"Pfffttthahahahahaha!"
The next day, first thing in the morning at the base, Kaito listened attentively to Koneko as she told him everything that had happened, and as soon as she finished, he could not contain his laughter.
No matter how quietly Clade had spoken, Koneko was a Maou-rank demon and, on top of that, a Nekomata, so her superior senses had heard every one of his words with ease.
Combining her account with a system notification he had received a short while ago, saying that someone had attempted to summon his unit, unsuccessfully, of course, given that she was already 'his' unit, Kaito easily reconstructed what had happened.
Apparently, while everyone thought that the objective of the other Lords was Issei's gauntlet, and Kaito had even wondered how they knew about it, their actual target was Koneko.
Koneko was quite popular on Gaia, or rather, Kaito and every one of his subordinates were. Any rumor about them and their actions spread across the entire internet within minutes. So, knowing Koneko's few but incredible achievements on Gaia, it was no surprise that they wanted to summon her, rambling all the time about the incredible wasted potential that Rias's group had and how they would complete the mission with ease once they had her, even swearing that they could face Lucifer.
The problem was that these Lords were rookies who had never summoned anyone and did not know the exact rules, so they did not know that once Kaito had summoned her, it was impossible for someone else to summon her again.
And judging by their final complaints, apparently what they were trying to use to summon her was a loyalty-stealing card like the one Kaito had before, and a rule-cancellation item, which they used to ignore the rule that the unit needed to have 100% loyalty to another person in order to steal it.
Luckily for them, Koneko already had 100% loyalty to someone, Kaito, so they did not need to use the rule-cancellation item for that part and could instead change it to the rule stating that they could not summon someone who had already been summoned.
The problem came from the fact that, even while using that item, Koneko's summoner, Kaito, was too close for them to steal her.
Kaito thought that his luck had most likely influenced that part a little.
As for the rest, there were millions of Lords with different items and methods, so encountering someone with those plans was not strange.
But that did not stop Kaito from laughing when he heard the story.
'Well, this kind of thing is why I don't have impenetrable mind activated at 100%. What would life be without emotions?' Kaito thought before becoming serious.
"Even so, to think that you came so close to being stolen and I did not even realize it. I have to do something to prevent these kinds of situations" Kaito analyzed.
"What are you planning to do?" Koneko asked.
"I'll trust my luck" Kaito replied confidently.
"I thought you were taking it seriously?"
"I am taking it seriously" Kaito corrected her. "Think about it, what is the most important thing about the current Demon race?"
"...The Devil's Pieces" Koneko answered after thinking for a moment.
"Exactly. And I'm going to conquer the entire race that depends on them. They are literally artificial bonds, by trusting my luck, I can get a better version as a reward"
"Are you sure it will work?"
"The last time I tried, I wanted a method to go to dead universes to hunt shadow beasts"
"And?"
Snip Snip.
Kaito did not answer. He took out the dimensional scissors and pretended to cut the air with a smile.
"Even though it took you quite a lot to get that?"
"Yes, but I also obtained the scissors, better control over my magic, solved an internal problem, and saw the true face of those behind the system. I think it was worth it"
"...Alright" Koneko sighed. "It seems like you have everything under control."
"That's right. But even so, we can't leave loose ends, besides, trying to steal you is an unforgivable crime. We'll find the rest of the Lords and kill them tonight" Kaito decided without hesitation.
"Then I'll leave. See you at the club later if you're going"
"You're leaving this early? Where are you going?" Kaito asked.
It was Sunday morning and the sun had barely begun to rise. Kaito would have preferred to hear this from Koneko the night before as soon as she returned, but he had to wait until he separated from Akeno and then returned to the base. It was already very late, so he simply waited until the next day.
"Isn't it obvious?" Koneko asked, turning around and showing off her outfit. She was wearing tight light gray sports leggings with a short top made of the same color and material that left her stomach exposed. "I'm going to train for a while before going to the club"
"Do you really need that kind of ordinary training with your strength?"
"It helps maintain my figure" Koneko replied.
"So that's how it is" Kaito nodded, although he was not really sure if it made sense. "Do you want me to help you with that?"
"Why would I need help with...?" Koneko stopped halfway through her sentence, realizing what he meant, and quickly canceled her plans. "Alright"
...
After training, Koneko and Kaito arrived at the clubroom early. Since there were no classes that day, they would mostly spend the day playing, while at night they would carry out missions or search for runaway demons. Normally, this would make the atmosphere seem more like a normal group of friends than a supernatural peerage.
But today was different.
As soon as Kaito and Koneko entered, they could already feel the heavy atmosphere in the room.
On the club's sofa, Rias and Issei were sitting with their heads lowered like punished children, while standing in front of them was a beautiful silver-haired woman wearing a maid uniform that did not hide her powerful presence. She was looking at the two of them with disappointment, but especially at Rias.
Kiba and Akeno were standing several meters away from the scene, watching seriously without daring to say anything.
Upon seeing them enter and feeling their gaze searching for answers, Kiba simply smiled helplessly, as if he did not know how to explain exactly what was happening either. Akeno, meanwhile, gestured with her hand for them to come closer.
"What is happening?" Kaito whispered.
"Rias tried to sleep with Issei" Akeno replied.
"And is that such a bad thing?" Kaito asked, pretending ignorance.
"Yes. Rias is engaged to someone from an important family. She tried to sleep with Issei to break it off, but a seal on her activated and notified her family.
The woman over there is Grayfia, her brother's queen, and well... Something like one of the people who raised Rias" Akeno explained patiently.
"So basically, she's being lectured by her older sister" Kaito understood.
"Something like that" Akeno nodded, covering her mouth with a small laugh at the amusing comparison.
"Rias Gremory, do you know what you did?" Grayfia asked aloud while looking at Rias reproachfully.
"...I know"
"Then why did you do it? You're not a child, Rias. You know the consequences of your actions"
"You know why I did it, Grayfia. I don't want to marry a perverted womanizer!" Rias snapped.
"All powerful people are perverted womanizers" Grayfia sighed helplessly. She did not understand why Rias disliked Riser so much.
Of course, her fiancé was a pervert, womanizer, and arrogant, but most demons shared the first two characteristics. Even the pawn she had tried to sleep with to break off her marriage shared those same traits.
As for his arrogant personality, at least he had the strength to back up such arrogance. Rather than arrogance, it could be called exaggerated confidence.
"You know how important your marriage is, Rias. The Phenex House are the creators and distributors of Phenex Tears"
"But I don't want to marry someone I don't love, my knowledge. Do you know what it feels like?!"
"I have been engaged for thousands of years to someone I only saw once as a child. I know what it feels like" Grayfia nodded without giving it much importance.
"It's different! I heard that he's someone you love, and you even agreed to the marriage!" Rias snapped, convinced that their situations were different.
"That was when I was a child. I can barely remember what he looks like" Grayfia said. "Anyway, we're not here to talk about me, but about you.
Your brother is already trying to break off the engagement somehow, so I would appreciate it if you didn't do these foolish things that would make us enemies with the only distributors of the demonic panacea"
"My brother, he... He managed to do something?"
"He's working on it. He's trying to cancel it through a Rating Game"
"Is that possible?!" Rias asked excitedly.
"Perhaps. He has tried to bring up the matter with the Phenex, but they clearly avoid it. It would be best to talk to Riser and use his arrogance to make him accept.
Even so, Riser Phenex has a streak of zero defeats. Even if he accepts, with the current strength of your peerage, winning is almost impossible. Even so, it is the only way out"
"But I have Issei!" Rias said confidently.
"And your brother is counting on that as well. Even so, Riser is a Phenex, with almost absolute regeneration. He is the natural enemy of someone like Issei, whose strength has a time limit" Grayfia nodded.
"He'll get stronger with time"
"Yes, and time is exactly what your brother is trying to buy for you right now. So I would appreciate it if you didn't do things like this"
"B-but, I received a message from Riser yesterday. It said that he managed to move the marriage forward and that it will be happening soon"
"It's Riser, Rias" Grayfia said, seriously doubting the intelligence of her king's younger sister. "It's the usual situation that your brother has been fighting against every day for more than ten years while also trying to delay the marriage"
"I-I... I'm sorry" Finally realizing how foolish what she had done was, Rias lowered her head and apologized.
Before Grayfia could say anything else, a magic circle appeared on the floor and a group familiar to almost everyone there appeared.
"Rias, dear, it's been a while" Riser said with a smile upon seeing the red-haired demon.
"Riser, what are you doing here?" Rias asked angrily.
"Of course I'm here to see my fiancée. Do I need permission for that?" Although Riser asked Rias, the moment he noticed her, he glanced at Grayfia out of the corner of his eye while speaking, wondering what she was doing there.
"Miss Rias, I have other matters to attend to in the human world, so, if you'll excuse me, I'll return later" Grayfia bowed briefly to both of them and prepared to leave.
"Also, regarding that matter we discussed earlier, I hope you can achieve it"
______________________________________
I have a new fic about Syndrome in Marvel. Go check it out if you're interested.
Name: Marvel: Creating a World Where Everyone Is Super.
(Don't worry, this message will only be here for one month and then disappear)
+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)