"Judai, wake up."
"Hnn… five more minutes…"
"Judai, wake up!"
Judai opened his eyes to find Rias, Akeno, Koneko, and Yuuto all standing around his bed. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes.
"What did you do?" Rias asked, her voice tense.
"Did what?" Judai replied, still groggy.
"Sona told me you attacked the abandoned church."
"Oh. Yeah, that's true."
"Judai, do you realize how serious that is?"
"Not really," he said honestly. To him, it had been a necessary strike, clean and decisive.
"You could have started a war," Rias stressed, echoing Sona's earlier warning.
"And? I can end it, too. I have the power." Judai's tone was calm, almost casual, but carried an unfamiliar weight of certainty.
The others exchanged uneasy glances. Before meeting Sirzechs, Judai had been determined but cautious. Now he sounded… unshakable.
"Did you unlock your Balance Breaker?" Rias asked, searching his face.
"No. I don't think I need it. I have another summon, something far stronger than the dragon you saw. So don't worry about a war. You won't even need to get involved."
The room fell silent. What could be stronger than the crystalline dragon that had leveled a church?
Rias sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose before reaching out to pinch his cheeks instead. "You could've voided our entire agreement by starting a war, you idiot. Next time, talk to me before you do something like that. Let me check if it's safe to retaliate."
"Okay, okay," Judai mumbled, cheeks stinging.
"You're lucky the Fallen Angels you attacked weren't acting under Azazel's direct orders. Otherwise, this would be much bigger." She released his cheeks, her expression softening slightly.
"Sorry."
"Apology accepted. But please be reasonable. You're going to be my fiancé now," Rias said, a small smile returning.
"Alright, my princess."
She smiled, then lightly slapped his hand. "But don't do that again."
"Okay."
With that, they left his room, turning off the light as they went. Judai tried to fall back asleep, but after several restless minutes, he gave up.
He sighed, blaming Rias and the others for waking him. Might as well be productive. He checked his interface.
Gems: 1,750
"Good enough. Let's buy a pack."
He purchased another All Pack. The cards appeared in his mind's eye:
1. [Mass Hypnosis] (Continuous Trap)
2. [Mermail Abysstrite] (Xyz Monster)
3. [Adhesion Trap Hole] (Trap Hole)
4. [Guardragon Elpy] (Link Monster)
5. [Panther Warrior] (Effect Monster)
6. [Superheavy Samurai General Coral] (Pendulum Monster)
7. [B.E.S. Covered Core] (Effect Monster)
8. [Flight of the Harpies] (Skill Card – Speed Duel)
"A Skill Card?" Judai murmured, intrigued. He'd never seen one in the physical game. Reading its effect, he understood, it was from Speed Duel format.
"Makes sense why I didn't know it existed."
As he organized his deck through the interface, he noticed a new dedicated slot: Skill Card, with five available spaces.
'Better to keep buying the All Pack,' he decided. 'If I can pull Skill Cards, there might be some broken ones in here.'
. . . .
April 18th.
Six days left before the match.
10 AM. Judai finally woke up, sat up, and wiped his face, but he was still sleepy.
"What time is it?" He got up and unplugged the charger from his phone. He was surprised to see it was already 10 AM.
Judai sighed, having wasted potential training time. He got out of bed, grabbed a towel, and headed to the bathroom to clean up.
On his way, he found Akeno walking down the hall. She greeted him with a smile.
"Did you just wake up?" Akeno asked.
Judai nodded.
"Go take a shower quickly. We have someplace to go for the engagement preparations, you included," Akeno said. "We'll be waiting outside in front of the building."
Judai gave a thumbs up and headed into the bathroom. After cleaning himself, he returned to his room, put on casual clothes, grabbed his phone and wallet, and went out to meet the others.
"He's here. Let's go," Rias said.
Judai followed them as they left the school grounds.
"Where are we going?" Judai asked.
"To the Underworld," Akeno replied.
"Got it."
"When we get there, you can train without worrying about destroying anything," Rias added. "And I've already gotten my parents' permission for us to stay there until the match."
"Me too?" Judai asked.
"You too," Rias confirmed.
Judai felt slightly weird about how casual Rias's parents were being. 'I thought they'd hate me for trying to get their daughter and messing up their plans or something. This is weird, even for me.'
He shook his head. 'They're devils, right? Of course they're going to be a weird bunch.'
Rias suddenly turned her head toward Judai. "Did you just think something disrespectful?"
"No, I didn't," Judai said, looking away.
"Hmph." Rias studied him for a moment before continuing to walk.
Kiba and Akeno smiled at the exchange, while Koneko kept her reaction to herself.
They headed to the train station, but instead of the normal platforms, they used a secret underground station accessed by a descending elevator.
Rias took out a black card and swiped it on an electric panel as they went down. She glanced at Judai, who looked uninterested.
While they waited, Judai sent a message to Mizuho.
[I'll be heading to the Underworld for six days. If you can't reach me, this is why.]
Akeno noticed Judai texting someone named Mizuho.
"Is that a girl you're messaging?" Akeno asked, a teasing tone in her voice as she watched for his reaction.
"Yeah," Judai said.
Akeno and Rias were shocked, they'd never seen him interact with any girl besides them and Koneko.
"Who is she?" Rias asked.
"My summon," Judai replied.
Just then, a train adorned with the Gremory symbol arrived.
"You keep your summon around other people?" Akeno asked, worried something might happen given how strong she knew his summons could be.
"Yeah, she handles things while I'm busy training," Judai explained.
They understood what he meant, but were still surprised by the versatility of his Sacred Gear.
Rias entered the first train car, while the others followed into the central car behind it.
Judai sat by the window. Akeno took the chance to sit next to him, while Kiba and Koneko sat across from them.
"Aren't you interested in the Underworld? You seem pretty unimpressed," Akeno asked.
"To normal people, it should be interesting. To me, not so much," Judai said as he rested his head against the side and closed his eyes. "Wake me up when we arrive."
"Okay," Akeno said, watching him settle in to sleep on the train.