Volume 7 – Chapter 2 – Part 2 – Of Dragon’s and Oni’s

Aaron Toole's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

Three days have passed since my date with Raynare and Penemue, as well as the announcement of [Team Golden Rakshasa] vs [Team Lightning]. Both teams and the players in them have gone into different dimensions to train. They asked me to make one for each of them and I did.

In three days, their match will begin, but for now…other matches were taking place too. I was also contacted by Hirokazu Miller, my fan from America and the one who asked to be my subordinate that his team was doing well in the tournament.

He—Hirokazu was the [King] of his team while Caeda (Rank 8 Eradicator) was the [Queen]. His cousin, Daiki Kimura, as far as I could see was their [Pawn], another person was also their [Pawn], and the rest of their team were their comrades. Whatever training Caeda put them through, it made them stronger. The [Hyper Regenerative Chambers] that I installed in the alliance's realms also helped them get stronger.

Apart from that, [Team Rias Gremory], [Team Sona Sitri], [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor], [Team Slash Dog], [Team Imperial Purpure], [Team Trump Card of Heaven], [Team White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star], [Team Golden Rakshasa] and various others were doing well in the tournament. Not a single one of them has lost a match yet.

There were also other teams from Team [DxD] that were participating and they were doing well for themselves too…not to mention the other teams that were favored to do well.

[Team Vajra] led by Indra, [Team Leisure of the Kings] led by Typhon, King of Monsters and it also had several gods in it. [Team Black] led by Surtr, [Team Phoenix] led by Ruval Phenex, [Team Asura] led by Mahabali, [Team Shooting Star] led by Shooting Star, [Team Black Satan of Darkness Dragon King] led by Zeno (Grim Reaper), it also had the Artificial Super Devils…but for now, only Grim Reapers were present in the team.

[Team Journey to the West] led by First-Generation Sun Wukong, [Team Lightning] led by Baraqiel, [Team Seekvaira Agares], [Team Riser Phenex], [Team Zatouji] and various others like [Team Shinto] led by Hachiman and Raijin were also in it.

Right now…I was in college, well outside since it was my break, and my two friends joined me, Higuro and Kikijo.

"How's the tournament coming along, Jin?" asked Kikijo as he sipped on his drink. "I heard it was pretty intense, right? You're the one who fulfills the wish at the end, right?

"Yeah…It's going well so far. Thankfully no attacks at any of the venues and an upcoming match is highly regarded since one of my subordinates is leading the team. The other is my father-in-law," I replied.

"Father-in-law…oh you mean the Fallen Angel Baraqiel? Who would have thought Akeno-san's dad was a famous fallen angel in history? It's kind of terrifying, you know?" said Higuro. "I still can't believe you proposed to so many women too…and they accepted!"

"Just give up man, we can't match Harem God King Emperor Skyward here," Kikijo said in defeat. "Oh, right, we saw your exhibition match thanks to Abe-san, and holy shit man, you summoned a meteor?!"

"Before that, you did a combination technique with your foreign girlfriend! I wanna try something like that…shit, can we learn magic?" asked Higuro.

I looked at them seriously and said, "If you choose to…you're further endangering your lives since you're fully stepping into the supernatural. You guys only know about it, and now you're watching the tournament games. If you go any further, you'll be forced to abandon your normal lives…can you do that?"

"You'll also endanger your family's lives if you do. Whatever evil person or group that you may come into contact with, they might hold a grudge and target them to get at you…so I'll ask again, do you want to dive into magic and the supernatural?"

Both of their excitement vanished and they looked troubled by what they heard.

"Man…way to sour the mood. But yeah…I get what you mean. I've asked Shitori-san about it and she basically said the same thing as you. 'Are you ready to have your life changed drastically?' were her final words to me, I didn't think being in it was so heavy, sheesh," said Kikijo.

"Isn't she 'Sitri', and not 'Shitori'? But yeah, Saji said the same thing to me when I asked him. I don't think I want to get too deep into this supernatural stuff, but…if you decide to let the rest of humanity know about it, then we'll have no choice after that…" said Higuro.

Involving humanity…in more ways than one. I have my plans for that—but I'm going to consult the rest of the leaders on this decision. It won't be an easy one. There will definitely be protests and rallies about the supernatural, when and if we decide to reveal its existence. But first I need to grow my business and from there…

"Kikijo."

"Higuro."

We heard my friends' names being called, so we turned to our right and saw both of their girlfriends, Yua and Sakura. Since we're in college we got to wear our own clothes, and they were wearing cute and dresses and my two friends immediately jumped up.

"Hey, Jin," they both greeted me.

"Yo. Here to pick these two up?" I asked. They both giggled and said yes.

"Sorry man, gotta go!" said Kikijo.

"Yeah, talk to ya later, Jin!" Higuro patted my back as both of them left with their girlfriends. I sat there by myself and finished my muffin before getting up.

'I'll just—' As I was about to create an avatar and go to my shop, someone grabbed my arm and I looked at them to find Ingvild. "You're free today?" I asked.

"Mmm. I'm free for the next few days…who would have thought being famous can get busy?" she asked and laughed to herself. Since graduating, Ingvild's popularity as an artist (singer) has bloomed further as she released two new albums.

They quickly became widely known in the supernatural and the human world. She's known in both as 'Ingvild Kyrie', however, the few in the supernatural, especially in the Underworld as a descendant of Leviathan and the older devils are trying to recruit her into their faction, the same with Vali.

Even though I have no business in their political world, like hell I'd like them take advantage of my little brother and lover. I'll wipe them out before they can do that shit…though it seems Runeas has my back, and is slowly convincing or at least staving off Zekram and his other followers.

"Maybe I shouldn't have done this? You're being glared at a lot," she said while looking around us.

"It's fine. It's been like this since I entered the college division, my harem-having status exceeds me and they've hated me since day one," I replied and laughed before pulling her away. As we left the campus (I decided to make an avatar and made him attend my lectures), we decided to go home.

"[Team Golden Rakshasa] or [Team Lightning], out of the two, who's winning?" she suddenly asked.

"Are you asking me because I know the outcome, or out of curiosity?" I asked her back.

"…Ah, you do know, so it's kind of pointless…if we're looking at the facts—and both of us know who the players are for both teams, then…Aurelia-san will definitely win, right?"

"On paper she has the stronger team, but don't forget…Kishku, Ezeri and Raynare are on [Team Lightning]. While on [Team Golden Rakshasa] they have Aurelia, Akaza and Edel. Two [Outer God – EX] vs Three [Outer God – EX], and the others who are Omniversal to Multiversal," I replied.

"…I feel bad Ryuuta-san and Bova-san…and the other fallen angels that are on Baraqiel's team…" said Ingvild while looking a bit gloomy.

Yeah. It's a matter of survival for the rest of them, unless the rest decide not to outright bomb the entire map and it also depends on the type of Rating Game they'll have. So in those circumstances, they'll last more than ten seconds…

As we talked about the tournament, we reached our home. Once we stepped inside, we saw Raynare, in tight sports gear, a towel around her neck and sweating.

"Oh…Ingvild and Aaron, welcome back…are you both using an avatar to attend lectures?" she asked.

After that day, Raynare relaxed significantly. She still has that 'S-side' (Sadistic side) of her when appropriate, but generally she's just 'normal' now, though she still has a sharp tongue and is a bit of a tsundere still.

"I have my avatar, Ingvild can just skip most of the time because of her super-popular status," I replied then looked at Ingvild. "How envious~"

"If anyone wants to be envious, it's us with your powers. I wish I could come up with a song with a click of my fingers," she said and I clicked my fingers and she stared at me blankly. She grabbed my cheek and asked, "Why didn't you do that sooner?!"

"Behaus yew dedn;'t ashk? (Because you didn't ask?)" I replied. She stopped squeezing my cheeks and I turned back to Raynare. "How was training with dad?"

"…It's fine. We're all being trained by Kishku and Ezeri, and it's quite painful, so many bruises after every session. However, thanks to the slime pills and healing area we don't need to rest for too long," she explained.

"I'm slowly turning all of you into masochist…" I muttered. 'Dad is into that though, so I don't know how to feel about it—I know both Kishku and Ezeri are a bit uncomfortable…'

"Oh right, you're fighting Yoru and Haru tonight, right? They want another test battle so they can go on other missions. Medusa said she'd have hers the next night," asked Raynare.

"Yeah, that's the plan. Anyway, good luck with your training, Raynare." She nodded before leaving to take a shower. I think she swayed her hips a bit mor—

"Ever since she became your fiancé, she's become even more active in seducing you. Haah, I don't remember being like that," said Ingvild.

"Not everyone has to be super horny, Ingvild. Anyway, let's go to your room and work on that piece I gave you," I told her and we left for her room.

— ○ ● ○ —

Third Person Point of View

— ○ ● ○ —

At the base of the Khaos Order, at the 'end' of the multiverse, stood a man.

He was a tall, slender young man with blue eyes, fair skin and black hair. He wore a black turtleneck along with a white and turquoise-colored coat, with gold and smoke-styled accents along with a piece of jade armor on his left shoulder. Furthermore, he wore gray pants and black high-top shoes with white soles, as well as an oriental-styled jade tassel earring with a lace connected to his other ear.

"Oh? You're here, Daniel."

When the young man named Daniel heard this voice, he turned to look at them. He found…a white-haired man with several other people behind him.

"Oh…Lucifer, you were back from that place?" asked Daniel.

"We were…so, you plan on letting the fallen angel faction attack one of the games in the future?" asked the original Lucifer.

"I do. However, for now they can't since they lack the numbers and power, so I am letting Hades and the Seekers of Truth help them, and when I deem them fit, they can attack," he told them.

Daniel and Lucifer stared at one another before Lucifer nodded and agreed.

"If it's you then I will trust your decision," said Lucifer before turning around and leaving.

Daniel—that was the only name for that young man. He was the one and current leader of the Khaos Order. Who was this young man? Aaron Toole's last and final avatar.

In total, he created three clones that are active at different points in the multiverse. One of them was in the universe of the Phantasma, and that was Laeronia. The other was Kei Ōzora, who was with Yanuyo and a shadow soldier in the universe of the Evie's, and last but not least, Daniel, who he assigned to be the leader of the Khaos Order.

Once Daniel finishes his role in the Khaos Order, he will join Ayelet, Ivonos and Sveiva in the Fadir Ferdora universe and help liberate it too.

Aaron already knew all their plans and have prepared everything in advance for when they try to execute it. Yet he plans on letting these events occur, for he won't always be in the Draconic Deus, nor will he be always the active leader of Team [DxD].

As such, he wants Team [DxD] both present and future to be able to function without him. He knew that they did well without him during the war, so he wants to make them even more independent after he slowly leaves the team for the future generation—especially his children who join it.

Aaron knew that different groups of Team [DxD] would start appearing across the multiverse, as they would join the main group that belonged to the Draconic Deus. His first plan was to create one in the Central World, or in Tensura after he visited there too. He doesn't want to stop there, but he wants to expand all across this omniverse, and he'll create a central hub for that Multiversal [DxD] team to meet up at.

His first plan was for his own home—the one he loved and truly called his own. The Draconic Deus, after that, will be Tensura or the Central World…after that, it will depend on how he feels. But he plans on adding the Etoulde and the remnants of the Phantasma after being liberated, as well as the Fadir Ferdora's universe with the help of Ayelet.

Suddenly, Daniel turned around, drew the sword from his hip and parried an attack that was sent towards him. He was met with a grinning man that was in a child's body.

"What are you doing here, Ayumu Doumon?" asked Daniel as he brought his sword to his side.

Ayumu Doumon, the older brother of Genbu Doumon, the inheritor of the Black Tortoise. Ayumu himself wasn't born with his clan's water manipulation, however, he was instead born with incredible luck. Whatever he did, he would always come out on top of it, whether it was in a fight, or something trivial. He would always win.

"Fufu, don't be like that, Daniel-sama~ even my luck can't beat your amazing existence. Do you know? A lot of our members in the Khaos Order regularly compare you to the miracle-like existence that's called the Middleman," said Ayumu as he put away his sword.

'Of course you do, he's my master and creator…all of you are in the palm of his hands—being guided to a singular path of destruction…and he's enjoying every single second of it,' thought Daniel.

"Still, that sword of yours is powerful. Can I touch it?" he asked and grinned.

"It's bound to me, no matter how far you go with it, or if you try to steal it, I can always summon it to my side," replied Daniel.

The sword he had on his hip was gifted to him by Aaron—a sword called [The Star Crushing Sword – Veldanava] in honor of Star King Dragon Veldanava from the Tensura's universe. As its name suggests, anything below the power of a star can be completely and utterly destroyed by it. If his own powers were mixed into it—then it becomes a sword that can destroy anything—much like his master's existence.

"Tch, how boring…well, it doesn't matter. We're going to be teaming up with Genghis Khan and the Vampire faction to raise hell—you're fine with that, right? The Vampire faction, Genghis Khan and his army and finally the remnants of the Connected Harmony much like myself," said Ayumu.

"Do as you wish," replied Daniel.

Ayumu smiled and whistled. "Thanks~ I knew you were a capable leader, fufu. Anyway, see ya~" before he left the room he turned around and added, "My Artificial Sacred Gear made by Satanael and Promestein is ready, kuku, I just need a bit of practice with it and I'll be unstoppable—maybe I can even beat you~?"

Daniel stared at Ayumu's figure as he left and he disappeared. "That's where you're wrong, Ayumu…everything that I've done here has been to steer all of your final path, to that final location that my master has ready for you…I've also enjoyed my little role as well, I got to do quite a lot of fun things so far…"

He looked back out the window he was staring at—the place he saw were just an amalgamation of colors—the multiverse was a strange place to look at, especially for Daniel.

"It doesn't matter how much you struggle; he's guiding all of you to your demise, not even the two outer gods that will awaken in the future, they won't stand a chance…I'll get on with my own mission, I'll leave a clone here and go to 'that' place," he whispered to himself.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Ora, ora, ora, ora, ora!! Keep on dodging or I'll kill you!" shouted Ezeri.

He was throwing a powerful barrage of punches towards his team, [Team Lightning]. Kishku was also doing the same thing on his end. In total there were nine players for [Team Lightning], the [King] being Baraqiel himself while Kishku was the [Queen].

"Do we really need this training?!" the fallen angel Tamiel shouted back. "I'm a [Bishop] I don't really need to do close quarters combat!"

"I agree! I'm also a [Bishop]! Eze-kun, please take it easy!" Sofiel (Ezeri's Fallen Angel lover) begged. Ezeri hesitated for a moment before shaking his head.

"No! If you can't survive this, you won't survive anything from Aurelia's team! Now keep dodging!" he shouted back. He felt conflicted but also knew what he had said was true. In terms of overall power and combat ability, [Team Golden Rakshasa] had a stronger team.

Kishku and Ezeri understood this very well, and as such they were desperately training everyone else on the team. Raynare, who had come back to the dimension immediately started training with Baraqiel who offered to help her and she accepted.

"Akeno wasn't in our home, but I texted her and she's in a strategy meeting with her own team," said Raynare to Baraqiel.

"I-I see, we were wondering why she hadn't contacted us in a few days. She must have been busy with the tournament…" mumbled Baraqiel.

"Aaron also came back from college. He's letting his avatar attend and he's helping Ingvild with her songs," she added.

Baraqiel sighed and said, "If Shuri finds out about it, she'll scold him…"

"Róisín will calm her down. She dotes on Aaron a lot and will back him up, and Shuri usually loses in those arguments…" Raynare sighed as she saw them disagree with that a few times, but not to the point of a heated argument or shouting.

Róisín Toole's doting overpowered Shuri Himejima's strictness with Aaron. However, both did come up with compromises for certain decisions, much to Aaron's dismay.

Raynare covered her body with lightning and said, "I'll be in your care, Baraqiel-san…"

"Hmm. Let's get back to it then," replied Baraqiel while also covering his body with lightning.

In the corner of the dimension that [Team Lightning] was currently training in was a lone male. His entire body was covered in flame sand on his left hand was a blue ring and right a red ring.

Atsutarou Himejima had joined [Team Lightning] to give back to Grigori and also face off against one of the teams representing Jin Skyward, the Middleman. This was a well-known fact at the tournament and among the ones watching. However, they didn't know that Cao Cao's team was also under his care, so once that was announced in the future, a bigger uproar would occur.

Atsutarou repelled flames utilizing his red ring and the flame's speed increased significantly, he had started doing this instead of throwing it himself as the speed was much faster. He also noticed he could essentially control those released flames using his Artificial Sacred Gear by using his 'repel' and 'attract' on his red and blue rings.

"Young Atsutarou."

Atsutarou turned to the voice and found both of his teams [Rooks], Sahariel and Armaros. Both of them had some equipment with them and grins plastered on their faces.

"Old man Sahariel and Armaros, huh? Do you need something?" he asked.

"As you know, we modified Genshirou Saji's body to be able to handle all of Vritra's Sacred Gears, and we could do the same thing for you if you let us—the fallen angels do a bit of modification," said Sahariel.

Atsutarou trusted the guys, but he was still a little skeptical. "Did the governor sign off on this? Also, what kind of modifications are we talking about?" he asked.

"Fufu, a way to combine your Artificial Sacred Gear and Flame Manipulation of the Himejima clan, how about it? Jin-kun helped awaken your Himejima powers, too did he not?" asked Armaros.

Atsutarou nodded. "Yeah. He said something was 'blocking' the use of my flames and also something was blocking the use of my 'Himejima powers', so he unblocked both and now I can use the flames and I'm generally stronger," explained Atsutarou.

"What if I told you that Azazel and Avezza have been working on something? A method to combine both your 'innate powers' and your Artificial Sacred Gear? Wouldn't it be an amazing power boost?" asked Sahariel.

"Is it safe? From the sounds of things, this feels more like an experiment…" muttered Atsutarou, now becoming wary of the two.

Armaros smirked. "If you want! We can have Jin sign off on it! Or even have him there during the procedure to make sure nothing disastrous happens!"

"Well…if Jin's there then I don't mind—any boost in power so we can win is appreciated," said Atsutarou, agreeing to their plan. He also wanted better control of both his powers since he had lost a bit of control after awakening his clan's powers.

And thus, Atsutarou Himejima left to be experimented on…

— ○ ● ○ —

"What's wrong? If that's all you got, then we'll lose you know?" said Aurelia. She had sent several powerful slashes towards Rossweisse who countered with a bombardment of magic attacks.

"I can keep going!" shouted Rossweisse. She covered her body in touki and enhancement magic then flew towards Aurelia.

In a separate dimension where [Team Golden Rakshasa] were training, two individuals were locked in an intense sparring match.

Aurelia dismissed her greatsword and engaged in a mid-air fist fight with Rossweisse. The Valkyrie sent a punch towards her [Kings] face, but Aurelia easily parried it with her left hand and followed it up by sending her own punch at Rossweisse—the speed of her punch was faster and Rossweisse was forced to block it with a defensive magic circle.

Aurelia's attack was still much more powerful than the magic circle that Rossweisse created—the attack shattered it, and her fist slammed into the Valkyrie's face, sending her hurtling to the ground.

Rossweisse quickly recovered and flew back at Aurelia while firing several magic attacks at her. Aurelia covered her right hand with her own energy and slapped away the attacks Rossweisse sent at her. The two of them engaged in another heated fistfight.

"Rossweisse-sama and Aurelia-sama are quite intense in their bout today, aren't they?" asked Ravel.

"As the [Queen] of the team and with a specific wish in mind, Rossweisse wants her team to win this tournament. She can't afford to take it easy," Edel said as she arrived beside Ravel. "Fufu, well done, that seems to be working for you, Ravel-chan~"

"Ah, yes! Thank you very much!" replied Ravel. "…But what do you mean by a specific wish?"

"Everyone here is aware of the 'Fated Ones', the thing that connects Lavinia-sama, Danu-sama, Suzaku-sama and Velgrynd-sama to Aaron-sama. She has expressed her desire to be 'one' of them many times over while everyone stayed in Aaron-sama's [Pocket Dimension]," said Akaza as he arrived beside them.

'Rossweisse-sama hasn't given up on that? …Perhaps because Aaron-sama has already evolved, it may be possible to increase the people in it…?' hypothesized Ravel.

"She's the only one who also attained [Ultra Instinct Sign] to become closer to Aaron-sama. That woman's dedication is strong, perhaps her love too, although she's not engaged to him yet," added Akaza.

"I heard that!!" bellowed out Rossweisse, surprising Akaza.

"Fufu, you better stay silent or else Rose-chan-sama hears you~" teased Edel. Akaza's mouth twisted awkwardly and he turned away and left without saying another word.

In another part of the dimension, a certain Nekomata was teasing two dragon twins.

"What's wrong nya~? Can't catch me? If you can't even catch me, you won't have a chance in touching Aaron, nya~" said Kuroka.

Yoru and Haru, the two twin dragons that belonged to the Shinto realm, and the adoptive daughters of the Dragon Ryūjin were having their own match against Kuroka Toujou. Both used their speed to the maximum to try to just touch the Nekomata but they had no luck. She was too agile and quick for them.

"Haru…" muttered Yoru.

"Hehe, let's do that then!" replied Haru. Both dragons disappeared and reappeared a distance away from Kuroka.

"Nya?" Kuroka tilted her head confused by their actions.

Haru, who was on the left brought her right arm back, and Yoru on the right, brought her left arm back behind themselves. An explosive amount of magic made the dimension tremble and everyone who was there turned to look at both dragon sisters.

A small ball began to form behind and between them. A mix of crimson red and deep blue. It quickly began to increased in size as both Yoru and Haru began to mix their draconic auras with each other.

"Nya? Nya? Nya? Oh, I should defend against this!" Kuroka shouted and created a defensive magic circle in front of her. "Is this your finishing move against Aaron nya?!" she asked them.

The two sisters didn't answer as they kept on increasing the ball between them until it was the size of the dimension's ceiling.

"What's its name nya?!" Kuroka asked again. However, the two sisters thrust their arms toward in harmony and a powerful and enormous blast of draconic energy blasted towards Kuroka.

The Nekomata grinned and increased her barrier's power and the attack slammed into it. Kuroka held her ground as the attack didn't make her budge. However, she could feel that both sisters were using all their powers to try to break her circle. However, in the end it didn't break and they ran out of energy and fell to the ground unconscious.

"Nyaa~ they should have just said that it was," she muttered to herself before appearing in front of them. "Problematic children must rest!"

In the distance, Ouryuu (Ryuuta) Nakiri and Bova Tannin watched the short match between Kuroka and the two twin dragon sisters.

"I think we're in the same generation, Bova Tannin. Those two…are improving at an astonishing rate," said Ouryuu.

Bova nodded in agreement. "Hmm. If we don't improve at their rate…no, an even faster rate, we'll be left behind."

They glanced at one another before going off on their own to train.

'I must train harder…he has accepted me as his subordinate…if I can't get stronger, I can't become his 'fang'…' thought Bova.

'I don't want to lose to anyone here…everyone is incredible. I don't want to disappoint Jin-san, or my current [King], Aurelia-san. I need to become stronger, in order to become his 'fist'…' thought Ryuuta.

Neither of them wanted to lose to each other, or their own generation.

— ○ ● ○ —

[It's yet another win for [Team Shinto] led by the God of War himself, Hachiman! It was another fierce and exciting match wasn't it, Tannin-sama?] asked the commentator.

[Yes it was. [Team Shinto] against a strong team [Team Sacred Jewels] a group of youkai and hybrids with Sacred Gears…this era, Sacred Gears are becoming more common and more and more anomalies are being found—it's surely been influence by that man,] said Tannin.

[Gods and powerful beings alike should become even more wary against such teams in the future. They may even take the first tournament by storm,] he added.

The match between [Team Shinto] and [Team Sacred Jewels] had concluded just five minutes ago. Everyone at Aaron's home had come to the living room to watch it after dinner. The type chosen was called [Lightning Fast].

A short variant of the standard Rating Game. In the rules of the Rating Game, it is the rules utilizing the shortest time limit and narrowest playing field. In simpler terms, it is a quick match (a blitz). Within the one-hour time limit, whoever defeats their opponent's [King] wins. In the case that neither player can defeat the enemy king, a winning team is decided by the number of points calculated by the number of pieces each side has claimed from the other.

In the end, [Team Shinto] won, with Hachiman as [King], Raijin as [Queen], and the other pieces were…the [Yamaūjin] of the Shinto Pantheon, minus their leader Minamoto no Raiko…as she was part of a different team already.

The battle came down to the [King], [Queen] of [Team Sacred Jewels] against most of [Team Shinto] with an exception to two lost [Pawns]. It wasn't one-sided, but after a certain point, the members of [Team Sacred Jewel] ran out of stamina and were defeated. However, they pushed [Team Shinto] quite hard as they had two members retire.

"With that finished…let's go to our sparring match," announced Aaron as he got up. Both Yoru and Haru had healed earlier and were ready to face him.

— ○ ● ○ —

There was a large gallery for the sparring match between Haru and Yoru versus Aaron. The reason for this was because they wanted to join Aaron and the main team on their 'attack' on both the Evie and Phantasma in the future. However, Aaron has not yet deemed them ready to start. Depending on their performance in this match, he may change his opinion, otherwise, they need to show that they can face powerful opponents in the tournament for him to change his opinion.

Yoru and Haru stood at one end and Aaron stood at the opposite end. The arbiters of their sparring match were two people, Grayfia and Róisín. Róisín wanted to try being one, and Grayfia allowed her to.

"I'll face them using my [Boosted Gear]," said Aaron and summoned his Sacred Gear.

"Very well," replied Grayfia. "We will now start the sparring match between Yoru and Haru versus Jin. Are all participants ready?" she asked and they nodded.

"Begin~!" shouted Róisín as she swung her arm down.

[Welsh Dragon: Balance Breaker!!]

Aaron quickly donned his…new armor—during the 10,000 years he spent with the two Heavenly Dragons, Rudra, the previous wielders, Cúntóir and Apophis, he spoke to both Ddraig and Albion about finally upgrading their Sacred Gears. Both dragons were fine with it and he upgraded them.

Just like with Shin [Canis Lykaon], [Demon Armor: Incursio], and [Abyss Extinction] he plans on creating replicas of the [Boosted Gear] and [Divine Dividing] in the future for his future children and passing it down to them. Both dragons were also fine with it and wanted to do record their voices down the line for him to add…they both wanted to add 'Easter Eggs' to them.

The new [Boosted Gear] armor resembled his [Diablos Dragon God] armor, as the main body was mainly black, with yellow accents around the armor and the gems being a deep crimson red. The other changes were that he had access to some other abilities in his BxB (Balance Breaker), and instead of doubling his powers, it quadrupled them every five seconds in his gauntlet form.

"Let's go, Yoru!"

"Mmm!"

Both sisters decided to go all out from the very beginning, as such as soon as they moved, they created a powerful shockwave that kicked up the dust of the [Training Facility]. Haru appeared in front of Aaron while Yoru appeared behind him.

A crimson-orange aura covered Haru's body while a deep blue aura covered Yoru's. Both of them fired a point-blank shot at Aaron! But—!

[Barrier!] his armor announced and a black-crimson barrier surrounded Aaron, blocking the attacks that both dragons sent at him. It was reminiscent of Issei's [Revelation Barrier] in his Apocalypse AnswerArms, but on a smaller scale.

Aaron cocked his arm back and sent a barrage of normal punches towards Haru who put her arms up in defense, but to both sisters' surprise, the attack hit Yoru's back sending her hurtling towards Aaron, but again another shocking event occurred and she passed through him and she slammed into Haru instead.

"Are you okay?" Haru asked.

"Yeah…" replied Yoru. Both of them faced Aaron again and looked at him warily. Yoru then whispered something into Haru's ear and they nodded to each other.

Aaron waited for both sisters until they disappeared from their spot again. He stood still and followed their movements until Yoru created several clones of herself and they all fired breaths of fire at him. Haru then created magic circles around him and the breath attacks went into them. Those attacks were then reflected around and multiplied over and over again until hundreds of thousands were now hurtling towards him.

The sisters' attack didn't end there as they also added some other magic attacks like lightning bolts, an arrow made of ice, and blades of wind and water. Aaron in his BxB summoned the [Dividing Wyvern Fairy] and then changed them to white.

[Boost!] [Transfer!]

He boosted once and transferred the power to his wyverns. They began to glow and the attacks that both girls sent towards him began being reflected back at them.

[Reflect! Reflect!] the wyverns began announcing and reflected everything back to them. Both girls dodged their attacks and avoided being hit.

"Okay…we can't hit him with magic or using aura attacks…so let's use our fists instead!" Haru shouted and charged ahead of Yoru. Yoru flew after her sister and the two of them arrived in front of Aaron, who again stood still.

Both sisters began throwing punches and kicks towards Aaron, who dodged, deflected and redirected them all. He also did it without moving from his spot.

On the bleachers, Bova saw this and couldn't help chuckle which attractive attention around him. Ryuuta, who was near him became confused.

"Why did you laugh?" he asked while glancing at the dragon.

"…It just reminded me of how my sparring match with Jin-dono turned out. He did not move from his spot and stood there as he beat me. It was a learning experience to say the least," said Bova. Ryuuta was surprised by this. He knew that Bova had fought against Aaron, but didn't know how it turned out.

"Ah, I remember that, Bova-san. You did pretty well for someone who faced Jin-san without seeing him fight before—not including videos and the match between him and Sairaorg Bael-san," said a member of Team [DxD].

"Hahaha! Indeed! I won't forget that lesson, ever!" replied Bova.

Ryuuta sat there thinking about asking to have a sparring match against Aaron too, but thought he would ask in a more private setting. However, as they all went back to watching the match, both Haru and Yoru were sent flying by a single punch from Aaron.

"Haru-san and Yoru-san are strong, even earlier they showed a lot of power and combat prowess, but they struggle against Jin-san, huh?" said someone else.

"They were amateurs only a few months ago, but they improved quickly—no, it's safe to say anyone who joins Team [DxD] and is trained here improves quickly. But those two were anomalies too, but for them to be beaten this badly…" another commented looking at the two dragon girls with complicated expressions on their faces.

Similar comments were being whispered all throughout the area, many wondering what was going through Aaron's mind as he had no change in expression as he beat down any chance or hope for Haru and Yoru.

Both dragon girls were now panting heavily with multiple bruises all across both their bodies. Haru took the brunt of it as she started letting her sister become the support. That's their strategy when they're pushed into a corner. Haru, who saw herself as the older one of the two wanted to protect Yoru.

Aaron found it admirable, but much more brutal opponents would exploit that weakness between them, and the place they were going to would do that a lot—the Evie and Phantasma. He could easily protect them, but if he did those two wouldn't grow as people—as dragons. Their powers and personalities would stay the same. He didn't want that to happen.

"Are you not coming? If not…I'll go to you," he said to them before disappearing and hearing a 'Jet!' being announced from his armor.

'Shit! I need too—!' Haru had already stretched her arms towards Yoru and Aaron appeared between them.

"…I think it's amazing how you love your sister, Haru. But you're too protective—enemies will see this as a weakness and target her when they find out. Yoru isn't weak, let her defend herself," said Aaron as he kicked Haru away and faced Yoru.

Aaron knew this all too well, so that's why he wanted his lovers and friends to become stronger and didn't want them being exploited like that. His women, friends, and comrades also understood that and trained like their lives depended on it.

Aaron cared for all the members of Team [DxD] and they knew that, so that's why they try their hardest every day. Anytime they come by to train in his home, they feel it each and every time. He would take time out of his day to speak to them, catch up with their lives and provide food and refreshments for them.

Even if they didn't see it, Team [DxD] was also another 'family' for Aaron. So he wanted to protect them at all costs too.

Yoru thrust her sharped nails at Aaron who dodged it.

"Don't hurt my sister…!" she hissed at him. Yoru felt the same for Haru, so both sisters were quite protective of one another—they only ever had each other after all, that was until Ryūjin took them in and showed them love.

However, Ryūjin already knew their overdependence on one another, so he sent them to Jin and Team [DxD] to get them to become stronger, as well as lessen their dependency with each other.

"The same with you, Yoru," said Aaron. He then aimed a dragon shot below them and the area around them exploded.

"Yoruuuu!!" Haru shouted as she saw the explosion occur and ran towards the site and saw her sister knocked out but not really injured.

Aaron set her to the side and looked at Haru who looked relieved. "Can you keep going after your sister is down?" he asked.

Haru was surprised by the question but nodded hesitantly in the end. She charged at Aaron again, but he could tell that her heart wasn't in it. Her strikes were weaker, they lacked any energy from earlier.

"…Let's end it," he said, surprising her.

Aaron appeared in front of Haru after using [Jet]. She held her arms up, waiting for an attack. However, as Aaron threw a punch towards her face, it passed through her arms and landed on her face. This sent her spinning and smashing into the walls of the [Training Facility]. Both girls were clearly unconscious and he quickly flew over to Haru and healed her too.

"Róisín-sama…the announcement," muttered Grayfia.

Róisín came back to her senses and raised her arm up. "W-winner, Jin!" she stuttered slightly before rushing towards Yoru, as did Grayfia.

"She seems fine…Aaron healed her," muttered Róisín.

"Yes, of course, even during a sparring match he'll prioritize their health straight after it," replied Grayfia.

"I won't need to scold him too much then!" said Róisín. Grayfia had a strained smile on her face, and explained to her that scolding Aaron wasn't needed. Thanks to her, he avoided such a punishment.

The sparring match between Haru and Yoru against Aaron was done—the winner was Aaron, although both sisters found out that they had certain things to work through.

— ○ ● ○ —

Aaron Toole's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

I exited my BxB after I healed Haru. I brought her to their room along with mom and Grayfia as they carried Yoru. She looked a bit upset with me, but it seemed that Grayfia had calmed her down significantly. It was clear from that short sparring match that both sisters had things to work through, especially their overreliance on each other. I'll stay with them until they wake up and see if they'll share their past with me, but if not then I can't possibly let them go to the Evie or Phantasma's universe.

After I brought them to their room, Lavinia (who had followed us) stayed behind with me. We watched the two sister sleep for a bit before she spoke.

"…Do we have the same problem?" she suddenly asked. I was taken aback by this question, but at the same time I thought about it.

Yes, we were close, and yes, we were a bit clingy to each other, but…were we over reliant on each other? I wasn't sure about that answer, but if I say no…then am I denying it, or maybe I just needed a different perspective. Maybe during that period of depression I had here, I didn't want her being hurt, so I may have gone a bit too far at times.

"…I can't really answer that question, but I'd probably react the same way to you…or anyone else really," I replied. I told her my honest thoughts on the matter. Lavinia brought over a chair at the opposite side of the bed the twins were on and sat there.

Both girls suddenly began to move their hands, as if looking for something to grab. Lavinia and I reached out and held their hands and they stopped being restless. Their faces which were in slight pain had relaxed when we held their hands. I held Haru's while Lavinia held Yoru's. A few minutes of silence later, they both began to open their eyes.

"Leader…we lost? Where's…"

"Nee-chan…" Yoru called out and the two sisters looked happy to see each other.

"I'm sorry if what I said earlier sounded harsh to you, but—" I felt Haru squeeze my hand as she shook her head.

"Mmm-mmm. I know, I get it. We've only had each other for most of our young life that we couldn't really function without each other…and then dad—Ryūjin-sama came into our lives and he's been slowly doing what you tried today, but he wasn't forceful so we never really tried that much to separate ourselves from each other," explained Haru.

She looked at Yoru, as if asking for permission to tell their story. Yoru nodded and Haru continued.

"…Our parents were strong dragons. Mom liked being in her human form while dad mostly stayed in his dragon form, but he would occasionally use his human form too since we as kids stayed in ours a lot…but as you can see, we still like to keep some parts of us out in the open," said Haru as she indicated with her eyes at her red horn.

"…After everything that happened, I think our parents were killed by the Khaos Order, or whatever they called themselves all those years ago. A woman in a lab coat was there. She also had some companions with her. But they killed our parents. We were confused and scared. Our dad was strong so seeing him…"

Haru stopped to compose herself before speaking again. "Seeing him killed so easily was scary and confusing. There were also two others with that woman, someone carrying a brown toy bear and a person resembling a witch."

"…Oz, I remember the woman in the lab coat calling the witch that," added Yoru.

Promestein is the woman in the lab coat, then the one carrying the teddy bear was Black Alice and finally Oz herself? Were they resurrected that early? These two aren't too far from my own age, around seventeen or eighteen…

Let's just check…

...They were found by a woman after the attack on their home. It was a small community with various types of youkais, monsters and even dragons like themselves. They weren't associated with any gods, groups or pantheons, they were just a small community living by themselves.

All of them lived difficult yet peaceful lives. This was until Oz with a few of her growing faction, Satanael, Black Alice and the growing Monkai Association and Promestein with some experiments attacked them.

Like Haru said, their father and the few men and women in that community went and fought against them, but ultimately, they lost their lives. Like many other stories, their mother fled with them, but was ultimately injured and killed. However, Haru and Yoru ran away by themselves after that.

They were young, they had no idea how the world worked, and before they succumbed to hunger and the elements, they were found by a woman and brought to the Shinto Pantheon and to Dragon Mountain, then left at Ryūjin's home.

That woman was…a certain goddess travelling the world at the time. Even though she said she only stayed in Ireland, did she lie? Or did she simply forget? …I'll just ask her the next time I see her.

"They…killed everyone, and then mom ran away with us, but they kept chasing us until she couldn't run anymore. Mom wasn't as strong as dad, but she decided to fight them and buy us time to escape. We didn't want to at first, especially Yoru, but…I had to make that decision, and ultimately grabbed her hand and pulled her away while she yelled and cried."

As Haru told us that, the door behind me opened and in came my own mother. She was outside the door listening in, but decided to enter. She had left earlier but seemed to have come back here.

She walked over to Haru and Yoru before gesturing both girls to get up and then she embraced them both.

"Your mother did that because she loved you. Parents who truly love their children will do that for them. Their love will transcend reason and even sacrifice their lives for you. I'm weak and can only imagine your pain, but…if it helps a little, I can be a mother to both of you," she told them.

Both dragon sisters were surprised by the offer, but their bodies began to shake, and both sisters began to cry into my mom's chest.

[Did you just get sisters?]

'I hope not.'

[You wanna bone them?]

'…Ddraig.'

[R-right, right, my bad, don't light me on fire…]

Mom gently embraced them as they kept crying, and they eventually became exhausted again and fell asleep. I guess they needed that, Lavinia or I couldn't have done that. I'm near their age while Lavinia is only a couple of years older than us, though she's old enough to become a mother…

She put them back down onto their beds and let them sleep. She then gestured for Lavinia to come over to us, confusing her.

"You're also my baby's future wife, fufu. You and Aoife will certainly but heads in the future, but I think it's fine—a healthy rivalry. But in the end, Aaron has to choose who he has to 'legally' marry," said Mom as she turned to face me. "Do you have any idea yet?"

"That's a bit sudden, but so far—"

"You already know, don't you?" she said, interrupting me.

I looked to my side and nodded. Of course, I know, it would be stranger if I didn't. I did look 10,000 years into the future and not marrying anyone for that long would be stupid. In the end, not many were upset by my choice and they accepted it. Well, I mean, they all got married to me in the end so…

"So, who…?" Lavinia asked, looking curiously at me.

I pointed in their direction—at Lavinia. I asked various others who wanted to, but the most vocal were Suzaku, Aoife, Rias, and Lavinia. In the end, it was only between Lavinia and Aoife. Suzaku gave up since she was fine with just marrying me, the same with Akeno who encouraged Suzaku and then Lavinia and Aoife to fight for it.

Rias also gave up. She never told me her reasons though, but she was content with passing down her position of heir to Millicas and he became a fine one at that.

Just like with Suzaku and Lavinia, they fought a bloody fight, and in the end, Lavinia came out victorious. I suggested finding a more peaceful approach, but I guess…if they have differences that can't be solved through talking or other means, a fight in a controlled environment is usually the last resort.

"So I really become Lavinia Reni Toole?" she asked. Letting go of my mother and walking towards me, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"Well, yeah…and the twins that you want…well, we have three kids in total in 10,000 years," I replied, scratching my cheek. "But our twin daughters are older than our son who was born around 1,000 years after them."

Lavinia reached me before hugging me. But I won't tell her…

I-I won't tell her that I fuck up a bit…but I can't stop myself, I spoil and coddle my children in the future and my daughters become massive father-cons and even pursue me as a man and they stopped looking at me as their dad around when they're sixteen…a-at least my sons find their own lovers…though they did swear off getting harems since in their words: 'It's a hassle, seeing you manage yours was exhausting. We'd rather have a single lover, dad.'

At least they all grew up good people! None of them were too problematic…although I do hope to help my son between Rias and I a little more.

"Is something wrong, Aaron?" Mom asked me.

"N-no…it's nothing," I replied. I'm a coward, because I don't give any of them an answer, I just kept running away. I love them—my daughters and sons, but incest is a bit…

"Hehehehehe~" Lavinia started giggling to herself. She seemed really happy and began rubbing herself against me. "I'm your first wife~ I'm the legal wife~" she sang and began repeatedly kissing me on the cheek.

For the rest of the night Lavinia wouldn't stop clinging onto me, but mom seemed to understand my dilemma but didn't say anything either. Though…my relationship with her also changes and becomes a bit strange, hopefully I can get through it all.

— ○ ● ○ —

Two days had passed since then, and the match was coming closer. Both teams were putting in even more effort and Atsutarou had some strange experiment conducted on him. Just like with Saji, they did something to him and he's a lot stronger now.

I also had a sparring match with Medusa. She's did a lot better than the two sisters, so I gave her the task of increasing her own raw power before I allowed her to participate with the rest of Team [DxD]. However, those two also began increasing their individual training—they were separated from each other and began training on their own.

At first, it was hard for them, but they quickly got used to it. At the same time, they also found that they worked even better after they rejoined each other to see how they progressed. They could see the previous flaws they had and acknowledged that they were too attached to each other.

So they promised each other to continue this kind of training while also mixing in duo training sessions in the future. They primarily asked Scathach and Aífe in that regard since those two sisters trained like that too.

Currently, I was outside a certain shop that was also built during our graduation trip. It wasn't far from my own restaurant and it was quite large and looked very modern. The shop's name was also engraved outside… 'Naganohara Fireworks!' and the current owner was Yoimiya Naganohara.

"Boss! Why are you just standing out here?" a cheerful feminine voice asked me. Turning to my left, I saw Yoimiya with…Kuki Shinobu.

I had offered both of them jobs, and they accepted. Shinobu was my financial adviser, but since I only had my restaurant and Yoimiya was nearby, she decided to help her too, hence why she's with her.

"Just call me Jin or Aaron. 'Boss' just sounds weird. Anyway, I'm here to check your store out. Let's go," I said and we entered her shop.

Unlike their normal clothes, they wore different clothes because they would look strange in the human world, or at least they would be confused as cosplayers if they wore them anyway. Kuki Shinobu was dressed in a professional suit that was mostly dark purple, while Yoimiya was a lot more casual since she's the owner. She wore an orange hoodie, a short blue skirt, white-red sneakers and a necklace.

The shop was also quite large. It had two floors. The bottom section had various fireworks on display as well as a small area that had a flat screen TV that showed fireworks exploding. You could pick the different types displayed in the shop, play them there and you would know what you were buying.

I had suggested it and she seemed happy with it, so we implemented it. Well, Yoimiya also enjoyed being able to launch those herself, so it was a win-win for both of us. Yoimiya also hired some college students to help her with the shop. So far she has a cashier, two cleaners and Shinobu as her helpers. The second floor was Yoimiya's own workshop, that's where the magic happens—where she creates the fireworks.

I had only visited it twice, and Yoimiya gets in the 'zone' when she's making them. She didn't even hear me when I tried to talk to her as she did her craft. She's very dedicated to it, though it felt like she wanted to make her recently deceased father proud of her and that's why she's doing her best with each firework she produces.

"I rearranged some parts due to customers' comments. I didn't expect Kuoh to have so many people wanting to buy fireworks! And thanks to Kuki-san making a website for me, my business has also expanded beyond just Kuoh!" said Yoimiya excitedly.

Shinobu nodded. "Her business still exists in the Shinto realm since they heavily rely on her families' fireworks—that's been like this for many years, according to my research. So we made a small deal with Amaterasu-sama that they'd receive a 10% discount and we'd have them as priority if and when they order."

Looking around the room there were definitely parts that's been rearranged, some of the more frequently bought fireworks were nearer to the entrance and cashier. There were also some on display and being heavily advertised, a small cardboard cutout of Yoimiya pointing at it and with 'Recommended!' or 'Sale!' printed around them.

"By the way, Shinobu…I heard some rumors that Itto has a team for the tournament?" I asked and turned to look at her. Shinobu sighed and put a hand on her head.

"Yes…Boss entered the tournament, and because of his 'heroics' during the war against the Khaos Order, he earned a lot more respect and when he announced that he was joining the Rating Game World Tournament, many flocked to him in order to join his team. I was also recruited, but in the end declined since I would be busy with my new job from now on," she explained.

"So far they have won two games against inexperienced to mediocre teams, but any teams that were experienced or had powerful individuals in them…they were beaten quite badly. They also have no support, so…"

Any team that entered the tournament with zero support were doomed to lose. However, accumulating fatigue and injuries will eventually be their downfall, even if they win all their matches. That's one of the reasons why [Team Shooting Star] lost against [Team Imperial Purpure]. They didn't have enough time between matches to fully recover, meaning they went into their next match still injured or tired.

Anyone participating in the match…the [King] and other members have to look after themselves and each other. They have to balance their training, rest, and match participation to ensure they don't exhaust themselves.

Those who are backed by other people will get the best facilities to rest and recuperate, and those who do not…well, they have to make do. Itto's situation is the latter. They don't have anyone backing them nor do they have facilities that would help them rest, train or anything like that.

Shuten is doing her best, but Zyoto Vadaya isn't exactly a place that's super advanced. It's mostly traditional along with the rest of the Shinto realm. Although…

"I can back Itto and his team up if you want, Shinobu. Food, improved housing in where they stay and a healing area for them. If they make it to the main stage of the tournament, I will upgrade those accommodations, but if not, they can keep whatever I give them," I told her.

Shinobu seemed surprised by this and thought about it. "May I contact Boss first, Boss?"

"…Like I said just call me Jin or Aaron, and sure go ahead," I replied. She nodded and stepped away and summoned a magic communication circle.

"Hey, Jin." I turned to Yoimiya who tapped me on the shoulder. "They (the Khaos Order) won't attack the places where the Games are being held at, right?"

"There are and will be attempts, but they'll be stopped without the fans noticing a single thing," I told her. There was an attempt at sabotaging the exhibition match and a few games that have been played these past few days, but none were successful nor known about. That's what I wanted to happen.

Thanks to Daniel and my shadow soldiers, they're dealt with very quickly. Daniel himself disguises himself and we've only met up with each other on two occasions, just a quick update from himself—he was also the one to set up the meet-up since I already knew, but…I guess he wanted to see me.

Yoimiya seemed relieved and smiled. "Great! I like watching them and you ordered a lot of fireworks for those events you know? I couldn't make them all so I had to rely on other makers," she said.

"Yeah, my bad. I wanted to get them all from you but it would be a lot of work for you so I asked other suppliers and makers. That batch is going fine, right? I'm not overworking you, right?"

She laughed at me. "It's fine, this workload is about the same as when I made them for the Shinto Gods, so I'm used to it. However, I did have to share them with dad, so while it's a little taxing, I can manage," she said seriously.

I put a hand on her head and patted her. "If you need help, don't hesitate to ask. I know a lot in my home and Team [DxD] will lend a hand."

She grinned and said, "Sure thing Super Boss! Yoimiya-san will ask for assistance when needed!"

…Why speak in the third person? I shook my head and ruffled her head as she stuck her tongue out at me. Is my relationship with some employees a bit too casual? Maybe I should reassess how I do things in the future, but for now…this is fine.

"Bo—Jin…san. Boss was happy to agree with it. He apparently recruited quite a few other people into his team," she explained.

"That's fine, I'll go and visit them tonight," I told her and she relayed the information to Itto, who screamed with elation through the magic circle.

She nodded and asked, "What about your own restaurant? You've been missing for a bit…"

"While I help with cooking and other jobs from time-to-time, I usually leave them be since I am paying them. Lavinia isn't always singing there, so there's no need for me to be constantly there, and…Garrett offered to help with it today, so Belzard also followed him."

Garrett is a skilled cook and I look forward to letting him be in charge in the next restaurant I build. However, that will be in the Shinto realm that's also going to merge with Uwabami's Inn.

For the rest of the day, I stayed at Naganohara Fireworks helping Yoimiya and her employees. Some of the college students there were surprised to see me, and even more jealous because I was close to Yoimiya. Even after I explained I was her boss, they were still jealous. Can't win them all, right?

— ○ ● ○ —

I came back to the Shinto realm, and was in Zyoto, Vadaya, the Oni realm. I was also in Itto's little village that he stayed in. They had maintained the place a lot more after I helped them earlier last year. Seeing as there were still a lot of unoccupied land, I held my hand out and built some two-story houses, and even more homes for the resident while also adding some livestock and more vegetables for them to grow and eat.

The villagers noticed this and turned my way. Shinobu came with me since she still is close with the Arataki gang.

"Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" Itto's voice resounded throughout the area. The leaves on the trees shook and a few of the villagers covered their ears. As he arrived in front of me, I karate chopped his head.

"Don't be so loud, it's already night, Itto," I told him and he laughed.

"My bad, my bad! Anyway, my team is waiting in my home, follow me! Oh and welcome back, Shinobu!" he said and turned around.

"Yeah, I'm back, Boss," replied Shinobu as we followed him through the small village. The villagers we passed by greeted us and thanked me for what I did just now and we eventually arrived at a medium sized home that belonged to Itto.

I didn't build this, so Itto might have done it himself. We entered his home and it was a one-room home with the kitchen, living room and bedroom in one room. The bathroom was in a separate room while he had an outdoor shower.

At a table to the right were his teammates. There were some that I had met before and others that I hadn't. But they all seemed either excited or scared of me. I better approach this carefully then. Itto sat with them and Shinobu and I followed suit.

"It's been a while, Akira, Genta, Mamoru. I take it all of you are well?" I asked.

"Y-yes! Jin-san, we're doing well," replied all three.

I nodded and said, "Alright, let's talk about details then. Since you guys are friends with Shinobu I thought I might as well back you guys up during the tournament. Having said that, anyone that doesn't have assistance during it will be knocked out and can't move onto the main stage when summer comes."

They became tense and stared at me and Itto with serious expressions. They must have complex emotions about this. Though I am not sure what kind of wish they want, I can more or less guess what kind of wish they may have given their lives right now.

"Let me ask you this…theoretically, if you win this tournament, what wish would you ask me to grant? If the wish of the leader isn't too large or grand, I can also grant the wishes of their teammates."

They all thought about it, except Itto who stood up, crossed his arms and grinned. "To re-vitalize this village! As well as Zyoto!" he declared, surprising his teammates and both me and Shinobu.

"What do you mean by that, Itto? Care to elaborate?" I asked and he nodded.

"This place…wasn't even considered a village, but after Jin-san helped us all those months ago, it started to thrive, even more so after you assisted us again when you came back here with Asahi…anyway, my wish is for this little village to turn into a small town and thrive, and I guess—Zyoto as well since Auntie Shuten helped us a lot too," explained Itto while blushing a little.

His intentions were in the right place, admirable even. His teammates also seemed to grow even more respect for Itto as they nodded in response to his answer to my question.

"Khhhhhhh!! That's Itto-dono for you!" shouted a female Oni as she stood up. She then lunged towards him and hugged him. "That's why I told you, let me marry you already!"

Their other teammates facepalmed at this and Itto awkwardly chuckled. Even Shinobu facepalmed, it looked like she knew about her. She suddenly leaned towards me and whispered into my ear.

"She's Yuhara, the [Queen] of Boss' team. We came across her several times in the past. Boss beat her in various duels and she eventually came to like him, but she works directly for Shuten-sama, so she's sometimes sent on long tasks and that's why you haven't met her yet…but those losses in the duel made her start to like Boss in a romantic way," explained Shinobu.

Yuhara was a female Oni with long green hair that had bangs that covered the left side of her face. On the right side of her head was a single horn that protruded from her head. She had yellow eyes and wore a black tank top, a black leather jacket and black jeans. She had a single earring on her right ear and a necklace around her neck.

"G-get off me! I already told you, things like that…are for after the tournament!" shouted Itto.

"Oh? So you're saying that you will marry me!?" she asked in excitement.

"Wait what?! I never said—" Itto's lips were sealed as Yuhara kissed him.

Leaving the two love birds (?) aside, Shinobu introduced me to the rest of his team.

"This man here has four pieces of Boss' [Pawn] piece, Egawa. He's an Oni too." Egawa had short black hair and wore a single kimono that had fish patterns on it. He was a little bit shorter than Itto and he had a calm atmosphere around him.

"I'm Egawa. Nice to meet you," he said and we shook hands.

"Over there are Bosses two [Knights], Uhema and Sukrea, they're also Oni's." Uhema and Sukrea both were short—you could even call them 'shota', they had two horns like Itto and Egawa, their skin complexions were both red and they looked hotheaded as they had slight grins on their faces.

"Uhema, fastest around these parts! Nice to meet ya' Middleman!" said Uhema.

"I'm that idiot's shield, so we're kind of a packaged deal. Nice to meet you," said Sukrea. His appearance and personality don't match since he was a lot more humble than his fellow [Knight].

"The other [Pawns] are Akira at 1, Mamoru at 1 and Genta at 2. Rem-san and Ram-san have been lent to Boss by Shuten-sama as a singular [Rook] and [Bishop] but they're not here tonight," said Shinobu. Finally, she looked at the last two. They had single horns too.

"Aeko-san is the other [Rook] and Soma is the other [Bishop]. Both of them are hybrids like Yuhara, but unlike her, they both possess a Sacred Gear. Soma has the Sacred Gear [Trick Vanish] and Aeko-san has a [Twice Critical]."

Aeko was a female Oni dressed in modern clothing. She wore a white plain t-shirt, gloves, short biker shorts, and a baseball cap. She had long pink hair and yellow eyes. Soma was a male Oni with bluish pale arms. The rest of his body was of a normal human complexion. He had long blue hair and blue eyes. He wore a yukata that was mostly black and white.

After the introductions were finished, I asked, "What are your wishes?"

One by one they told me their wishes. In a way, it was relatively the same as Itto's, he took them in and provided them with a place where they could live, and they wanted to pay him back. However, Yuhara stopped trying to kiss Itto and came back to us.

"I want to be married to him! And also, find our parents," she declared. The first part could be done without my help, but…that last part was interesting. "With that said, we have a game at the same time as [Team Lightning] versus [Team Golden Rakshasa]. That game will have more coverage than ours, but we'll do our best."

Various other games took place on the same day as [Team Lightning] versus [Team Golden Rakshasa]. Meaning, a single match like that will have more coverage than the rest, and [Team Arataki Itto] were up against [Team Phantastic Dragons], Hirokazu's team. His team was quite balanced, and with him, Caeda, his cousin Daiki and the rest who have good teamwork, they'll provide a difficult match even against God-class teams.

"You're up against [Team Phantastic Dragons], the [King], Hirokazu…he's a subordinate of mine and their [Queen] is also powerful. You guys will have a difficult match," I told them.

[Team Phantastic Dragons], the 'Phan' part was a pun for 'Fan', so in a way, he dedicated his team's name to me which was a bit much, but he was insisted about it. So it's essentially 'Team (Fan)tastic Dragons'. The guy knew I liked puns too, what a hardcore guy…

"Even still, we'll go at 'em like we usually do! We got two wins in the bag, so we'll just keep on chuggin'!" declared Itto as he stood beside Yuhara. "Thanks for your help, Jin-san! But we'll get to uh…st-strategizing! 'Cause we need it!"

He stumbled when saying strategizing…at least he's trying. I nodded and told him that I'd make the necessary arrangements along with the food before I left with Shinobu. They thanked me and I left. Shinobu stayed behind to help them.

— ○ ● ○ —

It was the day of the game. I was in a VIP booth along with various others watching the match that was taking place in the Azazel Stadium again in the Underworld. Originally, I was invited to commentate during the match. However, I handed it over to Azazel who came to watch and he fumed at me.

"Who do you think will win?" asked Suzaku. Everyone gave their opinion and the one with the most votes to win was Aurelia's team, but in the end everyone on the team cheered for both since we were all comrades.

However, Shuri seemed worried about Baraqiel, but she also knows that being hurt in the games is a regular occurrence. [Team Lightning] has already had a few games and they came out of it relatively unscathed.

[Ladies and gentlemen!! Welcome to the most anticipated match today! Between [Team Lightning], led by Baraqiel of the Fallen Angels of Grigori, this man is also known as [The Lightning of God]!]

[Moreover, they're paired up against one of the favorites to win the tournament! [Team Golden Rakshasa]! Led by the mighty woman Aurelia Le Guin, a subordinate of the famous Middleman and Dual Dragon Emperor! This team won their matches with ease and even obliterated God-class teams! How will today's match turn out!?]

[Now, a reminder to our viewers at home! These are the teams for today!]

— ○ ● ○ —

Team Golden Rakshasa:

King – Aurelia Le Guin

Queen – Rossweisse

Bishop – Ravel Phenex

Bishop – Edel

Rook – Kuroka Toujou

Rook – Akaza

Knight – Yoru

Knight – Haru

Pawn (4) – Ouryuu (Ryuuta) Nakiri

Pawn (4) – Bova Tannin

— ○ ● ○ —

Team Lightning:

King – Baraqiel

Queen – Kishku

Bishop – Tamiel

Bishop – Sofiel

Rook – Sahariel

Rook – Armaros

Knight (2) – Ezeri

Pawn (4) – Atsutarou Himejima

Pawn (4) – Raynare

— ○ ● ○ —

Third Person Point of View

— ○ ● ○ —

[The format of this match is called [Object Break]! The team that destroys the most target objects in the game field within the time limit wins! Also, as with the previous rules, the entire field will be divided into different areas, just like a chessboard.]

A chessboard-like area appeared on the enormous display screen. As soon as the match starts, both teams will be transported to the dedicated battlefield, and begin their match there. The field was tremendously vast, and even if a person had to fly from one side of the field to the other at full speed, it would take nearly thirty minutes. But depending on their position and situation on the field, it would be possible to fly from one end of the field to the other in a matter of minutes.

[A total of thirteen [objects] have been prepared on the game field! As long as one team finds and destroys a greater number of objects than the other team within the twelve-hour time limit, they will be declared the winners! Of course, and needless to say, the other rules of this tournament are still in effect. This means that defeating the other team's [King] also results in a victory.]

[To add to this, as long as either side destroys more than half of the [objects], in other words, the first team to destroy seven [objects] will be declared the winner, and the game will end there.]

[Some of the [objects] that have been prepared have been placed on the field in their original state, whilst some are in less noticeable positions, and some possibly even hidden in obscure places. The two teams will have to race through this board-like field, and whilst the players are fighting each other, they must also find these [objects] and destroy them.]

[In addition, if the twelve-hour time limit is exceeded, and both teams have destroyed the same number of [objects], the match will be determined to be a draw.]

[There have been similar matches in the Rating Games of the Underworld in the past; even when a lower ranked team with a large power gap between a higher ranked team are set against each other, lower ranked teams have been able to destroy an equal number of [objects] to the other team, and then engage in a defensive battle until time runs out to successfully draw a tie. This subversion of expectations and the plethora of limitless possibilities is one of the charms of this game.]

— ○ ● ○ —

In [Team Golden Rakshasa]'s location, the team were deliberating of various strategies, but…

"Is something wrong, Ravel?" asked Rossweisse. The team looked at their [Bishop] as she was contemplating something.

"I want to confirm something…" she muttered.

"And that is?" asked Akaza.

"Whether it's possible to move an [object] or not," she said seriously. "Based on the [objects] prepared in the previous [Object Break] games, there have been both stationary and moveable ones. If there happens to be [objects] that can be moved this time, it will become more difficult."

She looked at everyone and added, "So if any of you encounter an [object], please check whether it is moveable or not."

[Now then everyone, the game is about to begin! After both teams are transported, and have confirmed the shape of the [objects], the game will begin!]

— ○ ● ○ —

After both teams were transported to the field, what appeared before their eyes was a vast natural environment. There were towering mountains spreading out around them. There was also a lake not too far from the forest of trees.

A mountainous terrain had been used as a template for this field. In one particular corner stood a steep cliff [Team Golden Rakshasa]'s base camp was situated on top of.

A table and a set of chairs had been prepared atop the cliff. A full map was laid out on the table. Just like a chessboard, it was set out in an eight-by-eight grid, with a single line drawn across the middle separating the north and south sides.

The northern half was [Team Lightning]'s territory, whilst the southern side was Aurelia's. They (Team Golden Rakshasa) also confirmed the location of the 'recovery points', with each side having one.

Then, a projection from the table showed a three-dimensional image of the [object]. The [object] was a statue of a woman with the wings of both a fallen angel and a devil. As they looked at this [object], it inevitably reminded them of Akeno. A bell rang around the field at that time to signal the start of the match.

After both teams had confirmed the shape of the [objects], they announced the opening. And like that, the game began.

"Aurelia-sama…please begin with our opening statement," said Ravel. A massive grin spread across Aurelia's face as she prepared her greatsword.

— ○ ● ○ —

On the side of [Team Lightning], after they were transported to their side, they immediately checked the [object] and began strategizing, however—

Both Kishku and Ezeri noticed it first.

They grabbed the nearest to them and shouted, "Dodge!!!"

As they did, a massive and powerful golden slash tore through the field, completely splitting it in half. The dimension they were in shook at the aftershock of the powerful attack. Some of the landscape was also completely obliterated.

However, to everyone's surprise, not a single [object] was destroyed.

All of [Team Lightning] avoided the attack and landed at a different spot. They were all shocked by the sudden attack.

[Oh my goodness! The [King] of [Team Golden Rakshasa] just let loose a powerful attack that cut the field in half! Is this a declaration of war?!]

"That crazy old hag! Is she insane?!" Ezeri shouted in shock.

"It's obvious she's trying to provoke us…do not let it bother you, Ezeri," said Baraqiel.

"I know…" grumbled Ezeri.

Baraqiel turned to Atsutarou and Raynare. "We'll prepare for that too, so we'll leave 'that' to both of you."

Atsutarou punched his palm and grinned. "Heh, leave it to the 'Gravitational Flames' to rain down some hell on 'em!"

"I'll do my best, leave it to us," replied Raynare. She spread open her sixteen wings and Atsutarou followed suit by creating wings made out of flames.

"Everyone…go and search the area for those statues," ordered Baraqiel. "Keep up our communications with the transceivers that I gave out earlier."

[Roger!] they answered in unison.

The match between [Team Golden Rakshasa] and [Team Lightning] was about to begin. At the same time in a different stadium, [Team Arataki Itto] versus [Team Phantastic Dragons] was also starting.

— ○ ● ○ —