The breeze blew gently, swaying the treetops. The darkness of the night concealed the discreet journey of a strange letter.
After several turns impossible to achieve by mere wind, the letter landed between the roots of a tree for a few seconds before bursting into a gray mist that soon began to take shape.
From it emerged an imposing monster — a skeletal figure fused with twisted purple muscles. It scratched its bare, grinning skull as it "looked" around with eyes covered by a black bandage. Its powerful limbs cracked when it spun the spear in its hand.
Beiige sighed wearily. It hadn't been easy to escape the rift; many others had died trying to cross it.
"How did the king find this place?" he muttered, somewhat displeased. The air didn't contain even a trace of spiritual energy.
Opening a rift for the invasion would be difficult. Still confused and irritated, he rushed toward the presence of a being with anomalous energy. It was similar to that of the archfiends or vampires that still caused trouble throughout the kingdom.
"I could use them as a sacrifice," he growled with faint excitement. As the vanguard of the Dark World's army, his mission was to pave the way for his comrades. It didn't matter how many he had to kill in the process.
After running for several minutes, he found a humanoid creature whose arms were bat-like wings.
Beiige wasn't surprised; there were too many strange creatures in the spiritual plane. He himself had slain hundreds.
The stranger turned upon sensing his presence.
"What the hell...? Another stray? Hey, you ugly bastard, get away from my territory!" it growled, holding what seemed to be a severed human arm.
Beiige didn't care; he simply readied his spear and lunged at the devil.
The creature tried to defend itself by striking with its wings, but Beiige ignored the attack. His organic bone armor, adorned with sharp spikes on his shoulders and chest, blocked the blow while his spear pierced the devil's side.
Beiige clicked his tongue. He hadn't hit as intended; he had planned to finish it with a single strike, but it seemed this plane weakened him too much.
The bat devil staggered back, flapping its wings in fear. It hesitated for a second before gathering devilish power in its throat, unleashing a powerful roar that sent Beiige flying into some bushes. Taking advantage of the moment, it tried to flee — but as it turned, a spear shot forth, impaling it against a tree.
The monstrous warrior approached the devil's body, cracking his neck as he did. The atmosphere of this world made him uneasy, but work was work. As a soldier, his duty was to follow orders — even if rumors said their king was insane...
Still, he didn't stop. As long as he could keep killing, he didn't care about his superiors' games or fetishes.
While dismembering the corpse, he suddenly froze — he had heard something. He turned his bony head cautiously, but feeling nothing, he continued using the devil's blood to draw strange runes on the ground.
Suddenly, a sound sliced through the air. A black sphere struck him and exploded on impact. Part of his skull vanished, and several parts of his body sparked, releasing white smoke.
Minutes later, a woman with scales on her body approached cautiously. She was the bat devil's mate.
Seeing no movement, she came closer to her lover's corpse, wanting at least to take his body with her. She observed his deplorable state — missing parts, pools of blood everywhere.
Suddenly, her eyes widened. He was still alive! Desperate, she tried to gather the scattered pieces, but before she could grab more than two arms, a spear pierced her stomach. A guttural laugh echoed behind her.
"What luck... I didn't even have to look. I'll be able to open the rift tonight," Beiige exclaimed, spinning his spear shrouded in gray mist.
The woman stared in disbelief. She was certain she had killed him. Horrified, she could only watch as the spear began tearing her apart, just like her lover.
---
"Well, I activate Beiige's ability, summoning him specially from the graveyard," exclaimed Daniel while playing in the club room.
"This one also comes back from the graveyard?" asked Issei, who had decided to join the game.
Daniel thought for a moment.
"You could say the Dark World are almost immortal, as long as you have the field spell... and know how to play them." He pulled a card from his hand. "But their advantage lies in summoning massive numbers and bringing out powerful monsters. Now I sacrifice both monsters and summon Grapha, Dragon Lord of the Dark World."
Issei could only watch as Daniel activated the combo and defeated him.
Asia, watching from the side, gave a small clap and smiled at Daniel. He chuckled, settled into the couch, and wrapped an arm around the blonde, letting the cards fade away.
Issei felt worse seeing that, but let it go. He simply sat down and ate something.
Rias watched with a small smile at Daniel's recent behavior. The melancholic, quiet boy turned out to be bolder than she expected — and she liked that. Passion was a quality she appreciated.
Asia also surprised her. The innocent nun not only didn't pull away but seemed quite comfortable with his closeness.
The beautiful redhead couldn't help feeling jealous. Her smile faded as she remembered she couldn't enjoy love the same way.
"Why did my family contact me? Didn't we agree to wait until after graduation?" she thought sadly.
Rias was angry. Her family had not only imposed a marriage she didn't want but had also broken their agreement.
Still, she calmed herself; she already had a plan. Riser Phenex was known as a promising participant in the Rating Games. If she proposed one and managed to defeat him, she could nullify the engagement.
Though Riser's peerage was strong, hope stirred within her after witnessing the power of Daniel's summoned dragon. Her own team was still inexperienced, but not weak.
"It never hurts to have a backup plan," she thought, fixing her gaze on Daniel.
---
Chew. Chew.
The sound of torn flesh echoed through the forest.
Beiige pushed the devil's wing away from his mouth and looked at the circle filled with runes he had painstakingly drawn. Magic wasn't his specialty, but he would do whatever it took to fulfill his mission.
The remains of both devils lay grotesquely yet neatly scattered in the center of the circle. The most shocking thing was that both were still alive, watching in horror as Beiige began reciting something in an unknown language.
Gray energy poured from his body, gradually illuminating the blood-soaked runes. Devilish power resonated, consumed by the gray mist. The runes turned black just before the devils' bodies disintegrated and a small rift opened in the air.