Chapter 34

"So Hyōdō-kun is all mine?" Rias smiled, but her eyes had that core of desperation that Sona had seen more and more frequently as every attempt she and Rias could think of or scheme about to have the Phenex engagement nullified failed.

"If you can convince him, then he is yours." The bespectacled Devil nodded. It was an agreement that she and Rias had struck the first day they had set foot in Kuō Town. Upon finding someone that one of them wanted to join their Peerage, the other had to be informed immediately to see if they were interested. Additionally, if one claimed a powerful Sacred Gear user, the next one would go to the other King automatically unless they didn't want them.

Until recently, the agreement had benefited Sona immensely, as Rias hadn't been interested in the ones she had seen. Sona's Peerage had swollen and she liked them all, even loved her Queen, Tsubaki, as a sister. Rias had Akeno the Priestess of Thunder, a [Queen], Kiba, a [Knight], Koneko, a [Rook] and Gaspar, a [Bishop]. Of those, Gaspar the [Bishop] had been sealed away due to his lack of control of his Sacred Gear, [Forbidden Balor View]. Kiba had access to [Sword Birth], a powerful Sacred Gear that could produce swords of every attribute except light, while Koneko was an excellent hand-to-hand combatant. Akeno used the barest hints of her heritage as a Nephilim, the child of a Fallen and a human, in her thunder magic, but was a standard [Queen] otherwise.

Raiser Phenex had a full fifteen piece Peerage, including his younger sister Ravel as a [Bishop]. His queen, Yubelluna, was known as the infamous Bomb Queen, specialising in explosively powerful fire magic. Raiser had only lost twice in his few Rating Games…losses he had conceded as a favour to the houses that his opposing Peerage belonged to.

A part of the marriage contract that Rias would be forced to invoke in two months' time was the Rating Game against Raiser. He was older, more powerful, more experienced and possessed more pieces than she did. Raiser could simply swamp Rias' Peerage with numbers. Even if he lost every single piece other than himself, he was still highly likely to win due to his Phenex Regeneration, which had been proven to even regenerate its bearer from attacks made by the Bael's Power of Destruction.

No matter how Sona looked at it, her friend was doomed.

Still…the first signal that she'd been able to scan from Hyōdō Issei had been that of a Dragon-type Sacred Gear, which was pretty rare. Dragon types varied in strength between the common [Twice Critical] and the two Sacred Gears of the Nitenryū, the Two Heavenly Dragons, the [Boosted Gear] and [Divine Dividing]. None of Raiser's Peerage possessed Sacred Gears, so having at least one gave Rias a slight advantage…on paper. Depending on what Hyōdō's Sacred Gear was, it could have quite the impact on the outcome of the game.

"You do have to consider the possibility that he will say no, you know." Sona cautioned Rias.

Crystal blue eyes rolled in dismissal. "He wants a harem, and those are hardly rare or even uncommon in Devil society. Once I tell him that, he'll be eating out of my hand. With Akeno and I as examples of Devils, he'd be someone else to say no."

"And Koneko?" Sona raised an eyebrow.

"She is far too young to be used for seduction tactics." Rias stated firmly, "She will be a looker when she fully matures, but that time isn't now."

It was something that severely irritated the former Nekoshō. Her mental maturity was far in advance of her physical maturity. Although, as she hadn't even revealed her tail and ears in many years, nor had she so much as touched Senjutsu, she was able to fully suppress the mating instinct of her race with moderate ease. Still, being called the Mascot of Kuō Academy was more than slightly irksome for the girl.

Quite understandable, in Sona's opinion.

"We'd better get on." She said at last, "Our Peerages are busy working, so we can't have them show us up, can we?"

"Just so." Rias nodded, "Well then, until tomorrow, Sona."

"Tomorrow, Rias."

In twin flashes of red and blue, the ORC club room was empty once again.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

With Issei

"Achoo!"

Issei barely managed to cover his fifth sneeze in as many minutes. Was someone talking about him behind his back?

Shrugging, the Sekiryūtei approached his destination. It was an abandoned building on the outskirts of Kuō Town. It also hid the entrance to the second to last Rat Den. This was one that Issei hoped would lead him to the Purifiers rather than just for more EXP and loot.

Although EXP and loot was always welcome.

Checking that the coast was clear, he snuck into the house through an open window before equipping his armour and cloak. Not many people came to this part of town, but it never hurt to be careful. A quick search of the ground floor revealed nothing, so Issei descended into the basement.

The basement of the house had solid concrete walls and numerous pipes along one wall, which was immediately suspicious. No way were all of them for this house, which only had a bathroom, a toilet and a basic kitchen sink. That added up to twelve pipes or so, and there were in excess of thirty here.

With a mutter, Issei activated his [Puzzle Solving] Skill, which, even at Level 2, showed him that there were thirteen valve handles in a circle and not all of them were facing away from the wall that the pipes were snug against.

And, sure enough, when he twisted the valve handles around to face away from the wall, the pipes sunk into the ground, as did a rectangular section of concrete, revealing a dark doorway, with steps leading down into the darkness.

[Warning!]

[You are about to enter the dungeon [Lair of the Gutter Rats] (LV 12)

Once entered, you must clear the dungeon in order to leave.]

[Do you wish to enter?]

[Y | N]

Hitting yes, Issei took a moment to flip his hood up and activate his cloak's obscuring ability before descending down the steps. Yes, the dungeon's level was slightly higher than his level, but defeating enemies with superior levels gained him more EXP…at least, it should. That's how it worked in ordinary games, so the [Gaming Gear] should do that too.

At the bottom of the stairs was another treasure chest, just like there had been in all of them. This one held two things. The first was a pack of ten [Average Quality Throwing Knives]. They were specially designed to be used with the [Knife Throwing] skill and added an extra +10 to both accuracy and damage when used with that skill.

.

.

.

Subscribe to me Patreon for more advanced content...

Read the complete novel in PDF, available at my Patreon Store!

patreon.com/Nesto_