21 - |

A voice interrupted my conversation, bringing a debate about the merits of infinite ice cream to a halt. "Millicas?" Ajuka called.

I sighed, passing Shirone to Gil and drawing on my magic. "Is it time, then?" I asked simply.

Ajuka nodded. "I have everything ready. All that's left is for you to fight."

I chuckled. "All right, girls. Wish me luck."

Ruby snorted, rolling her eyes. "If luck decided anything, I would've died in my egg."

I raised an eyebrow. "And yet, Gil sometimes always wins poker matches."

Ruby opened her mouth, paused, and closed it. "I've got nothing." She admitted. "All right, good luck."

Shirone nodded. "Kick his ass."

Gil sighed, flicking her ear. "Try to avoid offending anyone. You're fighting to prove a point, not to make a statement."

I smirked. "I'm sorry, but is there a difference betwee—"

"I do hope I'm not interrupting anything." A voice called, making me pause.

"Not at all." I rose, rolling my shoulders and preparing my Avatar. "Do you mind if I change into something more suited for battle?"

Zekram tilted his head. "It matters not. You will still fall."

I rolled my eyes. "Jeez, a simple 'yes' would've worked fine. No need for all that."

I activated the spell, and my clothes shifted to my normal attire. Grey undershirt and slacks, with a long-sleeved, hooded white cloak over the top. The pockets of the cloak made it look like a lab coat, and the mechanical device sticking out of one of them didn't exactly help the misconception.

I glanced up at Zekram. "All right. I'm ready."

He raised an eyebrow. "What, no weapon?"

I blinked. "I told you I'd be taking it easy on you, didn't I? Did you not hear me, or is your memory finally starting to slip?"

His jaw clenched. "I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should."

I snorted. "Careful, there, old geezer. You might lose your false teeth."

Ajuka finally activated the spell, and the game began.

I was in a large, open field with a few rocks sticking out of the waist-high grass. Zekram stood across from me, facing me head-on. Ajuka's voice boomed through the field. "The unofficial match between Millicas Gremory and Zekram Bael will now begin."

Zekram chuckled, spreading out his wings. I counted six pairs, setting him on par with a Seraph in terms of power. "Boy, my name is Zekram Bael—"

I burst out laughing, interrupting his spiel. "I-I'm sorry!" I spluttered, "But I just realized! Y-your name sounds like it was made by smashing together Zekrom and Reshiram! G-get it!" I started laughing once more. "You're a Pokémon!"

He clenched his fists, and power began to gather around him. He advanced menacingly, the air becoming thick with raw magic. "I single-handedly fought off an entire army of Fallen in the Battle of Sumai. I caused the Black Sabbath in the—"

Preparations complete, I didn't bother winding back, I just stepped forward and swung a right uppercut directly into the bottom of his jaw.

I'm not sure who was more surprised that it hit, me or him.

His jaw shut with a click as he was sent rocketing into the air. He quickly caught himself, but his attention was diverted for the instant I needed to cover the ground with a mix of illusionary and shadow clones. He paused, seeing the sheer mass of faces staring back at him. In complete, terrifying synchrony, they all opened their mouths and spoke. "I feel I must warn you, mister Pokémon, that I am fully capable of killing you if you make a wrong move."

The world warped, snapping into place. Suddenly, it wasn't a field we were standing in, but a post-apocalyptic wasteland. My clones were all wearing identical masks, all grinning widely from emaciated skulls. We laughed madly and moved, some scattering, some attacking. Zekram chuckled, and held up a hand. A wave of reddish-black rippled outward, the illusionary clones passing harmlessly through.

We laughed once more. "Silly Pokémon!" We giggled madly, charging once more. He sighed, and Power of Destruction began to gather behind him. "An illusionist." He mused. "How quaint. I was expecting more from all your big talk. But in the end, I suppose trash will always be—"

One of the 'illusions' reached him, wound back, and drove a hard right directly into his gut. It cackled, grabbing him by his fancy tie and judo-flipping him into a swarm of its' fellows. Then his battle experience kicked in, and he released a blast of pure magic directly into the swarm of clones, creating a large crater in the ground beneath him. He rose into the air once more, no longer sporting his disappointed look.

A nearby clone glanced at the crater. "Dude, you totally wasted that poor grass!" He called dramatically, making a frame with the thumb and forefinger of both hands. "Zekram Bael, everyone!" He shouted. "Noble elder, and destroyer of innocent grass!"

The clone next to him frowned. "What are you talking about, you moron? That's obviously a rock!"

Zekram blinked… and began to laugh. "Clones!" He bellowed, a wide grin on his face. "Self-aware, intelligent, completely autonomous clones! I saw them during the girl's Rating Game, but I thought those were all illusions, as well! Boy, do you have any idea how valuable those little constructs are!?" In a flicker of movement, he held a startled clone in his grasp. "Incredible!" He marveled, inspecting the poor clone. "It's completely real! I can feel the blood pumping through its' veins, feel its' breath on my face! I can see now why you were so confident in challenging me! With an ace like this, you can rule the battlefield at will!"

I blinked. "…You're shitting me, right?" I turned to a nearby clone. "He's shitting me, right?"

The clone shrugged. "Don't look at me, dude."

Zekram charged a orb of Destruction, eviscerating the unfortunate clone in his grip. He sighed, watching it dissolve into smoke. "Ah, that would be the catch, I assume. It's incredibly fragile, no? Possibly even a decreased skill level?" He turned to the next group of clones. "But still, what I would've given to have you during the War…" He sighed, obliterating them with a thought.

I groaned, shaking my head. "And you're just now taking me seriously?" I called, forming another three dozen clones. "I'm not sure whether to be insulted or amused. If this impresses you, you're in for a surprise."

Zekram smiled widely, appearing to lose the temper I had carefully been poking at the entire fight. "Please, by all means, boy-no, Millicas." He began to charge once more, his eyes glowing with power. The wind whipped, the ground shook, and my clones began to disperse from the sheer pressure. "Give me everything you've got!" Thousands of orbs of Power formed behind him, and he held up a hand.

I raised an eyebrow. 'Aaaand, it just got serious. Well, I might as well get some quality smashing in.'

I dispersed my now-useless clones, conserving energy. I kept the illusions, however. "So!" I called, rising into the air with a mild application of telekinesis. "Any other grandstanding, or are you finally going to fight me!"

He laughed once more, wiping a tear from his eye. "Ah, were you only from my Clan, you would've made the perfect heir." He looked me in the eye, a smile tugging at his lips. "But, since you insist, I will say one more thing. In ancient times, when two members of the Bael Clan fought, it was customary to tell their foe the name of their Power of Destruction."

I raised an eyebrow. "That sounds repetitive. How many of them had the word 'destroy' somewhere in the name?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "It's a matter of honor, Millicas. A sign that no ill will was meant. If you are unwilling, I shall go first. The name of my Power is Annihilate the Fallen."

I snorted. "Thanks, real helpful. What was that used on, puppies? No, wait, giraffes?"

He tutted, and the spheres behind him began to glow menacingly. "Now, now. Do respect your elders."

I sighed, shaking my head. "I guess some people really can't take a joke." I complained sardonically, putting a hand in my pocket. "But I suppose that, if I were to name my Power, it would be Nightmare."

He nodded. "A respectable name. How practiced with it are you?"

I shrugged. "Used it to shred a Dragon's Life-force once."

He blinked. "…Are you sure that was wise? Dragons always have others who follow, and few survive their onslaught.

I shook my head. "Nah, it's cool. We're best friends now."

He apparently decided it wasn't worth pursuing. "…Very well. Now, let us begin."

I nodded. "Let's. I promised that I would dance with my girls, and this is kind of cutting into that time." I cranked up my mental buffs, pouring five Partitions' worth of my calculation ability into my Power of Destruction.

One thousand times thought speed plus five Partitions equals 3,125 trains of thought, each controlling a half-dozen molecule-thin threads. A quick check with my remaining Partition gave me a mental count of 18,750 threads, each thread covered in a thin layer of Touki.

I smiled. "All right, buddy. Let's dance."

The orbs behind my opponent each fired a beam of blackish-red energy. I dodged, weaving in-between the beams of pure magic. "Ever heard of Touki?" I called, the red threads around me barely visible as they flexed and coiled. "Useful stuff."

"I have, indeed!" He called back easily. "But it will avail you nothing, here. Touki doesn't work on constant-effect attacks. I would know, my many times great-grandson once challenged me with it. You might want to start using your Power, soon, or you'll never last."

I laughed, and the beams abruptly stopped firing. "I have, you just haven't seen it." I replied, smirking. "And Touki does work on constant-effect attacks, but only so long as you continue supplying energy to it at the same rate the attack drains it away."

He flinched slightly, and blood began flowing down his arm. Each of his wings now sported several large holes, and his body seemed to have growing spots of blood all over. Then the threads flexed slightly, and the red energy shimmered into visibility for a brief instant. I sighed, not bothering to even take my hand out of my pocket. "Do you have anything else? Because if not, and you don't surrender—"

His body disappeared from my web, flickering out of view. A thread behind me caught a blow meant for my head, and I turned to face him once more. "Really? Dude, just—" A point-blank beam of energy almost decimated my Avatar's head. "—give up, already."

Threads of Nightmare wove together, stronger than steel cable and twice as deadly. Soon, a magic circle formed from the woven strands, glowing and crackling with magical power. Zekram fired his volley of death lasers once more, and they all collided with an enormous black hexagonal shield. It began to glow a deeper and deeper red as the beams continued to fire, a smirk flickering across my face. "Oi, old man!" I called, smug behind my glowing shield. "What do you know about shield spells?"

I didn't get an answer, but I didn't let that phase me. "I guess you've just never fought someone whose shield you couldn't one-shot, eh? Well, let me help you out, then. There are three basic shield types: planar, spherical. and point of impact. You can probably guess their weaknesses based on the descriptions alone. But there's also another part to it. How does the shield deal with the attacks? Does it block, reflect, or absorb?"

I smirked, and held up a hand. "I'll give you a hint…" The giant hexagon began to spin in place, whirring faster and faster until it resembled a circle more than anything. "…It's not the first two." I finished, snapping my fingers.

The circle split, shrinking as energy began siphoning into seven identical spheres. The wave of Destruction the shield had been holding back immediately crashed through, the spheres of energy doing nothing to stop it. I sighed, moving out of the way and allowing the wave to crash directly into the magic circle I had been weaving while I talked. "Please, please tell me you have something original." I deadpanned. "Because this is getting old, fast."

A voice from behind me chuckled. "I do, actually."

I turned to see an entire lake's worth of water, held aloft by Zekram's magic. I sighed, shaking my head. "Original, not a Sitri rip-off. At least when they do that, it actually looks cool."

He grinned, and the water began to glow a dangerous red. "Let's just say… I'm finally taking you seriously." The entire orb of water began splitting apart, tendrils of liquid Destruction extending towards me. "You should feel honored, you're the first person in centuries to see this technique."

I rolled my eyes. "All right, points for originality. I'm betting that even a drop of that stuff could melt my skin off my bones, right? I guess that makes sense. 'Annihilate the Fallen'. Meaning, a rain of death on those unlucky enough to dismiss a simple rainfall, yes?"

He simply nodded, gesturing with a hand. I chuckled, weaving strands into a magic circle and summoning my shield once more. "You aren't very good at this!" I called mockingly.

The water flowed around the shield on all six sides, forming a truly colossal number of spikes that simultaneously impaled me from all sides. I sighed. "Again, really? There's no point in hitting me, I won't die when I'm killed."

Zekram's laugh could be heard from the other side of the shield. "There is no such thing as true immortality, my boy. Even now, I can tell that your body is merely misplaced, remotely controlling that form with magic. All I have to do is continue whittling away at your mana pool until it runs out."

I burst into mad laughter once more, stepping forward, ignoring the spikes impaling me. Avatar is made out of shaped mana, all I had to do to free myself is shift my form. "You know," I shouted, amusement tinging my voice. "in any other circumstance, you'd be right. Hell, ten years ago, that kind of strategy would be my worst nightmare. But you've made one fatal assumption, one that will be your downfall. Care to guess?"

I didn't dissolve my shield, knowing that it would continue absorbing power as long as the waters of Destruction continued to touch it. I waited until it had absorbed as much as it could hold, and then allowed the threads to slip. The giant hexagon began to spin in place, whirring faster and faster. The water was flung off its' surface, and it split into seven orbs that vanished like their predecessors had. I took advantage of the momentary reprieve to rush the old Devil, a pair of familiar daggers making their way into my hands. As soon as I got close enough, I brought the dagger in an arc towards his exposed chest. A spear of water impaled me, but I ignored it.

Zekram caught the knife between two fingers, studying my face. "I can't seem to pin you down. You began as an illusionist, but then you shifted to a mage, and now you're a close-quarters fighter?" My other blade sliced a thin line across his forehead as he leaned back to avoid it. "And that's not even counting your personality. You started out as a cocky brat, but once I got my temper under control, you turned into a chess grandmaster. Now you're bull-rushing me like some green newbie."

I shrugged. "Just keepin' it real, man."

And then I released my Wrath. The threads of Nightmare dissolved as I ceased sustaining them, and I instead began hammering constant attacks down on Zekram. He tried his best to keep up, but once it became apparent that his main method of attack wouldn't stop me, he quickly started backpedaling.

'To be fair,' I mused, ignoring the spike of pure Destruction slicing through me, 'anyone else would've died hundreds of times, by now. I mean, hell, he could practically tear through Gil or Shirone like wet paper. Asia would utterly annihilate him, yes, and Ruby could sneeze at him and he would die, but that's still half of my Bondmates killed in less than an instant. I should really find some other moves and strategies for Gil and Shirone to learn.'

"You seem rather willing to risk your own life!" Zekram called, grunting as he caught a blow on his arm. "Once your magic runs out, you will die! And with as much mana as you're expending per second, all I have to do is stall!"

I laughed, charging one of my daggers with lightning and jabbing it past his defenses. It sank into his bicep, discharging into my opponent's nervous system. "Like I said, Poké-man. You've already made one fatal assumption." His muscles tightened and his control over the water slipped as the lightning wreaked havoc with his muscular control. "I hinted at it at the beginning of the fight, you just missed it. You have about a minute to figure it out before you lose. Get thinking!"

I pulled away, concentrating. Lightning arced off my blades, and I smirked. "But, ah, out of curiosity, have you ever heard of the Tsubame Gaeshi?"

He coughed, regaining control of his body. "Swallow Return? What's that?"

I tilted my head. "It's a Mystery attained only with human techniques that rivaled the Noble Phantasms of Servants. It's a technique that "challenges god" with mere human skill, making it impossible to block. He did this by doing nothing but spending his life swinging his longsword, following a single worthless idea on how to kill a flying swallow. I don't claim to have replicated it, not by any means." My smirk widened. "But I do have something similar."

I held my twin knives at my sides, my stance loose. "There is a blade of infinity that leads to multiplicity. A way to acknowledge "multiple possibilities". A single act that is originally finite; a single slash that can only be performed at one time, in one space. It is, so to speak, an "infinite" sword that gives birth to several "correct answers". To make one's own existence transparent to the extremes, till there is nothing more. And yet to grasp for "something" beyond that. That is Kojiro's "Tsubame Gaeshi". A sword that creates a "future" that not even the gods can escape from."

I shifted, holding both blades behind me and stepping forth. "Now. Dodge." My blades flashed, blurring into motion. "Ryūjin Ori."

My sight split, and I saw seven even strikes caging him in on all sides. My blades moved, and Zekram managed to block a single strike. The other six strikes promptly cut across his ribcage, into both shoulders, through his upper thighs, and carved a shallow slice into his neck. He stumbled back, blood flowing from his wounds, and put a hand to his neck. "W-wha?" He managed, flying backwards to create some distance between us. "How!?"

I groaned. "It's like I didn't just explain that! The one time I break character and embrace the anime tradition of explaining my attacks before I do them, and you don't even listen! I don't even know why I bother, sometimes…" I grumbled, shaking the blood off the knives and cutting the power to the lightning. "I was kind of hoping that you'd find some way to dodge, just so the battle would last longer. Ah, well."

He grimaced, pulling his power around him like a cloak. A moment later, his wounds disappeared in a hiss of steam. I sighed, shaking my head and covering my blades once more. "And after I went through all of the trouble of making the move non-lethal. Do you have any idea how hard it is to make a lethal attack non-lethal at the last possible second, after you've been practicing the lethal version your entire life? Honestly, no respect…"

He chuckled drily. "While I can certainly appreciate the sheer skill with which you fight, you are obviously running low on mana. You've been wasteful this entire battle, not even revealing your wings and instead flying using magic, easily doubling the cost. I wonder what will happen when you run out?" He smiled. "I survived that, but you won't survive my attack. Why don't you surrender? There is no shame in losing to a superior foe, and you have more than proven your worth. I retract my statement about your uselessness."

I shook my head. "That's good for today, but I'm not going to stop until you learn never to judge a person on their willingness to follow your plans. And you're right." I grinned. "There isn't any shame in losing to a superior. So why don't you surrender?"

He looked amused. "Millicas, my boy, you're running on the barest dregs of energy. How could you possibly win?"

I laughed, cancelling the lightning spell covering my blades and tucking them back into my bag. I dropped my Avatar and stretched my arms above my head. "You're right." I agreed, yawning. "I am running out of mana. But I know something that you don't."

He blinked. "And what might that be?"

I smiled at him. "Easy. I'm not Millicas."

And then I dispersed myself.

The world shattered, the post-apocalyptic scene giving way to green grass and blue skies. I burst into laughter at Zekram's shocked expression, as he abruptly noticed the millions of threads surrounding him on all sides. On the ground below him, a sealing configuration locked him in place, and above, a gigantic magic circle with fourteen orbs of Destruction in the center hummed to life. Each orb separated from the main body, extending downwards in a straight line and bringing successively smaller circles with them. Fourteen orbs, fourteen circles all pointed directly at Zekram's head.

I wiped a tear of mirth from my eye, relaxing in my recliner as I watched Zekram from afar. I took a sip from a can of soda, before collapsing the footrest and stretching. I cleared my throat. "Attention, asshole." I called, resting my cheek on my fist as I leaned on the arm of the chair. "You probably know your own power well enough to tell that if I fire that thing, your ashes won't exist. You just fought a clone with a tenth of my skill level and mana, and in the time it took you to get your ass kicked by my clone, I recovered my entire mana pool."

I gave him an appraising glance, ))Structural Analysis(( telling me everything I needed to know. "You, on the other hand, are sitting at about a quarter tank. Even if you were to escape the seal, the blast, and the forty-odd million threads holding you in place, I could instantly incinerate you in dozens of different ways. Surrender or get your face melted."

He blinked. Twice. "So you're telling me… that this entire time…"

"You were fighting a clone." I agreed, yawning in boredom. "I mean, honestly, dude. I warned you, the clone warned you, the audience warned you… the only reason I could set this whole thing up was that you were so focused on your opponent that you completely missed me."

His muscles tensed slightly, and the threads around him tightened to the point of drawing blood. I tutted. "Careful, Nightmares can be a bit terrifying if you fight back. Surrender, or I'll start taking limbs."

He sighed, relaxing. "Very well." He admitted tiredly. "But only because continuing would escalate things beyond a friendly match."

I glanced up at the doomsday device pointed at his head. "No shit, Sherlock." I deadpanned. "Was it the wires of pure Destruction holding every part of your body in place, or the orbital death beam? Or, wait, was it the fact that you still don't know what I can do?"

He shook his head, a thread burning lines into his cheeks. "No, it's because to release my Power of Destruction now would obliterate everything here, regardless of my own wishes. It is the pinnacle of our Clan's power, Human-Shaped Aura of Destruction. I do believe that the last time your father used it, it was enough to cause an earthquake felt in the entire Realm of Dead."

I snorted, crossing my legs. "And who says that I can't do the same?"

His eyes flashed, as if he had just spotted a weakness. "That particular ability is only available to Devils with at least five pairs of wings." He told me, a smile tugging at his lips.

I laughed. "Are you sure about that?" I teased, rising to my feet and dismissing my active spells. Nightmare dissolved, the sealing spell shattered, and the doomsday cannon fizzled out of existence. Zekram flexed his wings, gently gliding to the ground in front of me.

I smiled, holding out a hand. "Let's call it a draw, then. We can't truly tell who the better of us is unless we resort to utterly destroying this dimension, and I still owe my girls a dance. You apologize for calling my father a liar, and I'll apologize for calling you old."

He chuckled, accepting the proffered hand. "Very well." He agreed mildly. "I apologize for calling your father a liar. It was in poor taste, especially at a wedding."

I nodded. "And I'm sorry for calling you old. I was out of line, and I shouldn't have challenged you over a personal vendetta."

We shook hands. But before he let go, however, I leaned in and whispered in his ear. "But I swear to our Lord Jesus Christ and the God Almighty that if you ever try and harm my family again, I will find your goddamn Fatal Verse, you snake bastard. And then, I will make it known in every corner of the Underworld, where all your enemies will know exactly how to kill you. Are we understood, Poké-man?"

I pulled away to see his ears bleeding and his jaw clenched in agony. I smiled politely. "It sure was nice fighting you, sir!" I said cheerfully, letting go of his hand.

He nodded absently, stumbling away. Ajuka's voice sounded across the field. "The unofficial match between Millicas Gremory and Zekram Bael has concluded. Result: draw."

Teleportation circles formed beneath us, and we were soon back inside the reception's ballroom. I glanced over, abruptly noticing how torn and ripped his clothes were. They had holes from Nightmare, cuts from my knives, and several bloody tears from my Ryūjin Ori. I sighed, pulling an empty gem out of my pocket and imbuing it with the unnamed clothes-fixing spell. "Here." I called, tossing it to him. "Why don't you go freshen up? Just push a bit of mana into the—"

"Gyaaah!" A voice squealed, and I was promptly tackled head-on by an excited Maou. "You did it! You won! That was amazing, Millicas-sama!" She cheered, humming happily and wrapping her arms around my neck. "Now, I just want to take you home, and—"

"Sera, we're in public." I reminded her evenly.

She giggled, pulling herself close to my face. Her feet left the floor as she pressed her forehead against mine. "No need to be so bashful, Millicas-sama~" She teased, leaning in.

I chuckled, kissing her softly, before tapping her shoulder. She got the message, letting go and dropping to the floor. She instead clung to my right arm, still humming happily. I felt a weight on my back, and a pair of thin arms wearing white ball gloves wrapped around my neck. I ignored her, glancing around. Zekram was nowhere to be seen. Ajuka approached, noticing the smug-looking cat on my back and laughing softly to himself. "You seem to be enjoying yourself."

I shrugged. "Well, what can I say? What guy wouldn't want a beautiful pair of women to greet him after he returns from battle?"

He nodded, a smile flickering across his face. "Indeed." He agreed, his wife catching up to him. "And what an excellent battle it was. Though I must ask—how many times could you have killed him?"

I blinked. "Well, there was that one punch at the beginning I held back on, then there was that moment when I put the entire battlefield under an illusion, and then there were the illusion clones…"

He held up a hand, raising an eyebrow. "Illusion clones? How would those be dangerous?"

I smirked. "Hide myself as one of the illusions, then when he lets his guard down, I'd gore him. Anyway, there was that time when I had a bunch of wires going through his entire body, then there was like, six separate times I held back with my Ryūjin Ori. Two major arteries in his legs, his ribcage, his neck, and both shoulders. If all seven strikes had landed, he would have an 'X' through his chest, no head, no legs, and no arms."

Ajuka winced. "Including the many ways you could've killed him after you dropped the illusion, that's, what, twelve different methods?"

"Thirteen." I replied absently, feeling my other arm being taken. "I had a backup plan of an explosive seal under his shirt. I put it there in case things got too intense."

I glanced down at the new arrival, and to my surprise, I saw Gil with her fingers laced through mine and a happy smile on her face. Ruby merely leaned against me, her face buried in my chest and her fingers tangled in my shirt. I looked back at Ajuka, sighing. "Sorry, but I should probably pay my girls some attention before I find myself overwhelmed. And, ah, my deepest apologies for dragging you into this."

He chuckled, nodding once. "Don't worry about it, I would've done the same in your shoes. Besides, it was a truly splendid fight, and excellent entertainment for the guests. Now, why don't you go have fun?"

I agreed without a second thought, heading over to where music was being played and various couples danced in a space cleared of tables. I glanced down at the girls who held my heart, and abruptly reached a quandary. An inescapable path down a dangerous road, with pitfalls at every turn. No matter what I chose, disaster would befall me.

I closed my eyes and asked myself the perilous question.

'Who am I dancing with first?'

I opened a Gate, and we all filed into my bedroom. We danced for an hour or so, then socialized until dinner. You would think that we would've been mobbed by people once they realized exactly what happened, but they all seemed to find the walls or ceiling more interesting. I suppose no one likes being wrong about someone, much less admitting it to their face.

Asia glanced up from the chair by the desk, made eye contact with me, and immediately turned a brilliant red. I sighed. 'Damn it, Lucifer, what did you talk to her about?'

I suddenly felt myself being tackled, and I found myself on the bed staring up at Sera. She giggled, leaning in and giving me a scorching kiss. Her breasts pressed into my chest, and her half-lidded gaze bored into mine. "Millicas-sama~" She cooed, tracing my collarbone with her forefinger. "Do you know what the biggest turn-on for any female in the supernatural world is?" She smiled. "Power." She tapped my nose. "Especially when a man fights another powerful being for their sake." She leaned forward once more, kissing me and sliding her tongue inside my mouth. I returned the kiss, waiting for the inevitable—

"S-Sera!" Gil squeaked, and suddenly the kiss ended as my little tsundere butted in. "T-that's not appropriate!"

—that.

Sera giggled, sitting up and pulling Gil into a kiss as well. The little blonde flushed a brilliant red, trying to pull away. A moment later, her struggles ceased, and I was treated to the sight of two of my girls exploring each other's mouths with their tongues. Asia squeaked, hiding her face, and Ruby whistled appreciatively. Shirone merely claimed my now-empty lap.

Sera finally pulled away, a string of saliva connecting their mouths as they panted for air. I smirked, absently stroking Shirone's ears. "As much as I love watching this, we do actually have something to do tonight."

Sera's eyes widened, and she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "R-right! U-um…" She hesitated, then sighed. "I-I should probably tell you guys what I've been hiding before we do… the thing."

Gil's eyes refocused. "Wha-a?" She squeaked, her face burning a brilliant red.

Ruby sighed, guiding Gil onto the bed and sitting next to her. "Sera, you sit on my lap. If this is going to be as stressful for you as you think it will be, you should have some comfort while you're saying it."

Sera nodded, flushing slightly, and did so. She blinked, leaning back against Ruby's… assets. "You're squishier than Millicas is."

I snorted. "What, would you prefer it if I swapped my gender again?"

"…Again?"

"Long story. I would tell it, but you're telling yours right now."

She nodded, taking a deep breath, shifting in place. "A-all right." She murmured, taking another deep breath. "So… during the war, before I became an Ultimate-Class… I was a teenager, just joining the fight because she had no other choice. I realized that I wasn't suited for large-scale combat. But if there was one thing I was good at, it was finding the enemy's weak points. So one day, I discovered that a Fallen commander was planning an assault that would completely wipe Lilith off the map. I panicked, not knowing what to do, and…" She paused. "I killed him. The commander, I mean. It was easy, he was so confident in his victory that he didn't even post guards around his room. So I slipped in and slit his throat."

She paused once more, as if awaiting a reaction. When none came, she cleared her throat and continued. "A-anyway. Once I realized how easy it was to avert casualties, I started planning more. I never chose a name for myself, never stopped to consider what I was doing. And soon, I had become famous as the Devil of the Rime. They didn't know my name, my face, or even my gender, but they knew I fought for the Devils. After that, the higher-ups started publicly posting names of those who they needed killed, and I…"

She trailed off. I blinked. "Hassan. You were the first to hold the title of Hassan-i-Sabbah, weren't you? The time frames match up, and it all makes sense."

She nodded. "Y-yeah… um, I helped your father take down the Old Maou Faction once they reared their ugly heads, and since they couldn't let me slink off into some corner while I was still useful, they decided to offer me the seat of Leviathan. I made some appearances as Serafall, used my now-larger magic pool to freeze an entire army, and presto!" She made a gesture with her hands. "Instant fame."

I nodded slowly. "All right, so what's the catch?"

She looked confused. "Catch? I'm an assassin, Millicas. I've killed more people than most natural disasters."

I raised an eyebrow. "So? All I'm hearing is that you have battle experience and a history of badassery."

She clenched her fists. "This isn't a joke, Millicas. I've killed people."

"I'm not joking." I replied calmly. "I've killed people too. So has everyone else here. Gil used to be a tyrant king, Shirone hunts people like prey and brings me their heads, Asia… Asias, and Ruby used to be the Red Dragon of Domination."

Gil blinked, turning to me. "I used to be a what?!"

Asia frowned. "Did you just turn my name into a verb?"

I shrugged. "Gil, you've admitted to killing people for bringing you the wrong wine. Asia, how else am I supposed to describe what you do to people? I doubt there's a word in the dictionary to describe deliberately Breaking someone's vital organs or personality."

Gil opened her mouth, raising a finger… then closed it, returning her hand to her lap. "That's fair."

Asia nodded, flushing. "A-and I think it's called surgery, Cas."

"Surgery does not adequately describe what you did." I deadpanned. "It's far too peaceful of a word. Vivisection, perhaps?"

Sera interrupted, eyes glimmering with unshed tears. "Why are you guys acting so casual about this!" She exclaimed. "Why aren't you getting mad at me, or throwing me out because you can't trust me?"

I was about to answer, but Ruby beat me to it. She leaned forward and bit lightly down on Sera's neck. She pulled away, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Nope. Doesn't taste like an assassin. It tastes like Sera." She reached up and squeezed Sera's voluptuous breasts, making her squeak in embarrassment. "Feels like Sera, too. Even reacts like Sera does." She let go of the poor girl's chest, wrapping her arms around her midsection instead. "I conclude that this is still Sera."

I nodded in amusement. "While I wouldn't put it quite that… egregiously, I agree with the sentiment. You haven't changed in the last five minutes, Sera. You're still the beautiful person you've always been." I smirked. "That aside, I'll have to grill you on your abilities later. I actually had a statsheet drawn up when I thought I might be facing King Hassan, and I'm curious to see how well it matches up with your actual skills."

Sera smiled back, and the tears finally began rolling down her face. She wiped them away, smile not fading for an instant. "I love you all." She said, glimmering blue eyes turning to look at each one of us. "More than you can possibly imagine."

I chuckled. "Well, if you'll think back, there's something else we were going to do tonight."

She stiffened, remembering her promise. She stood and walked over to where I sat, shifting from foot to foot. "R-right… U-um, am I supposed to take any special potion, or…"

I laughed, nudging Shirone off my lap. She pouted, but stood and relocated to Asia's lap, instead. Standing, I snagged her hand and wrapped both of mine around it. "I'm going to give you a portion of my power, now." I told her simply. "It can be anything you can think of, even Light."

She blinked. "Light?"

I tilted my head in Asia's direction. "I Claimed her while she was still human, giving her enough Light to ascend."

"Right." She was visibly nervous, and I could tell she was thinking hard about her options. "U-um… I heard that Dragons have different cores than Devils do… is that…? …Never mind."

I sighed. "Yes, Sera, it's true. Dragon Cores generate more mana in a second than a Devil does in an hour by breathing."

She perked up. "All right, I'll have that, then!"

I paused, running a few calculations. "Um… to entirely shift your core, the amount of energy I would use—"

"Don't care." She interrupted, smiling.

"…Sera, you wouldn't be entirely a Devil, anymore. If you want Draconic energy, do what Asia did and stick to small doses. That way, you can avoid—"

"I. Don't. Care." She repeated, punctuating each word with a tap on my chest. "As of this moment, I'm no longer Serafall Leviathan, the Maou. I'm Sera, your lover. Being half-Dragon won't disqualify me for either title, and if anything, there's only benefits involved."

I hesitated, then sighed. "If you're that sure about it…"

"I am." She asserted.

"…then, fine." I gathered my power, leaned forward, and kissed her.

The power flowed out of me, rushing into her with the force of a roaring waterfall. She gasped, her eyes dilating, and a low moan tore from her throat. As the last dregs of the power entered her, her muscles clenched, and her eyes clouded over. She shuddered once, and her eyes refocused. "A-again." She whispered, limbs trembling.

Ruby blinked. "Did you just come?"

Sera nodded absently. "Power. Aphrodisiac. Too much."

Aaand reality ensues. Fuck you, Law of Ecchi.

I could feel the eyes of the rest of my girls burning into me as I cursed fate. "Not right now, and definitely not until we're ready to experiment." I said bluntly, getting tired of their stares.

"Now," I addressed Sera tenderly, resting my forehead on hers'. "Are you ready?"

She nodded, a smile crossing her face. "More than anything."

I leaned forward, and planted a soft kiss on her lips.