The past while had been so full of events that Yoru barely had time to catch his breath. After Rias's match ended, he finally got some rare downtime.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Sona wasted no time in staking her claim on Yoru, and succeeded. After the school festival, the academy went on break, and Yoru had been happily indulging in Sona's gentle company the whole time.
He was sure their relationship had already been exposed, but strangely enough, Rias didn't seem to care.
One morning, Yoru lazily opened his eyes, hearing the soft breathing of the person lying beside him. But… something about the feel was off.
"This feels… kind of small?"
"Do you think it's small?"
"Eh—eh—eh?!"
Startled out of his wits, Yoru almost jumped straight out of bed. Regaining his bearings, he saw that the person beside him wasn't Sona at all, but…
"Ophis?!"
He stared blankly at the small girl lying next to him—her long black hair spread across the bed, her gothic black dress fanned out like a blooming flower.
"So it really is small?" she asked again, tilting her head.
"Why are you in my bed?!" Yoru finally pulled his hand back, half laughing in disbelief.
"Because I was bored," Ophis replied, blinking her clear, untainted eyes at him.
"Do you prefer them bigger?"
"Why are you so fixated on that?!"
"From the data I know, most males do prefer women with a larger size there. It's also important for raising offspring," Ophis said seriously.
Yoru groaned, covering his face.
"What's going on, Yoru? Are you awake?"
Hearing the noise from the room, Sona, who had been preparing breakfast, came in—and froze when she saw the small girl sitting on the bed.
"Th-this little girl is…?"
Having never seen Ophis's true form, Sona looked utterly confused.
"Ah… you must know her by name. She's the infamous leader of the Khaos Brigade—the Infinite Dragon God, Ophis."
"Wha—O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-Ophis?!"
Sona's eyes went wide, stammering in disbelief as she stared at the tiny girl.
"How rude. Am I really so frightening?" Ophis asked coolly, though her expression remained as blank and emotionless as ever.
"You should smile—it'd be much cuter," Yoru said, shaking his head helplessly. He reached out, pinched her chin, and exaggeratedly pulled, forcing a silly expression onto her face.
"Yoru, what are you doing? This is the Infinite Dragon God!" Sona exclaimed, still shocked that such a terrifying figure could look like such a cute girl.
"Don't worry. Ophis isn't as scary as the legends say—she's just a lonely, solitary little girl," Yoru said as he pulled her into his arms.
"What's this, did you change your mind? You came here yourself. Didn't we agree I'd come conquer you?"
"I was bored," she repeated simply. Yet as Yoru held her, the quiet stillness in her eyes began to show a hint of liveliness.
Seeing Ophis's delicate and harmless appearance, Sona didn't know what to say. It was hard to imagine this girl was the leader of the group the whole world feared—the Khaos Brigade.
Although it was still the holiday, the Occult Research Club was packed with people.
Rias and her peerage, Azazel, and Gabriel were all present, their expressions tense.
The reason was simple—sitting in Yoru's arms was a harmless-looking girl who was, in fact, the strongest being in the world: the Infinite Dragon God, Ophis.
"Do we really need to be this tense?" Yoru asked, sighing as he placed his hands on Ophis's cheeks again.
"See? You've scared everyone."
"They're afraid. What does that have to do with me?" Ophis replied flatly.
"You're being reckless, Yoru! This dragon is the leader of the group that attacks every faction! She's an enemy who's caused enormous damage to the devils!" Rias said sharply.
"It's fine, Rias. Ophis has no hostility—right?" Yoru said.
Everyone fell silent. Though still cautious, Rias eventually sighed and decided to trust Yoru's words.
"Unbelievable. Then again, it's you, kid—you even managed to tame Ophis," Azazel said in a tone of amused admiration.
Meanwhile, Akeno had prepared tea and served it to Yoru and Ophis.
"Well, a guest is still a guest. Have some tea, and Rias, don't get too worked up. If this one wanted to cause trouble, none of us here could stop her."
"Can you at least tell us why you're here? And what about Vali's team? If their leader's here, there's no way they'd just let you go."
"They wouldn't dare stop me," Ophis replied with the same blunt tone, sounding every bit like a spoiled child—leaving everyone else half speechless, half amused.
"Hearing that, I almost feel sorry for Vali. Having such a willful leader must be rough."
---
Access more chapters at patreon.com/dzeref887