"Alright... Who's next?"
The three girls exchanged uncertain glances. Dust from Kiba's defeat still drifted through the air. The ground was cracked from Arthur's footwork alone. The pressure rolling off him was enough to make even devils hesitate.
Finally, Koneko took a quiet breath and stepped forward.
"Don't go easy on me, Senpai."
Her small fists tightened. The incident with Freed still weighed heavy on her heart. She wanted strength enough to protect the people who protected her.
Arthur smiled gently and gestured her forward.
Koneko burst into motion. Her strength shook the ground with each step, small craters forming beneath her feet. Her fist swung toward Arthur's jaw with enough force to pulverize steel.
He tilted his head a few centimeters.
The strike cut through empty air.
Koneko clicked her tongue softly. His movement wasn't flashy or exaggerated it was relaxed, effortless, mocking. She threw a heavy kick, her tiny frame hiding monstrous physical power, but Arthur simply stepped back with perfect distance control, letting her attack pass inches from his skin.
She rushed him again - punches, chops, elbows, low kicks all fierce, clean, and full of intent.
But Arthur dodged them with minimal, almost lazy movements, using footwork similar to Jin Mori light, springy, unpredictably shifting angles, his body loose like a coiled whip waiting to strike.
Every time Koneko thought she had an opening, he slipped into another stance, another angle, another impossible dodge.
"You have the opposite problem to Kiba; you lack speed," Arthur said calmly while slipping past a punch. "Your power is excellent, but you'll never touch someone like me with this pace."
Koneko growled at the blunt truth. She leapt forward, aiming not at him but at the ground beneath him.
Her fist drove into the earth, sending a shockwave upward, intending to knock him off balance.
Arthur's eyes widened slightly, impressed.
He vaulted lightly into the air, spinning his body. One hand landed gently on the top of Koneko's head using her as a pivot and he flipped behind her.
Her eyes widened.
"Your attacks are predictable... and you rely too much on defense."
Before she could fully turn, Arthur stepped in.
His elbow drove into her solar plexus with a Renewal Taekwondo technique — Arang. The shockwave rippled through her chest, numbing her limbs. Koneko gasped as her muscles seized, and she dropped to her knees before collapsing entirely.
The fight was over.
"Which one of you two wants to be next?"
A hush fell over the training field.
Rias and Akeno stared at Arthur, stunned. Only a week ago, he struggled with a mid-class devil. Today, he dismantled two powerful fighters barely trying.
That growth rate terrified them.
'If it's him… maybe…'
Rias drifted into deep thought, imagining possibilities she had never considered.
Akeno stepped forward, twirling her hair.
"My handsome boyfriend wouldn't dare hit me, would he?"
Arthur sighed. "I'm sorry, but this is training. I'll try not to hurt you too much."
Akeno's smile sharpened. Her clothes shimmered and transformed into a shrine maiden outfit, exposing her curves just enough to be distracting.
"You look good in those clothes," Arthur admitted. "I like it."
"Ara ara~ maybe I should show you this more often?"
She slid a hand down her side, drawing his eyes exactly where she wanted them.
And while he was distracted—
A golden bolt of lightning shot from her hand.
Arthur blocked it with a wave of Anti-Magic.
"Fufu~ if you think it's cheating, then come here and punish me."
Her wings unfurled, and she flew upward with graceful ease. Electricity crackled around her like a living serpent. She raised her hand —
A storm of lightning rained down.
Dozens of bolts, each enough to destroy a house, illuminated the sky.
Arthur activated Jin Mori–like footwork. His body loosened. Every step was fluid, improvisational, and playful. He ducked, spun, slid under blasts, letting electricity scorch the air beside him while the Anti-Magic coating his skin dissolved any stray bolts that touched him.
"You rely too much on lightning…"
Arthur raised his left hand.
Dark lightning, shaped like writhing dragon coils, erupted outward.
Akeno tried to deploy multiple defensive barriers - but Anti-Magic devoured them instantly. The attack struck, disrupting her magic and sending her falling toward the ground.
Her wings faltered.
Arthur appeared beneath her using Shunpo and caught her waist with one arm - then immediately shifted into an offensive motion.
"You also can't defend yourself in close range."
Before she could respond—
SLAP!
A sharp sound filled the air. A burning sensation spread across her backside.
Akeno froze, her mind short-circuiting. Her entire body flushed. Her breath hitched in a soft, involuntary moan she barely managed to bite down.
Arthur raised his hand again.
SLAP!
"Aaa–!" Akeno gasped, clenching her thighs as heat spread through her body. "W–wait, I surrender! I surrender!"
Arthur lowered her with a smirk.
She immediately stumbled backward, covering her rear with both hands, face burning scarlet.
Finally, Arthur turned to Rias.
Her hands subtly moved to cover her own bottom.
"It's your turn."
Rias panicked.
"I–Is it really necessary? Someone could get seriously hurt…"
"Don't worry."
Akeno, still red, dragged the unconscious Kiba and Koneko to safety.
Rias reluctantly gathered her Power of Destruction and launched spheres from multiple angles.
Arthur's Anti-Magic aura expanded, swirling like a dark vortex. He fired black lightning to intercept her attacks. Every sphere that met his energy vanished erased from existence.
Rias took to the sky, flying rapidly around him, doubling her output. Several dozen spheres filled the air.
Arthur remained still.
Not one attack touched him.
Rias bit her lip. She increased her output, but at a certain threshold her power destabilized — spheres flew unpredictably.
"Rias, you lack control…"
Arthur raised one hand.
A massive chain of Anti-Magic lightning spread across the sky, swallowing every sphere before striking Rias and knocking her down.
"And like Akeno, you can't defend yourself against close-range attackers."
He appeared in front of her instantly.
The back of his hand hovered at her neck.
Rias froze.
"I… surrender."
She lowered her head, ashamed. She wasn't angry at him — she was furious at herself. She practiced every day, yet her control barely improved.
This defeat cut deeply.