"I'm so sorry!!"
The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. I knew—technically—we were opponents back then, so maybe it wasn't something I needed to apologize for. But even so, standing here now, the guilt still weighed on me.
"It's quite alright," Ravel said, her tone gentle, though laced with a hint of amusement. "What's done is done. And besides, it was a perfectly reasonable tactical move within the Rating Game. I never held it against you to begin with."
Even so, I reached out and gave her head a gentle pat. She murmured, "Really now, Ise-sama," with a pout... though she clearly didn't mind.
Nearby, Kuroka—sitting with Le Fay at the poolside table—suddenly looked intrigued and turned toward Sona.
"By the way, didn't that game also involve a wager on marriage or an engagement or something~? So then, what about you, Miss Next-Head-of-the-Sitri-House and little sister of a Maou? I mean, your circumstances are pretty similar. Don't you have a fiancé or two lined up, considering your noble status~?"
Sona sipped her iced tea calmly and replied as though it were no big deal.
"I had one... once."
Past tense, huh?
Ravel giggled. "Sona challenged her fiancé to a chess match and completely obliterated him. She broke off the engagement right then and there, saying she had no intention of marrying someone who was intellectually beneath her."
Seriously!? So in order to become Sona's husband, you'd have to beat her at chess—or at least outsmart her in some kind of mental duel? That's... seriously tough.
Saji, if you're aiming to date Sona, maybe you should give up training your dragon powers and just become a chess grandmaster instead.
"Of course, I wasn't entirely serious," Sona added. "It's true I value intelligence, but the real issue was that my fiancé was... painfully dull. I used the chess match to prod at his pride and bait him into a challenge. And honestly, if someone falls for such a cheap provocation, they're no match for me—on or off the board."
Wow... That's some master strategist energy right there. The kind where victory's already decided the moment the pieces are set.
"Fweeeh... I'm exhausted. What are you guys chatting about?"
Issei and the others returned from the pool, dripping wet but clearly satisfied. They headed for the built-in poolside fridge and started pulling out chilled juice cans to rehydrate.
Well, not everyone was done playing—Nimura and Irina were still at it, using the jungle gym vines to swing around, hollering "Aaa-AA-aaah!" like Tarzan.
Those two are always the most full of energy.
Elsewhere in the pool, a bizarre formation had taken shape: Fafnir was floating on his back, with Fenrir—trapped in a bear hug from Ophis—sitting on top of him. Ophis herself was straddling Fenrir's back, and perched atop her head was Asia's familiar, Rassei.
"With this four-layer fusion, I believe we could challenge Great Red... maybe."
That's just a glorified stack of weirdos. Nothing about that is coordinated.
You've got a wolf sandwiched between two dragons for crying out loud.
Honestly, this might be slightly stronger than the canon "triple stack," but still... Great Red would one-shot them.
Poor Rasetsu would get disintegrated from the shockwave alone.
When Issei asked what we were talking about, I shrugged. "All sorts of stuff. The usual... trouble, upcoming events, and probably more on the way. Oh, and some talk about engagements and love stuff, I guess."
"Don't call it 'love talk' when it's guys saying it," Issei muttered.
Hey, what else am I supposed to call it?
"Well, it's true," he admitted after a pause. "We've been through battle after battle. If we weren't getting stronger, we'd be dead by now... Honestly, I'd rather live a peaceful life."
Xenovia chuckled. "Perhaps, but look at how far you've come, Issei. When Irina and I first met you, you barely had the combat power of a lower-class devil. With enough time, sure, you could bring out upper-class level strength, but your standalone capability was weak. Now? You're naturally upper-class, overall you're approaching ultimate-class, and in raw power alone, you're nearly at Maou level."
She meant it as praise, but Issei just frowned.
"That might be true if I had time for a full charge," he said bitterly. "But in real fights, who gives you that kind of opening? That's the real problem. And just when I thought I was finally catching up to Ikki... he powered up again. Now I'm back to losing."
He shot me a sulky glare—probably because I'd recently powered up again, just when he was this close to beating me in a mock battle.
"Don't give me that look," I said with a laugh. "Out of all of us, your growth rate is insane. If it were me from before summer break, you could definitely beat me now. You've covered over ten years of my training in just a few months. I'm not saying you should be satisfied, but don't put yourself down either."
If we factor in things like my Ittou Shura mode, I might still scrape by, but in pure stats alone... it'd be rough.
Fighting Vali was a stalemate thanks to neutralizing his halving ability by avoiding contact altogether, but Issei's power-doubling has no such counter.
The more I think about it, the more I realize just how overpowered the Boosted Gear is.
Right now, Issei's aura output might rival that of a Maou—but Sirzechs in Transcendence Mode had ten times the aura of the former Maou. And the original Two Heavenly Dragons are slightly above that.
So yeah, Issei isn't even using 10% of the Boosted Gear's potential yet. Which, terrifying as that is, also means his potential's still through the roof.
Of course, whether he can control all that power is another issue entirely.
"Alright, alright," Issei said, scratching his head. "You've got a point. Complaining like that is probably insulting to Ddraig too. But I'm still gonna surpass you one day, mark my words!"
Just as Issei renewed his fiery resolve, we were interrupted by new arrivals at the pool.
"An underground pool, hmm? How delightful. Youthful energy in full bloom... It's always a pleasure to watch the young thrive."
"Griselda-san," said a cheerful voice. "You're starting to sound like an old lady. You should try to sound more hip—owowowowow!!"
"Ohoho. Sister Griselda, what he meant was that you're still very young at heart," another man quickly covered.
At the center stood Sister Griselda, the local church's representative and a reincarnated angel. Flanking her were two men—one blond with emerald-blue eyes and a soft expression, the other a black-haired, black-eyed Japanese man with a quiet strength.
A double helping of handsome, basically.
The blond one, clearly the "too chill" type, was still getting his cheek pinched by Griselda as she scolded him.
"We came to greet you all," she said pleasantly. "I heard everyone had gathered, and the timing worked for these two as well."
Finally released, the blond man stepped forward and greeted us with a big wave.
"Heya~! Nice to meet ya, Kuoh Academy crew! Name's Dulio Gesualdo. Looking forward to working with y'all!"
...Super casual. Too casual, in fact—Griselda immediately yanked his cheek again.
"Dulio! You're Heaven's ace Joker! Try acting like it."
"Eeegh, sorry, ma'am! You're too strong for me!"
After his punishment, the second man stepped forward and offered a proper bow.
"Greetings. I'm Tobio Ikuse. I'm here as a stand-in for former Governor Azazel. I'm part of the Grigori's 'Slash Dog' team, where I act as leader. I primarily handle covert operations and support roles. Also, I have one more introduction... or perhaps I should say, one more companion."
From his shadow, a pitch-black wolf emerged.
"This is one of the Longinus sacred gears: Canis Lykaon. An independently manifested gear.
"Whoa," Irina blinked. "That aura's intense... It's definitely powerful, but something about it is just... weird. Still, it's cute, in a spooky kind of way!"
"You call that cute?" I said. "It doesn't show a single opening. Is it like Sairaorg's Regulus? That one's a shape-shifter too, though Regulus has turned into a full-blown devil now."
Yeah... If we're talking weirdness factor, Regulus is probably the most irregular of the Longinus group.
"There's something poetic about this," Griselda noted. "Three owners of Longinus-type sacred gears from the Three Factions, gathered in one place... If only Sairaorg and the Nemean Lion were here, we'd have the full set."
"Oh, and I heard Arima's gear might be reclassified too—ever since it absorbed Samael," Dulio added.
"Seriously!?" I blurted out. I hadn't even considered that possibility.
"Well, technically it's supposed to stay sealed indefinitely," Griselda said. "So a lot of officials feel there's no need to formally recognize it as a Longinus."
Right. A winged pig that never flies is still just a pig.
I felt a bit deflated... until Tobio asked about our plans.
"Do you all have training scheduled for later?"
"Yes," I nodded. "We train daily."
"In that case... how about sparring with me? As Azazel's substitute, I've been tasked with helping your development. And I imagine it'd benefit me, too. Facing the same people all the time can build bad habits, right? What do you say?"
"Oh! Now that you mention it, I think Michael-sama told me to help with training too!" Dulio grinned. "Mind if I join in?"
Everyone instantly lit up. Two Longinus users offering to spar?
"Please! We'd love to train with you!"
"I need to improve my angelic power even more!"
"This self-proclaimed angel could stand to learn what real angels are like."
"Hey! Then maybe you, Xenovia, should ask Slash Dog-san to teach you some technique? You did say Arima's style is too weird to use as a reference, remember?"
So she did say that, huh…
Well, fair. Her style is all about striking first, while mine is all about countering. We don't exactly complement each other.
Just as I was thinking that, Le Fay suddenly spoke up...
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100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
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