272 Serafall's Queen and Christmas Dinner

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

While Tatsuya and Miyuki were undergoing their transformations into devils, everyone noticed that Issa was approaching Serafall. Most of them knew that Issa was approaching to see about joining Serafall's peerage. So, they were interested in seeing how things would turn out. On the other hand, the ones that knew Serafall well were feeling a bit of pity for the old vampire.

"Lady Leviathan, good evening." Issa said with a polite bow.

"Hmm? Oh, you must be Issa Shuzen." Serafall said with a smile. "I heard about you from Grayfia-Chan. You want to join my peerage, huh?"

While Serafall spoke, she paced around Issa in a circle, inspecting him from every angle.

"You would be perfect." Serafall said with a nod of appreciation. "But I want you to call me Levia-Tan from now on."

"Huh?" Issa exclaimed in confusion.

"Without answering his confusion, Serafall began pacing around Issa again.

"So, how do you feel about being on Television?" Serafall asked.

"Uh... I'm not sure." Issa replied honestly, though the confusion was evident in his tone.

Serafall nodded as though she understood something from Issa's answer, an action that confused him even more than he already was. Then, Serafall paced back to a spot in front of Issa and extended her right hand forward with her palm up. In the next instant, several [Evil Pieces] appeared floating above her hand.

"Wow, you cover all the bases, don't you?" Serafall said as she inspected the [Pawns], [Rook], [Knight], [Bishop], and [Queen] that appeared above her outstretched palm. "Now, what do I choose?"

After pondering for a short while, an action that gave Tatsuya and Miyuki enough time to finish their transformations and join the crowd of onlookers, serafall made her decision as she grabbed the [Queen Piece], causing the other pieces to disappear.

"I choose you, Issa Shuzen!" Serafall shouted as she wound up and threw the [Queen Piece] at Issa's chest in an overly exaggerated manner.

*Bang!*

A moment later, the [Queen] slammed into Issa's chest, throwing him backward across the training room. While Issa sailed through the air, the [Queen Piece] sank into his chest, just before his back slammed into the wall behind him.

*Boom!*

"*Cough!*"

While sliding down the wall he slammed into, Issa coughed up a mouthful of blood. At the same time, everyone could tell that Issa's body was going through its metamorphosis. Then, they all looked at Serafall incredulously.

"Oopsie." Serafall said in a cutesy tone while tilting her head and knocking on it with her right fist. "Tee-hee."

Knowing that there was no point in reprimanding Serafall for her actions, most people just pretended like nothing happened. James, on the other hand, stopped to think about it.

"I stopped watching Pokémon a long time ago." James said in a contemplative tone. "But I'm pretty sure you're supposed to say that when you release a Pokémon for battle, not when you catch them."

Hearing James' comment, Serafall's expression fell.

"*Gasp!* You're right, Jay-Kun!" Serafall exclaimed. "I was so excited that I messed up the reference. What do I do? What do I do?"

Serafall then dashed towards James, wrapped her arms around his torso and began to sob loudly into his chest. While James found it hilarious, outwardly, he only smiled wryly while patting Serafall on the head.

Meanwhile, Sona looked at James and serafall suspiciously.

"What's wrong, Sona?" Rhea asked after noticing Sona's gaze.

"For some reason, I'm getting the feeling that Big Sister and I are going to become sisters again." Sona said with an unsure expression on her face.

Naturally, Rhea was taken aback by that statement. However, when she stopped to think about it, she could see where Sona was coming from. Since Serafall arrived at the mansion, not once has she clung to Sona. However, this is the second time she has clung to James.

"Que sera sera." Rhea said nonchalantly while shrugging her shoulders. "No pun intended."

"Are you serious, Mother?" Sona asked with her eyes wide open.

"It's better than her dying alone." Rhea said while watching the interaction between James and her eldest daughter. "I mean, it's clear she enjoys her time with him."

"But... But..." Sona stuttered.

"Are you afraid your big sister is going to steal your fiancé away from you, Sona?" Rhea said in a teasing tone.

"There's not even a snowball's chance in hell that could ever happen." Sona said with a pout before walking away from her mother.

A moment later, Venelana walked over to stand next to Rhea, watching Sona walk away and mingle with her friends.

"*Sigh* You know she's always had an inferiority complex towards her sister." Venelana said. "It's only natural she reacts like that after seeing how Sera is acting with James."

"I know." Rhea replied with a nod and a smile. "But I also know how much she wants Serafall to be happy. She may be acting like she doesn't like it right now. But if sharing James with her sister is what it will take for Sera to be happy, then Sona will agree happily. Even if her expression says otherwise."

"Well, you're they're mother." venelana said with a shrug. "So, you're probably right."

"Besides, the one I really feel pity for is Rias." Rhea said while glancing at Venelana from the corner of her eye. "How is she going to react when you do what you're thinking of doing?"

"I don't know." Venelana replied while shaking her head. Then, she smiled brightly and continued. "But isn't that the fun part?"

"*Sigh* You spend too much time with Leona." Rhea said with a wry smile.

Around the time James was able to calm Serafall and get her to let him go, Issa finished his reincarnation. Then, he approached Serafall again while rubbing his chest and back.

"Thank you, Lady Leviathan. I don't know..." Issa began to speak before he was interrupted.

"No, no, no!" Serafall exclaimed while wagging a finger in front of Issa. "Call me, Levia-Tan. It's Le-via-Tan, got it?"

Naturally, Issa was utterly uncomfortable with referring to Serafall that way. However, since she was his [King] he felt that he really did not have a choice.

"Le... Levia... Levia-Tan." Issa stuttered out. He immediately felt shame and embarrassment after doing so.

"Good!" Serafall exclaimed happily. "Now, as I was saying, you would be perfect for the main villain role in the magical girl show I am creating. Oh, and I will be playing the starring role."

Serafall then struck her favorite magical girl pose while a magic wand materialized in her left hand.

Issa, on the other hand, felt the blood in his flushed face drain to a point that he was even paler than the average vampire. Never in his wildest dreams did he consider that he would be come the main antagonist in a magical girl show. He could feel his dignity slipping away bit by bit, yet there was nothing he could do about it.

At the same time, Akua, Kahlua, Moka, and Kokoa could not help but giggle.

"Congratulations, Dad." Moka said with a smile. "You're finally gonna get to be the head of your own faction."

That statement caused not only the Shuzen sisters, but everyone present in the training room, to laugh uproariously while Issa's face switched between being crimson red and pale white.

A few minutes later, after everyone was done having fun at Issa's expense, Tatsuya challenged James to another spar. And just as Miyuki said, this one lasted much longer. However, the outcome was still the same. Tatsuya lost. Naturally, Miyuki was dumbfounded. She had never seen her brother lose to someone in his own age range before. Yet, he has never beaten James in one of their spars.

"It's not a big deal, Miyuki." Tatsuya said, patting Miyuki on the head after seeing her pouty expression. "I'm improving every time we spar. So that's good enough for me."

Instead of responding, Miyuki looked at Tatsuya in utter shock. For the first time, possibly ever, she saw Tatsuya smiling from the heart. Something that should have been impossible thanks to the magic their mother used on him during their early childhood.

'Did reincarnation fix his emotional deficiency?' Miyuki thought to herself as she got lost in Tatsuya's smile. 'If so, then Alaverus-San might have just given me the best Christmas gift I could have possibly asked for.'

Looking at his sister's expression, Tatsuya could not tell why she was looking at him with that lost look. Though he could feel there was something different, he could not tell instinctively that he had regained his full emotional range. Though, it probably would not take long for him to start realizing it.

"Hey, Mom!" James shouted across the training room. "I'm gonna go to the roof and start grilling for dinner."

"Actually, you should do the grilling in the backyard." Venelana shouted back in reply. "If you use the roof, Zeo and my gift will have to wait a while."

James initially tilted his head in confusion. Then, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Either way, I'm gonna start the grill." James said with a shrug. "Grayfia, can you come and assist me? Zest, you go with my mom and help her prepare the sides."

"Yes, Young Master James." Grayfia and Zest said in unison before glaring at each other for a moment. Then, they both followed James' instructions.

Once Grayfia was next to him, James teleported the both of them to the roof. Once there, he picked up the large refrigerator where the meat he would be grilling was marinating. Then, he teleported them both to the grill in the back yard.

Immediately after they arrived in the backyard, James pulled out several more grills from his personal storage. Then, Grayfia arranged the grill so that James would be facing away from the house. Though James was unsure why she did that, he did not think about it too much. Instead, he began separating the cuts. Considering that he is using meat from Azi Dahaka, who Irene killed in Heaven, there was a lot to separate.

After working with Grayfia for about twenty-five minutes, James finally got all the meat separated. Then, he used a single grill for each cut. There were ribs, tenderloins, shank, chuck, brisket, which he bought a special magic smoker for, and many other cuts.

Then, for the next two hours, James and Grayfia grilled the meat, uninterrupted. When those two hours passed, Leona, Zest, Irene, and Issa carried out the sides that would accompany this dragon feast.

"That's a lot of delicious looking meat." Issa said, staring at all the cuts that had been grilled or smoked to perfection.

"That's what she said." Leona said with a big smile.

"Pause." James said at the same time Leona spoke.

Grayfia, Irene, and Issa could only stared at James and Leona with blank expressions due to their immature comments. Zest, on the other hand, simply stood behind James at a respectful distance. Though, no one was sure she even got the jokes.

After another half an hour, the rest of the people in the mansion began making their way out to the backyard. When they saw the spread, most of them were completely dumbfounded.

"Is James trying to fatten us up?" Rias asked while nibbling on her index finger. "If he is, it's gonna work on me."

"It's all gonna go to your breasts anyway." Sona said with a huff. "It would be nice if some of that nutrition went to your brain, though."

"What did you say?" Rias snapped back.

While Rias and Sona bickered back and forth, James just smiled wryly.

"I'm not expecting it all to get eaten, ya know." James said. Then, he pointed at the end of one of the tables that was filled with food. "See, we have take-home boxes over there."

"He really is trying to fatten us up." Rhea said in a dramatic tone while covering her mouth with her hand.

"Just not all in one shot." Venelana said, mimicking Rhea's posture.

James simply rolled his eyes in response. At the same time, Dante, Lady, Genshirou, and Ruruko arrived. A few moments later, everyone was seated.

Since Dante and Lady don't live in the mansion, they were the only members of his peerage who did not receive their Christmas gifts just after midnight. So, James decided now would be a good time to give them their gifts.

"Dante, Lady, these are for you." James said, pulling two large boxes out of his personal storage.

"Thank you, James." lady said as she received the gift, which was surprisingly heavy.

Dante, on the other hand, received his gift and began opening it without a word. When he saw what was inside the box, though, he froze. Then, he looked at James with confusion in his eyes.

"How?" Dante asked in a shaky voice.

Inside the open box that Dante was holding was his father's sword, Sparda, which shared the same name as his father, which should have been in the Temen-ni-gru, sealing the path to the Netherworld.

"Oh, I went back to the tower and completely destroyed the path connecting the Human World and the Netherworld." James said nonchalantly. "Then, I took the sword."

This explanation left Dante speechless to the point that he did not even say thank you. He just continued to stare at the sword in bewilderment. While Dante was confused, Lady also opened her gift. What she saw what was inside, she pulled it out of the box and hugged it.

"I've felt so naked without having you on my back." Lady said while rubbing her cheek on the weapon she pulled out of the box.

In Lady's arms was a bladed missile launcher similar to the one she used in the Temen-ni-gru incident. This one, however, could be reloaded with demonic energy. And if magic was used in the creation of the ammo, the missiles could have different effects when they explode.

"Well, it looks like they're both happy with their gifts." James said with a smile. Then, he spread his arms wide open and continued loudly. "Now, let the dragon feast begin!"