Just as Ajuka had said—
In Akuto's base, the Old School Building.
Yuuto was tirelessly forging magic swords of every attribute.
At his side, Akuto took each sword and imbued it with anti-magic.
Once the enchantment was set, Yuriko converted those anti-magic swords into "phantom beasts."
Back when Akuto learned Yuriko's power was to give life to inanimate matter, he'd already begun planning this. Taking this chance, he had temporarily "traded" Yuuto over from Rias's side.
Because after learning Riser had advanced to Ultimate-class, Akuto decided that in this Rating Game he would fully showcase his strength—
not only his personal power, but the might of his whole team.
Some Old Devils would support him simply because of his pure-blood; others, however, wouldn't "clap until they saw the rabbit."
This time, the ones Akuto aimed to win over—were exactly those wait-and-see Old Devils.
"Maou-class power should be enough to sway the Old Devils who aren't die-hard Old Maou loyalists."
Those Old Maou who fled the Underworld were, at best, Maou-class.
If they'd truly been stronger than Maou-class, they wouldn't have needed to flee.
"Akuto-kun, I've detected an Upper-class Phoenix signature. Shall I dispatch a pack of counter-fire beasts?" Yuriko reported.
"No, leave it. I'll go myself."
An Upper-class Phoenix aura could only mean Ravel.
If it was Ravel, he would handle it personally.
"Come to think of it, Ravel's improved quickly. Barely a dozen days, and she's shot up to Upper-class?"
On the Old School Building's roof, Akuto unfurled his devil wings and accelerated with the Boosted Gear, quickly reaching Ravel's location.
In front of the lab building.
A twin-tailed blonde was being pressed by Akuto's units; a black-haired girl who looked very much like Kuroyukihime led a cluster of water-attribute and death-attribute beasts, hammering Ravel again and again.
The instant he laid eyes on Ravel, Akuto understood why her growth had been so fast.
[Ding!]
[Plot Mission Triggered — Collect the World Core Shards.]
[Mission Rarity: White → Rainbow]
[Description: To weaken the World Will of DxD, invaders from outside the world have scattered many "World Core Shards" into it.]
[A being who absorbs a shard can unlock higher life-tiers—but will also begin to 脱离 (slip out of) the DxD world's system.]
[If this continues and many strong beings rely on foreign "World Core Shards," DxD's World Will will be grievously harmed—and falter before the invaders.]
[Objective: Defeat every shard holder you encounter and extract the World Core Shard from them.]
[Note: Once a holder loses the ability to resist, the system can complete the extraction.]
[Ding!]
[This is a special mission; no new rewards will be drawn. Instead, victories will upgrade your existing system rewards, scaling with the foes you beat.]
Invaders from outside the world?
Akuto arched a brow. The only force likely to invade DxD would be the EXE Evil Gods.
So—the EXE gods were corroding DxD's powerhouses by seeding them with shards?
Also, judging from the system's wording, the "Child of the World" qualification he gained in the Apocalypse world was probably tied to the World Core somehow.
Can I assume that beings who obtain shards grow stronger because the world flags them as "protagonist-type" existences?
[Ding!]
[You may. They're not genuine protagonists, but shard holders do gain a "pseudo-protagonist" buff.]
"So that's it…"
The conclusion weighed on him.
He knew the temperament of DxD's strongmen too well—even if he warned them, many would still take the power without hesitation.
In that case, I guess I'll just have to clean up everything myself…
While Akuto pondered, Ravel also noticed him.
She bit her lip, hesitated a few seconds, then finally asked:
"Akuto-sama… did you show up just to meet the time limit for Gremory-sama?"
She couldn't make sense of it. In just a dozen days, had Akuto's feelings for Rias really grown that deep?
Or… had he been secretly involved with Rias even before awakening as a pure-blood?
Impossible. From what Ravel knew of Rias, with her pride and nobility, she wouldn't fall for a boy who was still a normal human Akuto.
So—what was really going on?
"Why…?"
Akuto smiled and shook his head.
"First of all—because of the Phoenix family. If they hadn't tried to expedite the engagement, I wouldn't have called the Defloration Battle so early."
"Of course, there's my own reason."
"I do like Rias. And Rias likes me."
"Not wanting the one you love to marry someone else—that's only human."
"On that point alone, it's enough reason for me to challenge the Phoenixes."
Hearing how openly he confessed his feelings, tears glimmered in Ravel's blue eyes.
"Then… what you said to me—was it all a lie?"
He'd tugged her twin-tails, and instead of hating him for it, she'd felt a flutter she'd never known. She'd even thought about enrolling at Kuoh to get closer…
But before she could make a move, Rias had moved first.
Akuto looked at the aggrieved girl and was silent for several seconds.
Not out of guilt—more out of surprise.
They hadn't been that close, had they? Was Ravel really this hurt?
So… the Phoenix girl is actually an M? A tiny bit of "energy" and she imprints this hard?
Seeing his silence as tacit admission, Ravel pressed on:
"Akuto-sama, unless you give me a reason I cannot refuse… I won't let this go."
With that, explosive flames surged around her.
"Anti-magic works against magic, but not against the pure physical force of an explosion!"
"A reason you can't refuse?"
"I took Rias's first time." Akuto's voice was calm. "So there is no way I can tolerate her being engaged to someone else."
"Is… is that so—Rias-sama's first time?!"
The statement hit Ravel like a thunderbolt.
Not just Ravel—the entire arena erupted into chaos!
[Oh—!! What did Akuto just say?!]
The hyped-up host practically climbed onto his chair.
[At this point, if Akuto loses, he'll definitely become the Phoenix family's servant for 1000 years!]
[But the fact he's the one who volunteered this… shows how certain he is of victory!]
In the Leviathan VIP suite—
Sona glowered in Rias's direction.
She knew it! They must have already crossed the line; otherwise, with Akuto's usual style, why make such a no-safety-net declaration?
However, even if she accepted that Rias and Akuto had done the deed, she refused to accept that Akuto had been the one to "claim" Rias first.
Obviously it had to be the other way around! Obviously Rias had seduced him!
Otherwise, by Akuto's preferences, he should like Onee-sama play more!
Speaking of Onee-sama—Sona sneaked a glance. Seeing Serafall unfazed by the bombshell, Sona exhaled in relief.
Serafall's nonchalance meant she wasn't thinking of being with Akuto.
Akuto's line detonated the audience.
But outside the stands—on the battlefield—someone truly lost it.
The second he got Akuto's coordinates, Riser streaked toward the scene.
Just in time to hear Akuto declare he had taken Rias's first time…
K—K—K—K—K!!!
He had thought Rias merely wanted to borrow Akuto's strength to break the engagement.
Who could have guessed they'd already taken it to the bed?!
"Akuto Leviathan! How dare you!!!"
"You've shamed the Phoenix family! I'll make you pay!"
BOOM!
Ultimate-class Phoenix fire erupted, painting half the sky scarlet!
"Wait! Riser-nii, calm down—" Ravel tried to intercede, but he heard nothing.
"Ravel, stand down." Riser's eyes were ice. "Your issue is secondary. This time… this is my stage!"
A vortex of flame spun out from him, caging Ravel, and the blazing wings on his back detonated with speed as he launched at Akuto.
[Phoenix-ryū — Undying Bird Ramming!]
Facing the onrushing Riser, Akuto calmly raised his left hand; the Boosted Gear flared into being.
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!!!]
[Save—Over!]
He tapped the technique of rapid stacking and—
"True Water Breathing — Sixth Form: Twisting Whirlpool!"
"What—?!"
Before Riser could react, he slammed into the water-shrouded Akuto.
If it had been ordinary water, Phoenix fire would have boiled it away in seconds.
But Akuto's water was the purest Leviathan water.
With the purity of Akuto's bloodline, it was enough to suppress a same-tier Phoenix flame!
So now—Riser's fire was being devoured by Akuto's water!
In the sky, a sphere of water wrapped Akuto and a bird of fire wrapped Riser—
blue against red, splitting the heavens into two vivid halves!
Of course, under Akuto's bloodline suppression, Riser's red half was visibly shrinking.
Within the surging blue whirlpool, Akuto's voice carried calm and steel:
"Riser, let me correct something."
"You only have the right to say you're 'shamed' when the engagement ceremony is actually done."
"As of now, I'm simply fighting the old laws of the Underworld together with the girl I love."
Pak—
As he spoke, several humanoid water-shadows burst from the whirl, diving into Riser's Phoenix fire!
[Leviathan-ryū — Flow-Water Demonburst!]
Water Demonburst was an advanced form of Water Explosion—greater blast force paired with humanoid close-combat capability!
(End of Chapter)
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