"Urgh... gh..."
"C-Come on, don't be so mad..."
"You... My chest is not a portable battery for you to recharge on, you know!?"
"I-I'm sorry! Truly!"
There I was, groveling on my hands and knees—performing a full dogeza—apologizing to a teary-eyed, furious Alice.
Having exhausted a massive amount of power using the Longinus Smasher, I had begged Alice to let me... well, suck on her breasts.
She let me do it, but... as expected, the 'Alice Punch' of Rage exploded shortly after. Instead of just recovering, I ended up taking massive damage in the process.
And no, saying "But you told me not to hit you..." isn't an option here.
This is entirely my fault.
Still... she did let me do it in the end, and I got off with just one punch, so let's call it a win.
Clutching her chest, Alice glared down at me.
"Just how much did you need to drink...? I thought my breasts were going to deflate."
I did suck on them for quite a while. That just goes to show how severely drained I was...
Though, to be honest, halfway through I just got lost in how cute Alice was and got a little carried away. Miwa had put up a barrier, so I figured, hey, no one's watching, it's fine, right?
But if I said that out loud, a second Alice Punch would definitely come flying my way, so I kept my mouth shut.
"Umm... anyway, thanks to you, Alice, I've managed to recover."
"If you hadn't recovered after all that, I would have hit you again. ...Honestly, if we were in a bed, I wouldn't mind no matter how much you did it, but..."
"...S-Seriously?"
My eyes went wide.
If we were in a bed, she wouldn't mind...?!
N-No way... That Alice said something like that...
Seeing my reaction, Alice turned her head away with a huff.
"I mean... it's a bit late to be shy about it, isn't it?"
She's right! It is too late for that!
But even if it's late, hearing her say it again just gets me all fired up in different ways!
Alice, your ears are bright red!
Damn it, even when she punches me, cute is cute!
Alice is the best!
Just then, Vali muttered something nearby.
"A method to heal dragons... Could the secret lie in the breasts?"
"No, no, no, that's just an Oppai Dragon thing, right?"
Bikou is absolutely right!
This method is exclusive to me!
Don't you start trying to heal via boobs too, Vali!
Actually, knowing Vali, he's probably saying that without understanding the real meaning behind it! You shouldn't take an interest in such things until you truly understand the magnificence of breasts!
Also, Alice is mine!
I'm absolutely not sharing!
Go find your own woman for that!
Azazel-sensei was worried about you, you know!
While I was firing off rapid-fire retorts in my head, Miwa asked a question.
"Big Brother, are you fully healed now?"
"No, I wouldn't say fully. Maybe two-thirds."
Mentally, I'm at 100%. If Rias were here, I might have reached full physical recovery too, but she's on the other side.
We stepped onto the ash-covered ground and headed toward the castle where Asem waited. perhaps because the demonic beasts had been completely wiped out, there was no sign of my replicas coming to attack us.
Can we assume this means we passed Asem's so-called "test"?
Passing through the crumbled ramparts, a massive black castle loomed before us.
It was probably larger than even the Gremory or Phenex estates. However, it lacked any ornamentation—just a monochrome black structure that looked like the quintessential villain's lair.
There were large, hangar-like entrances visible all over the castle...
"I saw the Hyoudou Issei replicas launching from those points," Vali noted.
Just as he said, those were the spawn points. Is it like a catapult deck?
It doesn't seem practically necessary, but...
However, since they came from there, it's probably best to avoid attacking through those entrances. It'd be like charging straight into the middle of an enemy army.
As I was thinking this, staying alert to our surroundings—
RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE...
A massive iron gate, about ten meters high, began to move.
Causing the earth to tremble, the gates opened as if welcoming us in.
This has to be a message from Asem.
Because—
" 'Welcome to Asem-kun House!' ...Really?" Miwa muttered.
Beyond the open gate stood a signboard with those exact words, complete with an illustration!
The fact that the drawing was actually pretty good just made it vaguely irritating!
That bastard is definitely enjoying this!
We aren't friends coming over for a playdate!
"Look, Vali. Apparently, the cafeteria is to the left," Bikou pointed out.
"Master... left... munch... let us proceed... munch... The left is suspicious."
"Diarmuid-san, let's swallow the banana first. It's bad manners."
"Yesshh."
Spear in the right hand, banana in the left!
Diarmuid, did you come here to fight?!
Or are we on a field trip?!
And saying "let's go left"—you just want to eat something, don't you! It's written all over your face!
This is bad. With this group, I can't keep up with the straight-man retorts!
Ddraig, you're the only one I can rely on!
[Albion, mind if I come over to your side to hang out?]
[Come over anytime. Let us blossom flowers of nostalgia with old stories.]
Ddraig ran away to Albion's plaaaaace!
Are you abandoning your duty to retort?!
And hey, you two really got buddy-buddy, didn't you!
You were fighting just the other day!
I mean, it's a good thing, but still!
Alice spoke up.
"Right after entering, the path splits into left, right, and center. Should we split into three groups?"
"I'd prefer to stick together, but splitting up seems better here."
We don't have time to explore.
In a few hours, the duel with the Church warriors begins in Kuoh Town.
I'm not too worried about the duel itself, but we need to watch out for Qlippoth's movements.
Well, we left the strongest reinforcement back there, so it should be fine.
Just like with the Church, if we take too long, there's no telling what tricks Asem and his crew will pull. We want to wrap this up quickly.
The problem now is how to divide the teams...
Vali stepped forward.
"Bikou and I will take the front."
"Yeah, I figured."
Considering teamwork, Vali and I are fine, but mixing the others might be tricky. With this roster, we could probably make impromptu teams work, but considering the enemy...
We need the best possible combinations while balancing our combat power.
Vali's team is decided. That leaves us Red Dragon Emperor retainers plus Diarmuid.
Diarmuid stood next to Miwa.
"I shall go with my Master."
"Thought so. ...Alright, then I'll team up with Alice. Miwa, Diarmuid, and Ravel will be the other team. Alice and I have the best synergy, and your team works well with Diarmuid as the vanguard and Miwa and Ravel as the rearguard."
Alice and I have fought together for a long time; among all my retainers, our coordination is the tightest. Plus, my Alice can switch between vanguard and rearguard roles.
As for Miwa's group, Diarmuid is a pure vanguard.
Miwa provides overall support and powerful magic attacks.
Ravel can coordinate with Miwa to rain fire from the back while supporting the front line.
Miwa and Ravel have trained in combination techniques as fellow "Bishops," and Diarmuid actually coordinates surprisingly well with Miwa.
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