"By the way, Prez, did Sirzechs stop by?" Issei asked.
Rias placed a hand on her forehead and let out a sigh. "Yes. My father came too."
The open house had already started at Kuoh Academy. After the first class ended, Asia and Issei left the classroom and met up with Rias and Akeno near the vending machines.
"Ah, President. Everyone," Kiba said as he walked over to them.
"Oh, Yuuto. Want some tea?" Rias asked.
Kiba, however, pointed down the corridor. "No, I heard a magical girl is doing a photo shoot, so I thought I'd go take a look."
Click! Click!
Camera flashes went off one after another as a group of guys kept taking pictures of someone in the corner of the corridor. A crowd had gathered around them, making it impossible for the others to see who they were photographing.
As they got closer, they finally saw her—a young, pretty girl dressed as a character from a popular anime.
"Wha—?!" Rias said in shock.
"Hey, hey! Who gave you all permission to hold a photo shoot in the middle of a public hallway?!" Saji's voice echoed out as he pushed his way through the crowd.
A group of girls who looked like they belonged to the student council followed behind him. "Come on, move! It's Open House today! This isn't the time to make a scene!"
The crowd quickly scattered. Even the guys with the cameras reluctantly left, though not without cursing at Saji. The only ones left were the members of the Occult Research Club, the student council, and the cosplaying girl.
"And you, please don't dress like that. Wait—did you come here with your parents? Even if you did, you still need to dress properly for the occasion. At this rate, you're going to get yourself into trouble," Saji warned her.
"Eeeeeh, but these are my formal clothes!" the girl protested, tilting her head in a cute pose.
Saji ground his teeth in frustration, but when he noticed Rias watching he bowed slightly.
"Oh, Lady Rias. Perfect timing. I was just in the middle of showing the Demon King and your father around the campus," he said, glancing back down the corridor.
Two crimson-haired men were walking behind the student council president, Sona Sitri, as she guided them through the school.
"What's going on here? Saji, how many times do I have to tell you to deal with these problems quickly and—". Sona suddenly fell silent the moment she saw the young girl.
"Sona! I've found you!" the girl cried happily as she threw her arms around her in a hug.
"Ah, Serafall? So you came too, I see," Sirzechs said as he looked at the cosplaying girl.
Issei looked completely confused as his eyes moved between the two of them. Then Rias stepped closer and whispered into his ear, "That's Leviathan."
"She's one of the Four Great Satans, Serafall Leviathan," Rias explained. "And she's Sona's older sister."
"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?!"
"Lady Serafall, it's good to see you again." Rias said, bowing her head slightly in respect.
"Oh, little Rias? Howdy there! How are you?!"
Rias looked a little caught off guard by her energy. "I-I'm well, thank you for asking. Are you here to visit Sona's class today?"
"Yep!" Serafall said with a wink. "You're so mean, Sona! You didn't tell me about today! As your big sister, I was totally shocked! I almost went and attacked Heaven!"
"Issei. Offer your greetings," Rias instructed.
He bowed his head. "I-it's a pleasure to meet you! I'm Issei Hyoudou, a Pawn of Rias Gremory!"
"Nice to meet you. I'm the Demon King, Serafall Leviathan. You can call me Levia for short," Serafall said with a wink, holding up her hand in a peace sign.
"Hey, little Sirzechs. Is this the new Ddraig everyone's been talking about?"
"Yes, this is Issei Hyoudou, the current host of the Welsh Dragon." Sirzechs didn't seem particularly surprised or annoyed by her calling him, 'little Sirzechs'.
"Oh, and Uncle Gremory is here too?"
"Hmm, Lady Serafall. That's quite an unusual outfit, is it not? Perhaps it is a little too much for a Demon King…"
"This? Don't you know, Uncle Gremory?" Serafall asked with a wink. "This kind of thing is super popular in this country right now!"
"Oh? I see. I'm afraid I don't know much about those things."
"Hahaha. It really is hard to believe, isn't it, Father?" Sirzechs, his father, and Lady Leviathan then started talking among themselves.
"P-Prez, Lady Leviathan is way more energetic than I expected…"
"I'm sorry," Rias said apologetically. "I forgot to tell you—no, I guess I just didn't want to tell you. Each of the Four Great Satans is rather eccentric. In private, they're all especially carefree and free-spirited, to the point that it can be embarrassing to be around them." She let out a sigh.
Adrien's image suddenly popped into Issei's mind.
'Are all strong people weird like that?'
Sona's face had turned bright red. Her sister's behavior was completely embarrassing to her.
Leviathan noticed the change in her little sister's face and looked at her with concern. "What's wrong, little Sona? Your face is all red, you know. Shouldn't you be happy to see me again after so long? You should've welcomed me with a happy 'Sis!' Then I would hug you and say, 'Sona!' And then we'd hug each other again in a yuri kind of way"
"…S-Sister. This is my school, where I was appointed student council president… Even if we are family, your behavior… and the way you're dressed… are not appropriate."
"Don't say that, little Sona! You'll make me cry! You know your big sister loves magical girls! Waving a sparkling baton and blowing away all those angels and fallen angels in one attack!" Serafall said with another wink.
"Sister, please control yourself. If you actually did that, you could turn this small island nation into rubble."
"Hey, Saji," Issei whispered. "When that fallen angel attacked the other day, the chairwoman didn't ask her sister for help… Am I right to think they don't get along?"
"You've got it backwards," Saji replied. "According to rumors, Serafall Leviathan loves her sister so much that we could have been in real trouble if we had called her. Who knows what she would've done if she thought a fallen angel was about to lay a hand on her little sister? That would've been an instant declaration of war. Calling Lord Sirzechs alone was the right choice. Still, this is the first time I've actually seen her myself…"
"Urgh, I can't take this anymore!" With that, the usually calm and reserved Sona turned around and ran off, her eyes shining with tears.
"Wait! Little Sona! Where are you going without your sister?!" the Demon King cried as she ran after her.
"Don't follow me!"
"Nooooo! I won't let you! Don't leave me, So-taaaaan!"
"I told you to stop calling me that!"
Everyone watched with bemused expressions as Serafall ran after Sona.
"Hmm. What a peaceful family the House of Sitri has. Don't you think so, Ria?"
"Brother, please don't call me that…"
"Don't say that, Ria. You used to follow me around everywhere when you were little… Maybe this is your rebellious phase?" Sirzechs muttered, clearly taking her reaction to heart.
"That's enough, Brother! Why do you always have to bring up my childhood in front of—?"
Click!
Rias's father snapped a picture of his furious daughter. She looked unusually expressive just then. "You have such a lovely face, Rias. I'm very happy to have raised such a wonderful girl. Your mother couldn't come today, so I should make the most of this moment for her sake too."
"Father! That's enough!"
Everyone watched as it became the Gremory family's turn to fall into an embarrassing conversation.
"Each of the Demon King families has something in common," Akeno said with an amused smile.
"Like what?" Issei asked.
"The Demon Kings all have very interesting personalities. And without exception, their younger siblings are always overly serious. Hee hee, that seriousness is probably a reaction to how free-spirited the Demon Kings themselves are."
"That kind of reminds me of Adrien and Seekvaira, but with their roles reversed," Kiba said with an amused chuckle.
The moment Akeno heard Adrien's name, she fell silent, and her expression darkened. Yesterday, she had thought Adrien was taking her somewhere secluded so they could grow closer. But apparently, he had sensed that they were being followed and had chosen that path on purpose to isolate himself and the person following them. Then he used his teleportation technique, and the next moment, she was suddenly back at the shrine.
That was not even the main problem. The real issue was that Adrien had not returned to the shrine last night. She had waited for him in the yard the entire night, but he never came back.
Rias noticed her best friend's expression, and approached her, which got the attention of Sirzechs and Lord Zeoticus Gremory.
"Is something wrong, Akeno?" Rias asked, slightly worried about her.
Akeno stayed silent for a moment. Adrien was the type to simply disappear. From what she knew of him, that was basically the story of his life. She had planned to tell the others what happened if he did not return tonight, but since everyone was here—including the Demon King—he might have an idea of what to do.
"After we left yesterday, we were followed by the Vanishing Dragon. Well, I think it was him, but I'm not completely sure…"
Her words shocked everyone present.
"Why do you think it was the Vanishing Dragon?" Sirzechs asked.
Rias had already informed her brother about the White Dragon's appearance after Adrien defeated Kokabiel.
"I felt the same aura from him… and he felt overwhelmingly strong. Adrien teleported me back to the shrine before they confronted each other, and I haven't seen him since."
Sirzechs frowned slightly and turned to his sister. "Did you feel any energy output yesterday?"
"No, I didn't. They must not have fought then."
"I see." Sirzechs then chuckled. "Well, I didn't think he'd stay in one place for so long. Three days is an impressive run for Adrien."
"His Familia is staying in the old school building. Why would he leave them there and disappear?" Rias asked.
"Because he trusts you. He probably had something he needed to do, so he sent them to stay with you so they wouldn't be alone."
Rias sighed. "Couldn't he at least tell us he was leaving?"
"That's the Agares brat for you," Zeoticus Gremory said with a chuckle.
"Rias on another note there's something I want to discuss with you." Sirzechs said, "I think it's time to unseal your other bishop."
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if we reach 90 Power stones by tomorrow I'll drop another two.
New characters:
Serafall Leviathan
Zeoticus Gremory