Occult Research Club.
"Rias, what's wrong?"
Seeing her best friend return with a dazed, soul-lost look, Himejima Akeno tilted her head in confusion.
"Are you feeling sick?"
"No, just ran into something earlier. My head's a mess."
Rias plopped onto the sofa, staring blankly at the floor.
Noticing it wasn't sadness, Akeno's curiosity sparked.
"What happened? Spill it."
"I might have some advice."
"Roy kinda confessed to me."
Thud—!
A dull crash echoed nearby.
Akeno glanced at Koneko, who'd accidentally cracked the floor, then processed it a beat late. After two seconds of silence, her lips curled upward.
"Details."
"President, I wanna hear too."
Koneko scooted closer.
Rias gave a wry smile and recounted the gist of it.
"Oooh~ Sounds pretty solid."
Akeno's eyes gleamed. "Rias, haven't you been stressing over that engagement? This could be your ticket out."
Rias sighed. "I know that, but how do I respond to Roy?"
"Just keep things normal, like always. He's not forcing you. And honestly, Roy's not half bad."
Having grown up with Rias, Akeno knew her taste in partners.
"Strong, full of potential, sees you as 'Rias,' not 'Devil King's sister' or 'Gremory heiress.'"
"From any angle, he fits your checklist, right?"
Rias: "!"
She's right.
Akeno's nudge hit like a revelation, clearing Rias's tangled thoughts.
Yeah, no need to overthink.
She'd been so fixated on Roy's strength that she'd missed the bigger picture.
Stepping back, wasn't he exactly what she'd been looking for?
"Looks like you've got your answer."
"Yeah, I'll give it a shot."
Rias made up her mind.
But before diving in, she had two loose ends.
"Akeno, come with me to pick someone up."
Meanwhile, as Rias decided…
Inside the Sacred Gear's space, Roy met Ddraig face-to-face.
"So you've been asleep this whole time?"
"Yeah, like when a host dies and the gear hibernates. I only woke up a minute ago."
Ddraig peered curiously. "Normally, after a transfer, I'd see the outside world. How'd you pull this off?"
"Secret."
"No need to hide that, right? We're battle buddies going forward."
"Even buddies need boundaries."
Roy shut it down cold.
He couldn't exactly explain.
What's he supposed to say—You were asleep because I turned you into an entry and tossed you in my inventory?
The entry system was Roy's deepest secret, off-limits to anyone.
"Every Red Dragon Emperor's been a weirdo, but you're a first."
"Which part?"
"All of it. The biggest shock? You restored my power."
Ddraig summoned a flame with a claw.
"After the Biblical God killed me and forged me into a gear, I forgot I even had this."
"Didn't expect you to break that seal, bringing back my lost memories and strength."
"Roy, how'd you do it? Whisper it—I won't tell."
Roy eyed the flame. "Only the dead keep secrets. Sure you wanna know?"
"Uh, never mind."
Ddraig quietly dropped it.
He could tell Roy wasn't kidding.
"Alright, serious talk."
Confirming Ddraig's state post-inventory, Roy's tone sharpened.
"Ddraig, I need your help to dive deeper into the gear's space."
"For what?"
"To train Juggernaut Drive."
"What?!"
Ddraig's dragon frame jolted, startled.
"Partner, don't throw your life away!"
Juggernaut Drive unleashed the gear's seal, tapping the sealed beast's power.
It was so wild it drained the host's life, driving them berserk until death.
A last-ditch, mutual-destruction trump card for when all else failed.
Having snagged a strong, chill host, Ddraig genuinely wanted Roy to stick around—maybe smack the White Dragon a few extra times.
"Forget Juggernaut. Research Balance Breaker instead—it suits you better."
"Balance Breaker? That's just point-and-click."
Roy surged demonic power into the gear.
In a flash, crimson armor encased him—both his consciousness here and his body outside.
"Huh? Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha—!!!"
Ddraig's worldview, built over ages, shattered into pieces.
"P-Partner, how'd you do that?"
"Told you, Balance Breaker's easy if you've got hands."
Roy peeled off the helmet. "And don't get me wrong."
"My Juggernaut Drive isn't quite the one you know."
The host-dying part had reasons.
One, Ddraig's power was too vast—hosts couldn't handle it and got devoured.
Two, the Boosted Gear housed past Red Dragon Emperors' lingering souls.
All died unnaturally, their remnants steeped in grudges.
Trigger Juggernaut Drive, and those grudges flooded the current Emperor.
Ddraig's raw power, amplified by resentment, was a recipe for losing control.
Flip it, though: master Ddraig's strength and purge the grudges…
Roy could wield Juggernaut Drive—no side effects, surpassing Balance Breaker.
"Got it. Didn't think you could dodge Juggernaut's downsides like that."
Ddraig marveled, then asked, "How you handling the souls?"
"Beat 'em up first."
"…Partner, those past Emperors' souls are fused with the gear. Force them out, and you might wreck it."
"I know. Still gotta beat 'em up."
Roy's face was dead serious.
It was a must-try. What if they dropped entries?
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