It had been a week since Arthur came to Sitri Castle.
He wasn't in a hurry or anything so he had time for himself.
In a Quiet Afternoon at the Garden.
The air in the Sitri family's garden was thick with the scent of blooming flowers and fresh earth.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling the ground in a mosaic of light and shadow as Arthur rested, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.
He inhaled deeply, appreciating the vibrant life all around him.
"This place is full of life," he mused aloud, a soft smile on his face.
The tranquility was soon broken by a familiar, playful voice.
"You are here, nyaan! We have something to say to you!"
Kuroka's excited yell was followed by a graceful leap as she landed beside him and wrapped her arms around his right arm, a warm, feline presence.
Without missing a beat, Koneko followed, her movements more reserved but just as intentional, as she clung to his left arm.
Arthur, used to their affectionate nature, simply leaned back and let them have their moment.
He was fond of their closeness and the comfortable silence that fell between them.
"What is it that you want to talk about?" he asked, his tone gentle and welcoming.
Kuroka, always the more direct of the two, didn't hesitate.
"You have a harem, right, nyaan? Can you add us to it?"
The question hung in the air, a simple request that, in the world of devils, was a normal part of life.
Arthur's gaze shifted to Koneko, curious to see if she shared her sister's sentiment.
Her response was a shy nod and a soft-spoken confession.
"I… I also want to be with you."
Her earnestness was so endearing that Arthur felt his heart melt.
While he was tempted to accept immediately, a pragmatic thought crossed his mind.
"What about Rias? You're her peerage member. You have to ask for permission first."
He may have been familiar with the world of High School DxD, but he was still learning its intricate customs and rules.
Koneko's soft smile widened as she replied,
"I've already asked for her permission, and Rias-sama gave us her blessing."
Her voice was filled with a quiet relief.
The idea of being separated from him, and from the sister she had just reconnected with, was something she couldn't bear.
Hearing this, Arthur's own smile grew.
He had been told by Sona that he had the right to expand his harem, with the only real restriction being his "first wife."
Since neither Sona nor Serafall were officially his first wife yet, just engaged, he was free to make his own choices.
Still, he was treated as a valued son-in-law, and the approval of the matriarch of the Sitri household, Lady Sitri, was a silent blessing.
She was eager for grandchildren—a rarity for devils and dragons—and wouldn't risk alienating a valuable in-law.
The patriarch of the house, Lord Sitri, was too busy to meet him in person, but his message, delivered by his butler, spoke volumes:
"IF YOU DARE MADE MY BABIE GIRLS CRY, I AM GOING TO BURY YOU!"
Arthur found the paternal threat amusing, a far cry from the more formal and distant dealings he'd heard about with other high-ranking devil families.
"He's much better than Zeoticus," he thought to himself.
With all permissions granted and his own feelings clear, Arthur finally gave his answer.
"Well, if you've already decided, I won't deny you."
Kuroka and Koneko's faces lit up with unbridled joy. Kuroka, in her typical fashion, immediately pushed for more.
"Do you want to have kittens with me right now, nyaan?" she purred, her eyes gleaming mischievously.
But before she could act on her impulse, Koneko quickly objected.
"No! You promised to wait until I'm old enough. You can't do that…"
Her pout was a powerful deterrent.
The older sister, a flicker of longing in her eyes, remembered the promise.
With a dramatic sigh, Kuroka relented, accepting that some things were worth the wait.
For now, simply being together was more than enough.
…
The air in the grand hall of the old manor was heavy and still, save for the faint clinking of a goblet against a polished mahogany table.
Rizevim Livan Lucifer, a being of immense power and a scion of the original Satan, sat upon a throne of dark, twisted wood.
He swirled the crimson liquid in his glass, his eyes fixed on the contents as if divining some hidden truth within the wine.
He was the leader of the Khaos Brigade, an organization with a singular purpose: to dismantle the New Devil Faction.
Yet, his primary focus at this moment was not on his enemies but on two elusive, draconic entities.
A high-class devil, his servant, knelt before him, trembling.
"My lord, we still have no new information. They... they have simply vanished. Ophis, the Ouroboros Dragon, and Great Red, the True Dragon, have disappeared without a trace."
Rizevim's brow furrowed into a deep scowl.
"Vanished?" he repeated, his voice a low, dangerous rumble.
The word hung in the air, a silent condemnation.
"You mean you've failed."
He had planned to manipulate Ophis's immense power, to turn her destructive force against the very foundation of the modern devil world.
But now, his greatest tool—his most valuable asset—was gone.
The two most powerful dragons in existence, entities that could warp reality itself, had simply slipped through his fingers.
He had searched for them everywhere, from the deepest chasms of the Underworld to the very edge of the dimensional gap, but found nothing.
"I—I am very sorry, my lord! Please, just give me another chance…" the servant pleaded, his voice cracking with fear.
Rizevim merely tilted his head, a cold smirk gracing his lips.
He didn't need to speak. He didn't need to lift a finger.
The demonic power that radiated from him, an aura so dense it felt like a physical weight, was all he needed.
A flash of purple energy erupted from his body, consuming the servant in a silent, agonizing burst.
The unfortunate devil was erased, reduced to nothing more than motes of fading light.
For a super devil like Rizevim, a descendant of the original Satan, failure was an unforgivable sin.
Punishment was not a choice; it was a birthright.
As the last remnants of the servant faded, Rizevim took a long, slow sip of his wine, the momentary frustration seemingly sated.
He was about to return to his thoughts when a faint, almost imperceptible tremor ran through his very being.
His eyes widened slightly as he felt it—a familiar, yet impossibly distant, power signature.
It was the presence of Great Red and Ophis.
His mind reeled.
They were not in the dimensional gap as he had presumed.
The faint echo of their power emanated from somewhere in the Underworld itself.
Yet, the signal was so weak, so fragmented, that he couldn't pinpoint their exact location. It was like trying to catch smoke with bare hands.
This was no time for wine or contemplation.
A genuine, predatory smile stretched across his face. He stood up from his throne, the floor rumbling under the sheer force of his movement, and his voice boomed through the silent hall.
"Summon my high-ranking members. Immediately."
His game of cat and mouse had just begun, and the prize was closer than he could have ever imagined.