. It was determined that they were going to look at the recording of the matches today. So a big monitor was prepared. Azazel then said while standing in front of the monitor. "Not just you guys, but the other Young Devils also had a game. House of the Great-King Bael and Devil King Asmodeus's House of Glasya-Labolas, House of Arch-Duke Agares, and Devil King Beelzebub's House of Astaroth. Each of them had a match after yours. This is the recording of those matches. It's the video of your rivals, so watch carefully."

[YES.]

Most of them nodded seriously at Azazel's words.

They all had their eyes directed at the monitor. Koneko, who was on my Shirou's, was also focused on it.

"First is the match between Sairaorg…. House of Bael versus House of Glasya-Labolas."

The match between Sairaorg and Zephyrdor. The video began, and several hours passed. The excitement of watching the match with those beside themselves disappeared as soon as they started watching it. The faces of every member turned serious, and their eyes were also very serious. What they witnessed was a very overwhelming "power".

The one-on-one between Sairaorg and the Zephyrdor. Zephyrdor was pushed back one-sidedly. The battles between their servants had already finished. Both sides had strong servants, and it finished in a climax. But the problem was the battle between the Kings.

Zephyrdor, who lost all his "pieces," provoked Sairaorg. He challenged him to fight one on one. Sairaorg accepted it without any hesitation. All types of attacks created by Zephyrdor were knocked back by Sairaorg. Even if hit, Sairaorg fought back as if nothing had happened. After finding out that his attacks weren't working, Zephrdor started to become more impatient and started to lose his calm. And then Sairaorg's fists got released.

Numerous defensive techniques were destroyed as easily as if they were a sheet of paper, and Sairaorg's fist dug deeply into Zephyrdor's stomach. It could even be understood through the monitor that his single blow had so much power that it even made their whole surroundings shake. Zephyrdor dropped down on the spot and fainted in agony while holding onto his stomach. Sairaorg only used punches and kicks. But the power of his attacks was on a totally different level. When Zephyrdor dodged it, Sairaorg's blow pierced through the building, destroying most of it, and their surroundings were blown away. That kind of thing… It's obvious that you'd receive fatal damage if you got hit by even a single one of them.

"…The one who was called the wicked one. The new heir of the Glasya-Labolas, who is hated, can't even put up a fight. He's someone of that much caliber, that man Sairaorg Bael." Kiba also narrows his eyes at what he just saw.

His expression is also serious. He must have had a lot of things going through his mind. Sairaorg's speed was quite something as well. Most couldn't even see what was going on, and even Kiba also had his eyes taken by that speed.

"He had this much power while having nothing in his hands…." Gasper started to shake and was clinging onto Shirou's arm.

"Rias and Sairaorg. Both of you have too many one-on-one battles, even though you guys are the King. Basically, the King can just have their "pieces" march forward while the King doesn't move. You do know that the game will be over if the King is taken down, right?" Azazel said that while sighing. "Maybe those who carry the blood of House of Bael are hot-blooded."

Rias' face goes red with embarrassment after that statement.

Shirou wasn't just unfazed by the display; he was unimpressed. "What a waste of time."

"What?" Rias turned toward him.

"I can tell when someone's pulling their punches. Sairaorg probably wasn't even using half of his real strength. A powered-down Sairaorg isn't worth watching." Shirou elaborated on his discontent. "I should have figured, though, he wouldn't go all out against such a weak opponent."

"I wouldn't put it like that." Rias responded to his evaluation. "If we didn't limit it to the current six Houses, then he wouldn't be weak. But since the former heir died in an accident, he participated as a representative….."

Akeno continued. "In the ranking produced by the Game committee, Bael is ranked first, Agares is ranked second, Gremory is ranked third, Astaroth is ranked fourth, Sitri is ranked fifth, and Glasya-Labolas is ranked sixth. It's the comparison of the average rank of their strengths, including the King and their servants. Though each of them turned the result around after having a match."

"But Sairaorg Bael is still ranked first. That's what you're saying, right, Rias?"

Rias nodded at his words. "Yes. He is a monster. It's said that "Maybe he will rise up in a short time when he participates in the official game?". In other words, you can say that our fame would increase if we defeat him."

"Fame isn't what I'm concerned with."

Mika chimed in. "Still, as far as Devils go, he'll mostly be the strongest we've ever fought. His power obviously dwarfs Raiser."

"It's more than that. If he actually did go all out, I'd wager he'd be even stronger than Kokabiel."

Xenovia's eyes widened, knowing the weight of those words. "You rate him that highly?"

There wasn't a shred of doubt in his voice. "Absolutely."

"Well, you might be onto something. I will show you the graphs. They're the ones that are distributed to each faction."

Azazel activated his techniques, and a holographic vision of a graph appeared in the air. On the graphs, the faces of Rias, Sona, Sairaorg, and the other remaining three Youth Devils—Diodora, Seekvaira, and Zephyrdor—Appear. Below it, something which looks like a parameter moved and was getting longer upwards. It's written in Japanese. Each graph has the category of Power, Technique, Support, and Wizard. These were the types given during the game. Another one, the "King" category, also appeared. It was likely the quality of a King. Rias, Sona, and Seekvaira from the house of Agares were fairly high. At the current point, Sona was higher than Rias. Sairaorg, on the other hand, was considerably high. And, unsurprisingly, Zephyrdor was the lowest.

On Rias' graph, the Wizard category, demonic power, increased the most, and her Power category increased fairly high as well. The other categories of Technique and Support were a bit above the mid-point and are positioned at an average mark.

And Sairaorg…. Out of the Youth Devils, he had the lowest for Support and Wizard. But the problem lay in his Power. The graph increased and increased so high that it reached the ceiling. It was an abnormal increase. It was truly extreme, but that's how much overwhelming power he had. Out of the other five Devils, other than Sairaorg, Zephyrdor had the highest, yet Sairaorg had several times more power than him.

"It's like you said: Sairaorg didn't even fight seriously in the one-on-one battle against Zephyrdor."

Azazel said that.

"I am curious, though. No matter how you look at it, he is good at hand-to-hand combat, but doesn't he use any magic?" Mika asked, finding it odd. "I mean, he's the heir to the Bael family. Isn't his specialty the Power of Destruction?

Azazel shook his head side-to-side, answering her query. "He doesn't because he can't. Sairaorg is the first pure Devil from the House of Bael who didn't have any talents. He also couldn't inherit one of the traits passed down from the House of Bael, the Power of Destruction. The ones who strongly inherited the Power of Destruction are his cousins, the Gremory siblings."

"And yet, he's the strongest within the Youth." Shirou pointed out while crossing his arms. "Meaning he's also the first pure Devil who did the one thing pretty much no over pure Devil has been willing to do."

"That's absolutely correct; by doing something, which pure devils who inherited the gift passed from their clan normally wouldn't do, he surpassed the geniuses."

Shirou said what they both knew what the answer was. "Training."

Sensei nodded and spoke with a serious face. "An intense amount of training, that is. Sairaorg is a rare pure Devil who attained power by doing abnormal amounts of training. He only had his own body. So he trained it to the extreme."

What Azazel just told them was something astonishing. That's because up until now, all of the High-Class Devils and pure Devils they associated with were a bunch who had overflowing talents and looked down on the concept of training, acting as though it was unnecessary and that they never needed to. Rias was blessed with talent and only recently felt the need to train. Sairaorg was the opposite. Rias, who was staring at Sairaorg's match, looked complex. Azazel continued as if he were telling us a story.

"He was being beaten and kept on being beaten since he was born and continued to get defeated. Among the High-Class Devils and pure Devils who are colored with a brilliant environment, he was the one who was walking in a muddy and bloody path."

"I could tell." Shirou thought as he narrowed his eyes. "From the moment I met him, I felt a different pressure and confidence coming from him that was different from Rias and Sona. It wasn't the kind you can be born with, but something you gain."

"A talentless person to become chosen as the next heir. Do you know what an exploit that is?" Azazel finished his story. "He's the real deal since he knows the great difference between humiliating defeat and the happiness of victory. Well, in Sairaorg's case, his strength also comes from something which is a secret, though."

"Interesting, he's almost a complete parallel to you, Shirou." Ren noticed. "Think about it. You're both from powerful bloodlines who were said to be the most renowned and with the greatest lineage, and you both became the Strongest through hardcore, rigorous training after starting from the bottom. However, in your case, you had more talent than anyone before you and cultivated it to the fullest, while he had absolutely no talent and used hard work to compensate for the difference."

"Two heirs of powerful houses, the only difference between the two of them is talent." Azazel noted the irony of it.

"The only difference?" Shirou muttered under his breath. "I wouldn't say that."

The video for the match ended. It's the victory of Sairaorg Bael's victory. At the end, the Zephrdor from the Glasya-Labolas hid himself behind a shadow, and the match ended when he declared his defeat while being frightened of something. Zephyrdor became frightened and dropped down in tears. Sairaorg left his place while not responding to it at all.

Shirou just watched Zephrdor with a look of contempt. "Pathetic."

"You can't blame him, though. You've seen it yourself, how overwhelming power can sometimes crush someone's spirit and leave their heart broken."

Mika reminded him as he nodded.

"Yeah, I see it all the time on plenty of the guys I've fought."

The video finished, and Azazel then spoke to everyone in the room.

"I will tell you, guys, beforehand, but after your fight with Diodora, your next opponent is Sairaorg."

Rias then asked Azazel with some doubt.

"Is it not a bit too early? I thought we would fight Glasya-Labolas before him."

"He's no good now."

Rias and the others put on a doubtful expression at Azazel's words.

"Zephyrdor was crushed in his match against Sairaorg. His soul was carved with fear in his match against Sairaorg. He won't be able to fight now. Sairaorg has crushed his heart. His mind. That's why the rest of the matches will be done with the remaining participants. The house of Glasya-Labolas ends here for the matches among the youth."

"Not just these matches. I'd wager it'll be a long time before he ever recovers… If he'll recover at all." Shirou added.

"You guys also should be careful. He will come at you while having the high spirit of crushing the mind and spirit of his opponents. He really is trying to become a Satan. Not even a slight hesitation or the will to give in lies in there."

Rias then spoke while taking a single breath.

"First, we need to focus on the next match. We will also watch the video of the Astaroth, whom we will be fighting next—I heard that they defeated their opponent, the next heiress of the Arch-Duke, Seekvaira Agares."

"The Arch-Duke lost!?" Rias gasped.

"Is that a problem?" Ren asked.

"Sona, who gave us a hard time, received a gold star mark, and as Akeno said earlier, the Astaroth who defeated the second rank Agares received a big gold star mark. It certainly is regretful, but it was the rank given before the match began, and they were nothing but predictions. So no one can tell what will happen when the game begins. That is Rating Game." Rias explained. "But I never thought that Agares would lose."

Rias finished while trying to play the next video. And then it happened.

FLASH

At the corner of the room, a transportation magic circle for a single person appears. It was an unfamiliar symbol.

"-Astaroth."

Akeno identified it. And after a single flash, the one who appears in the corner of the room is a gentle-looking guy with a refreshing smile. And the first thing he says is…..

"How are you doing? It is I, Diodora Astaroth. I have come to see Asia."

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The ones sitting around the table were Rias, Diodora, Shirou, and Azazel, who was sitting there as an advisor.

After pouring green tea for Diodora, Akeno stood next to Rias. The remaining servants were looking at them from the corner of the room. It was a similar lineup to the incident with Raiser. It was also like this back then—The difference between a High-class Devil and Low-class Devil, that is. What's different from the incident with Raiser was that this time it wasn't about Rias but Asia instead. Asia, who is standing next to Mika and right behind Shirou, was putting on a troubled expression. Mika held onto Asia's hand, who seemed nervous, and she also gripped back on her hand as well. Her nervousness was almost contagious.

Diodora, who most likely wasn't aware of the turmoil he was causing, spoke to Rias while making a gentle smile.

"Before we begin, may I ask why he is sitting there?"

He pointed to Shirou, which caused the man in question to narrow his eyes.

"Is that a problem?"

He ignored Shirou's response and kept his questions directed toward Rias.

"Tell me, is it a customer of yours to allow a servant to sit at a table reserved for masters? Or do you have trouble keeping him obedient?"

Before Shirou or anyone else could retort to his passive-aggressive insult, Rias countered him first.

"Diodora, I'll thank you not to question the structure of my Peerage. Now would you please explain the reason behind your arrival before you try my patience?"

It was evident that Rias was not in a welcoming mode right now, and so Diodora got straight to the point.

"Rias-san. I will say it straight forward. I would like to "Trade" Bishops."

Trade—The Rating Game system where the King can exchange their servants who are their "pieces". It is only possible between the same chess pieces. If it is Bishop…..Then it was natural to know who his intended target would be.

"Iya! Is he talking about me!?"

Gasper tried to protect his own body, but Shirou shook his head.

"Not unless he's been keeping secrets."

The Bishop that Diodora wants is clearly Asia. The moment she heard him say "Bishop", she gripped onto Mika's hand strongly—It felt like she was saying, "I don't want to".

"The servant I am seeking from Rias-san is… The Bishop, Asia Argento."

Diodora said it without hesitation and looked at Asia. His smile was a refreshing one.

"The one I will be arranging is….."

Diodora tried to get out a catalog, quite possibly the one with his servants on it, but Rias interrupted him without any pause.

"I thought so. But I'm sorry. I thought that I should say it before you show me that catalog with your servants, so let me say it beforehand. I have no intention to have a trade. It's not that your Bishop doesn't match up with mine, but I just simply don't want to lose Asia—She is my important servant Devil."

Rias said that face-to-face.

"Is it because of her ability? Or is it because of her charm as an individual?" Diodora asked normally.

"Both. I think of her as my little sister."

"…Chief-san!"

Asia puts her hand to her mouth, and her green eyes get teary. Obviously, she became really happy that Rias said she was like her little sister.

"We live together. Having my affections deepen and not wanting to let go of her won't be a good reason? I think that is a good enough reason. I can't understand you for trying to get Asia through me with such a method, Diodora. Do you understand the meaning of a proposal?"

Rias said that with a smile filled with intensity in it. She said it in the most appropriate way she could, but anyone could tell she was pissed.

Diodora still has a smile. That, instead, made it creepy.

"—I understand. I will return for today, but I will not give up."

Diodora got up and walked towards the others..…. Towards Asia. He stood in front of Asia, who seemed troubled. He got on his knee and tried to take her hand.

"Asia. I love you. It's okay. Destiny won't betray us. Even if everything in this world rejects us, I will overcome them no matter what."

He said some really corny lines before trying to kiss Asia's hand.

"Hmph…" Shirou scoffed at his attention.

His response didn't go unnoticed by Diodora. "Hmm?"

"Nice speech. Did you just come up with that, or have you been practicing?" Shirou gave him a look of contempt.

"Oh, do you find humor in my proposal?" Diodora gave him the same look hidden behind a smile.

"Not the proposal, just you." Shirou clarified as he stood up.

"Shirou, that's enough." Rias tried to defuse the situation.

"Yes, I agree." Diodora got up from his knees as well. "I won't stand here and have a filthy dragon make jest of my genuine intentions."

Asia reacted to that and was about to slap Diodora for that, but she was stopped by Mika, who grabbed her forearm and shook her head.

"Let him handle this."

Pfft… Genuine?" Shirou scoffed again. "I'm amazed you can call it that, considering you've already used those same lines on more than a dozen other girls."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm talking about your Peerage and how all of them are women. Did you tell all of them you were in love with them, or did you skip the talking and go straight to the consummation?"

"Shirou." Rias now felt he was going a bit over the edge.

"How dare you insult me, you vulgar peasant." Diodora sneered at him, letting his proverbial mask drop a bit. "What right do you have to judge me or my intentions with your narrow-minded accusations? My Peerage members are simply my servants, and the fact that they all happen to be women has nothing to do with any untoward motives you believe a may have."

"So it has nothing to do with your nun fetish?" Shirou accused further.

Now Diodora paused. If there was any moment where he felt caught, he didn't show it until now.

"Nun fetish?" Kiba repeated, also caught off guard.

"What are you talking about, Shirou?" Rias asked, now curious.

"Sure, there might not be anything wrong with having a Peerage of all women, we've seen that kinda thing before, but it's another matter when they all have something in common. Everything single one of them was from the Church." Shirou revealed, surprising most of those in the room. "Before reincarnating as Devils, all 15 of your servants were devoted believers of Churchs scattered around the world. Not only that, both your Knights and even your Queen were saints. Tell me, how did so many women who were married to God coincidently end up in your household?" He narrowed his eyes at Diodora. "You must have a legendary silver tongue or a legendary Sword between your legs."

That one almost drove him over the edge. "And just how did you find out about my servants' backgrounds?"

Shirou crossed his arms. "Don't underestimate my information network."

"Rias-san, your servant is acting out of line."

"Actually, Diodora, I'm also quite curious about this new information." Rias stared at him like a judge looking at a cornered defense attorney. "You can't blame me for doubting your intentions are genuine now that I know that you seem to have a habit of paying attention to women who were former nuns."

"T-That not relevant." Diodora defended himself. "I only picked them for their talents and nothing more."

"You picked 15 different humans who all happened to be women scattered across the human world, and every one of them was an avid follower of the Church, and yet your only motive for choosing them was their talents?" Rias wasn't even humoring him. "Are you trying to insult my intelligence to do you honestly believe I'm naive enough to believe that?"

"Tch…What does it matter whether you believe it or not?" The longer this went on, the closer Diodora came to losing his temper. "Even if it is how you imagine it, so what? I still haven't done anything wrong. I'm not asking Asia to be my servant but my wife because she's different from all the others because I love her. I have ever since she saved me that day."

"I'm glad you brought that up." Shirou cut him off. "I've been curious about that part of the story for a while now, and no matter how I wrap my head around it, it just doesn't make sense."

"What are you babbling about?"

Diodora questioned him, and Shirou elaborated.

"When I first heard about Asia healing a Devil back in the day, I always assumed it was some kind of Stray or a reincarnated Devil that stumbled into the Church not knowing where he was and got attacked for it before Asia found him, that at least made some sense, but I heard it was you, I couldn't find the logic behind it. Asia was in the Vatican—The most heavily guarded Headquarters of the Church in the world. Why were you, the heir to a Noble Devil household and the younger brother of a Devil King, so far into an enemy stronghold like that?"

Diodora's temper was silenced, and now he was filled with caution. He felt like a criminal suspect who just saw a police officer undercover the murder weapon he had been hiding in his house and didn't have an explanation for having it. Unfortunately for him, Shirou wasn't done.

"Not only that, Asia's healing powers were still relatively untrained back then, and yet your injury was minor enough that you walked away with nothing but a faded scare despite being in the home base of the Strongest Exocists in the world, including Excaliber wielders who would have loved to take the head of "Beelzebub's brother". That seemed pretty convenient, how you got in, met Asia, and got out, not to mention you had no real motive for being there in the first place."

Diodora lowered his voice. "What are you implying?"

Mika decided to answer this one. "He's saying that it was all a setup. Everything about that incident was premeditated. You went to the Vatican that day for the sole purpose of meeting Asia."

"What?" Asia became confused by all this information. "But why would he do that?"

Mika was reluctant to say this next part as she knew it would be difficult for her to her before spoke regardless. "So you would heal him in front of a witness and get excommunicated from the Church."

You could almost feel the weight behind the strong blow to her mind when those words registered in Asia's ears. She didn't want to hear them; she didn't want to accept them. It was a truth that was far too cruel to be real.

"He knew that if someone saw a Holy Maiden heal a Devil, she'd be excommunicated and cast out of the Church, which is exactly what happened. After you were vulnerable and no one, he'd step in and claim you as his next conquest. It was his plan from the moment he saw you."

("Sorry, but…. The truth is, I don't regret saving that person back then." Asia said, smiling before she looked down shyly.)

It all became too much to bear. Asia had, in essence, just been told that the life-changing incident that affected her so greatly and had irreversible repercussions was predetermined. More than that, the reason behind them was so simple and irrelevant. She lost everything, her faith, her place in the world, even her humanity, and for what? Because she happened to catch the eye of a stranger. Diodora stole her life simply because she was his latest target.

Facing this existential crisis was all too much for her physic to handle. Asia dropped to the floor on her knees and gripped her chest with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Asia!" Xenovia immediately reacted as the others gathered around her in concern.

Asia was hyperventilating. Her heart was beating so fast that she couldn't control her breathing. She just kept inhaling and exhaling so fast while the light left her eyes. Mika acted in response to this a placed a hand over her forehead before she channeled some magic through her palm.

Right after that, Asia's breathing calmed down, and her eyelids lowered until they shut. Asia was quiet, and her body became limp as though she had fallen asleep. Akeno and Xenovia helped her up, and Xenovia carried her gently.

"She went into shock." Azazel summarized with a frown. "After all that, you can't really blame her."

"Asia…" Rias looked at her with an expression of sympathy and heartache, her feelings going out to her Bishop, who she loved dearly. Soon after, her feelings went from sympathy to outrage as she faced Diodora with the most hostile expression she was capable of. "I think it's time you left, Diodora Astaroth."

"Rias-san, I just…."

"You've said quite enough." Rias cut off his last attempt to speak. "I'll be blunt, you are worse than scum, and your actions are beyond deplorable, if given the option, I'd never have you even associate with my Peerage again, and if it wasn't for the upcoming Rating Game, that is exactly what I would do. But make no mistake, after the next match, you will never approach Asia or any of us again, or you will see a thousand Hells."

Diodora could feel the hostility coming from not only Rias but virtually everyone in the room. All of them gave him a look of contempt that was just an inch away from reaching blood lust, this was no longer a safe place for him, and he was very aware that he was left with no opportunity to defend himself. Thus, Diodora's smile finally left and was replaced with his own look of contempt.

"Very well, I will depart for now, but I want you to know this…." Diodora created a magic circle. "You especially, Red Dragon Emperor. When I see something that has caught my eye, I will go to whatever lengths necessary to claim what is mine and make no mistake—" His body started to disappear as his smile returned, only this time, it was malevolent and diabolical. "When this is settled, Asia will be mine."

With those last words, Diodora was gone, but everyone was still on edge. Not one of them had any intention of letting him sink his clutches into Asia, and so their motivation to win the next Rating Game was at an all-time high.

The official information about the game, which came from the Maou, reached them several days later—The game would begin five days from today.

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Night had fallen over Kuoh, and Shirou was walking around the streets. After the events of earlier that day, he was just looking for some time for himself to clear his mind, so he was talking his time wandering around until he arrived at a park and stood next to a streetlight that was close to a large fountain.

After he came to a stop, the Gremory Pawn took out a box of cigarettes and placed one in his mouth before he lit it and puffed some smoke.

While smoking, he gazed up at the full moon and pondered his thoughts, feeling relaxed for once in a long time. He then closed his eyes and spoke.

"How long do you plan on hiding?"

"Sorry, I didn't want to disturb you."

Yes, for a while now, Shirou could sense the presence of another person following his trail. One of the reasons he made his way to the park was so that he would be in an empty and open space before confronting the said person.

The one who appeared from the darkness was….… A guy wearing rough clothes. Yes, it's the refreshing smiley-faced Sun Wukong. This time he wasn't wearing Chinese armor, and he appeared dressed up like a flashy young person in street clothes.

"It's been a while, Red Dragon Emperor."

"It has, Bikou. But it's been longer for others; why don't you tell your friend to come out as well?"

"I should have figured you'd notice I came to accompany my partner." Bikou looked back. "You heard him; come on out."

Upon his call, the next one who appeared was….…

"It's been two months, Shirou Tsukiharu." Vali appeared, also wearing street clothes, complete with a white shirt. "Pardon, Shirou Amakusa."

Shirou was unfazed by the appearance of his rival. "I was starting to think I'd never see you again."

"I hear you awakened to a newfound power, the true power of the Amakusa. That makes me happy."

Vali smiled like some who had been promised a new gift; Shirou returned that smile with his own.

"And I see you've healed up nicely after the injuries from our fight. That makes me happy."

"Ha… True, I almost can't remember I time I was closer to death's door than our previous encounter. It was a fight I'll never forget. You can imagine how pleased I was when I discovered you had grown many times stronger since then. That means our next battle will be even more enjoyable."

"Well, it looks like I'm not the only one who beefed up since then. I can tell, both of you, for that matter, you're stronger than the last time I saw you."

"Do you think we just lounge around all day in our spare time?" Bikou asked rhetorically. "All of us from the Vali Team are constantly facing the Strongest forces from everything Faction that Khaos Bridge goes up against. So, we're constantly training to increase our power for those upcoming fights, or we'll end up dead."

"That's good news for you, bad news for us. Now, you'll be even tougher to deal with."

"And yet, you don't seem too upset about it."

Just as he pointed out, Shirou seemed more pleased than upset by this information.

"I like challenges."

"I can imagine, but this wasn't what we came here to discuss." Vali steered the conversation in a different direction. "I hear that you will have a Rating Game. And your opponent is the next heir of the House of Astaroth."

"Yes, and so what?"

"You should be careful."

Shirou stopped before breathing in more smoke and asked Vali with confusion.

"…And why is that?"

But Vali just shrugged his shoulders.

"You saw the recorded video, right? The match between the House of Astaroth and the Princess from the Arch-Duke."

Just like Vali said, after Diodora returned, the Gremory group watched the recording of the match between Diodora and Seekvaira Agares from the House of Agares.

The match was Diodora's victory… But Diodora's power was overwhelming. Only he showed abnormal power during the game, and he defeated the Agares Princess and her servants. Diodora's servants just supported him, and the King fought by himself and showed the power of an Ikki Tousen. Diodora was a Wizard-type who specialized in demonic powers. He oppressed the Agares by showing a powerful demonic power that surpasses Rias.

And they all became suspicious after seeing that. We didn't pay attention to the game, but Diodora himself. That's because he suddenly got a power-up. Before that, the Agares girl had the advantage. Was he hiding his true power till the last moment? Azazel saw the match live, but he had doubts because of the intense power-up of Diodora compared to the data he was given before the match. Rias also had the same opinion. "Diodora wasn't a Devil who was that strong". Both of their opinions were the same. Diodora was plenty strong enough before the power-up. He was a High-Class Devil who had demonic powers a bit lower than Rias'. But during the match, Diodora showed a power that made everyone get astonished.

Everyone was like, "Can you really become that strong in such a short time?". But this match also became a battle between the Kings in the middle. Do all of the Youth Devils have the wrong idea that the opening and the mid-game should be about strategies and the end-game should be a direct fight?

Each of the VIPs from each Faction who were observing the matches was enjoying seeing new types of battles, though….. Especially the battles between Kings seem to get them heated up.

"Well, it won't get through the skulls of those High-Class Devils if it's coming from my mouth. But I thought it might be okay for you to know it, so I decided to warn my Rival-dono."

"While I appreciate the sentiment, the warning wasn't really necessary. I'm pretty sure I already have a good idea behind the cause of his sudden power-up." Shirou informed him.

"Oh, and what might that be?" Vali asked out of curiosity.

"Don't play dumb. You watched the battle against Cattleya just like me."

Both Vali and Bikou's eyes widened for a moment before they smiled with a hint of amusement after hearing that statement as Vali responded. "I should have known that it wouldn't have gone unnoticed by you."

"Haha, so you actually figured it out?" Bikou chuckled. "Pretty impressive."

"So, I'm right?" Shirou sighed. "Great, now I know things are going to get a lot more complicated."

"Either way, my business here is complete. It's time for us to depart."

"See ya, Red Dragon Emperor. Hey, Vali. Let's go to the rumored Noodle shop on our way~."

After saying that, Vali disappeared into the darkness while taking Bikou with him. Once they were gone, Shirou was done with his cigarette and let it fall to the ground before stomping it out.

[Your rival is a weird one.]

Ddraig spoke as Shirou internally replied.

"I prefer to think of him as interesting."

[In that case, you are also quite interesting yourself.]

"Oh, there was never any debating that."

[—But I'm having fun.]

"And just what are you basing that one?"

[It feels like you speak to me the most out of all the possessors I ever had. You are the first host whom I think I have fun having conversations with.]

"That's strange. I can hardly recall any of our conversations being considered fun. Definitely insightful, but fun isn't the word I would use."

[….…Maybe that was a good thing. You don't treat me like a tool but as a single being.]

"You are a being. If the old hosts didn't consider you as one, then maybe it's your own fault for not expressing yourself more."

[….…Kukuku. You certainly are a strange one.]

"And you never change."

….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…….….….….….….….….….….….….….

After returning to his residence, Shirou retired to his room and called upon his sister to discuss the contents of his conversation with Vali.

"So he came all the way here just for a chance to see you again~?" Mika summarized in a playful manner. "It feels like he's all you think about lately. Should I be jealous?"

"Would you take this seriously?" Shirou told her off tiredly.

"Oh, loosen up."

"Moving on, what do you think this means in the grand scheme of things?"

Mika's expression soon became an analytical one as she deduced the contents of the information she was given. "To be frank, it answers a lot of questions we've been having."

"You mean Diodora's power-up?" Shirou narrowed his eyes as he sat on the bed.

"It's not a pleasant memory, but I couldn't possibly forget it. It's the exact same as Cattleya Leviathan's power-up when I fought her."

"So the Prince of Nuns got a snake from Ophis." Shirou realized. "So, he must be a part of the Khaos Brigade."

"But judging from the fact that Vali warned you about him probably means that they aren't a monolithic organization." Mika added to that statement. "While they operate under the same banner, they don't cooperate. But, we can be certain that he's connected with them."

"From what we know, Vali's Team is the only one among all the Factions that aren't using Ophis' snakes to gain power, so there's no telling who he's in league with."

"True, but considering his actions, I'd wager he's not a high-ranking member. Based on the fact that no high-ranking member of an Internation Terrorist organization would openly use Ophis' snake in a public event like a Rating Game while the leading officials of every major Faction were watching. Do you think Sirzechs and Azazel caught on to it as well?"

"If they have, there's no need to tell them. If they haven't, they're in the wrong line of work." Shirou answered decidedly. "Still, this doesn't change our mission, we beat Diodora, and that's the end of it. Him being a terrorist just means I have a good enough reason to kill him."

"Aren't you at least going to tell Rias and the others about this?"

Shirou let out a sigh. "After dumping on that stuff of Asia this morning, I don't think it'll do her any good to agitate her anymore. How is she anyways?"

"She's awake and stable." Mika sat on the bed beside him. "The girls were able to calm her down after a while. Now they're all playing "Game of Life" Devile-style."

"I already hate the normal version." Shirou rebutted before waving it off. "Well, at least she's okay."

"That's not the only news, though." Mika informed him. "According to Rias, we're getting interviewed. Tomorrow, we all have to appear on some TV program in the Underworld. We'll be appearing as the Youth Devil representatives and get interviewed."

"Eh?" Shirou didn't sound all too excited about that. "What's the point of doing that? We've only had one match, plus our next one is right around the corner. Why would we need to make TV appearances at this point?"

"I know, it's pretty much a cash grab, but our group has a lot of attention already, so this sort of thing happens when drumming up excitement for our next appearance. People want to know about us outside of a match, like every other pro athlete." Mika laid down and rested her head on his lap. "Who knows, it might be fun being in the limelight."

Shirou didn't move her but still didn't act excited. "I get enough limelight at school."

—…

Ō ō

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And that's the chapter.

First of all, like I said, this chapter wasn't a very long one, but I did so in hopes of advancing the story at a good pace, and I hope to finish the next chapter before too long.

And like I said, it was a chapter focused entirely on dialogue, although I will admit that I did enjoy writing to parts where Shirou and Mika exposed all of Diodora's lies and let everyone know how much of a scumbag he was. I'm even more excited to write about the way he'll be slaughtered during the Rating Game.

And yes, Shirou and Mika noticed Diodora's power-up came from Ophis. How? Because they're not idiots who don't pay attention to detail like everyone in the canon must have been for not noticing themselves despite having seen it before.

Anyway, thanks for reading hope you enjoyed. If you want more, then be sure to leave a review. If you like the story, then click the follow/favorite, and as always, have an awesome day.