Buzz! Buzz! Buzz...
Under Tatsuma's guidance, the white radiance enveloped the Red Dragon Emperor's remnant soul. Like boiling water, sizzling sounds echoed, and wisps of black smoke emerged from around the remnant soul. These black smoke were the remnant soul's resentments.
After completely purifying them, the originally dull gaze of the remnant soul recovered a sliver of consciousness.
"Thank you."
After nodding towards Tatsuma in thanks, the white radiance completely enveloped the remnant soul.
The next second, this Red Dragon Emperor remnant soul disappeared within the Sacred Gear space.
"Success!"
Ddraig's excited voice rang out.
"The consumption is a bit high." Tatsuma wasn't particularly happy.
If he consumed too much Ki, he would fall into weakness. To retain a sufficient amount of Ki, he could only purify it little by little.
Scanning the remaining remnant souls, Tatsuma came to a conclusion in his heart.
"It will take at least a month to completely clear these remnant souls."
Ddraig comforted, "That's already very fast. Partner, you're a Devil, having at least ten thousand years of lifespan. For you, a month is like taking a nap, it'll pass very quickly."
"You're good with metaphors."
Tatsuma shrugged and walked towards the next Red Dragon Emperor remnant soul.
Anyway, let's get to work first.
...
Underworld, the capital Lilith.
Having buried himself in approving documents all day, Sirzechs, for the first time in a while, received a special communication.
"Long time no see, Rias."
Looking at the figure projected on the screen before him, Sirzechs's face showed a smile.
"I didn't expect you to contact me proactively. Did you run into some trouble?"
Rias went straight to the point, "Yes, there's something I need your help with, brother. I want to break off the engagement."
Break off the engagement?
Sirzechs's expression became serious as he asked, "Breaking off the engagement is possible, but can you tell me the reason?"
Rias said, "I don't like Riser. I have no feelings for him at all."
"Anything else?"
"That's it."
"Mm... I understand."
Exchanging glances with Grayfia standing beside him, Sirzechs replied, "Rias, I can help with breaking off the engagement, but I can't personally intervene."
"I hope you can understand, Satans are not omnipotent. Many people are watching me."
Rias clenched her fist. "Don't worry, brother. I understand this kind of thing. This time, I just want to ask you to make a connection. Please give me a chance to have a Rating Game with Riser."
"If he wins, I will follow the clan's arrangements for everything that follows. But if I win, I hope the engagement will end here."
"...A good expression."
Sirzechs and Rias looked at each other for several seconds, then suddenly showed a smile.
"I'll help with this. I'll inform the Phenex clan later."
"Then I'll trouble you, brother." Rias nodded slightly and hung up.
Looking at the darkened screen before him, Sirzechs thought for a moment before looking to the side. "If I remember correctly, Rias recently recruited a new peerage member, right?"
Grayfia nodded. "A Sacred Gear user named Tatsuma."
Sirzechs asked, "Do you have detailed information?"
"Yes."
Grayfia handed over a document.
Sirzechs lowered his head to examine it and quickly noticed something was off.
"Using eight Pawn pieces, and on the eighth day after becoming a Devil, he single-handedly killed a Special Grade Cursed Spirit?"
"Yes, and according to the subsequent investigation, the killed Special Grade Cursed Spirit was not weak, suspected to be a special Cursed Spirit related to forests."
Sirzechs's curiosity was piqued. "Interesting. No wonder Rias is acting so uncharacteristically proactive."
"Help me contact the Phenex clan."
"Yes."
...
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was the next day.
After finishing his morning exercise, Tatsuma conveniently came to the Occult Research Club to shower. However, unlike usual, there were already two figures sitting inside the club.
"Excuse me, are you Tatsuma-san?" A girl in a nun's habit with long golden hair walked over and asked.
Tatsuma nodded. "I am."
"That's great, I finally saw you."
The blonde girl smiled happily and introduced herself, "My name is Asia Argento. Thank you for saving me."
As one of the heroines in the original story, Tatsuma naturally knew Asia. However, he didn't understand why she would appear here.
According to Raynare's memory, shouldn't Asia still be on her way to Kuoh Town at this time?
"I brought Asia over."
As if seeing Tatsuma's confusion, Rias, who was sitting nearby, explained.
"After we parted yesterday, I sent someone to find Asia and went to see her myself."
"Using the recording crystal you gave me, I explained the whole story to Asia. After that, I invited Asia to become a Bishop, and she agreed."
Tatsuma was a bit surprised. "That simple?"
Asia replied, "Actually, I did hesitate for a while."
For a nun who grew up in the Church, Asia's faith was very firm. However, being repeatedly expelled by the Church and betrayed by the Fallen Angel who took her in, even Asia couldn't help but be hit hard, her beliefs shaken.
At this time, as her savior, Rias extended an invitation, and Asia agreed.
"Although it's a bit troublesome that I can't pray after becoming a Devil, Rias-san is a good person, and I'm very happy to be able to meet Tatsuma-san."
"That's a simple reason."
Tatsuma smiled at Asia, then looked towards Rias beside him.
"You invited Asia for your fight with Riser, right?"
Rias nodded and admitted, "As expected, I can't hide anything from you."
As the saying goes, strategically despise the enemy, tactically value the enemy.
Rias was confident in Tatsuma's strength, but she wouldn't look down on Riser because of it. As a supernova in the Underworld in recent years, Riser's strength was nothing to scoff at.
To cope with a potential prolonged battle, Rias had her eyes on Asia.
Twilight Healing possesses extremely great recovery power and is effective on Devils.
As long as Asia was brought into the team, even if Riser relied on his immortality for a prolonged battle, they could still win.
Asia, standing beside them, clenched her fists and spoke with a serious expression, "To repay the kindness of saving my life, I will do my best to help Tatsuma-san and Rias-san win."
Actually, there's no need to be so serious.
Looking at Asia and Rias in front of him, Tatsuma showed an expression of wanting to speak but hesitating.
These two were so motivated, he felt bad telling them the truth.